Archive of Our Own

“Show up here again and you won’t live to see the end of it.”

He felt like a broken record at this point. He never said the exact same thing, but he did repeat himself darn often about this.

“But I am still alive?” the girl only responded, obviously referencing the numerous times he had threatened her and probably very aware how annoyed he was with himself that, yes, she was still alive . Really, who had raised this kid? What parent just let their kid wander around, without supervision? 

Then again... maybe that’s what healthy parents did. You wouldn’t expect your kid to visit some shabby place on their own volition anyways and the girl wasn’t naiv , just stubborn . They might have trust in her.

“Mei I swear to god, at least leave my shit alone.” he added, slumping on his coach, to observe the girl disassemble his TV. He had left his gear at the door and now only eyed her as she sat in her own mess. Really, why did he even tell her where he had put the substitute key? But he didn’t want to find a new hiding spot, the flowerpot outside was pretty handy...

“Unbelievable, aren’t girls your age supposed to like, I dunno, study? Do make-up? Wear dresses?” he tried to get her attention, and apparently it worked.

Bubblegum pink dreadlocks whirled through the air as Mei threw him the most affronted expression and he had to suppress an accomplished toothy grin at that. What a brat, she looked actually mad right now. A week ago he probably would have only got a hard glance.

“ Dresses? That’s kinda sexist Chizome.” she just muttered, turning back to the remains of his TV. To be honest, if that thing hadn’t died like a week ago he might’ve actually been mad. But no, she probably was just figuring if she could repair it on her own. As if the fact that most of her ‘equipment’ was at his place wasn’t irritating enough she already had become a self declared handyman (Handygirl? No that sounded way too… conspicuous) of the small flat.

“What’s for dinner?” she suddenly threw in and irritation spiked.

“I never did the high-school-college-mistake, so how come I have to feed two mouths?” he hissed, standing up to get something ready. She only shrugged in response. 

“Picking up society's slack?” Oh yeah she knew how to get him alright. Goddammit.

“Stop using that against me.” he spat, ”I en trusted my Ideals to you. I did not intend to give you a butterknife to poke me with so you can get whatever you want from me.” he added as he looked in the fridge. 

Chizome was not a poor man. He had a job that made it survivable and his rent wasn’t that much considering that the place was barely liveable in. He had cleaned it up when he first moved in, but you could only do that much when the walls should have been demolished years ago and the ceiling was rotting away before your very own eyes.

“Isn’t that the same thing?” Mei responded and Chizome just gave in with a groan. He really didn’t see a point to start a fight with her, neither of them had to gain anything and she had the energy of a 13 year old, which, in an argument like theirs, meant a lot. He knew how to pick his battles.

Since both parties were not interested in a verbal dispute the next half hour or so was pretty quiet. Mei wasn’t exactly trying to be that silent, but she also didn’t talk much while enamored with the task on hand. Same for Chizome. 

He pretty much focused on the noodles, duck and veggies as they were slowly cooking and making a delicious goop. Food, for Chizome, was one of the few worthwhile things. He had realized that back in school ever since he got used to the metallic taste of blood and the nausea and split feelings that came with it. Food was a nice balance. Making it was a process that left your brain weirdly empty and eating it was rewarding in more than one sense. When your daily life is only work and bloodshed the simple everyday necessities become weirdly cherished.

As the little noises that came from the living room suddenly ceased Chizome woke up from his train of thoughts. He put the food off the heat a bit too fast, almost burning his arm on the gas stove and bit his lower lip when the pan made a clattering noise. Hoping he didn’t overcook anything he gave the mixture a stir. Looks okay.

He turned around to the living room to see why Mei stopped working, just to see a head poking out from the doorframe, eyeing the man with hungry eyes. “Nice! You actually made enough for both of us!” she celebrated, entering the kitchen with a kick in her step, standing next to him as he sniffed at the noodles.

“Thought I’d just let you starve?” he huffed a little amused, turning off the stove. “I am not that much of a bitch, am I?” he added with a questioning tone and no real bite.

“Not really!” was the immediate reply, before she was scuttling to the dishes. She actually got the table ready without him telling her to and maybe that was just a little too domestic for Chizome, because suddenly he felt the urge to prod a little.

“This is the last time I cook for you then. Can’t have you get used to taking food from strangers” he mumbled as he portioned the food fifty-fifty between them. He tried to leave out the champignons for Mei, she just left them on the side of her bowl anyways and there was no need to waste good food.

“Go home if you wanna eat.” he went on, sitting down after everything was set. ”Your parents get money from the government for this kinda stuff, how come I don’t see a penny for this?” he grumbled, not truly irritated. Maybe just a little bit.

It was insensitive. Unfair. He was pretty sure by now that it just wasn’t that easy for Mei, even if he wasn’t sure about her home situation. It couldn’t be perfect though, why else would she eat at his place as if starved? He wasn’t that good a cook. 

Asking her to ‘just go home’ like that, especially as an adult that way too much control over this situation, was irresponsible. He should tell the police about this girl that always came to his place to eat and talk and express herself , but he didn’t want to get some hot coal thrown at him for housing a little girl and taking care of her with no obvious benefit for two months now. He kinda had let this grow over his own head and now it was too late.

He couldn’t help her in that way. He could just make sure she at least had some place to go to when her home didn’t provide her what it should. But that still did not entitle him to be this venomous whenever he felt too vulnerable and open.

As expected the girl didn’t exactly say anything at his demand and question. She was just looking at her food with a sort of empty gaze. For some time now he had the suspicion that that was her guilty expression, but he didn’t like the thought of that at all so he tried to avoid thinking about it that hard.

As the silence stretched itself Chizome found himself waver though and just as he was about to reassure her, tell her that she should just eat and let him worry about his own shit, that it’s not her problem and that it isn’t her job to make sure he got his finances straight she mumbled something into her collar, effectively shutting up that train of thought.

“What was that?” he asked, automatically. Almost soft.

“I’ll pay you back.” she repeated, a little louder. “I don’t exactly remember how often you made me food but I’ll pay you back. I’ll get rich when I graduate as a gadget-genius and then I’ll get us a better place for me to pester you.” she added, suddenly looking very confident and starting to eat in her usual unbothered and impatient way.

He just looked at her shoveling the food into her mouth for a few moments before relaxing in his seat.

“Stop shoveling your food you brat and savor the taste some!” he hissed before poking chopsticks into his own bowl.