The huntress had dozed off for a few minutes. With difficulty she pulled herself up on the fence until she stood upright again. Thoughtfully, she looked down at her right, bandaged hand. Well, as much of it as still was bandaged. The bandage was partially ripped away, so she could see her fingers. The flesh was still burned, but it had started to regrow in some places.
"Why can I feel my stomach, but not my hand?"
She clenched her fist a few times to verify her observation. Indeed. The hand didn't give her the slightest pain. The blue-haired untied the knot from the shirt scraps that enclosed her abdominal wound. She lifted her shirt and looked at the wound. At the edge the blood had coagulated. Yuna checked the injury. When she applied pressure, fresh blood pushed out immediately.
"Perhaps because it's an open wound?"
She kept pressing around. In certain places the wound didn't hurt, but on others it did. Strange. She focused on a point, which caused her pain.
"I won't feel it."
She squeezed. Damn, it burnt like hell. She groaned loudly and blinked the stars in front of her eyes away. She carefully wrapped the shirt around her waist again.
She had to continue. She had to get out of here.
The sun was already rising. Not too long from now, there would be people on the street. She had to hurry. Or she needed a place to hide. That's it. Here was the amusement park. West of it was the middle school. That meant in the south lived Hikari, her best friend since kindergarten, with whom she attended the same class in high school. Or had attended. Hikari's family had a tool shed standing in their garden. Maybe Yuna could hide there and rest up. It would take her several hours to get back to the pension. Impossible, that she would not be discovered.
The huntress avoided the main roads. While she sneaked through the streets, she saw her reflection in a window. She looked terrible. Her hair was disheveled and dirty. Some strands had come loose from the bun. She looked like a mop.
Her burnt face was also uncovered. Apart from the layer of dirt. Yuna wiped her face a few times. Wow, she could almost no longer see the bones shining through her cheek. Her self-healing really did an amazing job. From her belly downwards everything was sticky with a mixture of dirt and blood. No pretty sight, but what could she do?
"I can't wait for the next bath."
A couple of times she had to find cover behind garbage cans, but all in all she made good progress and remained unseen. She had reached the house of Hikari's family, but for the time being she observed it from across the street. What day was today? Saturday? The boys in the park had said, that it would be Friday night.
How long had Yuna passed out? The blue-haired tried to remember. Time. Minutes, hours and days. All this had become irrelevant for her. Yuna's ties with the normal world had almost dissolved completely. She had lost so much humanity, how in the world should she ever find her way back to a normal life?
How could Yoshiro live like this? Did he know a different life at all? She definitely should start to write down all her questions, which she wanted to ask him.
The huntress looked at the house, where her friend lived.
"What would she say, if she could see me like this?"
She hadn't thought of her best friend for once. How did she take the news about Yuna's family? Hikari had a tendency to depression and had always been more emotional then Yuna. Had her friend been at Yuna's old home to deposit a souvenir?
"Fuck it. I have to get into the shed."
Yuna crossed the street and disappeared into the garden. Next to the tool shed, she noticed a filled watering can. Water. She hadn't drunk anything for ages. She grabbed the jug by the handle and took it with her. The shed was unlocked, so she could slip in without any problems.
The huntress put the watering can on the ground and sat on a white plastic garden chair that stood in the shed.
"Done. Incredible."
She lifted the can and drank greedily from it. Her stomach ached, but she had such a thirst that she looked over it. Water dribbled beside and flowed over her chin, but was absorbed by the remnants of her shirt. The blue-haired put the jug on the floor. Should she clean up her wounds? No, she should sleep. Just a little. She closed her eye and fell asleep within seconds.
When she woke up, it was pitch dark in the shed. Yuna drank again from the can, then she went on her way. She peered through the door of the shed. She had slept all day. Or even for two days? She needed a watch or a cell phone.
She crept outside, when suddenly an outdoor light illuminated the garden. Caught, Yuna twitched back in the shed and explored the environment. Had she been seen by someone, or was it just a motion sensor? The lights went out again. The girl stepped out of the shed and the light went on again.
"Crap."
Annoyed stomped Yuna through the garden. On the road she glanced over her shoulder.
"Someday I will come to visit you."
She noticed that her abdominal wound didn't hurt anymore. Perhaps the healing process had already begun? The girl walked out into the night.
It took her more then two hours until she finally reached the vicinity of the pension. She sneaked up on the side street to get into her room. As she stood beneath the window, she noticed that it was closed. Damn it. Someone had been in her room. Then her disappearance didn't stay unnoticed. Well ... so what? What could be worse than her state?
Yuna went to the entrance and pulled on the doorknob.
"Oh my God. I forgot my keys. I'm so fucking stupid."
The huntress touched her head and groaned. She knocked on the door. After a few seconds she knocked again.
"Come on." She knocked harder. "Guys." The girl pounded on the door. "HEY!"
That was just great. No one was home? Was this some sort of joke? The blue-haired sat down on the step in front of the door, leaned her elbows on her knees and her head on her hands. The wait could begin once more. Eventually, she leaned back and dozed off.
"Oh my goodness. Yuna-chan!"
The blue-haired startled. Ayumi stood before her with her hands in front of her mouth.
"Hi, Ayumi-san."
"WHERE WERE YOU?!" yelled the redhead.
"Just relax. Can we talk inside?"
"And how you look. What happened? Yikes... is that... blood?"
Yuna looked down at herself. "Yes, but don't worry."
"Don't worry?!"
The older struggled for composure. The huntress jumped up. She groaned briefly as her abdominal wound gave her a stitch.
"Just let me in. I'm starving. I need to take a bath and then I want to go to sleep."
"We were worried about you. Wataru has been looking for you all day long. He's probably still looking for you. I wanted to call the police, but he was determinedly against it."
"Ayumi-san. Shut up and let me in."
The redhead nodded absently, pulled out her house key and opened the door.
"Thank you."
Yuna threw her shoes carelessly aside and went straight into the kitchen. Ayumi remained on the doorstep and looked after her. Then she pulled out her cell phone.