Despite the awkwardness of our meeting with Saki before heading to school, she handed me a packed lunch as well as an extra box for her daughter in case I saw her at school. Apparently, Sakura wasn't too fond of her mother's cooking, not because it didn't taste good, but because of something else that Saki couldn't tell me.
"Could be her way of being a teen rebel," Mizuki whispered in my ears.
Riding the metro with the overwhelming rhythm of the city overwhelming me, I still couldn't help staring at the boxes in my hand while my mind wandered for an answer.
'A loving mother through and through, why would someone try and run from it?' I asked myself, yet being one of the many unfortunate souls raised by monsters, I had no clue of knowing that would be.
"You're still too naive don't you think?" Mizuki muttered in my ears again, but since the train came to a stop, I ignored her for a moment and made my way out. "Expecting humans to act rationally, might as well be a pipe dream of the century."
Continuing on stuffing my ears, she was either trying to provoke me or make me feel hopeless about the entire human race.
'As if demons are so much better, feasting on our misery, and grief…' I retorted, walking out of the station. Lost in my thoughts as Mizuki luggaged onto me like a spider again, I stared into the air while standing at a crossroad right outside.
"At least we're true to our nature, at least we don't pretend to be angels," she added before pointing a finger across the road. "Seems like a little birdie is joining us on our trip."
"What?" Shaking my head, I collected my conscious thoughts. Then following Mizuki's finger, I noticed the stalker girl standing across the road in our school uniform. The moment our eyes met, she shied her gaze away, and even from afar I could notice her fingers jittering with anxiety and nervousness. "This part of your plan too?"
Glancing sideways over my shoulder at Mizuki, I was given a quick nod of agreement.
"She'll help us stay alive until you're ready to defend yourself against other demons," although my initial shock made me wanna scurry away, hearing Mizuki's plan it didn't seem like a bad idea just yet.
"Fine, let's join up with her then," walking across the street, I stopped right in front of her.
However, looking away still, the girl refused to turn her head in my direction. Her shaky hands told enough of a story, and I couldn't really blame her.
"Hey, if we're working today, a handshake would be nice don't you think?" Offering my hand forward, I decided to introduce myself formally. "Daichi-Um…No, Akira, just call me Akira."
Not wanting anything to do with my former name, I wanted to embrace my new identity. Finally, turning her head towards me with a hint of reluctance, her hand reached for the handshake.
"Hibiki, th-that's my name…" She stammered it out.
"Hibiki? Isn't that a masculine name?" I asked, trying to make her loosen up a little.
"I-its neutral, neither male nor female," for some reason, I felt that his little girl, nearly half my size, was her own bundle of mysteries just like me.
"Alright then, let's head to the school then, Hibiki," as I tried to move, I felt a tug on my hand as she refused to let go. "Is something the matter?"
Shaking her head side to side, she kept her head lowered and let go of my hand.
"Sorry for what I…What I did to you, I get excited sometimes," appearing out of nowhere, Ifrit stood towering behind her.
"Enough chatter," he growled, wearing a deep furrowed frown.
"Yeah, Akira let's go. Staying in the open will make us easy targets," even Mizuki chimed in with the warning.
For once, I knew neither of them were trying to fuck with us. Listening to their advice, we quickly headed for the school. Upon getting there, however, the very first people I saw were Hero and Kenta both waiting outside the gates with cuts and cruises plastered all across their faces.
'What happened to these idiots?' I wondered as the two approached me.
"Yeah, I know, I know," without even having them say it exclusively I knew what they wanted.
Reaching into my pocket, I took just enough money out to buy that pack of blunts they'd been waving at my face yesterday. And even though I don't intend to smoke it, I still wanted to stay on good terms with them at the moment by buying their product.
The moment they saw the money, their eyes lit up as if a new life had been breathed into their tattered body. Shooting each other at a glance both of them gave off a smile before Hero snatched the money out of my hand while Kenta stuffed the pack of blunts in my breast pocket.
"Fuck…You're alright," nervously chuckling, Kenta patted my shoulders.
"Y-yeah, the first sale in a week, damn…man," pursing his lips, Hero breathed a heavy sigh. "Kimura would've just killed us if we didn't finish this batch today."
"Why? Is it gonna go bad soon?" I asked, trying to fish for more information.
For a moment the duo froze up, but then scratching the back of his head, Hero forced a reassuring smile on his face.
"What? No, my man, he's just a shriveled dick prude trying to overcompensate by swinging his fist at his business partners," chuckling to himself for a few seconds, his gaze landed on Hibiki who'd been hiding behind me till now. "Who's the chick? She's not gonna snitch, is she?"
"Nah, she's a transfer too, a friend of mine actually," the moment I said that Kenta grabbed me by the shoulders and leaned closer to my face.
"You're a nice guy, so let me give you and your girlfriend a bit of advice," although his fingers were gripped tight on my arms, I could feel the tenseness of his muscles. "The last girl…Girls rather, anyway. The last girls who tried to bust Kimura's operation got a real dark ending, so, remind her to keep her lips shut or who knows what might happen, my friend."
Patting my shoulders once again, Kenta stepped away from Hibiki.
"Anyways, let us know if you need more blaze, we'll hook you up with something," saying that Hero motioned for Kenta to follow him away from us two.
"Good thing you've extorted me of my points and cash, but is that what you used your starter currency on?" Albeit weak, there was a hint of anger In Hibiki's voice.
"Consider that security payment," with that reply, I made my way in through the school gates.