Chapter nine of the Shikkoku no Hana manga, Hei's POV, 2nd person.
… So I looove the second person POV. Is that so wrong?
Disclaimer: Do not own.
It was odd, to have only Yin for company.
It wasn't unpleasant, though. There was a quietness to it, and you could imagine it would be worse without her.
You still ate a lot, and she still sat still for long periods of time. Sometimes, when you sleep before her, you could hazily recall in the morning a 'Sleep well, Hei' and a flutter of her hand as she touched your hair briefly. But you never questioned it, and she never mentioned it.
You took care of her, and she took care of you. It was as simple as taking her to one of their missions before—she was blind and thus you had to lead her around sometimes, but more so, she warned you of incoming attacks to keep you both safe. And alive.
"… The Doll you're always with, don't you care what happens to her?" The words come out mocking, from a Contractor who looks like a child and who wears a costume befitting one.
"Yin!?" Her name comes out of your mouth with no small surprise, but you disregard it and you continue on, threateningly, with a hint of menace in your words, "What did you do to her?"
There was a savage mockery in the Contractor's face. "You're pretty dim, aren't you? Leaving that Doll alone... You're always staying in the same place, you really thought nobody…" would attack her to get to you, you mentally filled in the blank. It was stupid, you see it now.
Your thoughts of rationality fly out the window and your worry wasn't helping. "Tch," you say, trying to hide the frantic feeling fluttering in the pit of your stomach. "YIN!" you call into the speaker. "Yin, are you alright?!"
"…Hei." She's calm—but then she always is. She was a Doll, after all. You feel a sense of relief so intense you feel slightly dizzy.
"Yin!"
"…Someone is here," she says flatly, a statement of fact and she is completely serene.
You hear voices, but you can't distinguish them—only read that they obviously had malicious intentions. "Run, Yin! Escape through the route I've shown you."
The Contractor smiles mockingly even as you hold him up with your free hand. "Of course she won't, she's a Doll." He adds, matter-of-factly, "Dolls can't do anything on their own."
You can make out voices and what they're saying, if you focus long enough. Some shred of rationality makes you try to listen.
"Looks like there's an escape route."
"She won't make it. Right." The last word sounds a little louder, and you know it could only mean he was close to Yin now. "If we block the programmed route, it's all over. She's a Doll, after all."
"Yin!"
"Piece of cake. The rest, with my rope, we tie her up and that's that."
"Don't squeeze 'em to death like last time."
"Sure."
And Yin is not saying a word. If only you could be with her, like so many times before, urging her. "Why is Yin a target!? She shouldn't have anything to do with this!"
"Because having a hostage makes it easier to deal with you, of course! You really are stupid!"
"Tell your people to stop right now! If you don't..."
"Stop? My people? You don't really want to do that.
"What?" Was it some elaborate ploy to confuse you? You can't help but be thrown off track as much as you couldn't help worrying about Yin earlier.
"Hei. I'll be fine." You feel brief moment of relief before an unfamiliar voice filtered through the transmitter.
"Target Protection Program, Target Protection 1. Target Elimination 2. Confirmed." It was a monotonous voice, not unlike Yin's own—this one was a male and the voice deep. Large. Another attacker?
"The heck is that giant... A Contractor?"
"Whatever man, the strength of my rope is over two tons. I'll send him flying through the wall!"
"Executing."
"Whoa, WHAT?"
You could hear the squelch of something that was alive, and you could hear wet droplets—blood? What happened to Yin?
The other one was probably fleeing, and you couldn't really hear much but you think you could make out the word 'monster'.
Then, Yin's voice. "There," she says in monotone, not addressing you, but the fact that spoke meant that she was still perfectly fine. And you could hear a release of something followed by the escapee's choked yell.
"Elimination Complete," the person who saved Yin says, and suddenly the Contractor lets out a victorious cry despite you restricting his breathing.
"Well done, Champ! Escort her to the hideout from there."
You fling him to the ground ignoring his cry of surprise, feeling confused—but somehow, you're understanding that Yin is safe.
"What is this? Just who are you?
"Damn-- at least hold back a little. I told you, I'm a Contractor with PANDORA. Champ was a Doll that was physically modified and programmed for battle by PANDORA's researchers."
"A Doll?" Like Yin, but he could fight, kill—unheard of for a Doll.
"Yeah."
"Relocating." You could hear him faintly in the background, and you can tell that his words were like a Doll's to the very cadence. Even so…
"Dolls can withstand the kind of training and enhancements that normal people can't, and they take it without any problems. Perfect soldiers. But, because the costs were too high and because not many Dolls built like Champ were found, the whole idea was shelved." The explanation was concise, explaining everything and not revealing anything unnecessary. "...Don't worry. Our hideout is safer than your place." Now, this part wasn't as necessary as what he said before, more of an observation that Hei was, in fact, worried, and an effort to assuage that worry.
"Why did you help Yin? What's your goal?" After all, this person was a true Contractor, who did nothing irrational and always had a purpose or goal in mind. And he had obligation to neither Hei nor Yin.
"We don't have much time, so I'll make this brief. There's a group within the Syndicate that's trying to get the power of the black flower. They're letting Harvest run free in order to get data on the evolution of the flower. Their goal is to create perfect soldiers, but at a much lower cost. They probably want you out of the way because you're trying to kill Harvest." There was something to be admired in the words of Contractors, how detached they were to things that would have evoked emotion. They stated things as they were, in black and white.
"...They want to make substitutes for Contractors?" You ask, trying to grasp a picture that a few moments ago, you never knew existed.
"Beats me," he says, and his apathy towards it could be seen in his eyes and his words. "Anyway, our goal is to put a stop to their plan. We helped you and your Doll because... well, they say the enemy of an enemy is a friend, right?"
"...Aren't you part of the same Syndicate?" you ask. Isn't this another trap?
"Well, different factions, something like that?" Something you suppose you could understand, given the tendencies of Contractors. He explains more, "Because you broke the Saturn Ring, the Syndicate isn't quite the monolith it used to be anymore. Well, it's nothing I care about either way."
"..."
"What will you do? I'll be going after the woman that just jumped away. I could take you along with this power of mine. If you want me to lend a hand, just say the word. Even you couldn't keep up with that just now, could you?"
You look at him coldly through the mask you wear, now that she is safe (no matter how dubiously so) you can be the emotionless Contractor again. With your rationality, that answer is clear: as if you truly had a choice.
"...You've got Yin. That's a big mouth on someone with the upper hand, Brat."
And he pats your chest and then you transport elsewhere.
"Nihihi I like an adult who's quick on the uptake."
Yin wasn't where you were going, and you were fairly certain that this brat was a pain and you would like to string him up on a clothesline, but it felt like getting closer to reaching her all the same.