My Perfect Lady

Rebecca glanced at her junior. At that pretty dress that she had ripped off. And that horrendous scar, that now seemed to be gleaming in mockery.

"Miya…" her voice was barely a whisper.

Miya shrugged nonchalantly.

"Its alright," she said, "It could happen to anyone."

Becky looked like she wanted to ask more, her eyes almost pleaded to know what had happened. Yet, Miya didn"t spare her a single glance. She covered her bare shoulder with her hand, and again said in a cool voice, "I still want to talk, Rebecca. If you want to."

Becky nodded.

They walked out of the café, with a few people turning around as they saw Miya with her torn dress and bandaged knees. They watched her suspiciously, but the girl was too disoriented to have felt awkward.

Miya didn"t realize what way they went. Not even the car ride with Rebecca.

She was just feeling numb.

She shivered slightly, her hand trembling as she clutched at her shoulder. Her mind was filled with the echo of just one question.

When?

Exactly when had Becky decided that she was a fraud?

Did she not even recognize her moves, while they were fighting?

Could she really be so easily replaced?

It was just the eyes, d.a.m.n it! Just the b.l.o.o.d.y eyes!

Kasu, that d.a.m.ned, f***ing b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

Becky"s heart was pounding in her chest. She looked at Miya"s small figure, as she trembled. Guilt filled her body as she saw Miya"s eyes, that held no emotion at all.

Her words came out in a frenzy.

"I knew something was wrong, but it was the only logical conclusion. I"m sorry Miya! I know your fighting style, and I know how you read like a maniac. But I just thought it could all be arranged! I thought uncle had somehow figured out I was on to him! I"m sorry! And with the Hunters coming up –"

"Its okay."

Miya didn"t look at Becky, but her words registered.

In short, that was what she was saying. She could be replaced.

And no one would ever know.

Rebecca wished Miya would look at her just once. Then, maybe she would feel better… or at least, have the guts to ask what happened to her eyes.

The drive wasn"t long.

They stopped near an old building, and they both walked out. Rebecca lead the way. It was a rather shady looking place, and the two turned quite a few turns before reaching a street that had small, tattered looking houses on both sides.

Miya frowned.

She had lived in such places all her life, but in this one, she could smell danger.

In fact, what was Rebecca doing in a place like this?

Becky kept walking, and Miya was instantly on alert. She scanned the surroundings for things that she could use as weapons, her free hand clenching into a fist. She was surprised however, when she saw Becky simply walk to a house and take out a bunch of keys.

Her voice was simple.

"It"s Karl"s."

Miya immediately frowned.

Why were they at the house of that a.s.sh*le?

When they stepped in, Miya and Becky both were overwhelmed by the smoke. It seemed as if someone had smoked an entire factory of cigarettes in there.

Coughing, Miya waved the curls of smoke away from her eyes. Becky coughed too, and then closed the door behind her.

The house had two rooms, rather shabby and small, and one kitchen. There was a single bed filled with sheets and rags, that seemed as if no one had touched them for ages. The entire place reeked of alcohol and smoke.

The contrast immediately struck Miya, between where she was staying at the hotel, and this place. Somehow, it took her by surprise, the enormous change that had taken place in her life. Just some time ago, she would still have been living in a place like this, feeling completely normal.

Now, it felt weird. Even out of place.

Shrugging uncomfortably, Miya reminded herself of the one year deal. And the fact that no matter what, she shouldn"t forget her roots.

This junk was where she had started, lived, and where she belonged.

Somehow, the thought made her want to puke.

Becky had moved to the other room now. She still looked uncomfortably at Miya, her eyes apologetic, scanning the younger girl to see if she had recovered yet. When Miya showed her no sign of weakness or distress, she cleared her throat, waved the smoke away from her face, and began.

"Around three months ago, I visited this place, and met Karl for the first time. I came out of concern for his daughter of course, and to find out if it was true – that my uncle indeed was somehow involved. From the look of it, I could tell that Karl took drugs. And it wasn"t difficult to a.s.sume that he was a dealer too."

Becky moved to a broken wooden desk kept to the side. Pulling out the drawer, she took out a pen. Then she moved to the headboard of the bed, and inserted the refill of the pen in one of the drawers. It opened with a pang.

From in there, Becky pulled out packets of white powder.

"Cocaine," she said coldly, holding one in each hand, "He circulates them among the kids. Its done on a high scale, I think. And somehow, uncle was involved. But Karl wouldn"t speak up to a random stranger, so I visited a few times, and one day asked him for some meth. Well… I thought, if I was going to do it again, what better to smoke than crystal meth?"

Miya raised her eyebrows at that, and Becky quickly shrugged. She dropped the packets inside the drawer again.

"And well… he is a h.o.r.n.y moron, and he fell for it. I just had to pretend to be smoking pals, and he"d call me to all these shady places to hand over the drugs… it was a dangerous affair. And it scared me to death. But I do have a few friends around who"d stay in the shadows. One day, I invited him to a bar and he got drunk. That"s when he told me, there"s a big boss, and that his wife was sleeping with him.

Then, from the drawings of his daughter, and his own words, it wasn"t difficult to figure out that this big boss is my uncle. I took my chance and said I liked him. He was too eager to jump at the opportunity too and said likewise."

Miya was surprised she wasn"t puking out blood yet. Becky fidgeted uncomfortably too. However, she continued.

"For what it"s worth, I didn"t sleep with him. But he did tell me a lot of names, and places. From what I could investigate… uncle probably gets his investments from the black market. There"s some papers here as proof too. His wife nicked them somehow."

Miya"s face was steel.

"Then… yesterday, why did he…?" she asked fiercely, "And if there"s nothing between you, why did you break down like that?"

Becky frowned.

"It was sudden, to be honest. I was out there, getting all emotional with you, and then when I woke up you were gone. And there was this big bulky guard, looking at me with icy eyes. I was depressed and smoked a few more and pa.s.sed out. Then when I woke up again, Karl had come around. It surprised me too, but I sent the guard away because Karl said he wanted to share something. I thought he might have something useful to say. So I had to smoke some drugs. I didn"t expect him to get so vicious though. Maybe he was tired of waiting around because I never really did let him touch me.

And as far as me breaking down is concerned… well, it could be hormonal. I did smoke a lot and took the drugs as well. Then, I was worried you"d find out what I"d been doing with my life and… I don"t know. I just felt horribly dirty. Also… the b.a.s.t.a.r.d had threatened me that if I didn"t let him have his way, his little girl would pay. I just… that"s why I had to come back here after our fight. I had to see if his girl was alright."

It was only then, that Miya"s expression softened. Her eyes lost the cold, and she felt her body relax somewhat.

So last night, that"s why Becky had left…

Miya"s heartbeat slowed, and in a very low, calming voice, she whispered.

"Don"t be a fool, Becky. It"s not you who"s dirty. It"s them. Always has been."

With that, she took a step forward, and embraced her friend.