𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐈𝐑! ❀ 𝐊. 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐀𝐌𝐈 [ˢʰᵒʳᵗ ˢᵗᵒʳʸ]

④ 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧

"Hi, friend."

When Kimika's eyes shot open, they were met by those gorgeous golden irises.

The girl quickly stood from her curled-up position on the ground and took a few steps back. She hadn't expected the young boy any time soon. It'd been two days since her episode, and her first training session was due today, but it wasn't for a few more hours.

So why was he here?

"I heard about what happened." Hawks didn't even bother coming closer to her. He stood by the now-closed door to her empty room. She was grateful he'd learned his lesson last time. He tilted his head to one side. "Are you okay?"

Kimika nodded in response to his question. In truth, Kimika was. The fires in her mind were still raging with no signs of stopping, but thanks to Sasaki's explanation, she concluded that it was the effect of her Void being too full. She tried to remind herself that it was temporary. As soon as she figured out how to release all the objects from her inventory, it would all go away.

Hopefully.

Dramatically, Hawks let out a loud breath. "Well, that's good. When Miss Fuji told me that you'd gotten all hurt, I was worried for you."

Kimika felt confused. Instead of feeling a pounding inside her head, she felt it inside her chest. She tried to ignore it. She allowed the corner of her mouth to twitch up just the slightest bit: a quiet thank you. Feeling a bit more comfortable, she sank back down to the floor. She pulled her knees to her chest but kept her eyes on the boy in front of her.

"I have a question." Hawks quickly followed suit, falling into that criss-cross position again. "Have you ever talked?"

Kimika was surprised when she felt herself shoot him a little glare. Had that pout really come from her?

Hawks held his hands up defensively. "Hey, just wondering!"

Kimika caved in on herself a tiny bit more. Of course, she had spoken before. Still, she hadn't said much since she came here. She'd simply been too frightened to have a conversation with anyone. There was never a good reason to.

Maybe now there was a reason.

"By the way, do you want to exchange names?"

Kimika's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Was he serious? The government had made sure that any sense of their past lives was wiped away. It's not like anyone would call them by their real names anyways.

"Well, I'm Keigo."

"Keigo?"

Before she could stop herself, Kimika repeated the name, startling both herself and the boy a few feet away. Hawks' eyes seemed to sparkle. He gazed at the girl in front of him with the largest smile Kimika had ever seen. She felt her ears go hot. She hadn't meant to speak.

"Wow! You just talked!" Hawks pointed a finger at her. "You said my name!"

Kimika stared down at her toes, embarrassed. He didn't have to make such a big deal about it.

"How long has it been since you last said something?" For what seemed like the thousandth time, Hawks-- Keigo-- tilted his head like a curious bird.

Kimika blinked at him. Now that she had a real name to match his face, the pounding in her chest was louder. It'd been a long time since she spoke. At least a year and a half ago. Kimika offered him a simple shrug as an answer.

H̶a̶w̶k̶s̶ Keigo stuck out his bottom lip. "You don't know? Must be a while then." He perked up, realization coming across his features. "Hey, wait! I told you my name, now you tell me yours!"

The girl gasped. Why did he want to know? What was the point? For a moment, Kimika considered not giving him the information he wanted, but then she rethought her conclusion. At least one person should know it, right? Maybe then a piece of her humanity would be known to others.

"Kimika."

"We both have names that start with 'K'! Isn't that cool?" Hawks clapped his hands twice. "We're matching!"

Kimika felt her lips morph into a smile that matched his. The fires felt colder now. They were still hot to the touch, but they felt dull. Dim. She liked to think it was all because of that smile.