The streets were brightly lit.
In such a prosperous commercial area, an independent storefront was not cheap. Speaking of which, Fujimoto Matsu looked quite proud.
"Hahaha, this is all thanks to me!"
The tattoo shop wasn't large; the living area had three patchwork sofas in red, green, and blue. The surrounding walls were covered in graffiti—records left by every guest in markers of various colors and thicknesses.
'Maki is the best!'
'It hurts so much! Never believe people who say it doesn't hurt at all!'
Yuno Gasai walked around the walls, admiring the various notes left in different tones.
Maki, meanwhile, pulled Fujimoto Matsu and quietly stepped into a small private room.
A water dispenser sat in the corner, and on the side wall hung a replica crossbow and two long black katanas.
Not long after Yuno Gasai sat down, Maki called her from the room, indicating she was ready.
"Is this okay?"
Yuno Gasai was wearing a simple black camisole, the silk fabric clinging to her back and tracing its curves. On her chest was a freshly applied transfer—a black flower with dense lines that looked like a woven web.
"Wow, you have a great figure..."
With an excited expression, Maki reached out and touched Yuno Gasai's back.
She slid her hand down Yuno's neck and gave a light flick at the small of her back—the girl who was touched jumped in alarm like a startled rabbit, quickly backing away two steps and looking at her warily.
"Alright, alright, we're both girls."
Maki laughed and waved her over. "I just don't have a figure as good as yours..." She checked the transferred tattoo design on Yuno Gasai's chest, muttering to herself: "Fujimoto will definitely like this..." Maki took out a marker and made a couple of marks in specific spots, drawing guide lines for the actual work later.
—Since she started in this industry, she had seen many underage Boys and girls, including kids as young as thirteen or fourteen.
Facing these 'clients,' as long as the money was sufficient, Maki was perfectly willing to help even if they wanted the word'Stupid' tattooed on their faces.
She didn't have any sense of 'responsibility'; after all, it was your own body—shouldn't you be responsible for yourself?
She just needed to make money.
And while she was at it, help her boyfriend with some... fun things.
Rich girls wanting to go behind their families' backs to secretly let loose, get a tattoo, run away from home, go to adult places with street bikers, rebelliously fight, steal, or commit crimes.
None of this was strange.
But this pattern... was very strange.
Maki couldn't quite describe the feeling, but the moment she printed the design and applied it to Yuno Gasai, the image began to feel strange.
Yes... it seemed as if it had come alive.
A flower she had never seen before, its petals stretching out wildly, eerie yet excessively magnificent, with circles of strange and complex text tightly surrounding it.
If Maki were knowledgeable enough, she might have realized that these characters were somewhat similar to Ancient Egypt's hieroglyphs or the East's oracle bone script, yet they were harder to understand and more complex than either.
Just like the difference between scripts created by Mortals and those created by gods.
Unfortunately, the woman named Maki had hardly any education.
Maki shook her head, checked once more that the pattern on Yuno matched the one on her computer, and then had Yuno Gasai lie down on the chair.
"Oh right, didn't you have a'special request'? Bring it out."
Maki put on her blue nitrile gloves and fiddled with the silver tattoo machine as she suddenly spoke.
The other party pointed to a nearby table—on it sat two small glass test tubes filled with a deep red liquid.
At some point, they had been placed there.
Maki rolled her eyes, a look of disgust appearing on her face while her back was to Yuno.
Is this girl some kind of pervert?
It went like this:
Five days ago, someone calling themselves Yono added her contact information, claiming to like her tattoo style and wanting to book an appointment—everything seemed normal enough so far.
But then, the other party made a strange request.
'Um, I can pay double, or even triple the price. Please just follow my specific requirements.'
Maki was the type of person who, as long as the money was right, would even tattoo 'idiot' on a baby; she assumed this was just another rebellious minor acting out behind their parents' backs.
However, the other person said: 'Could you please not use tattoo ink? I will provide the liquid to be injected into my body.'
Is this some kind of creep?
While Maki hesitated, wanting to delete this Yono, the other party directly transferred a large sum of money.
A truly large sum.
There was no helping it; with that much money, to be honest, Maki couldn't refuse.
She set a time and specifically chose a club, intending to use the setting to see what kind of person the other party was.
To her surprise, was it really a young lady of a wealthy family?
Are rich young ladies these days all this perverted?
"What is this? You have to tell me now. I don't want to inject contraband into your body; I still have a lot of living to do."
Maki picked up the test tube and shook it a few times in the light; the deep red liquid clung to the glass walls of the tube before slowly flowing back down.
"It's... blood."
"Huh??"
Maki's eyes widened as she looked at Yuno Gasai in disbelief. "You haven't been tricked by some shrine maiden, have you? Telling you that if you tattoo the blood of the person you like into your body, you'll get his love?"
"That is way too cliché!"
"Besides, how did you get his blood? And why is it so thick?"
The pink-haired girl lowered her head shyly. "It's... I got it from there."
"Where is 'there'?" Maki shook the test tube, muttering, "The amount isn't large, but let me say this upfront: if the other person has some disease and you get infected, don't come looking for me."
Actually, Maki wasn't afraid of anything happening to Yuno Gasai.
Because of what was about to happen soon, Maki and Fujimoto Matsu had specifically brought Yuno Gasai here via a back alley.
They were too familiar with that road; only two lonely, long-broken cameras hung there. A theft had occurred there recently, and in the end, nothing came of the investigation.
So, as long as there was nothing wrong with the blood, Maki didn't really care.
Even if something went wrong, wasn't there still Fujimoto Matsu?
Yuno Gasai didn't think twice and nodded quickly, a certain fanaticism appearing in her expression. "Please don't worry. I am accepting this tube of blood with a heart full of deep, deep love."
Deep love?
Looking at her, Maki felt a bit of a chill.
Definitely a cult; this young lady has been brainwashed by a cult.
Well, looks like I can squeeze out a bit more money.
Thinking this, Maki spoke accordingly.
She shook her head, feigning refusal. "I don't think I can do it. I've thought about it, and I just can't take on this responsibility. If anything happens to you, won't I be in huge trouble?"
Yuno Gasai wasn't surprised at all; a hint of mockery appeared on her now-calm face. Clutching the front of her camisole with one hand, she gestured a number with the other. "I'll double the payment again, okay?"
Two times two is four, four times four is sixteen... Maki counted on her fingers and simply couldn't hold back anymore.
"It's a deal! Transfer the money, and let's start working now!"
Pop—
The cork on the test tube was pulled out by the tattoo artist.
It sounded like an echo knocking on the porch of hell.
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