They stared at the glowing screen of Inori's dark-green flip-phone with identical looks of apprehension before the sound of talking coming from the hallway caught their attention. Chiori tilted her head in confusion before making her way over to the bedroom door.
"I thought your family wouldn't be home for a couple of days." Inori said. She followed after Chiori, leaning against the door to listen. That was true as far as Isshin and the twins, but Ichigo was an entirely different story.
Chiori wondered who he decided to bring along with him. She opened the door and made her way down the small flight of stairs that led from her bedroom with Inori close behind. It was just as Ichigo reached the top step of the main stairway. He froze, eyes wide and shoulders stiff.
"Shit," he breathed, glancing over his shoulder.
Inori was silent for a moment before snorting rudely, her lips pulling back from her teeth in a grin. Chiori flinched at the noise, realizing that Inori was about to start in on her brother again. "Sup, Carrot-top." They all watched Ichigo's eyes narrow into slits at the sound of her nickname for him.
"My name's not Carrot-top." He replied irritably and Inori laughed in return.
"Would you prefer 'Strawberry'?"
"I would prefer my name."
"We've talked about this Carrot, it's either one of the other. We had an agreement."
"I don't make agreements with 'middle schoolers' who are too hard-headed to learn my name!"
There was a huff from behind Ichigo that halted any further arguing. A pale arm reached out and shoved him out of the way to reveal the face of the girl Ichigo had taken to hanging out with as of late.
"Rukia, what-!"
"Never mind Ichigo, it doesn't really matter now. I might as well say hello properly."
Rukia's smile was blinding and neither Chiori nor Inori knew how to respond at first. Luckily, Inori took over again before things really started to get awkward. "Oh wow, I didn't know you had it in you, Carrot-top." Inori's smile turned predatory and she made her way around Chiori. "Hi, I'm Inori." She said with a small bow while Chiori and Ichigo looked on. "It's nice to meet you."
"And you must be Chiori." Said Rukia, peering over Inori's shoulder
Chiori inclined her head towards Rukia with a tentative smile. She couldn't hold eye-contact for very long and eventually looked away, but Rukia continued to smile softly until slowly Chiori's own turned into something more relaxed. "It's very nice to meet you."
"We weren't expecting you guys to be home," Ichigo mumbled and attention was once again directed towards him. "Is everything okay?" He didn't look particularly concerned, but Chiori knew that tone. She locked eyes with him and nodded her head, but the wrinkle Ichigo usually got between his brows when he was concerned about something didn't smooth out much at all.
"Obviously," Inori replied, rolling her eyes. "Well, we'll just leave you two love-birds alone, right Chiori?" She grabbed Chiori's hand and turned with the intent to lead her back into her room amidst Ichigo's shouts to the contrary of any romantic relationship with Rukia. "If you don't want me mentioning anything, it's gonna cost ya~!"
"Oh, Ichigo, you're ashamed of me!" Rukia cried, blubbering into the crook of her arm.
Inori choked on her own laughter at the sight they made. She took one more peek at them before shutting the door to block out the sounds of Ichigo's indignation and the argument that ensued. "I think I like her." Inori looked towards Chiori who had moved to resettle herself on her bed. She pulled the laptop into her lap once again and began to type furiously, music playing faintly from the speakers.
Inori went to sprawl on Chiori's bed beside her and stare up at her low ceiling, giggling quietly to herself. She stopped after a time and the room was silent save for the sound of Chiori typing.
The silence stretched on for hours and eventually Chiori looked over to find Inori fast asleep. It brought a smile to her face and she shook her head before gently shutting her laptop. The room was chilly and she crawled to the opposite side of her bed. The blankets had all been knocked to the floor and some point and she pulled them all up before tossing them over herself and Inori.
Tomorrow after school she would have a walk and perhaps she would find something interesting to draw. She fell asleep with those simple thoughts on her mind, oblivious to the suddenly visible cloud of icy breath appearing in front of her mouth. Unconsciously she snuggled further into the blankets.
"Ichigo?"
He paused at the sound of his name. With a sigh he shut and shut his door before turning to acknowledge Rukia. "Yeah?" he was a bit miffed at her actions a few minutes ago and he considered it bad enough that everyone seemed to jump to conclusions about them anyway. Rukia didn't really see much of a problem.
If people believed there was actually something going on between them it would explain why they were always running off together. At least this way they wouldn't to keep making up excuses.
Rukia stood at the center of Ichigo's room, one arm folder under her bust and the other hand propped chin as she organized her thoughts. "Your sister," she began. "You said she's not like you, right?" Ichigo's brow furrowed and he turned to face her fully.
"No, she's not," he replied. "Why?"
Rukia's brows furrowed and she didn't answer him for a long moment. "I don't know." She admitted finally, hands dropping to her sides. "It was just a funny feeling." Ichigo didn't like that all. He worried about Chiori, especially after what happened in the cemetery.
Rukia had taken away Chiori's and the twins' memories of what happened, but it hadn't made the fact that they were attacked by a hollow in the first place any better.
Ichigo still felt partially responsible for everything that had happened. During the battle with the hollow, Grand Fisher back at the cemetery, Ichigo learned that Grand Fisher attacked Chiori six years ago the same way he'd attacked Ichigo and their mother.
She must have been spiritually aware at the time, but after the attack she'd lost her ability. It was probably for the better, but she and the rest of their family were bound to end up in harm's way because of him. At least, that was what Ichigo believed.
Hollows like Grand Fisher are plagued by an insatiable need to devour the souls of both the living and the dead and were especially drawn to strong souls. Those of the living who happen to be even slightly spiritually aware were at a much higher risk than average humans especially if they were already dead.
Masaki, their mother, had been with Ichigo when he was attacked by Grand Fisher six years ago, less than a month before Chiori was attacked. They were visiting the beach on a rainy day and he'd gone running off to save what he thought was a young girl about to drown in the ocean. He was wrong.
His mother chased after him and though she saved his life, she paid the price. He wouldn't find out that Grand Fisher was responsible for his mother's murder until years later.
And then at the cemetery the Hollow taunted him about Chiori during their battle. He mentioned how he recognized her from before and Ichigo had nearly lost his mind with anger. Ichigo remembered how bad the attack had affected Chiori. They found her in the woods, bloody and unresponsive. It took years for her to even smile again.
But there was something else that didn't sit well with him. Grand Fisher also mentioned something about a 'red light', seemingly more amused by whatever it was than by Ichigo's rage at the time. When Ichigo appeared to be just as confused by his words, Grand Fisher laughed in his face and taunted him about how little he really knew before disappearing all together. The feeling of failure was jarring and left Ichigo feeling paranoid. Something didn't fit right.
He and Chiori had always seen spirits as kids, but Ichigo thought she lost the ability to see after the incident. She didn't seem to remember anything either. And then there were the pictures on the walls of her bedroom. He knew that she drew almost constantly, especially after a nightmare. He knew that sometimes her drawings could be very disturbing, but he hadn't realized how bad it had actually gotten. It was almost obsessive.
The monsters on her walls looked like hollows for sure, but somehow they seemed worse than what he knew them to be. He couldn't tell if she was actually seeing them or just dreaming about them. Did her nightmares make them more horrifying to her than he already knew them to be? It was definitely a possibility.
He'd fleetingly thought about mentioning something to their father, but decided against it. He didn't want anyone to worry any more than they probably already did and he didn't want Chiori to get angry with him. But if things got out of hand he would have to figure something out. Now, Rukia was making him wonder as he watched her walk about his room in thought.
She shook her head and moved past Ichigo to pull open his closet. Kon came falling out with a muted squeak, all fluff and righteous indignation as usual. "You're back," Kon yelled, his words muffled by the hardwood floor, but Rukia and Ichigo paid him no mind.
Rukia thought that perhaps her mind was simply playing tricks on her, but she couldn't truly bring herself to believe it. There had been something there, standing behind the girls when she'd met them. It stood behind Chiori after Inori moved to shake Rukia's hand. It was barely a flicker, but Rukia was sure she had seen something.
"It was probably nothing," Rukia mumbled and both Kon and Ichigo watched her climb into the closet with equally unsettled expressions. Rukia arranged herself on her futon with the door open and crossed her legs.
She could feel both Ichigo and Kon's eyes on her, but she refused to speak anymore on the subject until she was sure. Unfortunately, it was probably just enough to make Ichigo begin to worry in the first place.
"I'll see you in the morning," she said finally. Ichigo nodded to her and watched her shut the closet door.
"What's everyone so serious for?" Kon asked, standing upon his little legs and crossing his paws. "Did you two have a fight or something while I was away?" His tone was teasing and Ichigo, already wary after the past few days, grabbed Kon by his head. He carried the stuffed lion out of the room before going to chuck him into the twins' room. He figured Yuzu could have the little lion all to herself when she got back home, whenever that was. Kon could be heard begging to be let out from the other side, but Ichigo ignored him in favor of returning to his room for the night.
"Shut up Kon! If someone hears you screaming in there you'll be in big trouble."
Long after they'd both fallen asleep in Chiori's room for the night, Inori began to move in her sleep. It started with harmless kicking and Chiori had merely rolled away at first, already well-accustomed to Inori being a bit of a restless sleeper, but then it didn't stop.
Inori began to thrash in her sleep and Chiori woke. She swore she could hear something faintly in the dark. It like sounded like nails scraping frantically against wood. Then Inori began to scream.
It was a horrible sound and Chiori bolted upright, panicked and fumbling to turn on her lamp. Inori had already fallen out of the bed by the sound of it, thrashing in the peach-colored comforter tangled around her legs. She continued to scream hoarsely at the top of her lungs.
By the time Chiori got the lights on, her terrified friend had somehow made it to the other side of the room. Inori pressed into a corner and panted wildly, her fingernails digging into some of the pages pinned to the walls.
Inori's shirt was completely soaked through with sweat and the sound of hurried knocking made them both flinch. "Chiori!" Ichigo yelled from the other side of the door. "Hey, what's going on in there, are you two okay!?" The knocking continued and Chiori hesitated.
She glanced at Inori who remained fixed in her position, before hurrying over to the door and unlocking it. Absently she noted that she hadn't locked the door before they went to bed.
Chiori hurried back over to Inori's side before she could even catch of glimpse of Ichigo's worried face as he came into the room. Inori didn't move and avoided Chiori's eyes, wiping at some of the sweat that trickled down the side of her neck.
She was shaking, but she didn't flinch away when Chiori gently placed a hand on her arm. Chiori glanced back at Ichigo and signed the word 'nightmare' in answer to the silent question in his eyes.
He nodded his head and came closer, ready to help if he was needed as Chiori led Inori back over to the bed. "Oh stop it," Inori fussed in a hoarse tone, "It was just a stupid..." Her voice trailed off and her lip trembled, but she willed away the glassy look in her eyes.
Chiori noticed movement by the door and realized that Rukia was also standing in the room, watching them at a distance. Chiori looked to Ichigo and signed the word for 'tea' with a pleading look in her eyes. He nodded running off to get what she'd asked, hesitating at Rukia's side for a moment before quietly asking if she'd stay with the girls.
"Of course I will," Rukia replied, hands on her hips. "-and bring back a cup for me as well." Ichigo sighed, but didn't argue with her. He stalking off to do what he'd been asked. Rukia watched him go before shutting the door and turning back towards the girls.
"You should probably change out of that before you catch a cold," she said, nodding towards Inori's sweaty clothes. Rukia took a moment to look around Chiori's room while Inori quickly did what she suggested.
Rukia wasn't sure how to feel about what she was seeing. The walls were covered with drawing after drawing of shadowy beasts. Hollows! Her mind supplied. They had to be. What else could they possibly be? She looked at Chiori, but the girl was too preoccupied by Inori's faintly shivering form to notice her gaze.
Rukia took a deep breath and walked a bit closer to the bed, "Do you mind if I sit down?" she asked. Chiori briefly chewed her lip before shaking her head and making room at the edge of the bed.
When Ichigo returned with tea, Rukia was perched on the bed and speaking quietly to the girls. Inori looked a bit less pale, wrapped tightly in a warm blanket. Her eyes focused on him as her carried in the three mugs and his eyes narrowed minutely in return. "Oh look at you, Carrot," Inori teased somewhat weakly. "Bringing us tea, how sweet."
Ichigo made a noise of irritation as he handed them their mugs. "Glad to see you're feeling better." He muttered. "And my name's not Carrot." Inori chuckled and Ichigo grunted faintly as she sat on the floor.
"Wanna tell me why you were screaming at the top of your lungs a little while ago?" Rukia frowned at his dull tone and Inori took a sip of the tea from the mug in her hands, avoiding his eyes. "You're lucky my dad isn't here yet, he'd being driving us all nuts by now."
"Still just as rude as always," Inori replied, "I had a nightmare, plain and simple." She shrugged her shoulders. No one wanted to point out that nightmares were usually Chiori's shtick, not hers. "Speaking of your dad..." she began, jerking her chin in Rukia's direction with a devious grin.
It made Ichigo sputter and Rukia laughed nervously from her seat. She looking away from them in what Chiori assumed was embarrassment. "Don't worry Carrot, I won't say anything, promise." She winked, but Chiori noticed something off about it.
Inori had told both Chiori and Rukia that she couldn't remember what she'd dreamed about, but Chiori didn't buy it at all. Regardless, no one pressed her for any details. It was clear that no one would be getting much sleep. A glance at the clock on the wall told Chiori that they all had about two hours until they needed to be up for school anyway. They might as well stay awake until then.
Later that day at school, Keiji wouldn't stop eyeing both of the girls. He hadn't stopped since they got to school. Chiori didn't feel too well and on top of that, Inori's usual antics seemed forced. The usually chipper girl waved off their concern, constantly reassuring them that she was completely fine.
Her mother was home, she'd told them, fidgeting with the charms on her cellphone. Inori hadn't seen her mother in almost two months and sometimes she got testy, but she never quite explained to them exactly why.
School was the worst. The girls hadn't really wanted to talk about what they'd seen at the temple, but Keiji wasn't having any of that. They decided to tell him after class was over and he grudgingly agreed. Inori's behavior continued throughout the day, jumping at even the slightest noise, spacing out during class.
She was irritable with everything and everyone around her. It only died down after they'd finally left the school building and found somewhere to talk. They found a park bench to sit on and for once Keiji didn't have anywhere to be right after school, so he settled himself on the ground right in front of them.
"You saw a ghost?" he asked, his head tilting. There was no disbelief in his voice, but Chiori noticed an indecipherable look in his eyes. Keiji always seemed to pay apt attention when Inori or Chiori mentioned anything about the supernatural. He knew that Chiori's brother could see ghosts, but Chiori and Inori were a different story.
They never saw anything. Inori's grandmother apparently considered it a travesty that her own granddaughter was so unskillful. Keiji opened his mouth, probably to call bullshit on Inori, but the look she gave him made him think twice about it. "Is that why you're acting so..." he waved his hand in her direction with a frown.
Inori scoffed and wiped her hands on her skirt, looking off in another direction. "Part of it, I guess. It was terrifying." There was bitter humor in her voice and she glanced over to see what Chiori happened to be scribbling in her sketchbook. She chuckling faintly at the picture of a little monster being stepped on by a giant heel. Chiori and Inori locked eyes and smiled faintly at each other.
Keiji sighed and reached up to scratch at his short dark hair, a chain on his wrist briefly catching the light. The faint shine caught Chiori's eyes and she looked up, blinking at it. It was a delicate looking thing. Silver with a tiny three-pronged charm dangling from it, Chiori had always thought it was very pretty.
It looked a little sharp and there was a thin line of metal wrapping around it. She'd seen the chain before, but the charm was definitely new to her. Keiji noticed her gaze and tilted his head in question, but Chiori shook her head. "I guess this is what you get for being so flippant with your grandma, huh?" he teased.
Inori glared at him before turning her nose up and away. She crossed her arms with a huff and Keiji laughed outright, attempting to cover it behind a cough. He failed miserably. Inori snarled at him and flipped him off, but Keiji simply waved her off with a grin.
Chiori stared at the sketchbook in her lap and chewed her bottom lip before writing something down. "All jokes aside," she wrote, "There's something horrible in Grandma Mei's temple. Whatever it is, it's evil, I'm sure of it."
She held up the sketchbook and Keiji and Inori stared as she began to turn the pages in search of the picture she'd drawn while at the temple. "What the hell?" Keiji breathed, peering at the drawing in disbelief. "You're sure?" Chiori nodded sharply. "How come you've never seen it until now?" he asked incredulously.
Inori shrugged again, leaning against Chiori's shoulder. "I don't know, Grandma's apparently seen it plenty of times, but she said I just didn't have the skill. I think it may be why my mom hates it there so much." Inori's brows furrowed and she watched Chiori set the sketchbook back down. "Grandma said she'd never seen it so active before though, not like it was this time."
Keiji hummed faintly, pulling up a bit of grass and dirt with his fingers before letting it fall from his hand. There was a rustle in the leaves of a bush from behind the bench and three kids flinched in unison.
Inori pulled Chiori from her seat on the park bench just in time to see a dark yellow blur come flying out of the foliage. It smacked Keiji in the face so hard it knocked his head back and the two girls watched as it slid slowly from the boy's face to his lap. "Dammit," Keiji muttered, slowly looking down to take a closer look at what hit him.
"T-that's a plushy," Inori voiced, pointing at it in mild bewilderment. No one moved and they stared in confusion until Inori began to laugh loudly. Keiji growled and snatching the plush from his lap.
He threw it away from himself before standing up and dusting himself off. There was a muffled noise from the plush that made them all go still and quiet. Slowly, they all turned to stare at the plush. It was laying on its back now, its beady little black eyes catching the light. Its little moth was stitched in a generic grin of happiness.
"D-did either of you...?" Inori stuttered. Chiori nodded her head and Keiji's eyes narrowed into slits. "Is it just me or... is it sweating?" No one moved and the plush remained lying innocently in the grass. Then it wasn't laying down anymore.
They watched in a mixture of confusion and mild horror as the plush scrambled to its... feet... paws... nubs? They were already screaming gibberish by the time it was upright. Inori's hands grasped her pigtails and tugged insistently.
"Holy shit!" Inori screamed. The plushtoy made a run for it and they all scrambled where they stood. "Someone catch it!" Inori cried before running after it herself with a wild look in her eyes. Chiori hesitated for a moment before running after her.
"Catch it?!" Keiji questioned in indignation. Despite his apprehension he followed after them. "Why the hell would you want to catch it?!" Inori scoffed and didn't deign to answer him as if it were obvious and took off, running far ahead. Her legs were a little bit longer than both his and Chiori's and she easily put distance between herself and her friends. "Goddammit, Inori!"
Inori broke through a thick bush with a gasp and stepped out into a walkway behind a row of houses. She panted harshly with her hands on her knees. "Where'd it go?" She glanced about herself, but the plush-toy was nowhere in sight. "Come out, you!" she cried, cupping her hands around her mouth so that her voice could carried farther out.
No answer.
Inori pouted briefly before realizing that she was completely alone. "Hey, guys?" she called, glancing over her shoulder. With a sigh, she realized that she had probably left them behind somewhere in the park. She shook her head and reached into her pocket for her phone before flipping it open to take a look at the screen. There was no signal.
"That's odd..." she muttered, raising her phone higher into the air and hoping it would help, but it didn't. With a withering sigh, she shut her phone and stuffed it back into her pocket. "I'll just go back the way I came." she said, turning back towards the bush she'd just come out of. Strangely, there was no bush there anymore.
It didn't make any sense. Inori slid her hands along the wood in confusion, he mouth going dry. "What the hell, the bush was right here a minute ago."
There was a whisper and a gust of wind and Inori turned and pressed her back to the wooden fence, eyeing the long alleyway. She clenched her teeth, waiting to see if something appeared but nothing ever did. She didn't want to linger there any longer than she needed to. The wind blew past again and Inori bolted, heart pounding in her chest.
"Hello!?" she cried, looking between houses as she ran. The street was silent and a few of the houses seemed dilapidated to a certain extent. She was sure she had never seen this part of town before. She would have remember if she had, Inori was sure of it.
Frantically, Inori began to run up to doors, beating on them and calling for help when the whispers on the wind grew louder. But no one ever answered her.
Tears of frustration brimmed in her eyes, but she kept them as bay. She turned sharply into an alleyway, only to notice that it was suddenly much darker than she remembered it being. There was a grimy tint to everything around her. It seeped into the stone and rotted the nearby wood. Inori froze in the middle of the alley, her shoe half-submerged in a puddle of tepid water.
Footsteps.
Those were definitely footsteps.
Inori knew she was hyperventilating, but she couldn't stop herself. Slowly, she began to turn around, even though she didn't want to look. The footsteps grew closer and a voice called out.
"Do you see me?" asked the low voice of a woman from seemingly nowhere.
Inori could feel bile rising up from her stomach. A hand grasped her shoulder in an iron grip and its nails dug into the flesh beneath her shirt so harshly they drew blood. The touch knocked the breath from her lungs and trapping a scream in her throat while the buildings around Inori began to warp.
They seemed to cry out in anguish and despair. The ground beneath her feet rotted away as fetid arms with grasping hands reached out from its depths and coiled around her ankles, clawing.
"I see you."
Inori did scream then, finally. It was high and loud and shrill. The presence behind her forcibly turned Inori's body around with the limbs helping to move her the way they wanted. It was a woman's face, but it was distorted and decomposed.
Its eyes moving uselessly in their sockets before focusing on Inori despite their milky-white color. Inori began to struggle, screaming as if fear were all she knew at that moment. She clawed frantically at the hand on her shoulder and screamed louder when her efforts only succeeded in tearing away flesh. The smell intensified with each new tear and Inori heaved.
"How many centipedes under your skin?" The voice sang in a childish and grating tone. "Let's count...1...2...3..."
Keiji and Chiori slowed down after they lost sight of Inori, panting faintly as they came to a more open part of the park. There were a couple kids running around and Chiori pressed closer to Keiji's side when a few ran by. The small children chased after a red ball, shrieking at the top of their lungs.
Chiori and Keiji were still holding hands, but neither even seemed to care at that very moment. "Goddammit," Keiji cursed, "Where the hell did she go?" He definitely wasn't happy that the auburn-haired girl had gone running off the way she did. It was all because of that stupid plushtoy.
Speaking of the runaway toy, neither he nor Chiori could imagine how it could move the way it did. They both figured it was probably automated, but something about it just didn't feel right. They could have sworn it whimpering when it first ran off, but they couldn't be entirely sure.
"There she is." Keiji huffed, nodding his head as Inori stepped out from the bushes. She stared out at the children playing in the park as Keiji and Chiori walked over to her. As they grew closer, they noticed how disheveled the other girl looked.
There were a few tears in her clothes and socks. Her shoes were caked with dark mud. "Where the hell did you go?" Keiji asked, "Where'd that plushy get to?"
Inori stared blankly off so the side before shrugging her shoulders and wiping her hands on her skirt. "Dun' know," she replied, "I lost it." There was a small smile playing on her lips, but it didn't last very long. The circles under her eyes looked darker and Chiori frowned before walking around Keiji to get a better look at Inori.
She reached out for Inori's wrist, but as soon as her fingertips touch Inori's skin the taller girl jerked away. Her skin was clammy to the touch. Chiori pulled her hand back in confusion. "Sorry," Inori said, trying to smile but failing miserably, "Look, I have to go, my mom called and she said she wants me home."
Keiji didn't look like he believed her, but he didn't say anything. He nodded his head and Inori walked off without so much as a goodbye.
They watched her retreating back for a time and Chiori didn't notice the look in Keiji's eyes as he stared. "C'mon, let's go home." He said. Chiori nodded her head and they both seemed to finally notice that they were still holding hands. Sheepishly, they slowly untwined their fingers before turning around and leaving the park.
Once she arrived at home pulled off her shoes off and left them by the door. "Sis, is that you?" Yuzu called from the kitchen. She peered out of the kitchen doorway and smiled while Chiori set her bag down.
"Hey, Chiori," Ichigo muttered, rubbing at his spiky orange head with a scowl. Isshin's eyes lit up at the sight of her, but before he could greet her or go off on a tangent, Ichigo shoved his face into the ground. Chiori shook her head at the two of them. She waved at Karin who remained seated at the table while watching Ichigo and Isshin brawl in the living room.
Chiori made for the stairs, dragging her bag behind her before Yuzu stopped her. "Wait," said Yuzu, a frown on her face. "Don't you want dinner?" Chiori felt a bit bad for saying now, but she just wasn't very hungry.
She shook her head and waved before continuing up the stairs. Karin watched Chiori silently from her seat at the table as the older girl ascended the stairs and even Isshin and Ichigo stopped their antics long enough to watch.
Chiori made her way to the top of the stairs only to jump when something squeaked beneath her heel. She looked down to see a familiar yellow lump lying innocently on the floor. It can't be, she thought, eyes wide in disbelief. She turned the plushy over with her foot and at the sight of the familiar beady eyes and smile. Calm down, she thought to herself. It can't be the same one.
Hesitantly, Chiori bent down to grasp the little toy under its arms and bring it up to eye-level. It didn't move. It's shiny, beady, black eyes reflected the light. It looked to be newly cleaned much to her surprise and she took note of the fine bit of stitching that had been done to it.
Not that she knew much about sewing, but it hadn't been in very good shape initially, assuming that it was the same plushtoy from the park. Her gut told her that it was, but she couldn't understand what it was doing here in her home. Chiori frowned and held the toy close to her face.
Just what are you hiding, little lion?