[hider=Bang Bang - Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj] [youtube]0HDdjwpPM3Y[/youtube][/hider] "Well, that was fun." Maki sighed contentedly as she slipped on her jeans, looking at the redhead giggling on her bed. She picked up her bra and the remainder of her clothing from the floor and dressed herself, the moonlight giving a ghostly hue to her tattoos. When her partner for the evening had seen them for the first time when she undressed there was an appreciative moan at how domineering it made Maki look, and the Japanese had not disappointed when she pushed the girl onto the bed. Now, however, she had somewhere else to be. "It's Christmas, stay." There was a whine coming from the redhead, and Maki managed a charming smile but shook her head. "Your sister wouldn't be very happy to hear that you slept with her savior." Maki replied with a giggle of her own. "And it's Christmas, that's why I have to go collect my presents." --- Or so she had said. Still, there wasn't much for the young woman to do now that she was on the street again but put up with the cold and wonder why she had even let that redhead talk her into staying for a Christmas dinner. Company was fine and all, but Maki didn't do the whole domestic thing. Especially not on Christmas. [i]Don't start. Not today. Not this year.[/i] The whole holiday season was a real depressing period for the Asian woman, and her friends knew it. She had yet to find her parents' killers and every Christmas or family holiday was a reminder of that. Having sex with a hot girl was just a distraction from her foul mood, but now she only had her thoughts left to keep her company. She sighed and took a right, heading back for the bar. She was off her shift already, but there was no point hanging out by herself and trying to keep from looking for a razor or some rope. Her mind would go there eventually if she stayed alone and unsupervised. Well, she could round up a few of the kids and bring them in the back. Tom didn't mind her borrowing the kitchen for them for birthdays or holidays as long as she didn't go overboard. That settled it. She needed it nice, cosy little party with the kids. In fact, they usually hung out nearby... Maki turned down an alleyway, a shortcut to the arcade where the homeless children always hung around. The owner let them in when it was cold outside and the patrons were usually nice enough to spare some change on their way out or in. She could always find at least a couple of them loitering around for those reasons, and she'd get them to spread the word and throw a little Christmas feast. Well, that was the plan. It was very abruptly interrupted by someone running down into the alley and straight into her. "Ow! Watch where you're going assho- Johnny?" Maki recognized the man before her. He was a thief through and through, but had a Robin Hood mentality insofar as he shared his spoils with the other homeless so they could buy meals and stuff. Though he had a knack for bringing trouble with him because the man had no sense of restraint when he was stealing from people. Cops and drug dealers weren't safe from his hands, and that usually meant a lot of running and yelling when he got caught. The look on his face told her this was the case now. Especially since he recognized her and smiled immediately. "Oh, thank God you're here! I need some hel-" "Stop. Stop right there." Maki silenced him by pressing a hand to his mouth and glaring at him. "It's Christmas and I am [i]not[/i] getting in a fight with some cops or gangbangers because you couldn't keep your hands to yourself this one night. Who the hell did you try to rip off anyway?" Her question was answered as three very angry looking men entered the alley shortly after. Their gang tattoos were prominent in the light and they headed straight for the pair. "Of course you had to pick the Iron Skulls to piss off. They're only the largest supplier of street weapons in the area, what could go wrong?" She sighed sarcastically at Johnny before letting him go and leaned against a dumpster. The reason why they even had "iron" in their name was because of how well armed they were. She could hear the threats coming in from the gangsters, threatening all sorts of bodily harm. "It's Christmas, gents. Surely we can avoid doing this for one night?" Maki called out, her voice sweet and charming, trying her best to seem as if she wasn't tense and ready for a fight. This was bad. If these bastards pulled their guns, all they had to do in this narrow alleyway was fire in their general direction to kill them. Sure, the sound might draw too much attention and bring the cops around, but that was no consolation to a couple of dead bodies. "Yeah, well he shouldn't picked Christmas night to fuck around with us then." The leader retorted. Maki knew the gang well enough to tell he simply had seniority on the other two, because there was none of the usual indications that he held any kind of rank in the gang. Well, hoping that they would recognize who she was from the tattoo on her arm, she crossed it and made sure it was prominent. "Come on, he's going to use that money to buy everyone in the sewers a hot meal tonight. Let it slide this once, just for tonight." She appealed. It sounded reasonable, but the look in her eyes and the way she was had her legs crossed in her leaning position told them she wasn't joking around or that they weren't getting past to Johnny unless they went through her first. "Dude, that tattoo on her arm... She's the one they call Angel, right? She does favours for the boss now and then?" One of them asked in a hush whisper. Maki only caught it because she had superhuman hearing, but she was trying hard not to smirk and give the game away. The leader narrowed his eyes and studied her tattoo, before sighing. He nodded to his friend's comment and stepped back. "Just this once, and only because you're the one who asked." --- "You're a colossal moron." Maki snapped as she counted how much Johnny had stolen. Two hundred dollars. Enough for a Christmas feast for twent, by their standards. Not enough to risk getting shot by gangsters. "You almost got us killed for two hundred dollars." "Well, they backed off." "Only because I asked nicely." She drawled, and removed thirty dollars for herself. "That's tax for saving your ass. The kids will have a good time in the arcade tonight, and you're paying." "What did they mean by you doing favours for their boss?" Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow as he took the rest of the money and pocketed it. Of course that was the only thing that interested him from the whole exchange. Not thanking her for saving his sorry butt. "I run messages for them and tip them off when the cops are planning to raid them from time to time, when I hear about it. In exchange, their boss is tracking down who sold the guns that killed my family." Maki replied flatly. "And that is all you're getting out of me on that matter. I'm off to the arcade."