Chapter 21
Annie had snuck back down to the kitchen, somehow, and brought a knife back up to her room. She now cracks the door open again, ready to stab the fucker and run. Maybe if she presented his head to the Ghouls they'd listen to her, or something. She pads forward into his room, careful not to let the floor squeak with her weight by staying close to the heavy furniture. Kino holds a Hachiko plushie in bed, which she finds odd. It looks old, definitely not the one currently in her apartment. He breathes out softly.
She eases closer, knife in hand, tension in the rapid thump of her heartbeat. She watches him sleep for just a moment, and for some reason, feels a flicker of doubt. Swallowing a lump in her throat, Annie raises the knife, tip aimed for his throat.
"...Go ahead. Do it," red wine eyes slide open to look at her. "You know...I never told you what that third card meant. The tarot one," he says, voice subdued.
Annie flinches, startled, and quickly presses the blade to his neck to give herself some semblance of power. "What does it mean?"
Kino smiles slightly, "John wouldn't have told you. I meant that you know, John was a good guy. He was your friend. Kino...can't be your friend though." He mutters, exhaling. "It's called The Tower. It's a really...cruel card. It was talking about me. But.. I still had to do this anyway," he says, looking into her eyes and swallowing.
The knife presses tighter against his skin as blue eyes narrow. "Stop being poetic. Tell me what the card means, and why you're so fucking obsessed with me."
Kino chuckles, uncaring when the knife bites into his skin and draws blood. "It means crumbling foundations. Lost trust. Betrayal. Unease and uncertainty." He mutters quietly, eyes closing briefly. When he opens them, his gaze is older, "want me to show you everything Annie?"
"So help me God, if you whip your pants off," Annie growls, but slowly lower the knife. "Show me."
Kino doesn't smile for once and soberly brings out a key, which hung on a necklace around his neck. He rises from the bed and walks from the room, leaving Hachiko behind. He then takes off the key and inserts it into the locked door in the hallway. Annie follows him out, frowning worriedly.
He unlocks the door and glances at her once, before pushing it open and stepping inside. What was revealed was.. Her. Everything she loved, from wrestling medals, to anime merch, French rap CD's, video games, airhorns and merchandise from her home town of Montreal, Canada. At the back of the room was a mirror that was cracked and worn.
Annie blinks, horror climbing in her throat. Oooooh shit. This is scary levels of obsessed. "So how long have you been stalking me for?" She asks coldly, glancing around. Kino sighs and takes out his phone, passing it to her, "scroll through," he mutters.
There were pictures of them, the date showing three months into the future. They were happily posing for the camera at different locations, some in Germany, some in Britain, some at Tokyo. Annie visibly pales at each of them. "That's impossible," she mutters, stopping at one. They're in Toronto, Canada, in front of the Beta Shoe Museum. She's half dead laughing and Kino's clearly making fun of the silly display of shoes. "We... we haven't..."
"We were a thing," he mutters, walking over to one of the medals and lightly touching it. "See I'm from a different time line. I turned back time to...try and be with you again," he says softly.
She frowns and glowers at him. "Before I yell at you and tell you you're a dumb fuck, even if this WERE true, why did we stop being a 'thing'?"
Kino stares at her soberly. "My Annie died," he says quietly. He then walks over to her slowly and leans down scroll through the phone. "This one is the last one we took. About 6 days before...it happened," he straightens and looks at her. "I've done... A lot of work to try and do this again."
She hesitates at the photo. A large ring, clearly an engagement ring, catches her attention. He's gotta be really, really fucking good at Photoshop to be faking these. She swallows a lump in her throat, not sure if she should be believing this or not. "How did I die?"
He runs a hand through his hair, "if you want to see everything...really see it, I can show it to you." He walks over to the cracked mirror, and motions for her to follow It's really more like her body moves of its own accord as she joins him at the mirror.
"This isn't possible..."
Kino takes her hand. "Just bare with me on this," he mutters, bringing her finger up to the cracked indent in the glass.
He presses her finger down hard enough to draw blood and then releases her. He then wipes his own blood from his neck from earlier and presses it to another. Soon, the red spots brighten- the blood seeming to spread through all the rivets in the glass.
Annie whimpers and draws back, eyes widening as she watches. This is fucking insane.
Kino takes her hand again, whether she likes it or not. The glass begins to shine, until it blinds them. Sensation draws away.
The light slowly starts receding, and laughter fills their ears. Kino finds himself sat in a movie theatre. He looks next to him to find Annie. "You good?" He asks quietly. Below them, sits Annie's replica, on her own in the theatre. Another Kino sits several rows in front, laughing obnoxiously.
"What the hell is this?" She whispers back, shrinking into her chair a little. She's quite pale, and clearly afraid. The Annie up front looks agitated, and losing her shit with the other Kino.
Kino sighs and strokes her head. "Oi, calm down, Petal. This is our first meeting. I'm showing you my memories," he says quietly. Annie recoils from his touch.
"Don't touch me," she snaps, watching the others.
Replica Kino listens to the movie, before laughing loudly again. Annie stands up, fucking done. She beams her bucket of popcorn at his head and growls as it bounces off the back. "Shut the FUCK up, asshole! IT IS NOT EVEN A COMEDY!"
Kino whips his head around and blinks at her. "Huh?" He blinks intelligently. "Wait.. Isn't this what you're supposed to do?" He asks, confused.
"Make a jackass of yourself so nobody else can hear the movie? No. Sit your ass down and shut up," she raises a brow. He then shifts closer, stepping over the seats to sit next to her. "Wait, hang on. I'm kind of new here...I've just been watching TV shows. The audience always laughs at those."
She frowns, and it takes her a second to clue in. "That's different. You just stay quiet and watch in a theatre," she mumbles.
"Oh. Oohh," he says, making a noise of understanding. He then winces. "I did wonder why no one else was joining in but it is pretty empty in here. I'm glad you said something, that laughing was starting to hurt my throat." He mutters, touching his neck. Replica Annie looks at him before snorting. "Dumbass," she chuckles, before leaning back in her seat.
"Weird you've never been to a movie theatre before, though."
Kino lifts a shoulder. "Where I'm from is pretty remote," he says, holding out his hand. "Oh great...this is the right thing to do, isn't it?" He sweats.
Annie smiles wryly and shakes his hand. "You're fine," she mutters before putting it back in her lap. Annoying guy, she just wants to watch the damn movie. Kino grins to himself, quite pleased. Hell yeah. The human world was easy. He could totally do this. He sits in his seat and watches without another word.
The real Annie turn to the Kino beside her and frowns. "This isn't exactly wooing me," she mutters. Clearly, the Annie down there is thinking the same thing.
Kino beside her sighs. "I was new to the human world, okay! Look, it's fast forwarding an hour," he mutters as the movie blurs and ends, and people rise from their seats, exiting the theatre. Replica Kino stood outside it, playing on his phone. He then starts walking, paying absolutely no attention to his surroundings and heading for a road.
Annie watches, frowning at this dumbass, as a screech draws her attention. That's my goddamn car!
Other Annie stares and rolls down the window, blanched white as she grips the steering wheel. She'd nearly hit him by inches. "Get the FUCK off the road!"
Kino blinks and looks at the road, before stepping back out of her way. "Shit..," he mutters, rubbing his hair. He then fishes in his pocket. "H-hey...Firey girl. Here-my apologies." He says, putting a wad of unused movie tickets through her window. Annie raises an eyebrow and sighs, pulling over properly.
"Where did you say you're from?" she asks, voice clearly pained.
"Japan," he mutters, looking at the unfamiliar surroundings of Canada. "In a very... Quiet village."
"I'm pretty sure they have roads and movie theatres in Japan, though," she sighs. "Look. Pay more attention, or you might get hurt."
Kino smiles weakly, "uh huh. Thanks for the help." He says, straightening. "Urgh.. I'm like the embodiment of that washed up meme. I came out here to have a good time," he mutters almost to himself.
She snorts, "that meme is not washed up. Pure gold, man," she mutters right back. "The Pepe one is the washed up one."
Kino blinks and smiles at her. "I guess so. Hey...you like the breadstick one? Because that totally could have been you in that movie theatre with me laughing."
"The breadstick one is great, except purses suck and you can't fit breadsticks into pockets," she mutters, before blushing a little. "I...totally am not speaking from experience. Nope. Not me."
Kino mock gasps. "Lady. You tried to do the meme in real life, didn't you?" He asks with mock horror. "You will anger the Gods." He chides, his eyes glittering.
"Look. I went to an Italian restaurant with a guy. It was bad to start, but then he said that video games were for idiots, and I had to nope out real fast," she explains. Kino's expression darkens. "Well he can just.. Bibbity bobbity back the fuck up."
She giggles. For an annoying fuck, he is extraordinarily well versed in memes. "I ruined the pockets of that jacket. My sister was so pissed, it was hers," she groans.
"See now you're handing me these memes on a silver platter. You could say that did it for the vine." He says, before smiling. "But seriously though, the guy sounds like a dick. Would she have preferred you sitting there miserable?"
"Vine is dead and so is Harambe," she fake coughs, before smirking. "Nah. Vic was fine with me leaving, she was just pissed I didn't leave the breadsticks behind."
Kino grins, shaking his head. "Bread sticks are love. Bread sticks are l-" he breaks out into laughter. "Actually I can't finish that one. Ahem. Breadstcks are awesome."
The real Kino, who was still watching with Annie, elbows her. "I seduced you with memes. You can't say that about every relationship," he chuckles.
Annie presses her lips tightly together. I totally would fall for that. "I... how do I know you aren't making this up with some magic crap stuff?"
"I can't exactly say anything that'll reassure you about that but.. I don't know.. Wouldn't this be a little elaborate? Plus if I got to tell this story, I'd have seduced you right off the bat." He muses, watching as their doubles shifted away, revealing their first date. In which Kino had actually brought a purse and attempted to shove bread sticks into, cursing when they snapped.
Annie can't help but smirk along with her double. "I mean, I guess," she mutters, correcting her expression. "But... I dunno."
The real Kino looks at her. "Oi.. Just tell me something you want to see. Maybe something only you'd know. That even if I was a stalker, I'd never be able to find out. Maybe that'll prove it to you."
Annie pauses. "What does the birthmark on my ass look like?" She asks, watching as he swallows.
"Paw print." His thoughts unfortunately influenced the two figures in front of them as their doubles were decidedly less clothed and kissing in a dimly lit room. The double Kino broke away to trail kisses down her back, stopping when he noticed her ass. "Oi, you have a pretty cute mark there."
Annie blushes darkly. "Shut up," she mutters.
The real Annie blushes as well, surprise surprise. "Oh, that's... oh."
Kino's replica chuckles and kisses her skin, shifting so that he lay beside her on the bed, poking her nose. "Boop." He says, quite obvious now about his using comedy to cover up his true feelings. He gentles slightly and slides his hand over her waist. "You nervous?" He asks.
Annie winces. "Yeah. A bit," she admits. "It... hurts, right? I've been told it hurts."
He chuckles. "Don't worry about that. You still feel pretty wet after what I just did." He says, rubbing her clit slowly. He then kisses her deeply.
The real Kino groans. "Shit sorry, it's my thoughts that influence the memories. Ahh gimme a second to turn it off." He mutters, spinning on his heel and looking pained.
Annie stares at the scene. "I have a pretty decent ass," she mutters to herself, appreciating it.
Kino hits his head. "Annie!" He hisses. "That is not helping!"
Of course, he's unable to stop as their doubles move, the replica Kino sinking inside of her slowly.
The real Annie shifts her eyes away, going quite red. "This feels like the plot of a bad porno," she whimpers as replica Annie moans softly. "Ugh, I don't SOUND like that!"
Kino shifts raising a brow. "We barely started here, trust me, we both made some interesting sounds." He smirks, before shaking his head. He turns to her. "Alright, that's it. Slap me. Free shot. You know you want to."
Light blue eyes narrow she kicks him in the balls instead. That should definitely kill the mood. He wheezes and doubles over, their replicas fading and a very similar scene taking place. They'd obviously just had an argument. The real Kino leans against the wall. "Oh you little.. You." He mutters, glaring at her.
"Oh look, it's me," she mutters dryly, lowering her leg.
Replica Annie grits her teeth. "If I want to wrestle I'm gonna fuckin do it," she snarls, curling her hands into fists. "Don't whine about boys 'climbing all over me'. It's a sport, not a fuckin orgy."
Other Kino snarls, punching the wall. He then whines. "Huge mistake. Huge mistake. How does that Toyota do it?" He mutters under his breath. He then glares at her. "Those guys were totally groping you. Plus they change your scent!"
She rolls her eyes. "They were not groping me! And if my scent is so bothersome..." she mutters, trailing off, before she turns heel and stomps off. She returns a moment later and dumps an entire bottle of perfume over the top of her head, which makes her cough. Even still, she glares at hi.
Kino stares at her. He then straightens slowly. "Right. That's it," he mutters, before scooping her up and throwing her over his shoulder. He then carries her to the shower and turns it on. Annie reddens and squirms hard. "OI!" she bellows, whacking his ass. "WHAT DID WE ESTABLISH ABOUT MANHANDLING?"
"THE RULES DON'T APPLY WHEN MY NOSE IS ON FIRE WOMAN." He yells, putting her down into the water and wrapping his arms around her, holding her underneath it.
She thrashes, sputtering even as she starts to laugh at the sheer absurdity of it all. "DON'T BREATHE, YOU'RE LITERALLY ALREADY DEAD. EDWARD CULLEN COULD DO IT."
"VAMPIRES DON'T SPARKLE!" He yells, before breaking into laughter as well, completely soaked as he holds her. "You idiot."
The real Kino snorts. "Dorks."
Annie standing beside him wrinkles her nose. Fuck, we are cute.
Kino smiles slightly, but something tired lurks on his face as he watches his Annie giggle and slow her thrashing.
"You're the idiot. If you would just let me put the glitter dust on you, we could totally cosplay them!"
"Aw come on. You look more like Victoria than Bella." He mutters, before gasping. "Plot twist.. Edward left Bella for the murderous redhead." He says, stroking her wet hair from her face.
"Twistier plot twist- I cosplay Emmet," she counters. Clearly past being shy, she rips off her wet shirt and makes her 'biceps' 'bulge.' "See, I'm ripped." Kino whistles and feels up her arms, before grabbing her close and kissing her.
"Please tell me casually stripping is not common for us," the real Annie mutters deadpan.
Kino raises a brow."You got a problem with my Annie showing off her body?" He mutters defensively.
"Yeah, because it's MY body," she grits out. He huffs. The scene then changes to that of them holding hands, and Annie winning Hachiko for him at the school festival.
The other Kino then drags her in close. "Oi, I love you." He says for the first time. His Annie blinks up at him, before a wide grin spreads across her face and she presses a kiss to his lips.
"I love you too," she murmurs, tone beyond happy. He picks her up and spins her around.
The real Kino looks away, coughing. "OK I'm starting to see this from your POV and I'm guessing you're uncomfortable. Want me to just skip to the death and despair?" He asks hollowly.
"Yeah," she mutters, nodding and looking away. "That would be good." If only so I don't have to watch something so strange. The real Kino turns so that she couldn't see his expression.
"So..,backstory. Uhh.. Before I met you in that world, I was kind of bent on destruction on all Vampires. I teamed up with this Church, who are.. kind of messed up. They provide Human sacrifices to vampires. Only these church guys wanted to follow me. So they got pissed when I started ignoring them to spend time with you," he mutters.
Annie nods, crossing her arms. The Annie up front is so happy, it kind of hurts her heart a little.
Kino watches the other Annie, and unbidden, the image of him proposing to her came to them. They were in a ferris wheel, and he got down on one knee.
The real Kino groans. "Sorry again, right.. Right. Death." He mutters, staring at them.
Annie's expression falters a bit as she watches the other her get stupid excited and pepper his face with kisses. Her eyes dull a little. I'm not sure that Shuu would ever be the marriage type.
Kino passes a hand over his face, closing his eyes as everything blurs away.
The next image conjured them in Rotigenbelk. This Kino had put things in boxes, obviously intent on moving out. They couldn't travel forever, and he knew his home wasn't there anymore. Other Annie is bringing a box from upstairs down to the main room. Even working, she looks so happy. The tired lines that are usually under her eyes aren't there.
Kino straightens, turning when he senses something...Off. In a second, he's downstairs with Annie. "Oi.. Stay close to me," he mutters quietly, tugging her to him as his eyes narrow on the front door. In a second, a vampire appears. Richter.
Kino raises a brow. "Uh...hey old timer. Why the sudden visit?"
Richter sighs. "You know why I'm here, Kino. Your actions have been ignored for far too long. Stealing a girl that was meant to be a Sacrificial Bride...your dealings with the Church. It seems they've grown tired of you."
The other Annie frowns. "Sacrificial bride?" she asks, tightening her arm around her Kino.
Annie thinks much of the same as she turns to the real one. "The hell is that?"
The real Kino sighs. "Sacrifice to vampires. Remember I said churches offer them up? Yeah.. Your name was down to be one of them in both worlds. I took care of it." He mutters.
Other Kino starts when he senses them, other vampires. It was then he knew what the hell was going on."Annie...take out your knife," he utters quietly.
Annie nods and draws out a silver one, eyes narrowed and face a little pale. She forces herself not to panic, but she's clearly afraid.
"Run when you get the chance." He mutters, before grabbing her close and materialising them outside. Unfortunately, they were closed in on by other vampires, who killed the ghouls left and right, throwing their bodies into the marshes.
"I don't want to watch anymore. I get it," she mutters to the real Kino, who suddenly glares at her.
"Oh you don't get to do that. You have to watch. For her. She can't remember this anymore and I can't just..." he trails off, going mute as they were captured by Richter and his men, being dragged to a church in the human world. Kino was strapped to a table as the church men took samples from him. Annie was tied to a stake.
"Hn yes well...He is an abomination, but an interesting test subject." One of the men was saying, inspecting a syringe.
The other Kino snarls. "The hell are talking about?" He asks, clearly terrified but trying to calm himself.
"Poor thing, you always thought that The King sired you. But that's only half right. You're nothing but an experiment. You come from a single hair from him, fused with wretched ghouls. Left behind in Rotigenbelk...heh, you didn't even have a mother. You're like a Frankenstein creation."
The other Annie struggles hard, pulling against the stake and snarling. "Shut the FUCK UP," she yells, clearly more concerned about Kino than herself. "Stop TOUCHING HIM!"
The other Kino stares up at the ceiling. "What...do you mean? That I'm.. I wasn't born or something?" He asks quietly.
"You were in a sense, but you're just like a clone of the great Karl Heinz. Really, you should have died when you were left behind in the marshes, but the ghouls took pity on you didn't they?" One of the church men asks, before looking at Annie. "She's being a nuisance. Kill her first to get it over with. She's a witch who consorts with vampires. Her body is tainted with his spawn already."
Kino's eyes snap wide and he starts tugging at the chains madly. "Stop! You can do what you want to me-just don't touch her!" He yells, tears pricking his eyes as a man with a lit torch approached her. Annie's eyes widen and she screams. She hadn't told him yet, wanting it to be a surprise.
"N-NO!" she yells, trying like hell to break the ropes.
The real Annie slowly start to tear up as well, feeling quite removed from her body. He loves me. He actually loves me.
The real Kino turns away and sinks down to his knees, starting to rock slightly back and forth as the screaming began. From both himself and Annie as the flames started to consume her body. Both were crying in agony.
The other Kino let's out a particularly loud, soul wrenching scream, and everything goes dark, as if he'd blacked out. When the two figures came back again, the church men lay dead. The other Kino held the barely recognisable, charred remains of Annie in his arms. A madness swirls in his eyes as he rocked her back and forth. "Oi.. You silly. Don't cry. It doesn't hurt anymore," he mutters as his tears landed on her closed ashen eyes. She doesn't move, of course.
The real Annie, living and breathing, swallows and realises she's sobbing. "Kino. I want to go back," she mutters thickly. "R-right now."
Kino keeps rocking back and forth, his expression shadowed as tears ran down his cheeks. The image begins to fade, and soon enough, they're back in 'Her' memory room at Rotigenbelk. Kino remains hugging his knees.
"I believe you," she mumbles, as if needing to confirm. "I... fuck."
"Yeah.." He mutters, voice thick. He wipes his tears away and sighs. "I nearly died too. Wanted to...but then I remembered that Karl Heinz, my...Sire or whatever, had time travel abilities. I killed him...and took his powers, reversing time. That's when I started killing anyone involved. In the meantime, I met you."
Annie nods and cross her arms over her chest to comfort herself. "I... guess I'm flattered, in a really twisted, macabre kind of way," she murmurs, before sighing and rubbing her arms.
Kino stands and turns to her. "Annie, can I...hold you? Just for a second," he says, voice trying to stitch itself back together. His face had become unreadable.
She presses her lips together. I shouldn't. I like Shuu a lot, don't I? She glances towards Kino and sniffles, before padding forward and burying her face into his chest, wrapping her arms around him. Kino's expression shutters, before his shoulders drop, body folding in on itself as he clings to her, their bodies sinking to the floor as he sits, cradling her close. He begins to tremble, lips parting to reveal fangs. He wanted so much. He inhales her scent, nose buried in her hair.
I've never been this close to him, yet something feels incredibly right about it. His body isn't foreign. Annie cries quietly against his chest, hands clutching the back of his shirt.
Kino had always been selfish. After being raised by ghouls, who held him up as a Prince, their saviour who gave them blood, of course he would be. He couldn't stop the kisses. They started in her hair, before he presses his lips desperately against her neck. "I'm sorry. It's my fault." His body shudders.
Annie's eyes widen at these. Despite everything he had shown, her feelings don't necessarily match the Annie in the visionss. "K-Kino. Y-you need to... let me think about all of this," she murmurs, trying to turn him down as gently as possible.
He breathes out, sweat breaking on his forehead as he rests his head against her shoulder. "R-right. Gotcha." He mumbles. "I just.. You don't know how much I wanted to do this when I first saw you in that coffee shop. And you were.. All teary eyed to boot. Heh, fuck you nearly killed me."
"How did you find me, anyway?" she sniffles, not pulling away. "In the visions we met in Canada, but you found me here."
"I met you before you transferred to Japan in the other time line. In this one, I got the dates mixed up, always was impulsive." He laughs weakly. "Went to the church to kill the bastards involved and found your name written down on prospective Brides. I erased it, but found out where you were."
She nods slowly. "I... really don't know what to say about all of this. It feels wrong to just... up and leave Shuu without a word. And... I don't know if I want to. I like him, a lot."
Kino chuckles wryly. "Yeah. My oversight. While I was busy getting rid of people...trying not to make the same mistakes, I overlooked him. Didn't think he was a threat."
"Sorry," she winces, even though it's not actually her fault, before she quickly sobers. "Kino. Swear something to me," she says, tone very serious. Kino pulls back slightly to look at her. "You... said you killed people to take care of them. Swear to me you won't try to kill Shuu to try and narrow my choices or something like that."
He tilts his head slightly, considering. "I won't go looking for the guy. But when he comes for you.. I will fight him. If you wanna go with him, then you'll have to kill me, Annie. That's just how it has to be," he mutters, looking at her things in the room. "Staying here.. In this dead place. With dead things. Alone. I'd rather join them."
Annie shakes her head. "No. I'm not okay with that. Obviously, I get that if he attacks your first you'll want to defend yourself, but let's not jump the gun, okay? If I decide I want to be with him...you can't kill him. I won't love you for that."
Kino smiles, disturbingly gently. He then pulls out a silver knife from a draw nearby and gives it to her.
"Sure Annie. But you have to promise me that you'll end me if you want him. That's my condition."
She recognises the knife from the visions and shakes her head. "Nope. I wouldn't be able to do it," she says quietly. "I don't think I could kill someone. Uh... despite the fact I held a knife to your neck earlier. Sorry. By the way."
Kino closes his eyes, frowning slightly. "Well then.. I can't promise I won't kill that guy. You can't just have your cake and eat it too, sweetheart." He mutters, stroking her face. "If I have to carry your death, then you have to carry mine. No sweat on your end though, just don't get attached to me." He says, before kissing her cheek and pulling away. He shifts into a stand. "Whew, heavy drama."
Annie stands as well, thinking to wipe the kiss away but realising that might be just a tad insensitive. "Yeah, a little," she mutters, before biting her lip. "Oi. Let me go talk to Shuu."
He passes a hand over his eyes and breathes out. "..,You won't come back," he mutters quietly.
Her lips thin. "If you know me so well, you know this wouldn't sit right with me unless all parties involved are well aware of what's going on. You can come too, and help explain."
Kino chuckles, giving her a knowing look. "I also know you better than you know yourself. You'll get confused if you go now. Rain check." He says, before turning. "Now, you wanna play some video games? You gotta try Dangonronpa. It's my favourite."
Annie sighs and shakes her head. "I'm tired. I just wanna go back to sleep," she mutters, swaying a little on my feet. The mirror had spent her energy. Kino sobers and nods.
"Sure. You.. Good?" He asks, looking at her. "That was pretty heavy stuff."
"Didn't exactly lighten it by asking me to stab you to turn you down but yeah, no, never been litter," she rubs her eyes.
He sighs, "thought I'd get it out the way so that there's no confusion later. Come on." He mutters, turning and walking from the room.
"No, I get it. I understand..."
Kino hums, leading her into her bedroom and disappearing for a moment. He then passes her Hachiko, "he'll help you sleep. Seriously. Infused a type of magic into him to calm me- I mean you down."
Annie blinks and presses her lips together before taking the plushie. "Thanks," she mumbles. Even cuddling the thing in her arms, she feels a little more relaxed. "And I'm... sorry. I'm not trying to hurt you."
Kino's smile slips, but he fixes it, red eyes taking her in. "You never do mean to. You're a kind girl," he says, before turning and walking to the door. He puts his hand on the door frame, before looking at her over his shoulder. "I'm gonna...Lock the door to that room. We don't have to talk about it again. Any of it."
"That sounds like a really terrible idea," Annie says tiredly. "Not talking about it doesn't make the problem go away, pal."
Kino nods slowly. "Alright. This is just..new for both of us, k?" He says, smiling. He then turns, walking out of the door. "Night," he says quietly.
"Goodnight," she answers, closing the door behind him. She sighs and pads back to her bed, a heavy feeling in her chest. Shuu...where are you? Hurry, please...
If it weren't for Hachiko, she doubts she'd be sleeping, but she does so, eventually.