MPC 79X (78C): Fated to be Found
Oct 28, 2020 3:22:41 GMT
Post by Jomei Jodai on Oct 28, 2020 3:22:41 GMT
MPC Name: Wild Card (The Hunted)
MPC Number: 79X (78C)
Reward Requested: Bits
Jomei knew he should have just listened to his hunch and avoided this job. To make some excuse to himself about why he couldn’t deliver to one of the most dangerous places in all of Shibuya. Even if it was in the morning, few people went to the Udagawa Back Streets with good intentions, and not everyone came out. He’d delivered there a few times before, and every time he just wanted to get out as soon as possible, but delivering there entailed a very good pay, and it was easy to avoid the police that patrolled the place. Even if he was almost completely sure that whatever he delivered there was illegal stuff. And at least the people there would leave him alone - he was certain the bags he delivered were marked in a way that conveyed that they shouldn’t bother him. Didn’t stop them from trying to scare him and make fun of him, but he could just ignore them.
Everything had gone well: he'd met the client, confirmed it was her, and delivered the package without incident. She even gave him a large tip, more than he could consider how to spend at the moment. It was the perfect delivery, and he was ready to make his way out until he heard someone start shouting, demanding the client give him the package.
Jomei knew he had to leave then, but witnessed the client straight-up attack the guy, slamming him into a wall...and revealing that she was definitely not human. She looked like a big pink bunny with a large number of thin pink tendril-like ears flowing from her head, with animal-like legs punctuated with purple claws. His mind was telling him to run, and his heart raced in anticipation, but his body just didn't budge. Not until the client took notice to him and approached him, telling him he shouldn't have seen that. Once he saw the raised hand, his legs finally decided to budge, narrowly avoiding a strike to the head.
He ran as fast as he could, trying to make as much distance away from her as he could. But every time he thought he'd made some distance, he'd look back to see she was just getting closer to him, and he narrowly avoided a few more swipes at him. He was too terrified to even scream for help, just rushing in whatever direction he could to avoid the next attack.
At one point, he did manage to get some distance from her, only to hear her shout something at him. It didn't even register what she'd shouted; he just kept running even as the sound of rushing air flew by his head, punctuated by something embedding right into the wall next to him. A quick glance revealed it was one the purple tendrils, looking as rigid as an arrow, sticking out of the wall.
He didn't linger on it, focusing on what was ahead. He ran, ignoring his body's growing fatigue, unable to recall which way was out, only focusing on running. It was why he soon found himself at a dead end, stopping for the first time. He heard claws scraping against asphalt a short distance away, and knew there was no time to turn back. He pushed himself ahead as far as he could, taking cover behind the largest object he could: a large dumpster. He made himself as small as possible, scrunching up into a ball, and waited, trying his best to steady his frantic breathing and racing heart.
The scraping noise got closer, until he could tell it was right at the entrance of the alley. And then it stopped.
“If you had just stayed still,” he heard the familiar voice announce, “I could’ve just given you a concussion and taken you out of here, maybe just hospitalize you if you were unlucky. I hear humans forget the last few minutes when they’re knocked unconscious, so if you didn’t run, you could’ve lived through this.”
He once more heard the scraping noise walk down the alley, closer and closer to him. It would stop periodically, before the sound of metal being thrown around rang through the alleyway; no doubt she was throwing around anything that could be a potential hiding spot. “Come on, kid; I can’t just let you go, and this is a dead end. We’re already in enough of a mess with DATS on our asses, and I don’t need some kid blabbing about me. I won’t make it hurt if you just come out now.”
He had no idea what she meant by “DATS”, and didn’t respond to her, only holding his legs as tightly as possible and pressing his face into his legs as hard as he could. He twitched every time he heard the sound of metal hit the ground or the wall, every time he heard that scraping noise again. He tried to stay as quiet as he could, choking back sobs and sniffling as quietly as he could. He couldn’t focus on anything beyond just trying to stay behind this dumpster, his mind too frantic to even pray that she’d just give up and leave him alone.
He froze when he heard the scraping come from the other side of the dumpster. He held his breath, trying to minimize his presence as much as possible. Yet the sounds only got louder, closer. “Last place you can be, kid. Even if you’re holding your breath, I can hear your heart beating.” He could hear her open the lid of the dumpster - no doubt to check if he was in there. The last delay he’d get - and it didn’t last long. But even if there was a way he could run, he just couldn’t move.
He couldn’t hold his breath any longer, letting out a loud exhale. He gasped in one more breath before finally being able to bring his hands to his mouth, but it was too late; one look to the side, and he was face-to-face with his pursuer, a metal mask over a clearly inhuman face. “There really was no point to dragging this out,” she said to him. He crawled back, but there had already been barely any distance between him and the wall, leaving him to press against the wall as hard as he could. “*sigh* Look, I’m pissed that you made me chase you like that, but you’re lucky nobody else saw me, so I’ll be merciful; I’ll make it quick.”
Jomei could only look at her, his vision obscured by his tears, his body trembling. He’d seen what this thing - this monster - did to an adult with a single kick. And he’d seen that rod embedded into the stone wall of the alleyway. He had no doubt it was able to kill him.
And that it was going to kill him.
“Anything you want to say before we get this over with? I know you humans are fond of your last words, since you just die when you're killed.”
He stared at her, terrified. It was hard enough to think at all, let alone to think of his last words. He could only go off the first thing that came to mind; he mouthed the word, but nothing came out.
“What was that?” the pink bunny asked, squatting down and turning one of her ears towards him.
He had to swallow first, choke down whatever fear he could. His mouth moved again, but this time, the word came out, albeit quietly.
“Help.”
“Ugggggh.” The annoyance in her voice was clear, and she stood back up. “Dammit kid, don’t start doing this now.”
He spoke again, this time at his normal volume. “Help.”
He watched as she pulled a rod off of her back. He knew what was going to come next, and feebly tried to protect his head with his arms, his eyes shut tight. The moment he heard her grunt, he shouted one last time.
“HEL-”
The sound of glass shattering right in front of him drowned out his scream. He felt shards fly against him, what few pieces hit his skin feeling as cold as ice. He didn’t open his eyes just yet, but he could hear the shock in her voice very clearly: “What the hell!? Are you protecting him?”
“Yes, I am.” It was a new voice, a much deeper one, more masculine. It was enough to make Jomei lower his arms, to open his eyes once more. There was something in front of him, though his vision was still blurry; wiping his tears off with his sleeve made it a little clearer what it was.
It was pitch black, larger than the two of them. Its body was constantly in motion, albeit slowly, like a candle flame. Tiny pieces of its body seemed to break off every so often, and were reabsorbed just as quickly, though it either didn’t notice or didn’t care. Looking up revealed several large, concentric red eyes staring down at him. “You’re damn lucky I was sleeping there,” it said, its mouth impossible to distinguish from the rest of its body had it not been opening and closing with each word.
“Well, sorry to wake you from your beauty nap, but we can’t have this kid talking about us. We already have enough heat on us. I’ll kill you too if I have to.”
“We only have to hide from people that aren’t involved with us. And he’s mine. So back the fuck off.” The sudden swearing caught Jomei off guard, but the other thing this...thing said caught his interest: what did he mean by “he’s mine”?
“Bullmonshit. You really think I’ll believe that when he stumbled on you at the last possible second? In the middle of nowhere? If he really is your partner, then he should have a digivice. Show it.”
“If you insist.” The shadowy creature paused for a moment, before a tendril shot out at Jomei. The boy put his guard up once more, but guarded against an attack that never came. He could see it go low, and watched it reach into his pocket. He didn’t even feel it, and just as surprising was when it pulled out a small device, colored purple just like his hair. It was his first time seeing that thing, and he was certain that pocket had been empty when he had hid behind the dumpster. “See? Had it on him the whole time.”
The bunny stared at them in disbelief, her mouth slightly open. “Are you kidding me? He was acting like he’d never seen a digimon before.” She closed her mouth, taking a few steps towards the exit. “Fine. Fucking fine then. I won’t kill him. For now.” But just as quickly as she started walking, she stopped, pointing straight at Jomei. “Don’t tell anyone I’m here, got it? If you tell anyone, I will find you. And your friend here won’t save you again.“
Another tendril erupted from the shadowy creature, but it just shook in the air like he was waving her off. “Yeah, yeah. Go find a carrot to suck on, Lekismon.”
He could practically see the vein popping out of her head. “Scratch that: I’ll kill you first. Then him.”
“We get it. Get lost.”
Another bothered sigh from the bunny, but that seemed to be the end of it; she put her hood back on and made sure her clothes obscured its limbs once more. She walked off, sounded like she was muttering something to herself, though Jomei couldn’t understand what she was saying. He kept his eyes on her, until she turned the corner.
He didn’t even notice the shadowy creature slip the device back in his pocket.
“You alright?” Jomei’s head shot back to the shadow towering in front of him, its focus solely on him. “You look alright, but you humans are fragile. You don’t got any inside damage, do you?” Jomei could only stare up into its eyes, his mouth slightly ajar. More eyes than there were when he last looked.
His mind struggled to process everything that happened in the last five minutes: a near-perfect delivery gone bad. His client was a bunny monster that attacked him when he saw her real appearance. She was centimeters away from killing him until this thing showed up to save him. And all that talk about “partners” and “digimon”, and the promise that she’d be back to kill him if he talked about her.
It was all too much at once. He couldn’t handle it.
The tears came down fast, and he didn’t hold his voice back. His wailing echoed through the alleyway, even taking the shadowy creature off guard. “Oh dammit - quiet down! You’re gonna-” Jomei just wasn’t stopping, and he wasn’t getting any quieter. The shadowy creature even tried shaking him, even tried covering his mouth. It didn’t work.
Voices could be heard from beyond the alley. “Forget it. If you’re not going to listen to me, then I’ll just wait until you stop acting like a baby.” It jumped at his head - and its entire body followed, even pulling away from the ground. He could just barely feel it pass by his neck, and could just barely feel it go between his shirt and his jacket, wrapping around his body. It somehow got its entire body underneath, despite being several times larger than him.
Before he could even think to question it, he heard shoesteps rushing down the alleyway. Had he been in the right mind, he wouldn’t have believed this was another creature coming over to kill him. His crying only intensified, and he retreated back once more. The steps slowed down as they got further in. They were muttering about something, and he barely listened to them.
The steps stopped in front of him, and he feared the worst, hiding his head under his hands. He scrambled away when he felt something touch his hand, only to push himself further into the dumpster, banging the back of his head against the cold metal. His hood softened part of the impact, but it still hurt - and was enough to get him to open his eyes and look up. As blurry as it was, he could make out what had touched him:
It was a human hand.
“Hey there! We won’t hurt you! Here, let me wipe those tears away for you.” It was a woman speaking to him this time, though she sounded much different from that monster that had attacked him. His crying diminished, but didn’t stop. Once he saw the cloth get closer, he closed his eyes, letting her wipe his face off.
He opened his eyes once more, and saw the two people before him: a man and a woman, both in police outfits. While he normally wasn’t too keen on dealing with police - they had a habit of questioning him and taking up his time when he had deliveries to do. But these were the first people he was seeing, and that was something he desperately needed.
“So what’re you doing here?” the female officer asked, “Were there bad people causing trouble? Were they the ones causing the mess around here? Don’t worry, they’re gone now!”
What would he tell them? That a giant bunny caused all this? He was sure she’d make good on her threat, and would they even believe him? Jomei opened his mouth to speak, unsure of what excuse he could even give, but all that came out was a whimper.
The male officer spoke up in his place. “It’d be a good idea if we take him out of here first. He might be more responsive if he’s somewhere safer.”
“Right.” The female officer placed an arm on his shoulder, lightly brushing him. “This isn’t a place for kids to be. We’re gonna take you to the police station, alright? You’ll be safe there. Let me help you get back up on your feet.”
Even if he couldn’t speak, Jomei could at least nod. The officer grabbed him under his arms, lifting him onto his feet. But as she let him go, Jomei could feel his legs tremble below him; he tried to take a step forward, but felt his legs give way, falling forward. Fortunately, the officer was there to catch him before his face planted into the ground. “That bad, huh? Don’t worry, we can take you there.”
She lifted him up, holding him against her body, and he wrapped his hands around the back of her neck. It was hard to remember the last time someone held him like this. Even if it was a stranger, it slowed his heart, slowed his breathing, paused his tears. He wanted to thank her, but yet again, when he tried to speak, no words came out.
So he stayed quiet, the officers carrying him out of the alleyway. He never thought he’d miss being out in the sun like this, but the warmth, the openness, the other people: he needed this.
He felt something crawling up his body, beneath his jacket, and remembered he had something with him. He could feel it reach his neck, move along his temple, wrap around his ear - the one furthest from the officer holding him. “Just stay still and let them take you there,” he heard it say, “Getting taken by the police is risky, but it’ll have to do. You can’t say anything about me or that Lekismon - that rabbit thing that attacked you. Tell them it was just some drunks causing trouble. Or don’t say anything at all.”
A chill ran down his spine. This thing had saved him from that bunny thing, and it was probably as strong as it was. Which meant if he did act against it, it could kill him just as easily, maybe even the two officers with him. It didn’t seem to be trying to hurt him, but the threat was still there.
“I’ll explain everything to you when you get out. After all, we’re in this together. You’re my Accomplice now.”
He felt the shadow recede until it was off his neck. He glanced around at the other officer trailing behind them, but he didn’t seem to have noticed it. Neither did the officer holding him.
He clung a little tighter. He had the feeling he’d just gotten involved in something big.
PArtner Get » made by wizz
MPC Number: 79X (78C)
Reward Requested: Bits
Jomei knew he should have just listened to his hunch and avoided this job. To make some excuse to himself about why he couldn’t deliver to one of the most dangerous places in all of Shibuya. Even if it was in the morning, few people went to the Udagawa Back Streets with good intentions, and not everyone came out. He’d delivered there a few times before, and every time he just wanted to get out as soon as possible, but delivering there entailed a very good pay, and it was easy to avoid the police that patrolled the place. Even if he was almost completely sure that whatever he delivered there was illegal stuff. And at least the people there would leave him alone - he was certain the bags he delivered were marked in a way that conveyed that they shouldn’t bother him. Didn’t stop them from trying to scare him and make fun of him, but he could just ignore them.Everything had gone well: he'd met the client, confirmed it was her, and delivered the package without incident. She even gave him a large tip, more than he could consider how to spend at the moment. It was the perfect delivery, and he was ready to make his way out until he heard someone start shouting, demanding the client give him the package.
Jomei knew he had to leave then, but witnessed the client straight-up attack the guy, slamming him into a wall...and revealing that she was definitely not human. She looked like a big pink bunny with a large number of thin pink tendril-like ears flowing from her head, with animal-like legs punctuated with purple claws. His mind was telling him to run, and his heart raced in anticipation, but his body just didn't budge. Not until the client took notice to him and approached him, telling him he shouldn't have seen that. Once he saw the raised hand, his legs finally decided to budge, narrowly avoiding a strike to the head.
He ran as fast as he could, trying to make as much distance away from her as he could. But every time he thought he'd made some distance, he'd look back to see she was just getting closer to him, and he narrowly avoided a few more swipes at him. He was too terrified to even scream for help, just rushing in whatever direction he could to avoid the next attack.
At one point, he did manage to get some distance from her, only to hear her shout something at him. It didn't even register what she'd shouted; he just kept running even as the sound of rushing air flew by his head, punctuated by something embedding right into the wall next to him. A quick glance revealed it was one the purple tendrils, looking as rigid as an arrow, sticking out of the wall.
He didn't linger on it, focusing on what was ahead. He ran, ignoring his body's growing fatigue, unable to recall which way was out, only focusing on running. It was why he soon found himself at a dead end, stopping for the first time. He heard claws scraping against asphalt a short distance away, and knew there was no time to turn back. He pushed himself ahead as far as he could, taking cover behind the largest object he could: a large dumpster. He made himself as small as possible, scrunching up into a ball, and waited, trying his best to steady his frantic breathing and racing heart.
The scraping noise got closer, until he could tell it was right at the entrance of the alley. And then it stopped.
“If you had just stayed still,” he heard the familiar voice announce, “I could’ve just given you a concussion and taken you out of here, maybe just hospitalize you if you were unlucky. I hear humans forget the last few minutes when they’re knocked unconscious, so if you didn’t run, you could’ve lived through this.”
He once more heard the scraping noise walk down the alley, closer and closer to him. It would stop periodically, before the sound of metal being thrown around rang through the alleyway; no doubt she was throwing around anything that could be a potential hiding spot. “Come on, kid; I can’t just let you go, and this is a dead end. We’re already in enough of a mess with DATS on our asses, and I don’t need some kid blabbing about me. I won’t make it hurt if you just come out now.”
He had no idea what she meant by “DATS”, and didn’t respond to her, only holding his legs as tightly as possible and pressing his face into his legs as hard as he could. He twitched every time he heard the sound of metal hit the ground or the wall, every time he heard that scraping noise again. He tried to stay as quiet as he could, choking back sobs and sniffling as quietly as he could. He couldn’t focus on anything beyond just trying to stay behind this dumpster, his mind too frantic to even pray that she’d just give up and leave him alone.
He froze when he heard the scraping come from the other side of the dumpster. He held his breath, trying to minimize his presence as much as possible. Yet the sounds only got louder, closer. “Last place you can be, kid. Even if you’re holding your breath, I can hear your heart beating.” He could hear her open the lid of the dumpster - no doubt to check if he was in there. The last delay he’d get - and it didn’t last long. But even if there was a way he could run, he just couldn’t move.
He couldn’t hold his breath any longer, letting out a loud exhale. He gasped in one more breath before finally being able to bring his hands to his mouth, but it was too late; one look to the side, and he was face-to-face with his pursuer, a metal mask over a clearly inhuman face. “There really was no point to dragging this out,” she said to him. He crawled back, but there had already been barely any distance between him and the wall, leaving him to press against the wall as hard as he could. “*sigh* Look, I’m pissed that you made me chase you like that, but you’re lucky nobody else saw me, so I’ll be merciful; I’ll make it quick.”
Jomei could only look at her, his vision obscured by his tears, his body trembling. He’d seen what this thing - this monster - did to an adult with a single kick. And he’d seen that rod embedded into the stone wall of the alleyway. He had no doubt it was able to kill him.
And that it was going to kill him.
“Anything you want to say before we get this over with? I know you humans are fond of your last words, since you just die when you're killed.”
He stared at her, terrified. It was hard enough to think at all, let alone to think of his last words. He could only go off the first thing that came to mind; he mouthed the word, but nothing came out.
“What was that?” the pink bunny asked, squatting down and turning one of her ears towards him.
He had to swallow first, choke down whatever fear he could. His mouth moved again, but this time, the word came out, albeit quietly.
“Help.”
“Ugggggh.” The annoyance in her voice was clear, and she stood back up. “Dammit kid, don’t start doing this now.”
He spoke again, this time at his normal volume. “Help.”
He watched as she pulled a rod off of her back. He knew what was going to come next, and feebly tried to protect his head with his arms, his eyes shut tight. The moment he heard her grunt, he shouted one last time.
“HEL-”
The sound of glass shattering right in front of him drowned out his scream. He felt shards fly against him, what few pieces hit his skin feeling as cold as ice. He didn’t open his eyes just yet, but he could hear the shock in her voice very clearly: “What the hell!? Are you protecting him?”
“Yes, I am.” It was a new voice, a much deeper one, more masculine. It was enough to make Jomei lower his arms, to open his eyes once more. There was something in front of him, though his vision was still blurry; wiping his tears off with his sleeve made it a little clearer what it was.
It was pitch black, larger than the two of them. Its body was constantly in motion, albeit slowly, like a candle flame. Tiny pieces of its body seemed to break off every so often, and were reabsorbed just as quickly, though it either didn’t notice or didn’t care. Looking up revealed several large, concentric red eyes staring down at him. “You’re damn lucky I was sleeping there,” it said, its mouth impossible to distinguish from the rest of its body had it not been opening and closing with each word.
“Well, sorry to wake you from your beauty nap, but we can’t have this kid talking about us. We already have enough heat on us. I’ll kill you too if I have to.”
“We only have to hide from people that aren’t involved with us. And he’s mine. So back the fuck off.” The sudden swearing caught Jomei off guard, but the other thing this...thing said caught his interest: what did he mean by “he’s mine”?
“Bullmonshit. You really think I’ll believe that when he stumbled on you at the last possible second? In the middle of nowhere? If he really is your partner, then he should have a digivice. Show it.”
“If you insist.” The shadowy creature paused for a moment, before a tendril shot out at Jomei. The boy put his guard up once more, but guarded against an attack that never came. He could see it go low, and watched it reach into his pocket. He didn’t even feel it, and just as surprising was when it pulled out a small device, colored purple just like his hair. It was his first time seeing that thing, and he was certain that pocket had been empty when he had hid behind the dumpster. “See? Had it on him the whole time.”
The bunny stared at them in disbelief, her mouth slightly open. “Are you kidding me? He was acting like he’d never seen a digimon before.” She closed her mouth, taking a few steps towards the exit. “Fine. Fucking fine then. I won’t kill him. For now.” But just as quickly as she started walking, she stopped, pointing straight at Jomei. “Don’t tell anyone I’m here, got it? If you tell anyone, I will find you. And your friend here won’t save you again.“
Another tendril erupted from the shadowy creature, but it just shook in the air like he was waving her off. “Yeah, yeah. Go find a carrot to suck on, Lekismon.”
He could practically see the vein popping out of her head. “Scratch that: I’ll kill you first. Then him.”
“We get it. Get lost.”
Another bothered sigh from the bunny, but that seemed to be the end of it; she put her hood back on and made sure her clothes obscured its limbs once more. She walked off, sounded like she was muttering something to herself, though Jomei couldn’t understand what she was saying. He kept his eyes on her, until she turned the corner.
He didn’t even notice the shadowy creature slip the device back in his pocket.
“You alright?” Jomei’s head shot back to the shadow towering in front of him, its focus solely on him. “You look alright, but you humans are fragile. You don’t got any inside damage, do you?” Jomei could only stare up into its eyes, his mouth slightly ajar. More eyes than there were when he last looked.
His mind struggled to process everything that happened in the last five minutes: a near-perfect delivery gone bad. His client was a bunny monster that attacked him when he saw her real appearance. She was centimeters away from killing him until this thing showed up to save him. And all that talk about “partners” and “digimon”, and the promise that she’d be back to kill him if he talked about her.
It was all too much at once. He couldn’t handle it.
The tears came down fast, and he didn’t hold his voice back. His wailing echoed through the alleyway, even taking the shadowy creature off guard. “Oh dammit - quiet down! You’re gonna-” Jomei just wasn’t stopping, and he wasn’t getting any quieter. The shadowy creature even tried shaking him, even tried covering his mouth. It didn’t work.
Voices could be heard from beyond the alley. “Forget it. If you’re not going to listen to me, then I’ll just wait until you stop acting like a baby.” It jumped at his head - and its entire body followed, even pulling away from the ground. He could just barely feel it pass by his neck, and could just barely feel it go between his shirt and his jacket, wrapping around his body. It somehow got its entire body underneath, despite being several times larger than him.
Before he could even think to question it, he heard shoesteps rushing down the alleyway. Had he been in the right mind, he wouldn’t have believed this was another creature coming over to kill him. His crying only intensified, and he retreated back once more. The steps slowed down as they got further in. They were muttering about something, and he barely listened to them.
The steps stopped in front of him, and he feared the worst, hiding his head under his hands. He scrambled away when he felt something touch his hand, only to push himself further into the dumpster, banging the back of his head against the cold metal. His hood softened part of the impact, but it still hurt - and was enough to get him to open his eyes and look up. As blurry as it was, he could make out what had touched him:
It was a human hand.
“Hey there! We won’t hurt you! Here, let me wipe those tears away for you.” It was a woman speaking to him this time, though she sounded much different from that monster that had attacked him. His crying diminished, but didn’t stop. Once he saw the cloth get closer, he closed his eyes, letting her wipe his face off.
He opened his eyes once more, and saw the two people before him: a man and a woman, both in police outfits. While he normally wasn’t too keen on dealing with police - they had a habit of questioning him and taking up his time when he had deliveries to do. But these were the first people he was seeing, and that was something he desperately needed.
“So what’re you doing here?” the female officer asked, “Were there bad people causing trouble? Were they the ones causing the mess around here? Don’t worry, they’re gone now!”
What would he tell them? That a giant bunny caused all this? He was sure she’d make good on her threat, and would they even believe him? Jomei opened his mouth to speak, unsure of what excuse he could even give, but all that came out was a whimper.
The male officer spoke up in his place. “It’d be a good idea if we take him out of here first. He might be more responsive if he’s somewhere safer.”
“Right.” The female officer placed an arm on his shoulder, lightly brushing him. “This isn’t a place for kids to be. We’re gonna take you to the police station, alright? You’ll be safe there. Let me help you get back up on your feet.”
Even if he couldn’t speak, Jomei could at least nod. The officer grabbed him under his arms, lifting him onto his feet. But as she let him go, Jomei could feel his legs tremble below him; he tried to take a step forward, but felt his legs give way, falling forward. Fortunately, the officer was there to catch him before his face planted into the ground. “That bad, huh? Don’t worry, we can take you there.”
She lifted him up, holding him against her body, and he wrapped his hands around the back of her neck. It was hard to remember the last time someone held him like this. Even if it was a stranger, it slowed his heart, slowed his breathing, paused his tears. He wanted to thank her, but yet again, when he tried to speak, no words came out.
So he stayed quiet, the officers carrying him out of the alleyway. He never thought he’d miss being out in the sun like this, but the warmth, the openness, the other people: he needed this.
He felt something crawling up his body, beneath his jacket, and remembered he had something with him. He could feel it reach his neck, move along his temple, wrap around his ear - the one furthest from the officer holding him. “Just stay still and let them take you there,” he heard it say, “Getting taken by the police is risky, but it’ll have to do. You can’t say anything about me or that Lekismon - that rabbit thing that attacked you. Tell them it was just some drunks causing trouble. Or don’t say anything at all.”
A chill ran down his spine. This thing had saved him from that bunny thing, and it was probably as strong as it was. Which meant if he did act against it, it could kill him just as easily, maybe even the two officers with him. It didn’t seem to be trying to hurt him, but the threat was still there.
“I’ll explain everything to you when you get out. After all, we’re in this together. You’re my Accomplice now.”
He felt the shadow recede until it was off his neck. He glanced around at the other officer trailing behind them, but he didn’t seem to have noticed it. Neither did the officer holding him.
He clung a little tighter. He had the feeling he’d just gotten involved in something big.
