how to be a human being; hirofumi yoshida

vii.

Late in the night, when the hands of the clock were both hovering over the 3, Saki found herself lying in her bed on her back, half covered by her comforter, staring up at the unadorned ceiling. The phone she had been gifted lie unassumingly beside her head, within arm's reach if she decided she wanted to see if Yoshida would pick up in the middle of the night and listen to how strange it was to be awake when the city around her was asleep. Maybe then she could fall asleep, knowing he was on the other side of the call, that he was there for her.

And there it was – the real reason she couldn't fall asleep.

Hirofumi Yoshida.

For the life of her, she couldn't stop thinking about him. The way he held his phone like a complete fool, the way his hair fell so messily in front of his eyes (to the point she worried his bangs interfered with his ability to see), the way his smile was so quirky and suspicious at the same time, and how everything she just listed sounded more like critiques than compliments. But she couldn't help it, everything about him was so infuriatingly attractive.

She hadn't even spent that much time with him, so how could she be so head over heels for him already! It was preposterous and out of line for her brain and heart to both be in agreement of liking such a man. Because of this, she pressed her hands tight against her face, covering her eyes, and trying to see if she could switch her way of thinking to something more attainable than the heart of a private devil hunter who might not even live to see the age of twenty.

Mentally begging herself to fall into dreamworld and escape these lovesick thoughts of hers, Saki squeezed her eyes shut and waited and waited and waited for even the slightest hint of sleep to pull her under. And just when she thought progress was being made – her muscles relaxed, almost as if they were melting into the mattress, and her thoughts quieted down like they were reverberating from the other side of a wall – a loud crash outside her window jolted her from her sleep, sending her on edge as she sat up in her bed, fingers curled tightly around her phone. When nothing followed, she reluctantly laid back down, managing to lay still for a couple of seconds until she remembered she lived on the fourth floor of the apartment building and a crash that sounded like it came from right outside her window should be way more concerning.

And that was when the window shattered in, a large monstrous figure landing in the middle of her bedroom, looming over her with fangs protruding and saliva dripping from its open mouth. Saki barely managed to pull her knees to her chest before a claw-ridden hand stamped down on the bottom half of her bed, leaving shredded sheets and a promise of death in its wake. And yet, despite it all, she remained unafraid of what could happen to her, eyes darting instead for the best escape route and easiest way to keep her life.

"Why don't you tremble, little one?" the devil snarled, swiping again, and missing her by a hair's breadth, "Don't you want to see your mother again?"

Oh, so this was what Makima, and the other Devil Hunters had warned her about – those who would seek her out because of her mother. She was just over sixteen, shouldn't dreaming about her imaginary love life be the most of her worries? Not dodging and running about to avoid being pierced and eaten by a slimy, ugly devil that would never understand why she was fighting so hard to live when her mother was literal ---

"Ouch! That hurt!" The devil cried, outraged, when Saki kicked her dresser in the direction of the devil with enough force to move the creature back a couple of steps. She took this opportunity to run out of her bedroom, through the foyer, and out of her front door, taking off down the stairs after deciding jumping down four stories would be a bad idea. Behind her, she could hear the shouting of the devil as it chased after her, destroying whatever was in its wake to reach her easier. Unfortunately for it, Saki was already halfway down the street by the time it caught sight of her again.

It's bellowing cries of outrage provided excellent background noise as her bare feet slapped against the sidewalk and her attention flitted back and forth between what was in front of her and what was in her hand. Because even amidst the chaos of being attacked by a devil, Saki had managed to keep a firm grip on her newly acquired cell phone and not drop it (yet). Her thumb pressed the little buttons until she found the contacts, then clicked on the first name that popped up without knowing who would answer, just that whoever did would be able to save her.

"Hello? Saki-san? Is everything okay?"

The phone nearly fell from her hand as the devil jumped from the fourth floor onto the street, sending vibrations throughout the earth and up through her feet on the ground, causing her to stumble for a moment before pressing the phone closer against her ear. Her body was admittedly flooded with relief when it was Yoshida's voice who came through the phone's speaker, but it was just as quickly shot full of tenseness and stress when the devil behind her let out a battle roar and began charging at her at full speed. She foolishly looked over her shoulder, her lungs working overtime, her breath leaving panicked and uneven, and found the devil to have closed the distance between them significantly.

"Yoshida! I'm being chased by a devil! Can you meet me in front of the school?" Saki said, her words choppy as they mirrored her current state of being.

"And here I thought you would have a trick up your sleeve to get out of trouble."  Yoshida almost sounded disappointed, despite the rustling she could hear in the background, telling her he was indeed getting ready to come save her. "I'll be right over. Don't die on me, Saki-chan."

An appendage shot out of the dark behind her and cut right through the phone and her hand in one fell swoop, breaking the device into a million of tiny pieces, splattering blood all over the side of her face. Saki wanted to scream from the pain and suddenness of it all, but she had pushed herself forward despite it all, lest she do as she was threated, and join her mother in death.

She could only hope Yoshida would be there in time.

And that she would still be alive when he arrived.