Sweet Sounds Of Rock And Roll

Mika sifted through the four corpses' pockets in the dining hall. She collected three silenced pistols, six fully loaded magazines, four cell phones, and one pair of expensive earbuds. Her fingers tapped against the screen of one of the cell phones, unsure of how to unlock it. Kazuya approached from behind her, but she didn't bother turning to face him. He snatched the phone from her hands, plugging a USB-C adapter into the charging port, and one into his own phone.

"Hey, give that back! My kills, my spoils!"
Mika stood on her tiptoes as she tried to reach for the small device in Kazuya's grasp.

"Relax, kid. I'm just factory resetting it for you. You can have it back when I'm done."
Kazuya unplugged the cable from the phone, slipping it back into Mika's small hands. He knelt down beside her, showing her the app store on the home screen.
"You can download all sorts of programs from here. I'll even share my Ringo Music account with you if you want to listen to any songs."

Mika tilted her head to the side, furrowing her brow in confusion.
"Ringo Music? What kind of songs do they have on there?"

Kazuya let out a hearty chuckle, showing Mika his own digital library of various rock and roll albums.
"Anything you can think of, kid. You probably won't like my old-school music, so feel free to search for stuff that teenage girls like to listen to."

Mika pulled herself away from Kazuya, clutching the phone to her chest. Her eyes flickered to the floor as she stuttered a lie.
"I... I like rock and roll too! I'm not into those crappy boy bands!"

Kazuya smiled, gently reaching for her phone with his injured hand.
"You're a rocker girl, huh? Let me download some of my favorite albums onto your phone, okay?"

Mika hesitantly handed the device to Kazuya, watching as he tapped away on the screen. Once he handed it back to her, she squinted her eyes to read the small text.
"Yura Yura Teikoku? BUCK-TICK? I don't know any of these..."

Kazuya plugged her earbuds into the audio jack on the bottom of her phone, placing one in her ear. He pressed play on the album and Mika's face lit up with a sweet expression. The heavy distortion of the guitars caused her to bob her head in time with the rhythm.
"Kazuya... I like this music!"

Kazuya suppressed a fatherly smile, opting for a ruffle on her hair instead.
"You have good taste in music, puppy. Go get some shut-eye; you deserve it after your exploits."

Mika obeyed Kazuya's command. She didn't realize it at the time, but in that moment, Kazuya had treated her like a human; not just as any human, but almost like a daughter. She sat in her kennel, letting the harsh noise in her earbuds whisk her away to dreamland.

Mika awoke early in the morning, noticing the cell phone next to her was turned off. She fiddled with the power button, but the device remained black. Her body ached as she crawled out of her kennel, looking around the basement for a cable to plug her new phone into. She was down on her luck. Somehow, despite the basement housing every single illegal narcotic and cleaning supply known to man, there wasn't a single USB-C cable. She exited the basement and entered the dining hall, where the Bara-gumi were hard at work cleaning the disaster that had taken place while they slept.

Ninagawa Charlotte puffed on her pipe, smiling as Mika entered the room. She eagerly approached the small girl, resting her hands against her voluptuous hips.
"How's my little puppy holding up? Don't tell me you're too tired to go on a mission today."
Mika completely ignored Charlotte's words, walking directly past her toward Kazuya.

Charlotte's eyes widened with rage. She watched as Mika stood by Kazuya's side, talking to him as if he were an older brother.

"Kazuya, where can I find a charger for my phone? I really want to listen to that album you showed me last night."

Charlotte stormed closer, grabbing Mika by the collar of her suit. The two locked eyes with each other, and Mika looked disgustedly at Charlotte. She spat in Charlotte's face.

"You imbecile! Don't forget who you belong to!"
Charlotte retaliated with a fist to Mika's jaw, sending her into the table below.
"Why are you acting like Kazuya is your owner?! I'm the one who owns you!"

Mika didn't say a word. She simply jumped to her feet, looking directly into Charlotte's dark eyes.

"Stop looking at me like that! I'm sending you on a mission to seduce our regular gamblers into further debt! Don't come back until this bag is empty!"
Charlotte tossed a messenger bag in Mika's face. The pouch was full of heavy, paper bills; each stack contained one-hundred-thousand yen.

"Are you stupid? Teenagers aren't allowed in pachinko parlors!"
Mika counted through each stack of money, not bothering to converse with Charlotte respectfully.

Charlotte let out a deep cackle, puffing the end of her pipe.
"Who said anything about pachinko, loser dog? All you need to do is go to the coordinates on this map and wait for the fools inside to run out of money. They won't question you while you're wearing that rose-patterned suit."
Charlotte placed a paper map on the table below.

Mika grimaced.
"A paper map? Seriously? What year is it, 1985? Just send it to me on my cell phone."
She pointed to the handheld device, charging in the corner of the room.

Charlotte clicked her tongue.
"Who gave you that toy, puppy? How does a homeless orphan know how to use a smartphone?"
Her gaze landed on Kazuya.

"Don't look at me, boss. She snatched it from the Naraku-gumi, last night. I only showed her how to open the music app."
Kazuya turned his head away, lighting a cigarette.

Charlotte let out a breathless chuckle, pulling out her own phone to send Mika the coordinates of the underground gambler's hall located in Shibuya.
"Very well, puppy. I will allow you to keep your little cell phone. This makes my job easier as well. Give me your email address."

Mika tilted her head in confusion.
"Email... address?"

"Holy hell, puppy. You truly are an idiot. Give me your phone, I'll do it myself!"
Charlotte stormed to the corner of the room, creating Mika her own personal email and Line ID.

Mika stood patiently, watching as Charlotte tapped her fingers against the screen of her phone.
"How the hell do you expect me to get to Shibuya from here? Even I know that it's a day-long walk from Sanya!"

Charlotte slammed the cell phone back into Mika's hands, pointing with her pipe at the messenger bag slung over her left shoulder.
"I just gave you half a billion yen, figure out transportation and lodging on your own, dumbass."

Mika's eyes widened in shock. She looked down at the bag around her shoulder and clutched it tightly. Her mind was racing with all sorts of possibilities that half a billion yen could provide.
"You're... just trusting me to not run away with half a billion yen?"

Charlotte scoffed. She impatiently began tapping her foot against the floor.
"You wouldn't dream of it. You want to kill me, so you'll need to return at some point. Plus, I told you if you ever removed that GPS rose pendant around your tie I would stomp your head into the curb, didn't I?"

Mika turned her head. She knew Charlotte was right. There was no way she would ever run away from the Bara-gumi again until she watched Charlotte die in front of her eyes. She plopped her earbuds into her ears, stepping out of the Bara-gumi's headquarters with a bag full of cash, and a heart full of resolve.