Ink on the Page

Cracks in the Shadows

    It was raining slightly as Yuuki Cognomen walked down the sidewalk to get to their apartment building, stepping over cracks and holes with learned expertise. They were leaving from their late shift at the small antique shop; it was late, and they had an early class tomorrow. They really should have told their boss to F-off when he asked them to be on the closing shift, but they needed this job and the overtime pay; oh well, they've functioned on less sleep.

    The walk to their apartment from work wasn't necessarily long; walking the main streets took less than 30 minutes, and going through alleyways cut that down to about 15 minutes. Going through the alleyways was too risky, and no one cared for them, so many lights were broken or missing. It was just a surefire way to be mugged, murdered, or kidnapped, and Yuu really couldn't miss tomorrow's lecture.

    Living in sage city sucked, well correction living in the lower part of Sage City sucked. The people in upper Sage city didn't have to deal with this nonsense. They were all well off. The streets were clean and safe. The many heroes who patrol the streets swiftly stop any crime that does happen. Upper Sage was home to the Royal Sword Hero Agency, one of the most well-known and prestigious hero programs.

    Those so-called Heroes. They left a bad taste in Yuu's mouth. Sure, a few heroes were in it for the greater good, wanting to help others, but most couldn't care less about anything other than their image. The only time most heroes ever came down to Lower Sage was when they were targeting a high-level villain. Honestly, Yuu has only seen two so-called heroes actively helping out civilians. Though it didn't matter what they thought, nobody cared about their stupid opinions anyway. They were just a powerless teen in a world where almost everyone has some power or unique ability. Considered useless in the eyes of hero society, people either saw them as a disgusting stain, a leech on society, or looked at them with pity.

    They hated the looks of pity when people found out; they acted like they were defective and helpless.

    The loud sound of metal colliding with pavement echoed from the alleyway they were walking by, dragging them out of their thoughts. Most everyone in lower Sage would have walked away, ignoring it. It was an unspoken rule: you don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong, but Yuu couldn't help their curiosity. Peering into the alleyway, they found it wasn't as dark as most of the alleyways in this part of town were. No, it wasn't dark because there was a fucking fire. A strange blue fire scattered around, and in the center was a cat? Yuu was making direct eye contact with the weird cat? Raccoon? Ferret? They had no fucking clue what this creature was.

"Whatcha looking at, human!? Impressed by the Great Grim's power!"

"Terrified." They deadpanned, already feeling a migraine forming. They were starting to worry that the strange regular at work had snuck some of his weird mushrooms into their coffee. The cat thing sputtered.

"Myah! What?! I am a terrifying villain!"

    Yuu stifled a soft laugh at the adorable hallucination. They couldn't imagine the small thing as a villain as he pouted and stomped his little paws. Everything seemed so real. Perhaps this wasn't a hallucination. The little things tirade ended with a loud growl coming from his stomach. Oh, the poor thing was hungry; Yuu knew how hard it was to find a meal on these streets. They could barely feed themself, but Yuu has always had a bleeding heart.

" I may not have a lot, but I have more than you'll find on the streets."

" Huh?"

" I'm offering for you to stay with me; it's not much, but it's better than being homeless."

    He looked genuinely surprised by the offer; Yuu didn't blame him. You didn't often find genuinely helpful people in lower sage.

" You're serious!? You're not trying to trick me, are you human?"

" I promise there's no tricks. I know how hard it is to live on the streets."

" Hmph, fine, but no take-backsies!" The creature declared, trotting over to them, demanding to be carried. The behavior of the little monster was very endearing.

    Yuu spent the remaining ten minutes of their walk listening to the strange creature's Grim's happy ramblings. Now that he was under the streetlights, Yuu could make out more details. He looked like a cat with dark grey fur and bright blue eyes, but his tail and ears were unusual. His cat-like tail ended in a pitchfork, and he had blue flames coming from the inside of his ears.

"Here we are, home sweet home." They said, gesturing to the rundown apartment building, aptly nicknamed Ramshackle by the residents. It was a miracle the place was still open despite the number of health and safety violations.

" Myah? You live here? It looks like it's about to crumple over!"

" Hey, I take what I can get. It's four walls and a roof, better than nothing."

    Grim continued to grumble quietly about it; Yuu carried him up the stairs to their apartment. The stairway was dark and cramped but a way better option than the elevator, which was just a final destination trap waiting to be sprung. They would never take it again unless necessary.

    They opened the door to their apartment, trying to be as quiet as possible, wanting to avoid waking their nosy neighbors. The inside was not as bad as the outside, but it still desperately needed some TLC. The walls were chipped, and wooden planks boarded up the single window in the room. The furniture was sparse, the living room only had a crappy sofa, and some chairs from the previous tenants, and their bedroom only had a mattress on the floor.

    Yuu wondered if this was a good decision. Sure, they couldn't just leave Grim out on the streets, but they could barely afford to feed themselves. They riffled through the cabinet, only finding one package of ramen; it was fine; they've gone longer without food. They set the cup of Ramen in front of the cat after microwaving it. Grim gave them a questioning look when he noticed they were not eating.

"I ate earlier." They lied. That answer seemed to satisfy Grim as he began to eat ravenously.

    Yuu checked the time, 3:00 AM; they only had two hours before they needed to get up again. Whatever, two hours were better than none. They went to bed shortly, followed by Grim. While the mattress wasn't all that comfortable, it was stiff and hard, but the warmth of their new roommate curled beside them pushed them quickly into the land of dreams.