Sanctuary

Chapter Nineteen - Kagerou

Kagerou was sitting up on the rungs of a ladder on the front of one of the dumpsters when Nigel turned the corner into the stretch of alley with Michio following him. A smile started across her scraped-up face despite herself, but when it reached the damaged half of her face she flinched and settled for a lopsided smirk. She leapt from the rung as they drew closer, but stumbled on her bruised leg at the landing and flinched again at her own stupidity. When she glanced back up, Michio was closing the space between them at a near run, his eyes wide.

"You fucking bitch!" he greeted with a contradictory smile, his tone bright, joking, and full of a stunned disbelief. He threw his arms open for a hug, catching Kagerou off guard in a pleasant manner. She returned the embrace, though she was certain it was the first time they had ever held each other. He rested his hands on her shoulders when he pulled back, looking over her battered face and body with a laugh. "Look at you! You're so old and normal! Are those jeans?"

"Yeah, fuck you too, bastard," Kagerou responded with a bright smile and a laugh of her own.

"And boy did someone do a number to your face. You look like shit!"

"Not just my face." Kagerou rolled a sore shoulder and he dropped his hands. "I ran into some trouble, but that's a conversation for a place that isn't here, don't you think?"

"Sounds like it. Your place or mine?"

"Yours is probably cleaner," Kagerou responded honestly, "and closer," she added as an afterthought, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the bike. "Drive us there?"

Michio shook his head at the bike, which clearly belonged to the Police Force, and glanced back over to Nigel—who was leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Get back to work before your boss person catches you slacking off," he told the boy and Nigel responded by shaking his head and pushing up off of the wall. He grumbled something as he collected his chute brush and pushed past Kagerou to the ladder of the incinerator.

"Oh—and Nigel?" Nigel looked back over to Michio, halfway up the ladder, and raised an eyebrow. "Thank you."

-

"Welcome to the Underground," Michio announced, gesturing out to the expanse of tunnels he called home.

"Cozy," Kagerou responded with a smile, her eyes tracing over the cement walls. They passed the mismatched tables and chairs of the cafeteria and the closed off cloth rooms of the medical wing before Michio spoke again.

"It looks a lot more lively during the day," he admitted as he turned down one of the smaller halls towards some of the closed off rooms. "We have quite a few families living here and about twenty children of varying ages, most of them with disabilities. I wanted to provide a safe haven, so these families wouldn't have to lose their kids like I did."

"I like it," Kagerou approved with a nod as Michio opened the door to his own closet room and clicked on the light. Kagerou followed him in and glanced around the small room. It was hardly big enough for one person, with a bed so slim she couldn't imagine him and Gael sleeping in it at the same time. Her smile faded, her heart sinking to her stomach. The bed was empty.

"Michio?" She asked, turning her gaze back up to her old friend. "Where is Gael?"

The smile fell from his face, his eyes turning distant and pained, but he didn't answer.

"Michio..." she prompted, letting the worry leak into her tone. She hoped, for the first time in her life, that he'd say Gael left him. Maybe the reminder was too much. Maybe they had a quarrel. It was a selfish thought, but she didn't have it for selfish reasons. She didn't hope for their break up so she could swoop back in and steal Gael from him. She hoped for it because it would be better than the alternative.