Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
chapter twelve
bloodclot
I walked back to the Murder Tower, tennis shoes crunching over the gravel, Tsukasa walking in comfortable silence next to me. The moon was high over the complex and had my surroundings been anything other than what they were, I would have considered it beautiful.
I heard a rustling behind me and felt a weight nuzzling my leg. Turning my head, it was hard not to smile as I noticed that the small shorthaired stray had followed Tsukasa and me.
The blond grinned. "Looks like you have a friend for life, Sakura-chan."
Despite all the dangers that cat could have posed to me in that moment (rabies, ticks, Lyme disease caused by said ticks, fleas. Need I go on?), I couldn't bring myself to leave the poor thing behind, scooping him up in my arms and carrying him with me towards the Murder Tower stairs.
I didn't even stop to think about what my mother might have thought, which would normally be concern numero uno.
We walked in a comfortable silence as we went up the rickety metal stairs to my floor. Few people were out, save for a suspicious middle aged guy in a white tank top who was leaning over the railing, glowing cigarette in between his lips.
I pretended not to notice Tsukasa silently stepping in between me and the man with the cigarette, an action that made my heart swell as I stopped by the front door, placing the shorthaired cat back on the ground, where he started pawing at my legs again as he mewled.
"Just give me a second." I mumbled, struggling with the keys, and then the digital locks through fingerprint identification on my phone.
God, Tsukasa probably thought that I was crazy.
When I finally slipped the key in the lock, I was extra cautious to get inside the apartment as quick as possible, waiting for the cat to follow before I slammed the door, turning the lock before resetting the two automatic locks.
Tsukasa raised an eyebrow. "That's a lot of locks."
"Hope Hills isn't the safest place to be a teenage girl."
"I'm sorry about that. Kidra, right?"
I nodded. "After what happened to Yasushi, I've been on edge constantly. This was the only way that I would stay here alone."
Tsukasa kicked off his shoes, settling himself on the suede couch in the living room, the stary cat following him over and jumping up next to him to sit on the cream-colored fabric. "You're not alone anymore. Look, you've got an attack cat now."
I laughed to myself, pulling off my hoodie. "An attack cat?"
"Hey, strays can be vicious. You know how many scratches I used to come home with when I started taking care of these guys? My brother actually thought I had a girlfriend and that I was going out to get laid every night. Then he wanted her name to verify that she was real because he didn't believe I was looking after cats."
