Sophie shifted her purse around as she approached the abandoned building she lived in. It only took her two seconds to move forward before the sound of her roommates harping had put a damper on her quiet, serene day in the park.
"What if one of us or all of us ends up dead because SOMEONE can't have any self-control!" Aimi hissed through gritted teeth. Kaito, who had returned from his adventures, and Aimi had been standing only a foot away from each other screaming at the top of their lungs. Kaito went from being still to using his arms to gesture around the house as if he was pointing things out while Aimi stood her ground holding up her sinking stomach.
As Sophie walked between both of them, she asked "What are you two fighting about?" hoping it would lower the volume of the fight and bring both of them to a level-headed state. Not that Sophie really cared if Aimi and Kaito fought. In fact, she almost hoped they would so Aimi would storm out of the area and feel motivated enough to get up and do something rather than sit around all day whining. But this time she was afraid of lurking listeners and didn't want the attention drawn to the home.
While still grabbing her stomach with one hand, Aimi threw her other arm up into the air and rolled her eyes. "Oh look, it's the QUEEN of breaking the rules, here to meet with the KING." The dramatics this woman could put on were amazing. "You guys should get married or something so you don't punish your partners with false. Promises." Anger and sourness dripped in her words. The wrathful wrinkles in her face had fallen to form a sterner look.
"Wait," Kaito started, turning to Sophie confused. "What did *you* do?"
As Sophie lifted her hand to her forehead, already sick of this discussion, Aimi took the liberty of passive-aggressively answering for her. "She brought her cop boyfriend over! Just showed him the whole layout of the building that's filled with stolen money and items being housed by two undocumented girls and a gambler!"
Sophie snapped. "Okay no," she faced Kaito. "First of all he's not my boyfriend, he's a trusted friend. Second of all, I didn't take him here or show him around. He followed me in because I forgot something."
"But he's still a cop..." Kaito continued, worriedly.
"Yeah," Sophie corrected, "and between trying to catch a serial killer and people going missing every day, do you really think the cops have the time or care to come raid a house with a couple of girls living in it? I mean really."
After a second passed in silence, Kaito considering what she just said, Aimi cleared her throat again in annoyance. "Don't act all innocent, Kaito. You're still the one in the hot water right now."
Sophie stood dumbfounded on what Kaito possibly could have done to light the fire of Aimi's wrath so dramatically? She knew they hated each other, but usually Aimi's insults and commands were generally-spoken, not direct attacks.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a small black-haired girl curled up on the floor and staring at the fight. "Wh...Who's that?" Sophie asked, feeling she knew the answer already. Kaito's mistake. A mistake just like Sophie. A girl that he wanted to help, putting a strain on resources and increasing the risk of getting caught. Great, the blame would probably get put on her for 'starting this habit'.
"She won't tell me her name but she said she's a North Korean defector. She snuck here on a cargo ship and has been bouncing from town to town trying to get a grasp on life."
Aimi snorted, annoyed at his general answer to avoid the whole truth. "Some guy at the casino pawned her off on him and said he couldn't take care of her anymore. So Kaito, knight in not-very-bright-armor, saved the day and took her back here to be watched over by two girls that can't speak Korean and for her to sit in a dusty basement all day."
"Look," Kaito ordered firmly, loudly. Noticing the tone in his voice, he gave an unspoken apology by continuing in a more relaxed, apologetic tone. "Aimi, I'm sorry, okay? I know it's risky but she was at risk of being hurt. I know I broke my own rule and endangered your child. And I'm sorry. But what's done is done, okay?"
Aimi crossed her arms and glared Kaito up and down like a celebrity looking at a plate of pig slop. Whatever angry thoughts running through her head had become abandoned when she dropped her arms, sighed, rolled her eyes, and turned around to head towards her side of the room- the march of being defeated.
Kaito sighed, closing his eyes and rolling his head around his neck to stretch after the confrontation the second he walked in the door. He opened his eyes and saw Sophie staring at him with her head turned. Almost about to ask why she was looking at him, he remembered what he came here to say. "Oh yeah," Kaito said quietly, "I earned you big this time: quadruple. I considered going again to surprise you for an eight times earning, but I was afraid of losing it all." He opened the vest he was wearing and reached into the inside pocket, pulling out an envelope. "I know this won't hold you over forever, but you definitely won't starve."
Sophie stared down at the envelope in shock, tears forming in her eyes. "Thank you, Kaito," she peeped sincerely, pulling him into a tight and comforting embrace.
Kaito lowered his voice even more, hoping his voice wouldn't travel too far. "I also have another proposition for you and Aimi, though I'll talk to her about it when she calms down."
Sophie pulled away from the hug. She had no plans for the evening, so she nodded her head towards the door to the exit, suggesting they move outside.
"Sophie, a friend of mine that I have been talking to for some time is interested in helping you."
Sophie took a step back and shyly grabbed one arm with the other hand, casting her eyes to the ground. To be fair, the only help Sophie had been exposed to recently have been men (and women) offering help with the payment of sex. Help "unwinding", help "forgetting that ex-boyfriend"... whatever would get someone the opportunity to bed her was the offer. Even though her and the police officer were friends now, their relationship had begun through intercourse as well. She had become cynical and untrustworthy over time, saddened that the value of her mind or passion would always be overshadowed by her will to do whatever it took to survive and the need to work in the shadows of society.
Kaito, having known Sophie for quite some time, picked up on her change of mood and the fear in her eyes. He continued, hoping to ease her thoughts. "He's someone that can get you a new identity, a job where you can actually get paychecks, and you can move to wherever you want." When Sophie looked up at him curiously, he continued again. "All he asks for is to help him organize things online and move some money around for him when he requests it. It's easy and requires very little time. If you're interested, we can meet him for dinner at that big fancy restaurant in the city in a few days."
Sophie knew better than to get her hopes up too high, but any suggestion of a better, more normal life brought a smile to her face. She nodded.
Sophie slid off the last chunk of meat from her meat-ke-bob onto the plate in front of her and picked it up with her hands, shoving it into her mouth and sucking that finger clean. The classiest. "Sho," she gurgled, food still sloshing around in her mouth, "os you can shee, she's bohhy, buh harmless."
"She's harmless, yet you're afraid to get up whenever she's sleeping to find food because of her?" The suspicious police asked warily, not believing her one bit.
Sophie swallowed. "Hey man, pregnant women need their sleep. You never know when that baby could morph into her body and take her over, turning her into a two-headed man-eating zombie!"
Tohru smirked at the ridiculous girl in front of him shoveling food down her throat as if she hadn't eaten in days... and apparently she barely did. He had spent the last few days without seeing her, and that meant not checking on her health, afraid he'd unleash the wrath in her roommate, but he was genuinely pleased to see her waiting outside of the police station when he got out early. After hearing a rumbly stomach and a plea to discuss her life's events, he took her to the Junes food court for lunch. It was louder than Souzai Daigaku and the passersby wouldn't be nearly as nosy. "I hope you don't plan on eating like this when you meet that man."
Sophie swallowed another bite and sighed, leaning back into her chair. "Honestly, I'll probably be too nervous to eat... I mean, I really think this guy can help me. What if I can live a normal life, Tohru?" She sat up in her chair and leaned towards him. "What if I can make real money and live in a real apartment? Find myself a guy that really cares about me, settle down and get married and have kids?! I haven't thought about this in so long!"
Tohru's heartstrings pulled and he found himself getting angry at himself for being hurt over his friend's ramblings about freedom. He hadn't seen her this happy in such a long time. It took all of the strength inside of him to squash the desire to kill her buzz and bring her back down to earth.
He wasn't sure if it was because he thought he deserved to be happy first, or if he just realized how lonely he would be if she left? Was it jealousy of her life, or jealousy that some other place could be greeted with her blushing cheeks and chirpy face all while simultaneously despising the world she lived in.
"Can you take me to the hilltop?" She asked, breaking him out of his spell.
"Huh? What for?"
"Ah dunno... I'm kind of in the mood for some cheap romantic crap like looking out onto the city with the sunset in the background. You know, some really cheesy stuff."
"I mean, can't you see the sunset from my apartment window?" He was welcomed to a glare that could kill the weak-hearted. "Well, it's not like I have anything better to do with my time," he muttered under his breath as he stood up and pushed his chair in, pretending like he hadn't even suggested otherwise.
The elevator pinged as it dropped floors. Even living in the city for a while, he still was amazed at the massive size of this department store. As the door opened, he gestured Sophie out by placing the hand that wasn't in his pocket on the small of her back, pushing lightly.
A few steps out of the elevator and...
"Tohru-chan!" an old woman exclaimed from right in front of him. He swallowed hard realizing he didn't have the time to try to run away now. Crap. "Pleasure seeing you today! Is this young lady your wife?"
"Huh?" Adachi responded, his guard thrown off. It was then that he realized he still had his hand placed along her back. He quickly corrected that, blushing and throwing that arm behind his head. "N-no. I'm not married!"
"Well you should hurry up! You aren't getting any younger! Soon you'll be too old for all of the fun marriage activities and too old to take care of a child!"
Sophie smiled gently at the old woman and grasped onto Adachi's arm romantically. "We may not be married," she began, pitching her voice to what seemed like a million octaves above her usual and producing a sound so sweet it would make the Pillsbury dough boy sick, "but we just got engaged yesterday! And I couldn't be happier with my Tohru-chan!" She nuzzled her head onto his arm, noticing that his cologne was different today. Manlier? Heavier? More expensive? To Adachi's benefit, her mind jumping off of track distracted her from the blush creeping along his face.
"I don't see a ring on your finger, young lady! Make sure he gets you one, okay?"
Adachi looked down at Sophie with a fake smile plastered on his face and sheer disgust in his eyes, egging her to continue with this interaction. She glanced up at him, picking up on his cue, and continued. "Of course! It's just being sized right now! He gave me one handed down from his poor, sweet grandmother who had much bigger hands than I do! I'm so dainty and frill, I'm so glad a strong police officer could be my number one." Maybe this encounter wouldn't be so bad after all.
She nodded and smiled, soaking up all of the buttered-up lies Sophie spoon-fed her and eyed the two up. She continued to stand there awkwardly, enjoying staring at Sophie's nuzzling and cooing at a dumbfounded Adachi. After a few moments of silence, she spoke again. "Well then... I suppose I should be going! I've got to go to dinner with my son Tohru tonight! Make sure he eats his vegetables, young lady! He's looking a tad scrawny!"
Adachi grunted in frustration, not even choosing to hide the annoyance on his face anymore. He hated when people talked about his weight.
"I will! Thank you for keeping such a good eye on him for me when I can't be there!"
When the old lady bowed gently and ran off, Sophie released his arm. After a few seconds of walking in silence, she opted to reach for his hand, sending butterflies rushing through both of their stomachs which they both had to swallow down. When he didn't pull away, she smiled at the ground. She wasn't sure why she did it or what she would get out of it, but at the time it seemed like the right thing to do.
"You're disgusting, you know that?" Adachi stated, changing the subject and putting on a show to distract from his strange emotional state. "You just lied to an old lady!"
She chortled. "Yeah, but honestly I felt there was a 'The youngins are ruinin marriage with their datin' and screw-in!' coming and I wasn't gonna be there for that." She made sure to emphasize the old woman's wrinkly voice in her offensive quote, making Adachi chuckle in agreement.
"Maybe now she'll stop trying to shove her over seasoned food on me."
Adachi plucked one of Sophie's long hairs from his jacket. "I only had one girlfriend. In college, I mean. I wasn't allowed to date in high school. Her name was Yukiko and she was one of the prettiest girls in the school."
"How'd it end?"
Adachi and Sophie stood leaning on the fence, staring out at the town. If you didn't think the town looked like the boonies from the ground, you'd be crazy to think that looking at it from the hill. Green trees painted the land, making the shopping district and Junes look like the only parts of civilization reaching this strange city. It was oddly calming to look at everything so small from so high up, and it was so quiet it could make the most fussy baby fall asleep. Adachi must have also found this place to be serene, because he was answering Sophie's invasive questions without hesitation.
"Eh, as it turned out she was just using me to make her ex jealous." He shrugged. "It hurt pretty badly. I mean I really liked this girl. After we broke up, there were a fair amount of nerdy girls that wanted to date me, but I was being an overemotional brat and rejected all of them so I could sit in my self-pity. Pretty pathetic, huh."
Sophie shook her head. "No... Everyone handles things differently. I would have waited to date again too if that happened to me."
"Yeah? What about you, then?"
Sophie turned to him. "What about me?"
"Any boyfriend before you got kidnapped? Did you try dating when you were on the run?"
She sighed. "I mean I had a couple of boyfriends. Nothing serious and nothing ended terribly. I was young and they were young and we didn't really have an understanding of relationships. So we'd call each other boyfriend and girlfriend and hold hands walking to class and that'd be it. It was pretty childish." A smile grew on Sophie's face when she fondly remembered her younger days. Adachi smiled watching the memories flow back to her. "After the kidnapping though, I never tried to date anyone. I didn't know anyone long enough except for Kaito. I didn't try to make friends because I was afraid of getting attached and then have to leave. I had enough of sudden loss."
The sounds of nature rang between the two as they stood silently, wondering what to say next.
"Was I-"
"Did- Oh I'm sorry."
"You can go first," Adachi pleaded, realizing his question wasn't the most appropriate and was hoping the subject would change before it blurted out of his mouth.
"No it's okay, it was just a small talk question. You go ahead first."
"Eugh," he blurted. After a second where she wouldn't talk, he sighed. "I was... just going to ask if I was your first. You don't have to answer that, though!"
Sophie glanced to the ground. "No... That's okay. My statement kinda conflicted with our spontaneous first meeting. It's only natural that you'd have questions." When Adachi nodded, she continued after looking straight ahead into the city. "You weren't my first. My escape plan involved laying there and letting that man that was obsessed with me think I was in love with him. My seduction tactics revolve around lying and manipulation..." She looked to the ground sadly. "I don't know what it's like to do things that I want to do because I feel it in my heart. I only know how to do what it takes to survive."
He sensed her pain. He sensed her desire to not continue the conversation anymore, but instead to stand and really think about the direction her life has taken her. He assumed everything has been so fast-paced since the murders that she needed to slow down and fully realize everything going on around her. And it was with that sense that he placed his hand on her back again and rubbed gently, showing a distant yet caring symbol of support and admiration for the fight she put up over the last few years.
And as a sign of thankfulness, she side-stepped closer to him, pressing her side against his and leaning on his arm, allowing his to move from her back onto her arm into a side hug.
