Block A 「Nishimura Riki」

27

Sunghoon silently placed a finger over his lips, making furtive eye contact with Eiko before signaling her to keep quiet as if she had never woken up in the first place.

There was panicked chatter in the distance only a couple of feet away, a constant overlap of Riki's voice and Jake's voice in a repeated pattern of statement and response.

It was extremely alerting hearing the two of them sound so desperate and serious, but since Sunghoon seemed visibly calm about the situation and Eiko herself was situated in her own bed, she decided not to worry about their situation.

As she let her thoughts settle on nothing for a short term, her own state—in comparison to the one she recalled from last night—caught her attention. From what Eiko remembered, she was outside in the brooding neighborhood. Caged in by a villainous group and overwhelmed by blood that wasn't hers the moment she took a sip from the vial.

Eiko didn't walk home herself that night. It concluded with her last memory being when she had gone weak and more than likely collapsed then and there. But she was in her home, in the same clothes she was in yesterday which was proof that she was at least in her own body, but feeling strangely frozen inside it as well.

She was just consciousness, detached from her very own figure, the control over herself absentmindedly abandoned. Her head throbbed rhythmically, smashing against her skull and carrying the worst pain it could give.

Her eyebrows scrunched visibly and a ring began in her ears despite the talking she could still hear.

"What were you doing yesterday? I'm pretty sure you could've sensed her so why didn't you go?" Jake's remark was blaming though still sympathetic.

"I did. I just couldn't. I would have gone if I could but I just couldn't," Riki entreated, trying to redeem some fragment of Jake's trust. His voice was teeming with fragility. While Jake was still, though noticeably rigid, Riki wouldn't stop pacing or fidgeting in some way.

"Then what were you doing?"

"Jake, just—I can explain everything in the future if that's what you want. But I can't say it now. I know it's not a good excuse but I didn't have any other choice than to be there."

"Then I assume that you accept that part of this is your fault?" Jake murmured, remaining calm but still stern in an authoritative way.

Riki didn't answer, and Jake didn't add on.

"I assume you two are done arguing? What Ni-ki was or wasn't doing isn't important to any of us. Whether it was him or Eiko, they clearly found a way to keep her safe even when he's not around," Sunghoon deadpanned.

"Why do you say that?" Inquired Jake.

Sunghoon propped the vial between his thumb and forefinger, displaying it for Jake to justify his conclusion. "Whatever was in here—though made her faint—kept any attacks from occurring. She's unharmed." The glass clinked as he set it on a table nearby. Sunghoon specifically glanced at Jake before speaking up again, "And I'm sure that you know what it was, relating to the reason her scent has changed."

A vague statement. One Eiko couldn't decipher but Jake instantly did. He gripped onto Riki's forearm, seeming as to drag him out of the room to talk privately but Sunghoon interrupted. "Idiots. Let's pay attention to the one who fainted, yeah? Whatever you have to say to Riki can wait. She's sick."

Eiko groaned, pressing her hand to her forehead to massage the headache away, though it didn't work. Her arm felt like dead weight, exerting so much strength to lift her hand to her head as if her body had fallen asleep and remained so. "I feel awful."