Note : apologies about any miss spelled words or anything like that.Anyways have a lovely day or night ! :)

Maria

" I'm camping out again . Your place would make a good campsite , right ?"

" Well it does come with a hairbrush ," Arima commented , brushing past me with a rather quick gait .

For the past hour I had been hanging out a block away from the alleyway where this reaper had shot down my fun .

My fingertips played with the edges of my hair , running into plentiful roadblocks of tangles and matted hells .

" Does the hairbrush come with a conditioner ?"

Without glancing back or faltering in stride the murderous nerd gifted me with the quickest answer of yes imaginable .

Biting down on my bottom lip , rubbing the back of my neck I decided that… well for once the concern of appearance was my top priority.

Pathetic.

" Wow… you really make me feel like I'm Helen of Troy ."

Note the sarcasm.

:

" Now what's this here ," The squeal darted out with a ring of mischief , my fingers plucking up the entire Star Wars series from off an empty shelf.

" You weren't going to watch it without me were you ?"

A pout was thrown over my shoulder towards the reaper with a little glare .

" The hairbrush and conditioner is through that door," The murderous dork commented, leaning the guitar case against a wall .

Rolling my eyes , I tossed the VHS tapes and shrugged off the coat onto the pull out bed sofa thing.

It was a rather drably thing, that was colored in a grey that almost seemed to be more oppressive than the galactic imperial empire.

The walls were all basic white and filled with cracks in the paint .

Shelves were deserted of any books or mark of personal decor.

" Let's get out of here ," I found myself offering.

" Why ? "

" Kishou , this place is depressing and let's find a more lively campsite ."

With a sigh , the reaper gives a defeated nod in acceptance before going to retrieve his guitar case .

" Leave it ," I said , waving him away from the weaponized corpse like Kishou was some sort of misbehaving dog .

The Rc suppressor firearm is fished from the coat and held up proudly.

" If trouble arrives we have this baby so never fear !"

With another sigh , his hand falls to his side empty of the instruments of death .

" What are we doing , Maria ?"

" Question first before answering your … What's your stance on burglary ?"

Kishou sighed again and he asked what might be stolen.

" Oh just a nice suit and gown … but anyways we could give them back aft- ."

A stupid ringing filled the air cutting my sentence short .

To be honest the plan of what to do after stealing the clothes was not really there.

He answered the phone without pause , a well trained robot blindly obeying his coded created purpose.

" Never mind ," my voice whispered , upon hearing the words ghoul and attack coming from the other end of the line .

Suddenly taking a shower sounded like the most appealing of ideas.

He gripped onto my wrist , mid way to the bathroom and told the person on the phone to call back in a minute.

A silence fell between us , what finally destroyed my annoyance at this was the motion of him biting down on his lip.

It was out of character for him to be nervous or to show it.

" What's Goi- ."

A quiet apology broke my question apart.

" Hana's a ghoul . "

There was another long bout of silence where my one free hand became a fist wanting nothing more to beat this boy's face in .

" She better not be dead ," I growled, never really caring about the oddness of such a reaction .

" Do you know what Cochlea is , Mari ?"

" Yes ."

Our faces were just centimeters away from brushing against one another .

" It would be better if that ghoul had already died ."

" Then why is she not ?"

His fingers brushed away the dark strains of hair dangling in front of my eyes .

" Information ," The reaper lightly reveals before gazing towards the plain walls with a distant expression swarming through that silver gaze of his .

" Hana is a member of a group that tends to not share secrets easily ."

The phone rings and Arima pulls it from his pocket .

I ripped it from him , the rapid beating of my heart echoed in my ears .

Basically the next couple of minutes saw an investigator having to suffer through my monologue about why a best friend is the best type of interrogator around .

:

" You sure this is really necessary ," papa inquired , balancing the pen between his fingers with practiced patience.

" Sign the papers already and please don't tell mom ," I said , leaning against the refrigerator with a pair of crossed arms .

Papa was still dressed in a police uniform and black bags hung underneath his eyes .

He rubbed a hand down his face and turns to the investigator sitting beside him to snarky tell him .

" That madness is all her mothers , I swear ."

With that he signs the documents with a chicken scratch type of scroll .

" I hate you boy ," Papa growls over towards Arima who lingers by my side .

Then he darts out the back door spouting on about going for a smoke break.

" Well … does this mean we're co -workers now , Snookums ."

The reaper narrowed his eyes at me and the investigator laughed as he gathered up the paperwork .

Hopefully getting through the Cochlea security measures would be miraculous like when I got through that one RC scan gate .

:

" Is that a pizza ? "

" Wow , Hana can't believe that's the first thing you think to say to me ?"

The pizza box is plopped on the steel table pressed against the glass wall separating my best friend and I .

" So when you ate that boy did you ruin that pretty dress ?"

She frowns over at me , I start pulling the pineapple slices apart .

Shredding them into little strips before stacking them on top one another.

" Because I would love for you to leave it to me in your will ."

" Do you mind wearing a dress with blood stains ," The former queen bee inquired , wrinkling her nose at the sight of my fingers wiping red sauce along the fabric of my clothes .

" Hypocrite . You're a messy eater too ," I commented.

" You're more of a messy picker than an eater ."

Ouch I muttered, placing my chin in my palm while staring into her dark gaze .

They were to human and almost gleaming in a poorly hidden desperation.

" Mind showing me those wicked demon eyes of yours !"

Silence fell between us and my thin cheery grin fell away into a glare .

Her dark eyes were shining with an extra glow to them in the bright lightening of the locked chamber .

The former queen Bee took a deep breath , hands folded in front of her like they would be her anchor.

" I . am . not . a . demon ," she draws out with a steady certainty gripping her words , a cold queenly character taking hold of her posture .

" Prove it then ," I began , clapping my hands together after those first words in order to drop the bomb ," Guess what I got a job … though it's more like volunteering work than anything else really . Anyways, want to guess what it is ?"

A toothy grin dashed over my face , I hopped onto desk to press my palms and face into the cold glass .

Hana leans backwards into the metal chair biting down on her lip to hide a smile.

That action did nothing to hide the high pitched chuckle that shook out of her .

" You're so weird , Mari ."

She sounded so sad when she said that .

A Bee Queen that had wings and stinger ripped away from her .

I leaned away from the glass , retreating to the edge of the desk with my back turned away from her .

My dangling legs swayed back and forth from off the side of the desk .

A finger twirled a lock of hair around it like it was attempting to construct a shit noose .

" Somehow I managed to get approval to be your interrogator."

My free hand dipped into a coat pocket just as Hana spoke my name .

Her next words were shattered by the birth of screams upon my finger pressing down on a button .

Turning my head , blue sparks dancing across her shaking form was the sight that greeted me .

This was for the love sick boy she ate.

This was for the mother she forced me to murder in an attempt to erase her sloppy tracks .

" Is this what justice is ? "

A piece of pizza shoved into my mouth while waiting for her screams to die down.

Soon I was spitting up pineapple slices along with bloody looking sauce .

" God damn , Arima you're never ordering me anything ever again!"

The former queen bee sunk down the chair , slipping out onto the ground .

A cobra had bitten into my heart cursing it with venom that devoured it .

I pressed the button again and again .

Her dark gaze flickered an ebony crimson finally .

They were hazy , lacking the hungry demon raging within instead all there was to see was a prey desperate for the hunters mercy .

Drool flowed from her parted lips that were cracked to bloody perfection.

" See you bright and early tomorrow, bestie !"

The hunter left skipping and smiling.

The prey was left behind to cry .

Maybe she wouldn't be so hard to break after all .

:

" Think it's best to stop running from home ," I tell the reaper , both of us sweating in the golden sunlight shining outside the ghoul prison.

" See you tomorrow or whenever I guess ."

Turning away lasts a breath before the dork is yanking me towards him .

" You're a real fool ," He whispered , before slamming his insulting loving lips against my cursing ones .

What the fuck my quickly widening eyes silently shouted.

My fingers twisted the fools ears until with a sharp cry he retreats away from me .

Goodbye to him is a slap and plenty of blushing.

Then once again I am running away.

My brain seems broken … very broken .

But not so broken that the sound of feet running after me could not be heard slamming against the sidewalk .

The reaper caught up to me , with an apology.

" Let's just go watch Empire Strikes Back okay," I panted, trying to catch my breath and remain steady on my feet .

So much for going home .

Our heads hit the sofa bed and sleep over took our senses in a matter of seconds.

So much for watching Star Wars .

So much for a lot of things .

When morning arrives , my eyes open to the sight of a sticky note plastered on my forehead.

It would be wiser to go to school and forget about her .

" Well that's not going to happen , " I whispered down at those inky words .

My heart felt like it was Lucifer falling from the heavens.

The crinkly cry of the paper being rolled up into my palms leaves my teeth grinding together.

They feel like a bone crushed by the powerful jaw of a lion.

:

" Guessing you didn't eat breakfast yet either ," A older man cloaked in a white lab coat muttered when the growl of my stomach filled the space of the elevator.

" No , my stomach is just a little to greedy is all ," I joked with the man , tapping a foot impatiently awaiting for doors to open onto another cell block .

Something taped my shoulder, sending green eyes to glare over at it with a grumpy what .

A breakfast bar is being shoved against the coat fabric by the old man .

" Your stomach is greedy for a very good reason ," The man tells me , with a sigh I take up the offering of food .

Maybe he will shut up now .

He comes to linger beside me , chewing on his own breakfast bar .

My fingertips massage temples as my brain feels like it's punching itself with brass knuckles covered fists .

" Headaches are often caused by a lack of proper diet ," The man muttered, dark eyes studying my form with a invisible frown flickering through them .

A glare and the tearing of a wrapper was my only response to him .

Shoving , crushing the breakfast was a robotic response that left the food tasting like bland dirt in my mouth .

It tasted horrible but not like that pizza from yesterday.

Shit I left it in that room … I think …anyways.

Throwing the wrapper at the older man's temple was what really made the headache quiet .

No one can tell me anything differently.

The chewed up substance, slithered down my throat leaving a shiver to shake my body .

" That was gross ."

" I know. But it was for your own good ," The man said , pressing a button against the door, which finally caused the elevator door to slide open .

" Did … Did you stop the elevator ?"

The man smiled and motioned towards the door.

" How did I not notice ," I asked myself out loud , slipping out onto the long walk way .

" It's important to listen to our stomachs, especially when we think their greedy , Maria."

" How do you know my name ?"

The man chuckles , running a hand through his grey hair before finding the time to answer my hissed question.

" Not everyone volunteers and gets the position as an interrogator on a whim like you did … that makes for an interesting conversation subject ," The man begins, trailing ahead of me on the echoing walk way ," Beside's that ghoul wouldn't stop crying about her best friend."

The world blurred around me , my head spines and my hands grabbed onto the railings with a sluggish strength.

Feet swayed and a curse was a whisper slurring out of me .

The I was falling forwarded into the awaiting arms of the man clothed in white .

Fuck .…

:

" … 47.. … NO…No … Please giv-e Anot-her chaa.ce ," Hana screams, thrashing about her restraints when another blade is embedded into the soft tissue of now very weak flesh .

" Then what's answer , dear ?"

" Im-form-ation o..r … it's 844 ," Hana breaths out, staring up into the empty eyes of the man that seemed to be the devil himself .

" The answer was 944 , silly girl."

The blade is pressed deeper into the fresh wound and another scream pierces the air.

" She's human ! Why …why are you hurting her !"

The devil wipes a tear off a bruised cheek and licked its remains off his bloody fingers .

" If only she cared enough to talk ," he commented, placing the cold blade along the purple handprint that painted the skin of my neck.

Hana's crimson gaze narrowed and in desperation attempts to use teeth against the chains that trapped her to a chair .

That did nothing.

A laugh rattled my form bringing the blade to drawl a shallow line of crimson upon my throat.

The pain was numb , leading to all my screams and tears to be one big farce .

" Don't let this bastard fucking break you ," I growled, rolling my eyes at the interrogator before carrying on ," That's my job ."

A fist connected to my eye sending a rather bloody skull slamming into the hard back of my seat .

The pain was never there but still I went nighty night .

Whatever was in that breakfast bar was both wicked and a life saver.

:

" Did she break ," I inquired after staring at the man in a white coat waltzing around his simple set up of lab equipment for a good minute.

" No , in fact the ghoul somehow managed to devour your predecessors arm before back up arrived ," The doctor, I presume said before turning to wonder to the edge of the hospital cot .

The pain was a dull ache , a shadow that linger just below any list of concern I had .

Wounds lingered upon my body , healing with the snails pace of a normal human .

That was my top concern.

The doctors dark gaze studied those markings with a small smile.

" What a fine performance all that was ," He said , dropping breakfast bars onto the blankets with a little wink .

" Don't forget to listen to your stomach , Mari."

Staring down at the bars just below my feet , I swallowed and asked for his name .

Akihiro Kanou , he answered.

" When can I leave ?"

His eyes flickered to the clock mounted on the wall and hums something about Arima arriving in a few minutes to take me home .

" Thanks, Kanou ."

Though it would of been nice if you stopped that monster from torturing me

" Anything for a child of Ichika ," Kanou said , before slipping out the door.

Ichika … was my mothers japanese name .

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