1.37 — That Turned Out Well

Silence wrapped us both as we stood on the highest floor of the half-destroyed, surrounded by debris and broken bricks.

The silence made me realise something.

I fudging talked too much!

Not to mention, I just shit talked to her. I basically told her that I’ll be using her and her team as a stepping stone for my own goals.

Forget me burying her, she’s the one who’s gonna kill me and bury me. And drag my dead ass to her little Grimmer realm!

Why do I have to be such a blunt idiot? Why couldn’t I have said no in a nice and respectable way?!

...But you know what? Atleast I stood up for myself. I stood my ground and said the honest truth with no lies hidden inside it.

Plus, it’s not like I would be using them for free. I do think things thoroughly, you know?

Finally, she broke the silence with her stale heavy voice, “...And why do you think we would agree to that? What do we get in return?”

And there it was.

That question. A question I had already expected and had the answer for it ready in my verbal arsenal.

“Simple. Since you are here on a mission...I will help you with your mission!”

On second thought...maybe I didn’t think about my response well enough...

Reizumi started at me. Kept quiet for a few seconds. Made a really good thinking face. And then nodded. “Okay,” she said and shrugged, “that works too.”

Okay, I’m confused.

Nay, scared actually.

Did she agree to my condition? Will I not be kidnapped to another realm? Am I officially employed as a Grimmer?

Or worse, she just chose to ignore all of what I had said and decided to just do what she wanted to do? Because of her attitude, that’s the most likely and possible scenario to happen, honestly.

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked. Better to get everything clarified. While I do hope her intentions are good and everything she has done—while questionable—were done with good intentions. But, and granted I don’t know her very well, even you all have to admit that her just agreeing like that just sounds shady as fudge.

“I said, okay, we’ll do that,” she repeated.

“Just like that? No negotiation?”

She fished out something else from her pocket and walked towards me. “Yup, just like that,” she said and handed me another pill, this time a white spherical one. “Why surprised? I thought you’d be happy.”

“Another one? So soon? I-I can’t fight again, I’m way too tired and not just physically. Unless, this is like some magical healing pill—”

“It’s just a candy, dude, see?” she stuck out her tongue and revealed a smaller white pill stuck on it, “the Ruhkti pill has the side effect of draining you. Which is why they’re mostly used for emergency situations or Grimmers who don’t have proper control on their powers yet.”

“So why did you take one?” She didn’t seem like the Grimmer who didn’t have her powers under control, so I guess she simply thought this to be an emergency situation.

“I didn’t,” she scoffed with a raised brow, “I just like candies.”

“Oh, thanks, I guess…” Oh, mint. I like that better than the mango one. “And yeah, I’m happy about it. It’s just…I don’t know, I expected some bargaining from your side, maybe having me get stuck to the ground again…”

“Boy, you really developed the fetish for that fast, huh,” she gave her trademark smirk.

“That’s—” No, don’t take the bait. Control yourself. “Fine, whatever. One less thing to worry about.” Unless ofcourse she breaks her word.

With nothing else to do, we let ourselves out of the building and out of the construction site. I wasn’t sure what to do so I just followed her back out the way we came from.

After a few seconds of silence, I decided to finally just ask her, “Hey, Reizumi,” I called out to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her to a stop.

“Hmm? What?” She looked up from her cell phone which had a chatbox on its bright screen—and by bright, I mean like really bright. The level of blinding brightness my Uncle kept on his phone. “Did you forget something at the site? Because I’m not going back there. Too much dust is not good for me,” she said looking irritated.

“No, no, I—what’s the plan now? For me, that is...”

“Nothing,” she said setting her focus back on the phone as she tapped on the screen several times. Probably texting with someone. Maybe one of her team members...most probably the one who didn’t wear the blindfold. But hey, who knows how stuff works for Grimmers.

What was the other guy’s name? Ryou, right? The short one, her brother. I don’t remember hearing his full first name. Do you? Let me know if you remember because we’re in this together, mates.

“N-Nothing?” I asked.

“Yeah. I mean you had your first fight today. Well, first actual fight. And honestly, and don’t take this the wrong way but, you did better than what I expected from you.”

...wait a minute, was she complimenting me?

“And you’re taking it the wrong way. Wipe that stupid grin off of your face, human.”

“Sorry,” I said but still kept the grin. “But wait, so you’re not mad about what I said back then?”

“About using us? Not really. You do you, you know? Plus, if you get stronger and have better control over your powers, the easier my life gets...So, really, it’s a win-win.”

A real role model for responsibility and duty, she is.

“So you won’t be taking me to your world?”

Her fingers stopped moving. And she looked towards me with a little guilt in her eyes.

Un-oh. That can’t be good.

“I... can't promise anything. Personally, I don’t care. It makes no difference to me. I’m just following Ash’s orders. He’s the one who actually knows what’s happening with you. Whatever ‘deal’ you want to make, you’d have to make it with him. If he says you don’t have to come with us, then you don’t have to.”

Ash is the blindfold guy, right? I don’t remember his full name too. Wonder if he’s their team leader. The short one hardly seems to be a leader material.

But, okay, not what I expected but I can work with that.

It’s not a guaranteed way out but still, it’s one way. I can be hopeful. I can be optimistic.

“Great! Is that where we’re going next? Are we meeting him today?” I asked, each breath of mine chilling the insides of my mouth. This is why I love mint.

“Yes and no,” she said, because obviously, she has no idea how to answer questions properly. “I’m going there. You…can go wherever you want to go. You’re free.” And she said that with a shooing motion. Like I’m some nasty bird or dog that got in her way.

And you know what’s more sick? Despite that kind of treatment, I—god, I hate myself for even thinking this—kinda wish the day hadn’t come to an end so soon.

And no, not because I want to spend more time with her or anything—I’d sooner jump in a vat of acid than do that—but more to...experience that rush of power again.

I still had no idea what that pill did. Like after experiencing the effect, I kinda pieced it together that it somehow helped me by boosting my strength or by making the Ruh more visible to me.

More...I suppose, accessible would be the right word.

I wanted to ask Reizumi again but I had my doubts on whether or not she would give me a proper reply or not. Leaning more towards ‘not’.

But also, it felt like I somehow overstepped my boundary or crossed some line when I flat out just admitted they were going to be used by me.

By no means have I regretted that. I stand by it and will continue to do so. I guarantee that.

Then again, she did say she didn’t really care for and instead worked in her favour so who knows.

Besides, despite what my pride would let me think is the reality, I knew she was capable of kicking my ass in a thousand different ways; so pestering her with even more questions was the last thing I wanted to do.

Coward’s survival tactics: You cannot lose a fight if you do not fight. Especially the one where you know you’ll lose for sure.

Smart, right?

Reaching the bus stop, she called out to me before we headed our own ways, “We’ll contact you tomorrow or whenever we come to some decision. Today, you go home and rest. You’ve earned it. I’m sure the toll of the fight will soon start taking its effect,” she said, giving a nice little smile.

Huh, I suppose there was a certain cuteness in her if one tried to look really hard.