♪ ♬ ѕρєαк υρ ♩ ♫

||; 声 ;|| —- His head hurt. His head hurt very, very badly. But when it first began to hurt, Aoba was relieved. It was a sign that his vision was going to go red and his own consciousness would fall back until both he and Clear were safe. However, in contrast to what he'd hoped, 'Desire' never appeared.

                             Not this time; not when Aoba needed him most.

         Why? Why are you just allowing this to happen? You have to do something! Aoba urged his "other" personality to take action, to utilize his powerful voice and stop the hooded pigs from having their way with Clear. "Sly Blue" had other plans.

         Why should I, Aoba? I'm getting what I want without having to do a thing. Those men are going to d̝̪̲̬̮͜e͙̘͎̭̮s̙̜̥̥̹͔t̀ͅͅr̶͚͚̲̟͕͓̞oy̱̙̤̻̱ her, and we get a front-row seat.

         Aoba knew that no matter how forcefully he screamed for the men to stop that it would be no use. After a while, his voice grew hoarse and Aoba's muscles grew exhausted from struggling against their unyielding grips. Clear, too, stopped wriggling against the mass of men surrounding her. Aoba knew she was strong enough to break all of their noses and snap their wrists in half. So, why...?

         Aoba had no choice but to stand by and watch as Clear sacrificed herself to keep Aoba from a similar fate. His gaze never wavered from the horrific scene unfolding before him, gradually processing the sight of Clear's body being defiled in one of the most primitive and nauseating ways possible.

         He promptly threw up on one of the men's shoes, earning himself a swift punch in the temple, effectively rendering him unconscious.

                                                         ✖ ✖ ✖

         Aoba could barely bring himself to look at Clear as she spoke to him. Why did he bother accepting the verbal invitation to visit her at her home? Why did she even want to see him?

         His chest felt tight and thoughts rippled through his mind like ferocious waves crashing onto a sandy shore. They hit him in torrents, each one dampening his composure further. He knew he had to be strong about this, at the very least for Clear's sake, no matter how seasick he felt.

          "I'm okay. One of them hit me on the side of my head and I blacked out for a few minutes, but I don't think it's too serious," he answered truthfully, ignoring the pulsating pain that sourced back to the large bruise covering his temple. Aoba swallowed thickly, shifting his vision to Clear's gas mask. Just by wearing it Aoba could picture how disoriented her mental state was.

  ". . . Why don't you sit down? I can get you some water or tea-- Or whatever you'd like." 

scarred-ribster:

||; 声 ;|| —- “Admit it, Koujaku!” Aoba poked his childhood friend's side repeatedly. “You aren't going anywhere until you dooo!” His teasing smile matched his melodic tone.

                                                  ☠      ☠      ☠

||; 声 ;|| —- Aoba couldn't remember when exactly Midorijima had become infested with darkness. It had been there as long as she could remember, lurking around every corner and creeping its way up the cracked infrastructure of abandoned buildings. Within the darkness, creatures hid from the public eye. Those infected with their bile were ostracized by society and risked their safety for their unwilling betrayal. Those who were comprised of such an evil from their birth until their very last breath were seen as opportunities of striking gold, no matter how mortal they could have been.

     Some used to call these creatures “vampires” or “demons,” among them old scholars who had researched these creatures for many years. For the past century, however, those who lurked within the darkness simply became known as “Vermin.” They were given this name seeing as so many of these dark creations had appeared in quick succession, as if some unknown source on Midorijima was mass-producing them. It likely was.

     Luckily for Aoba Seragaki, the sheer amount of Vermin roaming around the island allowed her to pull in some extra coin. She had a stable job at Weapon Shop Heibon, but sometimes having a little extra on the side could greatly improve her quality of life. Fulfilling bounties was a difficult yet rewarding way of doing so and Aoba was usually up to the challenge. Her priorities still lay among protecting her grandmother and loyal canine, though.

     Ren, Aoba's All-Mate and trusty companion, was useful in a number of ways. Aoba could instantly access the web and her email through her wrist-bound Coil, among other digital tasks, but Ren could do a few things her Coil could not do. The most significant among them was his A.I., which allowed him to communicate with Aoba through speech.

  “Aoba, are you sure that this mission is safe for you to pursue? Its ranking is two stars higher than the usual two-star bounties you take on.” Ren voiced his concern, trotting along  the ground at Aoba's walking pace.

     “Well, I'm not sure that it's the safest mission, but the payoff definitely sounds worth it. All of the treasure I can carry? Who would ignore an opportunity like that?” Aoba regarded the digital display on her Coil, reviewing her mission's summary: Defeat the powerful Vermin residing in the ramshackle home in the garbage disposal area just outside the Residential District and collect its loot. It seemed simple enough-- Excluding the whole "powerful Vermin" part. But that was why Aoba had well-prepared herself in terms of artillery and ammunition. 

   “. . . I understand. Please be careful, Aoba. You don't know how dangerous this one may be.”

                                                  ☠      ☠      ☠

      Long before approaching the shabby home, Aoba had ceactivated Ren and placed the pup snugly in her bag. Ren's fragile (and sadly, outdated) body would be no match for any single blow one of the Vermin could make. There were advertisements out all over the island for newer and stronger All-Mate models, ones that could physically guard their owners, but Aoba never had the heart to replace Ren. Besides, she knew how to protect her family just fine.

     Taking a deep breath, Aoba pushed all thoughts of her kin from her mind as she laid her hand upon the door separating herself from the inside of the building. Part of her wondered if she would see her grandmother or Ren again after this; if she would survive the ordeal. Another part assured her of her own strength and informed her that she had nothing to worry about.

     Sometimes she could hear that part's voice very clearly, reverberating within her mind. She could feel its presence in her head and its push against her back. She could feel it just as she entered the threshold. She swore she actually could.

     Before she could cower back in fear (as she essentially just taunted the unidentified creature), a loud noise upstairs caused her to freeze in place. Aoba swallowed her fear, letting it bubble up in the pit of her stomach as she raised her pre-loaded crossbow, pointing it at the unlit apex of the staircase. Perhaps it would've been wiser to greet her opponent at a time with more daylight rather than at the crest of sunset.

[[ In dire need of threads (currently only have one active). Please 'like' this post or send me a message if you want to plot? ]]