Making it to the gates, the two women with bags were stopped by Martinez.

"Where you heading off to?" he asks.

"I don't live here," Sakiko shrugs, jerking at the lock on the gate.

"Hey now, hold on," a new voice eases.

Sakiko pauses to look back at the man that has Michonne tensing.

"It's going to be dark again soon and curfew is coming. It's best y'all stay the night," Governor says with a soft smile.

"One night was enough for me," Sakiko looks him up and down.

"You said we were allowed to leave whenever we wanted," Michonne recalls, "So, we're leaving."

"That's entirely true-"

"Then, why are there always excuses with you? There's always a reason as to why we can't go. Why I can't go," Michonne glares.

"If you want to leave, then leave. No one is forcing you to stay," Governor shakes his head.

Sakiko takes that as a cue to shove the lock open. Before she could open the door, Governor has to remind her-

"Merle and Nanami won't be too keen with you going. Have you even told them 'goodbye'?"

He knows he hit a nerve in both women when they seem to freeze up.

Sakiko thinks back to how Nanami grabbed her wrist, raised his voice, and the glass breaking she heard once she was out of the room. The smell of smoke on his breath. The tired look in his eyes.

Just how much Nanami had grown to look like their father.

"He made his choice," Sakiko responds, "I'm the one that belongs outside."

The Governor didn't understand her reference to life before. Sakiko and Daryl were the ones to wait outside. Nanami and Merle seemed to decide their own fates.

With that, Sakiko pulls the gate open and storms outside.

Michonne is quick to follow.

--

Laying in the middle of the mess he'd created, Nanami stares at that goddamn ceiling fan again.

It feels like nothing's changed. Yet, everything has.

In just a short amount of time, every single thing he's ever thought has changed.

Nanami had changed.

At the thought, he laughs pitifully at himself and takes a drag of his cigarette.

--

"You don't have to follow me," Sakiko informs.

"Not following you," Michonne denies, "We're just heading in the same direction."

Stopping in the middle of the road, Sakiko turns to look at the woman behind her.

"Yeah? Then, how about you walk ahead?" she asks, motioning forward with her arm.

Michonne shifts her weight to her other leg, "I'm good."

"Because you're following me."

"Because I don't know if you won't stab me in my back."

Sakiko scoffs, "I have a destination in mind. I have a place I have to go. I'm not wondering around like.. like a creep geek."

"Creep.. geek.." Michonne repeats, her head bobbing with each word.

Sakiko takes a few steps forward, meeting face to face with Michonne.

"You knew my brother, great. You helped him survive, great. That doesn't mean I need you to survive on my own," Sakiko assures.

Michonne looks Sakiko up and down, puckering her lips, "Yeah? Where's your gun?"

At the image of the weapon in her mind, Sakiko's eyes squint. Michonne nods, thinking that she had the teen all figured out.

"You have that," Sakiko nods to the sword on Michonne's back before pulling two of her knives out, "I have these."

"I'm trained."

"So am I," Sakiko shrugs, taking a step back from the woman, "Guns are overrated. Basic."

As the girl turns to continue walking, Michonne has to fight the smile that dared crossed her lips before continuing to follow Sakiko.

Sakiko's eyes were on the ground, trying to keep her unnecessary anger in tact. Daryl told her that she needed to figure out when to think with those emotions and right now, it wasn't. This woman and Nanami clearly had a history, but she wasn't causing harm to Sakiko now. Sakiko's annoyance to the woman was unwarranted and she just needed to calm down.

The sight of footprints has Sakiko stopping once again.

"You still on about this-" Michonne begins, quickly being shushed by Sakiko.

Sakiko looks to the tracks closer and Michonne sighs as she steps to be by the teen's side.

"What is it now?" Michonne asks.

"Tracks," Sakiko points, "Walkers."

"You can tell the difference?" Michonne questions, noticing the footprints as well.

"Walkers drag. People don't. Walkers sometimes leave bloodstains," Sakiko lists off, pointing out the details, "These are walkers."

Michonne nods, keeping a hand on her sword as she was ready to unsheathe it at the first sight of walkers. Sakiko does the same, taking one knife out to hold in her hand. As the women continue walking, they stick side by side.

"Why the knives?" Michonne asks, breaking the silence with a whisper.

Sakiko questions if she should even tell the woman until she glances to meet her eyes.

"Scared," Sakiko shrugs, though the word felt like it weighed tons, "Can't shoot 'em because I'm scared."

For a split second, Michonne could feel her heart tug at the girl. She remembers those early days of the outbreak- every time Andre would cry in fear of the gunfire. How he began shaking at just the sight of the weapon.

"Heads up," Sakiko calls, readying her knife.

Michonne's thoughts are broken and she blinks to bring herself back to the present. Five walkers were stumbling along, slowly taking notice of the girls.

Sakiko doesn't think twice and it was almost like second nature for her knife to fly through the air and into a walker's head. Impressed, Michonne could only watch as the girl takes another knife out.

"Hey," Michonne calls.

Confused, Sakiko gives her a split second's glance with her knife ready, "Seriously? Now?"

Michonne chuckles, taking her sword off from her back and standing behind Sakiko.

"What are you-" Sakiko jumps until the roles are reversed and Michonne is shushing her.

"Just breathe," Michonne whispers, placing Sakiko's hand in hers to hold the sword, "And focus."

Sakiko's eyebrows crease, confusion and discomfort at the stranger so close to her when walkers were steadily approaching.

Then, Michonne swings their arms to slice off a walker's head at the top half.

"Holy shit," Sakiko gasps out.

"Focus," Michonne reminds.

Sakiko nods, her grip becoming tighter on the sword. Together, they stab through another's eye. Michonne nods, leading the way to slice at the fourth. When the final walker was left, Michonne eases back- leaving Sakiko holding the sword on her own.

Caught up in the feeling, Sakiko takes a large step forward, swinging the sword to cut through the final walker. Michonne had to take another step back, though she still felt the wind from the teen's force.

Sakiko is quiet for a second, staring at the sword in her hands, then to the walker she'd taken out on her own. Then, the teen bubbles with laughter. Michonne crosses her arms and waits for Sakiko's attention to return to her.

"It's because I'm Japanese, right?" Sakiko teases, scrunching her nose at the older woman.

Michonne's demeanor had changed and Sakiko's smile slowly falls, the sword lingering at her side, "What?"

"Nanami spent the last eight months talking about you," Michonne reveals, "I don't know what's made him change since he got there, but he wasn't like that before- when it was just him and I."

Sakiko's shoulders tense, that frustration building back up.

"Maybe it's Merle being there.. Maybe something else happened.. I don't know. But, I know that it changed him," Michonne sighs.

"If you're trying to make me feel better, it's not working," Sakiko glares, tossing the sword on the ground.

With that cold look in her eyes returning, Sakiko turns away from Michonne, picking up her knife as she walks by- storming her way back home.

𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇 𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈--

sakiko and michonne bestie agenda?