Inescapable Despair (Song of Despair AU)

Chapter 2: New Area

Jikkō took a little longer than usual to leave her room the following morning. She had never done anything to address it, but even though she and Michio had always argued, she always wanted to have something more with him.

With a sigh, she stood up, opening the door and stepping out into the hallway. Jikkō knew she didn't deserve to be upset about this, the people she killed in the past must have had people who loved them as well.

Jikkō turned to see Tomi running towards her, a bit of an excited look on his face. "Hey Jikkō!"

"You just finished harassing Katashi again, didn't you?" Jikkō tilted her head.

Tomi nodded. "Yup, he's so fun to mess with!" He replied with a grin. "Oh yeah, there's also a new area, let's go check it out!"

Before Jikkō had a chance to react, Tomi had grabbed her hand and was dragging her downstairs. Like usual, he wasn't going to give her a choice.

~*~

"Here it is!" Tomi exclaimed as the two stood in front of the newly opened street.

Jikkō nodded. "Well then, let's see what we have here, though I doubt it'll be anything useful."

Tomi frowned. "Don't be such a downer, Tokes! There could be bomb building materials!"

"That's what I'm afraid of..." Jikkō muttered, but didn't complain as Tomi grabbed her hand once more and led the way in.

Before they got very far, Natsumi came into view. The blonde looked them over before a small smirk formed on her face. "How close are you two really?" She asked, tilting her head with a small snicker.

Both made the same disgusted face. "Ew! She's like my sister, that's gross!" Tomi exclaimed.

Jikkō nodded in agreement, before looking down at their still interlocked hands. "I always made him hold my hand when we were kids so he wouldn't run off and get into trouble. I think it's just a habit now."

"Hm, whatever you say." Natsumi looked unconvinced, but left anyways.

Jikkō and Tomi were able to explore in peace, and discovered they now had an arcade, restaurant, and irrelevant apartments. They started approaching the edge of the town, and Tomi stopped, taking a step back. Jikkō gave him a confused look at first, until he pointed to the band around his wrist.

"You can't take it off, right?" Jikkō asked, and Tomi nodded.

"Yeah, it just zaps me more, it hurts." Tomi shrugged. Jikkō's eyes widened a bit. She knew that for Tomi to admit he was hurt, it had to be unbearable. He was very stubborn when it came to that.

"I'm going to find whoever this mastermind is and make them sorry." Jikkō spoke in a low tone.

"You're doing the scary face..." Tomi said, looking a little nervous.

Jikkō only nodded. "I told you before I would go back to my assassination days if someone dared to seriously hurt you. Seems like I might just have to do that."