It hurts;
The burden of being swallowed.
The nutrients I supply are tangled in wire.
Spitting them back up would be right but;
I was born to be eaten.
Today I'm selfish so tomorrow;
Come along with me.
Please bear it;
To be served among trash,
To satisfy its hunger.
-
Darkness remained as any traces of light had departed hours ago, leaving the moon to hide its face behind passing clouds. Headlights enveloped the parking lot via the typical sea of bikes, as the First Division lingered around well after their meeting ended talking of; this school and that gang.
But you'd hold off on those conversations for another day; you had more important things in mind.
"Chifuyu! What does this say?"
Whipping out a piece of paper that depicted an abundance of poorly scribbled lines, you looked up to the vice-captain with an utterly serious demeanor.
"These are... words?"
Chifuyu stared at the paper as his brow furrowed in sheer bewilderment.
"Not you too."
You exhaled feeling deflated after the unending interrogation you'd put every member of your squad through. You did your best to mimic writing you'd seen depicted on an envelope from a few days prior; you'd gotten just about the same reaction from everyone.
Your penmanship was illegible—.
Ah well, onto the next problem.
"I don't know what to do."
"About?"
"Mr. Sanzu's birthday's coming up and, well... I need cash!"
"Is this your way of asking me for money?"
Chifuyu's asked as his befuddlement continued to grow.
"Pocket change won't do Chifuyu, but thanks for the offer."
"It wasn't really an offer..."
"Mr. Sanzu always finds us jobs, I'm super lost right now, so... ya got any ideas?"
The Vice Captian paused for a moment before rattling off the first thing that came to mind.
"You're good at cleaning right? Why not try that."
"I see but... who'll give me money for that?
"You can try asking your neighbors."
"Smart as always, thanks a bunch Chifuyu!"
"Anytime...?"
Fired up from the possibility of reeling in some cash, you were out of the parking lot in record time.
A fatal fuck up.
-
"This blows, this blows, this blows." You cursed your empty pockets wishing by some miracle a phone would spawn, continuing to wander this road and that.
Dim street lights flickered overhead revealing the same old sight; an empty sidewalk that never seemed to end. Looking to the ground you observed the cracks polluting the concrete, concluding that they were unfamiliar to you.
"Yup don't know these cracks either."
Along your aimless journey, a bench came into view. There it was; civilization. More accurately a child; if you had any luck they'd come equipped with directions.
"Hey, do you know where we are?"
Stopping in front of the bench you looked towards the kid, who seemed way too young to be out at this hour but hey, who were you to judge.
"No."
"Oh, cool me neither."
Changing your tactic from wandering to waiting you took a seat next to the small stranger. Stuffing your hands into your pockets in an attempt to secure any decimal of warmth you continued chatting with the boy, who didn't look thrilled with you being there.
"So where's your mom?"
"I'm not supposed to talk to you."
The boy uttered, his gaze solely fixed on the street.
"Why not? Do ya know me or somethin'?"
"No— I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."
"I see well that sucks— and must be lonely as hell."
You laughed, encountering a concept that seemed odd to you.
"You're not supposed to say words like that around kids."
Make that a second concept.
"Geez, why so many rules?"
"Mom said."
"So your mom's the strict one? That must make your pops the fun one right?"
"No, he sucks."
His blunt response gained yet another laugh from you.
"Sorry, sorry, then that means you're the fun one."
There was a lull in the conversation, as you both sat.
"How did you get here?"
"Hmm well, I got this awesome money-making idea, but I got too excited and tried going home... I really have no sense of direction so I somehow ended up here. Okay, now it's your turn."
A familiar silence rented the air as this kid couldn't seem to make up his mind if he wanted to talk or not.
"I ran away."
"Got it so then that means—
you're homeless?"
"No, I want to go home so... if I stay here mom will find me."
The wind once again blew an undesired breeze as if screaming: winter is near. The boy slouched as he crossed his arms, burrowing his hands beneath either side; otherwise known as the 'I'm seriously freezing my ass off here' position.
"Ya cold?"
"No."
His face bore discomfort, displeasure, etc; don't play poker kid. Questioning your sanity you pulled off your jacket, the frigid air immediately mocked your sympathy as you tossed your jacket at the moderately-attired child.
"Yeah, I'm actually getting kinda hot."
I spy another bad liar.
Responding with silence he shoved his arms into the sleeves appearing anything but delighted, regardless he spoke up once more.
"What about your mom, is she going to find you?"
"Mmm probably not, but I have the best roommate so he'll find me eventually."
The boy gave you a fleeting glance as your head tilted back, meeting the wooden bench.
"Why's your nose like that?"
"I was fighting bad guys."
"Liar."
For the first time, the child displayed traces of a smile. Letting out an amused laugh it was cut short; noticing a car creeping down the road, its glaring headlights cast over the two shivering figures. Squinting, you hoped the light would have the decency to back off before you fell victim to premature eye degeneration; but alas it carried on and was accompanied by the slamming of a car door.
"I finally found you, thank goodness."
The silhouette of a woman obstructed the headlights as she drew closer to the bench. Shattering through his stillness the boy jumped to his feet, racing towards the figure.
"I'm sorry!"
The boy wailed out, clinging to the woman as she wrapped her arms around his small frame. Seriously— what a heartwarming reunion, it almost made you feel like a third wheel.
"It's alright, I'm just glad you're okay."
The woman sounded as though she was on the verge of tears as the two continued with their sappy 'i missed you' and 'i love you' talk. It was only a matter of time until the woman's gaze fell onto the extra figure who'd been an audience to this entire ordeal.
"Who's this?"
Peering down at her son for an answer you considered your best course of action; escape. Moms take on a whole new form when kids are involved, and she had that 'no talking to strangers' rule; but here you were, in peak stranger form.
"I don't know, she gave me her jacket."
"I see."
The woman cleared her throat, taking hold of the boy's hand as she approached you— the stranger.
...
"I can't thank you enough, he must have been terrified."
Bowing her head, you inspected the woman's appearance. Yikes, this lady had it going for her; refined attire, refined makeup, refined hair— did I mention refined? Just being in her presence sent you spiraling into a wave of 'wow I must look homeless'. All you could manage was nervous laughter accompanied by a:
"Ahah... Yeah, anytime...?"
The boy tugged at her arm, muttering some words up.
"Oh, I see. Do you need a way to get back home?"
Nice one kid.
It would appear you had the power of an indebted child on your side.
"Please!"
With that the woman answered with a smile, escorting you and your little reliable ride ticket into her car. Stating your address the woman's reaction was astounded, a valid response to your navigation-calamity feat.
"How did you end up all the way out here?"
Explaining the gist of your situation she seemed amused before once again conveying how grateful she was that you stayed with him, but let's be honest; you were both in the same lost boat except one of you happened to have a mom equipped with a car.
The drive was longer than you imagined, but you took in the speedy illumination of each passing street light and traffic signal. Cars sure are convenient, huh.
The woman kept up conversation along the way with; my husband this and my son that until familiar streets greeted you. The car pulled up in front of your beloved crumbling complex, filling you with pure bliss. Before departing the child returned your jacket adding in a 'thank you', while the woman shuffled through her purse prior to unlocking the door.
"Thank you again."
Seriously, this couldn't have been any more of a 'right place, right time' scenario. Pulling out a few bills from her wallet your eyes lit up, was this how all good deeds were received? If so it might not hurt changing sides.
"Thanks, lady."
Happily accepting the money you shoved it in your pocket, with birthday funds strangely acquired you were more than ready to get the hell home but once again you were stopped.
"One more thing. Here, take this."
No; it wasn't more money, instead, it was some small glossy piece of paper.
"May I ask for your name? This is my husband's card, if you ever need anything please give us a call, I'll make sure to relay it to him."
Is this how society typically operates? You weren't sure but nonetheless, you exchanged your names, and with that; you were free to go. You waved goodbye after exiting the car as the odd encounter met its end.
They were;
Good people.
Darting up the stairs you wasted no time opening the door. Entering with a little too much pep in your step you nearly collided with a wall; not really a wall, more like a person who happened to be on the other side of the door.
"This is a first."
Sanzu sounded slightly amused, due to the fact that:
A.) He wouldn't have to spend all night looking for you
And
B.) You'd never managed to get home on your own before. But hey, catching a ride from a stranger still counts, right? Either way, B revolves around A thus breaking the inconvenient cycle for him.
You looked up and were met by familiar features but also— not.
Pretty blue eyes, check. Blonde hair that is off-limits from being cut any shorter, check. Scars; hidden. What now occupied the lower half of his face was a black mask, implying... he was sick?
"Geez Boss, ya catch a cold?"
"Not really."
"Then what's with the mask?"
"New Captain gave it to me."
That's right, Mr. Baji's not his captain any more but...
If he's wearing actually wearing it that could only mean—
"So you like him?"
"I do."
Sanzu's verbal affirmation was brief; typical Sanzu.
"Are you happy there?"
"Yeah."
Two affirmations in a row short and to the point, his gaze was unfaltering as he answered.
"Okey-dokey Mr. Sanzu, then that means— I'm happy too."
"I figured as much."
"But I wish he gave you something that didn't hide your face."
You reached up in protest towards this so-called 'gift'.
"That's the point."
Sanzu pushed away your hands that aimed to snag the mask from his face, his lips curved upwards in amusement.
Captain of the Fifth Division;
Yasuhiro Muto
I wonder—
Will he be;
A good person?
Or a bad one?
A/N: I really hope this chapter didn't come off as too boring/slow so sorry if it did! BUT I just finished the draft for the next chapter, IT'S REALLY LONG BUT IT POPS OFF SO ONCE AGAIN SORRY ABOUT THIS ONE