Not very well.

Peko arrived at the Red-Light district at about 9 AM, scanning the streets carefully as she walked along the sidewalk. It was still early in the morning, so the lights were turned off, and the normally bustling streets were practically dead. Still, a few sex workers were walking around looking for their newest ‘catches’, and Peko hoped that the daylight and the uncrowded streets would make them more open to conversation.

After a few minutes of looking, she eventually decided to approach two dark-haired girls wearing thin pink dresses and high heels standing underneath the awning of The Sun nightclub to protect themselves from the actual sun’s bright rays.

“Greetings, young ladies,” Peko said with a formal bow as she approached the chatting young women. “How do you do?”

“How do I do… what exactly?” the one on the right asked.

“I think she’s asking what kind of stuff we’d be willing to do,” said the other.

“Well, I’m actually open to a lot of nasty shit, but I’m going to have to charge you extra for it,” the first told Peko.

“No, you misunderstand,” Peko said defensively, putting up a hand. “I’m not here for myself; I’m here on behalf of my master.”

“Your master? Are you trying to get a ‘gift’ for your boyfriend or something? Or do you want to have a threesome?” asked the girl on the right.

“Actually, I bet she’s a cuckquean - someone who likes to watch from the closet or something,” said the other. “Either way, though, you’re going to have to pay extra for every extra body in the bedroom.”

“Augh, no, I… you know what? Nevermind. I’ll go ask someone else.” Peko grimaced and walked away from the two, approaching a girl with red hair, a witch’s hat, and a long black cape covering most of her body. ”Excuse me; I’m looking for someone, and I was hoping that you could help me find them.”

“Hm? Have you misplaced someone? Perhaps a lover, or a friend?” Himiko asked, placing a finger to her chin. “I suppose I could use some scrying stones to help point you in the right direction.”

“That won’t be necessary. All I need you to do is tell me if you’ve ever seen this man around this area.” Peko took out the picture of Shuichi and showed it to Himiko.

“N-nyeh!?” Himiko began to sweat and looked away. “Yes, I’ve seen him before. In my dreams, in the stars, and the magical ether. He served as my familiar once.”

“You’ve met him!?” Peko, growing excited, stepped closer to Himiko. “Where was he? Where does he live? Did you happen to catch his name?”

“Nyah… I… don’t like to think about him anymore. He brings back unpleasant memories… and unpleasant visions of the future.” Himiko was starting to shiver a little bit now. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid that even my powers have limits - I cannot help you.”

“Please, you don’t need to tell me that much! Just a name would suf–” Peko tried to step closer to Himiko but was intercepted by a muscular woman with long brown hair.

“Hey, back off!” Tenko, wearing her usual black bra and matching spats, said as she raised her hands in a defensive manner typical of a martial arts master. “Koko said that she didn’t want to talk about it! You might not be male, but I can’t have you harassing my best friend!”

“Best friend? Nyah… I’d say you’re more in the top ten…” Himiko said, cleaning out one of her ears.

“Ach! You wound me!” Tenko said dramatically. “But my point still stands! Leave her alone, or you’re in for a world of hurt!”

Peko resisted the urge to reach for the sword she was carrying in the case on her back and stepped away.

“Very well. I will find someone else to help me then.” Peko turned around and continued to search the RLD for anyone that might look knowledgeable. Eventually, she spotted someone smoking outside the Titty Typhoon, which was naturally closed this early in the morning. The person was a blond woman with her hair tied into quickly-made pigtails and was wearing a white bathrobe; if Peko had to guess, she’d say that the woman must have just woken up.

“Excuse me, miss. Are you busy right now?” Peko asked, approaching Hiyoko.

“Huh?” Hiyoko took a long drag of her cigarette and stood up straight. “Nah, I’m not doing much right now - just waiting for my janitor to finish scrubbing the man-gunk out of the VIP rooms.” She looked Peko up and down. “You look like you have good form. Show me how good you can dance, and I’ll consider a follow-up interview for my club later.”

“Uh, thank you for the compliment, but that’s not what I’m here for.” Once again, Peko took out the photo of the man she was hunting. “Have you seen this man?”

Hiyoko looked at the picture for a few moments and smirked.

“Of course, I’ve seen him! He is quite the important man, and everyone who’s anyone has been in my club!” Hiyoko said pridefully. “In fact, I’d even go as far to say that I’m his single favorite girl in the whole city!”

“He’s important? To whom?” Peko asked curiously.

“Huh? Were you dropped on the head as a baby or something? How can you possibly not know the answer to that question?” Hiyoko asked.

“Why I’m asking these questions does not matter. What matters is that you answer them accurately, or else there may be… unfortunate consequences,” Peko answered.

“What, seriously? You have got to be kidding me,” Hiyoko replied, darkness appearing in her eyes as she stared Peko down. “Do I look like I’m afraid of you, bitch!? I deal with rowdy assholes, stripper unions, obsessed fans, and my goddamn parents on a daily basis! Compared to them, you’re just a little piece of shit! So run off and flush yourself down a toilet or something before you stink up the place even more!”

“Tch… fine. But do not think I’ll forget about this,” Peko threatened before continuing her search elsewhere. Eventually, she decided to talk to a sex worker who looked a lot more friendly; a girl with tan skin, a ponytail, and a bright yellow bikini who was humming happily to herself as she dried her hair with a towel. Peko wasn’t entirely sure when or how she had gotten wet - perhaps she worked at one of the nearby soaplands - but she hoped this woman would be more pliable either way.

“Excuse me, miss; have you seen this man before?” Peko asked, not wasting any time and showing Aoi the photo immediately.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, of course, I have! Everyone in this part of town has seen the Ultimate John at one point or another,” Aoi replied. “Though, I actually knew him before he got that title.”

“Ultimate John? That must mean this man is quite the philanderer… he’s quite likely terrible with money too. I wouldn’t be surprised if he steals things all the time just so he can come here,” Peko thought to herself.

“I see… and do you happen to know what his real name is? Or where I might find him?” Peko asked, trying her best to sound friendly.

“Of course! His name is–” Aoi suddenly covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, sorry! I’m supposed to be getting better with confidentiality, so I’m afraid I can’t tell you that! See ya!”

“W-wait!” Peko called out, extending a hand out after Aoi, but the tan sex worker was too fast for her and was already skipping away down the street, disappearing past a small group of women. “Fuck… there goes my best lead yet. Whatever… if push comes to shove, I can just track her down again later - and if this man has such a lofty title, then surely others must know his name too.”

Peko approached the group of girls that Aoi had passed through with a determined look and got their attention by clearing her throat.

“Uh… can we help you?” a girl with short purple hair in blue high heels asked.

“Yes, you can.” Not wanting to risk these women not taking her seriously, Peko removed her Katana from its carrying case on her back and slammed it down sheath-first onto the ground in front of her, proudly displaying the Kuzuryu insignia to the sex workers in the process. “My name is Peko Pekoyama, and I represent the great Kuzuryu clan. I demand that you tell me everything you know about the Ultimate John - his name, where he lives, his place of work, and any other identifying information.”

“Oh, you want to know all that, do you?” a girl with short red hair and a camera hanging around her neck over her conservative green dress. “Well, I’m not sure we can get you all that, but how about we compromise instead? You leave us alone, and we will go about the rest of our days in peace. How does that sound?”

“What!?” Peko grimaced and stomped her sword on the ground again. “Does this symbol mean nothing to you?”

“Eh? Is it supposed to?” Another girl in a skimpy white waitress outfit - Akane - asked. “I’ll admit that my Kanji isn’t the best, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen that one before.”

“Don’t worry, you don’t need to know it,” the redhead assured the other girl before stepping closer to Peko. “Look, we don’t care who you are outside this street, but the Yakuza have no power here. We don’t pay you protection money, we don’t bow when you pass, and we certainly aren’t going to act as informants for you. We worked too hard to set things up in the Red Light District to give up our independence now. Of course, you’re free to keep looking around, but don’t expect any lips to loosen up even if you offer us cash. Loose lips sink ships after all - we all know that here.”

Peko grimaced again and looked to the other sex workers in the group. Sure enough, not a single one of them looked afraid of her.

“Fine! If that’s how it’s going to be…” Peko put her Katana back in its case and bowed to the girls, barely holding back her rage. Even if she was a girl herself, she knew she had to uphold the Kuzuryu code of chivalry, at least publicly - and that meant no harming innocents without good cause. “I am sorry to have bothered you. Goodbye, and have a nice day.”

Peko did her best to remain calm and pretend she was leaving the RLD as she walked away. However, as soon as she was confident that the girls behind her weren’t paying attention, she dashed into a nearby alleyway and let out a long sigh.

“Augh… I see that, for once, Natsumi was not exaggerating. How troublesome.” Peko reached into her bag and took out a small compact mirror. She opened it and scrutinized herself, noting her fine black suit, glasses, braided silver hair, and near-complete lack of makeup. “Well then; if they’re not going to open up to a Yakuza, then perhaps they’ll open up a bit more to one of their own.”

Starting with her hair braids, she began carefully preparing her new persona. For now, Peko, the yakuza bodyguard, was dead…

And Dahlia, the sex worker, was being born.

Back at C.O. Inc, Shuichi had managed to get through a good chunk of his work for the day, though it was getting hard for him not to procrastinate. Not by texting or messing around online, though; instead, he was putting off his normal work by doing other work instead, mainly the big financial summary he’d been tasked with, along with whatever other miscellaneous tasks he could find.

“Augh, calm down, Shuichi. You have plenty of time to do the audit summary, and you’re not going to help anyone by failing to finish your work today,” he thought to himself. “Just get today’s audits done, and then you can focus on the presentation as much as you want.”

Shuichi leaned back in his chair and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“The stress must be getting to me. With my bank account empty, the idea of losing my job is a bit scarier than normal. I should calm myself down.” Shuichi stood up from his desk and began returning toward the floor’s employee break room. “A nice, cold drink of water should help with that.”

However, when Shuichi opened the door to the break room, he suddenly found himself face-to-face with something that did the opposite of slowing his heart rate; Azura Nakano, a.k.a. the woman he found masturbating and moaning his name up on the roof the day before.

“O-oh! Hello, Shuichi! Uh… funny running into you here,” Azura greeted him with a nervous laugh. “How have you been?”

“I-I’m doing well, thanks for asking,” Shuichi replied as he walked to the watercooler, unable to look the blue-haired woman in the eye. “Work is going completely smoothly; nothing to complain about at all.”

“Really? Good to hear that you’re holding up well…” Azura laughed nervously and grabbed a granola bar from one of the break room cupboards. “...Ms. Tojo told me about what happened last night. About how you went gambling and lost a lot of money.”

“I-it wasn’t that much,” Shuichi lied through his teeth. “And I was only there because of… circumstances beyond my control.”

“It’s okay, Shuichi. I just wanted to let you know that we have resources to help if you have a problem,” Azura replied. “I’m not going to judge you. It’d be a bit hypocritical of me to judge you for taking risks for the thrill of it, after all. Hahaha… ha…” Azura blushed and looked away.

“Yeah, about that… so… do you do that kind of stuff up there all the time?” Shuichi asked, giving into his curiosity. “N-not that I was thinking about that a lot; I just want to know when I should avoid going up there.”

“No, that kind of thing is usually pretty rare,” Azura replied. “And when I do it, I usually do it someplace more private, like the executive bathrooms. I only did it there because, well… circumstances beyond my control.”

“I see…” Shuichi briefly wondered if Nagito’s charm was responsible for that too, but he quickly pushed that from his mind. “And what about my name? Were you actually imagining us…?”

“Well, if you don’t mind me being blunt, Shuichi, it’s a little bit hard not to think about you considering the number of times I’ve helped you and Kirumi have sex,” Azura replied bashfully. “I mean, you’re young, handsome, and when you’re done with Kirumi, you’re usually dripping with pheromones, and you have this sexy look about you after you’ve just had sex that drives me... Ah!” Azura covered her mouth with her hands. “Perhaps I’ve said enough already.”

“Uh, yeah, probably.” Shuichi finally grabbed a cup and got as much water as he could. “It was nice seeing you again, though. I hope this doesn’t make things awkward for us in the future.”

“No, not at all! I mean, nothing needs to change if you don’t want to,” Azura replied. “Anyways, I better get back to Kirumi’s office if someone needs to make an appointment with her. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Yeah… see you again soon,” Shuichi said with a smile. And with that, they both went back to work.

Back at the Red Light District, Peko had just finished creating her new disguise. Her carefully braided hair was now flowing freely behind her, her lips were covered in a thick layer of pink lipstick, she was wearing blue eyeliner, and her shirt, glasses, and sword were all hidden behind a dumpster to be retrieved later, leaving her only with her tight black bra, heels, tights, and the visible black thong that she had underneath that.

“Alright… remember, Dahlia; you’re happy, ditzy, new to sex work, and you have never even heard the word ‘Yakuza’ before in your life,” Peko said as she looked at herself one last time in her compact mirror. “Alright… let’s do this.”

Putting the mirror away, Peko walked back out onto the street and did her best to act natural. Then, when she realized that the other girls shook their butts more when they walked, she did her best to copy them, only to nearly trip over herself in the process.

“Uh… excuse me, but what are you doing?” a voice said behind Peko. The swordswoman promptly spun around and was confronted by the blurry sight of a blonde woman with a pink feather bow around her neck and a short pink skirt with musical notes written on them.

“Uh… w-what does it look like I’m doing?” Peko asked, doing her best to sound confident on the fly. “I’m here to pick up some Johns, the same as you.”

“Really? And how many have you gotten so far?” Kaede asked with a curious finger on her chin as she looked Peko up and down.

“F-five, actually. They thought I did an absolutely amazing job sucking their cocks. I sucked them so dry that I wouldn’t be surprised if they came crawling back to me tomorrow.” Peko smiled and cocked her hips, proud of that performance she had just given.

“Uhuh… and where exactly is the money these Johns gave you?” asked Kaede.

“Well, it’s, uh… shit.” Peko abruptly remembered that she wasn’t carrying any bags, and without much clothing, she couldn’t say she was hiding the money anywhere. “Uh… they paid using credit?”

“Ha! Good one!” Kaede giggled to herself. “Look, if you’re new to this, there’s no reason to be nervous. I see girls like you around here all the time, and every day is a first for someone out here.”

“I see…” Peko thought for a moment before deciding to change course and doing her best to look afraid. “I apologize for lying; it’s just… I really need to get some money right now, and I don’t know where else to go.”

“Say no more! I’ve got you covered!” Kaede replied, pumping her fists in the air. “Just follow me, and I’ll show you the ropes! I’ll even give you a tour and be there for your first John if you want!”

“Thanks… that would be greatly appreciated,” Peko replied, smiling.

“Great! Then let’s go!” Kaede took Peko by the hand and led her down the street toward one of the many love hotels in the area. “Oh, that reminds me! Are you a complete virgin, or have you had some experience before today, or…?”

“Do not worry - I have actually had plenty of experience in doing all sorts of things, with both men and women,” Peko replied truthfully.

“Oh.” Kaede visibly deflated for a moment from the disappointment. “Er, I mean that’s great! Then all we really have to do is set you up with a John! But first, let’s introduce you to a few of the girls who also work around here. The best tool you’ll have around me are your fellow sex workers; don’t ever forget that.”

“Oh, believe me - I won’t,” Peko replied as Kaede finally came to a stop in front of a group of sex workers - including Komaru, Kanon, and Moto.

“Hey, everyone! Look what I just dragged in off the street - another girl who wants to try to make a little extra cash on the side!” Kaede announced to the girls. “New girl, meet Mary, Moto, and Kanji. Oh, and I’m Kae, by the way; I don’t think I introduced myself earlier.”

“Hello, everyone; you can all call me Dahlia. It is a ple-, er I mean it’s very nice to meet you all,” Peko introduced herself, struggling a little to avoid overly-formal language.

“Dahlia! What a pretty name! I love it!” Komaru said, happily clapping her hands together. “Is that your real name, or is that just your pseudonym?”

“Mary! You’re not supposed to ask someone that, remember?” Kanon cut in.

“Ooops! My mistake!” Komaru blushed and rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry - you don’t have to tell us anything that you don’t want to. But if you want to tell us, that’s totally cool t-ow!” Komaru was cut off by Kanon smacking her in the head with a disappointed look on her face.

“I appreciate your friendliness, but I’m a pretty private person to be honest,” Peko told them. “I’m just here to make money, after all. And speaking of which, I was hoping maybe you girls could help me with that.”

“Huh? Help you how?” asked Komaru. “I mean, you’re cute, but I’m trying to save on money right now so I don’t think I can hire you.”

“No, not you - I meant Johns,” Peko interjected. “Like, do you girls happen to know any particularly wealthy Johns, to treat their women right? Someone who is perhaps a little more on the generous side?”

“Oooh, so you’re looking for a good whale? I see… well, lucky for you, I happen to know just the guy!” said Kaede. “Follow me!”

“Heh… this might turn out to be easy after all,” Peko thought to herself as Kaede led them all inside the love hotel.