Chapter Text
"I've already informed you. I don't have a clue where Zanka exactly is—" The rabid teenager doesn't let her finish her entire sentence.
"You're talking but all I hear is complete bullshit! Tell us where Zanka is!" Rudo yelled, face furrowed in obvious anger. Fists clenched, he looks one second away from jumping straight to fight like a mindless animal.
Meanwhile, all that Riyo could hear was a loud ringing in her ears, the constant sound drilling into her head.
Her left hand gripped The Ripper, trying to calm down herself with the touch of cool metal against her fingers. It was futile. Like everything she always did.
She steadily started to walk towards where the other girl was, Rudo still yelling whatever hate was residing in his heart, too deep into his own rage to notice that that same feeling had taken over one of his friends too.
I've done this before.
Step, step.
It will be just a hard hit on the head. That's all it takes.
Step, step.
A hard hit. All it takes is a hard hit.
Step, step, step.
She was practically face to face with the other girl, now. And if Riyo wasn't so blinded by her own rage, she would have noticed the bruises and cuts that decorated Hyo's skin.
Riyo's left fist raised, intention clear as a day. Sharp and quick, just like before—
"RIYO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Ah, Rudo.
"RIYO!! Snap out of it!"
Why is he restraining me?
"Riyo, we can't hurt her, she has valuable information!" Rudo whispered frantically, shaking Riyo from her shoulders without care and backing her up away from the strange girl he still didn't memorize the name of, "I know that you're mad, you're furious! I know, and I am too! But don't you remember Penta? What happened when I hurt Amo?"
Did her violent reaction snap Rudo out of his own rage?
Ah, he feels guilty. And conscious. He doesn't want me to feel bad afterwards I do something that'll haunt me.
Riyo's expression coldly slipped back into place, her eyes softening with feigned practice.
"Yes I do remember Rudo. You're over considerate, you know?" She moved her hand to ruffle his unkempt hair. "Thanks for restraining me, I needed it." I needed to bash her skull in. "Why don't we ask her some questions?"
From afar, Hyo watched with not much of a clue of what had happened in the last few seconds. One moment she was getting yelled at by a kid who looked like he daily dived into mountains of trash and the next she was about to get attacked by the scary redhead. Yes, she knew both of their names, after all, she was a great listener and how could she not listen while Zanka slept-talked in his small hazze of unconsciousness and delirium? Poor him, she really shouldn't have caused that concussion. But, oh well, she was also instructed to be as rough as possible.
What had not been instructed though, it was the beating her up and chasing her part.
Well. Whatever.
That didn't matter anymore.
A slight tap on her shoulder indicates her of the existence of a presence behind her.
"Hey girl, mind if we have a conversation?"
"Enjin?!" Both Rudo and Riyo snap out of their conversation, faces tense while looking at their team leader.
"Sup." Now, with his hand fully on top of the other girl's shoulder, he continued. "So, what do ya say? You up for a quick conversation? Promise we won't harm you!" Enjin smiled with what seemed to be playfulness. Riyo would say otherwise.
Hyo meditated for a couple of seconds, weighing her options. She could go and answer whatever questions they had, keep some information to herself, and then in exchange for that other information she could ask to stay with the Cleaners. Or, she could keep running away for an indefinite amount of time and see where that would lead her to.
"Yes, I will answer your questions." I need somewhere to stay. "But harm me and I will return the harm without hesitation." Hyo let her gaze divert to where the redhead teenager was. She was a tad bit more dangerous than the other two. She had the same look in her eyes that Hyo always had when she was about to strike a target.
A hunger that spoke volumes even without a mouth.
A hunger so deep that it starved.
A hunger that screamed to survive and to win.
Another kid from the slums. Awesome.
"Welp! Let's get going! I'm sure that our incredible healer from the Cleaners will be able to fix you up in no time!" Enjin said, having inspected the appearance of the other. It was honestly kinda jarring to see. "Come on, let's waste no time!"
"..." Riyo didn't say anything to that, only following the older man, Rudo following right behind her.
"Hey." Rudo whispered, grabbing the sleeve of her jacket. He's nervous. "Do you think Enjin will do something?"
"What do you mean by that Rudo?"
"I don't really know.. He looks as if he could crack a joke or somebody's skull, and I prefer the first option.." Rudo looks ahead, the lingering unease from before multiplying by tenfold.
"Oh, I know what you mean. Don't worry about it Rudo, Enjin's as worried as us, he wouldn't harm her," But I definitely would. "she has information! So, why don't you relax? Come on, let's just watch it all unfold. Maybe we can even get some entertainment out of this!" She finally cracked a smile, pulling Rudo forward to keep up with Enjin and Hyo's walking pace.
.
.
.
"Who hired you?"
"I am not able to remember." Hyo looked to the side, eyes low. "I excuse myself for not being able to answer. The memory is quite.. Blurry." With an unsure tone of voice she ended speaking.
"She's not lying." Semiu confirmed. "Okay, let's go to the next question.." She sighed tiredly, her eyes glowing with anima, jinki activated.
Team Akuta had arrived to HQ around one hour ago, all of their gazes pinned on to the new addition that was currently being questioned, Hyo. Semiu, as always, was in the front desk, and while she almost lets her jaw drop at the unexpected sight before her (What in the fuck is Zanka's kidnapper doing in here?!, she whispered to Enjin while the others didn't look) she immediately got to work, activating Eyes and starting with the questions that everybody wanted to know the answers of.
"Do you have any affiliations with the Raiders?" Even though they all knew that the possibility of the Raiders actually being the kidnappers was low, it was still worth a shot asking for.
Hyo shook her head.
"Okay, let me rephrase that real quick. Do you have any affiliations with a third hidden party of some sorts or something similar to that?"
"..." Hyo, for a moment, seemed to be deep in thought. "Not that I'm aware of, no."
Riyo then grabbed her by the shoulders, making Hyo almost stumble down and fall to the ground, the movement having not been expected at all. Now that Hyo was face-to-face with Riyo, the shorter one began to speak.
"If you don't start taking this seriously I'm going to beat you to the ground so hard you won't be able to move any articulation any time soon. Now, would you be kind enough to tell us all of the info that you do in fact have?" Riyo's hold on Hyo's shoulders tightened further. "I am not the only one in here who's starting to lose their patience, so start speaking up." Hyo, without any shame nor remorse, pushed Riyo away from her. And it wasn't delicate by any means.
This was met by a small gasp from a very much shocked Rudo, a mouth-agape Semiu, and a strangely but serious looking Enjin, who currently was making his way to stand closer to Riyo.
"Oh you're set." Riyo grinned without a hint of playfulness on her face. As she was about to actually start throwing hands, Enjin squeezed gently her left shoulder, simultaneously backing Riyo away from Hyo with a very slow pace, dragging her away.
Rudo observed all of this without speaking up. He would rather not have his anger take a hold of him again and make the situation worse. But he could truly understand Riyo's feelings. Maybe not the same intensity, and maybe not experience them the same way she did, but he could see the irreparable damage and pain on Riyo's gaze, and that was enough.
He still had questions, he always had. Why has Hyo done everything that she has done? Was she really lying? Is Zanka safe? Where is he? Enjin always looked so unwell or was it the stress? Was Riyo right to actually want revenge—
Rudo slapped himself mentally. She was right. Riyo was right, of course. And he would not be the one talking about if getting revenge was good or bad. After all, his reasoning to join the Cleaners came from his deep desire to be fully able to get revenge on the bastard who killed Regto.
It's just that.. Did I really look that bloodthirsty?
Do I really look the same as Riyo does when I'm thinking about my own plan of seeking vengeance and death?
Fortunately, or unfortunately, Rudo already knew the answer to this one question.
I look the same, if not worse.
"If there's no more questioning, then I'll take my leave." Hyo suddenly spoke up, face impassive like always. Riyo looked like she was about to have a stroke out of pure rage. Rudo watched as Enjin's hand on her shoulder squeezed again, trying to at least make an effort to comfort the redhead.
"She's such a bitch.."
Hyo immediately whipped her head around. Eyes dead set on Riyo.
"What did you just say?"
"I have an itch." She gritted through her teeth, jaw tight. "I do have an itch." To kick your fucking ass to the ground, you indecent kidnapper bastard, went thankfully unsaid.
Hyo then regained her step, not wasting more of her precious time inside. She needed fresh air and the training grounds from the Cleaners facility looked like a solution to that problem right now.
She did not turn around to pry on that blonde man scolding the crazy redhead, did not bat an eye to how the kid with big gloves seemed a second away from combusting from rage alone and did not mind as that receptionist's gaze burned at the back of her head.
She needed time to clear her own thoughts.
She needed time to mull over how she didn't remember.
Why couldn't she remember?
.
.
.
How many hours had she spent here, sitting alone, now in the dark, of the training grounds?
Her whole body was hurting, but for completely unrelated reasons that had nothing to do with her sitting there. Though she honestly hoped the tiredness and bruises would make the pain in her chest disappear, it didn't.
It didn't.
It didn't and now she could feel it clawing at her chest from her insides, boiling hot and lethal, making all of her thoughts tangle and become bubbly in the worst way possible. As the familiar pressure on her lungs came along too, she found herself now asking a question; was this perhaps because she couldn't remember, or was this because she just simply couldn't forget?
She felt the need to almost laugh. Almost.
That was such a silly thing to question. Both things had different answers, one of them being one she wasn't even ready to confront herself, even if she has previously acted on it out of pure impulsiveness.
It had been childish yet it had been so freeing.
To touch soft skin under her fingertips, to hear that heart beating slow and steady, to have such magnificent sight graze her eyes, to breath the same air, to share the same silence.
To hurt, to hunt, and to obey—
She shook her head slowly, trying to undo the inadequate contemplation that her brain had made in the last few seconds.
She didn't want to do those things. At least, not anymore.
Even if something inside of her, something that did not belong inside of her, was telling her to go pursue it—
"Mind if I sit here?"
Oh. The redhead from before.
She didn't want her to sit beside her. She did not want her company. She wanted to be alone. She wanted to bury herself in her own encompassing thoughts and never come back.
She nodded nonetheless, surprising both herself and the other teenager.
It was silent at first. The sound of the wind softly sweeping around some dried leaves could be heard, a sound that did not relax the girls at all.
With the suffocating presence of each other, Hyo finally concluded that it should be her who spoke first. Even if it would not make up for all of her bad actions until now, or even if she continued to still do them further in the future, maybe this would be the one correct action to at least try to and redeem herself, even if just a little.
"There's something I need to confess."
Riyo immediately perked up at that, her green gaze darkened at the unexpected choice of words, hand going to grip something that seemed to dangle of a belt around her hips, possibly her jinki.
She focused her whole attention on Hyo as her hand almost imperceptible shook with force, a small creak of metal was heard.
Definitely her jinki.
Hyo slowly breathed in and out, a technique that someone she held very close to her heart had taught her ages ago, a technique she used almost daily even when not having a racing heart or having panic coursing through her veins.
Just the mere act of doing it already had her feeling closer to her important someone, almost as if they were there with her at the moment.
"Wait." Huh? "Please, let me speak first." Oh.
Hyo gave a small nod, still observing attentively the other girl.
"Zanka," the mere mention of his name made her breath hitch and her gut twist in small and incomprehensible knots, "he was.."
Riyo had to make a small pause to continue, seemingly trying to find the right words. Huh. Even loud people struggled with words, even though they were usually always the ones to speak first and most. Hyo quietly stored this small piece of information away, still maintaining intense eye contact with the redhead, something she had been taught back at the Academy, that it supposedly showed that she was interested and listening to every single thing that came from the other person's mouth.
"He was secretly training every single night." Riyo finally decided to continue, "And every time that he failed, even if it was just a single bad movement or a miss placed step, he would bash his head into the concrete wall."
Hyo's eyes widened slightly, she hadn't been ready for the conversation to take that type of turn.
Ah, so he's still self-destructive. It saddens me to have expected it.
She thought it would be the redhead finally snapping at her, being aggressive and violent and everything that someone associated with the Cleaners shouldn't be. But for the conversation to actually be about Zanka?
"And I knew, but pretended not to." Oh? Now that shocked her. "I knew, and pretended not to but still left new bandages inside his room every single night before he came upstairs."
Hyo felt her throat close up as she absorbed all of the information, her brain trying to carefully but quickly try to understand every single word, even if right now even the simplest of sentences felt like absolute gibberish. She knew that the other wanted to keep on talking, but Hyo didn't know if she would be able to handle it.
After swallowing nothing for the nth time, she finally felt ready to also speak.
"Let me begin with my confession." She sighed as she interrupted Riyo's speech, head hanging low now, instead of maintaining eye contact.
She would not be able to continue if she kept looking at another.
So right now, the floor was her best friend and only viable option.
"Maybe I just wasn't as desperate for strength as he was." She started, "Maybe I should have chosen another weapon for final selection, as the sorrowful face he made that day will always haunt me." She slowly breathed in and out, this was going to be decisive and she now had to chose her words wisely.
She could not express the full extent of her emotions. Not here, not now. And even less in front of the other teenager. The other teenager who, upon hearing the label Hyo had chosen to put on what described what she felt better, would probably jump immediately to initiate a physical altercation.
"..I know my ‘‘affection’’ for him is different from yours." She heard Riyo's breath getting caught in her throat, and Hyo didn't even want to imagine what type of face she had to be making. So she continued to look down, knowing that whatever Riyo was doing right now, she would not be able to handle it. "But it is affection, too."
"Who could really blame me?" She continued, getting up from the floor, still not looking at Riyo at the face. "If you had seen that look on his face, you wouldn't be able to judge me either!" This was going to be the first and last time she raised her voice inside the Cleaners HQ. "And while my preoccupation for him is nothing close to the one you possess, it is still preoccupation, just like my affection is affection, too." She quietly sat down again, still not sparing a single glance to the other.
After a brief moment of silence, an airy and humourless laugh came from the redhead.
"Funny that you're saying all of that. This might be the first time in all day that I've seen your face muscles move." Another small laugh, devoid of any happiness. Because how could happiness even be experienced if she felt like a part of her wasn't there with her? How could she fully experience and process emotion when there was an essential missing piece? "Seems like you and me both are creatures who can't seem to love without it exploding us from our own insides."
Hyo quietly hummed, because what else was she supposed to do, now? She was not done with her confession. She still needed to say a lot more than that.
"So.. Does this mean you'll finally willingly cooperate with us?"
"Yes, but I—"
"I know."
Huh?
"Huh?"
"I know that you still have to confess everything that you know, even if that includes exposing such raw emotions just like now. But, please do me a favour, keep that full confession for tomorrow." As Hyo finally lifted her eyes from the ground she appreciated how Riyo gave her a smile. It was a tense smile, but a smile nonetheless, so that meant a win in Hyo's books.
"If you say so, then I guess I can do that."
"Great. Now get out from the training grounds, you've been here sitting all creepy for like, what, six hours straight or something? It's already dark." Riyo finally spoke with a more laid back tone of voice, "And if you catch a cold and then die we cannot interrogate you, so I suggest you to go inside." The way in which she giggled made Hyo confused. Was that a threat or was it a joke? Was she going to die from a cold?
With a final "Okay..", Hyo went back inside the main building, not having the energy to even glance at the receptionist or the people that walked around the corridors.
She was tired.
She was tired and she was going to crash into one of the couches of the Cleaners library. They hadn't wanted to give her a room, or well, they might have, she didn't really know. She had stormed off, after all.
Even though tiredness alone wasn't enough to drag her to really close her eyes and sleep, the small possibility of closing her eyes and dreaming of gentle and expressive features was what really drew her in.
Before fully succumbing to a peaceful slumber, her left hand went to grip one of the many pockets her pants had.
There, with the comfort of having one of Zanka's earrings (which she had stolen while the other was in his state of delirium) hidden, she finally was able to drift off to sleep.
And if she dreamed about sharing class notes, whispered questions and blood rushing to places where the skin was previously pale, it was nobody's business.
Nobody's business but hers.
.
.
.
"Semiu, really, what did you see when doing that check up on the girl?"
"It.. It was a lot, for sure."
"You're making me more concerned now. Really, what did you see with Eyes?" Enjin's gaze lowered to give a glance to Semiu's jinki.
They had been doing this back-and-forth since Hyo had left all those hours ago, and it had only intensified once Enjin had a talk with Riyo and had sent her off to try and talk to the quiet girl.
"I can only say one thing." She finally relented. "Her bruises and cuts are not self-inflicted. And while that may be positive on some aspects, then it means that there was someone purposefully trying to harm her." Semiu finally made eye contact with Enjin, his serious expression mirroring her own. "And whoever that may have been, is already dead."
Oh.
Now THAT was something that Enjin had not expected!