Chapter Text
Word had gotten around about the “vent cryptid,” it seemed. All it took was Nozomi getting an explanation about what had happened between Hiruko and Eito for all the original residents of Last Defense Academy to start chiming in about how “yeah, there’s something living in the vents who keeps giving people pep talks and nobody’s ever seen him and we don’t know what he is but he seems chill so we’re cool with having him around” (Ima and Kako both stayed quiet.) And then Nozomi told the others, and one thing led to another, and…
“Show yourself, Vent Cryptid! If you are indeed an evil spirit, then I, Kyoshika Magadori, and the Holy Jumonji Sword shall smite thee!”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that…” Nozomi said. “If he were evil, he would’ve done something already.”
Kyoshika reluctantly sheathed her sword. “That does seem plausible, I suppose.”
“I don’t know,” Kurara snickered. “Maybe he’s just playing the long game? You know, earning your trust before he betrays you…”
Kyoshika drew her sword again, leveling it in front of her at some imaginary enemy. “Fie! What a foul beast he is, to concoct such a wicked scheme… I thank you for warning me, Lady Kurara.”
“Kurara, don’t scare her,” Nozomi sighed. “It’s fine, Kyoshika, I promise.”
…now Takumi was at risk of being smote. Or maybe he wasn’t? He could never tell with Kyoshika.
He debated whether or not he should speak up, to talk to them about the fast-approaching duel or ask them about that “world death” thing they’d mentioned or even just to say ‘hi.’ But every time he looked at Nozomi, an awful dread pooled in his lungs, cold and quiet and very very different from the survival-based fear he was used to.
She might not remember me.
The thought of reuniting with Nozomi only to be treated like a complete stranger was gut-wrenching, to put it mildly. He’d been putting off talking to her for a while now; he told himself it was because he had other, more urgent matters to focus on, but he knew that was a lie.
He watched them round the corner. He… he could follow them. Who knew, maybe Takumi was wrong. Maybe Nozomi did remember him and he was freaking out over nothing.
His nerves ultimately got the better of him, though, and he turned to leave in the opposite direction. Maybe a walk would clear his head.
***
Kako, it seemed, was similarly troubled. She was pacing in circles in the back corner of the library, eyebrows scrunched together as she stared at the floor.
She knelt down when Takumi called out to her.
“Something bothering you?” he asked.
“I’ve been trying to interrogate Eito,” Kako said. “…it, um, hasn’t been going well. He keeps saying he’ll only talk to you.”
“Me?” Takumi asked. “Why?”
Kako shrugged. “I don’t know. I tried asking him, but, well…”
“No luck?”
“None,” Kako sighed. “He just keeps asking weird questions about you. That’s the closest I’ve ever gotten to a real answer.”
“Weird how?”
“They were… hm, there was one in particular…” Kako frowned. “He keeps asking if you’re human. I haven’t said anything, but I think that’s only made him more persistent.”
“And is ‘not human’ a good thing or a bad thing in this situation?”
“Based on his behaviour… good, I think. It seems like he suspects you aren’t and that’s why he wants to talk to you. He, um, gets really intense whenever he asks about you…”
“But it’s good intense?” Takumi said. “Not, like, some ‘kill all non-humans’ bad kind of intense?”
“Yes…? Um, this is all just based on my own impressions, though. He hasn’t said anything outright… but I don’t think he wants to kill you at least?”
Takumi nodded and stood up. “You know what, that’s good enough for me. I’ll help you talk to him.”
Kako’s eyes widened. “That wasn’t what I—you don’t have to! I don’t want to put you in danger again…”
“It’s alright. Based on what you’ve said, I should be fine as long as you’re there.” Takumi scratched his cheek. “Besides, I’m your Watson, right? I’ve gotta do what I can to help your investigation.”
***
“I-I’ve brought Takumi with me,” Kako said.
“…I can see that,” Eito replied. Takumi couldn’t see him, but he could practically feel the sarcasm oozing from every word he spoke.
“You—” Kako rocked back on her heels. “Sarcasm, right… well, um, I have. Here.”
She reached into the pocket of her tote bag, giving Takumi a second to climb onto her hand and anchor himself on her thumb before she carefully lifted him up for Eito to see.
Eito’s breath hitched.
“Kako,” he said. There was something different about his tone, but Takumi couldn’t tell what it was. “May I see him for a second?”
Kako looked down at Takumi, uneasy.
“I won’t hurt him, I promise.” Eito held his hand out. “I’d just like to confirm something.”
“I… think it’s fine,” Takumi told her.
Kako looked like she wanted to protest, but instead she carefully placed Takumi in Eito’s outstretched hand. Eito quickly pulled his hand back in, taking his glasses off and squinting at Takumi as he turned him this way and that, scrutinizing him.
“I don’t believe it,” Eito breathed, slipping his glasses back on. “A borrower. You’re—you’re supposed to be extinct.”
Takumi rubbed at his shoulder. Eito (probably) hadn’t intended to be rough, but he also hadn’t been particularly gentle, either. “Well, I don’t feel very extinct. I guess.”
“Are there more of you?” Eito asked.
“Like, in the academy or just in general?”
“In general.”
“Probably?” Takumi replied. “I haven’t met any other than my parents. If there are, we’re pretty few and far between.”
“Not extinct, but likely critically endangered…” Eito muttered to himself. “Of course, it’s just like humanity to drive another intelligent species to near-extinction. Despicable.”
His head shot up. “You, leave,” he said to Kako, glaring at her with a look of such intense hatred and disgust that it caught Takumi off-guard. “I said I’d speak to him, and only him.”
Kako flinched.
“Why does she need to leave?” Takumi asked. “Whatever you have to say, you can say it to both of us, right?”
“I’d rather not be forced to tolerate the presence of humans more than I have to,” Eito spat, as though even the word itself tasted foul. “I already have to deal with your ungodly screeching whenever you come to pester me with your inane questions. I’d quite like the opportunity to actually enjoy a conversation for once.”
Kako looked stunned, but she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “I’m not leaving Takumi alone with you.”
“I already said I won’t hurt him,” Eito replied. “If anything, I’d feel the need to protect him from all of you. What a horrible existence, having to rely on the company of monsters.”
Kako still didn’t move. Eito didn’t either, except to shift his gaze from her to back down to Takumi. Takumi got the sinking feeling that Eito wasn’t about to let him go, but he pushed it down and ignored it. He told Kako he would get answers, so he was going to get answers.
“I… think I’ll be fine on my own,” said Takumi. He couldn’t hide his reluctance, but he also couldn’t let himself chicken out here.
Kako stared at Eito, searching for something in his expression, before she eventually nodded and sighed. “Okay, just… come let me know you’re alright once you’re done… okay?”
“I will, Kako, I promise,” Takumi said.
She nodded again, then walked towards the exit with slow, reluctant steps, before shuffling outside and closing the door behind her with a thump that was actually very quiet but somehow still deafening.
Eito breathed a sigh of relief, before turning and setting Takumi down on the bed while he himself settled into a sitting position on the floor so they were closer to eye level with one another, Takumi assumed. Takumi stumbled a little, surprised at having been let go so easily, before taking a seat as well. Far away from the edge of the bed, of course; while he’d been plenty daring around Kako as of late, he was unsure whether Eito was considerate enough to catch him like she would.
“So…” Takumi shifted uncomfortably. Where did he start? Eito was, quite frankly, an enigma, and Takumi had so many questions he wasn’t sure he could even get through all of them within the span of a few hours.
“So?” Eito echoed, looking at him expectantly.
He decided to start with the one that had been weighing on him the most.
“Why Hiruko?” Takumi asked.
Eito blinked, leaning back slightly. He cocked his head.
“Why does that matter to you?” he said.
Takumi scratched his cheek. “I guess I want to know why you’d kill anyone, actually. But did Hiruko do something to you? What made you go after her, specifically?"
Eito tapped his chin and gave a thoughtful hum. “I wonder. Maybe I’m just evil? Maybe there was no reason for me to try and kill Hiruko other than pure bloodlust?”
“Bullshit.”
“How do you know?”
“If you didn’t care who you killed, you’d have picked off someone weaker than Hiruko,” Takumi shot back. “You’d only try and kill someone like her if you had a specific reason.”
“Hm. Not bad deductive reasoning for a beginner,” Eito said. He smirked, shooting Takumi that same sharp, terrible smile he’d had that night. “But there are a few possibilities you failed to consider.”
He shifted so he was kneeling on the cage floor, and to Takumi’s horror it took only that miniscule change in height for Eito to go from just sitting to looming.
“You’re approaching this from a pragmatic mindset. I’d even hazard a guess and say you’re something of a survivalist. That’s your greatest setback, though; you’re thinking too logically.”
A hand landed on the bed next to him.
“You need to consider that the killer might not think logically. Who knows? Maybe I wanted the power trip of murdering the most capable fighter in the building? Maybe I was attracted to her, and that informed my decision?”
Eito leaned over, blotting out the artificial sunlight and taking up his field of view.
“Truly, Takumi…”
Eito’s other hand reached for him. Takumi’s instincts screamed at him to run, but he found himself frozen in place.
“How do you know?”
Takumi closed his eyes, bracing for something…
…and felt a gentle tap on his nose. Which also brushed his forehead and messed up his bangs, as Eito’s fingertip was about the size of his entire face.
Eito pulled back, a satisfied smile on his face.
“You are right, though,” he said. “I had a reason.”
Takumi pressed his hand to his chest, as though that would somehow slow his heartrate back down. He swallowed. He could have sworn he heard Eito snicker, the bastard.
“A-and, um, that reason is…?”
“I’m not telling you,” Eito said simply. “My apologies, Takumi. As much as I like you…”
Wait, hold on, some part of that constituted “like?”
“…I’m not braindead. You’d tell your human friends right away, and that would leave me in a bad position.”
“You’re already in a bad position,” Takumi pointed out.
“Fine. A worse position.”
“And that would be because…?”
“Of reasons I would rather not say,” Eito replied smugly.
Takumi groaned. “Kako said you would talk to me.”
“Well, I am,” Eito said. “Talking to you, that is.”
“But you’re not telling me anything.”
“Because you’re asking the wrong questions,” Eito said.
“Oh yeah?” grumbled Takumi. “And what are the right ones?”
“Hm. If you’d like an example…” Eito hummed, deep in thought. “Here. What’s your favourite colour?”
“Huh?” Takumi said.
“Mine is white,” offered Eito. “There, see? An answer.”
“No, wait…” Takumi frowned. “Favourite… colour? I’ve… never really thought about that before. People have those?”
“It is superfluous, I will admit,” Eito said. “Still, it’s a common icebreaker question for humans. It’s okay if you can’t think of one.”
“No, it’s… red, I think. Probably red. Yeah,” Takumi said. “Wait, or blue… no, definitely red.”
“It’s okay to have more than one.”
“It’s red,” Takumi said, crossing his arms.
Eito chuckled. “Fine. It’s red.”
Takumi sighed. This interrogation was going nowhere.
“Ah, you seem disheartened,” Eito said, though he didn’t sound particularly concerned. “That’s understandable. Icebreakers are unbearably dull anyway.”
“You suggested them,” Takumi said.
He pulled his hook and string out of his bag, preparing to leave. He half-expected Eito not to let him, but to his surprise, Eito wordlessly lifted him up and placed him in the grass by the base of the cage with unusual gentleness.
Takumi looked up at him. Eito was still smiling, completely serene. He was a strange guy, for sure, going from seemingly threatening Takumi to treating him kindly in just a few hours.
Yeah… he’s definitely got a few screws loose.
“Before you go,” Eito said, startling Takumi out of his thoughts. “I’ll answer one of your questions. Just one, though.”
“…is there any way for me to get more questions?” Takumi asked.
“Hm… come visit me again?” Eito said. “I quite enjoy your company.”
“Oh. Uh, I can do that, I guess,” Takumi replied. “I’ll try to swing by whenever I can, then. How’s that?”
“I’ll be looking forward to it.” Eito beamed. “…that was your one question, by the way.”
“What!?” Takumi glared at him. “That shouldn’t count!”
Eito laughed, a surprisingly wholesome sound from an attempted murderer, and stood up, making his way over to the bed and picking up a book that was lying on it.
“This is more painful for me than it looks, by the way,” Eito said to him. “So maybe get a move on before I change my mind about letting you go.”
Uneasy, Takumi nodded, hastily stuffing his hook back into his bag and beelining it to the nearest vent. Yet, despite all that, he couldn’t help but feel a bit fluttery and excited when he thought about visiting Eito again.
…life was never going to be easy for him, was it?