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she snapped the head of the match across the ignition strip, making the match erupt into flame. She flipped it in to a puddle not too far away, then turned as the hungry fire started to consume the spilled alcohol on the floor. Andrea walked quickly over the prostrate bodies and out the door, closing it for the last time before heading up the steps.
    Andrea came up into the alleyway and headed toward the street where Kanjou and Roni were waiting. She turned a small distance away from them and looked back at the stairway, which was becoming suffocated by smoke. The fire had spread quickly across the alcohol soaked floor and was already taking out the rotted door, throwing small bits of orange light into the dark alley. Andrea stood there and watched the smoke billow out and the flames leap higher, only turning when the distant sounds of a fire engine could be heard.
    She walked to Kanjou and Roni, her eyes fixed on the ground. “We should go. Someone’s obviously called in the fire.” Andrea said, her voice empty of expression.
Kanjou put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry for your loss.” he said sincerely.
    Andrea pushed away the gesture of comfort. “Don’t be. Comes with the job.” she said, seeming to try to convince herself more than anyone else.
    The three started walking away as the sirens grew closer, rounding the corner just as a fire engine and two police cars erupted onto the street they had come from. The outlaws walked on in silence for a bit, though Andrea kept turning at random intervals to look behind them. Kanjou wasn’t sure if it was make certain they weren’t being followed or to try to get one last look at the burning bar.
Finally, Roni interrupted the solemn silence. “I’m Roni, Shigai Roni.” she said to Andrea, “And this is Tsukai Kanjou.”
     
Andrea didn’t even bother to look at the girl with the purple pigtails. “Andrea The Tiger.” she muttered.
    Roni looked at Andrea with curiosity. “No family name?” “If I ever did have one, I don’t know it.”
“What about your father’s last name?”
Andrea shot Roni an enraged look. “Tony wasn’t my father.” she growled.
    Kanjou put his hand on Roni’s arm, a silent way of telling her to not ask any more questions. He could tell that Andrea’s emotions were in turmoil right now, despite the fact that she was attempting to hide it. They walked the rest of the way in silence.
    After a while Kanjou, Roni, and Andrea came to a fenced in section of the city that had grown wild. Andrea looked up at a sign that had faded over many years, beaten down by the weather.
“Shinjuku Gyoen National Gardens,” Andrea read aloud. “You have got to be kidding me.”
    Kanjou pulled open the gate and allowed Roni and Andrea to enter ahead of him. What had once been a neatly tended section of the city of Shibasaki had fallen into disrepair over the past two-hundred years, the plants taking over and growing wild and out of control. The children of Shibasaki, told stories that the Gardens were haunted or inhabited by the angry spirits of oni or tengu . Because of this only the most foolish of the local hoodlums and the occasional vandal ever tried to gain access to the forest that now sat in Shibasaki. Several abandoned buildings still remained in the Gardens, and the dilapidated temple that was now the Headquarters of the Aka Ryuu was one of them.
    As they walked along the only trail still visible, Andrea could see why these gardens had been abandoned. The ivy growth on the walls of the Headquarters building was enough to start ruining its structural integrity. She thought the whole place would crumble if she walked too hard while inside. They went up to the temple and entered the wide double doors at the front of one of the wings of the building.
“Hmm. Charming.” Andrea said sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked around the dusty entryway.
    “Roni! Kanjou! You’re back!” Fushicho came bouncing toward them.