By the time his vision cleared completely, Miki was within reach and holding a hand against his forehead. What a time to have proper sight it was, as well, considering the first thing... or things he took note of were Miki's more exposed assets just ahead of his face. Speaking of Kou's face... it was reddening, even mimicking a rising fever as his eyes closed tight. This was quite a bit to take in while also hearing about the apparent illness he had, and what had been done to stave it off. "Right, so... I was dying from the inside out, and the only fix was to turn me into a Dragon? Got it. I'm fine now, so... yeah..." he said, clearly flustered even by the tone of his voice. At least he finally understood what he was feeling when he woke up. That certainly couldn't be mistaken.
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Kou's face reddened a great deal, but the depth of it didn't feel like the fever from before. His follow up summary of the things Miki had to say, let her know all she needed to about his returned disposition. She reserved herself to keep from softly sighing, not because she wasn't happy to see her adventuring partner, but instead because she'd become comfortable. Far too comfortable in the presence of the Dragonoid who gave and took affection in his own terms without any embarrassment. Because of this, Miki had come to rely on her ability to act around him because his feelings about her were rather obvious and made responses easy. In the case of Kou, it was obvious to her that he was flustered by her proximity and she'd known that would be the case when she'd practically thrown herself out of his lap, still she hadn't been able to help worrying about him just a little. "Hai, that sounds about right. I'm glad you're okay..." she said meaning it truly as the loss of her partner would have been quite damaging, even more so than knowing he didn't accept her in his current form. Luckily there was a saving grace from the sort of awkward sadness that could arise from Miki noting the full consequences of the lad coming fully back to himself. And in this case it was Seriri.
"Akashi-sama, is Kimi up yet? Those traders will be here..." she said the sentence normally as if she wasn't at all surprised to maybe find the lass still sleeping in the Dragonoid's lap. There was a pause as Seriri looked up to find the lad who had been the Dragonoid Akashi back to the form that he'd been in when she'd originally changed him over. "Sou ka, you're Kou again. Alright, it took you a few days to change back. You're not dizzy right? No fever or anything?" she asked of the lad going into full Nurse mode within a few seconds of entering. She looked to Miki and upon noticing that the girl was already awake, she looked at her for several seconds steadily before returning her gaze to the lad at hand.Comment
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Several seconds passed before Kou decided to open his eyes again. When he did so, there was a bit more distance between Miki and himself. The lad exhaled a deep breath. That was quite the close call, it was. He wasn't even sure why, but he felt as if he didn't need to be in such close proximity to Miki at the time. Maybe it was a leftover thought from his time as Akashi. Whatever the case, he made sure he voiced his appreciation for the girl's concern. "Hai. Thanks for worrying..." he said.
Mere moments later, the rightful Queen of Atlantis entered her throne room. She immediately assaulted him with a pair of questions, and though he was taken aback by the quickness of them, the slightest amount of nervous laughter preceded his response. "Iie, iie. No fever, I don't think, and nothing more than... well, I feel a little spaced-out. It's fine though, I think I'm just groggy from that chair." Speaking of the chair, where was he before falling? Kou looked around to find the only thing reminiscent of a chair nearby. Of course, it was none other than Seriri's throne. Kou had it in him to seem a bit bothered by the idea that he'd taken the throne during his time as a Dragon, so he put forth the effort to kowtow before the queen right away. "Ah, gomen gomen! That wasn't me!"
... He still wasn't quite himself, it seemed. Perhaps it was a side-effect of the forced transformation, either one way or the other.Comment
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Though Kou had been a bit more reserved and obviously more embarrassed about his proximity to Miki. She'd done the thing she'd been doing for the lad's comfort and put space between them and he seemed to recover well enough after. He even claimed to thank her for being worried for his sake. "Iie, there isn't any need to thank me for that..." the girl said softly. Seriri looked to her friend and her left brow raised, such softness from Kimi was still almost unheard of, her relationship with the Dragonoid Akashi was becoming more and more obvious for why it worked the way it did. 'Sou ka, Kimi is soft and wants to love him, but he's also soft and is less obvious about accepting it... that's kind of cute,' this was the thought of Seriri who seemed to be slowly coming to an understanding of why the pair of Karna and Hikari were so content on trying to get these two together.
Whatever the case, Kou seemed to be well enough to answer her questions in rapid succession even. That was good he seemed to even be remorseful for his actions while he was in his Dragonoid form. This caused Seriri's eyes to widen quite a bit, and she turned to look at Kimi who managed to shrug at the lad's rather obvious show of remorse. Miki had never seen the lad try to get on the ground to apologize, but flustered apologies were pretty normal for him. Seriri on the other hand wouldn't be accepting anything like this from anyone who helped her as much as these two already had. "Iie, don't do that. It's weird. Look, you didn't do anything while you were a Dragon that didn't need doing..." she said calmly. "Kimi said you weren't a bad guy and you weren't as Akashi. He's actually pretty fair minded and clever, and Dragons are supposed to be more of who their base personalities are, and if that's you there isn't any problem," she mentioned offhandedly. "Besides, even I can accept that my inaction, even while not being intentional didn't do good for this place. So..." she extended her hand to the lad to offer him a hand up and a shake. "Thanks for the kick in the ass and I look forward to your continued support!~" she offered with a bright smile. Miki watched this portion of the exchange from her spot this time on the arm of the throne she once occupied with Akashi. She seemed as aloof as she always did, and Seriri was close enough to her to note this change in her demeanor. Perhaps now she could get the lass alone for a bit and prod her brain for extra information.Comment
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When Kou looked up, there was a hand being offered to him. Along with it, came the explanation that the Dragon Akashi hadn't done anything truly harmful, and had actually been of help to the Atlantean Queen. He took the queen's hand, and the following shake, while rising from the floor. "Iie. Don't mention it. Still... I didn't mean to take over your throne or anything," he said, gesturing to the very same throne for Seriri to sit upon. "You can uhh... go ahead and have that back. Oh, and... thanks for the save."
After this exchange with the queen, Kou rubbed the back of his head while seeming to be in deep thought. He really had no memory at all of being Akashi this time; not even the sensation. Just the same, he had no earthly idea why he couldn't remember. It was quite the perplexing scenario for Kou to find himself in, but at least he hadn't been taken by this... Devouring disease. "So, what's the sitch? I'm still a little spaced, but I'm guessing there's still something we need to do."Comment
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It took a moment, but Kou did accept Seriri's hand and her thanks for what had been done in his Dragon form. It seemed he didn't have any memory of his time as Akashi and really hadn't himself intended to take over her throne at all. He even motioned that she should go ahead and take it back now that he wasn't in a position to simply take it over again. Seriri looked at the throne and where Miki sat on one of the arms and simply shrugged. "It's probably fine that you did. I wasn't doing much with it anyways, and simply sitting all the time isn't good nor something I really want to do again. Kimi deserves a good seat for a while..." she said looking back at the blonde lass who had something rather flippant to say but it wasn't something she'd intended to allow to leave her head. "It's not like I want it. It isn't exactly the most comfortable seat," she said in direct contradiction to the fact that she'd even been comfortably sleeping atop the throne. Seriri looked at the lass and chuckled. "Whatever you say... anyways, there also isn't any need to thank me for saving you. I might not have without a kick in the ass, which came from Kimi and your little sister," she said honestly. After finding out the lad would become something different from who he was she wasn't exactly keen on making his Resurrection. The assurances and threats of Kimi and the faith of Hikari had been what made her follow through with the action.
He still seemed rather spaced out, before answering his question Miki looked at him with her eyes seeming to be searching him for something. He claimed to not remember anything about being a Dragonoid this past time, and it would make sense considering Akashi had forced him down enough to be in control of himself. Before Miki could speak though, it would be Seriri offering her best approximation of an explanation for his lack of memory. "Gomen, that might be the fault of the treatment. Forcing an Avatar switch makes that Avatar the most dominate thing within the player. Avatars created in this world are as close to being their own people as one can get, and will act of their own accord, even with the same personality as their base. Don't worry too much about it," she offered to clear his mind of the potential issues. Miki finally opened her mouth to speak to the lad and it would be a pretty direct bit of her understanding of the rest of the situation. "Before yesterday, the main force of everything within the Kingdom was a man called the Banker. The Banker was..." there was a pause from Miki as she remembered the previous day and tried to decide how best to explain the situation. "The worst possible individual to have that sort of power. I took care of him and everything wrong with his business practices directly yesterday. It was my plan to fix the economy here all along and that part is done..." she mentioned but there was a bit more to it than that. "But.. Akashi said, fixing the economy would cause other problems to arise. That the people would show themselves for what they were. I knew this as well, but not fixing it wasn't an option. And I am not a people person..." Miki said, this caused a snide chuckle from Seriri who quickly covered her mouth and turned away trying to hide the fact that she was having a more than reasonable laugh at the blonde's expense. "I assume the people problem will be making itself obvious, now that everyone doesn't have the Banker's Tyranny to fear. And all known situations point to you... being the best suited to dealing with the people issue," she said her eyes never left this lad as she spoke. And when her final sentence was over she shrugged. That was the gist of the situation and all she could say.Comment
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"Ah... sou ka," he said, understanding that it had been the nudging of others that prodded Seriri to aide him. He'd have to repay the favor to Hikari, wherever she was, but first he looked to Miki again. "Arigatou." It was made apparent to Kou that he could have blanked out within himself due to the forced shift into Akashi, rather than any fault of his own. That didn't seem right, but there were more important things to worry about than that anyway. Most specifically, there were the concerns raised by Miki after she explained the goings-on in Atlantis while he was in the form of Akashi.
"Hmm." Kou took several moments to think. It didn't seem many good things had gone on while he was 'unconscious' in a way, but now, he could at least work toward whatever conclusion his other self had come to in days prior. "Well, it would be very easy to figure out what's going on in the underground if this Banker has been dealt with. If he's that bad, he won't come clean at any cost... but, I can figure out the lines between the lies. Can you show me where he's being kept?"Comment
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She looked to Kou when he offered her thanks for saving him, and a small smile came to her face. He would thank her for what she'd done there, but she was more happy he simply didn't remember the shift in her personality, keeping them from more awkward interactions than she wanted to deal with. "Iie," she mentioned not wanting thanks for doing something like that, especially seeing it was more than a bit selfish on her own part.
"Gomen, no easy puzzles today..." Miki said in an offhanded way. Kou had asked where the prisoner was being kept, but there was no prisoner. A good number of underground people had been killed over the last few days between the two women standing in this room. "The Banker died in the streets yesterday. He was a sadist involved directly in bad contracts and torture the likes of which couldn't be ignored. He didn't let go of any secrets, and with his last breaths he tried to convince me to work for him while very obviously thinking about torturing me..." she stated still not making eye contact with anyone. "Most of the people directly associated with his organization also died..." Miki mentioned without looking at anyone. Once again her mind seemed to wander very far away from the moment she currently occupied. What was more she was gripping the arm of the throne she sat upon caught with her cloak between them. "Well, except for one... but he might not want to speak about it. He's been through a lot, and he still only talks to Tsu-chan," she said of the only person alive who might truly understand the motives of the Banker. "Kimi..." there was the statement of Miki's given name, but Seriri came to the conclusion the girl wasn't nearly as okay as she'd seemed the previous day, especially when she considered that she probably had a great amount of problems with what had taken place in the Shark's Den the day before. "I told you, I'm the last person you need to worry about," Miki confirmed though she still wasn't looking at anyone. Adding an actual interaction with the Banker to that, and it was no wonder when they'd returned to the palace she'd simply cuddled up in Akashi's lap and gone straight to sleep.Comment
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No easy puzzles, she said. Kou could immediately tell there was nothing left of the Banker, but further speech revealed that he, and his underlings, had actually been killed. It was worse than Kou thought, then... especially given the mention of Miki's potential torture, and the lack of direct eye contact from the girl. "..." Kou wasn't sure what to say initially, but he could piece together what was most likely going on with the Banker. He'd have killed the male as well. "Sou ka..."
Miki's expression was concerning, to say the least. Kou had no knowledge of this other person she spoke of, but his mind was off-topic at the time enough for him to not work toward incorporating that person's existence. In the end, he came to a singular conclusion, based only on what he saw in the blonde. "You... can rest up. I'll take care of the other issues here. It shouldn't take much; I'll just go check out the streets. Sound good?"Comment
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Whatever Kou thought was going on with Miki, it probably wasn't good. She hadn't been directly tortured or anything of the sort, she'd just been reminded of something very traumatizing in her life, that she couldn't seem to escape even in another world. Whatever the case, the lad seemed to understand just enough of the situation to try and formulate a plan based on the information he'd have to gather himself. At his mention that Miki could rest up and he'd go off looking for the information he needed in the streets, the blonde lass gave a gentle shake of her head, though his idea wasn't bad. She couldn't really rest anymore, after all she still had a bit of work to do, and a busy mind was much better for her psyche than being left alone with her own thoughts. Her coping mechanisms came to life in this moment. "Iie, my resting right now isn't exactly an option. You could go out if you wanted, but the traders who wish my assistance are coming here to seek business advice. I have to get them to a point where they can be trusted to make their money without compromising their morals. That being said, you could see some interesting people here today, and I'll stamp out all unsavory business practices and root out anything remaining that shouldn't be allowed to flourish," Miki said. "Besides, I'm still mentally designing a financing plan for the Kingdom for our eventual departure. One to help back whatever social policies you put in place and make the system self-sustaining with minimal guidance and the best chance to resist moral corruption. I'll leave everything else to you," she said sounding rather sure about this though she'd been rather quiet in the moments prior. She had faith in the lad to root out the social problems and come up with a proper solution. And she knew how to make the necessary funds to make it happen and not put any more strain on the monarchy nor all of the citizens.
With that Miki turned to face the doorway knowing that the traders and merchants would soon come seeking advice. For an extra 10 percent fee she'd be able to make quite a bit of money while simultaneously rooting out all of the ideas which abused morals, people, or exploited aspects of the markets. Seriri stood a moment longer staring at Miki and seeing once again the face of her black haired friend as she remembered her. She couldn't say anything to the lass, but she'd seen this coping behavior before, she threw herself whole-heartedly into things she could control and understand and let the problems of her mind get washed away in the grind of working. Which was an aspect of her personality which gained her an unreasonable amount of respect as a gamer, but still made the Queen worry for the mental stability of her friend. "Kimi... I'm..." she paused thinking about it. Obviously the lass wasn't ready to speak on what was actually going on in her mind. As such she could leave it alone for now, and perhaps be given the time to work towards a better conversation with her later. "Going to see if I can find out anything from Diva. I can't promise he'll speak with anyone else though, he's still pretty skittish."Comment
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Kou was quite set on his plan, but Miki seemed to be thinking the exact opposite. She wouldn't rest; she'd continue working. Well, everyone coped with their issues in their own unique ways. Kou couldn't fault the girl for how she chose to deal with... whatever trauma went on in her head. "Sou ka," he said as his plan changed entirely. If that was the Lancer's decision, he'd make the decision of not leaving her to go at it alone. Just as well, doing that would hardly produce a different outcome from what he originally intended to do.
A few steps placed him at Miki's side, where he turned to await the arrival of the traders. "Actually, there's no point to me hitting the streets. It'd be better if I just got a read on these traders you mentioned." He was, of course, lying. It would be worse by a veritable mile to do things this way, even if the same result would come about regardless. But... he'd do it anyway. He stood his ground, waiting patiently with only a nod toward Seriri when she announced her plan to find the one called 'Diva' to check with him.Comment
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Miki could have done what she'd said she'd do alone. In fact, she sort of expected to after waking up in Kou's lap instead of Akashi's. Her original partner generally left her to her own devices and she'd only informed him of her plans in case he wished to speak with any particular type of merchant, trader or craftsman that she'd have contact with this day. But, much to her own surprise, he claimed he wished to join her in her work today. 'That can't actually be productive...' she thought to herself. So, why would he do something like that if it wouldn't actually benefit his plans overall? She shifted her gaze for the first time in several moments and looked directly at the lad before her, her face full of obvious puzzlement. 'He's not actually just, doing this for me... is he?' she questioned mentally. The actions of the Dragon were straight-forward, though his temperament wasn't easily readable. Kou seemed to be put together in the exact opposite way, where everything he felt was pretty clear, but his actions weren't always in alignment. "Sou desu... your face is easy to read," Miki said softly. "Arigatou na..." she murmured. Her brave face was returning, but it was mostly just an act. Pretending to be brave when she wanted to crumble was a special skill developed over time, one she didn't really know she had but one most people were aware of, given her naturally displeased expressions.
Time would pass though, and Miki would continue to sit where she was, giving advice to many people. Fixing business practices, creating good payrates and benefits for employees, helping management motivate their staff. All kinds of interesting things came out of the lass' mind. One such conversation would be had between her and the same old gentleman who'd been the first one to speak to her during her incursion the previous day. "My son isn't interested in my business nor crafts. I don't know what to tell him though, this is all I know. And I need some young hands around but I can't..." he paused seeming to think over what he would say. "Workers are hard to find with the right skill sets," he finished up. There was something a bit ominous about his statement, and it wasn't missing from Miki. She didn't have an exact placement as to why, but she'd discourage anything resembling forced labor and help this man out to the best of her abilities. "If your son isn't interested in your business, as his father you should look into seeing if any of your fellows has the sort of business he'd enjoy learning. Additionally if you need a worker skilled to help you, you'd do better to have one who has interest in your trade as well. I'd advise looking into developing a set apprenticeship. Finding a young worker willing to work for a slightly decreased pay rate, something like 10 percent, while you share your experiences and expertise. Setting up your son in a similar situation will give him the ability to eventually learn and prosper in his own trade. And in this way you'd be able to guarantee your helper knows their own business and will eventually grow to be a substantial business partner, or someone you could pass your trade on to. Treat them well, teach them well, and watch as they take your ideas and flourish with them. A lot of the other business owners could benefit from that system as well, make sure you share it with your fellows," Miki mentioned. Her face still had nothing but a displeased expression but the old man before her knew and understood what she was saying. If he was having these kinds of problems with his son, perhaps some others were too. They could effectively have their kids learn the trades they wanted while getting paid to do so, and still get hands without dipping into unsavory practices. "That's... novel. And great. Don't worry... I'll make sure the rest of them hear of it. I'll come back if we have any issues," he said holding his hands up in offering of the 20 percent of his previous day's profits. This idea was worth way more than the money he'd just paid for it. And his business would surely prosper. He ran off and Miki spoke to Kou while waiting for the next approach, but only after pulling this pouch towards herself and adding it to the already large amount of currency she'd collected today.
"Ojii-san there, is a true merchant. He was the first to talk to me yesterday. He seems to have the best interests of all the tradesmen and merchants in mind. He's also been working his whole life, he's seen the best and worst of businesses, he has a good sense for things and a reasonable moral compass," she said. Knowing if she could she'd put this man in charge of the tradesmen given his own experiences.Comment
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Kou's eyes widened the moment Miki commented on the easy-reading of his visage, and his head turned away just slightly. "Iie," he said in a soft tone. From there, the wait properly began. It didn't take long for the traders to start walking in one after another. Miki dealt with each on an individual basis, taking small amounts of their profits in exchange for giving them some actual solid advice for their dealings. Kou, or rather Yugi, would have typically thought negatively. There was an interesting balance in the way Miki treated the operation, though. In a way, he could see how the people paying for her advice were benefiting even more than Miki herself ever could from the payment itself. It was... interesting.
One particular interaction between Miki and a trader really managed to catch Kou's attention, after a series of standard dealings. Kou had a few assumptions to make here and there from the others, but he didn't quite like the way this man phrased his issue with workers. Miki handled the man's issue quite succinctly, and yet... there was a switch in Kou's mind, and this meeting had been toying with it throughout its lifespan. 'That doesn't make sense. Even with Merfolk and Humans being divided here, if that kind of problem doesn't naturally fix itself...' Finally, Kou's mind was reaching the realization Akashi had days before, and it was infuriating. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he fell indefinitely silent. He gritted his teeth as well, not even having a response to Miki's words toward him after the trader left. This was bad. Kou was just about 100% certain of the problem here, but he needed one final bit of confirmation.Comment
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Kou's tells were much more obvious than Miki remembered after dealing with Akashi so directly for a few days. Even when he turned his face away from her she still felt the intention behind his actions. He even claimed to not want to be thanked perhaps. 'Sou ka, maybe I'm also pretty bad at reading people...' she thought to herself, there was no smile, but perhaps there didn't need to be one.
After her meeting with the one good tradesman, Kou's visage seemed to have changed. She never really got out of Akashi directly what he thought was going on beneath the Banker's tryanny, but he'd said it wasn't good. She could make a few assumptions based on her central beliefs about money, greed and the nature of people. But she was about to find out first hand exactly the nature of the rest of society within Atlantis. And this would come surprisingly in the form of a young girl, who approached the throne and Miki rather directly. Miki couldn't see her directly beneath the thin cloak she wore, which was brown in color, but she saw the shifty movements and realized the lass had a fish half for her lower body. Her face was hidden and she held up a bag of something in front of Miki and started talking really shifty glancing from left to right with a smile on her face which seemed a bit disturbed. Miki wasn't at all bothered by the look on this person's face, but she was outright concerned with what she was offering which wasn't money because when she poked the bag with her ability the pull of it wasn't quite right. "I don't remember seeing you yesterday. And I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I did... do we have business?" she asked of the lass.
She stammered several times still holding up the bag. "We, haven't met but I am here now..." she said looking from left to right and pushing back her hood. Revealing in the moment a mop of dusty looking white hair and yellow eyes with black sclera. She was definitely a fish and that awkward smile let Miki know exactly what type. "I want to make a deal with you. I want to be a merchant too, and I want to learn it from you!" she said excitedly. Miki's eyes widened just a tad, it was a bit early for her to have gained enough of a reputation for a random person to be trying to gain her as a master, though this one wanted Miki not strictly in the teaching sense. "I don't have any money yet, but I am a Mershark and I'm young. I heard yesterday that you can use Mershark teeth for your powers. And I'll give you all the ones I've lost and more for a long time! And I lose them all the time... and they grow back!" she said quickly. She was definitely selling up the traits and Miki could actually use the shark teeth if she intended to run a bone army but... Miki realized this girl must have been in the market yesterday, but she didn't remember seeing her anywhere. She definitely wasn't attached to any of the merchants who'd sided with her as an employee. She would have had some form of currency to offer if she did, the contract protections would have made it so. "I'll give you all this, if you'll just buy me from my master!" she finished and Miki's eyes widened. "Buy you from your..." Miki paused, everything this child shark had said made a great deal of sense. Now, it was something Akashi had realized that Miki hadn't because she wasn't the type to ever see people as things. "Little Shark people aren't Merchandise. I would never buy a person...." Miki spoke these words with a marked bit of defiance. The little shark girl was unsure of how to react in the moment. But Miki wasn't upset with her at all. In fact, Miki was more than willing to make a deal with her. "Your first lesson is contract negotiations. Don't sell yourself short. You aren't property and you aren't merchandise, knowing this, what's your approach?" she asked of the girl rather calmly her eyes were trained on her and she was waiting.Comment
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Kou couldn't quell the anger building up within. He had hopes of being wrong, but... he knew better. Maybe he could at least make sure he managed to calm himself before confronting anyone about this...
No such luck. The next person to enter the throne room was a female mer, and obviously not a trader of any sort, despite her intentions of learning to be one. That wasn't the worst part, though. Her hidden face and body, the way she stood, everything about her demeanor during this approach... it all screamed something worse than poverty. The final confirmation came from the Mershark's own mouth; she was a slave. Kou's narrowed eyes became wide, and his hand trembled while forming a fist. This wasn't going to end well for someone, at this rate. The girl was so bad off, she even offered to be purchased by Miki in order to learn the ins and outs of business, likely with the intention of then buying her freedom at a later time. "Tch!" was the only sound from Kou as he bit into his bottom lip, drawing blood from the corner. He'd still leave Miki to her own dealings instead of stepping in with his own clause and intentions, though.Comment
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