"Sure." You grunt it out, putting your coat on and moving out of the house again. Haru follows without commenting. In fact, he doesn't seem too inclined to start conversation, as you get to the arcade without any incident this time. You find a quiet wall to lean on, and put your back against, and Haru seems to look at you funny. He moves to a nearby cabinet; a light gun game, you think. Some sort of zombie based one. You think it might be that one that was a surprise addition to seemingly dead spinoff of a popular survival horror series. You're not entirely sure, but you make sure to keep an eye on him especially, even as you let yourself wind down a bit.
You can't find yourself focusing too much on yourself, because as it turns out, he's really shit at that game. He's having fun, definitely, but he's prone to tunnel vision and missing things that should be obvious. You step up, wordlessly gripping the second gun, and you keep one hand in your pocket as the other points and shoots. You focus on covering things that he doesn't get; he doesn't really seem to notice that you're doing it, buit he's excited as he finally gets to the bossfight.
You fail, of course. He's just really not good at this. Or, maybe, he isn't really trying. You give an annoyed noise, placing the gun back in the holster. He follows suit, following to your wall and standing next to you.
"...You're not such a bad person." He comments on it with conviction, and yet he still seems uncertain, as if an inherent contradiction like that is natural and normal. "I wish I could be like you. Strong, and helpful..." He trails off, and you shake your head. Your face is probably doing something extremely complicated right now, but the long and short of it is that you turn to him and he seems to visibly shrink under your gaze.
...It sort of takes the wind out of your sails, but you're nothing if not stubborn. "I'm not a good person." You force some heat into it, but you're careful to keep your hands in your pocket. "Don't look up to me as a role model, got it? 'Sides, didn't Kotone-san say something about you fixing a bike at dinner?" Your glare has withered at this point, and he shakes his head.
"I didn't do anything, really. The cooling system had a leak, and I patched it. I'm sure Kirijo-san could have done it herself, she's had the bike since her father gave it to her." It's somewhat exasperating that he thinks someone that could afford to have a full time mechanic coming to him is 'nothing'. "She takes good care of it, though. Kotone-san says that she hasn't let anyone else touch the bike, for as long as she could remember." You want to grab his shoulders and shake him. Violently.
"Yeah, sure, 'nothing.' She's protective of this bike, and she lets you work on it. Doesn't sound like nothing." His face reddens and he starts to stammer, and you slash your palm through the air. "Zip it, 'm not done. I don't know you very well, but if you're gonna hamstring yourself mentally, at least do it over shit that isn't blatantly false. Got it?" You can't help but jab your finger into his chest for emphasis, even though it leaves you hunched over significantly.
He falls on his ass, staring up at you with wide eyes. "B-bu-" You growl, and he clams up. Then he nods, and you sigh, grabbing his hand and hauling him up. You push the hair that had fallen out of your eyes up, running your hand through your hair. You'd been probably too blunt there. No time to admit it now, though. Your eyes flick to outside, and you frown. "How long were we at that damn cabinet...?" You mutter, unable to see the light of the sun instead of the many street lights.
"Uh..." Haru looks sheepish. "Awhile?" He suggests, a small smile on his face. You snort. He was having fun, that was what mattered, really. "We should head back, Sato-san. We have school tomorrow, and it's your first day, after all." You scrunch your face in disgust even as you nod. Ugh, being a model student was gonna be a pain in the ass.
The streets are unusually crowded as you start to walk home. You don't need to make any effort to make sure Haru stays close-he would do it of his own accord-but your arm protectively hovers around him just in case. But you haven't been on your own for so long without listening.
"Hey, did you hear the news?" "What news?" "The mayor's secretary has apparently become a major party animal. Resigned from her position and just started going wild. You've been looking into that kind of career path, do you know anything?" "That doesn't sound like her...she had a real stick up her ass, when I was doing some volunteer work nearby." A pair of students, looking like they've had a long day. Weird, but maybe she just snapped, right?
"My sister came out of her room finally!" "Wait, really? Hasn't she been there for a few years?" "Well, yeah, but Mom had to replace the mirror in her room recently-not two days later she came out and said she wanted to get a job and help Mom out!" "Wow, that's...like she just had a total turn around in behaviour!" Two girls, who seem to be talking about a hikikomori family member.
You don't really pick out any more specific conversations. A lot of talking about a new nightclub that opened, apparently, named quite laconically-it's just "Zero." Not 'Rei', you note, specifically the English word. Weird, but also probably why so many damn people are out. Eventually, you clear the crowds, and get home. As you approach the door, you hear shouting-Kotone-san, and someone else, you think-and Haru tugs on your sleeve, looking worried. He shakes his head, and you scowl, but nod, moving aside from the door.
Ten minutes later, a subjective eternity, you are treated to the sight of your guardian bodily hauling a grown man with white hair out like he's a plush toy. His eyes dart to both of you, and his jaw seems to tighten. "Mina,
please. You haven't been back to Port Island since-"
"Sanada Akihiko,
get the hell out of my house." She's seething. You thought she was terrifying at the police station, but it feels extremely dry in here now. In fact, you feel like the air is positively smoldering. You step in front of Haru, body hunched to shield him.
Akihiko seems to start to get angry himself...before he sags, and shakes his head. He moves towards the elevator, and you can't help but feel like you've seen something you shouldn't. Koromaru winds out of the door, and hops up, nearly knocking your guardian over back into the house. She mutters something, and a few seconds later you hear a door slam shut. You let the breath leave your lungs, and you turn back to Haru.
He's trembling, slightly. His eyes are downcast. "They're fighting again..." He whispers it, but his words make you think this isn't an infrequent occurrence. You heave out a sigh, and you bend down enough to haul him into something that's half a hug, half a carry.
"We need to get to bed, right?" You blatantly throw his previous words at him, and he seems to find some sort of certainty in your presence. You stop before his door, and you step back. That's his space; you're not entering the same you wouldn't want someone to waltz into your room without being invited. He looks up to you, eyes searching, before shaking his head-
Time slows down. A crawl is too fast for what's happening, but it hasn't stopped. It wells up in your chest, gathering around your heart, a strange itching warmth. "I am thou....thou art I..." The voice thunders through your veins, rattles in your bones. It is coming from inside you, and it pushes at your skin like it wants out. But it can't get out, because you don't know what it is yet. "Thou hast established a new bond...bringing thee one step closer to understanding." The Magician. You understand that much. Then, like that, it's over.
-and slipping into his room. You catch a single glance through the door-a exquisitely painted portrait of Naoto Shirogane, a person even you recognize, hangs there. It's signed by the woman herself, with a little message written in the negative space for him. Then, the door closes, and you huff out a sigh. Of all the role models to have, she isn't the worst, you don't think. You trudge back to your room, and after you lay down, you barely notice Koromaru padding in and closing the door with thumps of his tail, before crawling and laying across your legs.
You don't have any weird dreams with long nosed men in them, this time. There's just the disconcerting feeling of going to sleep and waking up in the next. Today's the first day of school, huh? Wake up, time to die, you guess. Still, your first challenge of the day is in lifting Koromaru off your legs and getting up, ignoring the pins and needles of your legs recovering from having a great many pounds of dog on them.
The rest of it is almost mechanical. Shower, dress in school uniform. You go to the kitchen, and with a glance, pull out the necessary ingredients for fried rice. By the time you're finished, you're finally ready to actually process the day. Haru exits his room in sweatpants and a thin hoodie, and yawns as he trudges off to take a shower. He apparently showers quick, and then your guardian exits her room and looks like utter hell. A short bit in the shower fixes that problem, and by then you've served breakfast, and have what's left packed for lunch. You'd cooked up some chicken for Koromaru, who begins eating it with aplomb.
"How long have you been up? Are you insane?" Your guardian grumbles, and you can't help but give a low chuckle at how ruffled she sounds. You glance and the clock and hum.
"I'm a morning person." You don't comment that it's because it was the easiest way to eat and shower before; if you did it before anyone else was even awake they couldn't be upset. Breakfast is a lot less talkative than dinner, it turns out, because you're the only morning person here.
By the time you're on the train to school, Haru seems to be waking up a little. Koromaru just seems like a quiet sentinel by your side, sitting and getting looks from the rest of the train. He's a year below you, so as you reach the school, it's only natural that you split up. Unfortunately for you, you find yourself confronted by
a sole girl who stares you in the eye. She looks you up and down, before looking at the list held on a clipboard. "I don't recognize you. What's your name?" Your eyes flick to the clipboard. There's only one name that isn't checked yet; yours.
"Doesn't seem that hard to figure out." You drawl, and keep moving to the door. She moves in front of you, her demeanor as icy as the arctic circle. She reaches towards your collar, and on instinct you grab her wrist on the way there, body quivering into tension. "Don't touch me." You hiss it out with a venom that comes from experience.
"There are
rules. Give me your name, or you'll be marked not attending." Her voice is equally as frigid as yours. You scowl, but Koromaru gives a short bark and leans against your leg and you heave out a sigh, releasing her arm.
"Sato Shoryu. Now let me go." You don't give her a chance to retort this time, slipping past her close enough that any attempt to impede you would become a body check that wouldn't be your fault. Koromaru weaves between her legs to follow.
The school day is far less eventful than your arrival. Kotone-san apparently arrived at some point; her car sits in the employee parking lot that you can see from your classroom. Still, you pack up, completely unmolested by others. In fact, absolutely no one has even tried to talk to you today.
That ends as the girl from the day you moved in barges in, hauling Haru along with her. You make your best effort to ignore them, but she plants herself in the door you're trying to leave from and you sigh heavily. "What do you want?"
"There's a haunted house I've wanted to go to, but Himawari-kun is too scared to go! But he agreed if I could get you to come with, so you're coming!" She says it cheerfully, as if it's perfectly normal that she's decided your day plan for you.
"I don't get a say?" You ask, voice a light growl.
She pouts. "Well, no, you don't have to go, but..." She turns the most unfair puppy eyes you've ever seen on you. You look at Koromaru to get to a less convincing pleading eyes, and you groan when he seems...excited.
[ ] No. You aren't gonna babysit her.
[ ] Sure, yeah, whatever. You didn't have a plan anyways.
[ ] Suggest a different activity(Write in)
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This update would've come yesterday, but I, uh, burned one of my fingers cooking and it was really hard to type without making it hurt like hell.
