His footsteps were getting farther away. Celeste cautiously lifted her head, observing him as he walked to the other side of the room. He disappeared behind a standing screen, losing sight of him momentarily. A second later, Uta popped out holding a roll of paper towels, a spool of bandage, and a spray bottle of bleach. He returned to his crouching position, even further away this time. Uta rolled the paper towels and bandage spool across the floor to Celeste, then gently slid the bottle over the hardwood floor.

The items hit Celeste's thigh. She picked up the items and looked at him cautiously. "Sorry I can't help you," he apologized. "I'm afraid of blood; wouldn't be much help." In truth, he couldn't take his eyes off her bloody knee.

It was silent in the room for about 2 minutes as Celeste viciously scrubbed the floor with bleach. In a low tone, Uta talked to the girl, "My eyes are tattooed, y'know?" He held open his eyelids hoping the girl would look over. "I get color injected into them every so often."

Celeste made a tiny noise that almost sounded like a small scream in her throat. NEEDLES NEEDLES NEEDLES

"My eyes return back to normal after a whi-" NEEDLES NEEDLES NEEDLES NEEDLES NEEDLES NEEDLES NEEDLES NEEDLES NEEDLES NEEDLES NEEDLES NEEDLES

She interrupted before her vomit made an appearance, "H-How should I clean my knee?" Seeing the girl wasn't interested in eye injections, he silently pointed to the bleach. "I-I didn't know you could disinfect wounds with bleach…" Celeste was 90% sure she'd die if she touched her knee with bleach. "A-A-Are you absolutely sure?"
Uta leaned forward, a quizzical smile painted across his face, "Hundred percent positive. If it cleans floors, why wouldn't it clean wounds?"

Celeste gritted her teeth. That doesn't sound right, but I don't know enough about bleach to dispute it.

He was now sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, resting his chin on his intertwined hands, while his hollow eyes observed every detailed movement. "You gonna do it?"

"I-I-I think so." Celeste was now shaking, her eyes misty. She dabbed a bit of bleach on the towel. Squeezing her eyes shut, she quickly placed it on her wound. I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonn-I'M DYING I'M DYING. It felt as though she'd been electrocuted. Sucking in air through her clenched teeth, she felt tears stream down her face. After holding it on for a while, the pain started to subside, but the tears kept coming.

Uta didn't really understand what was going on. There was sadness, then anger, then sobbing, then talking to herself. It was like watching a theatrical performance. He was near invincible, but this girl was going to spend days changing bandages and limping around. Her thick hair was sticking to her face from the rain and tears, while her elbow had a big purple bruise that badly needed ice. She's done nothing but hurt herself since she walked in.

Celeste had her leg sticking out with the paper towel resting on her knee while she sprayed the floor to continue her intense cleaning. The bleach stung her eyes, but she kept scrubbing. She couldn't believe the mess she'd made all by herself. It felt as though responsibility was on her shoulders to fix the situation, but it would've been nice if the guy helped her. There was barely any blood on the wood from her wound. This guy looks like he gets piercings every day, but he's afraid of blood? If he's not a ghoul like he says, then he's insane and needs to be put in an institution.

After a few minutes of cleaning under the watchful black eyes of Uta, Celeste wrapped her grazed knee in the bandages. Turning to Uta, who was now sitting on a tall stool near an easel, she whispered, "Thank you...I'm...going home now."
Uta squinted. He was not one for emotion, but he felt disappointed. "Hey..." Uta started, "I told Touka I'd cut your hair."

"Who cares?" Celeste spoke sternly while picking up her school bag.

He didn't expect that.

Uta focused on her with his heavy-lidded eyes. "If I don't cut your hair, she won't talk to me." Celeste was about to shoot his words down again, but he quickly interrupted, "Touka's banned me from Anteiku for a whole month before. You know Anteiku? The coffee shop." Celeste nodded her head. She enjoyed visiting Anteiku during Touka's shifts to surprise her. She also liked their hot chocolate, (and Ken.)

Uta sternly stared into the distance as though he were having war flashbacks. "I had to drink gas station coffee." Turning his gaze to Celeste, he whispered, "Do you know what that does to a man?"

His whisper sent a shiver down her spine. She did not know what gas station coffee did to a man, but it must not have been good.

Even though it was a dumb story, it was true. And gas station coffee ruined a man. Celeste knew Touka would be disappointed. She went through all the work to get her friend a free haircut. Celeste peeked at Peanut Butter & Jelly Man through the wet hair that still stuck to her face.

Uta perched himself on a rolling stool near the artist's easel. He grabbed a smaller chair and placed it about two feet away from his own. He looked at her with a small grin as he pet the empty stool, gesturing to sit.

This is going to be weird.

Did anyone see that Always Sunny quote! If you did, you get some milk steak