SeaGoddessOfStarlight: Thank you for being the first person to give a comment on this story. It made me smile and I was very happy to read it. Sometimes, I'm worried that different people dislike my OCs, but I was happy to know that you like Momo.
Tosha232: I can't really answer your questions. :) Everything will always be revealed over time and I hope that you can stick around until my story has reached that part and even further after that.
Revanchist21: I'll try to work hard on this story and not to disappoint you or my other readers. I hope that you like this chapter.
Misia0123: You were looking forward to this chapter and hopefully it is to your liking. I had some school work and I really wanted to finish this one chapter today.
Momo's gaze is sharp, as she looks at the person behind the counter. He is skinny, it is what she thought the first time she stepped into this store.
Anyway, back to the point and what is going on. The convenient store is completely empty, except for her and the young worker her glare is directed at. Momo has been willing to sacrifice some of her salaries to eat today, but now she is facing a problem. A few coupons are placed down on the desk dismissingly – this all involves the prices.
The previous worker in the store had been timid and compliant. He had not objected even once if a customer had been ready to argue. He had looked like he could've peed his pants, otherwise. Momo had felt only slight sympathy for him. But now she is betting that every last person who had come here for the past few years misses that former worker. This new one is way younger, yes, but he has an iron will that the short-haired woman is struggling to break.
"No," his voice answers bluntly. "I'm sorry to inform you this, ma'am – "
He sounds as emotional as a rock.
"but the due date of these coupons has passed."
"No," Momo says back, mimicking his tone. "The due date became old only five minutes after I entered the shop. You – you can't possibly make them old only with a few minute difference."
"As a matter of fact, I can. I say they're old, so you have to pay the full price or leave the store." He started to rearrange the order of pens on the display, ignoring how much the customer in front of him was fuming.
This brat! Momo's face is becoming hot from anger. She has run all the way here from her job to make it in time. She has never been much of a runner, but today she positively outdid herself. But this man – a boy – who looks much younger than her is giving this kind of attitude like he owns the whole place. She wouldn't be at least a bit surprised if he insults her soon – the blank expression on his face is too collected. The glasses he also wears are shielding his eyes from showing an annoyed spark in them.
Finally, she manages to somewhat calm down and cross her arms. "Where is your manager?"
"He's currently absent due to health issues. I'm only one managing the store," the boy answers and then glances towards the clock. "This place will be closed in twenty minutes. I suggest that you pay for the food soon.
"..." Now her lips are definitely sealed shut. Momo can't utter a single word and is left utterly speechless. Is he serious?
The weight of the money in the purse weights down on her shoulder, despite the fact that the amount isn't much. The bottom of her stomach twitches from emptiness it is going through, and she bites down on her tongue in frustration, the flowers in her hand almost getting crushed. Today, Momo has found lilies for Yuki and they're drying pretty fast.
"Fine."
There is a look of triumph in the boy's eyes and the corner of his lip twitches slightly. It is a small movement, but definitely there. The sight of it makes Momo wish that she could at least strangle him senseless.
One by one, the coins are placed to the counter and Momo watches them being picked up. The stuff that she wants to buy lays next to them and a mental whimper echoes in her head. The emptiness in her stomach is growing and a low grumble comes from within. Just a little more and I can eat… this is nothing… I can handle this…
Despite that the wages she gets are average, they are far more than what she has ever gotten before. The food she has picked up from the shelves is something she has never tasted before, because of this recent development. Her mouth is already watering from thinking about what they would taste like and how peacefully she would sleep tonight. Tomorrow she would have her day off and could sleep much later than usual. Knowing that, she should be happy, but... Why does this kid have to ruin everything!?
"Here," he says, oblivious to her inner monologues and hands the food packed into a white bag.
Fingers twitching the woman doesn't even bother faking a smile. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," he nods and then turns his attention away from her. He is doing this all on purpose.
Bastard.
Not wanting to spend more time in the store, Momo heads towards the door, shoulders sharpened. However, she pauses in front of a flier that is sticking against the board of the wall. It is something she has seen before, many times actually – a commercial for people that want to join the army. It has a picture of three soldiers, the one in the middle holding up a sword. It reminds her of some overdramatic play, rather than an advertisement to get new recruits.
Personally, she doesn't have anything against the whole system of the army. After all, they are the ones that make sure that the humans that have remained stay safe inside the walls. Everything could crumble away to pieces, if only it was given time, though. Seeing this poster only makes her wonder how many will arrive at the clinic next week and the ones that follow after.
The air is warm and fresh outside the shop when she goes through the doors. Momo spares a single glance through the store's window and watches the infuriating new worker.
That boy… he seems to be in that age when they join the army. Whatever it is because of the thrill for adventure and excitement or simply an urge for revenge against the monsters that took their freedom. She isn't about to go and ask directly from him, but she does want to know if he's interested in joining.
Are there really more monsters outside, though? The question in her mind causes Momo to purse her lips thoughtfully. Her feet move briskly against the hard ground that is covered in the rainwater from earlier today. Those Horsemen and vampires are growing in numbers or getting an upper hand in this world, but it would be better for her to remain obvious to it. Bad memories would only rise up to the surface from thinking those things.
The river under the bridge she crosses is moving fast. The sound is pleasant to the ears, but unlike usually she doesn't stop to look down. I better run now, or I'll not be able to see Yuki today. That nurse behind the desk is almost as bad as that boy. The brush of irritation later her teeth are gritting themselves together. She has wasted a good portion from her cash to the things she now holds in her hand because those coupons weren't good enough.
"Livestock~"
Momo flinches, a shiver running down her spine.
Legs glue themselves to the ground almost immediately and she whirls around in a panic, until remembering where she actually stands – an alley with a small café on the side. Few workers in it are moving around the place and turning the chairs upside-down, the warm lights brightening up the warm color theme they have – soft yellow and hue of orange. The color of Momo's face – she hasn't even noticed it change – returns from watching them work.
She inhales, clutching her groceries. It isn't cold, but she keeps on shivering like it is winter. The bag in her hands almost slips, but her fingers tighten, and she bolts down the road.
There is nothing for her to be afraid of in here, there is nothing for her to run away from, but numbness spreads on her limbs. Momo is certain that she hadn't heard wrong – that cold, blood-chilling, sickly – even if there's nobody around.
A stray cat jumps on top of a small wall nearby, making the running woman almost let out a yelp. She stops abruptly and backs away against a corner and crouches down behind a wooden box. Her heart pounding, Momo clutches her chest, as if the organ is ready to burst out. C-calm. I have to breathe.
It is perfect for a hiding place. The shadows cover her, it is narrow and her back is pressed against a cold stone wall which brings a sense of support. However, her hands shake violently, entire body trembling with them. Cold sweat just keeps dripping down her back, the air in the throat comes out as raspy breaths and tears well up in the corners of brown eyes. She knows that this is close to having a panic attack from the way black spots start to fill the vision. She tries to breathe. Once, twice. Each one comes out harshly and if someone would've been passing by, they could hear them.
B-breathe. In a-and out. D-don't forget about Yuki-chan. Her hands clench the poor plants. Y-you're s-safe here.
"Livestock~"
Momo flinches again, feeling how her insides turn into ice. This time it doesn't feel like the voice has spoken right next to the ear. Her mind just keeps on repeating it like a haunting ghost. Her fingers dig through the fabric of the sleeves to the skin. The dull pain sharpened each time she takes in a deep, forced breath. Without her hands stopping their shaking, she is still able to reach out into the pocket of her jacket. There are two things in there, her eye contact container and pills.
She recalls what the one who gave them said to her. "Whenever you start hallucinating, take one of the pills."
One of them enters her mouth and the black-haired woman cringes from the taste. It is horrible, but after swallowing it she feels mentally a little better. It has always worked, so it has to work now, too.
It is silent around the alley, as she continues sitting in the shadow. That cat from before has gotten down to the ground and makes a small meow from somewhere, breaking that silence. There is really nothing or anyone else around and gradually Momo feels how her body tries to relax. It happens slowly, stiffly even, but in the end, she stands up after what feels like minutes.
Finally, she lets out a heavy sigh and turns around a corner.
And then, she runs.
This is Momo's 78th day at work and she is already feeling like quitting.
"Ouch!"
"I apologize. Please bear with it a little longer," she smiles a little forcefully. The patient nods weakly and she goes back to cleaning the wounds on his face. This looks like nothing with one glance until you look down and see an arm wrapped tightly into a cast.
It had looked quite serious when he was brought here. The hand in that kind of twisted angle... A shiver goes down Momo's spine, but she does her best not to show any discomfort from the memory. The cotton has a pinkish hue on it already and she places it down on the tray, this is the third one. Though, from the smell of blood in the air, this amount is nothing. Almost all the beds in the infirmary have someone laying on them, either unconscious from the drugs or groaning in pain. The sight is absolutely nauseating, horrifying, depending on who is used to it.
As for her personally, she doesn't feel comfortable, but her hands don't stop treating the injuries. It's like the limbs have the mind of their own, now. And no matter what she thinks regarding all of this, the work must continue.
As if to confirm this, she presses a plaster against the cuts that have been cleaned. "There you go."
"Thank you very much," the young man sighs out, clearly relieved that some of his pain has been taken care of.
A more natural smile forms on her face from seeing this. However, as soon as one of the other patients lets out a groan of pain from somewhere behind her, the soldier glances over her shoulder with a concerned frown. She wants to also take a look but doesn't.
The smile she keeps up is strained on a serious face, every time she treats someone. This kind of work truly isn't truly made for her – it gets emotionally heavy many times. But she has finally managed to move out of that apartment of hers. There is no way that she could walk away from this just like that. There are things still to be paid and giving up isn't an option. Rather, Momo doesn't have the luxury for that.
By the end of the day, she turns to look at Kikyo. She is writing down the last bit of information about the last patient on a clipboard. Her writing style is always so brisk, but it slows down when she notices the black-haired woman sit down heavily. The chair is poorly constructed, to begin with, so it squeaks a bit and breaks the silences.
"What's it, Sato-san?" She asks and turns a page, neat handwriting disappearing behind another stack of papers.
"Today we had many patients – I am just a bit tired, that's all," Momo starts simply and feels like a fool afterward. There have been other days, where they have had three times more work, but she chose this day to open her mouth.
What else am I supposed to say?
Instead of pointing out how this is nothing, Kikyo pauses with her work and turns around in her seat. "Yes. I heard that the army had sent its troops out about a week ago. Apparently, there is some resistance from the frontlines," she stops speaking and looks towards the beds. The light of the lamp is weak, though, so her expression is mostly covered by a shadow and hair. "I don't think that this is the best place to talk about these kinds of things, though… You should take a break. The cafeteria has some sweets on discount today."
When she turns to look back at Momo, the young woman is met with a serene smile. It causes her to reply to it by pulling the corners of her lips up, as well. During the time that they have worked together under the same roof, the doctor has come to know slight things about her and another way around, too. Sometimes, when they're not too busy, they merely sit down and talk, which is kind of strange for her.
She can only recall her bedridden friend every time Kikyo and her speak together. The two are nothing alike, but it's mostly the sense of slight comfort that makes Momo feel the way she does.
Swallowing the uncomfortable lump in her throat, Momo looks back into grey eyes. "Alright. How about you? Don't you have a break, too?"
"No. I've to stay here and keep watch in case there's a serious issue with one of the patient. But can you buy some coffee for me on the way back, right?" She asks and holds out some money for her to take.
This is another thing that has developed between them – Momo is apparently her new coffee fetcher.
"Sure. Dark and with sugar, right?"
And so, she's standing in front of a vending machine and watching the dark liquid being poured down into a cup. The scent is pleasant enough, but she knows that she would recoil away from the taste. The last thing she ever expected to happen while working here is that she might actually find people she likes. That's probably why she finds this errand so natural and a bit amusing, too, and hasn't asked Kikyo to get her own coffee herself even once. But that has to do with the fact that the other woman is her superior.
The hallway is unusually busy, many officers keep on moving in it and around the building like bees. The chatter is louder than ever before. This place is mostly calm and peaceful, but recently it has been mostly like this. More and more patients appear, and the doctors have been quick in preparing more equipment to take care of them. There was a huge blood transfusion just the other day with a soldier that had lost too much of it – a problem rose because his type of blood wasn't nearly enough in the storage.
She is, in a way, jealous of Kikyo. Her superior has that determination to help and do her best in the job, while Momo prefers to stay out of the way. She feels slightly guilty for that, but after sitting quietly in her room alone, she ends up not thinking much about it. After all, she could quit like the others before her but hasn't. Most don't really find it too safe or comfortable to work and see things that are happening in this place, after all. And Momo understands how those before her have all felt, she also wants to quit the whole job more than once a week. She despises the way people get hurt all the time but then go back to receive more wounds. It just keeps reminding her how this whole world works. Bluntly, it is ruthless and is still going in that vicious circle it is stuck in.
It's obvious that these are desperate times. There are more fliers that encourage people to join into war efforts. Not everyone is capable enough to directly fight, but there are other ways to support. Even now, those posters cover almost every board in the building and out in the streets. Frankly, it has been an issue for a while, over more than a year, and has created worries and tensions amongst those who don't know what's really going on beyond the walls.
And now that she's working here, she may understand a bit why most stay so tightlipped.
So intense, Momo sighs under her breath but is brought back from musings, when the coffee is ready and smoking. It feels warm in her hands but soon starts burning her fingers while walking.
Her mind doesn't stop wondering back to the events and operations witnessed in this base, though. It's one-half of things that have been mostly eating her thoughts recently. From the soldiers near death doors to the stone-faced officers… and from those to all unpleasant memories that her head contains.
Apocalypse.
She sighs again and frowns.
The facility covered in flames and corpses.
"Sato-san," the voice that she hadn't heard for a while calls and Momo turns around to see a man making his way towards her. He's smiling pleasantly, one hand raised as a greeting. "It has been a while."
Her brain – once filled with thousands of thoughts – is now blank, as she freezes to a spot and watches the young man with blue eyes approaching. It's a surprise, a shock. She hadn't expected to run into him now of all times when she hasn't seen him in months. That amount of time has even been able to wipe her memories clean of his name and her tongue becomes sandpaper from this realization.
"U-um," she starts, conflicted how she should address him. In the end, she straightens her back and forces a very faint smile. "Good evening?"
Luckily, the light-haired man simply continues the sudden conversation. "Have things become busier in the infirmary?"
Momo's shoulders relax a bit from the easygoing demeanor. "Yes. However, we had fewer people today than usual, so it's not so bad."
"I see," he nods and falls silent for a while. "How is Kazumi-san doing?"
"She's doing well," she says, but it is in a way a lie and she starts sweating. She doesn't think that telling him about how that woman is overworking herself. She doesn't understand the relationship between the two of them, so staying quiet on details should be safe enough.
"That's good to hear. Knowing her, it wouldn't surprise me, if she is overworking," the statement comes out smoothly and the dark-haired woman stiffens for a second. However, the Hīragi is still smiling. He probably didn't catch the slight reaction, which is good.
He seems to know Kikyo well. Momo almost smiles from that thought but stifles a smirk. Her brown eyes go down to the cup she is holding and then she remembers where she has to take it. The dark liquid would otherwise become colder.
Smiling politely, Momo is ready to walk away. "I've to go now. See you later, Hīragi-san."
If he is surprised by the way he had been called, he doesn't show it. Instead, he keeps on that pleasant smile of his and chuckles. The sound is soft and barely there, though. But instead of saying anything, he gives a closed-eyed smile.
Strange.
Momo gives a single short bow in return before turning her back to him and walking away with calm steps. But on the inside, she is both relieved and confused. For a moment there, the atmosphere had changed.
There was something in his gaze, but he hid it with his eyelids.
"Haaaaaaa..." The first thing that Momo does, when she gets back home is throwing herself onto the bed. It creaks under her weight, before settling down and everything is quiet in the apartment.
Her new house is a lot homier than the previous one. No cranky landlords, breaking walls and floors or running water problems. Not to mention the neighborhood is much nicer and in a better location, too. Momo has even started cleaning properly because she has been in a good mood every time she waltzes into this new place. There is even a great view from the window where you can see the sunset. Even now the curtains are wide open, and the sky has a nice orange and golden hues.
I should eat...but I'm too lazy to cook anything. She closes her eyes, ready to try sleeping, but the stomach's rumbles interrupt the attempt. Her eyebrows knit together, and she rolls to the side in boredom. The vibration in her hut continues on and on, though, and she feels her hunger battling between her willpower and laziness. Maybe, if she tries ignoring it –
"What!? You haven't eaten anything!? Oh, that's it! Sit down and I'll make something for you."
Her fingers twitch and the mismatching eyes open. A shiver runs down her spine and the tiredness is gone in an instant. It makes her stomach twitch from things other than just hunger. The noise in her skull stops, but that doesn't mean there isn't an echo of the voice she just remembered.
Eventually, due to the squeezing sensation in her chest, she has the strength to stand up and walk to the small kitchen. Her fridge is almost empty, again. There are only some eggs and noodles there and a little amount of milk – the sight is even more depressing.
Sighing, Momo takes out the noodles and starts boiling the water, waiting impatiently on the side while playing idly with her hair. It has gotten longer and is sticking everywhere – the side of the face, the neck, and the forehead. Now, it has been painfully obvious to her how her locks become easily greasy and unkept. Having a shorter hair is an advantage and she should probably cut it soon enough.
Annoying.
She lowers her hand, but the twisting and pulling have resulted into few strands falling off.
After the noodles are ready, Momo sits down in annoyance. The food doesn't taste like anything special, but it does its job and soon she is full. And then she makes her way to the bathroom and as soon as she steps into it, she smiles from the sight of a clean floor and tub. The view of it is truly different from the old one and she goes in front of the mirror that shines clearly and without a stain from fingertips. Everything is so clean! Now, she wouldn't need to worry about hygiene that much.
The happy mood is gone in a second, though, when the woman sees her reflection in the mirror. There is really nothing that she hates in her features, she couldn't care less how she is sometimes looked at. But it all becomes worse when she isn't wearing a contact to hide her right eye. That's when all the staring and questioning usually starts.
Whether this is just one of 'those' types of days, or because of the lack of sleep, she becomes depressed from staring at her mismatching gaze. She hates it, that color in her eye. While the other people around her have only one, she is different in that aspect. Heterochromia eyes are not something that the world hasn't seen before, but Momo can't remember a time when she ran into someone like her.
And of course, when she had been a child, other children had made fun of on her. During that time, Momo had hated contacts and refused to put them on, thinking that it all would be fine. She had been a fool, though. A naïve one. The bullying started and it hadn't been until she started crying in front of her mother did the things change. Those memories are a bit faint, but the woman she had a hard time forgetting how her parent had been displeased with the teachers. They should have been the ones to stop the bullying in the first place or at least noticed the signs about it.
Slowly, she covers her right eye, so that the dark brown on the left is only visible. Why am I thinking of these things now? She must really be tired.
"How are you even running this place, huh!?" A small smile still pulls on the corners of Momo's lips. "Get me the parents of these children to the phone! Right now!"
Her eyes burn, and she starts to wash her face immediately. The memories sting and she wants to get a good sleep tonight. She wants to forget them for a moment. That smiling face and those warm arms.
"Okaa-san loves your eyes. Now, don't cry."
The infirmary is deadly silent. It isn't anything unusual, considering that there aren't any patients around and it is already evening. The job of the day should have ended over twenty minutes ago, but not for Momo or Kikyo. Even when someone's footsteps clearly pass by the door of their working area, neither of them react to that or to any sound. They both are sitting on a chair of their own and staring down at white papers with olarge amount of writings on them. The letters are clear and black, but to them, it is like reading a foreign language.
Momo is especially feeling like this all is a delusion, a dream, a nightmare, whatever it is that could be describe as a moment that doesn't feel real. Or she doesn't want it to be real. The very second that she and her coworker had opened the letters that they have suddenly received, it was like every oxygen in her body started leaking out.
Dread, cold and blunt, makes the dark-haired woman's stomach drop what feels like six feet under the ground and now she only wants to close her eyes and pretend that every word she reads is wrong and doesn't exist. Scratch that, Momo wants to crush the whole letter and then throw it away.
'Dear Sato Momo, we've to inform you that...' the rest of the words become blurred.
Every word seems like a death sentence. This can't be real.
The clock keeps on ticking and it isn't until ten minutes have passed that does Kikyo shove the paper down to her bag and stands up hastily. Her features are calm, collected and no sign of distress is on them. However, it must be because she is trying to contain other emotions in place that the mask, she wears is plainly obvious, even to Momo's eyes.
Then, turning her grey eyes calmly to the apprentice, the woman smiles gently. It's not the kind of smile, which she shows to her patients, though. This one has more warmth to it.
"I'm going. Remember to lock the door, when you leave," she says eventually and walks past Momo lightly, heels clicking.
After a moment of clothes shuffling, the door is closed and she's alone in the entire room.
Now that she is tcompletely without company, Momo places the letter down and covers her face with her hands. Everything around her is merely shattering in a mere second and she wants to just be in her house, in her room and bury herself into the covers of her bed. She isn't even thinking about visiting Yuki today, she doesn't want to waste the little energy she has left anymore on running to that hospital. In fact, if it is possible, Momo would rather wish to spend her night on one of the infirmary's beds.
For two years, two long, painfully slow and agonizing years, the short-haired woman has pieced her life together bit by bit since that tragedy in the Nakagawa district. For eight whole years, she has picked up the shattered pieces and smoothed down the rough edges in her heart and moved on with life as much as she could. What has mattered to her are the peace, safety and someone to lean on. Those are or were the only three things she had wished for, but now two of them are slipping away from between her fingers. She feels like crying but finds her hands shaking, instead. She is clearly starting to get the gravity of the situation.
...are ordered to...
The paper scrunches from the way it is being clenched in a tight fist. It happens again when it is squeezed into a ball.
...new location...
A tear falls, then another, third, fourth...
Please start considering writing a will for possible inheritance.
The paper is torn.
"Hey, Yuki. I'm sorry, for not coming to see you for a while."
Momo shows a little smile, but it is soon wiped away. She sits down on that familiar chair of hers and places her head on the bed, right next to her friend's leg. The white covers are surprisingly soft, and she is momentarily envious of the sickly woman.
She's so oblivious to everything.
Momo lifts her head up and rests it on her palm while looking at Yuki's sleeping face. It is calm, peaceful and still so very pale.
Playing with strands of her hair for a moment, Momo lets out a sigh and closes her eyes tiredly. Like with the woman laid on the bed, her awake friend has dark bags under her eyes. She hadn't gotten any proper sleep, again. Either it is because of the stress, worry, fear or all those things combined that keep her awake the whole time. It is unhealthy, yes. Momo has skipped some days at work, yes. She has eaten unhealthy food for the past few days for no reason, yes. And she hasn't even brushed her teeth h ofew times, yes. Even taking a shower has been stopped by thoughts like I'll do it later.
Another sigh and Momo reaches gently to Yuki's hand. She is careful with the tubes that are connected to it, though. The touch feels soft, warm, but so incredibly frail and thin. This is what the Momo misses, warmth, actual human contact and not just by conversation, but by fa touch, too. Despite this being only one-sided, she always does this, when something feels like it is crushing her from inside out. Like now – her chest tightens and so does her hold on Yuki's hand.
Taking in a deep breath, Momo closes her mismatching eyes. She hasn't bothered putting a contact on. "Yuki-chan…"
The monitor continues beeping. The chest covered by a hospital gown rises and falls.
"I'm being placed into a different infirmary and… and guess what?"
No movement behind the closed eyelids that hide a pair of hazel eyes.
"It's on the other side of the walls."
The beeping continues on at the same pace.
"...Say something," Momo whispers, drops of water falling down on the white fabric. She withdraws her hand, afraid that she might have started squeezing Yuki's too hard. The black-haired woman buries her face into her arms and leans back in her chair. "When are you going to wake up? Do you have any idea what I'm going through right now? I've tried and tried, but I can't stop crying. Why did you have to let me escape that day and stay there with a vampire? If only you had just fought it off, while I was there, then we could've run away together."
No answer, again. Momo whimpers and her fingers dig into the skin on the hairline. The nails have grown too long and unconsciously she has found herself always biting them and now they are square-like and sharper. However, she doesn't mind the pain, for she is starting to feel too numb from the inside and it is spreading. She desperately needs to clear her mind and maybe that is why she came here today. To spit her complains to the person who isn't even capable of opening her own eyes or probably even hears what is being said.
Momo leans forward and lowers her voice. "You know, if I tell my therapist that the visions have started again, then maybe I will be excused from the work."
In the first place, they haven't ever stopped.
"It would be fine, right? They wouldn't dare to let someone who is already crazy out there to take care of anyone, right? I can then stay here. I wouldn't need to risk my life for anything..." words get stuck into her throat and Momo bites down on her tongue.
She has thought just like this at that time. When everything was collapsing around them, when the smell of blood had washed through those white hallways and when those blood red eyes had looked at them in hunger. Yuki had been the one with the weapon, Momo had been defenseless and hid behind her. Her friend had told her to run, so she had done just that and because doing so she's alive now. Momo has a chance to live a normal life despite the odds that were now playing around her. That's right, I've to make a choice, just like that time.
Her toes curl inside her shoes and she frowns deeply. Her eyes go to Yuki, the oxygen mask that she wears, how pale and thin she is and to the machines and tubes attached to her. Yuki had once wanted to become scientist since she was a little girl, was what she had told to Momo once. Her parents had been ones and so had been her grandparents, apparently. Her choice for life hadn't been because the family pressured her to do so, but she had wanted to help in creating something new. The desire to help humanity and be someone were things that had made Yuki who she was. It was purely her dream that she worked for to achieve. Honestly, it had made Momo a little jealous of her, for having such a thing as ambition. But now, Yuki couldn't make her wishes come true, she isn't able to create anything anymore and even if she wakes up there is still a chance that she would be disabled.
Momo isn't guilty, she doesn't want to feel it. It hadn't been her fault at that time. Anything could've happened if she had stayed with her friend and not ran away in search for an exit. Something worse could've also happened if Momo had chosen to do otherwise. There are no regrets for her to carry on, but every time she looks at Yuki, the memories just keep on stabbing her insides like a knife.
Slowly, raising her hands to look at them, Momo's airways felt like they become blocked.
Red.
It is covering her fingers, dripping down against her wrists and soaking the sleeves of her shirt. Darker and lighter brown eyes widen to the size of plates and Momo starts to shake uncontrollably. The heartbeat rises and it rings in her ears, muffling the sound of the heart monitor. The wounds throb and every possible color starts to leave from the face.
The sword flashed...
Something burns in her throat and it isn't until she tastes the bile does, she stands up absurdly and makes her way to the bathroom.
Instant, sharp pain…
The toilet's lid is thrown open and she leans down, letting everything out and pushing the strands of her hair away from her face.
Iron, smoke, flames...
The clock ticks as the minutes pass by and the gagging sound is the second thing that is heard in the hospital room, besides the machines.
A stench hit her nose, as soon as Momo is done and leans back. Her shoulders rise and fall, and she swallows harshly, the stinging in her throat almost unbearable. Her back hits the hard floor of the bathroom and she looks up at the ceiling in a daze. She gasps for breath and twitches every now and then with tears in her eyes. There is no straight thought in her mind, but she understands that something is definitely not right with her. The medicine that she needs is in her pocket, but she doesn't reach out for it.
Shakily, Momo looks at her hands again, only to see the blood still there. Something more is rising up from her throat, but she refuses to let out a scream. So, instead, she crawls back, not looking to her hands. Her knees buckling, cold sweat slides down her back and when she looks to the mirror a scream finally comes out and she backs up against a wall. The back of her head collides with the solid surface harshly.
There, where is supposed to be only her own reflection, stands someone completely different.
Red.
That same smile, wide and so terrifying that her whole body starts shaking, is as cold as Momo remembers it. The curious, childish gaze is not so innocent in those crimson pools of blood. They belong to a predator and it is looking straight at the woman who stares back with a horrified look.
Take the pills, take the pills… TAKE THE PILLS!
Her hands refuse to move.
This is amusing to him. A simple tilt of a head is enough to make Momo flinch violently. The tall built of the creature is enough to intimidate anyone, but what is making it worse is how the blood soaks the fabric of the clothes. Red pecks of it drip down the monster's cheek, like tears. The same color is sliding out of its mouth, two white fangs poking out of it.
The oxygen doesn't truly come in and out of her lungs anymore. She stands there, frozen like a rabbit and keeping her eyes on the she could utter a single word, it would sound just like her thoughts: shaky. Despite the bathroom being large, Momo feels like it is shrinking and shrinking around her. Her feet are planted firmly on the ground when she would only want to just run away as fast as she could.
A drop of blood rolls down the cheek, before falling down and disappearing. A wider smile spreads on the pale mouth.
Momo screams again and closes her eyes, sliding down to the ground as a trembling mess. Her throat cracks under the pressure, vision blurring.
Someone comes in, but she pays no mind to it.
She screams and screams and every time she looks to the mirror the same monster is looking back at her, smiling.
Hello! Sorry for taking so long with this chapter. The school, my hobbies, etc. All those things keep me busy and occupied.
Now, I'm not sure, if I am moving currently too fast on these first chapters, but that is kind of impossible to stop. One, there is basically nothing interesting happening in Momo's life. If I went from detail to detail, you all would only get a boring routine about rising up during the morning, eating food, going shopping, work and so on. Two, it's also because I'm preparing this story for a twist. Not going to tell you what it is or when exactly it will happen. Just wait and keep reading, if you want to find out.
Lastly, I apologize for this chapter is shorter than the ones before it and for my writing mistakes. English is not my mother language.
Please comment. I love to hear what others think about my stories. It will inspire me.
