Half-Sight

18 | respite

a/n: it's been a while, but here's chapter 18! we're almost finished.

quick recap — hina and ren suspect that daizo is with bohai in osaka's medicine tower, planning a mass distribution of poison to give power to rioters rising in the city. in desperate need of manpower, hina and ren turn themselves into the police in hopes of negotiating with nobu okazaki, the detective in charge of the case. nobu agrees—but places hina and ren behind bars. he allows kotomi to redress hina's stab wound.

18. RESPITE

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"HINA," KOTOMI BEGINS dubiously. "You're thinking about something very strange."

A embarrassed flush rises to my cheeks. We're in one of the lounges in the koban—glass-walled, with a countertop lined with bandages and ointments as I sit on a wide couch. Kotomi's just finished sealing up my bandage, but the truth is, my mind can't stop wandering to the night I spent with Ren in the bathroom. The pounding of my heart, his warm skin beneath my touch, his lips on my skin. His eyes, infinitely vulnerable as they searched mine.

Oh, Hina. Am I really that obvious?

I stare at her childish face. "How can you even..."

"I can practically feel your embarrassment," she points out. "What? You ashamed you have to get a little blind girl to patch up your wound?"

"No," I protest, "I just...you can't even see my face."

"But you can." Kotomi squints her eyes at me. A rush of lime fills my senses—I realize this is the first time I've really seen her. Her large eyes are the color of black coffee, and her round cheeks are freckled, the wisps of hair around her face more unruly than I thought. "You caved and got new contacts, didn't you?"

"Ren got them," I correct.

"Bet you talk to them all the time, huh? That's what they all do. It's like tech is their only friend."

I flush again. "Actually," I realize, "I haven't really talked to Cho at all."

"Her name's Cho?"

"No, I mean't—"

Prompted by her name, aqua pulses to life. Her voice flows smoothly into my ear. "Good evening, Hina. Your battery is at thirty percent. Turn off for charging now?"

My hand touches the charging case in my jacket pocket. I'll charge it up later. "No."

Kotomi jams the roll of bandages back into the first-aid kit and shoots me a weird look. "No? So it's not Cho? You renamed her?"

"No, I was just—" I tap my temple. Cho falls asleep as I wave my hand. "I was saying no to her. You triggered her," I explain. "Or I did. When I said her name."

"Oh. Gotcha." She pushes the first aid kit and mixes some herbal medicine from the cabinet for me. "So...Ren, huh?"

I lean forward, rolling my shoulders, and lean my elbows on my knees. "Do you know what happened that night?"

"Do I know what happened what night?"

"The night Bunta Shen died." My voice lowers—I send a furtive glance out the glass door, as if Ren might overhear even though the cell is across the building. "Did Ren kill him? Or was it Daizo?"