Fandom [CLOSED] Tokyo Ghoul: Dead Enmity

[yaint]

Lee might as well have been made of chiselled stone; he stood so still for such a long stretch of time that it might have made one wonder whether or not he would ever move at all. What finally brought him out of his dazed state was when a young-looking girl with white-blonde hair ducked under his outstretched arm to get a better look at the stranger around the corner.


"Guh - Claire!" he spluttered as the child skipped up to examine Adrian from behind and around, bouncing on the balls of her bare feet as she blinked at him with her ghostly white-grey eyes. Lee could not stop her in time; he simply smacked a hand to his bald head in frustration and then whipped around to give Taylor a sharp look. 'Do something,' said his glare, but before he could check to see the boy's reaction his eyes were on Claire again - for she had managed to distract herself once more with the intruder.


"Ta-aylor, don't swea-ar!" the girl sang back with a light-hearted hum following her words. 


"Claire! Get yourself away from there," Lee hissed at her, half-stepping a way closer in readiness to seize either her or Adrian in a second. But Claire wasn't listening, for she was still skipping to and fro around Adrian's side and back. She noticed the chain in his hand, followed it up to the collar around his neck and then frowned. A hand went up to touch at the metal, but froze mid-air when Lee snapped again. "What the hell is wrong with you, girl!? I said get back here."


"But Lee-"


"No! I don't know, don't care, move your arse."


It took Claire a moment to decide whether she was going to listen to the older man or not, but eventually she simply turned her nose away and went to look at Adrian's collar again. Lee almost choked.


Hands held out in front of him, the bald man stormed onwards and shoved the girl out of his way with a sweep of the forearm. He forced himself to ignore her griping, instead reaching up and grabbing at the front of Adrian's collar with both thick-fingered hands. "I suggest you leave," he growled into the boy's ear, flashing his eyes red for a moment as an act of intimidation.

 

[Yoki]

Adrian moved with Claire, spinning as she started to walk around him, his eyes always on her, well, until he got bored and went back to chewing at his finger again, standing in one position. It didn't really seem to bother him, her walking around like that wasn't a big deal, instinct told him she wasn't really dangerous. Well...instinct and probably something from a memory back whenever, he couldn't really remember the details. 


"Claire...uh...Lee's right y'know... Don't look safe." Taylor eyed Adrian for a moment, unsure of what to think, but saying he wasn't interested in the short individual in front of them would be a lie. After all, who got to see a sight like that every day? He looked like he was straight out of a horror movie or something. Claire wasn't listening, as always, Lee would deal with it quicker than he would. 


Whilst Claire had been walking around him, Adrian had been grinning, moving his grey eyes to watch the girl. She was interested in him, which wasn't really a new thing, lots of people were, but he didn't expect her to reach up towards his collar, not that it really bothered him, it just caused him to pay proper attention again. 


"Uh." At Lee's exclamation of annoyance, Adrian turned his head, tilting it to the side again, and then looked down at Claire. He didn't really care what the older man had to say, he was tuned out, which was probably why he totally missed being approached and grabbed. "Oh." 


His attention moved from Claire to Lee, who now had hold of the metal around his neck, he was pulling him up slightly, which forced Adrian to stand on his tip toes. Not once did he show any sign of fear or any indication that Lee's intimidation tactic had worked. In fact...it seemed to have quite the opposite effect. 


A large grin spread across the boy's face, he was more amused than scared. After that he proceeded to let go of the chain in his hand, causing it to swing back and forth in front of his chest, and pulled down at the skin under his eyelid. Seconds later his eye had gone that familiar red and black, though he only kept it up for a moment, letting the colour go back to its dull grey again. 


"I'll tell you a secret." Adrian stage whispered, making himself as tall as possible to react the other's ear, "You...don't...scare...me..." His second sentence would be nearly inaudible to anyone but Lee, that was the point. Once he'd spoken he moved back to resting on the balls of his feet again, letting out a slight giggle. 


"Are you gonna let go now?" 

 

[yaint]

A stronger man than Lee might have continued to grasp at that collar of steel and jangle those chains in threat, but there was something odd about those words, something untouchable and indescribable that loosened his hands' hold. His arms slid down to his sides, all life and tension having seemingly dissolved into nothing.


"One-eye," he whispered into the air, letting the breeze carry his words away before they could reach the ears of anyone but himself. He could not believe it. This boy, this youngster tied up in chains - he was a ghoul, wasn't he? And yet when he had pulled down at the loose skin on his face, only one eye had turned that familiar black and red.


After a while, Claire huffed out a sigh and swept around the older man's side to get a closer look at Adrian again. "What'cha waitin' for, Lee? C'mon, I thought we-"


"Don't," warned Lee. He whipped a hand back up to jab an index finger at the girl's forehead, to which she reacted by whining and puffing out her cheeks with a mouthful of air. Claire was being an idiot again, as was usual, failing to see danger when it stood just inches from her pasty, snub-nosed face. This kid, this one-eyed ghoul or whatever the hell he called himself had an unnerving look about him. That mixed with his cocky attitude... Everything about it just reeked of danger.


At least he looks weak enough, Lee reasoned as he examined the strange, filthy-clothed creep in front of him. Small, skinny, weak and weighed down by chains. Taking this kid out would quite literally be child's play, and a dead stranger was better than a living one who was brave enough to try for intimidation.


"Claire! Stand back a moment," the man said suddenly, much to the blonde girl's dismay.


"Why?" she questioned, a scowl darkening her face. 


"God's sake, 'cause I said so, isn't that enough?"


Claire made a point of flicking her hair as her head whipped away. She refused to look in Lee's direction, but still contniued on. "That's not a proper reason."


"Oh, for crying out loud - tch... Taylor, grab Claire a moment while I deal with this freak, would you?"

 

[Yoki]

"Hmm?" Upon being let go of, Adrian skipped back, regaining his original stance as he stared at the man in front of him. "That sounds....dangerous." He played with the torn shirt covering his stomach, although the boy did look worse for wear, his actions held little hostility, they were mostly playful, teasing. He giggled, slapping his hands by his sides and looking up.


"Are you gonna hurt me?" His grin stayed on his face, eyes dancing, challenging Lee to do something about him. "People hurt me all the time, it...kinda gets boring after awhile." He pulled at his fingers, waiting for someone to attack in his direction or generally move at all. 


"C'mon Claire." Taylor had moved from the wall to put a hand on the girl's shoulders, pulling her backwards now. He was just as wary of the child before them as Lee, he didn't want anyone to get hurt, and he'd watched enough horror movies to know that this would only end one way... They weren't going to have fun. "Seriously.." 


He backed them up, keeping hold of Claire, he didn't want her getting too lose if the two of them were going to have a fight... Surely, realistically, Lee had this guy beat, he was small, frail, it looked like you could snap his arm with nothing but your hand. It couldn't be that hard to scare him off...or...kill him... 


"Aw...you don't wanna..." Adrian furrowed his eyebrows, cutting himself off as he frowned. He looked unhappy with the decision to move Claire away. What? They weren't allowed to have fun? 

 

[yaint]

The bald-headed man swilled a mouthful of saliva, then, eyes narrowed to slits, he spat down on the boy's bare foot. This kid, whoever the hell he thought he was, was certainly one to talk big to someone stronger than himself. He was creepy. His attitude was more than questionable. Who the hell is this guy? Lee thought furiously, scratching with chipped nails at the side of his face.


"Ow - Tay!" Claire wiggled about in Taylor's grip, but her small, girlish hands did not come close to being strong enough for pulling free. It didn't stop her from violently shaking her head from side to side, whipping Taylor in the neck with locks of matted and oily hair. "Let - me - go!"


Lee, who had been trying to ignore Claire's complaints, jutted out his chin in Adrian's direction. "The hell are you, freak?" he growled, taking a quick step in to close the distance between himself and the younger boy. 


"Taylo-or!" Claire whined. Lee barely heard her. His eyes flashed red again and one hand went up to Adrian's throat. He pushed the boy back, farther and farther away from the two ghouls behind him until he had his target held against a wall. 


"Well? Quit playing around and spit it the hell out already, you little shi-" Though it was quite obvious as to what the man was about to say, he stopped himself nevertheless, flashing a quick glance back at Claire and Taylor. When he looked back at Adrian, it was with an even nastier scowl. "...Wh... What game are you playing, then? Huh? I know what this is, you're trying to rat us out of our territory. You, you and your little friends all hiding away somewhere ready, you want to try and ambush us all. Where are they, huh? Where are they?"

 

[Yoki]

"Claire, it's dangerous Y'know, you've gotta stay here." Taylor kept tight hold of the girl, despite her protests, trying not to hurt her. He didn't particularly want to restrain her, but the boy really did look dangerous...Claire would ignore that. She could get herself killed. Neither himself not Lee wanted that to happen, Lee would deal with it, it'd be fine. "You gotta stay..." He whispered, still watching the scene unfolding in front of the two. 


"Wh..." Adrian tilted his head to the side in confusion, letting his hands swing by his sides. He didn't get it... The boy kept listening to see if anything else would be said, but it seemed Lee was more into physically assaulting him than talking things out, as the next thing he knew he was up against a wall. He could have moved. He wasn't really afraid. 


There was a high pitched whine that came from the boy's throat as Lee pinned him in place, a small hand came up to wrap around the man's wrist, whilst his other grabbing hold of Lee's shirt, lightly pulling on it. "That's kinda mean.." He tugged at the man's shirt like a persistent child that really wanted something that they weren't allowed, whinging about being held up against the wall.


The mention of friends seemed to spark something in his mind, like a light to a new room inside his brain had just come on. Grey eyes looked up into Lee's, they held the strangest look of curiosity, before his expression changing once more, returning to the eager, wide eyed gaze he'd had when he'd originally addressed the group. 


"Friends?" As Lee's scowl got more foul, Adrian's grin got wider, "I, um, I don't know..." His gaze dropped And his grin became a little tamer, "Do you?" He asked, "Would...Would you help me find them? Or...Claire?" His gaze moved to the girl being held back, "Claire will you help me?" It was difficult to tell whether the boy was being serious or not, his gaze always looked slightly crazed, like he could burst out into laughter at any moment. In a sense he looked a little like a child's toy, something someone didn't want any more, a broken doll thrown away after exhausting its use. 

 

[yaint]

With a sudden surge of force, Lee pushed his fingers further into the skin over the younger boy's throat. It was not enough pressure to kill - just enough for the man to feel a pulse shudder through his hand, enough for Adrian to begin to hurt.


"That right?" he rumbled into the boy's ear, more spit flying off his rolling tongue with every sound. Don't know, like shit he doesn't, said his mind. "What, is that supposed to be the truth? Huh?" 


Just as Lee had begun to press yet more harshly up against Adrian's throat, a ringing voice halted his hand's advance. Claire, the tiny girl struggling to escape from a larger boy's grip, was calling out again. "Don't kill 'em, Lee!"


Lee had to double take before he could find a connection between the words and the look on the girl's thin face. She was still squirming, but it looked like she knew better than to kick and scream at the person standing behind her; her feet were still, held far apart and her milky eyed had locked on the back of her elder's shining head. 


"What?" said Lee, an unmistakable glint in his narrowed gaze.


Claire had not finished. "Don't look at me like that! I was jus' sayin', he said my name, didn't he? What's he want?"


"Nothing of your concern," the man growled back, pressing his hand against Adrian's throat further still.


"I'm concerned, I am," Claire protested. She turned her head up so that she could give Taylor an upside-down stare. "Tay, he said my name, he did! You heard it, right?"


A heavy sigh breathed through his teeth indicated how few grains of patience Lee had left to lose. "It's none of your concern," he seethed with a forced calmness. Idiot girl, he thought. Anyone with a scrap of a brain would know to avoid trouble, but this absolute twit was actively trying to get herself involved. She was lucky she had Lee and Taylor, without them she would have walked into a dove's nest and been swiped off the streets years ago...


Whatever. The man cracked his neck to the left and right, then turned back to the boy in front of him. 'Creep' was the only word that came to mind. "Hey," he hissed, "I don't know what in the hell you think you're doing, but you had better wipe that weird-ass smile off your face, you one-eyed freak. How did you even find us? Huh? You want to-" Wait, Lee thought. He cut himself off mid-sentence, eyes suddenly turning glassy as something clicked in his mind.


"Lee?" Claire hollered again. When Lee failed to respond after more than two seconds, she exchanged a glance with Taylor and tried again. "What's it, Lee-"


"Shut up, I'm thinking." The... Hell? Lee raised his other hand and seized Adrian's face, pulling the boy's head first right and then to the left so that his dark brown eyes could trace over every detail on his face. There was no mistaking it. This kid looked pretty gross, his hair had grown longer than he remembered, those clothes didn't look like they had been washed for years... But now that it had come to mind, there was no mistaking it. This was not the second one-eyed ghoul Lee had encountered, but the first and same, all over again.


What the hell happened to this guy?


"C'mon, Lee, what's the matter?" came Claire's next stupid question, which the man did not bother to answer this time. He had had enough of her useless interference, and he was not prepared to dish out answers at her every childish whim when answers were exactly what he wanted to get.


"You're that goddamn thief from before," he whispered, his hands slipping away from Adrian's throat and jaw to rest by his sides. "Wh- ...What the hell do you want now, huh? You come back to kidnap Claire again, is that it? It's not happening, you freak. Get outta here."

 

[Yoki]

Upon feeling pressure on his neck, Adrian whined, it didn't hurt enough for him to complain too much...but it hurt a little bit, only for a second. After that he simply stood there, staring at Lee as if to ask 'is that all?' It was like Lee didn't want to kill him, hesitation was very likely to get you killed instead. He was lucky that Adrian wasn't all that hostile, otherwise he'd be dead where he stood. 


"Lucky..." The boy mumbled, mostly to himself, still looking at the man as he continued to talk to his companions standing behind him. Adrian really didn't care much for their conversation, whatever they said between each other was of no interest to him. They were arguing or...whatever, he didn't need to be involved, so why did he need to listen? 


"Just stop arguing and get rid of him if it's gonna cause so much hassle." Taylor muttered, shaking his head and turning to the side slightly, "It's not like he's all that much, probably just some kid who thought it was funny to come down here..." He wanted to convince himself that was true, since this boy was too creepy to think otherwise. He didn't want to be the victim in a horror movie.


If Lee hadn't cut himself off, then Adrian would have said something in reply, but he couldn't answer an unfinished sentence! Not unless he was finishing it, and he didn't know what to finish it with! So instead he continued to stare, waiting as Claire started to ask what was going on. Soon after that there was a snap from Lee and a rough hand against his face, pulling it this way and that. Again, Adrian didn't complain, he just stayed quiet and waited until the other was finished. It didnt take him long after that to work out that Adrian was someone he'd met before, it actually amused the boy, since he hadn't realised that Lee had forgotten him completely... Or...maybe he just didn't recognise him. 


"Mmn?" With the hand finally off of his neck, Adrian reached his own hand up and placed it over the area which Lee had had tight hold of. He rubbed it for a second, slipping away from the wall and around Lee as he did so. "No..." Ignoring the man now, he made a few steps towards Taylor and Claire, but Taylor only stepped back, pulling the girl with him. That made Adrian stop.


"Hold on, what?" Taylor looked over to Lee, "So, what's up with him then?" He asked, eyes darting between the two as he spoke. At that point he'd finally let go of Claire, forgetting that he was still mean to keep the girl away for the male in front of them. 


"I...said before..." The dark hair on Adrian's head flipped in odd directions as he turned backwards and forwards, "I...need...to...find someone." And eat, he needed to do that too, but that was priority number two, after he found the person he needed. He couldn't be safe until they found them...not truly. 

 

[yaint]

"Find who? What's goin' on?"


"Shut up!" Lee snapped back at Claire. There were some more of her stupid questions again - non-stop, childish, it never ended. Even for somebody like her this level of barrage was unusual, and it was beginning to hurt his ears and his head. He needed his mind to be clear right now, he had to work out what the hell this one-eyed freak of a kid wanted with them.


"Find someone," he muttered under his breath. Claire had opened her mouth to interrupt his thought process again, but out of the corner of his eye Lee caught the darkness inside her gaping lips. He grabbed her chin and closed it himself as he started pacing back and forth. Taylor wanted him to just kill the rat now. Maybe he should. If he wanted to, he certainly could, but what about everyone else? Friends, he said he has friends, he remembered, ignoring another round of whining from Claire, this time probably about having her face grabbed. If Lee killed this kid now, how many would come to replace him? Two, twenty, whatever difference it made any ambush would leave them as good as dead. 


Plus... Claire wanted him alive. But what good would come from listening to the wailing and whining of a naive girl who could barely think for herself? Oh, there was a point. Claire was babbling about something or other now, but he had become so used to hearing her annoyingly high-pitched voice that he did not even notice this time.


For one moment the man allowed his thoughts to silence so that he could hear the little Irish girl say, "-An' if that's right then we could've jus' talked it an' all, don't know why you're all peeved 'bout it all, I don't. I swear, I was tellin' you all winter I saw them and there wasn't no time for me to even ask 'cause you kicked 'em out."


Lee's forehead creased. He stopped pacing, swivelled around on his heels and smacked a palm to the top of his head. "What the hell are you talking about now?"


These words made Claire's cheeks glow a ruddy pink. She puffed out her chest and stomped on the ground, narrowly missing Taylor's foot as she started to wind around in a little circle. "D'you even listen or what?"


"God's sake, how many times... Just tell me what the hell you're talking about from the start if it's so important."


Claire simply pouted at the man and stuck out her tongue for a moment. "Nope," she said pointedly, "I ain't 'cause you didn't listen."


Lee began to scrape at his own forehead as his fingers involuntarily curled. "Fo- oh, hell's sake, kid. Don't be ridiculous, just spit it out." There was no response; only more pouting and puffing out of the chest. "Fine," he breathed eventually. "I'll just kill him it you won't say it."


There was enough time between the statement and Claire's reaction for Lee to have put a hand back up against Adrian's throat like he had done before. In the exact same way as he had done before, he pushed back, pressing the younger male up against the brick wall. 


Still no reaction from Claire.


Alright then, Lee thought bitterly. He squinted at Adrian, mouthed the word 'freak' and then allowed his eyes to swirl into that same black-and-red combination that would strike fear into the heart of any ordinary human. There was a sliver of blue that punctured through the back of the man's jacket, split in two and curled around his forearms into a set of dual blades. He raised his arms up to press the tips of his kagune against Adrian's chest, right over where his heart would be, when Claire finally piped up again.


"Lee! Lee, no, no, stop it!" she shrieked, suddenly darting up and away from where she had been stood with Taylor. She reached up and grasped at the bottom of Lee's jacket as if trying to pull the man away from his target. 


Shit, Lee thought as his back automatically tensed. When did Taylor let go of her? He was supposed to be keeping her out of reach. Damn useless kid, he thought, but elected to refrain from using those words at that point. Instead he just grunted, "I thought you weren't talking."


"No, I wasn't, but you ain't got to kill 'em or nothing, we fed 'em an' all!"


"You fed him," Lee corrected her, that familiar gruffness returning to his voice as he addressed his companion from across the alley. "I haven't got any sympathy for a one-eyed freak. Especially not one come here to be stealing our prey and our family."


"Don't kill 'em!" Claire piped again. Lee paused for a moment in thought, then let the blades of his kagune swirl back into a bubbling sac which then soaked back in through his flesh. He dropped his grip on Adrian.


A quick look back behind him proved that the young girl had finally stilled herself, her sudden squeals of panic faded away into nothing once more. Good, Lee thought, readying himself to hear her explanation. "Well? You were saying something or other, spit it out or I'll just break his goddamn neck."


That threat seemed to grab the girl's attention more quickly than any of his other words. She straightened up and, after a long inhale followed by a long sigh, said, "Well, like, I was jus' saying that when we las' saw him I was gonna ask some stuff. He's nice, I swear it, I went back to his house an'-"


"You did what!?"
 


"Sorry, Lee!" Lee blinked furiously, but then finally crossed his arms to listen again as the girl continued. "Anyway, I was jus' saying there was some stuff I didn't get to ask 'em last few times, so maybe we could let 'em stick around for a bit until he tells me."


Answers. Claire just wanted to talk? Well... If this kid turned out to be half as creepy as that smile made him look, that was never happening. But she wanted this kid alive. He turned back and raised one foot, kicked Adrian hard in the stomach and then slid his hands down into his pockets. Claire wants him alive, he thought again to himself, turning that thought over in his head. He could keep him that way for now, but it didn't make him dislike the boy any less. Had he not feared more interference from a certain young Irish girl, he might have kept kicking him until he spat up blood. But for now he restrained himself and managed a simple, crusty, "Who are you looking for, then?"

 

[Yoki]

All of this moving backwards and forwards was starting to hurt Adrian's head, what did he need to do to make them make up their minds? One minute he was against the wall, the next he wasn't, then he was back against the wall again. What did they want to do? Kill him or not kill him... Hm, that was the question. 


Even though there was the threat of death hanging in the air, the boy didn't seem any more phased than normal, he didn't even react to the threat. To him there was no threat, he hadn't been hurt badly, he was able to move, and he was able to fight. A threat like 'I'm going to kill you' didn't bother him anymore. It hadn't done for awhile... A real threat was something that made you suffer, like...'I'm not going to kill you, but I'm going to keep you on the verge of death and watch you cry.' That was a much better threat. At least death was quick. 


Adrian's grey eyes were glazed over as he retreated back into his head, waiting for someone to address him again. He probably didn't even notice the kagune that were in front of his face as Lee threatened to end his life, he just heard the threat, that was all. 


He was only brought back to reality but a sharp pain in his stomach, the boy's breath caught in his throat, as he wasn't expecting it having been so involved in his own mind, but he didn't look too bothered by the pain. That was just mean. Was Lee trying to put him in his place? He didn't obey this man, never had, he didn't have any power over him.


 After looking down and rubbing the area that Lee had kicked, Adrian pushed himself away from the wall and Lee, brushing himself off. He was asked a question, right? Who was he looking for... Uh...Lee had never met him. Claire had, but he remembered something bad happening that night, something he'd wanted to apologise for a few months back... 


 "Mmn... A human." He replied, turning back to look at Lee with a grin, "His name's Jackson. Last I saw him he was in an alleyway, and Jester was there, and other people were there too." The boy looked down, chewing and breaking his nails off as he spoke. He seemed to have a lot of strange habits to keep himself from getting bored, if that's what they were even for... 


 He was facing away from Lee, looking at the ground, thinking, when he realised he'd forgotten something. "Oh!" Adrian's head shot up, he spun around, looking the taller male straight in the eyes. "There's something else..." He lowered his head, looking to be thinking, but he wasn't. 


 Without warning, a kick flew directly towards Lee's stomach. It was fast, precise, strangely strong, and definitely something hard to catch. In seconds Adrian had returned to his original position, skipping back a couple of steps to get out of the other's firing range. He then giggled and smiled up at Lee. 


 "I think...you deserved that one." The male nodded, dark hair falling over his face, agreeing with himself, "Now we're...even." It wasn't so much of a kick to keep them even as it was to warn Lee not to underestimate him. Looks could be deceiving after all. 

 

[yaint]

"Human?" Lee whisked back in Adrian's direction to eyeball him from inches away. His hands had curled into fists, raised and ready to hit should he feel the need. "What the hell kind of game are you trying to play here, you think I'm gonna stand up and go out looking for your pet pig with you? I don't know what kind of crap you think you are to us, but you are not our goddamn frie-"


"Lee!" Claire shrieked out loud and hunched forwards, burying her face with two cupped hands. Just as Lee had launched a warning kick at Adrian, the small, skinny boy had in turn thrust a foot at him. The man had clearly not been expecting a retaliation from someone quite so frail-looking, but even when his eyes caught that sudden flicker of movement it was far too late to react.


Claire dared to peep out through a gap in her fingers to watch what had happened. Lee had staggered backwards, winded and unable to continue his sentence, with arms wrapped together over his stomach. "Bastard," he wheezed, patting at his abdomen and then straightening up to face Adrian again. Who the hell did this weirdo think he was? That was it, he had crossed the line, he was in for it.


Forwards he began to walk, steps wide and quick, when something small and cold suddenly wrapped itself around his arm. Claire had latched on to the man's side and was attempting to halt his advance.


"What in God's name are you doing?" he hissed down at the girl, trying to pull his arm out of her grip but failing as she stepped around to keep within reach. 


"Quit it already, c'mon!" she whined at him, grabbing at his elbow and then shaking it violently to make a point. He only glared back down at her.


"Claire, let go-"


"Please!"


There was a moment of pause, and then finally the man stepped back. Claire released his arm and went up to stand between him and Adrian, rearing up on the balls of her feet to try and match Lee's height, though at the most she came to two heads shorter than him. "Fine," he grumbled. Once again he gave Adrian a sharp look, but then turned back to face Taylor, who he had almost forgotten was there. "We're gonna talk with him. That's all. No helping, no feeding - no, Claire, none - then he either gets the hell out or dies. Does everyone understand?"


The short blonde girl nodded for a moment, silently mouthing, "Not the dying bit," to herself. Lee raised an eyebrow at her but decided that to take the matter further would be pointless, so instead he turned expectantly towards Taylor.

 

[Yoki]

Adrian found this game especially amusing, watching Lee get all riled up after trying to put him in his place by kicking him and then getting winded after the boy kicked him back...well, that was too good. He didn't seem to expect the large his from the small individual, but hopefully now he knew that underestimating him wasn't a clever thing to do... Though...it didn't seem to be getting through to him that they shouldn't fight, he was still trying to go at Adrian, the only thing between them was Claire. 


He couldn't say that he wasn't disappointed when Lee said that they weren't going to help him, but...he guessed that's how it was always going to be. The boy sighed and crossed his arms, grumblings. If he hadn't felt like he owed Claire some answers then he might have just left there and then...but something inside him made him stay, just to answer. 


"Well..." He muttered, turning his head away and puffing his cheeks out, like Claire had done before, "Can you be quick?" There wasn't really much of an irritated tone to his voice as he turned to look at Claire, it was a genuine question, "I kinda need to find him y'know... Like...it's important." Upon saying that he sat down on the ground, not bothering to even look up anymore, he was too busying playing with his fingernails, he wasn't worried about being attacked.


The whole time everyone else had been fighting and arguing, Taylor had been standing there, trying to follow. It wasn't that he couldn't, it was just that one second Lee was on about this, the next Claire was on about that. They needed to calm down and just talk about things. If they weren't going to kill the boy then they might as well do something with him. 


"Yeah. Whatever." He muttered upon getting addressed by Lee, moving to stand closer to the other two, "Though, you really think you can kill him?" He turned his head to Lee, then Adrian, "After all, he seems to have a pretty strong kick, if...that just then was anything to go by." The male crouched, narrowing his eyes, "No way is that thing a year older than me... No fucking way..." 


It had been three months. He was still hung up on it. 


"He looks like he's jumped outta a horror movie, can we not keep him around too long? We're probably all gonna die, or get killed, or something and then he'll cut up open and paint with our blood on the wall. I mean...he has a fucking chain around his neck! That's gotta mean something..." Maybe he was being a little paranoid, but this guy was still a ghoul, he looked small and innocent...but that smile was sadistic. 

 

[yaint]

His back still stiff and straight, Lee made an effort to stroll as casually as possible back through to the larger portion of the alley. He clapped a large hand against Taylor's shoulder as he went, then ducked down to look into the boy's eyes.


"There's three of us," he said, his voice just a bit too gruff to be comforting. "Three of us, one of him, one exit. He does anything, I'll kill the damn bastard myself, you hear? Hey!" That last word was directed back at Adrian. Lee's face had darkened into yet another scowl. "You hear that, you little piece of sh- piece of crap? You don't do anything but talk unless you want to help Claire decorate this alley with your own goddamn guts."


"I can be quick," the girl chimed, seemingly not having heard Lee's rather gruesome threat. "I mean... Um, y'know, if you ain't gonna go an' tell a big story or nothing, but if you can be quick then I s'pose I can too."


Suddenly, light on her feet as a sparrow, Claire danced over to Adrian and took his hand in hers. There was a twitch in the corners of her mouth, one that looked something like the beginnings of a nervous smile. This boy was not the same as the way she remembered him to be; even if her memory was broken and unreliable, she was sure that he had not been so... So creepy the last time. This unnerving grin was as new to her as it was to everyone else. But despite her concerns, she still entwined her fingers with his and led the boy farther through the alley.


Despite the fact that it looked quite old and neglected, the area was not entirely undecorated. Several planks of wood that were once painted in pretty pastel colours lay rotting at the edges of the walls, one faded blue piece even propped up at an angle. Claire had to skip over that piece before they got to whatever pathetic shanty nook they called their 'shelter'. It was barely even sheltered at all; several boxes and foul-smelling black bags were piled up in one corner, and another, less rotten plank of wood was propped up atop that to make a beam. A coil of chicken wire had been stretched over the top as a base for the roof, and there were several sodden articles of clothing and several more empty rubbish bags stretched out on top.


Making sure not to disturb the carefully-placed items of support that cluttered the gaping entrance, Claire hopped forwards and ducked down, taking Adrian with her as she crawled into a corner. 


"Um, okay," she began, crossing her legs so that she could pick at the flaky skin on her knees. "So, I got quite a lot o' questions but if you want to be quick then I'll jus' go an' ask one of 'em first. It's... Wait..."


Just as Claire had begun to tap on her own head in an attempt to remember what she even wanted in the first place, there were footsteps behind her that indicated Lee's arrival. He did not try and crawl inside the tiny space to sit with the two, but merely placed one foot in front of the other and spread out his arms to put one hand on each wall. His body had become some kind of barrier to block a potential escape.


Claire allowed herself a moment to look at what Lee had done, but then something lit up inside her head. "Oh! Yeah, I got it - oh, I forgot your name an' all... Well, um, that don't matter, I s'pose, 'cause I jus' wanted to ask about your kagune an' all."

 

[Yoki]

"'Kay. Fine." Taylor sighed, "Just make sure he doesn't kill you first." He didn't trust this boy. The last time he'd seen the individual he looked way more innocent than now, now he looked like he'd been to hell and back as well as been possessed by several demons. Whatever had happened, there was definitely so much different about the boy, and not in a good way. Before he'd let them in his house and let them look around, now he'd probably take them in and murder them... It was unnerving to just look at him. 


"Hm?" Claire grabbing his hand had finally caused Adrian to look up and pay attention. He smiled at the girl, nodding, "Thanks." He replied, it seemed that he'd also ignored Lee's threat. Threatening him with death really didn't do much, smearing the walls with his blood wasn't that scary either, he'd seen that done before. 


He let Claire lead the way, standing up as she started to take him to a wider part of the alley. Looking around wasn't really on his list of priorities, he mostly just kept his gaze on Claire, waiting until they'd stop and get on with all of it. Now that they weren't going to help him he really did have places to go, where those places were he didn't know, but he was sure if he walked for long enough he'd manage to find Jackson. That's how it worked right? 


The thought that the other could possibly be dead, considering he had been with a ghoul the last time the boy had seen him, hadn't even crossed Adrian's mind. He chose to believe Jackson was okay, because Jackson was what he'd latched the last part of his sanity onto. 


Claire ducked down to get through into a smaller space and Adrian followed suit, ducking his head down too. Their little shelter was a bit strange to him... He was used to being in a dark, restricted environment with proper walls and a metal door that attempted to keep him in... Not something that could easily be knocked down if he kicked the right position. Of course, he didn't do that, that was rude, instead he just crossed his legs and grabbed hold of his ankle with one hand, staring over at Claire as she sat down too. 


"Oh." Everything the girl said was answered by small noises or tilts of the head from Adrian, he put a hand through his black hair, messing it up even more than it already was. Claire said she'd forgotten his name, which only earned a giggle from Adrian. "That's okay." He replied, "I did too at one point." It was true, some time last month he'd managed to completely forget his own name...he didn't know how...but he did. That was kind of scary. 


After mentioning his name Claire started to speak about his kagune, which caused the boy to blink in confusion. "Mng?" He started to chew on his lip, biting down and then letting the skin slip between his teeth repeatedly as he thought about it. His...kagune... "Yeah? What...do you wanna know?" 

 

[yaint]

Still picking at the dry and flaky white skin on her scrawny little bird legs, Claire nodded in time with Adrian's words, though there was a slight pause when he said that he had forgotten, too. Funny, she thought, cocking her head at the older male. She was quite bad with names - she was bad at remembering everything, Lee made sure she knew that - but was it even possible to forget your own name? Maybe it was, she had just never considered it before. The thought of not having the worst memory in the world brought a smile to Claire's face.


"Claire!" Lee had ducked down to peer in through the gaping entrance. He was wearing that same scornful frown as before, and one hand was placed up on the chicken wire roof, shaking it back and forth to rattle the girl out of her daydreams. "You were supposed to be being quick, what the hell's the hold up?"


The smile vanished from Claire's face as her cheeks puffed outwards again. She flailed a pair of fists in the air towards where the man was stood. "I was jus' about to start!" she claimed at him in a high-pitched, whining tone.


"Well get on with it then, God's sake, I don't trust this creep and Taylor and I can't wait around for-"


"Shh! Lee, you stop talkin', if you jus' keep talkin' like that then you're makin' me stop to listen an' then I have to answer an' all, see so you can't start tellin' me off about all this hold up since you're the one who's talkin' at me and then makin' all this get done more slo-"


Lee silenced the girl by slicing the air with a corssing of the forearms. "Enough," he growled, then pointed a finger down in Adrian's direction. He glared at the boy through a gap in the make-shift roof, then stepped back again to resume his position as a humanoid road block. "Just get on with it already, Jesus Christ. You've got five minutes before I boot him out myself."


One hand curled into the 'okay' sign, Claire waved at Lee and then rocked forwards on her seat to lean in to Adrian again. "Um, sorry," she said more quietly. "Lee's just grumpy, I swear, he's actually nice really an' all, but it doesn't normally show unless-"


"Claire."


"-On it, Lee! Um, oh, right! Yeah, I been doing some thinkin' about your kagune, I only saw it the one time so I think I might'ave forgot if I was right in the first place, but is it okay if I can see it for a sec?"

 

[Yoki]

The arguing between Lee and Claire never seemed to stop, the two of them just kept going at it. Lee was so grumpy, why did he have to be so grumpy? Adrian hadn't really done all that much to him, the man had hurt him more... He guessed he wasn't that wrong about Claire being quick though, she did seem to be taking her time with asking him a question.


Adrian had started to get a little twitchy after realising the other was taking too long, the mention of Jackson flooded his mind and he immediately wanted to leave and find him. He needed to find him, he needed to see him, he wouldn't have forgotten, right? Jackson wouldn't forget about him...he wouldn't...he wouldn't do it. 


The boy swallowed, his head falling slightly, jet black hair falling over his pale face. His fingers were intertwined, tightly holding on, for the first time since he'd approached Claire, he was actually completely still. Of course, that only lasted a moment, she asked him a question, and he knew he couldn't let the thought of Jackson distract him too much. He'd find him, it would just take...time, right? 


"Mmn..." His head shot up, dark hair flicking back over his head, "I...guess so." For a moment Adrian looked around, the space was rather small, he didn't know if he could release such a thing there... They might have to go out for a moment. "But, you gotta let me out first, I can't do it in here." He grinned again, his hands had detatched from each other, pulling at his trousers now instead. 


"Watcha looking for anyway?" Adrian got onto his knees, he wanted to crawl out, but he had to wait for Lee to move, "I mean...it's not that interesting..." He didn't remember much about the first time they'd met, the encounter had managed to slip his mind, which meant he didn't remember Claire getting upset after he released his kagune.


 Looking back to Claire, Adrian's grin widened, his eldritch, grey eyes staring right back at her. "I'm...just a failed experiment after all."

 

[yaint]

"Lee! Lee, can you move outta the way for us a minute?" Claire hollered up at the man barricading the alley with outstretched arms. It was a loudly-spoken question, jarring compared to her near-whispers from before, and it had come as a surprise.


"No," he replied, pressing his hands further into the bricks.


"All you have to do is move back a li'l' bit, I swear just a few steps is fine!"


Lee snorted. "If it will shut your goddamn mouth, fine-"


"Yes!" Claire pumped a fist and nearly knocked the flimsy roof clean off its rotting supports. Hearing the clattering of wire against wood, she froze and stared up with globe-like eyes as if expecting it to suddenly burst into flames. After a few seconds, nothing even remotely as destructive having happened, she continued on as if nothing had ever happened. "Okay, um - I was gonna ask you 'bout it, like I mean your kagune an' all 'cause... Uh... Well, I think it was important anyways. But I bet I'll remember when - hey! Lee, you said you were gonna move!"


"Yeah, I did. So shut up."


"You moved forwards! Didn't you hear, I said you ought'a move back a few steps or somethin' so there's gonna be room for 'em when he comes out!"


Claire had not even finished complaining when Lee had started to wave his arms about, eyebrows raised in exhaustion and despair as he tried to silence the girl's immature whining. Why did she have to be so self-righteous and so, agonisingly childish? It would be pleasant if she could simply accept him as the leader just for once in their lives. But no, thought Lee. As always, Claire knew best.


Still holding to himself the will to take control, Lee drew his hands in to his sides and inhaled through his teeth. "I told you already, Claire, I don't trust this kid. So-"


"Why?"


"-Because he has a funny look in his eye and he wants out in the open where he could run off or do God knows what. So - if it's alright - I'll do the honours of sparing your ungrateful back end from getting kicked all the way to Timbuktu." With that last word the man ducked down, leaned his head into the shelter where Claire and Adrian were sat and reached in with one arm. His thick fingers curled tightly around a chain hanging from the boy's collar, and he used his grip to pull the boy out of the tiny shelter and into the open like he was some kind of dog on a leash.


Claire frowned as she watched Lee pull Adrian around so roughly and commented, "That's a li'l mean."


"It's a little safe," he explained back, giving the chain another hard yank for good measure. This creep needed to know that he was not free until Lee could be assured of his family's safety. "Now, get on with it already."


"Oh, okay. Hey, uh - you - there's enough space here an' stuff so if you wanna get your kagune out then you can show me."


"You listening, freak? You make a move, you're dead," Lee added as he pulled the chain up again. He didn't know what the hell this idiot girl wanted from this one-eyed freak of a kid, but he definitely wasn't ready to take a risk. There had already been one kick, one attack done... Any more and he would consider popping off the guy's head.

 

[Yoki]

Although Lee was stubborn, it did look like he was going to move for a second. Adrian was patiently waiting for that moment, but it never came, instead he had to wait for Claire to call up to the man and ask what he was doing. Was he really that scared? Mn. Maybe he was right to be. Who knew. Who cared?


Adrian just stayed silent, waiting for Claire to finish her conversation with Lee. He'd been looking down, playing with the ground, when the man ducked his head into the shelter and pulled the boy out. He was used to being pulled around unexpectedly in such a manner, so it didn't really surprise him much, but Lee trying to assert his dominance really wasn't all that intimidating to Adrian. Not when he'd met people who would have quite literally broken any bone in his body had he made one wrong move. 


If Lee hadn't hesitated whenever Claire called him he might have been in with more of a chance, letting Adrian notice that was his first mistake. 


The small boy stumbled from the shelter, standing to the side and watching Lee's hand. He didn't have to hold him like that, it wasn't like he planned on doing anything, and everything Lee did made Adrian want to see how far he could push him before he completely snapped. For how long was he willing to listen to Claire before he actually did kill Adrian instead of delivering threats that seemed to hold no meaning, at least...they held no meaning to the short individual standing next to him. 


Claire didn't seem to like the way Adrian was being restrained, but who cared, he could easily escape if he felt like it. He was just going to do what Claire wanted and walk, there were much more important things to do if these guys weren't going to assist him. 


Upon being told that he could get out his kagune, and hearing another of Lee's threats, Adrian's grin widened, his eyes turned up to the man next to him, teasing. He was messing with him again, without saying a word he was trying to taunt Lee. Who wouldn't? The man was so easily pissed off, it was fun to mess around with him. 


"Okay." He bounced on the balls of his feet, turning back to face Claire just as one of his grey eyes turned a crimson red, the white turning black, a second later a purple substance oozed from his back, quickly shaping into two pairs of slightly cracked looking wings. It wasn't like Adrian had ever gotten the request of getting out his kagune and do nothing with it before, so it was a little strange for him to be standing there, but...he guessed he could cope with it for a little while. 


He didn't say anything as he stood there, just bounced and waited for Claire to do something, or react in some way. What was it about his kagune in particular that interested her? It really wasn't that special, just like everyone else's. It didn't do much different. 

 

[yaint]

Lee had to stand away and hold the chain at its very end so that those rippling purple wings would not pierce his thorax between the ribs. "Creep," he muttered again. Even after he had seen it twice already, the sight of that one eye changing sent chills down his back as though there had been an icy finger tracing along the bumps of his spine. This kid wasn't normal. He was a freak, and the sooner Claire was done with whatever the hell she was looking at, the better.


The girl in question was staring, completely entranced by the bulges on Adrian's back which quickly swirled and traced through the air until they resembled the shape of an angel's wings. Their colour was dark, purple, not white like the feathers of a dove or black like the plumage of a raven. There were cracks running throughout them, not too many, just enough to give the appearance of an old or crumbling marble sculpture. 


"Wow," said the girl, her white eyes growing round and alive. She had suddenly remembered what about this weapon had spoken to her so deeply. For a moment it seemed like she would reach up and run a fingertip along one wing's edge, but Lee smacked her hand away before she could even get a chance to try. For once the girl did not snap at her older companion. "That's so weird, it is," she breathed. "Where'd ya get it from?"

 

[Yoki]

That word had lost all meaning by now, Lee had used it too much. 'Freak'. 'Creep'. That's all he got from the guy. Adrian really didn't care, he wasn't bothered by it, what did it mean to him? Whether he was a creep or not, it didn't affect his ability to hurt the guy, nor did it mess up finding Jackson. So, what did it matter? If Lee wanted to call him freak then he could, if he was a freak then he'd take that... Words were just words...right? 


"Mmn..." The boy followed Claire's gaze as she got closer to him, watching as she tried to reach up to touch his kagune. He even took a look at it himself, wondering what she was marvelling at, it really wasn't all that much... It was just something someone had put into him...and started this mess with. Originally it had been a reminder that he wasn't the same anymore, something that made him an enemy to the people he'd once called allies, now it just reminded him that he was more capable than before, stronger, he had more at his disposal...he could take more. That's what it was a reminder of. 


"I...Where..." Adrian mumbled, a finger went to his mouth as he thought about that, where did he get it from? He didn't remember all the details, he'd forgotten most of it, it wasn't worth remembering. "Someone gave me it." He replied, unsure of how exactly to explain it, "I...was meant to fight for them." 

 

[yaint]

For the second time that day, Lee had to cuff Claire's arm away to stop the girl from grabbing at the sharp edge of the wing with her bare hand. She smacked his hand back so quickly that it was like she had not even thought at all; Lee had to scrabble at Adrian's chain to keep hold.


"But..." She barely noticed herself doing it, but Claire's own finger had slipped into her mouth so that she could copy Adrian's gesture as if it would help her understand. Unsurprisingly, a few seconds later she still had no idea what on Earth the boy could possibly mean. "I don't get it. Lee, what's he mean, Lee?"


"How the hell do you expect me to know?"


"I was jus'-"


"Gods alive, girl, are you deaf? I don't know the goddamn answer, if it's so important then ask the freak."


These words brought colour to Claire's white face, and she had to stamp on the ground with one foot before the frustration died down enough for her to carry on. "I was gonna," she muttered under her breath.


"Then get on with it. You've got twenty seconds, then I want this one-eye thief out, you hear?"


"Twenty! That's hardly nothin', Lee!"


"Nineteen. Eighteen..."


"Fine!" the girl piped. Her impatience was apparent now; her finger had left her mouth, but she was bouncing on her feet and kept touching at the air around Adrian's kagune. She had twenty seconds. No, she had less than that, because Lee couldn't wait to get this little boy out of their alley. It wasn't fair... Lee always did this and she could never properly argue with him because he would always just tell her to be quiet. Oh well, Claire thought. She had... Eighteen seconds, or something like that. There was no time left to think when there were about a million more questions to ask. 


"Seventeen," said Lee.


Claire bounced up and clicked a finger in Adrian's face to get his attention. "Who gave it to ya?" she chirped, "How'd they do it, too? I was thinkin' about the doves and they have kagune on a stick sometimes but yours is in your back an' Lee said you gotta die to give it away an' all. It... Oh, I forgot, wasn't it somethin' like... Uh..."


"Fourteen."


"No fair, Lee! I'm thinkin'! Oh, um, I was gonna say - it's all 'cause I saw yours before somewhere, I think my gran, an' I was wonderin' if she gave it to you an' all. How'd she do it? I don't think she would'a gave it away, but she's real old an' all so if you were gonna fight..."


"Ten seconds left, Claire."

 

[Yoki]

Lee was counting down? What...was he counting to? Adrian was getting bored, waiting for something else to happen, but Lee and Claire just seemed to converse between one another. Was she going to ask him anything else? Or...could he go? He hadn't been paying enough attention to realise that that counter counted down to the moment that he was going to be forced out. 


He watched Claire as she stomped a foot on the ground, was she gonna ask him now? The boy chewed on his finger and watched her intention, waiting for her to say something to him so that he could answer it. After Lee said 'seventeen' for a reason Adrian didn't understand, Claire finally spoke to him again. 


"Uhh..." His gaze moved to look up at the dark sky, "I dunno." He replied, how did they do it... That was an interesting question, how did they do it? It wasn't a question that Adrian could answer, she'd have to get one of the doctors who did it to answer for her, but he doubted that they'd let her in there...they'd probably kill her before she got the chance to ask them anything at all. 


"I dunno who gave me it." Grey and red irises locked back onto the girl, "Could have been your granny, didn't see them... Doctors did it though...and then I broke, so...I think they wanted to kill me..." He said it so casually, looking up again and placing a finger on his chin as if he wasn't quite sure. "I think..." 


After answering Claire, Adrian turned to look at Lee, "How many seconds now?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. The question was innocent enough, and when he spoke he didn't seem to have any malicious intent, but who knew how Lee would take it. 


He seemed to take everything Adrian said and did the wrong way after all. 

 

[yaint]

Claire's cheeks had blown up as though the girl had been trying to contain hundreds upon thousands of bubbling questions brewing in time for her second barrage. As much as the girl learned from Adrian, the less she felt she knew - it was like every answer opened up the door to ten new possibilities, each twice as confusing as the last. Doctors, breaking... None of it made sense, but maybe that was just her being stupid again. She would have to ask what it all meant.


Mere moments before she had been about to unleash those confused and disorganised thoughts on Adrian, there was a sharp jerk of his chain that brought the distance between him and Claire to twice its size.


"Hey!" Claire whined at Lee. He had to suddenly be so mean and annoying! She had been about to ask something, but now he had distracted her and she forgot what she had wanted to say... But then again, by the look on the bald man's face, there would be no time left to ask even if she could remember.


"None," Lee grumbled at Adrian, pulling him closer again. "Time's up, you've had your five minutes. Now. Get. Out."


"But Lee-"


"But what? What the hell's wrong now?"


Just as she had done before, Claire smashed one foot into the ground below as she looked the man right in the eye. His glare was intimidating, but she did not flinch - instead she only gave him an equally mean look with her ghostly white eyes widened and brows bumped together with a crease in between. "Let 'em stay a few minutes longer, it's not fair, he came all the way an' I been waitin' to talk all this time an' now I finally get a chance you don't let us talk none!"


"Claire," said Lee, his free hand positioned in the air with fingers outstretched.


"An' you always go off talkin' to people for hours an' hours, like yesterday when we were outside the bike shop an' we saw Jess and you jus' stood there an' went 'coo-coo' at her baby for half an hour. How come you can do that, Lee? You don't get to kick everyone out jus' 'cause it's me they want to talk to, if that was one of your friends then you'd keep 'em here for all night!"


Lee released a long, shaky breath and then took a step back towards the young girl. He grabbed at one of her ears and twisted it, in return receiving a yelp and another bout of whines. "Shush, shut up, I'm not listening," he cut over her babbling voice. "Look at me, Claire - yes - no, look at me when I'm talking, God's sake, kid. Are you listening?"


Claire nodded in response, but she still had her head turned as far away as she could whilst still keeping Lee in view. The man leaned in again, pulling Adrian in to his side, and said quietly and firmly into the girl's ear: "He is not your friend."


"But-"


"No! I don't care," he hissed in despair, then turned back to Adrian. "Listen up, freak, you've had more than enough time here and I'm about two seconds away from swinging you around in circles with this chain until you go flying somewhere none of us are ever gonna see your ugly face again. You understand?"


"That's not fair!" Claire called in again. Her scowl had turned into a grimace now; she knew that she was losing whatever argument she had, and she needed help to convince Lee not to boot this boy out. In her desperation she skipped over to where Taylor was, grabbed the older boy's arm and then started to shake it around. "It's not, is it, Tay? Tell 'em it's not fair, I wasn't even done talkin' or nothing!"

 

[Yoki]

"Oh. Great." Adrian smiled, his eyes scrunching up into small lines. So, looked like it was like to go...that was fine, he could always come back if he needed to, maybe not to here, but if he could find them three times then he could find them a fourth. Leaving was much less of an issue to Adrian than it was to Claire, as she'd already started to argue with Lee about the way he was hypocritical. Though Adrian didn't say anything whilst they spoke. It wasn't his fight. 


"Hey!" Taylor raised his arms, surprised when Claire came over to try and get him involved, "You deal with this, I don't wanna. He's gonna get mad at me too if I say yeah, plus...it's not like the kid is that important right? You asked some questions." He mainly didn't want to get involved because it could go badly for all three of them, "Just...Just let him go Claire..." 


"Mmn...it's okay." Adrian shook his head, "He's right. I'm not your friend, but we could be friends if you want... I mean...we never like, officially discussed that... Or...did we? I...don't really remember." He looked a second to think about it, before shrugging, getting bored with the topic. The boy smiled at Claire, she didn't need to be so upset, there would be other times. "Besides," He took a step forwards, placing his hand around his chain, right next to Lee's, before looking up at the older male, "We'll see each other again."


After a few seconds of staring, Adrian's kagune shifted slightly, slicing through the air just above both his own and Lee's hands. It was mainly just to unnerve the man as he pulled the chain out of his hand, never once breaking eye contact. He didn't really realise until he looked down that he'd accidentally cut him as he'd enacted the scare tactic. 


"Oh..." The boy stared at the blood running along the man's hand, taking a step back, "Whoops." He grinned, giggling and spinning around, getting a little bit further away from the man. "I...smell the blood of a...petty little coward." Upon finishing his sentence he turned to make eye contact with Lee for a moment, holding it. The grin that crossed his face would only be more irritating, it was challenging again. However, this time he didn't stay long enough for Lee to do anything about it. 


The boy hopped backwards, turning his gaze to Claire, "Well. I'll see you 'round? I gotta go find someone, so...yeah." With another smile, he spun on the ball of his foot and started to walk away, his kagune retracting back between his shoulders. "Don't wait up though!" He called back, "I'll find you!" 

 

[yaint]

***


'Bye-bye, Miss American Pie,


Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry,


And them good old boys were drinkin' whisky and rye,


Singin' 'this'll be the day that I die'.'


"This'll be the day that I die..." A thin, white pair of lips stretched tight in a placid smile, sealing closed to end the chorus of a mellow song about years long passed. Victoria had not lived for a long enough time to remember such times, but there was something comforting about having that familiar tune playing in her left ear that made her feel warm inside; in a way, it was the strangest sort of nostalgia.


It was a shame that nobody else could hear the music, or at least so she believed. The place at which she and Daryl had agreed to meet was busier than first expected. It was a plaza somewhere close to the Thames, a fair-sized square decorated with budding young trees and wooden boxes overflowing with lush green shrubs. There were families and young adults teeming at the edges of restaurants, likely trying to get in the last meal of the day before the sky turned twilight orange. Nearly there, Victoria thought. It was already quite dark.


"You sure you're good being out this late?" the girl asked suddenly. She straightened her back as she stood up against one wall, the screen of the phone in her hand shining up and illuminating her face in a cold, silvery light. "Sun's going down. We could get a cab and go back to your place if you want."