câlin // bsd

câlin

"I'm scared," she whispered. "Why do you want to know?"

"I promise I'm only trying to help."

She shakes her head. "Please don't make me."

"I'll tell you a secret, if you tell me one."

"Okay," she lifted her head up from where it was buried in her knees.

"Demon Snow was given to me by my mother," she muttered, "I want it to disappear."

"My birthday is on April twenty-ninth."

"That's not a secret."

"It is if you're the only person who knows it," he explained.

"I guess you're right."

"There's a café nearby that sells delicious sweets. Would you like to come with me, Kyouka?"

"Okay."

:::

Kyouka remembers that when she first met Chuuya, she was surprised that a person like him could kill people.

He was nice, with pretty red hair and blue eyes. But at the same time he could be scary as hell, throwing bullets here and there as well as being able to crush a guy's skull with his bare hands.

Chuuya was strong. Kyouka always felt safe around him. She may have only spent a couple of weeks with the man, but still, she felt that Chuuya was someone trustworthy.

She remembers the first time she had met Chuuya. Her mentor, Kouyou, had called him over for dinner a few days after Kyouka was taken into the Mafia. Chuuya had been told to come up to her room and tell her that is was time to eat.

She learned three things about Chuuya that day.

The first thing was that he's nice.

When Chuuya knocked on her door, she didn't answer.

"It's time for dinner," he had said to her. "You shouldn't make ane-san wait. She can be pretty scary when she's mad, trust me I know that from first hand experience."

She opened the door almost a minute later. She doesn't leave her room. Just opened the door and sat back down on her bed.

"I'm Chuuya," he introduced.

"Kyouka," she whispered.

"Well, Kyouka, are you hungry?"

Starving, but she doesn't let him know that. "No."

She's surprised when Chuuya didn't force her to come downstairs. Surprised when Kouyou doesn't storm into her room demanding that she eat at least a bowl of rice because it isn't healthy to starve yourself.

Chuuya had only smiled and said, "If you change your mind, you can always come and join us."

She didn't.

But Chuuya came back—knocked on her door a good half hour later. When Kyouka opened the door, Chuuya walked in with a bowl of tofu.

She doesn't know why or how it happened. But a few minutes later, she finds herself eating the food while listening to Chuuya talk about everything and nothing. He doesn't ask her anything personal. And for that she is grateful.

Chuuya is nice that way. He doesn't force himself upon others. He lets everything come in a natural way.

She learned another thing about Chuuya that night.

Chuuya is like her.

As Chuuya spoke, Kyouka watched his expressions and saw through his tone of voice. As he spoke about everything and nothing at once, Kyouka found out that Chuuya feels he doesn't have s place in the world. Just like her, Chuuya was a wandering soul.