Chapter 110: A Drop of Blood

The sun peaked out from the far-reaching horizon, barely a sliver of its usual radiance. The orange tinted, morning light that passed through the stained-glass windows of the convenience store lit up the room with a dim luminescence. Coupled with the silence that gently shrouded the surrounding area, the current scene was one of abject tranquility.

Scattered across the floor was a collection of old blankets and sleeping bags, and amidst these sleeping bags, a group of teenagers lay scattered, their eyes heavy with sand, and their minds disconnected from the world around them. Drifting amidst a sea of dreams, they slept like a group of comatose patients.

As time slowly passed and as the sun lethargically rose higher and higher above the clouds, movement and noise started flitting across the room. At first, it consisted of just barely audible sounds, the fluttering of upturned sheets, the scratching wind from outside, background noise that flowed in one ear and out the other, but as time moved on, these noises grew louder and more grating. Eventually, from among the group, someone was dragged back to reality.

A head of light chestnut brown hair poked out from a gap between the blankets and comforters. The blankets rustled as a soft, almost inaudible yawn echoed through the room. After some time passed, the owner of the chestnut brown hair lethargically crawled out from amidst her previous hiding place.

The sheets besides her shook and unraveled, before the sleepy-eyed girl forced herself to sit up right, leaning against a nearby wall behind her. Suppressing another on coming yawn, her hazy, crust covered eyes surveyed the room. The fact that she had been the first person to wake up surprised her, but aside from a slight intake of breath, her face revealed no hint of emotion.

For a second, the girl did not know what do. Despite the sleeping faces surrounding her, she felt an unbearable loneliness that caused her to shiver and shake her head. She briefly played with the idea of going back to sleep, but the irritation in her lower abdomen, an irritation that she just now noticed, stopped her. She needed to go the restroom, but because the toilets inside the convenience store had long since stopped working, that meant she needed to go outside.

She moved to stand, but after an idea appeared in her head, she abruptly stopped and sat back down. She looked around the room, paying particularly close attention to the people around her, before she realized that a certain someone was missing.

He’s on watch duty…

The girl quietly thought to herself, a dark fog shrouding her sleepy disposition.

She hesitated to leave purely because she did not want to run into that person. Even as the irritation in the pit of her stomach intensified and continually gnawed at her like a wriggling tape worm, her legs remained unmoving. She fidgeted aimlessly in her sleeping bag, her legs crossing and uncrossing countless times, and as the mental and physical dispute in her body continued to wage war, her endless stirring caused the person next to her to wake up.

A thin, white blanket, slid off of a pair of barely covered legs, exposing a supple pink tinge that colored two finely sculpted thighs. A head of lustrous black hair shook once, before a pair of sand crusted eyes opened. Long eyelashes fluttered, as a dark brown iris, hazy with morning dew, gazed at the ceiling above.

A foggy expression blanketed the girl’s face as she squinted through the orange sunlight of the room. It took her a while to fight back the early morning dreariness, before her stare landed on the person next to her and she realized where exactly she was.

“Mia, you’re already awake?” Minakawa Sayuri sleepily asked in a quiet whisper. She rubbed at her eyes as she sat up and blinked twice at her friend beside her.

“Ah, yeah.” Mia answered softly, absentmindedly scratching her head. Her cheeks took on a slight tinge of red, as she quietly spoke with a hint of embarrassment, “I-I woke up because I needed to go to the r-restroom, but I don’t think I can right now…”

“Ah? What do you mean?” For a moment, Mindy’s expression grew clouded as she pondered over her friend’s apparent hesitation. She stared at Mia’s down trodden expression for a second, before she looked around the room, counted out who was still sleeping, and realized something important. Her eyes slightly widened before a soft sigh leaked out from her slightly parted lips, “…He’s the one on watch duty right now?”

“Yeah,” Mia dipped her head in a nod. “You know that I’m not good at, um, dealing with him, much less being alone with him while I…”

Mindy let out another sigh that mirrored her friend’s. For a second, her eyes grew hazy and unfocused as she stared out past the window and to the front of the convenience store. There, leaning by the bed of the Humvee, she could vaguely make out a human silhouette.

“…” For a while, Mindy did not say anything, her mind lost in a sea of thoughts and memories, before her friend’s incessant tugging brought her back to reality. She looked down at her Mia, and saw her almost puppy dog expression, before she sighed once more and stood up.

“Alright,” She quietly spoke in a whisper, afraid of waking the others up. “If we go through the back entrance, then we can avoid him. I’ll even accompany you.” Mindy rubbed at the sand in her eyes as she stepped over blankets and comforters and silently walked over to the back of the room.

Mia, who once again realized how reliable her best friend was, nodded enthusiastically, before she flashed a bright smile, and stood up.

“Thanks, Mindy.” She quietly responded, turning around to stare out the front window, before she followed her friend out through the back exit.

***

At around 10 AM, the rest of the group woke up. After a short breakfast, composed of potato chips and canned food, Mia found herself sitting alone behind the convenience store, her legs brought close to her body, with her chin resting on her knees.

The wind buffeted around her like a mini monsoon, a sea of leaves and paper scraps fluttering through the air, as her right foot quietly tapped onto the concrete laden ground beneath her. She stared out at the open field in front of her, and briefly pondered running away.

She visualized herself dashing through the tall grass, her chest heaving in laughter as she ran towards an imaginary sunset. She was free, unshackled, and without worry. For a moment, a smile floated to her lips, but the longer she indulged in this day dream, the more twisted it seemed to become. Her shoulders unconsciously tensed up, as the field of grass before her vanished, only to be replaced by a sea of writhing tentacles. Her legs faltered as a swarm of black hands sprouted out from underneath her and latched on tightly to her body. She struggled, but the vice like grip of the numerous pairs of hands were unbreakable. They dragged her to the ground. She pictured herself drowning, her mouth and nostrils covered in a thick layer of dirt and mud, as the light around her dimmed and dimmed until it all together vanished.

Mia shook her head, pushing the vivid dream away from her mind, as she let out a quiet sigh, one which was carried away into oblivion by the buffeting mid-summer wind.

Right now, she felt lonely. This wasn’t an uncommon feeling for her, but rather, these days, the sensation of solitude and the feeling of isolation were things she experienced on an almost daily basis. Ever since she escaped the school… no, long before then, Mia always felt like she was the odd one out.

Of course, labeling this feeling as that of simple loneliness wasn’t quite accurate. In truth, it was a hodgepodge of emotions, one that mixed in fear, guilt, anger, and inadequacy. One major contributor to this swirling chaos was the fact that she could not fight.

She felt loathing for herself for not being able to stand up and help her best friend. She felt fear that one day the others would abandon her, thinking she was useless baggage. She felt anger towards the world that forced her to even think about fighting. Her head was a mix of emotions, one that joined together and created the expression of dejection she currently harbored.

A lot of the times, Mia comforted herself with the fact that she wasn’t the only noncombatant in the group.

Narise is also here. She also can’t fight. She is just like me.

Mia comforted herself with these words, but even then, the loneliness still persisted. In the first place, there was a distinct distance that separated her from Narise. This distance felt long and wide, like a giant, endless chasm, and the funny thing was, she couldn’t quite explain why this chasm existed.

Sure, Narise was a bit odd, she rarely talked to others, and obsessed over that pet monster of hers, but that shouldn’t have been all that important to Mia. In the past, Mia was good at making friends, but now, no matter how hard she tried, it seemed almost impossible to get along with Narise. At times, Mia thought that, despite not being able to fight, Narise felt a lot more similar to Cielle or Hide, but the gnawing thing was, she couldn’t exactly quite put her finger on why she thought this.

What differentiated her from Narise? What differentiated her from Cielle or Hide?

In the end, she did not know.

Thinking of Narise, she recalled what had happened last night.

It was late in the night when it had happened, and back then, everyone in the room had fallen asleep. In fact, the only reason why Mia herself had still been awake was because of the events that had happened earlier that day. Because she happened to be awake at that time, she had seen Narise.

Narise, whose facial expression rotated between a perpetual smile, and a slack jawed frown, had suddenly entered the convenience store through the back entrance, whimpering, with her eyes puffy and red. Back then, she wondered why Narise was crying.

Recalling the event now, she abruptly remembered that it was Hide who had called Narise out that night.

What did he do…?

Mia’s thoughts wandered as she wondered what Hide had done to her… Back then, when Narise had returned, she was slightly wet and had on a new change of clothes. In addition, Mia had noticed that Narise’s hair was disarrayed and her cheeks were flushed and red.

Piecing together the evidence, Mia pictured Hide, nostrils flared and his eyes red with violent lust. Imagining what he might have done, what he was capable of doing… it sent a cold shiver down her spine.

If Hide had forced himself onto Narise that night, then what’s to say he won’t do the same to her? After all, right now, Mia was just baggage, useless and weak. What’s more, not only was he strong, but Hide was also the leader, she couldn’t stop him even if she wanted to.

Mia felt exposed and vulnerable. The constant gripping fear in her heart seemingly throbbed as it spread a biting chill throughout her body.

“If only he was still…” She sighed dejectedly, as an unwitting thought snuck its way into her mind. Remembering his face, Mia’s insides twisted as her complexion paled. She tried to shake it off, but by then, it was already too late.

Mia’s eyes closed tightly shut as a sudden memory assaulted her head. Crimson red, the stink of iron in the air, and his expression, one devoid of emotion.

“-ia…”

Each of his steps echoed through the classroom, ripples appearing across the red stained tiled floor.

“… Mia…”

His lips moved, but no sound came out. Instead, only the hollow screams of those around her reached her ears.

“Hey, Mia!”

Mia’s shoulders tensed, as she quickly shook her head, and pushed the memory to the back of her mind. She looked up at the source of the noise, only to find her friend, Mindy, looking down at her with a worried expression.

“When did you get here?” Mia asked with a light smile, hoping to mask the lingering pain in her heart.

Of course, to Mindy, who had been friends with Mia since the start of their high school career, the smile that masked her face came off as nothing more than one filled with pain and melancholy. Seeing Mia’s facial expression, Mindy’s brow unconsciously furrowed as she frowned. For a minute, she just stood there and stared, before, without saying anything, she bent down and wrapped her arms around Mia’s shoulders.

Mia’s shoulders jerked up for a moment, an expression of confusion morphing her earlier smile. Her body was rigid, frozen in surprise, before the slight traces of warmth touched the edge of her skin. Her body immediately relaxed, and a slight smile effused onto her face as she felt the familiar touch of her best friend. Although it did not help much, feeling the warmth of another person filled Mia’s heart with a small sense of relief and comfort.

After a while, they separated, and Mia asked with a smile, “What did you want me for again?”

“Oh, right,” Mindy spoke as she recollected her thoughts. “We need to organize the things from the car.”

“Didn’t we do that yesterday?” Mia asked with a frown. “Why do we need to do it again?”

In response, Mindy shrugged her shoulders. “Hide wants to sort things out before we head towards the Port. I don’t really know, but I think he has something in mind… he did also explicitly tell me that he wanted to bury the scales next to the convenience store.”

Although Mia was still confused, and harbored a bit of ill will over having to do something over again, she did not ask any additional questions. When it came to things like this, Mia was unnaturally submissive, especially when it came to anything related to Hide. In fact, lately, Mia had begun to notice that she was becoming more and more meek, and less and less talkative to pretty much everyone in the group.

Again, Mindy blamed her inability to fight for this. She wanted to learn, but there were a myriad of things stopping her.

Without protest, Mia began helping Mindy. She unloaded the supplies from the back of the Humvee, and also organized the things they had collected from the convenience store. All the while, in order to drive away the itching, melancholic feeling in her chest, she spoke about the port, relaying her hope and excitement to her friend, as she reminisced about their past life.

But whether she wanted to or not, most of their conversation turned to the topic of Hide, or more specifically, of Mia’s constant complaints and whispered fears.

After some hesitation, Mindy couldn’t help but ask, “Have you ever thought about getting stronger?”

Mia’s shoulders abruptly jerk up, her hands clamped frozen onto a brown box containing canned goods. After what felt like an eternity of silence, Mia sighed.

“I have, of course I have, but… I-I have a certain, um, problem that prevents me from getting stronger.”

“Problem?” Mindy’s voice was dyed in both a mixture of worry and confusion. In her mind, she was inwardly surprised because she had previously assumed that it was fear that prevented her friend from leveling up. “What problem?”

“I-I’m not good with blood.” She spoke, her cheeks red with both shame and embarrassment. “I know that you need to k-kill monsters in order to level up, but I can’t. Just imagining the blood that will come out if I do…” Mia’s shoulders shivered as her hands slid off of the box and fell onto the bed of the Humvee. “Lately, it hasn’t been so bad… I’ve learned to cope with it to a certain extent, like only looking at it through my peripheral vision… but sometimes I get light headed or weak in the knees just being around it, and that’s only the mildest of symptoms.”

A weary sigh leaked out from her slightly parted lips. She inclined her head towards Mindy, and peered at her through the corner of her eye, only to see an expression of concern etched onto her friend’s face. A tinge of guilt seeped into her heart.

“W-well, it’s not all that bad!” Mia stated with forced enthusiasm and a crooked smile plastered on her face. “At the very least, I’ve learned to look at blood from a distance. At this point, it’s really just close proximity or direct contact that bothers me…”

Even though Mia tried to play it off in a lighthearted manner, it was still apparent how much she had suffered because of this particular condition of hers. Much less convincing Mindy, even a complete stranger could see through Mia’s poorly maintained façade.

A despondent atmosphere hovered over the two girls’ heads. As the feeling of guilt grew more and more pronounced within her heart, in order to fight against the rising discomfort, Mia hurriedly grabbed at the scattered scales on the bed of the cargo area, a vain attempt at trying to distract herself. All the while, she spoke hurriedly, an all too obvious fake smile on her lips.

“Don’t worry about it so much,” she said, “It really doesn’t bother me all that much. Actually, it just means that I’ll be troubling you for a little while longer.”

Regardless of Mia’s insistence, Mindy remained unconvinced. With a frown on her face, she asked, “Since when have you had this… um, condition? I don’t remember you being all that squeamish around blood back before the apocalypse.”

“No, it wasn’t like that back then…” Mia’s frantic hands slowed, as her words trailed off. A haze clouded her eyes, as she tried to recall what exactly had caused her current condition. “I wasn’t like this back before the apocalypse, it was only after…”

As Mia’s mind wandered, thoughts and memories flitted through her head like a fast paced, revolving movie clip. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, the image of a certain guy bubbled up to the surface of her head. She suddenly remembered a scene that had taken place on the first day of the school year.

Back then, Mia was riding her bicycle through the neighborhood streets, her cheeks were flushed, and her forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat. She had overslept that day, and had been frantically pedaling her way to school in a vain attempt to not be late. Unfortunately, in her haste, she drove over a particularly large stone by the road, and had lost her balance.

With a clatter and a clang, she fell off her bike and scraped her knee against the rough asphalt. She distinctly remembered the pain, and recalled how she had winced uncontrollably as she picked out the tiny pebbles that clung to her open wound. Under the light of the blazing sun, the sweat that flowed down the back of her neck, the tiny scratches and scrapes covering her hands and legs, the feeling of viscous, sticky blood on her knees, it all came together to paint a vivid scene within Mia’s mind.

Back then, as Mia fought back the urge to cry, someone had walked up to her. Without fanfare, that person had helped her gather her stuff, and had given her a pure white handkerchief. Even though Mia had insisted that it was unnecessary, the person still persisted. He smiled lightly, and with a touch as gentle as a feather, he pressed the handkerchief against her knee.

Mia remembered. She remembered the vivid image of crimson red seeping into the folds and creases of that pure white fabric.

As her mind wandered through a sea of nostalgia, a sharp burst of pain suddenly wrenched Mia back to reality. She winced, and looked down at her hand, only to see a fresh cut open on the palm of her hand. By pure reflex, she dropped the slightly jagged Manticore scale that she had previously held, and brought her hand towards her face, her eyes blurry with absentminded confusion.

It felt as if time had slowed to a crawl as her gaze stayed glued onto the blooming bright red that spread through her palm and dyed her hand red.

Seeing the blood, and smelling the sharp stench of iron, the soft memory from before instantly morphed.

In her mind, she once again envisioned Kido, only this time, instead of the light smile from before, his face was devoid of emotion.

His body was covered in a thick layer of pungent blood, while his face was coated with a splatter of deep red, a red so deep it was almost impossible to see through. Mia watched, frozen with fear and shock, as Kido calmly and methodically walked across the classroom, the blade in his hands shimmering with metallic fright as heads and limbs flew through the room.

Screams echoed through the walls, and amidst the stream of corpses and frantically escaping people, Kido calmly turned his head towards her, and smiled. It was a light smile, one that looked identical to the one had had adorned back then, yet, at the same time, it was different.

His mouth moved, but no sound came out. Regardless, Mia completely understood what Kido had said. In fact, those words rang through her ears like the deafening sound of clapping thunder.

“I will protect you.”

Mia’s complexion paled, as a shrill scream escaped from the cracks of her lips. In her head, Kido’s soundless lips continually moved, and those four words reverberated through her mind like a broken record player. She felt a throbbing ache in the back of her head, before a red so dark it was almost black filled her vision. She saw Kido’s smile one last time, before she abruptly passed out.

***

“… Thank you for healing her.”

“Don’t worry about it… it wasn’t that bad of an injury in the first place…”

As the first wisps of consciousness took hold of her, Mia could vaguely hear the sound of conversation. The voices sounded far and foreign, but at the same time, strangely familiar. She struggled to open her eyes, and after what felt like an eternity, she saw the blurry image of her best friend bowing to Cielle, profusely thanking her, while Cielle nonchalantly nodded.

As Mia’s vision slowly regained focus, her eyes scanned the room around her. It took a moment before she realized that she was inside the convenience store. Beneath her was a soft layer of warm blankets, while a dampened rag lay on top of her forehead. Her heart was filled with a strange mixture of guilt and joy, but as her eyes continued to wander throughout the room, her mood instantly worsened.

From a distance and towards the front entrance of the convenience store, she saw Hide walking towards her.

His steps paused just in front of her. His eyes darted back and forth across the room, as he spoke with a solemn tone, “What happened? I heard screaming, was there an attack?” Mia vaguely noticed the slight furrow on his brow, which strangely complimented the perpetual frown etched onto his lips.

“Ah, no, that’s not quite it.” Mindy explained from next to her. “Mia just… she, um, she injured herself and passed out.”

Upon hearing that, Hide’s eyes lowered to look down at Mia. Mia’s shoulders jerked up, as her body froze and her eyes widened like a deer in the headlights. For what felt like an eternity, Hide stared at her with a probing glare, the frown on his deepening with each passing second. Silence persisted through the room, before Hide abruptly turned away. An audible sigh filled the room, before he turned around and walked away. Cielle wordlessly followed him as he left, and Mindy exhaled out a sigh of her own, but none of this registered in Mia’s mind.

She still lingered on Hide’s stare. Even after he had left, Mia couldn’t help but picture those sharp, down turned eyes that glared at her with silent animosity. In Mia’s mind, Hide’s sharp glare was like that of a Grim Reaper, eyes devoid of emotion and filled with the stench of death.