HΣIШΔ

everything begins

shizuo wanted to spend some time with his little sister before her big trip to okinawa. he made her take him around the city, having barely been outside of ikebukuro.

while mako hadn't really explored the city much, she knew enough to where she could show her big brother around.

they decided to go to the movies, not really caring which one they saw. both of them just wanted to spend time together, and sometimes, watching a movie in silence with a bunch of junk food was enough for them.

"so, ma."

she looks up at him, raising an eyebrow. "yeah?"

"got any friends? what about that girl the other day who asked you about me?"

"oh, you mean nakamura? yeah, she kinda pressured me into being friends, but she's cool. the other girls in my class say that i'm their friend, too, so i guess i have quite a few." shizuo nods, a light smile on his face as they get their snacks and get told what theater the movie they're watching is in.

"i thought you were more into having guy friends, since they don't squeal as much or aren't as loud?"

"well, the girls are more bearable and the more decent guys barely talk to me."

they quiet down as they sit down, the trailers about to come to a stop. mako grins at her brother before turning to the big screen, preparing to watch the film. shizuo smiles at the girl before doing the same.

it really was better to them, sometimes, to just bask in the presence of each other.

———

mako had dreaded it greatly when she was informed about going to the classroom for more lessons on killing their teacher and assassination in general. she was shooting at a target, hitting the white ring around the bullseye before pulling away to go refill the chamber.

she stops in her steps when she sees a man ahead of her, recognizing his face as one of the many clients she had gone to a meeting with once before with izaya. her mentor had apparently been a regular information source for the hitman, but he'd only brought her to one meeting, hoping to slowly introduce her to the world of an info broker. it wasn't that long before she got booted out here that she'd briefly met the man.

the man had even taught her a few techniques at her own request. he'd called her a good student, but they'd only known each other for barely a day.

lovro, after speaking to karasuma, looks over the students, his gaze coming to a stop on his former momentary student. he walks over to the girl, who hadn't noticed him yet, and as he goes to place a hand on her shoulder, she reaches around and flips him over said shoulder.

he coughs from the ground, having hit his back roughly, but he nods at her as he gets up.

"i see your skills did not dull in the time since our first meeting. it is a pleasure to see you again, маленький паук."

she nods, a light smirk on her face. "you, too, учитель."

"how is your mentor?"

"he's stupid, like always." lovro lets out a small chuckle, nodding in agreement. "i see. well, continue your training. good luck."

nodding, mako grabs another gun and aims at another target, ignoring the gazes of her classmates and getting right off the bullseye once again. frowning, she shoots it rapidly, only barely missing the center by a few more shots until the last few actually hit the bullseye. she smirks, smugly looking at the face of the target, until she's pulled away by someone.

"how do you know lovro?" irina demands, curiosity and wariness in her voice.

rolling her eyes, mako just sighs at the woman. "that's my business, now please, butt out."

"since when did you know russian, too?"

"quite a few people back in my hometown speak russian, so i figured i'd pick it up. my brother never saw the need, and seeing as i did it, he just had me translate whenever one of our russian speaking friends said something in the language."

the blonde woman goes to continue questioning her, but she's pulled away by karasuma, who glances at the girl once more before treading away.

mako sighs again, loading more anti-octopus bullets into her gun and practicing more on her shooting.

if shizuo found out she was using weapons right now, he'd kick her ass all the way to the other side of the damn country.

———

getting on a huge boat wasn't the most ideal thing mako wanted to experience. but, seeing as she didn't really have a choice, she just went with it.

shizuo had dropped her off, saying he expected a call when they got to okinawa, and she only hugged him tightly before she went off to her classmates. once on the boat, the girl was quickly pulled to the main deck by nakamura, who was very excited to get to the island and the resort.

"it's gonna be so fun!" the shorter girl exclaims, grinning, and mako chuckles at her.

"let's hope."

once reaching the island, they all get off as quick as possible, making sure they had their stuff before getting off.

the hotel was massive, and everyone was eager to get to doing their activities and preparing for the assassination. mako hadn't taken the drink everyone was given earlier, not thirsty at the time and she had water, so she was just waiting for the time to do stuff.

her blonde friend pulled her off with some of their other classmates to get stuff ready under water. she was relieved to see that her swimsuit was still in her bag.

it was a scarlet red and black tankini that almost reached her knees, and nakamura wolf whistled once seeing her.

"damn, heiwajima! that looks great on you! i'd go for you if i was into you." snorting, the taller girl shoves her a bit, saying, "you look hot yourself, nakamura. now, let's get this over with. the sooner we get it set up, the sooner we can assassinate the octopus."

they all put on goggles, aside from kayano, and jump into the water to get everything ready.

———

at the end of the day, they all end up on a boat once again. mako drinks from her water bottle, her chin on her hand matching nakamura's own actions.

she smirks at seeing him molt, watching him freak out at giving up one of his advantages. but then she picks at the food places in front of her, not feeling particularly hungry.

"you good, heiwajima?"

"yeah, i'm fine. just preparing."

it all comes down to tonight.