Choices & Chains

Boiled Tofu and Abduction

When she clocked in the next morning, a nice warm scarf wrapped around her wounded neck, she wasn't the least surprised to see Atsushi crouching by the infirmary's door, waiting for Yosano to give them the okay to see Kyouka.

" Atsushi-kun..." she crouched in front of the younger boy, making their eyes at the same level. " I know you're worried, but nothing of what happened was your fault. You don't have to be so down about it."

Atsushi finally decided to look into her eyes, and for the first time she could take in the beautiful mixture of the purple and golden colors of his irises, they fit perfectly together. " I know... I know that but..."

He covered his face with one hand, looking like a lost and hurt kid. " Just thinking about her words..."

She was a victim, much like her, much like him... of course it would hurt. Heck, she was so agitated and angered the previous night she couldn't sleep at all, just thinking about what the girl was made to do. But what made it all worse... Is that we can't set her free. She swallowed as she looked up at the door. No matter how much she wanted to, it was impossible. She alone couldn't possibly do it.

And there was no way she could ask the president, she had already asked him for a farfetched favor years ago, and you can only ask for one of those once.

" You've brought trouble back with you yet again." Hearing her teacher's voice, Kath stood up and looked over her shoulder as he approached them. The look on his face was unreadable even for her. " She's a lost cause. The girl is a well-known assassin. She tricks targets into lowering their guard with her young appearance, then annihilates entire organizations. She accomplished too much, too quickly. It's only a matter of time before she is caught."

" Still..." Kath turned around to argue, her blood boiling at the mere image of the young girl being put behind bars. " It wasn't by her own will! She didn't want any of that!"

" That's right..." Atsushi added in a barely audible voice. " Whoever is taking advantage of her ability is the one to blame."

" Gifts don't necessarily bring happiness to their wielders." His expression was rather stoic as he looked down at the younger boy. " You know that better than most."

Biting on her lip and swallowing her bitterness, Kath tried her best to push back a certain image that was about to resurface from the depth of her memories. Even if that was the case, the girl is as much a victim as any of us who suffer because of our abilities out there.

Yosano opened the door to the infirmary at that moment, inviting them in. Kath didn't know exactly why she followed after Atsushi and Kunikida. It wasn't like she was as worried as the former, nor was she interested in questioning her like the latter. But there was a deep feeling in her chest that pulled her body along, something like empathy. Because she could relate to her, she wanted to be there, to be close to someone who went through the same, and maybe, if possible, even for a while, offer comfort.

The girl didn't seem to acknowledge them at all at first, all Kyouka did was stare up at the roof of the infirmary with nothing to be heard from her but her breath. Kunikida was growing impatient at being ignored that Kath was getting ready to tie him before he could do something to the younger girl. Then, Kyouka spoke in a very little and quiet voice, almost dreamy. " Tachibanadou's boiled Tofu."

" Boiled Tofu?" Atsushi and Kath cocked their heads to the side.

Kyouka's look still didn't fall from the roof. " It's really good."

Ah. I get it now. Kath hardly contained her smile at the thought. The girl was setting a condition in exchange for information. Though Tachibanadou...