NeonHorizon: I love writing parts with drunk Yomo. If you haven't read the manga, you're missing out. The omake in volume 12 is just lovely!
Miyu separated herself from Uta; going to the kitchen area and standing with her back to the other room. Her heart was still racing and she found herself struggling to calm down. It had not progressed past a simple hug, but she felt a fluttery sort of feeling in her chest and stomach. It instantly reminded her of when she was a teenager in the fourth ward, when she first began to get close with him. It's…like that ignited something. Shaking her head, she looked over her shoulder.
He was still on the couch, but now he was frowning. Uta leaned down, looking closely at the spider figure. There were three neon pink lines trailing down his cheek to his jaw, marking where she had touched his face. The man seemed to feel her stare because he glanced over and caught a brief glimpse of her flushed face before she looked away again.
She managed to calm down after a few minutes and was about to return to the other room when she heard the apartment door open. Miyu bit her lower lip, trying to determine her next move. Renji came home earlier than I was expecting. I want to ask him about what he's been doing, but how do I do this? Itori was right; it would be better to ask him after he's had a drink.
Realizing that there was no simple way of doing this, she decided to just pour three glasses and carry them out to the other room. At the back of her mind, she had to remind herself not to drink very much. She had only been drunk on fermented blood a few times, but the amount of amusement that Itori got from those incidents was enough to make her cautious.
Renji was standing near the couch, obviously wondering why Uta was there. The dark-haired ghoul was looking at the pink spider sculpture again, a faint smile on his face. When Renji saw Miyu approach with the glass of blood, he accepted it without question. "Thanks."
"Where did you go today?" Uta accepted a glass as well, but simply set it down on the coffee table in front of him. "We missed you, Renji."
"Uta…walked me home from Anteiku," Miyu began to explain. "And I was finished with his request so…"
His eyes went to the bright, almost fluorescent spider carving and his expression softened. "I'm sorry that I wasn't there."
Miyu watched as he lifted the glass, drinking without seeming to even notice that it was fermented blood. She gave hers a tentative sip as well, feeling her anxiety grow. The man's glass was soon empty and he settled on the couch beside Uta, letting his head rest back against the cushions. "Renji…?"
"Renji?" Uta looked at him for a moment, anticipating a response and getting nothing. He reached over, brushing some hair away from the other ghoul's face, and saw his eyes open. "You okay?"
I forgot how low his tolerance is. Miyu approached the couch, her lips twisting into a concerned frown. He looks pretty tired. This was a mistake. She turned to go to the kitchen, intending to see if coffee would help, but was stopped by an arm going around her waist. Her eyes widened as she felt herself being pulled down onto his lap, her face turning red when he nuzzled the side of her neck. "R-Renji? Are you…?"
"I'm sorry that I haven't been here for you. You mean so much to me, Miyu. I hate leaving you alone." Both arms were wrapped around her now, more or less pinning her back against his chest. His lips moved along the female ghoul's neck, a hand lifting to tug aside her shirt collar to expose more skin. "Why don't we sit like this more often? We're both always so busy; we need to make time for stuff like this, Miyu."
"Renji…um…y-you feel okay, right?" she inquired. The feeling of his warm lips against her skin sent waves of pleasure through her and it took all of her control to not react. Despite this, her face was still heating from pink to red.
"I'm fine. You're always so considerate, Miyu. That's one of the things that I love about you."
"I always forget how talkative he gets," Uta remarked. "It's…kind of cute."
"Uta, I'm glad that you walked her home. Thank you for always keeping Miyu safe." Renji's attention seemed to have drifted, but he kept a secure hold on the woman. "I know that you're always looking out for her."
"…Renji…" Miyu felt her pulse speeding up a little, her embarrassment growing with each word. She struggled to lean forward, trying to put her glass down before he caused her to spill.
"You're not going to finish yours?"
This question made her instantly nervous. Fearing that he might attempt to finish her glass for her and inevitably pass out before she could get any answers out of him, Miyu proceeded to gulp down the thick fermented blood. "Ngh…" She hiccupped, frowned, and bowed her head. The glass fell to the floor, blood droplets sprinkling the dark rug and barely visible. "Renji, you're warm."
At this point, Uta was taking a small sip of his own drink. He knew from experience that Miyu could hold her drinks better than Renji, but not by a lot. Unlike Renji, she did not get more talkative when drunk; she got more affectionate. "Renji, where were you today?"
The pale-haired ghoul hugged Miyu tighter and frowned against the side of her neck. "I had to do something for Miyu. I keep missing my chance and having to try again so I've been gone a lot. She keeps moving. It's really frustrating. I want to get it done, but she won't stay in one place."
Thankfully, the female ghoul was still sober enough to kind of understand what he was saying. "Who keeps moving? Where do you keep going…?" She tensed, feeling his lips skim along her neck up to the back of her left ear. "Mmmn…"
"I'm trying to find a girl."
"Why are you looking for a girl?" This question came from Uta as he leaned over toward them. He reached out with pink paint-smudged fingers and pushed Renji's pale hair away from his eyes again. "What girl is it? Do you want me to help you find her?"
"Do you want to help me?" He lifted his face from Miyu's skin, meeting Uta's red and black curious stare. "I don't want to bother you. I know you're busy. I didn't want to bother anyone; I wanted to do this myself. It's harder than I thought it would be. If you want to help me…Uta, that's so kind of you…"
"So…who are you looking for? I'll help, too," Miyu offered. "It's a girl? Um…what does she look like? Do you know her name?" As she spoke, she could feel her heart sinking a little with dread. He's looking for a girl. I know it isn't his sister because…she died. So why is he looking for a girl? Is it someone else that he knows? Or is this for Yoshimura-san?
Renji was quiet for a moment, seeming contemplative until he spoke again. "She's around ten and has black hair and dark grey eyes. Her name is Kurotani Akiko and she was supposed to be in the eleventh ward, but when I went to find her, she was gone. Every time I hear that she's in an area, I go there and she's already gone again."
Miyu's eyes widened. "K-Kurotani…Akiko? And she's ten?"
"She's Hideaki-san's daughter. Her mother was killed by doves around six months ago and I didn't find out until earlier this month. She's been seen with a dangerous group so I keep trying to get to her so I can save her, but I keep running into problems before I can reach her and she's always gone by the time I get to where she was."
"Aki's daughter?" Uta leaned in closer, intrigued. "She's missing? And Himeko-chan died?"
"But…what about Aki-nii?" The woman tensed, anticipating Renji breaking terrible news to her. Instead, she felt his body go limp as sleep set in. She gave Uta a pleading look and he helped her move Renji into the bedroom he shared with Miyu. Where's my brother? Was he in the eleventh ward this whole time? And I didn't know that he had a daughter.
An anxious twisting feeling in her gut made the woman frown as she watched Uta draw a blanket over their friend's sleeping form. She turned away, deciding to wash the glasses and offer the remaining fermented blood to Uta. She was drying the glasses when she heard the bedroom door close and footsteps approached her back. Miyu lifted her gaze briefly before focusing on the glass in her hand.
"He's cute when he's talkative," Uta commented. He came to stand at her side, watching her face for her reaction. "Do you think it's true? About Aki's daughter and Himeko-chan?"
Her throat burned a little, eyes tearing up. "I…hope it's just a rumor. Why would Aki-nii leave them…? If it's true…then that means…my brother is probably dead. I know him. He loved Himeko-chan so much…and when he found out that he was going to be a father…"
"Aki was really protective…so I think you're right."
When Uta left, Miyu went into the bedroom and curled up beneath the blanket. Renji immediately turned over, half-awake, and wrapped his arms around her. The female ghoul's face was buried in his chest, his scent comforting and his body heat reassuring.
She closed her eyes, clinging to the front of his shirt and pressing her body as close to his as possible. "Renji…?"
He nuzzled into her hair, holding her tightly now as consciousness returned. "I'm…sorry. I haven't been here for you and Uta had to keep you safe for me," he murmured, still intoxicated. "I don't like leaving you alone. I know that you don't like it. I wanted to find your niece. She's your only family left…like Touka and Ayato are to me…"
Miyu felt a tightness in her chest when he said his. She knew about his connection to the two younger ghouls and she knew that he was currently keeping it a secret from them. This was only part of her sadness though. The other part came with the realization that he was assuming the worst. Renji was assuming that her older brother really was dead.
"Do you…think that…Aki-nii was killed, too? Or do you think that he escaped…and we'll just…we'll protect my niece until he comes back for her?" The woman's voice shook, unable to hide the dread from creeping into her words. The thought of her brother being dead was bad, but not quite as bad as the thought of him running away and abandoning his own child.
No answer was offered. Instead, he seemed to relax a bit more and sleep crept in once more. "I…love you, Miyu…"