Chapter Text
The first thing Shoko noticed about the woman was that she was wearing a mask. Not that strange considering they were outside the coroner’s office building, but the mask was strangely beautiful. It was made with a rich fabric and adorned with applique flowers. Normally Shoko would be wearing a mask of her own- a normal disposable one- but this woman had caught her on one of her secret smoke breaks. It was a warm April day with no students on campus for another week, so Shoko had let herself take a break.
And who was wearing that mask? Just the most beautiful woman Shoko had ever seen of course. She was a little shorter than Shoko, with dyed pink hair half up in a bun and two small braids running down on either side of her face. The woman looked too old to be a student, she was probably in her early twenties. A new hire? She wasn’t wearing a uniform either, she had a pale green sweater on, unbuttoned to show a lilac blouse underneath, and navy blue slacks. The woman stopped at the bench she was sitting at, clearly looking to talk with her. Shoko put out her cigarette.
“I hope you know CPR because I think my heart just stopped.” She said, putting a hand over her chest. The line was cheesy but effective. It’d worked on girls Shoko had picked up before at the bars. Shoko found it to be the right amount of cheese and sincerity, and the right kind of girl would giggle before groaning at it. Victory was uncertain in this case, however, Shoko could just barely see over the edge of her mask a blush that lit up the girl’s face. Shoko stood up, figuring her break to be over. She bowed her head. “My name is Ieiri Shoko.” The woman nodded her head. “Anyway, what can I do for you gorgeous?”
She dug around in the pocket of her pants before producing a page off of a prescription pad, which she held out to Shoko. It read “Cough medicine taken when needed. Please provide it.” It was signed with the principal's signature. She looked up at the woman with an eyebrow raised.
“Alright, follow me then.” There was an expression resembling shock on the woman’s face. Shoko smirked as she pushed open the door to the building and held it for the other woman. As they walked down the tiled hallway, the sound of their sounds tapping on the tile, Shoko turned to address the other woman. “What’s your name cherry blossom?” The girl reached for something in the pocket of her blouse but then hesitated. She made a movement with her hands that took Shoko a second to realize she was signing in Japanese sign language. Shoko had tried to learn in an attempt to feel more connected to patients, but all she remembered was the alphabet and a couple of phrases. Mostly swears. So all she caught was ‘You….JSL?’
She pinched her fingers together in response. A little. Another movement that Shoko could not understand. She made a mental note to study up on her JSL.
“Uhm…” The woman had heard her before so she couldn't be deaf. Or at least not completely. Shoko felt safe asking her next question aloud, still, she could feel her face color in embarrassment. “Can you spell it?” The woman rolled her eyes.
‘Y-A-S-U-K-O’
Yasuko. Meaning tranquil or quiet. It made sense considering she hadn’t heard a peep out of this girl the whole time. They reached to door to Shoko’s office, which was just a desk shoved into the corner of the morgue. There was a sorcerer, long since gone cold on one of the tables. Shoko had just started as the school’s nurse/medical examiner/whatever the principal wanted from her. The idea of having to autopsy her fellow sorcerers always turned her stomach a little bit, but she would have to get used to it. Hence the smoke break.
“Died to a curse user.” She said, walking past the exam table. The victim was in his late twenties, just about the age of Shoko herself. “It’s a shame when brothers in arms turn against each other.” Yasuko made a hmm in affirmation. Shoko swallowed hard and shook her head to clear it. “Now, hana, something you should know.” She held up the note in her hand. “You need to get better at forgery. This is the fakest thing I’ve ever seen.” Yasuko’s face reddened and she turned her head away in embarrassment. “Hey, hey.” She took a step closer to Yasuko so she was close enough to smell her cherry-scented perfume. Reaching out her hand, she took Yasuko’s chin in her fingers and turned her face to look back at her. “Still gonna give it to you.” Yasuko looked back at her with a mix of confusion and hope. “Not my medicine, I don’t give a shit.” She stepped away from Yasuko, who remained frozen in place. “Gonna cost you though.”
Yasuko scowled before going to her pockets. Shoko laughed. “Not cash, silly.” Yasuko looked up. “You doing anything later? Say around 6?” Yasuko’s eyebrows shot up.
‘Maybe.’ That sign Shoko caught with no problem.
“So, Yasuko,” She said as she rifled through the keys the principal had given her to lock the cabinets. “Why the throat medicine? You don’t look sick to me, unless you use the slang term.” She winked, then watched as Yasuko’s face took on a light pink in the cheeks. The flirting seemed to be working on her so far. Shoko was feeling confident she could score a date out of this. I can think of a hundred other things you can use to get high besides,” she grabbed the closest one on the shelf. It was a dark purple liquid with a bright cartoony label. “Throat-eze.” Yasuko shrugged, her pink hair moving about her shoulders as she did. Shoko stepped closer with the bottle. Yasuko pulled a notepad and pen out of the pockets of her sweater and scribbled something down.
I’m not getting high.
Shoko narrowed her eyes and cocked her head. Yasuko made a grab for the bottle but Shoko pulled back. “Then what are you using it for?” She exhaled harshly and shuffled around on her feet. Shoko raised an eyebrow. If this girl wasn’t using cough medicine to get high, and she wasn’t sick, why did she need it? Further, what more did she have to hide if she wasn’t using it for nefarious purposes?
What she did next Shoko had not expected. Yasuko pulled the mask off her face, averting her eyes as she did. On both cheeks, framing her mouth, were the snake and fang symbols known to be the sign of the Inumaki clan. Shoko gasped and took a half step back. Something in Yasuko’s eyes changed, like a shutter going down in front of them, the angry light that was in them dimming to nothing. Pulling up her mask, she turned and started for the door.
“Wait!” Shoko called, but Yasuko kept moving. The door shut, clicking closed before Shoko could get her wits about her and rushed after. Flinging the door open, she started down the hall. This girl was fast. Shoko had never been particularly slow but even still this girl was hard to keep up with. Yasuko shoved open the doors to the building they were in, slowing down just enough that Shoko could reach her as they made it outside. Out of breath, Shoko put a hand on Yasuko's shoulder. Before she could get a word out, Yasuko whipped around. Shoko could see that her eyes were shiny with the potential of tears.
“Freeze.” It was so quiet Shoko could barely hear her speak, but the effect was the same. Shoko was frozen in place, one arm outstretched, touching nothing, the other close to her with the bottle of cough syrup. Yasuko rubbed her eyes angrily. She took the bottle from Shoko’s pliant fingers and stuffed it in her pocket. She took another note, folded it neatly in fours, and tucked it into the pocket of Shoko’s lab coat.
Walking down the stairs and into the distance, she disappeared from sight. A few minutes later, when the hold on Shoko weakened, she dug the note out of her pocket and unfolded it.
I thought you were different.