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Shoko thought that the last time she saw Suguru, strolling up to her in the middle of the day with a casual smile and the offer of a lighter, would be the last she saw of him. She knew Suguru wasn’t stupid enough to put himself out in public as someone with the flashing neon label of ‘traitor’ and a kill-on-sight order hanging over his head- but then again, maybe Shoko’s the stupid one for greeting such a special-grade traitor with a casual greeting and an offered cigarette.
He denies the proffered cigarette with a wave of his hand and leans against the wall next to her. “I need to ask something of you.”
“Straight to the point.”
“You tend to have a tight schedule when running from the law.” Suguru's mouth quirks up at the edge. “But this is important, Shoko, and it’s not for me, so please listen.”
She inclines her head in acquiescence.
“I have- there’s two girls, small ones, that I’ve been given the opportunity to- provide for, so to speak.” Suguru isn’t one for inane fiddling, but his finger twitches. “They’re not in the best of conditions and I need you to heal them.”
“Well Suguru, I’m flattered that you want to start a family with me, but as you know I’m more inclined to the womanl-” Suguru promptly cuffs her about the head, which she expertly dodges, smoke billowing out of her mouth with the sudden exhale of laughter.
“Seriously Shoko, I know I’m not in a position to ask, and I won’t ask again. Just- please.”
She stubs out her cigarette and holds back an eye roll. Sure, she might be a bitch, but she’s not going to exactly deny him, and it’s not like she’s got anything better to do right now apart from go back to the school and have Satoru simultaneously mope and also act depressingly cheery around her. She nods, stifling a yawn, and she can see Suguru’s thankful smile in the corner of her eye. This time she does roll her eyes; like she’d refuse to heal someone, and someone important to Suguru at that.
“How old are they?” Shoko asks while they saunter through the city.
“Six,” Suguru replies with a frown. Six. That’s- well, Shoko doesn’t know the whole story, and she’s never been as morally motivated as Suguru, but fucking six. She didn’t feel any regret in the first place, but if she was regretful of following Suguru to the shoddily-maintained apartment building they’re currently standing in front of, she’d let the feeling go.
Suguru presses the keypad to open the front door, and Shoko follows him up the stairs, marvelling at the fact that Suguru has an apartment at all- he’s old for a shaman, but still only 18, and wonders if he was simply frugal with his money and saved enough for all the expenses of owning or renting a home, or whether he simply went on a little armed robbery after his massacre of the village.
They’ve reached the top of the stairs, and Suguru pushes the key in the lock and opens the door, but sticks a hand out to stop Shoko before opening it fully and allowing her in. She snaps to attention when he activates his technique, but instead of any sort of dangerous curse appearing, a dark wisp, a smidge of dark energy that could barely even be called a Grade 4, emerges from his hand and flits through the door, making some sort of droning sound that would probably create discernible words if she was close enough to hear.
To whatever was in the apartment, it seems to be sufficient, as the sound of pattering feet sound through the apartment, and all of a sudden, two girls, one light haired, one dark, jump round the corner and clutch right onto Suguru’s leg.
It’s a fucking weird sight, theres no doubt about that- two tiny girls, latched onto a tall, imposing mass-murderer, but he doesnt even bat an eyelid or issue an apology fior the display, just lays a hand on the heads of the girls, ushering them in, leaving the door open for Shoko to follow.
She saunters in, intrigued but not scared- it’s Suguru, after all- and follows the low murmur of Suguru’s voice until she gets to the living room, where the two girls are sitting side by side on the sofa. At the sight of Shoko standing in the doorframe, the girls grip even tighter onto the material they were already holding from Suguru’s shirt. She raises her eyebrows at him, as if to make fun of him for practically being an adopted father so soon after becoming a mass murderer. He simply stares jokingly back.
The injuries on the girls look superficial enough, just cuts, scrapes, and bruises- the dark haired one has a painfully swollen eye, revealed from where Suguru tenderly peels back the gauze covering it. It looks aggravated but not infected, which is good, and the blonde one has a pretty nasty gash on her cheek- again, thankfully not infected.
She hums after assessing the girls, and crouches down in front of them. She's known Suguru for a while now, and he's well acquainted with the limits of her power, and therefore knows how this will work; but the way the girls clutch onto his shirt even tighter, the dark haired one pressing her chin into the little stuffed toy she has clutched to her chest, tells her that the kids definitely don't.
Suguru, thank fuck, begins to explain to the girls how she's going to do this. "All you have to do is hold Shoko's hand, hm? And then all your injuries will feel much better." They look at him with big eyes as he says this, clearly hanging onto his every word.
Suguru pats the blonde one on the crown of her head, and she holds out her hand while simultaneously leaning back into Suguru. She bites her lip to keep the sarcastic comments in. Yeah, she's Shoko, but she's not an asshole; and the kid's hand in front of her is shaking as she wraps her own fingers around it, so she shuts up and focuses on the cursed energy flowing through her.
~
When she's finished healing them both, and Suguru's tucked them in bed to rest after two tiny 'thank yous' were uttered at Suguru's encouragement, she makes her way to leave. She is inclined to help Suguru, after all, but to hang about him like nothing has changed- well. She still has some duty to the school.
As she puts her hand on the doorknob, she decides to say, "Satoru- he misses you. He tries not to show it, but… without you, he's- y'know."
Suguru smiles, a melancholy twitch of his lips. "I'm not sure I do." He looks her in the eyes and smiles for real, this time. "Come back whenever, Shoko."
She nearly tuts as she walks through the door. "It's not like you to brush off Satoru like that."
The melancholy smile is back, and his eyes twitch upwards without true emotion as he looks somewhere about 5 feet to Shoko's left.
"I was changed long before this, Shoko."
If it weren't for the fact that Suguru wasn't a wanted criminal, and the situation wasn't as dire as it was, Shoko would laugh at the flowery response.
Instead, she continues her way out of the door, clicking it shut behind her, and tries not to think about the three of their matching, empty eyes.