𝓢𝓪𝓬𝓻𝓲𝓯 𝓲 𝓬 𝓲 𝓪𝓵 [ 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝗼 𝗺𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐢𝐫𝗼. ]

Chapter # 23 : Ice

"huh. 'Toman business'," Emma imitates crossing her arms annoyed as she turns on her heels. 'Hope they're doing okay..' her eyes softening as she makes her way back to Hina and the other girls.

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"S-shit.. t-that..was botched.." the blonde shudders coughing between every word spoken, patting his hoodie's sleeve against his blood-soaked face mask, "I really..n-need change t-this," he frowns as he rests his hands on his knees for the moment taking in the night air, his heart finally getting time to recover.

WHRRRMMMMMMM!

'Huh, what's that engine noise?'

Tilting his head back, his eyes track onto two small specks of light in the distance seemingly getting closer, "Shit! They're after me again?!" panicking the blonde picks up the pace once more. Though this time running seemed more agonising than just standing still and taking it.

His muscles setting ablaze as he drags his crumbling body with him, the stinging sore in his gut and side weren't of help either.

Digging into his pocket he reaches for a pocket mirror- hastily flipping it open to reflect the view behind him.

"Fuck! That's the Fifth Division captain and vice! If they g-get their hands on me I'll get fucked!" hissing the blonde motivates himself in the means of death as he sprints down a street of closed shop lots.

His eyes sparkle as he notices a vacant alleyway, "A-aha there!" he huffs running in, his fingers latching onto his hairline as his figure's enveloped into the darkness. He swiftly peels back at his scalp tugging the hairnet along with it, their natural dark hair falling to its true length.

Without stopping he grips at the hem of his hoodie, pulling it up and over his head revealing a white crinkled school uniform underneath as he tugs at his pants pulling it down as an equally crinkled skirt comes to surface over their legs.

"Are they still, b-behind me?" turning to look back, their feet still moving at a good pace through the alleyway.

They threw their hoodie and their blonde tuff of hair into their pants as they quickly tied it up, smoothing out their skirt and uniform trying to look presentable as the sounds of the whirling engine approaches closer.

Their eyes tracked onto a brightly lit store, the neon sign beside it shining "24 HOUR CONVENIENT STORE". Without a second thought, they swiftly rush in, letting the glass door shut behind them with a ringing noise.

Flashing an awkward smile at the startled cashier, "Uh..cough* do you..have a medical face m-mask?" they smile pulling themselves together as they retrieve some money from their skirt pocket.

"Y-yeah we do. Here you go miss," the male at the cashier stutters as he hands a single-use face mask to the dark-haired girl across the counter, his face etched with worry.

I mean who wouldn't? Now in better lighting, it's quite noticeable to see her terrible state. A dark liquid-soaked mask, their bluing neck, and wrists- it's even a miracle she's still standing, let alone running all the way here.

Not to mention the suspicious ball of black clothing she has on her.

"Miss, are you okay?" his eyebrows furrow at the girl across the counter as she proceeds to swap out their black one for the blue one he gave, her hands staining red as she gripped onto her black mask.

"No, n-no. cough*...I'm fine," she assures as she pays him moving further into the store. Just as she leaves the sight of the cashier she hears the loud roaring engine of a car reaching the front of the store.

'Shit. They're here.'

Kring~ Kring~

Two people's footsteps enter the shop, looking up at the large anti-thieving mirror they notice the two figures in toman uniform, 'Dammit I was right, it's the fifth division captain and his vice, damn you scar-faced pretty boy,' clicking their tongue she pretends to occupy herself with the contents of the cold drinks fridge.

Kicking at the black tuff of fabric at their legs trying to hide it as the two Toman members converse with the cashier up front.

"Hey, have you seen a blonde guy about this height, wearing close to all black?" the taller figure questions monotony using his hands to estimate the once blonde intruder's height, "He should look pretty fucked up too," the long-haired figure adds nonchalantly cocking his head to the side as he glances away around the store.

His blue eyes land on the same large anti-thieving mirror where the dark-haired figure's reflection stood, their eyes locking onto him through the mirror.

The long-haired figure tilts his head curiously, before waving his fingers at the mirror almost predatorily, both their masks hiding their full expression and features.

The dark-haired figure bit their lip as they refuse to break eye contact with him, 'If he gets any closer I'm fucked—'

"Uhm, n-no sir, not all night," the boy at the counter stutters as he looks up at the taller figure, the man scanning the cashier's fear-ridden features before letting out a defeated sigh.

"Shit I think we lost him. Let's go back Sanzu," the taller figure shrugged snapping the long-haired figure out of his gaze from the figure far back.

"Right. Okay~"

And with that, the two figures left the shop as the dark-haired girl let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding, "T-thank f-fuck," whispering to themselves as they pull a cold canned green tea from the fridge placing it over her sore gut in relief.

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The cold ice against bare raw and blistering skin stung like a heated burn as I press an ice-pack against it, guess having a large amount of those does come in handy.

"A-ah...shit..s-shit," cursing I gripped onto the counter tighter, my hands digging into the solid marble tiles as I endured the pain. Removing the ice from my gut to face the large bruise wrapped around my stomach, "Damn, this idiot really did a number on m-me, "I shakily stutter grinning weakly to myself as my twitching hands place the Ice-pack on again flinching as the pain shoots through my entire body once more.

"How did I even e-endure this as a kid? Damnit," I complain, removing the ice once more as my hands reached for medical tape, my fingers curling slowly around my stomach as I wrapped it up. "I mean hey..at least this idiot kicked two spots close to each other," I mutter to myself as I clipped off the remainder of the tape getting off the counter, "I won't have to waste supplies by bandaging two spots."

Letting out a long sigh, my lungs finally free to take more than just short sharp breaths. "Now...the important part," turning limply to face the warping reflection of my sink, my dark eyes staring back at me and my bruised chin, "..to make it look like it never happened," I roll my eyes annoyed as I begrudgingly walk over to the fridge for ice-cubes.

The clinking sounds of ice mixing with cold water sent nervous ticks down my spine as I glare down at the large cold water and ice-filled metal bowl in front of me. Taking in a sharp inhale I dunk my face in, as the bruise on my face flamed like lit gunpowder. 'It burns. It burns. It burns. It burns. It burns. It burns—' is all my brain could muster at the moment as I'm reminded yet again, from the top of my head to the balls of my feet no matter how much I can endure something, I'm human.

And it hurts.

Pulling my face out I gasped for air, wet hair dripping from my face as the stinging of my numbed bruise slowly returns, without giving it a chance I dunk my head in again. The cold water starting to feel suffocating.

'It's going to be a long night.'