As she meets his eyes, it is nothing like the gaze she had pined after. The one that she had stolen into the night to see, that had sent her heart racing, and that had been the result of Izumi. Yet, somehow, Hiyori can still feel her pulse quicken as she stands her ground. Watching as he stalks closer with that cold grin upon his lips. Would there ever be warmth to it, as he smiled at her? Would his eyes ever light with something else not akin to a predator stalking its prey? Hiyori holds no hope for either, only that she would continue to endure until her daughter was finally safe.


“Am I not behaving now?” she asks, not daring to look away, as if it were a snake coiled up in her path. Despite her bold stance, she has not struck out at him as she had done before, or even attempted to flee aside from their coy little chase. While she cannot begin to guess what he might do next, Hiyori is skeptical now as he offers her another deal. It felt as if she was selling her soul each time he proposed one, and yet she cannot help but ask “What deal do you have in mind?”