It had been hours since the other male had left and she cursed herself for not even asking his name. Then again it wasn’t like they had a chance to make introductions, it was one damn thing after another and it put her on edge.
The screaming had mostly died down and she knew from experience that’s when shit really hit the fan, so as she sat at the low dining table in the room, her knee bouncing as she chewed on her nail she was hard pressed to not poke her head out and see what was going on.
Yet to do so would put not only her but the young man’s whose apartment she was currently taking shelter in it as well. It was something she couldn’t and wouldn't risk, it however didn’t stop her from letting her aura flow out and poke around.
All around here were auras tainted with that dark festering feeling as well as auras coated with fear and desperation. It put a foul, sour taste in her mouth, it almost physically hurt her to just sit here and feel auras get snuffed out one by one but she would not leave this wounded soul to fend for himself.
Sighing through her nose she turned to gaze at the still slumbering young man. From what she was able to gather, without down right snooping, his name was Hyun-Su, a fact she learned from the gaming magazine sitting on his table. She had flipped though it hoping that it would distract her from the chaos going on around her.
Of course it didn’t, not fully, she had given up on her leisurely flipping through the magazine only five minutes after she had begun. She had then busied herself with walking around his small apartment, it really was no bigger than the standard studio apartments of her homeland. Small compact and pretty much one large room with a bathroom and a galley kitchen attached to it.
He had no photos of family or friends hung up, the only things gracing the wall was a promo for some game as well as a small 7-11 raffle poster for some anime that was semi popular. Then there was his TV, which she had turned on at a very low volume, on it was the local news channel. It showed the same reuruns of fires and what appeared to be fucking monsters running amuck. To the left of it was a rather expensive looking gaming computer setup.
The menu of some MMO game up, the chat box dinging every so often. It seemed that whatever was happening was not just a local event but city wide if not farther. Frowning she stood, her sock clad feet padding lightly as she moved to the window, cracking it open she was greeted with plumes of smoke as well as the large lumbering figures of what the media was oh so intelligently calling monsters.
No shit, what else would they call them?
Demons?
Pft, the world no longer considered demons a thing, they were just stories told to small children to keep them in line.
Nothing more than boogeyman.
It put a bitter taste in her mouth, she knew differently, had the scars to prove otherwise yet she could never give voice to the memories. Not without ending up in a loony bin, hence why she moved to Korea, to leave it all behind. It was a bit ironic that now after only a few months of the start of her new life the world was going to hell.
The god’s really had it out for her, here she was hundreds of miles away from home during what she could rightly assume was the end of the modern world and she had no way of getting to or even making sure her immediate family was safe.
She prayed they were, they had seen her travel between time, fighting things that shouldn't exist for years so she had to hold onto the fragile hope that they saw the warning signs and were taking the proper precautions.
She had tried using her phone to get in contact with her uncle again only to have the same high pitched ringing blair at her. She had angrily hung up and thrown the useless piece of plastic and metal computer chips onto the table. She had never liked phones and had only gotten one in order to stay in touch with her family and now that it couldn't even do that she was hard pressed to care about it.
“Nggn...” The low pained groan tore her from her thoughts and with a quick few steps she was kneeling on the ground next to the bed, gentle but firm hands pushing the male back down on the bed. He jolted at the unexpected touch, pure fear filling his arua, it made her frown. Just what had this young man been subjected to in the past that even the lightest and most innocent form of human contact sent him spiraling into a ball of anxiety and fear?
“Easy now, take it slow you might have hit your head when you fell.” Her words were light, hoping to ease him back from the edge of the small panic attack he had been working himself into.
Dark brown eyes cracked open to gaze into concerned blue orbs, he jerked back crawling backwards away from her to press his back into the wall, a couple of feet of space between them. His mind was racing, who was she? Why was she in his apartment? Why the hell did his head pound and his very body ache from the inside out?
Seeing the questions floating in his gaze she shifted to sit back on the floor, crossing her legs in a very Inuyasha like manner, her arms crossing under her bust in a small show of faith. Not only could she not react if he chose to lash out, but she would also be unable to lash out at him without it being obvious of her intent thus giving him time to react.
“I know you’re probably confused and have some questions for me but let's start with the basics eh?” She paused giving him a friendly smile. “My name’s Kagome. What’s yours?” Sure, she already knew it from her light...snooping, but he didn't need to know that. It would only make him suspicious and raise his guard and the last thing she wanted to do was upset him in his own home.
Hyun-Su could only blink as she smiled at him, her eyes full of light and friendliness. He wondered if he had ever had that look in his eyes, before everything had gone to shit? Maybe, maybe not. He honestly couldn't remember a time before everything in his life went to hell all because he had tried to reach out to someone...
Feeling as well as seeing the shift in his mood she pulled back a bit, he obviously had faced something that left him with such a deep level of trauma that he was weary of everyone and everything and it was sad, even more so considering the state of the world at the moment, then again maybe those instincts of his would keep him alive. She wasn’t stupid, there was no comng back from what ever the hell was going on. Even if the monsters could be defeated the damage would already be done. The world and those in it would never be the same...just like her and just like the young man across from her.
“Hyun-Su.” His voice was so light that had she been any deeper in her own thoughts she would have missed his introduction.
“Ah, well Hyun-Su, I’m glad you're finally awake. You’ve been out for almost a day. What’s the last thing you remember?” She watched as his dark brown gazed looked not at her but just over her shoulder as he shifted through his thoughts and memories.
“I...there was this man, he was accusing me of something...there was so much blood...and-and that monster!” He jolted, his eyes sliding shut as he tried to grasp the wispy fragmented memories. Slowly they fell back into place, he had been timidly looking around for the monster next door when he had spotted her, Kagome, laying in the hallway by the elevator, her face flushed as she let out rapid breaths. The doors to the elevator shaft were propped open giving him an idea as to why she had been so winded, laying there on the ground.
He had been ready to just dismiss her and return back to his apartment but a small part of him nagged at him, to not at least warn of her of the danger that might or might not be lurking around nearby would be cruel and as much as he wanted to be that cruel he knew it wasn’t in him. That despite everything he had been through he was still that stupid boy that wanted to help others.
How stupid.
It made him sick.
His stomach physically rolling as he rested his chin on his knees, his arms wrapped around them making him appear like a small scared child despite turning nineteen more than six months ago.
“Ah, well I wish I could say it’s good to meet you but given the circumstances I think we can both agree things could have gone better. In fact! You didn’t answer your door when I rang! I stood out there for ten minutes before I got the hint.” Her voice was layered with humor, letting him know she wasn’t really mad that he hadn’t answered the door when she had attempted to make her delivery.
After all it wasn’t her first time dealing with shut in’s, most did not leave their homes if they could help it, hence they ordered from companies like her uncles. Who was she to judge? Whatever it took for a person to feel safe and happy was up to them.
For her? It was throwing herself into her work and when that didn’t work she busied herself with other small mundane and normal tasks. Because that's what she was now, just another boring mundane, normal human.
She was no longer a time traveling miko.
Nope. Now she was just another drop out working a nine to five while struggling to get by.
The hollow bitter feeling in her chest throbbed but she silenced it, she had to catch her impromptu host up on what was going on and from a plan of action. She couldn’t just continue to sit around.
Well she could, but it wasn’t her place to force herself into someone else's space when it clearly put them on edge. Plus she wondered if the man from before was still roaming about? She hadn’t had time to memorize his aura before he had taken off and if she didn’t at least make an effort to find him on her way out of the building she knew it would pick at her if not drive her crazy.
She hated what if’s, should have’s and maybe’s.
She had enough of those to last her a lifetime and then some.
If she didn't at least try to find him before she left the apartments and made her way back towards her uncle's home it would pick at her. If only for her own peace of mind she would try to help not only him but whomever else she stumbled upon on her way to her uncle's home.
It was just not only how she was but who she was.
If her uncle and cousins were still there, alive and well, then she would hole up with them in the small two story house. If not then she would gather what she needed and move on. She knew it sounded cold, even in her own thoughts, but it was what it was.
People died every day and life still moved on.
At least she was blessed, or cursed, enough to know how to survive even the most horrid of situations and this ranked pretty high up on the shitty situation list.
Pulling herlsef once again from her thoughts, and really now she was starting to think is she was going senile with how often she found herself lost in them, she flashed Hyun-su a small smile as she began to give him a run down of what little she had been able to piece together.
Hyun-Su could only blink waiting for her to crack a smile and say ‘just kidding!’.
Monsters....
People were turning into monsters and running amuck?
No, there was no way...that sounded like some lame cliche anime or RPG plot...yet the tone of her voice and the cool level look in her eyes made him realize that she was completely serious. Quickly getting to his feet he made his way to his small balcony and pulled back the curtains, his eyes met a sordid landscape of red, orange, and black. Fires ragged through the city as various inhuman forms littered the landscape, people were running and screaming as they were stuck down by one monstrosity after another.
“No, there’s no way this can’t...” He trailed off his mouth and throat suddenly too dry to speak. His knees wobbled under him and if Kagome hadn’t moved to stand next to him and reach out a firm yet gentle hand to steady him he had no doubt that he would have fallen to his knees.
Releasing a low sigh from her nose Kagome could only give him a small grimace of a smile. “I know there's a lot to take in, just come on, lets go sit down. Take a few deep breaths.” She guided his thin body to sit at his table, his entire being shaking so violently she feared he might be having a mental break, if not a seizure, and honestly he would be entitled to it, the mental break not the seizure.
“So what now?” His whispered question hung in the air between and it made her freeze.
What now?
Honestly she had no real answer, she knew what her plan of action was but she didn’t want him to feel pressured into anything. He had no obligation to offer her shelter and she was pretty much dead set on moving on from these apartments and making her way back home.
“Well, I was thinking I would take a look around, see how bad things really are before I set anything in stone. As I’m sure you've gathered from my uniform and words I don't live here, I just so happened to be making my deliveries when this all started. I do want to get back home, check on my family and what not, but I'm not even sure if that’s possible.”
She paused trying to gather her thoughts. “I think I want to go out there, check things out...if you want...you can come with but if you don’t want to, that's fine. You’re still recovering from your fever and I would hate for you to rush into something your body isn't ready for...plus there's no telling what’s out there. I would never be able to forgive myself if you got hurt because of my choices or out of some sense of duty you might or not might have.” Her tone was soft, comforting and not at all trying to impose any form of choice on him.
What he wanted to do was entirely up to him and she would not judge him or hold it against him. Whatever he chose was up to him and him alone.
It was an odd feeling, to have someone speak to him so honestly and without a hint of judgement or expectation. It made something inside of him stir yet he shoved it down, mulling over her words and his options he came to a decision and for once in his life he wasn’t concerned about the backlash of his choice because he knew she would not fault or judge him for it.
It was a breath of fresh air that he had not realized he had been longing for, this complete sense of acceptance...it was nice and he was loath to see it go.
“I-I’m going to stay here...” She merely nodded the smile on her face not faltering or wavering at all. “That’s fine, if it's okay with you, and don’t feel pressured to say yes, I would like to come back after I do some snooping to at the very least let you know how bad things really are out there.”
Even after he had voiced his choice she was still concerned about his well being, he was hard pressed to fight down the light dusting of pink on his pale cheeks, glad that she was already standing and shoving her phone into the pocket of the green jumpsuit she was wearing so that she didn't notice it.
“I would like that...” His voice was its same slow light tone as always and she mused it was a bit endearing though she wondered what it sounded before whatever had happened to make it so. Giving him a grin she nodded her head as she moved towards the door, straightening the baseball cap that still sat on her head so that it would keep her unruly bangs out of her face. Slipping her shoes on she winced as the steel toed boots bit into her heel, as much as she hated the large heavy things she mused they just might come in handy in the very near future.
She couldn't lie, she more than expected him to decline her offer to go with her yet was pleasantly surprised that he wanted her to check back in with him before she set any future plans in stone.
“Okie dokie, I’ll be back, promise.” With that she exited the small apartment letting the door click shut behind her as she let old instincts come rushing back, it was like riding a bike. She calmed her breathing and shifted so that she walked heel to the ball of her feet, her steps nothing more than light taps on the cold tile under her feet.
It should have been scary how easy it was her to switch from a modern era woman in her early twenties to a seasoned warrior and hunter. Yet she didn’t let it bother her, instead she called up more teachings and experiences from her past and let them guide her forward.
Hyun-Su shivered as the very room seemed to chill with her departure, as if she had taken any and all warmth that had once been in the room. It was a shocking if not sobering feeling and it made him realize how starved he was for human interaction, he shoved the shocking realvation down and instead busied himself with standing to make his way towards his door.
He quickly locked it, feeling a twinge of guilt as he stood there gathering the courage to peek out the peephole, watching through the semi curved glass as she moved with small measured steps down the hallway and took a left leaving his field of vision.
His chest gave a weird lurch as he stumbled forward, his hand finding purchase on the steel door to steady himself. He could only shiver as something under his skin crawled and itched as if demanding to be set free, whatever it was, it made him squirm. It took everything in his already tired body to turn so that he could slide down the cool steel door. His head lulling back as he tried to figure out what was happening. His eyes were blurry and unfocused as he felt something warm drip down his face.
He lifted a shaking hand to wipe at it and was horrified when he gazed down only to see bright crimson staining his hand. Lifting his other hand he tried to pinch the bridge of his nose, to stem the sudden nose bleed, yet it did nothing to stop the now gushing stream of dark rich blood that ran from his nose like a broken faucet.
He had dealt with nose bleeds before in the past, both normal and brought on from hard vicious hits, and he knew this amount of blood was not normal. Nor was the itching burning sensation of his skin, it was like something wanted to burst forth from just under his pale skin. Quickly his breathing increased, borderline hyperventilating, his vision was flecked with black dots. Without warning his eyes rolled into the back of his head, his body once again going limp.