It was a good morning, and the man hid from the expose-all sun by taking his bag full of robbed money to an alleyway where secrets hide.
"Hahaha, I did it."
While lying on the wall, he let himself fall to the ground. His legs were weak from running. His heart was about to burst. Robbing was a lot thrilling than any crime he had committed.
He couldn't help himself, you see.
He can't do anything about his debt.
Therefore, he must play fair to this world.
The world made him poor, he'd make himself rich.
By robbing.
Only through crime can he survive. Why not? Every day of his childhood life, crimes were daily for him. And the criminals always live happily ever after in his eyes.
It's not his fault for being like this.
It's the world's.
He deserves this.
Heat was losing from his body.
He can relax now.
No one could find him.
What he thought.
"Oh, look," a voice snapped him, a grave voice, "food."
When he opened his eyes, he saw three people in front of him. An adult male, a student boy, and an adult female. All three look down at him mockingly and… droopingly.
The first thing the robber did was hold his bag tighter and pull up his knife. No one is going to rob him today.
"Oh shit," the teenager boy said, raising his hands mockingly, "he has a kitchen knife."
The woman chuckles, "that wouldn't hurt us at all. It wouldn't pro-tect you from us…"
And with a heavy press of her throat, she said: "human."
"Wwhwhwh—what do you guys want from me? Stay away or I'll use this knife."
"We wouldn't mind if you tried," said the man. He pulled a cigarette and stick in between his mouth. "Now that I see him up close, I change my mind. I don't want him."
"Aw, really? How sweet of you to give us this for free. After all, it was you who found him first," her nose twitched, "with your majestic nose and all."
"I don't care. He stinks of crimes. I don't eat bad people."
The student laughs. "You're really a role model of our kind. Bad, bad. Good, good. But I will not follow your path today. I'm hungry. It has been a month for god's sake. Month without flesh!"
"Don't speak of God here. He might hear us."
The boy shrugs, "Oh let him see…" And then he looked at the robber. "What world he created."
The knife froze. "Wh—who are you guys?" Maybe it was instinct that made him sweat and have the urge to run despite he was the one who held the knife here. 'They are here to eat you' is what it tells him.
I have the knife; the advantage goes to me. This dominates them three if the money is what they want.
And maybe it was instinct that made him…
Strike first.
"Arggggg!"
He leaped forward, raising his knife.
Thud, thud, two strides to close his distance with a boy half his age.
And slammed the sharp white down on the boy's shoulder.
Stab.
He expects more blood when he kills people.
But the white shirt the boy was wearing didn't dye red at all.
No red at all.
No blood at all.
No twitch.
Or scream.
Instead…
The female laughs.
The man shook his head and walked away.
And the boy opened his jaw.
The robber can see…
Under his gums, that was turning black...
Are white sharp teeth, a thousand more dangerous than his kitchen knife.
And it's coming for his shoulder.
"Wa—wait!"
Chomp.
Blood.
Darkness.
Eaten.
The other soon joined in the fun.
"Um... yam... I do like breakfast," with a mouth full of red, the female ghoul said.
When I look closer, it was the man who robbed the convenience store just fifteen minutes ago, lying on the floor, crowded by a woman and a boy in red.
A man blowing out white clouds at the back.
The alley way reeks of blood and tobacco and…
Ghouls.
The other two don't notice me yet, but the smoking man looks in my direction.
"Someone is here," he alarms the other.
The boy turns around, still holding a ripped flesh and lets juice dripping on the shadow.
"ANoTHer FoOd?"
His voice echoes deep.
Oh man, now these three are looking at me as if I'm a trouble. "Er, no. I'm just going to walk away now."
"You'Re NoT GOing AnywHere!"
The two bloody creature springs up.
I figure this is going to happen when I decided to check out the scream.
If they're looking for a fight, I prefer not going to give them one. Cleaning these filth, there's someone who could do it better than me.
The man is already dead anyway, acting now wouldn't change anything.
The man snorts as his glance locks on me, "Smells nothing like food this one. Best be careful."
The female ghoul tears her eyes off her breakfast and plants on me. "He looks… very calm."
I have no intend to entertain them, giving reactions or talking. Instead, I pull my phone and speed dial two. Ayane.
Beep.
"I am in sort of that situation again," In the end, I've had to make a deal with her. She comes to eradicate these three; I give her ramen later. That was the deal. I hang up the phone with a beep.
The students chuckle, "He'S CalliNg THe POliCE!"
Nope, I'm calling someone who could actually deal with you all.
The student throws away the flesh in his grip and cautiously walks to me.
"Damn it, you waste it!" The female complains as she looks at the flesh on the wall.
"It'S All RIghT. We HAve ANOther OnE heRE."
The man sucks his tobacco, "You're pushing our luck here, boy. Two human died in one place will bring a lot of attention. But really, it's not like you're supposed to listen."
The student pulls out the bloody kitchen knife on his shoulder.
I sigh, "Is this necessary?"
"Oh, he can speak. For a second I thought he was deaf," the woman smiles suggestively, "Well, I like men screaming anyway."
"We COULD SHAre!"
The student raises the knife.
I ready myself for—
He throws the silver, red knife, coming at me, fast, swoosh; I tilt my head to dodge. The knife disappears, the brick screams.
Dust still running away from its path, proving the knife had flown at an incredible speed.
But yet, an average-looking human like me can dodge it.
I can understand the wide eyes they're giving me.
That was a smooth head movement, I say myself.
"He dodged it," the female ghoul utters.
And then snaps the three. As he crouches down, the student backs away. Ghoul woman stands, sprawling out her claws. The cigarette slips off from the man fingers. He stomps it to die. The glares lock on me. They've realized I'm not who they expected at first.
"WhO ArE YOu?"
"With that incredible speed and reflexes, absolutely he's not human."
Wow, it's been long anyone ever compliment me. I cough out the excitement.
I hear footsteps.
She's coming.
As if also heard that, the man groans as he backs away to the wall. "Shit, I told you guys don't push our luck today."
The other two look at him, confused.
Until he explains, "Exorcist."
He's right.
An exorcist is coming. And when she enters the battlefield, even a 'second' couldn't dodge her swordplay. Ayane The Golden Child.