Blue

Chapter 1: Grumpy Cats and Baseball Bats

Damn you, Kenny! Sora thinks as she jumps behind the fence into the bushes, muttering an "ow" before a jeep comes into view. Why did she have to be on the lookout while he went inside the abandoned store? If he'd let her take her roller skates along, she could've made it to the store to warn him before being seen by whoever was coming her way, but no, now she has to resort to hiding in a bush, letting a branch slice her cheek with a sting as she carefully peeks through the bushes, staying absolutely still. Sure, she's excellent when it comes to stealth, but that doesn't mean she can stay still for long periods of time.

But she proves herself wrong, because she freezes when she sees a familiar but nauseous-looking girl with shoulder-length magenta hair and tired pink eyes come out of the jeep. Her heart rate skyrockets, pulsing through her veins at an abnormal speed. ...Rayne is alive?

She watches as Rayne sits on the sidewalk, facing toward the street, resting her head on her arms. A tall (and much to Sora's chagrin, rather handsome) boy with blond hair wearing a hat and orange sweatshirt follows Rayne and hands her a water bottle. "Here you go."

Rayne looks up at him as he sits next to her, taking the water bottle from him, murmuring, "Thanks..."

They sit in silence for a moment. Sora smiles when she sees a small black cat with amber eyes trot toward the two, but her smile quickly fades as the cat looks toward the bushes and seemingly right into her eyes. The cat narrows its eyes, but quickly looks up as the blond boy stands and slings his backpack over his shoulder, saying, "I'll take a look around the area for a while. Ogre, do me a favour and look after her while I'm away."

...Who the fuck names their cat 'Ogre'?

Ogre clearly doesn't want to obey the order and meows at his owner, but the blond boy mutters in a voice hard as stone, "I wasn't asking."

Rayne's head snaps up. "Wait! Let me come with–"

"You stay here and keep an eye on the jeep," the boy interrupts her. "And don't do anything that'll get us killed, am I making myself clear?"

"Yeah..."

Sora has to stifle her scoff as the boy walks away toward the store. What a jerk. If he'd let Rayne go with, I wouldn't have to hide in this damn bush any longer... She makes eye contact with Ogre again and realizes that since the boy clearly knows how to communicate with his cat, Ogre must not have mentioned that there was a soft face wearing a pair of sunglasses in the bush behind the fence. That cat saw me, I know he did...so why didn't he say anything?

There's an awkward silence for several moments during which Ogre turns around a few times to look at the bush through the fence. Sora still doesn't move, trying to decide what her next move should be. Should she talk to Rayne? She doesn't want to move and startle her with the noise she'll surely make coming out of the bush. She's broken out of her thoughts when Rayne breaks the silence by turning to Ogre and saying, "Just so you know, no matter how much you hate me, I'm not gonna be upset about it. I mean, I get it! You're just looking out for Samael! It's respectable, really."

Samael... that boy is Kenny's cousin?

Ogre narrows his eyes at Rayne with a couple meows before turning and walking away from her. Sora fails to suppress an amused snort, but she freezes again when she sees Rayne stiffen for a moment before turning to her right, then backing away in the opposite direction until hitting the signpost. Sora furrows her brows in confusion, tilting her head ever so slightly in curiosity.

"Y-You..!" Rayne exclaims, reaching back to rub her head.

Sora carefully leans forward a little more. ...There's nobody there?