Shizuo growled at whatever had woken him. He felt unreasonably cold on one side. Was that his alarm? What was it doing going off this early in the morning? Someone echoed his annoyance in a mumble as the incessant beeping was silenced. He sat up and pried his eyes open.
"Sorry to wake you" Anni whispered as she put the alarm clock back and made her way over to the box of clothes in the corner.
"Why's my alarm going off so damn early?" he muttered as he looked around his dark room. The sun hadn't even come up yet. Everything was where it usually was, save for the messy futon next to his, and Anni's box. She was picking a few select bits of cloth from the only thing she'd bothered to bring over last night.
"Because my phone is out of commission and I need an alarm to get to work on time. It's ok, go back to sleep" she instructed listlessly.
"'right." He pulled the blanket over his head as he lied back down. Wait, was there a second pillow here?
-!DRRR!-
"Morning" Anni's boss greeted from behind the register as she meandered in.
"Good morning" she replied, heading straight to the back.
"Hey, can you come here for a second?" he said, stopping her.
"Sure, what's going on?"
"Since Maya-san won't be coming in for a while, I need to do some rescheduling. Would you be able to cover the two o'clock shift?" he asked, leaning against the counter on his elbows.
"Sure. Put me in whatever time slot you need me. Oh, but be sure to let me know before I leave. I went and broke my phone again" Anni explained, earning her boss's sigh.
"Get a replacement soon then. I'm going to need you around here. Now go get ready for your shift" he said as he waved her off.
"Yes sir" Anni bowed and ducked into the back.
-!DRRR!-
Maya stared idly at the wall. She was awake, she knew that, but she felt lost. Her mind was blank. It felt like the emptiness that comes when you open your eyes for the first time after blacking out. There was no train of thought to pick up on. No emotion. Just a mild confusion mixed with a strange yearning to return to whatever darkness you'd just dragged yourself from. Nothing was happening. She let her eyes wander around her sterile white room. The bruises on her throat protested at her moving her head, but it was something. The small amount of pain reminded her that she was still alive. How had she ended up with bruises like that? What about the bruises on her wrists and ankles? Trying to recall brought no more answers than the night before. At least there was no one hovering around her asking her what she knew. No police or parents demanding to know who had hurt her like this. It was quiet, so Maya retreated into contented boredom.
-!DRRR!-
It had started raining by the time Anni got off work. There was nothing on her that would be damaged by a little water, so she stepped right out without grabbing an umbrella. A small voice in her head brought up the time she'd landed herself in the hospital with a fever, but she dismissed it. A walk in perfect health wouldn't bring the same fate down on her head. Well perfect physical health, anyway.
She decided to skip training today and just wander around on her own for a while, let the rain help clear her head while she worked on pulling herself back together. There would be no breakdowns like last time, she was stronger than that now. She'd learned. That worthless slime had taught her things Anni had never wanted to know about herself.
The drenched blonde was making her way through a residential area when she heard the guttural roar from a block away. There was no mistaking his voice, especially at that volume. "GET BACK HERE!"
"We've got a runner" Anni mused aloud as she started making her way towards the voice. There was a resounding *crash* of something landing up ahead. Her only option for getting closer was a thin side street that was bottlenecked at the end by a dumpster on one side, so she couldn't sprint out to see what was going on. She was strolling past the stink emitting can when a man rounded the corner at a dead run. Anni didn't think. Her leg came up on reflex, burying her knee in his gut just as he was about to plow her over. He fell to the ground with a grunt, wrapping his arms around his stomach. "You're not very intelligent, are you?" she asked on autopilot, still surprised by her own reactions.
"What was that-" the debtor started, hauling himself back to his feet with surprising speed. The rain drowned out most of the ambient noise, but Anni could make out the heavy footfalls of pursuit and the chatter of people dodging out the way. She ignored the frantic, irrational man and watched the exit of the side street for the oncoming storm. "-you little-" he continued, leaning over her with one arm still slung over his abdomen. He started to reach for her. Anni backed up a step, bumping into the dumpster.
Shizuo cleared the corner.
"-bitch?!"
It was over in a fraction of a second. First, Shizuo recognized her. She could see the flick of surprise as it crossed his expression before he understood the situation. Then he slipped into rage. His eyes came alive with fury, and his lips twisted into a crazed smile. There was no glee there, only the grasp of his own brand of insanity. He didn't miss a step as he made the turn, cocking his arm back. The debtor saw him much too late, and remembered why he had been running. Shizuo's fist connected with the side of his face, and sent the unfortunate man zipping back the way Anni had come. He ended up embedded in the brick wall about twenty meters away.
Shizuo stayed where he was, huffing with the quickly fading adrenaline and fully soaking in the downpour. A small part of Anni was proud he had gotten that angry on her behalf. Another part scolded her for being the reason he had to get that angry again. In the end, all she could do was wait patiently for him to straighten up and look over at her.
"Good afternoon" she greeted with a comfortable smile, deeming it safe enough to take a step forward.
"You're soaked again" he observed.
"And you saved me again" she countered, grabbing his wrist. The dumpster wasn't pleasant, so she dragged him out onto the street he'd been chasing the debtor down. He was surprisingly pliable, despite his inherent strength.
"I need to head back to Tom-san" Shizuo objected, stopping on the sidewalk. He was suddenly immovable.
"Get going then. Tell him I said hi" Anni said, releasing him. She turned away, only to have her elbow caught.
"Hey. If you're not going to training, go home and dry off" he ordered.
"You're just as wet as I am" she retorted. A stubborn glare finally persuaded her. "Fine. I'll go finish packing up my junk. I'll see you tonight."
"Later" Shizuo said, patting her head once before trudging off. He looked like a drowned rat.
Anni changed into dry clothes and put her hair up in a towel once she got home, then set to work putting the rest of what she owned into boxes. She found it surprisingly easy, and was nearly done by seven. She simply didn't have much stuff. Almost nothing from home had survived her second day in Tokyo, and she hadn't really recovered since then. Aside from her art supplies and laptop, she had clothes, some kitchenware, and a few other odds and ends. She didn't even have much in the way of makeup or hair products. She'd bought some lipstick for special occasions a while ago…
While moving the last box from her room to the stacks near the door, she managed to overlook the box she'd left open near the kitchen when she got sick of wrapping fragile things. Her foot caught the lip, and in her attempt not to shatter all of the glasses she suddenly remembered were there, she sent herself sprawling. Her box of socks went spewing all over the living room floor and she landed hard on her left arm. The very same arm Shizuo had bruised when he held her back two days ago. Anni let out a muffled shriek of pain. She'd never been one to complain, but that HURT. She curled on her living room floor for a moment, reeling. A hammering on her door dragged her from her little bubble.
"Are you alright in there?" a male voice called. Anni levered herself to her feet. It must be one of the two guys that were living in the room next to hers. They were nice enough, though Anni never saw much of them.
"I'm fine" she squeaked. Since he had come to her door though, she might as well open it. The lesser known of the two neighbors stood in the hallway, a young man with unkempt black hair and dark brown eyes. Wait, wasn't he one of the people who'd been at the hospital to see Maya?
"What happened? I heard a scream."
"I'm fine, I just tripped and fell on my bad arm. Aren't you a friend of Maya's?" Anni asked, cradling said bad arm.
"You could say that. I'm her boyfriend. How do you…? Oh! You're Anni-san! I almost didn't recognize you" he greeted with an overly large smile. The extravagant grin seemed right at home on his expressionate face. He reminded her oddly of Masaomi.
"Nice to meet you, again. Aahh, you remember my name, but…" she sheepishly admired her doorframe.
"Amano Kaneki" he introduced, shaking her hand. "Oh, are you moving?" Kaneki invited himself in, pushing past her to see the stacks of boxes and sock-covered floor.
"I- yes, but you can't just-" Anni protested, watching as he snatched up a pair of her favorite knee-socks from the mess. They were black, with blue, fire-breathing dragons printed on them.
"Oooh! These are cool!"
"I know! They're also mine!" she asserted, stepping in to swipe the pair from his hands.
"You have awesome taste in socks" he admired, picking a set of rainbow striped socks from the pile next.
"Would you stop it?" Anni demanded, swiping that pair from his grip as well. She clutched her precious foot-coverings to her chest with both hands, protecting them from the thief.
"They're just socks!" Kaneki laughed at her. He plopped down to sit in the middle of the mess.
"You're just as bad as Maya!" Anni accused as she hunkered down to put the socks she'd saved into their box. Her guest started tossing pairs of socks at the box to help.
"Whatever" he sighed. They spent the next minute repacking the box. He made a little game of it, sometimes bouncing socks off of Anni to rebound into the 'basket'. Anni was forced to retrieve the few he missed. Kaneki stopped occasionally to admire a pair her particularly liked.
"If I find even one missing I'll make you into a sock-loving kebab" she threatened, sick of being used as a backboard.
"Ok! Ok, I won't take any" he relented. A pair of black knee-socks with skulls plastered all over them appeared from under his butt and were chucked into the box.
"Thief. I take it back. You're even worse than Maya."
"I'm not the one with a foot fetish" he countered with ease.
"I do not have a foot fetish!" Anni yelled back.
"Ah, hello" Kaneki said, completely ignoring her. He was instead looking over at the door Anni had left open in her haste to save her lucky-dragon socks. None other than Shizuo stood in the doorway with an umbrella hanging from one wrist. He looked more confused than anything.
"What's going on here?" he wondered. Kaneki answered before Anni could open her mouth.
"We're talking about Anni-chan's weird fetishes."
"You lying skink" Anni shouted, throwing the skull socks at his face. They bounced off harmlessly, much to the little blonde's ire.
"So I can have these ones then? Thanks!" he chimed, picking the present up from where it had landed in his lap.
"Fine! Just get out of my house!" she said, pointing at the door.
"I'm going, I'm going!" Kaneki laughed. He hopped to his feet and sauntered out the door, waving at Shizuo as he passed.
"Obnoxious prying skink" Anni muttered, rubbing her eyes.
"What was that?" Shizuo asked, squatting beside her.
"Nothing, he just frustrates me" she answered, putting the final two pairs of socks in their home and folding the lid shut.
"Don't let 'em get to you. You have enough to worry about right now" he advised, picking the box up and putting on top of the shortest stack. "Is this all that's left?"
"Ya. I don't really have much. We can move it when it isn't raining" Anni offered as she stood. She made a point of pushing the box of glasses further into the kitchen before she left.
-A/N-
I had fun with this chapters name. Skinks are adorable little lizards with long tails and stubby legs, so it's not all that much of an insult.
Anyway, happy holidays. The next two chapters are probably going to come as a pair, because the one after this is mostly fluff and setup. I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I enjoyed writing them.
Edited by my dear friend Faded Phoenix