K: Bittersweet Flames

Chapter 9

A/N: Change of P.O.V at some areas. Will be differentiated with a line.

Three and a Half Weeks Later

- Saturday Morning -

My fingers twitched, and I felt the flooring of the concrete ground kissing the side of my cheek. With my eyes fluttering open, I was greeted with the dimmed lighting of the living room. My eyes moved and glanced at the clock hanging on one of the walls that could be seen from my peripheral.

'9:21 AM', the hands of the clock showed. 'I'm late for work...'

Still hazy and dazed from having woken up after the ordeal from the night before, I laid there for a few more minutes, gathering my thoughts and remembering what had happened before I was knocked out cold and left on the floor. I felt colder and resentful the more I remembered. The icy, dark frown that had been etched on my face ever since all hell broke loose from the beginning was forming onto my face.

My ears didn't pick up any noises, so I presumed that I was the only one at home.

'I'm glad that Rimu is currently on his school trip and had left since yesterday morning.' I thanked the gods for the event.

--If not...

I pulled my arms closer to my sides to push myself off from the floor. A grunt left my lips when I felt the aches on my chest and my arms. Having sat back properly on the floor, I held up my right arm up to see a few scabbed over cuts at the side of my arm

--Nail marks.

Moving ever so slowly, I rubbed the uncomfortable feeling on my chest. A wave of dizziness hit me and I held my head. Dread filled me when a thought crossed my mind. Pulling up the front of my shirt in a snail's pace, my lips were set in a frown when I saw the bruise on my stomach that had already turned a dark bluish-purple colour. I winced in pain when I touched at the nasty coloured skin.

Just bending forward was sending waves of nausea and a gut-wrenching throbbing to tear through my stomach.

Dropping my shirt back down, I looked around the room once more, noticing the various bottles of glass. I then saw my glasses laying on the floor by the couch. The frame was dented by the side and the glass had cracked and shattered. It couldn't be salvaged anymore. With a click of my tongue and an angry scorn, I slowly pushed myself up from the floor without putting much pressure on my stomach.

'That's my only pair.'

Once I had found my balance, I took a plastic bag from one of the cupboards in the kitchen and started picking up the glass bottles and the rubbishes around, filling them in the bag.

--Five bottles in the bag and many tissues and junk food in another bag.

Leaving the two tied-up rubbish bags by the door of the house, I made my way to my room.

My phone, which I had left unattended ever since last night, had its notification lights blinking on and off every few seconds. Tapping on the screen twice, I saw my whole lock screen being filled full of messages on different platforms, missed calls from multiple people and a few more missed calls from a telephone number.

'Sakura, Amaro, Kusanagi, Mikoto and HOMRA's telephone number... This is a lot of them.' My eyes read out the notification which had the names of whom those messages and missed calls came from.

Having been working there for a few weeks and spending much more time there either through working or lounging on a stool at the bar counter to study my school materials, I have come to know more about the bar and got closer to the main people there—which includes Anna, Kusanagi, Totsuka and surprisingly, the unemotional, uncaring Mikoto was beginning to feel more at ease with my presence around in the bar unlike the first few days I worked there. He would join in on the conversation, inputting his own opinions as he seemed fit which was surprising as it deferred from his usual one-word grunt reply.