Katsumi walked down the empty sidewalk with the card in hand. The symbols were on one side but on the other was a phone number. Of course, the thought of a game that got rid of all her money problems was far-fetched and the suited man could've just been another radical that wanted her in his cult, but the prospect of an easy way out was too good to pass up, even if she didn't believe it.

She shoved the card into her pocket, pushing aside the thought of whatever game that man wanted her to play and thinking back to the one person she thought was on her side, Cho. The very thought of him angered her now and she had no doubt in her mind that he would be losing a few teeth if she ever saw him again.

It was a mistake on her part. She was too trusting. Cho helped her exponentially but that didn't make him a good person. He was desperate, just like her. Selling her out was bound to happen, she just hoped it wouldn't because, believe it or not, Cho was somewhat of a friend to her. As I said, she was too trusting.

Katsumi took out her phone in an effort to call Cho again, noticing the police cars speeding by and towards the direction of her apartment. She dialed his number and the phone started ringing. Not too long after, the phone went to voice mail once again.

"Oi! Cho! You're really starting to piss me off! Answer the phone already..." Katsumi stopped her rant as her eye went wide upon seeing the unbelievable sight in front of her.

A crowd had gathered in front of her apartment building and it was being held back by officers as firefighters were making an effort to put out the fire that was in her apartment.

Katsumi came to a realization and raced over to the crowd, pushing her way past the people in her way and stopping in front of an officer.

"Please stand back." The officer urged.

Katsumi ignored him and shoved him out of the way, surprising everyone as she ran past the firefighters and into the building. She ignored the shouts and yells of the officers, firefighters, and crowd outside, running up the stairs while covering her mouth and nose with her shirt.

The smoke worsened as she got closer to her floor and once she kicked the door to her floor open, the smoke flushed out and enveloped her. She squinted her eye from all the smoke but managed to make her way through, seeing the fire spreading along the walls.

She reached her apartment and kicked the door down, waving away the embers that flew near her. her eye widened upon seeing the burning bed and she immediately rushed to it, reaching out under it but she flinched back from burning herself.

She looked to the sink and took off her shoe and sock, putting the sock on her hand and turning on the sink, covering the sock-covered arm in the water. She heard the ceiling shake and crack, knowing it was about to give out at any moment.

She reached out under the bed once again and grabbed onto the strap of the bag, pulling it out but jumping back from it. The bag was completely enveloped in flames, sending Katsumi into a state of worry.

"No, no, no, no..." Katsumi muttered desperately as she used her gloved hand to reach into the bag and grab the money. Even if she managed to grab a few won, the heat of the fire almost burnt her and the sock itself was completely burnt but her hand was luckily fine "No..."

Katsumi froze upon seeing the burnt ashes that were supposed to be the won in her hand. She looked from her hand to the burning bag and slumped in defeat, knowing that there was no saving it.

Two firm hands grabbed onto her shoulders and pulled her back out of the room as the ceiling collapsed. Katsumi watched sorrowfully as the bag was covered by the collapsed ceiling and the fire got worse.

The firemen that pulled her back dragged her off the floor, down the stairs, and out of the building. They pushed her away and the police officers dragged her towards one of the police cars, berating her as they did so.

Katsumi ignored what they were saying and looked down at her ashy hand with a glossy gaze. Three years of hard, life-threatening work, gone. She was making progress; she had been making progress to getting her life back but all of that was burning right before her eye.

She heard dark chuckles and heinous giggles to her left and turned to see the four men she had beat up cuffed and leaning against one of the police cars. They were all smiling and smirking at her with knowing looks and she widened her eye, realizing who was the cause of all this was.

"Yo, Zoro." One of the men greeted and the others laughed.

Katsumi seethed as she made her way over to the men with clenched fists. She punched one of them and he fell to the ground but continued to laugh along with the others as the officers held her back.

"I'll kill you!" Katsumi screeched and shouted trying to push past the three officers holding her and attack the men "I'LL KILL YOU ALL!!!"

~

The next day came around quickly and within the police station, Katsumi sat in front of the police chief with an angry yet sullen look, staring down at her ashy hands.

"I understand how you feel, but what you did last night was reckless and you could've gotten hurt in the process." The chief berated with a concerned look "You're lucky to only receive minimal burns that should heal in a day or two, but I urge you to take better care of yourself."

"Why?" Katsumi asked, looking up at the man with an empty look in her eye "I've got nothing to live for anyway."

The police chief sighed "Now, don't say that. This is just a slight bump in the road, things will get better."

Katsumi scoffed "Whatever..."

The police chief stared at her for a moment with an empathetic look "We've taken the men who were responsible into custody and we just wanted to know any reason as to why they would do this on your side."

Katsumi stared at him. She knew why they did this, that was obvious. Why Cho hired them, was what she wanted to know. Did he tell them to burn her home down as well? Did he really want her gone that bad? The chief seemed like he genuinely wanted to help her but getting him involved would not only complicate things but also potentially get him and a lot more people killed.

"Ma'am," The chief said and she blinked, snapping out of her thoughts "Do you know why this happened?"

Katsumi shook her head "No, not at all."

~

Katsumi walked into the store at a brisk pace with an angered expression, looking around for any signs of Cho.

"Hey Zoro, are you okay? You look like shit." The owner asked seeing the soot of last night's fire around her arms and sides of her face, but she ignored him and went to the back of the store, slamming the door open and walking down the stairs.

As usual, the betters were sitting around a table and full of money, cigarettes, and liquor. They were surprised to see Katsumi but then they were even more surprised when she grabbed one of them by the collar and pulled him up closer to her face.

"Where the hell is he!?" Katsumi shouted as the other men got up.

"W-What are you talking about!?" The man exclaimed.

"Where's Cho!?" Katsumi shouted.

"Zoro put him down!" Another one of the men shouted, pulling out a knife from his pockets along with the other man.

"You think your friends can help you, huh? You and I both know what happens when you cross me." Katsumi stated with an evil smirk, scaring the man and making the others even more nervous "Tell me where Cho is or else I'll be using those knives on all of you."

"W-We don't know! Cho hasn't contacted us since yesterday." The man said fearfully.

"It's true. The little shit usually organizes fights for you almost every night but he didn't last night." Another one of the men said.

Katsumi considered his words and looked back down at the man she was holding with a glare "If you're lying to me..."

"We're not! We swear!" The man exclaimed fearfully.

"Tch." Katsumi scoffed, shoving the man back and falling on the table as she walked away and back up the stairs.

"Yeah! Get the hell out, you Japanese scumbag!" One of the men shouted.

"And good luck getting another gig, you ain't welcome here anymore!" Another man shouted.

Katsumi walked out of the store, grabbing a beer along the way. The store owner let out some complaints but a glare quickly shut him up.

She walked back to the park and sat on the same bench from last night, chugging her beer and slumping in her seat. She started to tear up at the thought of starting all over again but then that sadness soon turned into anger as she let out an enraged shout, throwing the beer bottle to the ground in her fit of rage.

She put her arms in her hands and ran them through her hair, trying to calm herself down and see what she could do next. She came up with one idea and even though she didn't like it, it's not like she had a choice.

'A loan shouldn't be too bad. I can pay them back with another organ if I have to...' Katsumi rationalized, digging into her pockets for her phone.

She took out her phone but then the card also fell out and she looked down at it with a surprised look. She picked it up and turned it to reveal the phone number, thinking back to what the suited man had said to her.

~

"136 million Yen is 141 million won; you can earn all of that in just six days. No more bounty hunters, no more debts, no more Zoro." The man stated and Katsumi stopped with wide eyes, turning to look at him as he held the card up "All you have to do, is play the game."

~

What did she have to lose? Maybe if it was some cult recruiting people or baiting them into sacrifices, she'd given up on a lot of things. If this 'game' was gonna get her killed, then so be it.

"Screw it..." Katsumi muttered, dialing the number and calling it. The phone rang for a few moments but then someone picked it up, but they didn't say anything. Almost as if, they were waiting for her to speak "I want to play the game."

"If you wish to participate, please state your name and birthdate." A monotone male voice said on the other side of the line.

"Shimotsuki Katsumi, 11 November 2000." Katsumi stated.

~

Katsumi stood in front of the park entrance in the dead of midnight with her arms folded. She turned to see a small van approaching her and as it slowed down, the passenger window slid down to reveal a masked man.

"Ms. Shimotsuki Katsumi?" The man asked once the van came to a halt.

"Yeah," Katsumi said with a nod.

"Password?" The man asked.

"Red light, green light." Katsumi responded and the doors to the van clicked.

She slides them open to reveal a few more unconscious people within the van. She sighs knowing that they were knocked out and she would be next.

Sitting in one of the empty seats, Katsumi slid the door closed. The sound of steam hisses as knockout gas enveloped the van. Katsumi's vision blurred and she slumped back in her seat, everything soon going black.