Now, this is where the fun begins :D New chapters, woo~ Please drop a review or two if you have any comment or idea. A big shout out to all my followers and fav'ers, you guys are my motivators and thank you for staying with me.
Disclaimer: K is owned by GoRa and GoHands, I only take credit for my OC, Shishio Harumi.
CHAPTER 7
I leaned against Mikoto, feeling his warmth seeping into me as he supported me as we walked back to bar HOMRA, the other clansmen falling behind us. Without him helping me, I wouldn't be able to make it back as I was still weak from the earlier happenings.
XOXO
The red clansmen freed the other captured girls and efficiently return them to their respective homes. The girl I've helped kept thanking me as I smiled it off with, "It's nothing really." As we were about to leave the scene, a bunch of people in blue uniform arrived.
"Tch. Blues…" Yata scoffed.
"That was fast," Kusanagi said.
They promptly arrested the thugs which weren't difficult since they were unconscious on the floor. One man walked over to us. I noticed he was wearing a long blue overcoat, with a sabre at his waist. He stopped before us and adjusted his glasses before he spoke in a calculated manner.
"Should I thank you for cutting short of our work or rather, arrest you for damaging a private property, Suoh Mikoto?"
"If you think you can arrest me, then go ahead," Mikoto said in a lazy slur, "Munakata."
"Might I ask what is your business here is in the first place?"
"I was kidnapped by those men. Mikoto-san merely came to rescue me," I said, stepping forward to stand beside Mikoto, "If anyone is at fault here, it would that man at the back of the factory."
Munakata glanced over at me, taking notice of me for the first time. I shivered, not from the cold the approaching night brings but from his icy stare.
"If it is as the young lady says so, I will let you off this time."
Mikoto snorted in amusement and turned to leave, "Let's go."
As I about to leave the gates, I heard that man's voice call out, "Young lady." I turned around.
"May I ask your name?"
"Shishio Harumi."
"I see," he smiled. "Please stay safe Shishio-kun."
XOXO
Ding.
We entered the bar, greeted by the smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke lingering in the air. Totsuka immediately ushered me to a bar stool as he went to get the first aid kit.
"Ite…" I winced from the stinging pain as Totsuka gently dabbed my wounds with an antiseptic-soaked cotton swab and bandaged it. From the amount of bandages I have on me, I'm close to looking like a mummy.
"Gomen, gomen, I'll be gentler," Totsuka smiled wryly, "Just a few more and you're all patched up." You don't say.
"Those bastards, I should have hit them harder," Yata crossed his arms.
"Really… how can they do such a thing to a lady? How distasteful. Thankfully, Harumi-chan isn't badly injured," Chitose said, "Come to think of it, how come Harumi-chan could use our power?"
"Oh yeah… but she didn't officially joined HOMRA right?" Shouhei scratched his head.
I could felt everyone's eyes on me and chewed on my lower lip. Should I tell them about it? But what if they are freaked out? What if they kick me out because I'm a freak? What if th- I looked up when I felt Totsuka's hand clasped over mine, a gentle smile on his lips.
"It's fine Harumi-chan. Whatever it is, you're still the same Harumi we've came to know. You can tell us."
I felt my worries melt away and nodded. To trust Totsuka to know what's running in my mind. "I am not a strain and I do not belong to any clan. This power… it came out of nowhere when I was 6. It burned everything around me unintentionally. Some people from Nanakamado Research Center that specialize in matters relating to strains, ran several tests on me. Every test came up negative and yet I possess this power, it was weird. They kept an eye on me but as I grew older, the power grew wane and eventually they forgot about its existence. It's weak now but it's still in me," I placed a hand on my chest, "and unless I put all my will and focus into it, it wouldn't come out."
"Eh? So there's such thing as that huh?" Bandou said.
"That's kinda amazing actually," Shouhei piped up and Fujishima nodded in agreement.
"You guys… don't seem surprised by it," I furrowed my brows.
"Well, we've seen weirder stuffs. One time, we faced a strain that swaps your gender and for a week Yata became a girl," Dewa laughed.
"S-shut up! H-H-Harumi doesn't wanna know b-bout it!" the vanguard shouted angrily, "What's weird is that how this fatty became thin every summer." He pointed towards Kamamoto.
Everyone laughed and began sharing stories and strange encounters they had in the past. But I'm not hearing a single word they say. I was expecting them to jeer at me, to give me a distasteful look, to call me names, anything but being nonchalant. "Aren't you guys bothered about it? That I'm weird?"
"Harumi-chan, do you see us, HOMRA, as weird?" Totsuka said as his kind eyes peered into mine.
"No! I would never." I was taken aback by his question. Then I began to see the meaning behind his question.
"The same applies to us," he smiled, "Well, that's that. Why don't we celebrate Harumi-chan's safe return?" The red clansmen whooped in agreement.
"Go home," Mikoto's voice suddenly rang out from sofa. His sudden statement sliced through jovial mood leaving only silence in its place. Everyone was anxious to ask why but they dare not question their leader. I was the first to find my voice.
I got off the bar stool and stood before him, "Why?"
"It's not safe for you to stay here," he continued to drag on his cigarette, without giving me as much as a glance.
"I can protect myself."
"How? With that pitiful power of yours? How is giving people blisters called protecting yourself?"
"I..I.." I sputtered, unable to come up with an answer.
"Go home," he repeated, "It's safer there."
"…safe," My fist balled up at my sides. My entire life, I had people telling me what to do. To act and behave a certain way and I blindly obeyed them. Never once had they asked me what I wanted. I had enough. "Yeah I'll go home. I'll be safe but dead inside," I said indignantly. "In the past few months, HOMRA has been a home to me more than my real home ever was. Everyone's been so nice and kind to me. We had so much fun, we laughed, we messed around…" I sobbed, tears streaming down my cheeks now. I roughly wiped them away with the back of my hand, "Even if I showed up in a coffin back home on the doorstep, no one's gonna care."
"But what if this happens again?" Mikoto said eventually.
"It won't. I'll be stronger. I'll fight back. I'll join HOMRA," I blurted out in a rush, not realizing what I've said. But when I did, I knew it in my heart that I meant it.
Then there was a taut silence that seemed to drag on forever. His amber eyes bore into my fuchsia eyes with such intensity as if daring me to stand down, but I won't falter. I finally found something precious and dear to me, I'll fight to protect it.
Mikoto let out a long sigh and extended his right hand, enveloped in his red aura. "You might be burned to death," his final warning.
I broke into a small smile. "I'll take my chances," my hand reached out for his, lightly grasping it. Immediately, the flames flared up and ate its way up my arm and quickly surrounded my body. I bit on my tongue to suppress a yelp when my entire body was engulfed in flames, but it didn't burn me. It felt warm, much like an embrace, a hug. Just as the flames died down, I felt much hotter warmth on my left waist, near my hipbone. I pulled up my shirt a bit, enough to see a red symbol adorned on my skin.
"That's the symbol of HOMRA," Totsuka explained. "Thus, I welcome you to our family Harumi-chan. Guess we'll be celebrating Harumi's safe return and the welcome of a new member."
XOXO
Munakata Reisi, otherwise known as the Blue King of Scepter 4, paused for a moment. His hand holding the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle floated awkwardly above the picture on his desk. He had only just finished his report on the kidnapping incident and finally found time to spend on his hobby. He looked out of the window installed in his office, into the night view of Shizume City.
Somewhere out in the skies, a form of red flashed above a certain bar and disappeared almost instantly. He had seen it numerous times to know what it was even though it did not take complete shape.
"… Sword of Damocles," he said and placed the last puzzle piece into its slot, completing the picture of a burning inferno with a girl in the middle. "What an interesting turn of event."