The morning sun was bright when she stepped outside, her stomach quietly growling. Miyu self-consciously crossed her arms until it went silent and glanced back into her house. Her new roommate had been staying there for three days and had yet to leave the place. At least, not when she would notice. He seemed to stay inside all day when she was out and never left once she was home. The boy was currently sitting at the table, the dog settled beside him with orders to guard the house.
What does he do all day? She started walking down the cracked sidewalk, moving past homes that were either abandoned or occupied for shady purposes. The area was far from safe for an outsider like Renji. Especially when so much attention had been drawn to him. Miyu, however, had more or less grown up in the neighborhood. Her brother had instilled a fear in their neighbors to insure her safety.
She stopped to deliver some newly carved stamps to a customer, accepting a pack of organs as payment along with a small bottle of blood. Why the blood? The girl paused on a corner, holding up the bottle in the sunlight to examine the deep color of it. They said it was tasty, but I don't think I've ever gotten blood as payment. Did Aki-nii ever get paid in blood? I guess it might be okay, but it isn't very filling, is it?
Miyu tucked it away and froze when she locked eyes with someone across the street. Another female ghoul that was around her age. The girl smiled cheerfully and waved. Miyu hesitantly waved back, a little unsettled. As the other girl started to approach, she felt her heart start to pound. She knew that this girl was friends with Uta.
"Kurotani! Look at you, out working this early," the ghoul greeted her.
"Ah…hey, Itori-chan. Yeah…um…just making deliveries and stuff. You're out kind of early, too." She almost winced after making that last remark. Why did I say that? If I didn't sound suspicious before, now I definitely do! She frowned when Itori stepped closer, her eyes on the pink-haired ghoul's bag.
"Just like Hideaki, huh? You get paid in food?"
"Ah…yeah. Well. Aki-nii made arrangements before…you know…"
"I know. He knocked up that girl. It was something like Kiyomi or Hitomi or something like that, right? He knocked her up and took off, didn't he?"
Miyu wanted to look away. It was still a really sore subject, even though it had been months since he left. She knew that looking down or away for even a second would show some sort of fear or guilt. "Well, probably for the best…I'm sure I'd be missed," she joked.
"You probably couldn't survive out there alone, huh? Even if you wanted to go find him. That defect of yours would make it pretty hard to survive, wouldn't it?"
She had to resist the urge as it grew. Instead, she maintained eye contact and laughed. "Yeah, well, that's good for the 4th ward…right?"
Itori's smile grew. "Yeah, you'd be missed if you left. You're so fun to mess with! You really think I was serious just now? I wouldn't really make fun of your defect, Kurotani! Learn how to take a joke! Where are you going now? Another delivery?"
"Y-yeah. Ah. You want to walk with me?" Miyu wanted to walk alone. She really just wanted to walk away and leave Itori behind so the conversation could end. It was awkward. It was kind of painful. She sincerely hoped that Itori would decline, but soon the short-haired girl was strolling alongside her to the next delivery site.
"But, seriously, I can't imagine having a defect like that. You'd probably starve if you were really on your own. You can't hunt. You can't even eat a corpse, right? Because of that defect. So your only options are organs and scraps. You know, if you didn't have this job set up by Hideaki, you'd probably wind up like the Raven."
Don't react. Don't react. Unfortunately, Miyu knew that she tensed when his nickname was spoken because she felt herself relaxing when Itori went silent. "Heh. Yeah, probably. I don't…really think I could steal though…or fight the people I stole from…"
"Yeah, I can't imagine you doing something like that! But you know what they say about the quiet ones!" Itori laughed and shook her head. "Well, I have some stuff to do. Later, Kurotani."
She watched the other girl walk away and frowned to herself. Did I act weird? Does she know about Renji? Miyu glanced over her shoulder, wary of some male ghouls that were looking past her at Itori. Knowing that the girl could take care of herself, she started walking to the next delivery location. I'll just finish up quickly today.
After the last drop off, she stopped at a vending machine to get some coffee before the walk home. She counted what money she had and frowned. Along with the meat, she also accepted money as payment, but not many ghouls in the 4th ward could offer much. Most of her money came from mail orders for stamps. Ghouls from other wards paid a higher price for such things. She never left the 4th ward so she was not quite sure how they heard about her, but orders came in the mail sometimes.
As she slipped the coins into the machine and pushed the button, she tilted her head. Should I get Renji something, too? I never see him touch the coffee so maybe he doesn't really like it. Still. It's the thought that counts, right? She put in a few more coins and pushed the button again, listening to the cans clink in the machine. Miyu grabbed the cans and jolted forward when she felt a strand of her hair being tugged, biting back a scream.
"This is a cool color," a male voice remarked. "When did you do this?"
A chill ran down Miyu's spine and she slowly turned around, her hair slipping from between his fingers. Red and black eyes studied her from over the rim of a pair of round sunglasses, looking the female ghoul up and down. No! No way! I should've known he would find out that Renji was living with me! This is it! He's going to-!
"I haven't seen you in a while. I thought you might've run after Aki." Uta grinned down at her, seeing her struggle to meet his gaze. "What? Did I surprise you?"
"Heh…n-no. I just didn't…um…how long were you standing there?"
He leaned down a little to get closer, reaching out for a strand of hair that hung beside her face. "What? You think I was stalking you?"
"No! You're just…quiet." Miyu felt his fingers run along the length of the lock of hair, his eyes focused on the neon pink color and the way the light reflected off of it. "I'm sorry, but…I need to go somewhere so…"
"I'll walk with you," he decided, still smiling. "Where are you going?"
I can't go home. There is absolutely no way that I can go home with him following me. He'll be expecting it anyway, right? I don't even know what kind of condition Renji is really in so I don't know if he can even fight right now! Swallowing her feeling of unease, she managed a half-smile. "I was going to a friend's house."
"Sounds fun. Who is it?" The second that she started naming another young female ghoul, he seemed to completely lose interest and changed the subject. "I bet Aki'd be mad that you were walking around alone, huh? He was really overprotective, even for a big brother, wasn't he?"
Miyu's hair was released and she rubbed the back of her neck, tucking the two cans of coffee into her bag. "Yeah, well…I guess maybe a little." She started walking and, true to his word, the blond ghoul walked next to her.
"He's gone now though. So what're you doing? You look pretty skinny."
She blushed faintly, embarrassed when she realized that he was looking at her exposed midriff. "I'm just surviving like everyone else."
"Doesn't your stomach get cold like that?" With no further warning, he reached over and prodded her flat, pale stomach with a fingertip. Both of them heard her stomach growl loudly and his smile grew. "Remember when I fought Aki? Do you know why we were fighting?"
Unfortunately, Miyu had no idea. It was never divulged to her why her brother had challenged Uta that day. "He…never said why." She was glad when he tucked his hands into his pockets, but the fondness in his eyes made her uneasy.
"I'm taking some other guys somewhere tonight and I want you to come with me." Uta turned to her, slipping his sunglasses down a little so his eyes met hers directly. "I know that you've hiding been something from me. Tonight, I'm going to figure out what it is."
The color began to drain from her face. "Wh-what?"
"You're not like Aki. I can tell. He was pretty weak, wasn't he? I've never seen your kagune, Miyu. So tonight, you're gonna show me what it looks like! I want to see how strong you actually are and what you're hiding!"
I don't know if this is worse than him knowing about Renji or not. What is he planning tonight? She almost tripped in her distraction, but an arm crossed in front of her to steady her again. "Th-thanks."
"Tonight. If you're not outside your house waiting-"
"Can I meet you at the convenience store instead?" she forced herself to ask. He raised an eyebrow and pushed his sunglasses back up, looking perplexed. "Neechan. She doesn't like strangers. I don't want her to bark at you."
Uta's smile returned. "That scruffy old guard dog, huh? You still have her? She didn't run away yet?"
"She's good protection," the girl replied. They were nearing the home of one of her friends. As protective as her brother had been, there were a couple of girls that she spoke with sometimes. I just need to go in and wait a little while. Then I'll head home.
"She's probably stronger than Aki was," he commented.
The door to the house opened, as if her friend had sensed her approach, and the girl began frantically waving. A wide grin spread across her face, a blush rushing to her cheeks. "Heeeey, Uta! Taking care of Kurotani until her brother comes back?!" the girl called.
Miyu bit the inside of her cheek, wanting to glare at her friend. "I have to go." She started forward, but felt a tug at her jacket sleeve. A look toward him showed him holding out his free hand expectantly. "Um…?"
"I want the second can of coffee that you bought." He stared back at her, a frown slowly taking form on his face. "What? Was it for someone else?"
The way that he looked at her now sent a chill down her spine. She reached into her bag without breaking eye contact and pressed the cold can of coffee into his hand. "…sorry…"
The frown disappeared, replaced with a slight smile. He opened the can and took a long sip. "Thanks." His eyes briefly shifted to the friend and saw her blush intensifying. Leaning down to Miyu's ear, he knew how it must look to her friend. "Don't forget about tonight."
"Y-yeah. Right. See you tonight." She watched him go and quickly entered her friend's house. Her heart was racing and she more or less collapsed to her knees when she was safely in the other girl's room. He wants to see my kagune? The skin of her lower back began to feel very cold as goose bumps rose there. Miyu's defect meant not hunting so she rarely used her kagune. Those that had seen her kagune had seen it when she was younger and unable to control herself from using it in fights.
"I can't believe you were out walking with Uta! He's so cool! What did he say? Did he say anything about me?" her friend asked.
"What…? Um. No. I mean, he didn't really talk that much about anything besides Aki-nii." She knew that there was no way that she could tell her friend about his plans for that night. It was already terrifying without drawing a potential audience to whatever might happen. I'm going to die. I'm probably going to die tonight. I'll have to figure out who can take care of Neechan and…
"You're so lucky though! He's the strongest ghoul in the 4th ward, Kurotani! Do you even-?! Huh?" The other girl was seated near her and leaned over, sniffing. She closed the distance between them, now loudly sniffing at Miyu's bright pink hair. When she pulled away, she raised an eyebrow and blushed faintly. "Hey. I thought you didn't have a boyfriend or anything. Why do you smell like you've been hanging out with a guy? And it doesn't smell like Uta. What's going on, Kurotani?"
She gripped the strap of her bag tightly and was on her feet in an instant. "I don't know, but…I have to go. I forgot to walk Neechan today."
"You and that mangy stray. Okay, I guess. Talk to you later."
