<span style="font-style: italic">Kyris was young, naive. She had been told that M'lady was going to take care of her for a little while, until her mother got better. She liked M'lady well enough, but the older woman was kind of cold and distant.<br/><br/>"Thank you for taking care of me!"<br/>"You're welcome, Kyrisa."<br/>"Um..."<br/>"Yes?"<br/>"When can I go home?"<br/>M'lady would just smile slightly, "You've been a good girl. Why not go get an ice-cream?"<br/><br/>And Kyris always would. Eventually, she stopped asking. Eventually, the ice-cream became bitter.</span><br/><br/>Kyris snapped awake. It was late into the evening, and still raining. She sighed, rubbing her eyes, then headed into the shower. She was quick, wanting to get to work, and in only fifteen minutes was dressed in soft flannel pajamas and perusing the order-in menu. Once she'd placed her order, she wandered over to the desk, where the folder on Toshi and her hair clip sat. She picked up the hair clip and gazed steadily at it. It had been a present from her parents, and Kyris had never really been able to part with it, though her reasons for that had changed as she'd grown up. At first it had been so that she wouldn't forget them, but as she became older, the clip became a reminder of how her parents had sold her, and how she owed M'lady for the life that she had.  She was privileged, to live this life. M'lady was counting on her.<br/><br/>Kyris slipped the clip into her still-damp hair and retrieved her dinner. She spent most of her meal re-reading Toshi's file, her mouth set in a firm line. When she was finished, she stood and pulled her uniform out of her suitcase, hanging it on the bathroom door.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">No more games. Tomorrow, I'm going home. And I'm bringing him with me, as you requested, M'lady. I won't fail.</span>