Dystopians Under Lock and Key 《Akudama Drive》

Silence within Smoke and Rain (Courier/Swindler)

Her pink orbs met his purple, apathetic ones.

The same apathetic look he spared her the first time they met around that takoyaki store; the reason she ended up in this situation to begin with. Then again, it wasn't like this whole meeting was set up. Just some horrible luck on her end and a huge coincidence on his.

Dropped money is bad luck, was what he told her before he left her in the dust, coin in hand that day. She wasn't sure if that bad luck just went to her instead or, again, a huge coincidence that led to now. God, and all she wanted to do was lay back at home and sleep all her stress away.

She tightly clutched the coin, her fingers sometimes caressing the lining and trailing on the flat surface, feeling the embedded stamp on it. Swindler couldn't deny that it felt stupid trying to return this coin and could've used it for herself. But, in that situation, she only felt that it was stupidly wrong. Understanding-wise, the money wasn't hers.

In the end, that high-struck moral was what got her into this problem to begin with. That, she couldn't accept nor deny. She stuffed the coin back into her pocket before glancing behind her shoulder. From what she remembered, Doctor and Brawler were in a separate room of the ruined building, Cutthroat was bathing in the rainwater thankfully not entering her personal space and bothering her for the time being, and Hoodlum was aimlessly laying on the ground with nothing in mind. Brother and Sister were just huddled nearby her, the former securing his jacket across the latter to keep her warm.

The rain was about to subside from how it wasn't drenching the area harshly with droplets. Actually, she hadn't noticed where Courier went after she commented on his face looking like a hamster when eating his takoyaki. The sight still amused her even if it was for a short while. If she hadn't seen their capabilities, she wouldn't have believed these ragtag of criminals were even high-ranked Akudama.

Her expression dropped. Right... she was with Akudama on a mission she wasn't meant to be involved in. Keeping up the facade as the notorious "Swindler" who removed all traces of themselves from the Executioner's database. The only reason she's still walking around with her limbs in tact was because of that lie. She wouldn't been dead in more ways than one now that she thought back on that encounter.

Looking back on it, recalling it right, she could've left Courier to die to the giant robotic tank. The coin she placed back in her pocket popped into her mind. It was evidently the same thought that surged determination into her veins and thought of using Hoodlum as a distraction at the time.

She technically saved a criminal, but it wasn't like she wanted him pulverized. Still...

Was that the only reason?

She glanced back again at the separated group. Excluding the children they saved from the train in Shinkansen, they were a group of seven. Five notorious S-ranked Akudama, a D-ranked Hoodlum, and an Ordinary Person - herself.

And with Hacker gone, the group felt... incomplete in some way.

Maybe she's gotten soft with these people when she shouldn't have.

She leaned against the crumbled window sill with a forlorn expression and folded arms. Half of her face resting on her arms with her nose poked out. How's Hacker doing on his own now? She thought. It was a temporary concern on her mind (after all, she promised to return his android back if they ever crossed paths again) before it strangely drifted back to Courier.

What was it with him that left her thoughtless to think, but somehow having room in her mind. They rarely had any conversations during the whole rundown of Shinkansen. Well, except for that particular one...