She approached me and put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry Shawn. If I'd known.." she tried to explain. She seemed almost as upset as I was. I shook my head. "You have a right to know." I said, wiping my tears. "Still...Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?" she asked sincerely. I looked back at the clock on the wall. 9:45. "I could really use a drink.." I said. "Water? Carbonated beverage?" she asked. "Not that kind of drink." I assured her.
I looked out the window and saw that the snow was starting to pick up again. I got off the bed and walked to the corner of the room closest to me. There, I had my clothes neatly folded and stacked. I picked out one of my newer hoodies from the pile. It was a black, cotton zip-up. I put it on then tied my shoes on my feet. "I'm gonna head out. I'd feel better if you came with me." I told her. She smiled and nodded.
When we made it outside, the snow had picked up. It wasn't until we were halfway to our destination that I realized she could be cold. After all, she was only wearing a light, black dress. "Hey, you cold? You can borrow my hoodie if you want." I said. "Oh? And how would you stay warm?" she asked. "I'm no stranger to the cold." I answered. She smiled. "Believe it or not, I'm fine." she assured me.
Of course she was fine. To a cold-hearted mistress like her, the snow must have been welcoming.
As we walked a little further, I noticed a homeless man and a dog sitting in an alley. The dog must have been at least 3, people years, and the guy looked to be about thirty. The dog was on the man's lap, leaning against his chest as the man had a blanket wrapped around them both. I slowed down a bit. Kurumi walked a little further ahead of me, past the man. I stopped and looked at him. He didn't pay me any attention. I started thinking about what it was like for me to be without a home, and how hard it was. I didn't mention this before, but I also used to have a dog when I first lived on the streets. It was just always comforting to always have man's most loyal friend by my side. I found him one day as I was searching through a garbage can for food. Turns out, he was doing the same. I took him as my own and named him Toby. I did what I could to take care of him, but food was so scarce. Malnourishment took him away from me. Where would I be now if Kurumi didn't show me the kindness she did? I quickly took out some money and gave him twenty dollars. It wasn't much, I know, but it's what I could do. He looked at me. "Th...Th.." He couldn't even speak. He practically started crying, which almost made me cry. I looked back at Kurumi to see she was waiting for me, smiling.
When I caught up to her, she quickly held my hand, interlocking our fingers.
We arrived at a casual dining restaurant with an Irish pub theme a short time later. I think the name was Bennigan's. We walked inside and went to the bar counter. Like usual, there was no one else around. It was just me, Kurumi, and the bartender. The bartender was a muscular guy, had short brown hair and a goatee. He seemed to be in his late twenties. He was pretty cool. He looked at me. "Hey. What can I get you?" he asked. Ever since I was 18, I always looked older than 21. Kurumi...Not so much. "I'll have a shot of Jack. Keep em' coming. What about you, Kurumi?" I asked. "I'll have a glass of Cola, please." she said. The guy nodded and went to put our drinks together. "Want to keep asking each other questions?" I asked her. I figured it would be a good idea to learn more about her before I got hammered. "Sure. It's your turn to ask me something." she said, smiling. "All right. Not that I'm ungrateful or anything, but why did you save me? It couldn't be because you felt sorry. After all, you pretty much ignored the guy on our walk here." I explained. "Would you believe me if I said it was because you were handsome?" she asked. I smiled. "No." I quickly answered. She got a good laugh out of it before calming down and become more serious. "I was actually planning on killing and eating you too..." she explained. The guy came back and gave us our drinks before walking away again. "Yet, here I am, sitting and sharing drinks with you. What changed your mind?" I asked, keeping my nervousness to myself. "When I looked in your eyes, I saw a blank slate. I felt like having a companion, so what better friend than one I could mold to be more like me? I suppose what I'm saying is, you're corruptible. And with all of the people who have 'gone missing' lately, I'd say I'm leaving quite an impression on you." she said, smiling.
I instantly thought about Jason from the month before.
I was a little upset, but I managed to keep it to myself. "Is that all you see in me?" I asked. Her smile became more sympathetic. "Truth be told, you've also grown on me." she said. I instantly felt better. I lifted my shot glass. "To corruption!" I exclaimed. She giggled a bit before raising her glass. "To corruption!" We tapped our glasses together. She sipped her Cola and I shot back my drink. The burn felt so good and welcoming.
A couple minutes passed. I got another shot while she was finishing up her Cola. "It's your turn now, right?" I asked her. She nodded. "Why do you smoke drugs?" she asked. It's just nice to fall out of reality every once in a while. And it's nothing hard, just pot." I explained. I knocked back my second shot. "You should try it sometime. You may like it." I told her. "I'm not entirely sure it's for me." she said before finishing her Cola.
Come to think of it, maybe it's best she doesn't smoke pot. Wouldn't want her getting hungry now.
I called for the bartender to refill our drinks. A couple minutes went by before we got our refills. The bartender returned to the other side of the bar. "Your turn." she told me. I thought for a minute. "All right. Recently, before I fall asleep, I feel you watching me sometimes. Why?" I asked. "You're just interesting, that's all." she said innocently. "What's so interesting about me being in a minor comatose?" I asked. She seemed to ignore the question at first as she drank her Cola.
"You scream in your sleep." she told me.
That definitely threw me off guard. I've been having nightmares about the recent murders at times, but I was never aware I screamed in my sleep. We both sat there, quietly. I drank my third shot while she finished her Cola. I called to the bartender again for more refills. "Don't you ever sleep?" I asked. "I don't have to, but it's nice to always have the option." she said.
One hour, eight shots and thirteen glasses of Cola later, we were both completely wrecked. How anyone can get drunk off a soda still baffles me. Though I was drunk, a certain accident hold everything fresh in my mind.
"S'you eat people right? Where'o they go?" ("So you eat people right? Where do they go?") I asked her. "Shawn! You're gross!" she exclaimed. "Aww, c'mon! Tell me!" I pleaded. She gave me a funny smile. "That's my little secret." she said. I let out, what I presume to be, a laugh. She laughed too. "You're a lot of fun when you're like this." she said. "Thash grape!" ("That's great!") I replied. She laughed and gave me a light, friendly push. "Bartender! An'ther drink, pliz!" ("Bartender! Another drink, please!") I hollered. He shook his head. "Sorry bud. I think you've had enough." he said. "Aww." I said, disappointed. Kurumi paid for our drinks. "Come on, Shawn. Let's get out of here." she said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Al'ght." ("All right.") I said, lazily.
She got off her stool, stumbling a bit.
I completely fell off mine.
We both laughed pretty hard. "Come on." she said, helping me up.
When we left the restaurant, it was still snowing, but it lightened up. We started stumbling back to the hotel. I played around with her hair a bit and she playfully pulled out a couple of my chin hairs. For fun, I "ran" ahead of her, across the street. We both took a second to laugh. She then started crossing the street. I turned to keep walking. But I turned back around quickly to the sound of tires shrieking to a halt. Before my very eyes, I saw Kurumi get rammed by a truck.
I've never sobered up to quickly in my entire life. "KURUMI!" I yelled.
The bastard driver was so shocked and scared that he drove around her and sped off. He didn't even give it a second thought. I ran over to her and dropped on my knees to her side. "Kurumi!? Kurumi!?" I pleaded. I never got a response. I placed my middle and index finger by the side of her neck, only to find there wasn't a pulse.
I sat her corpse up and had her lean against my chest. I just sat there, with a corpse, a damaged liver, and a broken heart. I started crying, again.
I took off my hoodie and wrapped it around her. I don't care what she said; she looked cold to me. As the snow pressed on, I could feel my tears being frozen to my face. There was no one else around. It was just me and her.
I cradled her corpse for hours. So many hours.
She was radiant, even in death. I was in my own little eternity. By the time I felt ready to leave, it was getting dark. I picked her up off the street and leaned her against a building. I didn't know what else to do with her. I covered her up to her face with my hoodie and started to walk away. As I walked away, I turned to look at her again. But too my horror, both her and my hoodie were gone. I needed someplace warm to think, so I hurried back to the hotel, the snow still falling.
"I get back to the hotel room and open the door. And who do you think I see on her bed?" Shawn asked. The Commander looked at Shawn, confused. "You're kidding me." The Commander said. Shawn shook his head.
"Kurumi Tokisaki."
I looked at her, confused. "Oh, you're finally home." she said, casually. I was confused and horrified and happy, all at the same time. There wasn't a scratch on her. "I...You..." I couldn't even speak. "Oh! Thank you for letting me borrow your hoodie by the way. I put it in the corner with the rest of your clothes." she said, smiling. I slowly made my way to my bed and sat at the edge. "You...You died." I finally said. She smiled. "As long as I have enough spirit energy, I can never truly die. With all the people I've been devouring lately, I have an ample supply of spirit energy! It's just another one of my powers." she explained. I smiled, on the verge of tears, again, though I didn't have much feeling in my face. "But you..." she said, getting up and sitting next to me. "..Even in 'death', you were by my side. I've never had someone care about me so much. And your cheeks. They must be freezing."she said, warmly, putting a hand on my cheek. It was so warm and inviting. "I...thought I lost you.." I said, weakly.
"As long as you're by my side, I'll be by yours." she said, warmly.
To my surprise, she then leaned in and kissed me.
We slept in the same bed that night.
We. Became. One.