Ciel briefly explained his rough outline for the coming month to his vampiric companion. In accordance with his rules, Rin remained silent and did not inquire further for details regarding his motives to join the Red Tiger Gang.

She did not object either. Of course, Ciel did not care for her consent regardless.

The outline was slappy, made of vague statements and semi-thought out courses of action. When he finished this briefing, he reclaimed his ragged shirt. Replacing it with a single towel he found within the hotel bathroom.

Putting it on, the once oversized shirt fit him a little tight. A consequence of his sudden growth. Then with himself now fully dressed he was finally ready to tackle the most urgent matter.

That being obtaining life necessities.

Ciel had acquired the option of deploying Rin’s abilities, however her current state made deploying it a risky endeavor. An issue he would need to adjust if he wished for her to actually be of use. That could wait. For now what he needed was the obtaining of proper clothing and food without worry that they might be discovered by the NSRA.

He left the motionless Rin within room 11, and began making his way downstairs. Once there, he found that the elderly Neil was absent, left behind was only a small sign which wrote:

‘Checkout at 2PM’

Ciel found the fact that the elderly Neil did not hire an employee to cover for his absence as fitting of his character. Most certainly, many hotel owners within the outskirts surely shared in his frugality.

Not caring for this fact, Ciel continued on his way. Soon he pulled on the heavy steel door and exited the Hazard Hotel.

The moment he stepped through, his vision blurred as his eyes contracted. The shine of the daytime had assaulted his senses, overwhelming them instantly. He raised a hand to shield his eyes reflexively whilst blinking with vigor a few times.

After a while, his vision adjusted itself, granting him back his sight. What welcomed that sight was the view of a bustling street. Just on the pedestrian zone alone, numerous people walked past, their paces moderate.

Many wore business suits of varying quality, many others wore casual clothing which displayed the style of the current time, then a few wore excessive amounts of leather, their bodies modified in unique ways which aimed to express their individualities.

Beyond them, the Personal Motor Vehicles (PMV’s) flashed past the road at contrasting speeds. Some continued down the road, others shifted to diverging ones, while some even slowed down and parked near the spot where Ciel stood.

Ciel found the view a familiar one, however whilst he was certain his old self would be bathed in nostalgia, he himself felt indifferent for it. Far too many things troubled his mind for this to stray its focus.

Concluding such, he tilted his head up. There a new view replaced the previous pure black sky. What was seen now was stone, or more accurately, the earth itself. Bastion had built District 11 last, its construction only possible after a decade of carving into the earth.

The project was seen as incredibly dangerous at the time, however with the help of Bastion’s modern engineering, the impossible feat was done. Down here, the sky was earth, made of different shades of browns. Its surface was jagged and contained massive circular mirror-like structures which emitted the sun’s shine like massive spot lights.

These structures were called Sun-Ray Stations, a revolutionary technological invention which helped illuminate all districts beyond that of the first.

Ciel’s stare did not last long, the intense brightness of the earth-sky simply not allowing for such a thing. Taking a moment to decide which direction to venture to, Ciel finally began his walk. He first passed by the same street he had witnessed upon the slum’s edge.

Its once bustling scene was now entirely absent. No bright neon lights or holographic naked women. That was to be expected since all the clubs and bars closed for the daytime.

It was as he paid a few glances at a closed club that a man dressed in a black business suit collided shoulders with him.

“Damn it rat! Watch where you walk will yah!”

The man stopped his walk and bellowed in a fit of rage, his blue eyes fixed on Ciel’s figure. Ciel spared him an indifferent glance, then bowed slightly and uttered.

“My apologies…”

His tone was low, but polite.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

That was not enough to quell the man’s anger it seemed, however he did not continue to press Ciel further. The reason for that was because their commotion had caught the attention of the passing pedestrians.

No one in the outskirts liked the slum rats, and yet no one liked a bully either. Ciel had reacted accordingly for his supposed misconduct, what reason was there for the man to continue the issue?

Sensing their gazes on him, he clicked his tongue.

“Damn rat…”

He uttered to himself before continuing on his way. Once he did, the eyes which had observed them retreated as well.

Ciel did not linger, instead he continued his leisure pace until reaching the first diverging street. Taking its turn he finally allowed himself to examine his catch. Nestled on his right hand was a black leather wallet.

Although his collision from before had appeared accidental, that was far from the truth.

Ciel reached in for the banknotes, claiming a respectable sum of three hundred seventy credit bills.

Acting so mighty yet posing only this much huh…

Ridiculing the man from before, Ciel discarded the wallet.

First things first, I need a change of clothes…

He was tired of standing out, moreover he was tired of the look which every passerby gave him. Slum rats had a bad reputation for being beggars. In his previous experiences, Ciel had been no exception to this notion.

In fact, it was while doing so to a Red Tiger Gang member that he was first singled out by them. Everything was different now however, he had changed so much since then.

Wandering about, it took him only five minutes before he stumbled upon a small single story clothing shop called:

‘Style Boutique’

It was time to begin his shopping…

*****

Within room twelve of the Hazard Hotel, a motionless Rin sat. Like she had grown accustomed to, her legs were tucked in and embraced tightly by her arm. Rin was a vampire, a royal creature which once stood on as a monster with few equals.

That however, was no longer the case. She had lost it all in but a single night… No, in retrospect, she realized that the decision of what was to be her fate had been made years ago. She felt powerful once, yet now all she could do was hide and make herself small.

It was the reaction of an injured beast which had lost confidence.

It was pathetic.

Feeling herself slowly growing more restless, her inhumanly beautiful red eyes began searching her surroundings. Ciel had left some time ago which left her entirely alone and embraced by the darkness which filled the room.

Rin normally found darkness soothing, however today was different.

She still felt utter terror over what had occurred, of the attack which had wounded her so terribly. That memory had yet to fade even a little.

Today more than anything she wished for a distraction.

Admitting to herself such was humiliating for a monster like herself. That emotion was far too human for her liking… Even so, she failed to contain it. With every passing moment, she felt more and more trapped.

It was as this crisis unfolded within her heart that her crimson eyes landed on an object. It was a white item with a smooth shiny surface which was in the shape of a flat monitor stand however devoid of the actual monitor.

Before her was the projector. Even more crucially, it was her salvation!

Parting her charred lips, her sweet voice echoed.

“Activate… Turn on…”

She was mimicking what Ciel had done to turn off the lights with his voice alone when he exited the room not long ago, however her attempts ended in failure. Undaunted by this, she parted her lips once more.

“Display… Obey… Switch on…”

Her sweet voice continued to echo within the room for a long time after.

*****

“Welcome to sty—”

Upon entering through the automatic glass doors, Ciel was greeted by a young woman dressed in a lovely light green outfit with a red bow around her neck. Her hair too was neatly tied into a bun. She wore a bright smile as she spoke, however she froze mid sentence.

Ciel looked terrible. He was simply far too dirty, far too disheveled to be overlooked. Noticing her startle he donned an awkward smile.

“Hello there, I was hoping I could shop at this establishment if that is okay?”

The young woman turned somewhat nervous as she stuttered out her words.

“Uh… Em… W-Well listen, we don’t tolerate slum’s people here… They, they always try to steal from us so… I’m sorry but you have to leave.”

Ciel shifted his smile, turning his expression somber.

“Oh, but I have money, I swear. You can even follow me around if you would like! All I want is to change out of these clothes, please madam could you make an exception for me?”

The young man’s eyes began darting around in a panic. It seemed she was not the kind which was good at confrontations of this sort.

Why place her at the front if so?

Ciel thought calmly as he continued his act.

Unable to respond properly, it was another employee who stepped forth.

“Lilith, is this rat giving you attitude?”

The young woman, Lilith, shook her head.

“No actually he is being very amicable! He wants to shop and says he has the money but I don’t know if we can let him in.”

“I see…”

Lilith’s coworker, a woman dressed in the same outfit with a more aged face, first spared Ciel a somewhat hostile glance. Ciel did not miss his opportunity and repeated his previous statement.

After a few minutes of discussion, the manager of the store had to be brought in before Ciel was finally allowed through. To his side, and serving as his supervisor, was Lilith.

Hmm, the sooner I get proper clothes the better…

Thinking such, Ciel began his shopping.