Making conversation with someone you just met is typically one of the hardest things a person ever has to do, as they have no idea what the other individual's interests are, what they dislike, what're sensitive topics of discussion, and so on so forth. Combine this with the fact you are alone with the other person in a rundown apartment complex in a near desolate part of town, plus the fact the other person also saved your life, and you have what could possibly be the single most awkward scenario to try and have a conversation, casual or otherwise. But despite the tension in the air that only Haruno seemed to be feeling, both her and Garou were still having a nice peaceful meal together as both seemed to just be enjoying the company of the other while not focusing on the lack of mealtime talk.
Even so, she did want to learn more about this man who not only prevented her death but also with out struggle dispatched three heroes with little to no effort, and so with but a quick breath to steel her nerves she mustered up enough courage to finally break the silence.
"So." She spoke, causing him to look at her "...Why...did you save me?..." She asked, though it was in the most awkward tone of voice possible.
Taking a moment to make sure he had heard her correctly, Garou then swallowed the food in his mouth so that he could answer clearly.
"Because they were going to kill you." He told her bluntly with a shrug, as he readied another bite on his chopsticks.
"Well yeah of course they were, I am a monster after all..." She replied, whilst looking off to the side.
Upon hearing that response however Garou without warning sent his chopsticks straight down towards the table, not only catching her by surprise but also managing to embed them into the table.
"So what if you are a monster?" He asked, his tone becoming serious "Does that mean your life doesn't matter? that YOU don't matter?" He questioned.
"Uh..." She sounded, as she wasn't sure how to respond given his sudden change in attitude.
Noticing how she seemed hesitant to respond, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath as to calm himself.
"Sorry." He apologized as he pulled the chopsticks out of the table "I'm...not the best at controlling my anger." He admitted as he went back to readying another bite of his food.
"That's...okay." She replied, still being wary of what else might set him off "Is...there a reason for that?" She inquired, hoping that she hadn't just accidentally stepped on another nerve.
Thankfully to her relief, instead of sending his chopsticks into the tabletop a second time he actually seemed to give some thought on what he should say for an answer, remaining silent for a near minute to do so.
"...Because it isn't fair." He told her, as he looked down at his food "Monsters are so much better than heroes by far, yet they're the ones who get beaten and killed all the time while everyone around them cheers, why can't the monsters win just once?" He asked as he held his chopsticks a bit tighter "It just isn't fair..." He repeated, before he took another bite of his meal.
Unable to keep herself from staring at his face after hearing his answer, Haruno saw genuine sadness and discontent in his expression, telling her that this man who sat next to her truly did think how monsters were treated wasn't right. And while she herself had only just become a monster but a day or so ago, she still was amazed at how there actually was a person in this world who seemed to despise heroes whilst everyone else rallied behind them.
"Anyway." He spoke, once he swallowed "You should probably finish your meal, before it starts to get cold." He told her.
"Hm? oh, right!" She responded, having been brought out of her train of thought.
Silence then came between them once again as they both went on to clean their plates of any remaining food, and once they were done Garou took both plates into his hands and then left the room. With their meal now over Haruno still tired and hurting from her injuries got back onto the bed, her now full stomach helping her to get nice and comfy atop it's covers.
"He really is a strange man..." She thought to herself as she looked over to the door, it having been left slightly ajar "But it's a good kind of strange, not like the dumb kind like Itar, who I still need to kill..." She reminded herself with a furrowed brow, as the fact he got away greatly annoyed her "I wonder if Garou would help with that? no doubt those heroes are gonna tell people about what happened today, so I might need him as backup if more heroes show up next time..." She reasoned as a yawn escaped her "But...that can wait until morning..." She decided as she turned on her side.
Whether it was her fatigue or perhaps the hot meal that rested in her stomach, Haruno was sound asleep within a matter of minutes. As for Garou, after he finished taking care of the dishes he returned to the room to see if she wanted to continue their conversation, only to find her in slumber. Not saying a word as he didn't want to disturb her, he walked over to the small closet that was across from the foot of her bed and took out a spare blanket, which he then used to cover her as to ensure she wouldn't get cold. After that, he picked up the candle from the table and gently blew out it's flame, before taking his leave and quietly closing the door behind him as he did.
Unlike before where her mind had been plagued by the prior events of the day, as well as the ending they could have had instead what actually happened, she had pleasant dreams that brought a smile to her face as she slept. Albeit, they were dreams of brutally murdering Itaru and the heroes who had nearly killed her, but still they made her happy with visions of blood being slung about and screams of dying men filling her ears. But as the morning eventually came and the sun's radiant light shone through the few gaps in the curtains that covered her room's windows, they slowly as the sun rose made their way up her body until they perfectly landed right in her eyes.
"...Ngh...quit it..." She groaned as she came out of her rest, instinctively putting a hand up to block it "Fuckin' sun..." She cursed beneath her breath.
Rising up into an upright position she stretched out her arms before doing anything else, but as she did she felt something fall off of her chest and hit her lap.
"Hm?" She sounded as she looked down to see what it was.
To her surprise she found that a blanket had been put on top of her after she fell asleep, and unless the complex was haunted there was only one person who could've done it, which caused her to smile.
"Itaru never did shit like that." She told herself as she moved her legs to hang off of the bed, pushing the blanket to the side as she did.
Getting to her feet so that she could finishing stretching she continued to do so with her arms before moving onto her legs, her back, and even her tail. Yet as she did all of this she noticed the absence of any pain in her shoulder and side, which brought another smile to her face.
"No fucking way." She said as she quickly undid the bandages to see if what she thought was true.
Sure enough, once the bandages were off she not only saw that her injuries were completely healed, but in their place two obsidian spots had formed as well.
"Oh that's badass!" She exclaimed as she prodded the spots, only getting more excited as besides the lack of any pain, it felt as though her flesh had gotten tougher as well.
Continuing to poke and prod at her new spots just to be absolutely certain no trace of the wounds remained, she then hurried out of the room to find Garou as to show him her new discovery.
"Yo Garou!" She called out as she ventured into the rest of the apartment "You need to see this! My body's like, reactive or something!" She exclaimed, as she didn't really know how to describe it.
However, as she walked through the apartment which was honestly a decent size and had a good bit of furniture and appliances within it, she found no trace of him anywhere.
"Huh, wonder where he is?" She asked aloud as she put a hand to her chin "Maybe he lives in another apartment?" She suggested as she then headed to the door.
But just as she reached it and was about to leave it was pushed open from the other side, revealing none other than Garou.
"Oh, hey." He greeted once the door was fully open "Glad to see you're feeling better." He told her, as before she was barely able to get out of bed.
"Pfft, I'm not just feeling better!" She replied as she showed him her side and shoulder "I'm completely healed! plus these spots appeared where the injuries were, almost like my body is trying to protect itself or something!" She explained.
"You seemed surprised by that." He noted.
"Well yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She asked.
"I just figured you'd know what your powers are." He answered with a shrug.
"Powers?" She inquired.
"Um...yeah, all monsters have powers." He told her as he crossed his arms "Did you think you just got a different appearance when you transformed?" He asked.
Falling silent as she didn't know how to answer that, the longer she went without saying anything the more certain he became that it was the case.
"Um...no..." She said after a solid minute of being quiet, though it was in no way at all convincing.
"Guess we're gonna have to see what your powers are then." He told her as she looked off to the side sheepishly "But until we do, it might be best for you to still use this." He offered as he reached behind his back.
Unsure as to what he meant by that her eyes would soon light up in joy and excitement as the sight of her weapon came into view.
"MY BLADE!" She shouted as she quickly took it from his hands to look it over "Wait...how...did you know about this? I didn't tell you about it." She realized as she looked at him with a confused yet curious expression.
"I didn't know if you had any kind of weapons or belongings that you might've lost when you fought those heroes, so I went looking around the area I found you at to see if I could find anything, and sure enough I came across a destroyed bus stop where that was just barely sticking out from beneath a dumpster." He explained "Don't worry, I already cleaned it." He added, in case she worried it was covered in grime or filth.
"You...did that for me?" She asked, as this was by far the nicest thing anyone had ever done for.
"Well, I figured if you lost anything important or something that might help them find you, you'd probably either want it back or want it destroyed." He answered as he rubbed the back of his head.
Looking back at her weapon which she still held in both of her hands, she couldn't keep the biggest smile she'd had in a long time from appearing on her face.
"Thank you, Garou." She told him as she looked back to him "This...this is seriously the best thing anyone's ever done for me." She confessed, which in turn caused him to smile.
"I'm glad." He simply replied, just as a thought occurred to him "Oh wait, I don't know your name." He realized.
"My name?" She said, also seeming surprised she hadn't said it yet.
"Yeah, what is it?" He asked.
Taking a moment to think on that, while she hadn't forgotten what her name was she didn't know whether or not she should say it, not because she was afraid to do so but because her name didn't really seem fitting for what she was now.
"Or do you not have a monster name yet?" He inquired, bringing her out of her thoughts.
"A monster name?" She asked, causing him to sigh.
"Wow you really do not know how to be a monster do you?" He asked her, causing her to in turn look off to the side once again.
"I...I just transformed like a day ago okay?!" She replied, a bit surprised at how embarrassed she was at that fact.
"Well we can't just have you going around without a proper monster name." He told her as he put a hand to his chin in thought "Let's see...what would be a good monster name for you?" He pondered.
Mimicking his action she too placed a hand to her chin in thought as to consider the possibilities for names. Ironically enough, both of them were using the same train of thought to try and think up a name for her, focusing mostly on words and names that revolved around demons, the supernatural, and so on as it would go perfectly with her appearance.
"Hmm..." They both hummed in thought "...I got it!" He exclaimed being the first to think of something "What about Sunder?" He suggested.
Feeling her eyes widen as the word reached her ears, she repeated it over and over again in her mind in various tones and phrases to see how it sounded, and after doing this for about three minutes a big toothy grin stretched across her face from ear to ear.
"Sunder...Sunder...hell yea that's badass!" She exclaimed with zest as she thrust her blade into the air "From this moment on I am Sunder, the baddest bitch around!" She proclaimed.
"We'll work on the title later..." He said with an awkward smile, as there was room for improvement.
And so, with her monster identity now complete all that was left for the demon like female to do was to figure out what her monster powers were, which both she and Garou were admittedly excited to discover.
