He's not sure yet

Shuichi’s convertible was deathly silent as he drove back to his place with Peko and Mukuro in the back seat and Maki in the passenger’s seat beside him. There was the sound of the engine and the road, of course, but even then, there was simply no ignoring the tension in the air. Mukuro sat with her hand on her bag, ready to pull a knife in case Peko tried to betray Shuichi, while Shuchi tried his best just to focus on the road. Peko, meanwhile, seemed almost tranquil as she sat, seemingly acting as a blank slate until Shuichi ordered her to do something.

“So… it looks like you didn’t get out of things unscathed after all. I warned you about that,” Maki whispered to Shuichi. “Still, you accomplished your goal, and having a servant for a year probably won’t be too bad. All-in-all, I’m pretty satisfied with how things turned out.”

“Y-yeah, me too.” Shuichi’s hands were visibly sweating as he gripped his steering wheel. “Couldn’t be happier!”

“Strange… you don’t sound that elated.” Maki leaned in close to Shuichi so she could whisper even more quietly. “Are you nervous?”

“She tried to kill us, Maki; of course, I’m nervous!” Shuichi gripped his wheel even tighter. “How do I know she won’t try it again?”

“You don’t,” Maki said bluntly. “But look on the bright side. If you keep her, there’s only a chance she’ll kill you. But if you refuse her, you’ll offend the Yakuza, and you’ll definitely be dead.”

“Uh… that doesn’t really help.” Shuichi glanced back at Peko’s calm, pale face. “Maybe I should tell her to stop carrying weapons around, just to be safe.”

“Nah - she’s definitely the kind of girl who can kill you in at least ten different ways, even without a weapon,” Maki countered. “At least if she uses a sword, it’ll be faster.”

“O-oh… great…” Shuichi nervously swallowed as he pulled into the parking lot for his apartment complex and turned off his engine. “Alright, you two; are you sure that you don’t need rides back to your places?”

“No, I should be fine. Fighting always puts me in a mood to jog anyway.” Mukuro got out of the car and slammed the door behind her. “And I’ll be sure to come running back if I hear that our new friend here isn’t behaving herself.”

“I told you before that your worry is unnecessary,” Peko said as she got out of the car with her sword. “I swear on my life that no harm will come to Master Saihara as long as I serve him. I would not even complain if he beat or tortured me; that’s how much I value his life over mine.”

“I’m, uh, flattered by the offer, but I’d really rather not do that,” Shuichi hastily interjected. “In fact, I was thinking and… It’d probably be for the best if you went home for the night too.”

“What!?” Peko spun back toward Shuichi. “But you still haven’t given me a proper order yet. How can I truly pay back my debt to you if I can’t properly serve you?”

“D-don’t worry, you will, you will!” Shuichi promised, putting up his hand. “It’s just that, you know… I’ve had a bit of a long day, and I’m already really behind on my sleep. I just want to rest for tonight, in peace and quiet, alright? I promise that you can serve me as much as you want in the morning.”

“I see… fine. I will obey your will.” Peko bowed deeply and turned back toward the city streets, not considering asking for a ride back to her home even for a moment.

Shuichi watched Peko as she left, refusing to take his eyes off her or even breathe until she finally turned a corner and disappeared from sight.

“Phew…” Shuichi sighed and finally returned to his apartment, which was still left unlocked after Peko had searched through it. Once inside, he felt the strong urge to collapse on his couch immediately from how exhausted he was, but he decided to get a drink. All of the hectic activity of the day had left him parched. However, upon opening his fridge, he found that he was down to nearly the last of his orange juice. Worse still, there wasn’t much food left, either. Shuichi grimaced, realizing that he couldn’t simply go grocery shopping as he would normally do.

“Ah… suddenly, keeping that case to myself doesn’t sound so bad.” He groaned quietly to himself. “It’s fine though, it’s fine. I can make it to my next paycheck just fine. I just have to be confident and stretch my yen out, and I’ll be just fine! U-until rent comes due, that is… hopefully, I’ll be able to save up enough for the lump sum by then; I know they don’t take extensions here.”

He thought back to Kirumi’s generosity earlier that day. It was a tempting idea to simply call her and try to get a ‘donation’ to help him get through the coming weeks until his first paycheck, but he shook his head. “No way am I doing that. There’s no way I could even consider myself a man if I were to take advantage of her like that again.”

Shuichi downed the last of his juice and then immediately flopped into bed, not even bothering to take off his clothes. It had been a seriously hectic couple of days, and he needed a full night’s rest more than anything in the world.