[ARC 7: 21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN]
[September 1st, 2018]
Dr. Rosenthal had been the highest-rated doctor in Greenstale for ten years, though a negative review still stung. Despite his best efforts, he still hadn't breached 4.7 stars; most recently, on account of a patient who'd tried for opioids and found him stubborn.
He sighed and stepped out to the lobby, secretary already gone for the night, television still on.
"- in the tragic death of Urasaria East student, Gregor Durant…"
He watched it for a while, thinking of that face who'd signed up to protect their country. Here he was dealing with addicts. He had no shame in that he'd never signed up for Urasaria, but he knew deeply the guard at the local Revenant storage facility and could easily coerce him in to a different kind of help.
◆◆◆
[October 21st, 2019 - Monday]
Atori's illusions hadn't found anything in the tower, and Mia kept Akira out of her mind, knowing she'd be stronger the next time he showed. Aimee's leaving had been painful, though she had the comfort of her being home for Christmas - and the punk's antics. She'd tried her best to lighten with Serena, who'd brought back shittalking & cartoonish levels of violence.
That night, the two had cornered a man in to an alley, and as streams of black fog filled his ears -
- his head exploded like a crimson water balloon, leaving a laughing Mia&Serena.
"What was it that time?" said Mia, taking her tablet out to scan.
"Helium." laughed Serena, having grown creative on it. "I thought he'd die from oxygen loss. Guess that's the pressure."
"Apparently." said Mia, and her scarabs showered the two blood-drowned women. "Scan for… Revenant, and -"
" - error." stated her tablet, and she sighed.
"What's up?" said Serena.
"It's - one second." She set an ice scarab to clean the scanner's lens, fire scarab drying their hair&clothes. "… ah, there. Another for both of us."
"Sweet." chimed Serena, and the two started out to the street. "Uh - what are you at now?"
"After last month, it should be…" She tapped another tab. "… #39 - and you, #63 - already." She smiled, starting to feel proud.
"The top four are gonna fall behind too, aren't they?"
"Aimee does have a very large lead built up - but I presume so." murmured Mia. "Speaking of - she was planning to call me, tonight - so we, er, should head back, now."
"Oh, um…"
The two came on to a corner, and Serena gave a vague gesture.
Mia laughed. "You're still buying those?"
"I'll split half of it with you if I win." grinned Serena.
"Then I'll see you back home. Good luck - let me know if you need anything." chimed Mia, and the two went separate ways. Serena got on her phone to check for a local gas station, and put her badge away as she found one a few blocks away.
She checked the conversion rate as she walked; the dollar's strength took a few thousand off the price. One-star salary - she'd have it in sixty months. Two-star - thirty. Three-star - fifteen. She still hadn't told Mia what she was saving for, though she worried it'd be too awkward by then in their friendship.
'Blackburn.'
Her pocket jingled with sudden quarters. Heartwarmingly, creation Revenants weren't allowed to affect the economy, but were allowed to fill criminals' throats with razorblades, so she kept careful on when she'd buy tickets.
She stepped off the sidewalk, line of buildings behind, and crossed the road to the gas station across. As she stepped inside, the register was up to her left, aisles of snacks right.
She walked up and gestured to the $1 lottery tickets. "Um - three, please."
The cashier nodded. The two exchanged, and as she readied to step out -
" - have a good day, sir." he said, and Serena stifled a sigh. Even Urasaria hadn't given her confidence to correct him.
'Probably should start wearing eyeliner again.' she thought, though Mia might ask why. She stepped out of the glass doors; and as she came halfway across the lot -
- a scream of terror broke out behind, followed by three gunshots; with the speed of light she turned -
- and saw through the glass doors a man at the register, cashier already dead. With no time to waste, she rushed back up the lot, came quick to the doors, and as she readied to breach through -
- a volley of glass bullets erupted out of the entrance, piercing her chest and hands; the pain staggered her back, and as she swept underneath a second volley -
- the glass projectiles curved in mid-air, burst through her back and out of her chest -
- and flew back in to the door, ensuring an infinite barrage and direct path closed. She rushed right, keeping along the outer wall, fog filling her wounds as she ran to the store's corner; fog drawn, she cut around left -
- and filled a section of the wall with smoke; the portal buckled inward and released the clouds inside, distracting the man as she ran along the back end, cutting around another corner to the back alley.
The back-left corner was up ahead, and as it drew within range -
- a stream of fog filled the wall with water, collapsing a watery entrance. She swept herself inside -
- and there, at the front doors stood her foe, thirty feet separating she and he -
- and she sighed as he turned and ran, fleeing out of the doors and slamming them shut behind. Rushing in pursuit, she came up to the doors -
- which burst in to a hundred glass pellets, shooting towards her and seeking her chest -
- but the next scene was instant.
'Blackburn.'
Blackburn filled her jacket as she turned, and as the projectiles hit her back -
- they wilted uselessly inside, and fell suddenly rigid, her clothing filled with spider silk and far more durable now. With a laugh, she began her chase again out to the lot, her foe running between tanks of petrol ahead; and he hurtled out to the road -
" - Outrun-My-Pellets!" he shouted, and in the next instant -
- a barrage of gasoline pellets hit her jacket, leather taking every hit chest-on; stumbling back, she saw him reach the sidewalk -
- and her blood turned cold as she saw him pull a lighter out his pocket. A flick of his finger lit the flame, and it formed a solid pelle; and as the fiery projectile hit her jacket -
- she laughed as her fog repaired her clothes with new leather, leaving the fiery projectile as useless as the glass had been.
"Hey - pellet-bitch - leather's not flammable!"
And with fog in her cup, she ran out to the road and hurled it forward; the man instinctively caught it, and as the cup turned to pellets -
- he screamed in agony as the dry ice inside burned his fingers black. The agony slumped him against the wall, and as Serena cleared the distance between -
" - let me show you what leather -can- do, though!"
- streams of black fog filled his ears with a rope of leather, and the tether coiled around his brain -
- and as a woman might perform a magic trick, she ripped the rope out of his other ear, crushing his skull and brain taut. His limbs sank, and she knew he was dead.
"… ugh." She sighed, dropping the grisly coil. "At least it's another -"
- the wall behind the man began to shimmer -
- and out of the wall, stepped a young man wearing an black oni mask. Serena flashed her badge out -
" - oh." she laughed, seeing his, which read 'TUYUAN'. "Urasaria."
"Urasaria. You got… is it him? Hard to tell." he said, gesturing to the mangled corpse.
A lever appeared on the wall, and out of it stepped the blue-haired scientist, new badge that read 'GENESIS'.
"Where's - oh. Hey, Serena." Yuruko laughed, and as Tuyuan flicked the lever, the wall solidified. "All good?"
"Um - y-yeah." nodded Serena, her crush having swollen over the break. "All good."
"I heard someone yelling bitch super-loud, so I figured it was you."
"Is this who you're always playing DOTA with?" said Tuyuan, and Yuruko nodded as she scanned the Revenant.
"Just gonna put it in for you." she chimed, and as she finished up, the three started up the sidewalk. "What're you doing out alone, anyway?" She grinned.
Serena laughed. "I was buying lottery tickets."
"You're still buying those?"
"Quite a waste." said Tuyuan. "Especially with such a low salary, isn't it? Can't win much."
"She's got her ways." winked Yuruko.
"Er - yeah." mumbled Serena. "But, uh… I'm trying to save up for something super expensive - and it'll take forever if I just rely on my salary, so…"
"A sports car?" said Tuyuan, and the two laughed.
"As if." said Yuruko. "Are you trying to get a 2080 videocard or something?"
"Nah - um. I'll - I'll tell you if I win." laughed Serena, thinking of the only Revenant that cost $50,000.
◆◆◆
The next day, the prodigial mentor&protégé got a call up to the Council of Four's office - now, Jeanne&Nuiko's videogame room. (They had a widescreen.)
"Hey, Mia." yawned Jeanne, energy drink on the table, controller in hand.
"Swarmy-Swarm, and Burning Black." preened Nuiko, chair swiveling. "Here - is - the - contract!"
The two laughed as they sat down while Jeanne didn't, having heard it thirty times in the past month.
Nuiko pressed her tablet over for the two to read. "Someone's been stealing Revenants. What a dick, right?"
"They've been stealing Revenants?" said Mia.
"… Or, close to it." murmured Nuiko. "They've already arrested who's responsible, but they're still missing - and he refuses to talk. There's other information, but I'll send that to you after. That's the main concern..."
"… Right." muttered Mia, skimming it. "…then, the worry is who he gave the Revenants to, then?"
"And that they'll show up." said Jeanne, still Nuiko's assistant. "Twelve got stolen - but, uh. Usually they would just wait for Urasaria students to scan it, then show up. He was some guy that worked at a storage facility, so."
"Then, we should head to... Greenstale, then?"
"With another pair." said Jeanne. "Uh. Just to be safe, I think."
Mia nodded; and suddenly smiled, turning to Serena. "Do you have anyone in mind, Serena?"
"What are you - oh, um." Serena laughed nervously. "Um. That'd. I think that'd work good."
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"Who?" said Jeanne.
"Yes, Serena. Who?" grinned Mia, gossip now protege-delivered.
"U-Um. Yuruko and her protégé - I guess." laughed Serena, and the two not privy nodded.
"Then I wiiiilll…" Nuiko tapped her tablet. "… currently fighting. But I'll let them know when they're back - and you can leave tomorrow."
"Coolio."
◆◆◆
The four took a private plane the next morning, sat in the same row, two seats on each end. Mia had given Serena the seat next to Yuruko and was already regretting it.
"Lot of addicts in this town, apparently." said Tuyuan. "Be careful not to get pricked. Revenants don't protect against HIV."
"Mmhm." murmured Mia, checking over what the investigation had found.
"You looking over that stuff - thirty dead or missing, or whatever? Pretty brutal. Been going on for over a year, apparently. Happened around the time that guy started stealing Revenants."
"Apparently."
"Pretty gruesome photos, though. Supposedly, last time - someone was crying in rehab, and their entire body just got shredded. Not in the working out way, either."
"I - know. I saw the photos." muttered Mia.
"Pretty ironic, though. I've dealt with addicts before. My brother - opioids. Pain in the ass. If they're just targeting them…" He yawned. "… well, guess we -have- to find him, anyway. Or her."
"Mmhm."
"Bathroom." muttered Tuyuan, squeezing out to the aisle and heading back. Mia waited until he was gone to groan.
"Yeeep." chimed Yuruko, glancing over from the other side. "Real pleasant. Real sunny outlook."
"He's always like this, then?" said Mia.
"Yeah." Yuruko shrugged. "I dunno. I only call him out for fights. He's usually pretty blunt."
"Maybe he has autism." murmured Serena, and autistic Yuruko cracked up.
"The 'tism." preened Yuruko. "You wanna pair up with him, Mia?"
She saw Serena's eyes turn puppy behind Yuruko.
"For - the first day." Mia sighed. "We do need to get an idea of the town, I suppose."
"Coolio." grinned Serena.
◆◆◆
The moon was rising by the time the four arrived, and Mia was silently grateful to finally be visiting a nicer area, if not for the gated neighborhoods. Serena had made a joke on the use of a trimmed lawn if the gates were closed (that Yuruko had turned sexual).
And with Mia&Tuyuan on the other end of town and trying to find a hotel, Yuruko&Serena finally had their fast-food, eating fried chicken at a table outside the establishment, sidewalk adjacent.
"Soda." chimed Yuruko, and Serena refilled it.
"This really is way better than Odyssey." laughed Serena. "Free refills - free quarters. Don't even have to buy drinks anymore."
"Yep - and free knives." grinned Yuruko. "Your uh, mom bought it for you, didn't she? Odyssey."
Serena nodded. "Yeah. Um - she... She kinda figured it'd be easier if I had a Revenant - for me to get a job and stuff, so…"
"And all at the low cost of risking your life every day." preened Yuruko, and the two laughed. "Yeah. That makes sense, though. I got born with mine, and -" - she laughed - " - my dad, when it first showed up, when I was - like twelve or something - he was super proud."
"Because he's a chemist?"
"Yep." grinned Yuruko. "Perfect proton-manipulating daughter. I think I accidentally turned my milk in to water - or something."
"Could've been water to wine." chimed Serena, and Yuruko winked as she tapped her 'GENESIS' badge.
"That's why I chose that name."
A pause.
"…nah, don't lie. You chose it because of Evangelion." The two laughed knowingly. "What's, uh - what's Tuyuan's Revenant, anyway?"
"His? Oh, it's under -" - Yuruko laughed. "Sorry, I keep forgetting you can't look it up. It lets him place these levers that control… corporeality, basically. It's named Ethereal."
"Decrepify?" chimed Serena, and the two grinned at the reference.
"Uh, or Ethereal Blade. Duh." laughed Yuruko. "Still, he's pretty… I dunno. Got unlucky with my mentor, got unlucky with my protege."
"Your mentor sucked, too, you mean?"
"Yeah. My former mentor was… ugh, I dunno." Yuruko shook her head. "This - isn't really good for conversation. Um - sorry. Let's talk about something else."
Her words stung Serena for a second, but her smile healed it. A single word out of place could shoot her chance, especially when Yuruko still didn't know. In highschool, Serena had felt less awkward around girls who simply thought she was gay, but around adult women she was still nervous. (Granted, she was also emo back then.)
"U-Um - sorry, yeah." nodded Serena. "…oh, um. Did you catch the grand finals Saturday? The Major?"
"The - wait, that was Saturday?" winced Yuruko. "No, I had to go -"
- her phone vibrated in her pocket, and she stifled a sigh as she took it out she took it out.
"- uh, sorry." Yuruko smiled, pressing her phone back in. "But yeah, I didn't catch it."
"I wouldn't mind rewatching it."
"Sounds good." said Yuruko, and her words sent Serena's heart skyward. "Did you hear about, uh, Yapzor getting arrested?"
"His Rubick was too good to be true." muttered Serena, relevantly, and the two laughed.
"Yeah. They're gonna remove his Revenant and - is that a fucking walking tree?"
The two shot to their feet and turned -
- and there, walking down the sidewalk, was a fucking walking tree. The women stood stupidly for an instant, and as it made like a figure of speech towards them -
" - run!" shouted Yuruko, and the women rushed out on to the sidewalk and fled, running along the line of businesses, corner up ahead and vegetation in pursuit behind. Few could match its speed, and as it caught up to the two -
- a sweep of its branches cleaved Serena's back, and as she turned, a second swipe sought her neck -
- that caught only air as she swept underneath -
" - Blackburn!"
A stream of fog appeared around her arm -
- and burst in to flames. She shrieked as she stumbled back, second stream filling the fire with water, and as a third swipe caught her jacket's sleeve -
- Yuruko yanked her with the speed of light away, tree taking Serena's jacket off as the women rushed back and away, the punk with traditional tanktop on.
"Gotta be - maybe - what were you trying to do?" panted Yuruko.
"That's - my favorite jacket! - gasoline to light it on - maybe it's temperature?" shouted Serena.
The corner was just ahead, and they reached it quick, hurtling around to another sidewalk, the beast growing in speed behind, park entrance up ahead and left.
"Lemme test - Medicinal!" shouted Yuruko, and a piece of paper formed in her hands. She threw it back to the tree -
- and groaned as the paper flew away. A second sheet of paper, and she crumpled it before throwing it; and as the ball of paper hit the tree -
- the paper burst in to flames, and she nodded. A throw of a rainbow-colored stone behind, and as it hit the branches branch-on -
- the bismuth began to melt, and the chemist nodded as they kept down the sidewalk, park entrance ten seconds ahead&left, winding path through the trees within.
"Okay, it's below a thousand for flammable - fill it with magnesium if it comes again, okay? It - must ignite it, but -" said Yuruko, and they came to the park's entrance -
" - uh, why is it stopping?" said Serena, and they turned -
- and bizarrely, the tree had stopped over one casual crack in the sidewalk, crouching down and over.
"It's… not the edge of its range, is it?" winced Yuruko. "I figured they'd - the host must be in a park - but -"
- and as if on cue, the beast rose to life again, starting in pursuit again; inside the park the women swept and rushed, on to the main path, grass flanking them as they ran - but they had no time to rest.
Beside the path, the vegetation began to rumble; and out of the dirt burst the grass, freed from their lofty containment, roots for legs as they stood, a green army now surrounding the women -
" - Blackburn!" shouted Serena, and as the literal blades of grass sought their ankles -
- a wild and hasty spray of fog around, filling the grass with helium gas -
- and the two laughed as the green army was blown skyward, exploding in to hundreds of chunks of green gore above, the pressure too much for their puny grass bodies.
"Coolio." grinned Yuruko; but they had only won the battle, not the war.
Behind, the true beast had reached the park entrance, enormous roots hurtling vegetative body along at wooden gait, and as it drew within range -
" - Blackburn!"
- a flash of fog filled the dirt around with water, and the tree changed paths, running off the path and on to the nourishment now, crouching over and readying to drink distracted.
"Coolio." chimed Serena, but in the next instant -
- the entirety of the waterlogged dirt turned to steam; the path underneath began to collapse, and as the dirt threatened to swallow them alive -
" - Medicinal! Jump!"
- and as they had the last month, the two jumped as Yuruko kicked below Serena, platform of stone forming as the ground collapsed below, swallowing dirt in its wake; and down the beast fell in to the sudden vortex, trapped and out of range below.
"I - what?" panted Serena. "Doesn't it like water?"
"…I thought so too, but… " Yuruko's lips pinched, safe on her perch. "… Eh. Revenants are weird. Whatever."
Knowing Revenants were weird, or whatever, the two started their run again, stone forming underneath Yuruko's boots as she took the lead. The path ahead veered sharp left, and they followed across it the same -
- and there, a hundred feet separating them and she, a woman on a park bench ahead, trees flanking beside. With no time to waste, the women surged forward, and as she caught sight of the two -
- fear filled her eyes, shooting desperately to her feet -
"Blue Revolver!" she shouted -
- and all around them, the forest burst to life, standing like true oaks as a true army enlisted. Yuruko pressed Serena back as she ran ahead, and as the army stormed the bridge -
- a series of green clouds erupted from both sides of the bridge, black fog filling the slits Yuruko had left for Serena -
- and the green army fell dead and defeated, corroding and wilting as the herbicide claimed their branches and leaves. Path cleared, Yuruko was only fifty feet away now, and she leaped upon the woman below -
- and the two combatants hit the ground fighting; but none could stand against the chemist.
"Drink up, tree-lover!" shouted Yuruko, throwing her hand around the woman's mouth -
- and even Serena winced as the woman's neck dissolved from the inside-out, having drank every last drop of Yuruko's acid. Yuruko winced as she shoved the corpse off of her, rising up careful as Serena came down.
"…man." muttered Yuruko, eyes rueful on the carcass. "Don't usually get that close."
"This is like that time I sterilized that chick." muttered Serena, and the two grinned.
"Still." laughed Yuruko, crouching over the corpse and readying for an incision. "If we can check whether it's -"
- she tapped the corpse's heart -
- and her acid corroded a clear hole through, leaving no Revenant. She sighed, having forgotten to neutralize.
"Little too strong?" said Serena, and Yuruko laughed, baking soda dripping off her fingertips.
"Yeeaaah. No worries, though. I'll just call up Nuiko, get her to add it manually. We're…" She shrugged. "Mostly here to deal with the Revenants, anyway."
"Yeah." nodded Serena. "Um, do you have any wounds?"
"Nah." said Yuruko, shaking head. "All good. Let's go get your jacket back."
The two laughed. Yuruko liked Serena, as she was about the only person who dove to the depth of her interest in videogames & anime, and she didn't have to deal with the romantic expectation men usually had with that; though she was still bisexual, if only because she did tend to get along better with men than women. Often with Serena, she did not have to dull herself.
◆◆◆
The four met back in their hotel lobby, and Serena got her jacket back. Yuruko&Tuyuan would stay on the first floor, and Mia&Serena the third.
"The Revenant was destroyed, then?" said Mia, and Yuruko nodded.
"Yeah. Accidentally did it - acid went a bit too strong, but." She shrugged. "I checked over the list they gave us, and it didn't mention any ability like that, so. Probably wasn't one of the ones stolen anyway."
"We didn't find anything, either." muttered Tuyuan. "Lotta those homeless spikes in this area, though."
"Homeless spikes?" said Serena, and Mia sighed.
"They're meant to keep the homeless from sleeping on benches."
"Yep." yawned Tuyuan. "Least we're in a nice area. Don't have to deal with those types of people."
The others paused for a second, but decided not to press.
"Regardless." murmured Mia. "We should rest."
"Especially after that grease." murmured Serena, fried bird filling her stomach.
Yuruko&Tuyuan nodded, and the scientist led the way down the hall ahead. Serena took a deep breath before following Mia to the elevator right, and they didn't speak until the doors closed.
"So. How has your crush gone?" grinned Mia, and Serena's cheeks filled with laughter.
"Uh, pretty good, I think. Um. We talk every night - and she said…" She smiled. "She said I'm the only chick she knows who's really in to what she likes, so, I…" Serena took a deep breath. "I-I think I'm gonna do it. A-Actually. We - we had a really good conversation, too, so."
"You're going to ask her out?"
"Y-Yeah - fuck - this makes me even more nervous than fighting. Um. She's, she's single, right? Do you know?"
"I, er - do not." murmured Mia, and Serena groaned as the doors opened, walking out to the hall.
"Um, does she like women? We haven't even talked about that, but -"
"- she attends Urasaria, Serena. It would be a wonder if she didn't." Mia smirked quite homosexually.
"… Do you know if she's, um - maybe bisexual?" winced Serena, and Mia shrugged again.
"You should go ahead and ask her." laughed Mia, amused by the quivering punk. "Before you build it up too much."
Serena nodded. "… Y-Yeah. Gonna ask her um - if she's - yeah - and… I need to tell her too, and…"
"Good luck." chimed Mia, and the protégé set back down.
◆◆◆
A knock came at Mia's door an hour later. She opened it -
- and in came Serena, quivering face and red eyes.
"S-She has a f-fucking -" - she went to her bed, hands wiping her eyes as Mia shut the door - " - g-girlfriend! - alread-y-y."
"...I'm sorry, Serena." said Mia, following the sobbing punk.
Serena flipped over to her back, filling her cup with tissues. "S-She s-said she has a g-girlfriend already, and -"
- she blew hard in to it, and didn't speak after. Yuruko was her only friend who knew now; she'd accepted the first confession, but her face had stopped soft on the second, and that expression was frozen in Serena's head laughing & chiding her for being such a headlong creep. Bits of insecurity chased her and told her she wasn't anything like Mia, Yuruko, Marisa, Aimee or even Kirihara, and that they would've acted better & more mature than she was now.
"… I'm sorry, Serena." murmured Mia, hand on her friend's shoulder. "I'm... certain you'll find someone to -"
" - and she's even bisexual, too." muttered Serena, turning to her side. "H-How am I g-going to find that c-combination?"
"Er, combination?" said Mia, and Serena shook her head.
"… n-nothing. D-Don't ask. I-It just h-hurts." She sat up. "I-I don't want to be with someone else, I wanna be with - her. But I - I can't. S-Saying that feels like I'm feeling... I-I always end up feeling like I'm a c-creep e-every time I find someone attractive -"
" - you're not." said Mia. "I… I - struggled with these feelings, as well. It's common for lesbians, if I understand you."
Serena's eyes went low. "… m-maybe. Even c-crying like this, makes me feel weird."
Mia smiled. "It's - that you're worrying about being overbearing means you won't be. That you're worried about... feeling entitled." She tapped Serena's shoulder. "When I was younger. I had trouble accepting my sexuality, because I felt… that I was - it was difficult. To allow myself to - find women…" She gave a vague wave. "… er - attractive."
"… you mean hot." mumbled Serena, and Mia laughed. "… y-you get that too, h-huh?"
"I did, but you have nothing to worry about. You've never been anything but respectful."
Serena wiped her eyes. "… T-That really means a lot to me. M-More than you know, I guess."
Mia nodded. "I'm always here for you, Serena. As your friend."
She wondered if to say it then. "… I-It still hurts, but."
"Will it matter a month from now?"
She laughed. "N-Now you're really acting like my mom. S-She says that all the time. B-But it feels like it will - but probably not." Her eyes went low. "… I don't know how I'm going to find someone like her, though."
"I'll help you." chimed Mia. "We'll go out for ice cream, tomorrow."
"T-Thanks."
◆◆◆
Earlier, Serena had just left Yuruko's room and she was anxious. Having a good handle on the punk's mannerisms. she knew she'd go back to Mia & probably blame herself for it.
She laid back, thinking about her girlfriend. Hanna lived three hours away from Urasaria East; the two'd met in their highschool's anime club, had started dating a half-year after graduation, and they'd been together for eight months by then. They'd started with weekly visits - and for Yuruko's second year, down to monthly. She had pretended fighting gave her a busier schedule.
She checked her phone, trying not to notice the message from Serena earlier, asking if she could come and talk. The thought that they might stop talking because she'd be a bad reminder forced a tear out. Neither her or Serena were very mature, but they could fill their conversations with niches; something that had frustrated her about Hanna recently, who had replied disinterestedly when Yuruko went on about the nuances of perfect scoring in Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi. On the other hand, Serena had come over to play it with her. Why would she prefer conversations with Hanna?
She sighed and texted Tuyuan.
(Yuruko) "You can come back now."
An opening door answered her, Tuyuan stepping in.
"Did you and Serena finish talking?"
"Yeah."
◆◆◆
Rosenthal had gotten out late that night, on account of a string of patients who'd shown late. The grocery store was almost closed by the time he got there, and he'd only managed to just fill his cart with water, socks and shampoo.
"Dr. Rosenthal?" said the woman at the register, laughing as she scanned. "You're out late tonight. I usually see you an hour earlier."
"It was a string of people coming in late, one after another." he said, shaking his head. "Has your strep throat cleared?"
"A bit." she nodded. "I - uh - was going to take the antibiotic right when I got off work."
"Good." He smiled as he paid. If the praise of his bedside manner was on account of his good looks, he didn't want to know. "Make sure you finish the whole prescription. Has to do with - in laywoman's terms - making sure it's truly dead."
"If you say so."
"I'll see you next week. Call me if anything comes up." he nodded, taking paper in to his cart, and out he went to the parking lot. He saw a woman pushing her own cart on the other end.
He knew the type - blankets underneath plastic bags, empty bottles, probably track marks; and he knew the city's refuse had better uses.