The pale-haired boy kept a firm hold on Teruko as he met the newcomer's gaze. He vaguely recognized him from the fight earlier. This boy had been a spectator, hanging out with a group of three girls. He remembered Teruko calling him "Yuudai". His mouth set in a firm line, he considered his options.
There were two of them and they seemed to be in good health. He was still recovering from his fight. Teruko had already alluded to what type of kagune she had. It would be a bad idea to attempt to fight her now, let alone both of them.
The idea of escaping did cross his mind, but as he had told Teruko, he had no wish to leave. There was food and shelter. Two things that he would need until he was well enough to move on. As the boy called Yuudai took a step toward them, he leaned down to Teruko's ear. "Tell him…that everything's fine. Or I'll make you regret it," he murmured.
She tensed, teeth gritted in frustration. The girl was rather brave and she seemed quite intelligent. If she really wanted to, he was sure that she could probably take him down before her friend even got close. Something was making her hesitate.
When the boy saw her face, he caught a redness in her cheeks and remembered that he was pressing against her back. He took a step away from her, subtly letting her arm free. His eyes went to Yuudai. The indigo-haired boy was taller than him with broad shoulders and a well-muscled build. Not exactly a good opponent to have to face in his current state.
"So what's this thief doin' here, Teru? Ya know how I feel about ya bringin' guys home! And why this guy?!" Yuudai stepped toward them again, looking from Teruko to the pale-haired ghoul.
Teruko, now freed, grimaced and rubbed the back of her neck as she looked at her friend. "Didn't hook up with him, for starters." She glanced to her new acquaintance and the corner of her lips lifted. "My new friend. Was looking hungry so I invited him for some food. Going hunting tomorrow anyway; might as well clear out the old meat, yeah? Get you something nice and fresh tomorrow. I promise."
"Is that it?" The indigo-haired ghoul raised an eyebrow and grinned. Crossing the space, he grabbed both of the other boy's hands and shook them. "Alright. Any friend of Teru's is a friend of mine; just how it works. Ya got a name, thief?"
Slightly irked at being more or less tricked into giving his name, he scowled up at Yuudai. "…Renji…"
"Enji, huh? Good to meet ya!"
"It's…Renji," he corrected him.
"Well maybe if ya didn't mumble, I'd hear ya right the first time, huh? Oh! Teru, I got somethin' for ya from Itori-chan!"
Renji watched the two interact as he leaned his back against the wall. He could tell right away what their dynamic seemed to be. The tall boy had romantic feelings toward Teruko, but she seemed to regard him only as a friend. As Yuudai dug in his bag and produced some cans of chilled coffee, Renji saw excitement rise to Teruko's face.
"Wow. Don't think I've seen these brands before. Are they from this ward?" She examined the labels on the cans, a half-grin pulling at her lips.
"Itori-chan said she had some friends get 'em from other wards. Said she wanted to see ya tomorrow." Yuudai frowned and pushed his hands into his pockets. "Said Uta's gonna wanna see ya, too. What's your deal with him anyway?"
"Doesn't concern you. I'm not going to ask about what you did with Itori-chan today." Teruko looked to Renji now and saw him watching her. Quirking an eyebrow, she held up a can of coffee and let her half-grin evolve into a smirk. "Renji, right? Here you go!"
Shift P.O.V
When she saw him standing against the wall, she know that he had decided not to start a fight. I figured as much. Yuudai's pretty intimidating to strangers. She saw him catch the can of coffee that she had tossed to him and caught the way his brow furrowed. "For you. Already got one from that brand; it's a double. Can spare you just one so ration it."
He stared at her for a moment before sitting on the floor. From the firm look on his face and the stubborn gleam in his eye, Teruko was able to discern that he still had absolutely no intention of leaving her home. She turned to see Yuudai's expression, half-expecting him to snap at the boy, but it appeared that he had lost interest in her new acquaintance.
Why did Yuudai keep calling him a thief? She took her gifts and settled on the floor across from Renji, bringing out her notebook. There was a small section marked by a neon pink sticker and she flipped to it. This was the reason why she had been so excited to receive the coffee; her hobby. She enjoyed trying different roasts and brands of coffee and then making notes to compare them. Her ultimate quest for the perfect coffee.
As she scribbled notes about the names and labels, she caught sight of her pale-haired companion staring at her again. Yuudai had wandered out of the room, presumably to use the restroom, so she was left alone with the stranger. She felt uncomfortable after their earlier encounter, but now he was outnumbered so she felt a bit more confident.
"So…what'd you steal then? Yuudai keeps calling you a thief. Is that what got you roughed up?" Teruko kept her voice soft, not wanting to draw her friend back to the room.
"…I took food…" he muttered, inadvertently looking toward his bag.
She followed his gaze and tilted her head. "Don't hunt for yourself? Got a defect or something?" When he went silent, she scowled. "Listen. You want to stay here? Want food? Going to have be civil, yeah? Friendly like. So we'll try again. My dear friend Renji, why were you stealing food?"
He bristled at the way she spoke, but did not move to attack. Instead, he drew his legs to his chest and frowned. "I…scavenge."
"Scavenge? What? Like a raven or a raccoon?" she teased. The girl had looked away to continue her notes, but when he failed to respond, she turned her gaze back to him. Exhaustion was clear in his eyes as well pain. Not from his injuries. She knew this sort of pain quite well; a loneliness and loss.
Continuing her notes, Teruko opted to distract him. "So! Far as Yuudai knows, you and I are friends now, got it?"
"…fine…" He spoke without feeling. Simply going along with what she said.
"Tomorrow night, I'm leaving to do a quick job. Need a good lookout. Can earn your keep by going along. Won't make you kill any humans or anything. Just need someone to watch my back."
"Why would you trust me? You…hardly know me."
She blinked and looked to the boy with a frown. "Need to trust the company you keep, Renji. Just how it is. Have to trust me, too, right? Why'd you decide that you wanted to stay here anyway? Be easier to just run."
His mouth twisted in displeasure at her question. "You…helped me. And you didn't even know who I was…or what I'd done. Why?"
Closing her notebook, she released a soft sigh. "You needed help. I don't know." It was perplexing because Teruko had left plenty of ghouls to die in the past. Death by CCG investigators, death by starvation, death by cannibalism or other ghoul. She had not put much thought into it before, but now she was questioning why she had saved him.
He doesn't seem special. He has pale hair and eyes, but…that's it. So why? Why did I help him? Why am I letting him stay here when I could probably force him to leave now that Yuudai is here? She saw his expression soften and the boy covered a yawn. Seeing such a gentle look on his face, Teruko felt a stirring in her chest. Her heart skipped a beat and she chewed at her thumbnail.
"So tomorrow, yeah? You're coming with me."
"…alright…" he conceded.
The sleeping arrangements in the room were odd. Teruko was surprised that their new "friend" had not wandered off into the rest of the building to find his own space, but he had opted to stay in the room with them. She slept in her usual spot, on her bed of blankets. Yuudai slept against the wall across from her in a tattered sleeping bag. Renji settled himself in a corner and slept sitting upright.
She found him still propped against the wall, head bowed, and she could only imagine how much his neck would hurt when he woke up. Was he afraid of Yuudai turning on him in the middle of the night? She quickly realized that, from the way he was positioned, he would have been facing her instead of the other boy. It almost made her laugh. Does he think I'm a bigger threat?
Noticing that he had no blankets, Teruko frowned and scratched the back of her head. Silently going to her makeshift bed, she fetched a blanket and gently settled it over him to the best of her ability. Looks pretty tired. Starving and exhausted? I know that feeling. She slipped on a jacket and looked to Yuudai. The larger boy was still sleeping like the dead and snoring quietly in his sleeping bag.
As she left the building, she looked first to the sky. It was overcast; dark gray clouds blocking out the morning light and threatening to drench the world below in rain. Clouds made for good hunting weather, but not rain. Silently praying for the storm to not come, she went around to the front of the building and stopped dead in her tracks.
Uta waved sheepishly from his perched on the fence across the street. His mouth was drawn up into a smile as he hopped down, clearly delighted to see her. As he crossed the street to approach her, his amusement only seemed to grow. "Are you going out?"
The girl's gray-green eyes met his black and red ones before flicking to the various bandages he was wearing. The boy's knuckles were wrapped, but the bandaging seemed to go up his forearms. There was a scrape on his cheek and a bandage on the side of his neck. "Something happen to you?"
"Someone stole some meat yesterday and I had to fight him. He was really strong. I bet he was as strong as you are." Walking beside her, he looked quite pleased with himself. "I hope I can fight him again; it was a lot of fun. Teruko, next time we should both-" Uta cut himself off, sniffing at the air.
She tensed and tried to step away, but his hand caught the girl by the front of her jacket. Teruko's face heated as he leaned in, sniffing at her neck and then the fabric of her clothes. When he lifted her hand, he started to smile. "Uta?"
"You were with him, weren't you? You've got a strange scent on you. I almost didn't notice it, but it's another male ghoul, right? And it doesn't smell like Yuudai. Where did you see him?" He sounded extremely excited to look for Renji.
