𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝 ペイント 𝚕𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚘 𝚡 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

chapter three: well, would you look at that; a body!

"You attacked him with a damn broom?"

"Correction; I defended myself with a broom."

"A broom ain't a reliable weapon, Y/n."

"How would you know what a reliable weapon is, Yaki?"

Yaki looked up from violently shaking the vending machine from her crouched position in front of the dispenser, her scruffy eyebrows raised. You immediately wanted to bap her nose while simultaneously cowering in embarrassment. Funny how your friend's simple gaze made your emotions lay face down on the ground. "I literally got a knife in my shoe, baba." She smiled, turning her head as she swiftly thrust her entire arm up the dispenser, grunting as she shook it around violently. A rusted bucket of engraved tokens sat next to her bent knees as she pressed her cheek against the recently cleaned glass.

You narrowed your eyes down at Yaki, arms tightly crossed over your chest as you gripped your apron tightly in your right hand. "May I ask... why?" You asked, raising an eyebrow down at your friend.

"Reasons which ya too innocent for." She winked up at you, a cry of joy escaping her lips as she yanked her arm out, holding a dull bronze token in between her thumb and forefinger. "Gotcha!" She crowed.

"That... Looks like a Chuck E Cheese doubloon." You sighed, letting your arms fall to your side as you turned your gaze up towards the ceiling, a frown etched onto your lips.

Yaki hummed, a small smile twitching across her lips. "Yeah, it does look kinda like it. Don't it?" She stood up slowly with a grunt, scooping up the handle of the bucket as the tokens swished about, bronze clinking against the metal. She turned towards you, sighing softly as she bumped her fist against your cheek with a click of her tongue. "Don't be too hard on ya-self, kid."

You turned towards Yaki with a look that could only be described as a kicked puppy gaze, twisting your apron back and forth between your hands. "I shouldn't have just... left him there. Even if I had thought it... was, y'know, not. Real." You explained slowly, snapping your apron around your neck as you pulled the ends down on either side of your shoulders.

"Well, ya did the right thing when ya got me and Isi. Ya could barely throw a garbage bag into the dumpster." She tossed the bronze doubloon into the bucket, as it clinked softly with the rest of the tokens. "Did ya really expect to drag an injured unconscious mutant back into the restaurant?" She chuckled, gently flicking your forehead.

You made a small 'I don't know' noise as you shrugged again, rocking back and forth on the soles of your feet. "I could have still..." You were suddenly silenced with a dark finger that pressed against your lips.

"Shuddup." Yaki hummed, closing her eyes as she tilted her head backwards.

"But—"

"Shh." Yaki whispered, shaking her head. She dragged her finger off of your lips, turning on the heels of her shoes as she sauntered off to sanitize the tokens.

You chewed on your bottom lip, eyebrows furrowing together as you swung your apron back and forth in your hand. Just moments before, all the wild rumors and news reports of mutants, monsters seen in the shadows, glimpses of anthropomorphic beasts that people assumed were all just furries wandering about the city— had all come to light in one fell swoop. You still hadn't mentioned anything about the rat sounding sentient stick figure that you had seen. You still didn't believe it, though a small, nagging part of you knew that it hadn't been a marijuana induced hallucination. And now this injured mutant- no, this person, had spoken to you. You had seen the genuine pain in his eyes and stature. He was real, and you had to make sure that you, yourself, believed that.