Kazumi

"Juuzou, I'm going the other way," I announced after he had led me by the hand down a string of hallways. He looked down to where he was holding my hand tightly, trying to get me to come with him.

"Okay!" He grinned and let go. The blood on my face was dried by now. "If you see Shinohara, say hi to him for me!" He skipped down the hallway.

He wasn't all that bad.

Right?

Maybe my mind was deceiving me. Perhaps he was nice for the sake of being nice.

Maybe...not.

Maybe he was just playing nice for no good reason.

Two Years After The Incident With The Twins [again, huge timeskips, jumping right into the friendship because I can't handle detail well]

"Kazumi-chan...!" Juuzou yelled. "Where are we going?"

"To my favorite sweet shop. I'm sure you'll like it there," I said grumpily.

Immediately his face brightened. "Yay! Hey, Kazumi-chan, what kind of candy do they have there?"

"Lots of stuff. Lollipops, chocolate, lots of American candies there too. I loved all the American candies they sold at the shop...'Sour Patch Kids', 'Dubble Bubble', 'Jolly Ranchers'..." I said.

"Waaaoooww..." Juuzou said in awe. I knew he liked sweets and he was very unhappy at the time, as unhappy Juuzou can get, so to the sweets shop we went.

Once we got there, the shop owner, who was American but had a Japanese wife, greeted me and looked at Juuzou. "Konichiwa*(1), Kazumi!" Larry, the owner, said in an accent. "Who is your tomadachi*(2)?"

"Juuzou Suzuya!" Juuzou announced as he browsed the arrays of candy.

"Hello, Juuzou," Larry said. He was very kind and he liked a lot of the customers he had.

"Kazumi-chan!" Juuzou pulled me over. "What should I get? What should I get?" He laughed. I smiled.

I still remember a couple years ago I didn't like him. Then, I still didn't know what love truly was, like Juuzou had said.

Love is everywhere. Friends are subtle love!

Kaa-san and oto-san taught me love.

They did.

One whole bag of candy, bundles and bundles of the stuff. What the hell was I even doing with my own money? Juuzou...I probably should have known a bit better, considering the things that Juuzou did. But he was skipping, with a smile on his face and eyes full of glee.

We sat down on a nearby picnic table. "Kazumi-chan! Can I see some of your drawings?" He grinned and beckoned for me to take out my sketchbook.

"Juuzou, you know I don't draw that well-" I was cut off by him.

"Lemme see!" He grabbed my knapsack and rummaged through the contents. Pulling out my sketchbook he yelled a joyful "hurray!" and looked through it.

"Juuzou! Give that back!" I blushed, because I was embarrassed at what he would think of my sketches.

"Kazumi-chan, I like this one! Can you teach me how to draw it? I wanna draw it!" He giggled and pointed.

He liked them. I didn't show my sketches to many people, and especially someone like him, merely a friend, if one at all.

"...Erm, do you have the pencils and stuff? The copic markers, soft and hard pencils...et cetera, et cetera..." I went on.

"Can I borrow yours? You...maybe...you...oh, maybe you and I could meet here at this park and you can teach me!" He smiled widely and ave me a thumbs-up.

I thought about it. "Sure," I said. He opened his eyes, smile fading a bit, and after realizing it, laughed excitedly.

"I can't wait! I can't wait! Oh yeah, I'm going to eat the candy now!" He smiled and reached for the grocery bag. Taking out a chocolate bar, he unwrapped it and took a huge bite of it. I looked at him and his strange features. What a weird duo, I'd bet.

I took a lollipop out and sucked on the sweet hard candy, flavored and tasting like sweet cherry. Not the horrible-tasting cherry syrup medicine, but the candy that tasted deliciously sugary.

It tasted like a warm summer day, one that I would remember.

Two Years Before The Last Scene

"Kazumi!" Taiki yelled as he ran up closer. My shoulder was leaking blood, and lots of it. It made me feel woozy. Another bite on the leg. Crying out with pain, the ghoul's kagune slithered up my neck.

"So deliciously sweet and so aromatic...your blood tastes so sweet...your flesh..." He groaned in delight. What a sick monster. He licked the blood off of my cheek and caressed it with his face.

"You-you-" I tried to inch away from him. "You bastard!" My quinque felt like miles away from my pinned-down body and I needed to escape. Taiki, who was fighting another ghoul, tried to get closer. I heard crunching and tried to see where it was...and then realized it was him eating me. Eating me.

"You're pretty too," He smiled.

"Get the fuck off of me..." I growled.

"Not if I can help it," He growled back. "Besides, you prove to be a very good meal...but if Yamori finds out, he'll kill me. It's worth it, though..."

"Gouru-desu!" Another sickening voice giggled. "What are you doing?"

Juuzou, what luck.

Licking his lips in agony, the ghoul reluctantly got off of me and stood up. It hurt too much to move. "...you look delicious too...let me devour her first, though..." His eyes looked crazed with hunger, surrounded by potential meals.

Grabbing my throat, he tightened his grip around my neck.

"I will have her first," The ghoul smiled.

Okay guys! I'm sorry for the lack of updates right now. I have MCAS testing next week (oh, seventh grade long comps. Thank God I write anyways) so that may be an obstruction for my updates...but enjoy this kind-of-cliffhanger and Juuzou & Kazumi's friendship! :)