「CURSE'S VESSEL」bnhaxjjk

29: We Meet Again

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It was probably around two when the light drizzle had finally stopped, leaving dirty puddles in the already polluted alleyway.

He still sat there, head tilted up to the dark skies with eyes closed, his hair wet and sticking to his face. The many of his weapons layed all over the place, some were probably missing and under the giant dumpster a few feet away from him. The curse was long gone.

Images of the girl with pink and black hair stayed in his mind, those narrowed cat-like eyes piercing into him even if it was just a memory his brain had stored up not too long ago.

She was youngㅡ fourteen years old to be exactㅡ but her eyes held too much for someone of that age; like she had gone through so much, shining under the moonlight yet also still dull. The eyes were the windows to the soul, after all, and it looked like she lived too long in this world to the point she had seen every horrors on earth. Yet, even then, she was still strong.

The feeling of fabric in his hands forced him to look down, eyes immediately locked on the long, red fabric.

The scarf.

The scarf that the girl had left behind along with the white butterfly knife on his lap. The weapon was surprisingly very heavy for it's size and materials, though judging from what she had said and warned him not to do, the thing was covered in cursed energy. He didn't know it would cause it to become as heavy as it was now. He was honestly surprised that she was even able to swing it around with ease.

His fingers closed around the scarf, feeling the thick and soft fabric over his calloused hands before loosely wrapping it around his neck, getting a whif of the vanilla scent now mixed with the smell of petrichor.

"Jules..." he breathed out.

...

Taking care of Hanabi proved to be surprisingly easy. She didn't make any trouble whenever Yuju was around and listened quite well to instructions and what she was told to without any complaintsㅡ but then again, it's been less than a day of being taken in by the teen and both of them were still adapting to the new situation they're in. It was mostly Yuju adapting though. It was understandable, curses aren't humans and even if she likes the idea of it, she's only taken care of and fed full grown adults that act like children instead of actual children.

Hanabi did try to kill Junpei the moment her, Yuju and Satoru entered the private room everyone was still in and Rika lunged for Hanabi to stop her from killing one of Yuta's close friends/family. It was a ruckus to say the least. But the moment Yuju told both Hanabi and Rika to stop with a stern voice, the two curses did as told without a single peep.

"I still don't understand how Rika is so obedient to you." Yuta commented as he sits down beside the teen, staring at the tarsier with horns as it stares back with four, giant round eyes. It honestly looked like a mix of a monkey and a bat, it looked cute but at the same time terrifying. "First her and now Hanabi? It's like you're their mother."