Paths: Changes×Chances

Chapter 3

Knuckle woke up early at 8 o'clock and as soon as he got out of his room he was greeted by an unusual sight:
Pitou was already at the table with breakfast for Knuckle and herself, she even remembered the things Knuckle liked in particular and successfully made her way to the hotel's dining area that was used for breakfast in the morning and made it back to the room

More importantly Knuckle noticed Pitou wasn't wearing her usual clothes, instead of the old short pants and long socks Pitou now wore short pants that were long enough to cover her bug-like knees and short black socks, she was wearing a cyan sweatshirt,not the usual big green one, because the cyan one was smaller and couldn't cover Pitou's jacket sleeves
She was also wearing the hoodie of the sweatshirt which covered the hears and to Knuckle Pitou looked just like a young, 16 years old human girl who was having a nice time waiting for a friend

Knuckle got closer still surprised "Morning!" Pitou began with a cheerful smile, some sadness still behind it, but it was the happiest Knuckle had ever seen her

"I..." Knuckle was speechless by the sudden change "I thought you didn't want to wear anything that wasn't your old clothes"

Pitou's expression darkened but gave a soft smile afterwards "they were too old, they won't fit anymore..."

Knuckle got closer and immediately noticed something emanating from Pitou, she smelled differently...

"This smell...did you actually shower with my shampoo?!" In reality Knuckle was surprised Pitou took the time for a shower in the first place, up till that point wherever Pitou went, the surrounding area would start smelling like the inside of a trashcan, after all, between the queen's nest being made of dirt, the abandoned building, the fact that Pitou would sweat and had also lost something like a liter of blood in the various attempts to kill herself all that in their clothes without cleaning them and all of that for practically her entire life,Knuckle was surprised that plants didn't whither the moment she got close enough (he didn't know about Pitou's water divination test)

"It was the the one with the most pleasing smell" Pitou answered amused by Knuckle's overreaction "anyways I brought breakfast!" She continued cheerfully

Pitou turned to face Knuckle and he noticed all the abrasions and cuts that she had were covered by bendages of every tipe, even some made for little kids, without the traces of blue blood,Pitou really looked human, the only thing was their eyes, gold and crimson and a bit too large, those weren't exactly human...

"Did anyone notice you weren't human?"being the only thing that really concerned Knuckle

"Nyope, no one-" Pitou made a angry sound after that, clearly pissed off by something of what they had just said and re-tried the sentece

"Ny- nope, no one saw me"
Knuckle had heard Pitou talk with cat like sounds but she had never tried to suppress it before

"Is there anything wrong? You look like an entirely different person" Pitou,to Knuckle's surprise, was pleased by the statement, like they had accomplished something

"I thought all night yesterday, and you are right I should stop making every excuse possible to let myself die...so"

"So?"

"I feel like....I don't know...that Meruem would have been happier if I just moved on, actually now that I think about it, he asked me not to despair after his death so I realize that every moment I spend mourning his death is in itself a failure..."
Knuckle up till this point had never seen Pitou talk about the king's death without  falling in tears the second after and more surprising of all he had never heard her name the king using just his name