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“No one has a heart of stone.” Hina argued.
“Well lucky for me I don’t even have a heart. Medals, remember?” Ankh flexed the fingers of his right hand which shifted and bubbled into a swarm of glittering cell medals. He sat rather haphazardly on a table in the Cous Coussier snacking on his third ice candy that day.
“I wonder sometimes if you do that just to annoy me.” The girl hissed, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “Besides, you must have a good reason for doing what you are. You could have let my brother die. But you saved him. How can you possibly think that makes you apathetic?”
“Dunno.” The blond turned away, studying his ice candy as he leaned back on the table. “I just know that I don’t care about him.”
“You sure?” Hina’s voice lowered.
“Uh-huh.”
“Say what you want, you don’t need to admit it.”
Ankh turned back to Hina and narrowed his eyes in confusion. “Ah?”
“Because I KNOW you care about Shingo. If you didn’t, you would have left him, with him being a burden. With ME being a burden.” Hina laughed slyly and clasped her hands together under her chin.
“This is ridiculous.” Ankh clicked his tongue annoyedly. “You are being even more stubborn than Eiji. Why are you even here?”
“You are the impossible one! Why does Chiyoko even allow you to stay under roof when you act like this? If it was my house I would have locked the door on you and never let you back in.” Hina stormed past Ankh to the bar, climbing onto a barstool and resting her elbows on the counter.
“My, my. Look who was just telling me how no one has a ‘heart of stone’ a minute ago. ”
Hina turned around to see Ankh’s victorious smug smile. Her brow furrowed and she glared at the man across from her. “Screw you.” She muttered under her breath.
“You know, if it wasn’t for your freakish strength, I would have been able to kill you when I first had the chance. A good chance wasted.” Ankh lied down across the table, hands resting behind his head nonchalantly.
Hina stood up quickly with eyes widened and fists clenched. Her mouth went dry and she clenched her jaw. The girl blinked as though she was thinking of what to say. “How-” she breathed. “Can you be like this? Maybe I was wrong. Maybe there are some people who just can’t change.”
“Thank goodness.” Ankh guffawed.
Hina had been plagued with Ankh’s presence for a month and his toxic attitude wasn’t getting any easier to get used to. On days like this, some cruel force had stuck them together in the Cous Coussier for hours during a lull in business. Chiyoko would always call it a “bonding experience!”, but Hina called it “hell”. She was concerned with her brother, of course, but the being who currently possessed him was unbearable to her. Each passing second made her long for her brother’s recovery even more. Seeing Ankh abuse Shingo’s body hit a nerve she didn’t know existed. This creature provoked resentment and rage that she had never once before shown nor felt.
Chiyoko, however, adored him. She treated him like she would her own nephew and Hina would go as far as to say her pet. Come dinner time, she would present to him a tray brimming with food that he would pick over. Hina was deeply disappointed in his lack of gratitude and would remind him of that with a punch to the shoulder until she realized that would not benefit her brother’s recovery. Naturally, though, Chiyoko found ways to entrap them in some situation where they were the only two participants like cleaning up the restaurant for the night (which Hina did all of while Ankh just loomed in the corner browsing his phone), preparing the desserts for the customers (Hina had to somehow figure out a way to bake the desserts and put herself between Ankh and the freezer where the ice candies were stored at the same time) or setting up the decorations on the display shelves in front (Hina actually did all that, Ankh was nowhere in sight). Chiyoko gave Ankh several chances to help out, to earn his rent, but Eiji always covered for him and claimed that he would work double for both of them. No gratitude anywhere, not even to Eiji. No apologies either.
The longer she looked at Ankh’s- no- her brother’s eyes, the more distant they became. Like a stranger’s. Hina had not once confused the two after encountering Ankh possessing Shingo’s body for the first time, and yet it was getting easier to spot the differences each day. Hina hoped her brother couldn’t see or hear anything that animal did. He would be sick to the stomach if he had known. Hina could only pray.
“You’re a monster,” Hina spat.
“What’s new.” Ankh sighed condescendingly and offered a piercing glance towards the black haired girl who watched him uneasily. He went back to observing his scaly hand as though the argument hadn’t even taken place. Once again, the Greed made the cell medals fluctuate and ripple about the arm in a way that made Hina irritated.
“I told you to stop that.” She growled.
“What, this?” Ankh continued his display of his squirming medals, shoving his arm in Hina’s face.
“Ankh!” The girl protested, seizing Ankh’s arm in her hands and bending it in a painful way.
“Oww!” He seethed, writhing in pain while still continuing to show of his inhuman form changing ability.
“Stop that right now!” Hina commanded.
“Why should I- ow!”
“Because- I’ll do this!” Pinning his right arm against the table forcefully, Hina reached into the swarming hand and extracted a silver cell medal.
“Oi- what did you do? Give that back!” Ankh shoved Hina off, sending her stumbling back into the counter of the bar. She shrank away from him and hid the medal behind her back. The blond quickly approached her and snatched her arm, tugging against her inhuman strength.
“If you don’t want to get hurt, hand the medal over.” His fingers curled and dug deeper into her arm. Still, Hina wriggled against his grip until she tore herself free.
“No!” She said out of breath. She rushed towards the kitchen, putting distance between them. She waited there, clutching the little coin as tight as possible, breath slightly labored as she held her ground. Ankh followed, not long after her. After spotting her, he advanced toward her like an animal on the hunt. She was cornered.
“You-” He hissed angrily. When he reached her, he flung himself at her, trapping him in his grasp with no means of escape. Hina yelped and struggled, turning around in his grip. Ankh grabbed at her arms again without leaving her an opening, attempting to pry the medal from her hands.
Suddenly, Hina went still and silent. Her grip was still strong and overpowering of Ankh’s despite her lack of effort. Ankh, too, became rigid, his hand still clutching the hand which kept his medal from him. Hina had stopped because she realized the close proximity between two of them. Ankh was pulled against her back, his arms wrapped around her. To any objective bystander it might have looked possessive, romantic even. Still, both of them remained there, unyielding. Despite their previous grievances and arguments, Hina could not deny that that moment felt… nice. That closeness revealed a sort of vulnerability -and she thought, maybe even humanity- in Ankh. That must be why he kept everyone at arms length, she mused. To him, humanity meant weakness. So Hina sat there, hating herself for enjoying the feeling of his monstrous and scaly hand clutching hers. His hold on her tightened as he made an increased effort to retrieve the medal. She couldn’t tell if he realized the intimate situation himself, but she couldn’t help feeling amused by it. Hina smiled at the idea of his cluelessness and could not suppress a humored giggle.
Ankh quickly let go at her reaction, he studied her face, which still displayed a genuine smile. The bird Greed looked at Hina’s eyes through a furrowed brow. An unreadable expression covered his face, then he glanced away.
“Tch. Fine. Keep it if you want it that much.” He walked past her to the freezer and retrieved an orange ice candy before making his way toward the attic.
“Ankh.” Hina called, stopping him in the doorway. Ankh looked back with a dull and irritated questioning look.
“We don’t have to fight, you know. We could work together, be friends maybe?” Hina stepped forward, waiting for answer. The only response she received was a vague head tilt. His face looked even more confused than before.
“You’re so bizarre,” He huffed, gesturing at her with his ice candy before turning on his heel and sauntering off toward his room.
So much for reconciliation. Hina turned the medal over in her hand, studying it closely. She didn’t intend to keep it, she just wanted to have her way for once and prove to Ankh that he wasn’t above her. Still, she couldn’t help but feel guilty for something. Hina looked out of the kitchen towards the attic door.
“Maybe someday,” She nodded her head in determination. “You’ll accept my offer.”