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The pot simmered cheerfully over the low heat, the delightful smell of pork broth wafting through the room. On the table, already set, were plates overflowing with fried rice, tempura shrimp, and vegetable fritters.
Kanata leaned over the ramen, blinking away the steam as she stirred the noodles. "Is this done, Neko-chan?" she asked hesitantly. "I think it's done..."
Mikeneko stood from her seat at the table and walked up to the stove, standing close to Kanata as she took a look. The blue-haired girl blushed a faint pink as their shoulders brushed close. "Yep! It's done, Kanata!" Mikeneko's voice still had the same cheerful, high-pitched affectation Kanata once remembered - even after all that happened, and after a whole year of organized crime. "I don't know why you say you're bad at cooking, you followed my instructions to the letter here..."
"Yeah... your instructions," Kanata stressed as Mikeneko turned off the stove.
"Your hands did the work. That counts." Neko replied. She turned to Kanata, her eyes lingering tenderly on the scar on her left cheek - a reminder of the brush with death that had started this whole saga. "I bet Anon's going to love this, even with how much he complains about Japanese food, the jerk."
Kanata felt a knot form in her throat. She stepped forward, clasping Neko's hands with her own, smiling as she blinked away a tear. "I'm glad you're with us, Ru- I mean, Neko-chan."
Mikeneko bit her lower lip, trembling. If Kanata had to fight back some emotion, then all of a sudden it looked like Neko was bending the entirety of her will to avoid bursting into tears. "I'm glad you and Coco could stay with us too, Kanata... hey, we're winning, you now? We're killing everybody who ever wronged us, and we're going to kill the rest too, OK? Then we're going to be rich again, and you and Coco-san can buy that house you wanted, and Anon and I can get our own place too, and we can visit each other every day and-"
The sharp ring of a doorbell cut through Mikeneko's utopic waxing about their future, halting her mid-sentence as the temperature in the room dropped by a couple degrees.
"Anon wouldn't ring the doorbell," Kanata said, letting go of Neko's hands.
"No. Let... let me go check. You're carrying, right? I am too."
Kanata nodded, her expression grim as Mikeneko strode forward and checked through the peephole. Just a year ago merely thinking of the level of danger they were in might have made her sick - now it was routine, no, unimportant after all their triumphs.
"It's... it's Mori," Mikeneko murmured. "What's she doing here?"
"Calliope-san?" Kanata exhaled in relief. "Um, now she's an informant, Coco-chan told her to drop off her files here. She could have just left them in the mailbox though..."
"No, I think it's better this way. Less chance something might go wrong or get lost. Um, coming!" Mikeneko fumbled with the locks for a bit and then slid them back. The door swung open, and Calliope Mori, clearly more than a bit drunk, stumbled into the safehouse, holding a crumpled brown folder full of stained pages. She walked by both Neko and Kanata, ignoring them until she collapsed on top of a chair.
"Yooooo. It's ya boy, Calliope Mori, bitcheeesss... long time no see, Rushia." Her eyes were rather unfocused, darting back and forth across the room, lingering only on the food and drink arrayed on the table. She completely missed the expression of sheer rage that briefly crossed Mikeneko's face. Kanata slipping and calling her that was one thing - she could call her much worse after all she'd done for Neko. But this fat cunt? She struggled to tamp down her emotions.
Kanata on the other hand did notice, and rushed to take the spotlight off of Neko by drawing Mori's attention away from her. "Calliope-san... hello! It's uh, it's been a long time. Did you bring the files?"
Mori blinked in confusion, leering at her for a bit before her eyes widened as she caught on. "Holy shit, Kanata-senpai! I didn't know you'd be here... been a long time... oh shit, oh fuck!" She leaned forward, looking at the scar under Kanata's left eye like she was gazing at a zoo animal. "Oh fuck, you got fucking mutilated!"
All the air left the room. Kanata drew back as though she'd been punched in the face. "It... it's not that bad," she whispered, trembling.
Now behind Mori, Mikeneko's hands balled up into fists, her knuckles clenched chalk white. "Just drop off the files and leave, Mori," she hissed.
