And so, June was left to wait.

That was hardly unusual. People didn't just wait by their door so they could immediately receive whatever package they had ordered. No, usually, they had to quickly scramble out from the kitchen or down from the bedroom as soon as they heard a knock on the door or the ringing of a doorbell. Having to wait a few seconds? That was hardly strange.

But a few minutes? That was a little more irregular. The deliverygirl was just left to stand there out in the cold. Sure, she could've just turned around and left, but starting the day out with an undelivered package? That hardly set a good precedent for the rest of the day, and it'd surely lead to her getting chewed out by her supervisor. Although, thinking about it, was this a real job, or had she fallen victim to some stupid prank? After all, what kind of name was "Bullet Valentine"? Maybe it's one of those fake names, like "Seymour Butz", or "Ben Dover", or--

KER-CHUNK! All of a sudden, a slot on the door revealed itself as it slid open, and a pair of bright-eyes peered out. They looked around for a moment, before peering down at June with suspicion.

"What's the password?"

---

june sleigh

June finished the rest of her coffee by the time the third minute passed. Didn’t know what else to do– where the hell was ‘Bullet Valentine’? This better not have been a fake delivery. She had enough of those as is. She looked down at the box, a sudden realization dawning on her. Slowly, she lifted the box to her ear and shook it gently.

But before she could figure out if the thing was full of rocks or not, a sudden noise scared her back a few steps. “Arceus, fuck!”

This… was them? Those eyes were intense as all hell. The caffeine told her to drop the package and accept any consequences of that, but her bank account kept her in place. There was no boss to give her a paycheck, nor HR department to file a complaint with. If she left, she made zero dollars.

Game Corner didn’t take that for a reason; June tried already. So, she took one deep breath and stepped closer to the door. “What password? It’s June. You wanted me to deliver it really fast, so… I’m here!”

Either she forgot or she was clueless. Better cover bases. “You… ARE Bullet Valentine, right? Ordered through ‘Sleigh Fast Delivery’ a day or so ago?”

Maybe she sent a text afterwords. June quickly scanned through their brief conversation for details, desperate to get out of this suddenly weird situation. Yet she couldn’t find anything.

“Hold on, I’m looking…” she swiped several dozen times, now being the one they waited on. Fuck, there wasn’t anything! Maybe she was at the wrong address? Or maybe it was someone else here that ordered it. Bullet watched the delivery girl slowly lose her mind in real time. Money couldn't hope to buy entertainment like this.

---

Bullet Valentine

"Yup, that's me! Bullet Valentine, at your service!"

At that, the door swung open, and the woman stepped out, arms resting on her hips. So, this person was from "Sleigh Fast Deliveries", huh? She wasn't familiar with the name. Were the boys using different delivery services without getting her permission first? Still, she pushed her suspicions aside. Odds are, this lady was just as trustworthy as any other courier. She had to be, because she knew the secret passcode, "Arceus Fuck"!

Double still, she hadn't ordered anything recently, nor were there any deliveries scheduled for today. Ooo, maybe this was a surprise! The gangster clapped her hands together, eyes going even wider than previously thought possible. What could it be, what could it be?!

"SO! Whattaya got for me?"

---

june sleigh

June nearly dropped her phone, but she did fling her travel mug straight behind her. She heard it bounce once, twice, and then skid to a stop somewhere in the lawn. Maybe from the fear of this part of town, but even the door simply opening got her scared of her own shadow. Hell, she needed to get out of here.

“Uh… here,” she shoved the clipboard into the woman’s arms and then proceeded to pull out the package from her side. It wasn’t terribly big, but it still held the potential to have a lot of things in there. Many dangerous things.

“Just need a signature for… whatever it was you ordered, and you’ll be set.”

Don’t. Ask. But also… fuck. This smelled way too fishy and weird. So, as Bullet signed the clipboard, she tried to sneak a peek inside the house. “So… what do you do for a living? Gotta be something nice, for such a… big place.”

---

Bullet Valentine

"Swell!"

And just like that, she plucked the pen off from the clipboard and hastily signed the dotted line, then the second dotted line, and finally flipped over the page to sign the third dotted line. Then, she proceeded to hand the clipboard back, sans pen, before grabbing the package. Ooo, what could be in this, she wondered? It could be so many things!

"Huh, me?" Bullet answered June's question, only half-listening as she tore open the package like a hungry dog savaging a piece of raw meat. "Oh, y'know, normal gangster stuff. Drug deals, protection rackets, smuggling. That sort of thing! Didn't the boys fill you in on this before they hired you? Jeez, you really should listen more, lady. If a cop had pulled you over on the way here, you'd be in real trouble!"

Oh, of course. This person was a criminal. In hindsight, that was maybe a little obvious... Wait, had June been carrying something illegal? That question would quickly be answered as the self-admitted lawbreaker finally managed to rip the last shreds of tape off the package, causing the contents to tumble onto the ground--

BANG!

--Which caused the gun to misfire. Oops.

---

june sleigh

June’s hands were filled with the clipboard as the trade-off happened. Just like that, no hesitation, Bullet started to tear into the package. Seriously, she seemed just like a kid on the morning of the 25th. Eager to see what brand-new toy they got– except it wasn’t the 25th. It wasn’t a kid, and the person revealed that they were very much a gangster.

Which wasn’t a massive surprise. The person who ordered mentioned it casually. She wasn’t one to let an opportunity to make money pass her by just because they were a bad person. Ethics and Morals had to take a back seat when a massive debt stared you in the face, after all. Wasn’t any room for them.

But there was, perhaps, enough room for them at the table when it concerned the law. Firearms were the one thing those three all agreed upon. Bad for business, to have something like a gun traced back to you. Not worth the hassle. Maybe if she were solely an underground dealer, but she wasn’t. That’s why she didn’t deliver them.

So when the black, deadly weapon fell out from Bullet’s grip and onto the ground, her heart skipped a beat. Time slowed to a crawl while the trigger went off, setting off a VERY loaded gun into the wall right next to them. Rubble splintered off at lighting speed, a particularly nasty piece cutting right into June’s cheek. There wasn’t even time to flinch before the damage had been done, her arms flying to cover her face well after the damage had been done.

While time went back to normal, her wide eyes stared directly at the gun. Her breaths came out heavy, and her thoughts raced. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Those should've been the least of her worries right now, especially after that stupid fucking island. Why couldn't this have been, like, drugs, or a car battery, or anything else?

First things first: cover her bases. This involved June trying to push Bullet back into the house. “What the FUCK is wrong with you?! Why the hell did you fucking lie to me?”

June reached down to grab the gun, only to stop herself right before she made contact. She couldn’t touch it– that’d get her DNA all over it. So, a sleeve came down, and she picked it up with the outside of her jacket. Her, the gun, and Bullet all went into the entrance of the house. The door slammed shut behind them.

“Who the fuck ordered a gun?!” She yelled into the house. Arceus above, she could NOT afford to go to jail right now. That'd be horrible for business.

---

Bullet Valentine

"Hey... Did I give you permission to touch me?"

THWACK! June's harsh questioning didn't earn her a response. Instead, it earned her a punch, straight to the nose. Which is what she deserved! Nobody fooled around with the leader of the Valentine Gang and got away with it! Grabbing her, entering her own home without permission, even insulting her... The nerve! This courier was lucky that a smack was all she was getting, because she'd given far worse for far less!

Then, she proceeded to slap away the hands of the deliverywoman, before snatching back her gun. Jeez, what a headache. This was supposed to be a simple and easy delivery, but all she'd gotten was a bunch of silliness! She needed a warm bath and a little nap, but first...

"Alright, buster! I've had enough of you and your crazy dame antics!" Bullet declared, proceeding to point her brand new pistol towards June. "I'm gonna give you to the count of five to get out of my sight, capiche? And if I ever see you again, you'll be taking a twenty-year trip to visit the Magikarp!"

And that isn't a threat, no. That's a Valentine-guarantee promise.

"One...! Two...! Three...!"

---

june sleigh

“FUCK!” June cursed as she let go of Valentine, immediate problem forgotten. She clutched her nose with both hands, bent over from the shock and pain. Arceus above, this woman was nuts! First a gun, and now she assaulted her?! Fuck this bitch, she should call the cops right the fuck now.

“You fucking–”

The words got caught in the back of her throat, a lead brick on her now dry tongue. Cold, hard infinity stared her down with her uncaring, unpassionate gaze. For a brief second, she was back on that stupid island. Down in the tunnel, a rocket grunt mere moments from sending her straight to hell. A swathe of pinpricks erupted on her skin as she took a step back.

And then another. Before she knew it, her feet carried out the front door and down the pathway. Her coffee mug sat forgotten in the yard as she bolted right towards Knight, still on standby at the far end of the yard.

And he didn’t need any excuse or reason to take off as soon as June mounted. He had heard the gunshot just as well as she did. Thus, they took for the skies in record time. Away from death, away from the insane person who would surely be blacklisted. If they never met again, that would be all the better.

A terrible sign of what was to come.

---

Bullet Valentine