renegades [teenage mercenary]

011

Rei threw herself onto her mattress upon finally returning to the base, not caring about the mess she was making. It was now 23:17 and all she wanted to do was sleep. Forever.

Sighing, she sat up at the base of the bed, carefully taking her boots off after pulling out her daggers. She placed her bag carefully onto her bed, unsure of what to do with the writhing, feral cat. She knew she wasn't very good at thinking things through but—this? This, she had nothing to work off of.

Taking care of an animal? She admitted that she could barely even take care of herself.

She gulped, realization setting in as she slowly concluded that she'd have to talk to someone about it. Ijin wouldn't have any idea, and on top of that, he was probably dealing with his friends and was most likely in bed by now. Which meant that she had one other person she could turn to.

If only he was here.

Okay. She had to do something. Wallowing over the fact that she was running out of options wouldn't lead her to deal with the problem.

Pulling out the drawer of the dresser, she reached for her bandages and ointments, a set of new clothing articles, and the towel she had been using, and made her way to the showers. She required one after today, and she would be killing two birds with one stone as it would be easiest to clean her wounds with running water too. She might as well take advantage of the showers while she had the chance.

Despite whether or not she wished to stay at the base, she knew that her time here would not last.

She left the room, making her way to the bathrooms a few halls down.

She passed the mirrors on the way to the stalls, cringing upon noticing her blotchy red face and disheveled hair as most of it had fallen out of the braids she put in earlier. Finding an open stall, she gingerly removed her blood-soaked bomber jacket and hung it on one of the wall hooks, her towel on another, and placed her wound treatment materials and clothing on one of the benches away from the shower head. Her shirt stuck to her skin, matted with blood from when the cat ripped her skin through it. It took a few moments to pull the fabric from her head. Once she did, she let out a relieved gasp, tossing the torn shirt into the corner.

She traced the jarring gashes across her arms and abdomen, itching to the touch yet burning as if she just rested her skin over an open fire. The area around the scratches was violent red, swollen fervently.

She huffed. No wonder her skin was so agitated.

It was infected.

***

Hamchan Kang had been working on a report for the past three hours when he heard a knock upon his door. A muffled shhh made him furrow his brows in confusion as he realized that it was Rei's voice on the other side. Who was she talking to? And why did she need to talk to him at this hour? Was she alright?

"Come in," he said, his voice strained, yet trying to sound like he wasn't worried out of his mind about the girl. He tilted his computer screen, bringing himself to his feet as the door opened to reveal Rei. He could only see her side profile sticking through the door frame, her black hair pulled back in two slick braids, which meant that she had recently taken a shower. She only then stepped into the rest of the room after ensuring it was just him.

He rushed away from his desk upon noticing a large square of gauze taped to the side of her face when she turned to him, blanching when he realized that she was carrying something that was trying to escape her grasp.

"Rei! What are you—is that—what happened to your face—why—?"

His mind ran with so many questions as he took in everything in front of him from the unmistakable squirming ball of fur to her bandaged face and the fact that it was past one in the morning by now.