Inko yawned softly, her and Hisashi had spoken as he had promised yet, she had felt that she hadn't gotten anywhere with it. Opening her eyes a little, the young woman frowned as she looked at the other side of the bed with a frown on her face. Hisashi and she had agreed that it was best that they slept separately, not like it was much of a difference.
Sighing softly, the young woman rolled over in bed and looked at the time. Normally, she was out and about getting ready for work but today she had a day off from everything that was happening in her life.
Toshinori, of course knew that she didn't work today so he knew that she wouldn't need a walk home from work or from her night classes. He of course understood, and was happy that she needed some time away from her job. Though, he seemed troubled, he wouldn't tell her what was bothering him but she knew for a fact that something was wrong with the man. He just waved off her concern as if nothing was ever wrong in the first place.
And that was days ago.
Sighing softly, the young woman pushed herself out of bed and made her way to her bathroom and showered before making herself something to eat. Looking out the window, the young woman couldn't help but wonder what would be in store for her today. Hisashi had gone out for some kind of convention for hero fans and she wasn't going to stop him. God, why did she have to make plans where she was alone? She preferred company and couldn't ask Mitsuki to hang out as the woman had a big case she was working on right now.
Sighing softly, Inko couldn't help but wonder what Toshinori was doing. He was a lonely man, even though he had his friend, she couldn't help but wonder what it was that he was doing. What could he be doing right now that would make him well, less lonely in the first place?
Shaking her head, the young woman couldn't help herself as she looked out the window, the sky was rather cloudy and knew that he may be out and about so maybe he was out for a walk. Hm, now that she thought about it, what did he do for a living in the first place? It was rather interesting, though she couldn't help but be rather curious as to what he did in order to survive.
Yawning against the back of her hand, the young woman sat down on the couch with a soft plop before turning on the TV and frowned at the news that showed.
"Breaking news. We have discovered another corpse, yet what we found to be rather strange is that the victim had been drained of all blood within their body." Inko blinked at that, was this due to a quirk being overused or was it something more? She had no idea, but felt like there was something more to it than that. "The only thing we have to go on is that the victim, compared to the others all have the same method of death as we found two puncture holes in their neck." No, not a quirk.
It had to be something else, and she knew that but what could it be in the first place?
"We advise anyone to stay indoors at night if possible. Or, if you have to walk home please be advised to take a cab or have a ride at the ready. As during the investigation we have found that all the victims have all left their last locations in the dead of night." Inko paled at that, now she was grateful that Toshinori walked with her home though, was he himself strong enough to protect her from such a thing much like how he had the first time they met?
Sighing softly, Inko was about to turn the channel until the remote fell from her hands at what she saw on the screen. They showed photos of the victims, all of them with their eyes wide open, she couldn't tell if it was from pain or something else but, she knew that it couldn't be anything other than pain or fear that was in their expression.
Their skin was deathly pale, blood had dried around the puncture holes in their neck causing Inko to want to throw up from the images itself. Her body trembled, tears streaming down her face as she stared at the images. She couldn't help but let out a choked up sob as she stared at the TV. Why was she still watching this?!
"Please be advised, if you see anyone suspicious please report them immediately."
Inko felt more tears streaming down her face, who was doing this in the first place? How many people have been killed? How many more people will have to be killed until this murder is captured at long last? Just how many more people have to be sacrificed until they managed to capture this person?
Sniffling, Inko felt her body tremble as she shut her eyes, more tears streaming down her face. What if Toshinori was captured next and then killed? She tried not to picture it, but the images were just too powerful. She could already picture Toshinori, on the ground in a pool of blood as he just laid there. All the colour, or at least what remaining colour, having been drained from his skin. His eyes having dulled from any sign of life.
Inko shook her head, wanting to shake the image from her mind yet she couldn't stop it. Sobs escaped her as she tried to get herself under control.
Soon, the sound of knocking had shocked her out of her shock. Blinking her green eyes, the young woman looked over and blinked as she heard the knocking once again. Sniffling, the young woman pushed herself up and made herself over to the door and opened it only to blink as she saw Toshinori standing there. "Toshi?" She whispered before her eyes widened. "Toshi!" She shouted before hugging him.
"Inko? Are you okay? What's wrong?" he asked with a frown on his face.
"Please don't die Toshi!" shouted Inko.
Toshinori just blinked at her in confusion. "What? Me? Die?" He sounded as if that was the last thing that could ever happen to him. "Inko, what happened?" asked Toshinori, his voice sounding rather soft and filled with concern.
Inko sniffled as she pulled herself back and gazed up at Toshinori, his blue eyes stared at her with concern yet there was a hidden emotion there. Something that she couldn't really figure out for the time being. Wiping at her eyes, she told him about the news forecast. It seemed that his eyes widened in shock at what was reported. Though it seemed as if the report had shocked him more than concerned him more than anything.
Toshinori wrapped Inko up in his arms, holding her close to his chest. She sighed softly, it was amazing just how tall he was compared to her. Inko's head rested just below his chest, yet she felt like there was something missing. There was something wrong with this, but the feeling of his arms around her felt so right to her. Letting out a soft sigh, the young woman looked up and stared at the blonde as she asked "I'm afraid of losing you." Toshinori frowned, his eyes softening their gaze at her.
"Inko, you'll never lose me." He whispered softly, reaching up with his hand, cupping her face against his cheek as she gazed up at the man, new tears streaming down her cheeks. He gave her a soft smile, leaning closer to her as he whispered "I won't leave you, so long as I can help it but…" He looked away, his eyes looking sad as she wondered what he would be thinking to make him think anything sad in the first place. "If anything, I'm afraid to lose you."
Huh?
He was afraid of losing her? But why? Why would he ever think such a thing in the first place? It just didn't make any kind of sense to her. "Toshi, you'll never lose me either." Inko said, grabbing onto his wrist, leaning more into his touch as she let out a soft sigh.
"No, at some point Inko, you'll leave me."
His eyes looked so sad, so alone. It was as if the fear itself of her leaving him bothered him a great deal. She would have to steer their conversation to something else, anything to get his mind off of his sadness. "Toshi," She began, causing him to stare at her in confusion. "What brought you here? And, how did you get by the front door?"
"Oh, the lock was broken so I walked in. I saw your name and apartment number on the buzzer system so came up here. You may have to contact your landlord about that by the way." Toshinori began only to reach into his pocket and pulled a piece of paper out. "As for why I came by, well I saw how you looked at work and knew that you don't need to be treated like that anymore. I asked Shouta if he knew of any café's that needed some new employees and well, his favourite café happens to have an opening."
Inko just blinked in shock, how was it that he would go so far out of his way for her like this? Tilting her head, she accepted the slip of paper as she looked it over and almost wanted to burst out laughing at the kind of café it was. "A cat café?" She asked with a small giggle. "Your friend loves a cat café?"
"He loves cats." Toshinori said with a chuckle.
Inko smiled gently, she found this gesture to be rather sweet, something that someone has never gone so far out of their way for her before. "Thank you." She said with a smile on her face as she looked up at Toshinori. "I'll go apply right away."
"I um… I kinda already did. They're expecting you in a couple hours so I thought I'd walk you there." Toshinori said with a scratch to his head as he looked at her with a bit of a bashful look to him. "I'm hoping you're not mad at me for that?"
"No! Far from it! I just find this rather surprising and… you're very sweet Toshi." Inko said with a smile on her face, and of course a giggle. Making her way to her bedroom, the young woman started to change into something that was best suited for an interview. Though, she couldn't help but wonder why would Toshinori go so far out of his way just to make sure that she was in a better work environment? It had her a little curious, but at the same time, she knew that he was doing this to help her get out of such a situation.
Pulling her hair back, half of her hair pulled up into a half bun, she wore a simple white blouse and a black skirt with pantyhose and matching black heels. Much like what she wore where she worked now but this looked a little more professional.
Smiling, the young woman walked out of her bedroom and stared at Toshinori as she asked "What do you think?" She spun a bit, before looking at him and saw that his eyes were rather wide, as if he was seeing a completely different person instead of the green haired woman. "Is there something wrong Toshi?" asked Inko with a frown on her face.
"You look amazing." He said, only to blink and gasp as he covered his mouth in shock. It seemed that he was trying to keep that in his head, rather than speak it out loud. The look in his eyes, showed that he was beyond mortified.
"Thank you Toshinori." Inko said with a bright and cheerful smile on her face before grabbing his hands and carefully pulled them away from his mouth and smiled at him. "Let's go shall we?"
After the interview, Inko couldn't believe the words. It had seemed as if they liked her and it wasn't just that, but Inko knew that she had gotten the job. She couldn't help but smile at the man that made this possible for her. All she would have to do was to tell her old job that she quit and was hanging in her uniform and earn a better pay for her job.
"I can't believe they loved me." Inko said in shock.
"Shouta may have put in a good word as a favor to me." Toshinori said with a chuckle.
"But why, he doesn't know me." Inko said with a frown on her face.
"True, but well, I guess it's because I'm interacting with someone new for a change." Toshinori said with a small chuckle escaping him. Inko smiled a little at the man before standing on her tippy toes and grabbed onto the man's shoulder and pulled him down. Toshinori blinked as he felt himself being pulled down. Inko smiled a little more before kissing his cheek. He started to stammer a little in confusion and shock.
"Thank you Toshi, so much. I don't know how I could ever thank you. I mean, you've done so much for me already yet I've yet to do anything to thank you." Inko whispered softly, her hands lingering a moment too long before she slowly started to remove her hands from his broad shoulders.
"You don't have to thank me at all Inko. I want to help you, I can't do much else other than to help you." Toshinori scratched at his cheek a little as he looked over at the green haired woman, only to look away. Inko couldn't help but smile at the man. He was adorable, made her think of a big cuddly teddy bear. Giggling, Inko looked up and saw that Toshinori was just staring at her in confusion. "What's funny?" he asked with a tilt of his head.
"You're like a teddy bear." Inko giggled only to shake her head as she saw him staring at her in confusion. "No, not just a teddy bear." She answered before giving him a small gentle smile. Her eyes sparkled before she got a better look at the man who towered over her. She knew the answer, the way his hair seemed to all seem to sprawl behind him with the two locks of hair flowing in the breeze. In a way, his hair reminded her of… "You're like a giant sunflower." She whispered softly.
Toshinori blinked his eyes in confusion before he chuckled a little. "Well, if I'm a sunflower, then that should mean that you are a cinnamon bun." Inko blushed a little at that only to smile back at him.
The way he looked right now, she saw that he looked a little healthier. It was as if he had never been sickly in the first place and knew that he was starting to take care of himself a little more. Giving him a soft smile, the young woman gave him a small smile as she said "I am so happy you came into my life."
"As I am to be a part of your life." Toshinori whispered, leaning closer to her. Inko blushed, feeling her heart pound in her chest. Was he going to kiss her? Was she going to let him kiss her? Oh god, was she even ready for such a thing? No, she knew that she shouldn't let this happen, she was still with Hisashi! To kiss another man, it would betray the trust that she had with the man that she was with.
Though before she could respond, thunder cracked in the sky, causing Inko to blink as she, along with Toshinori looked up and saw that the clouds had started to darken until they were nearly black. Rain soon started to pour, causing Inko to pout a little as she tried to use her arms as a means to shield herself from the rain.
Only to blink as she felt a jacket that Toshinori had removed from his own shoulders and placed it on her. "Toshi?" She asked in shock and confusion.
"I'll be fine, I can tolerate the cold afterwards." He said with a chuckle only to give Inko a soft smile. "You though, I would feel better knowing that you are for the most part protected from the rain." The young woman let out a small giggle as she wrapped the jacket around her body as if to keep herself warm, yet she could also detect a scent from Toshinori's jacket. It smelled like pine trees, a faint trace of… vanilla? Odd. But, she found that it suited him so much better than musk among other manly scents, Toshinori didn't need a manly scent, just being him was all the manliness he needed.
"Thank you, seriously one of these days I'll thank you." Inko said with a giggle.
Toshinori chuckled a little more before he grabbed Inko's hand, causing her to blink in confusion. "Come on, I remember you saying you love the rain." Inko blinked before Toshinori brought her to the park, the rain pouring on the pair as he chuckled, a wide grin on his face as he happily started to dance with the woman.
Inko herself, just blinked before smiling happily at Toshinori. The two just seemed to dance around in the rain. She never knew that she could ever be this happy before in her entire life. It was as if the world had disappeared, leaving only the pair alone to themselves and their own thoughts. It seemed that all the stress and worries that Inko had in her mind and her heart had, for that moment washed away with the rain as it poured on the pair. Toshinori smiled and laughed, and if she was honest with herself it was the most beautiful thing that she had ever heard in her entire life. She just wished that it was something that could last forever.
