Kai sat there, with a blood-drenched body right next to her. The body in question was no other than Coco, lying on the sidewalk, motionless and in the pool of his own blood. It's been 20 minutes since she called for the ambulance yet they haven't arrived yet.
Her legs had grown tired from waiting, so she decided to sit next to Coco, looking around for a place that was still untouched by the pool of blood all the while finishing the last of the doughnuts that he had given her.
Crowds had gathered around them earlier but of course, after a while, the crowd soon dispersed. Is it because of the fact that Kai showed them her badge or is it the fact that she looks so nonchalant about the whole thing despite her partner's condition? She thinks it might be both but she couldn't care less either way. She just continues enjoying the now barely lukewarm doughnut in her hands.
Thankfully it wasn't long before she could finally hear the distant sound of an ambulance growing closer. The white vehicle slowed down near them and two medical staff hurriedly came out of the vehicle, but really, it was too late. Witnessing the severity of Coco's condition, one of the medics shook his head as he looked at Kai.
It was clear from the wounds that Coco would never survive in the first place. His head had a massive fracture; She could even take a little glimpse of his brain beneath the wounds. Not to mention the amount of blood on the sidewalk. He already expired at least 15 minutes ago.
Regardless, she told them to still take him to the hospital anyway. The two medics brought out the stretcher, gently moved his cold body inside the ambulance, and hurriedly entered the vehicle to head to the hospital, Kai opted to accompany them in the back.
On their way to the hospital, one of them began to check for pulses but just before the medic's hand touched Coco's body, something happened. Instantly, the crack on Coco's head turned into a different wound, one that was less severe. The two staff stare blankly at each other and then at her, with a perplexed look on their face.
She simply replied with a smile but it seemed that it was not the correct behavior as fear started to emerge from their eyes. So, in an attempt to remedy the situation she stopped her smile and instead shifted back to her neutral expression. But was that also incorrect? This seemed to made them even more frightened.
She sighed.
Human behaviors are really hard...
Instead, She decided to just give them a handful of cash and signaled them to be quiet. That seems to get the message across pretty well. On the rest of their way to the hospital, none of them spoke.
Well, I did ask for silence, didn't I? I suppose I should've expected as much.
She took a look back at Coco and saw that his condition improving.
Honestly, it's a good thing I came along... Isn't that right, Coco?
Thoughts of numerous 'pranks' on him popped up on her mind and without realizing it, she had already grasped the knife in her pocket.
A crooked smile began to surface on her face as she contemplated his defenseless state. but recognizing the difference, she quickly covered her mouth. She wouldn't want to further unsettle the already fearful medics. She decided not to do anything to Coco and restrained herself.
-----
Before long, they reached the hospital. Coco was taken to the emergency room, and a nurse handed Kai a pale blue bag filled with his personal belongings. She was instructed to wait outside the operating room.
And so, she sat and waited.
About 30 minutes later, one of the doctors arrives, he firstly apologizes for the long arrival of the ambulance, something about lacking available staff. Apparently, there's an influx of new patients here.
Kai just nodded to the doctor's excuses and asked about Coco's condition; He assured her that his current condition are stable and they are looking at the X-ray result to make sure that everything is fine internally. Expressing relief as best she could, Kai requested they take good care of him and provided them a contact number for the updates and compensation details.
Shortly after, Kai left the hospital, pondering her next steps. Continuing the investigation now seemed ill-advised. At the end of the day, White Raven is a government branch. Proper procedures are needed. And with Coco being out of commission, she had limited authority. The main problem is the nature of the case itself. Is it one that is connected to the Discord Syndrome or perhaps Relics? If it were the former then it wouldn't make much damage, however, if it's the latter...
Regardless, the only person who can answer that is in the hospital, still lying unconscious.
She decided that she would simply head to her apartment and wait for an update tomorrow. before that thought, she decided to take a little stroll around town. It's a rare occurrence for her to have some free time and she wouldn't miss it. She didn't think that Coco would've died when he get hit by the car. At first, she had hoped to simply 'get back' at him for making her wait outside all night, not expecting the situation to escalate to this extent.. It was a miscalculation on her part, but well... When life gives you lemons.
Taking a detour through unfamiliar streets on her way home, Kai hoped to stumble upon something interesting but found nothing new. Before long though, she eventually found herself drawn by the neon sign of a small convenience store she hadn't visited before.
A weathered looking wall filled with posters and graffiti, windows barred with metal frames, almost fully covered the scenery on the inside. Looking around, she started to understand that she was in a part of town that are less... Safe, so understandably they had to install such a thing to prevent robbery and the like.
The sun's almost set; Guess I'll hurry.
She pushes the door and heads inside.
-----
—jingle
A doorbell resounded as she took a step inside.
Pale fluorescent lights painted the store's products, an assortment of food and drinks, only a few are less harmful to the body but all are good for the wallet. The clerk behind the cash register stole a glance from his newspaper when she entered, but her smile quickly dismissed any interest he may have had, and he returned to his reading. A glass barrier on the cash register facilitated transactions, with a small opening for exchanging money.
Glancing around, She noticed that there were only 2 people here excluding the clerk, an old lady and a young teen, each absorbed in their own world..
Walking through the aisle, She began to look for a small refreshment, a drink or a snack, anything really. She approaches one of the fridges and observe the items in it, a few options presented themselves in front of her: sodas, beers, milk. Each she has tried. However, the mundane scene was interrupted by the low creak of the entrance door, accompanied by a jingle. Another customer had entered, though her focus still remained on the shelves before her.
"..."
The store's shelves held nothing but the familiar products she could easily find in any other convenience store. Despite glancing around in a last-ditch effort to discover something she might have missed, alas it seems there was none. Disappointment began to settle in and Kai was just about to give up and leave. However, from the corner of her eyes, she saw something she had yet seen before on any of the shelves at the aisle she had seen.
Mearl's Spicy Chips New Flavor: Death volcano!
Only $0.99
"..."
Her hand extended slowly, reaching for the bag of chips, and she continued to wear a smile as her gaze lingered on the somewhat unattractive animal mascot plastered on the packaging. With newfound interest, she made her way toward the cash register, carrying the bag of chips and plastic bags containing Coco's belongings in both hands. The customer that just walked in seemed to be heading to the frozen food section behind her so she decided to be polite and turned to make it easier for them to go past her.
They passed each other, but it wasn't until after she had gone past them that her brain registered something peculiar about the figure. It wasn't just the way they walked, but there was an unusual sensation surrounding them that left her feeling unsettled.
The faint yet rapid shuffling of clothes reached Kai's ears, triggering an instinctive response.
Without thinking, Kai ducks down, feeling her hair slightly grazed whatever was supposed to pierce her neck. In an instant, She raised her left foot and swung it behind her, aiming for the assailant's head. But... Before her leg could hit its target, the assailant's hand stopped it. As their eyes met, an unspoken tension filled the air.
"...!"
The sight of her assailant had taken her by surprise, an awareness of danger pervades her body. prompting a quick backward leap to create some distance.
It really was the hooded person, A scrawny figure donning a black cloak. Earlier, when she was close to them, she smelled a somewhat strong stench akin to that someone would find in a hospital. One of a sterile environment. A stark contrast to the attire he wears which are quite ragged and dirty looking. Their face was hidden by a white porcelain mask of a familiar face akin to that of an old man with an enlightened expression. movement as cold and rigid as a puppet, the assassin slowly walks forward, clutching a blood-soaked blade in their left hand.
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Wait. Blood?
The realization struck her abruptly. A sudden warmth welled up in her throat, and she attempted to stifle it with her hand, but it's no use.
"...Uogh!" She began to cough up the blood from her mouth down to the floor and with it, a wet sensation and fiery pain slowly emerged and intensifies from the left torso between the ribs. She doesn't need to look down to know that she'll see a stab wound there.
"Ha... Haha." Weakly, she chuckled, glancing at her bloodied hand.
image [https://i.imgur.com/p8B6i6y.png]
Her legs began to wobble and she could hear blood dripping on the floor, slowly forming a pool of them. Despite pressing down on the wound with all her might with her left hand, the bleeding persisted.
A deep stab; did it pierce my lungs? I didn't even realize that they had stabbed me... Must've happened during my attempt at the retaliatory kick..
That white mask... The Lǎo shèngrén. I mustn't let them get close to me again, close quarter combat isn't something one would be able to manage with the likes of them. But, most of all...
I mustn't die.
She knew that with every second wasted, her body began to grow weaker; She had to end this as quickly as possible... Hastily, She reached for her gun and raised her face forward, readying herself, however, the assassin seemed to vanish from sight, leaving her in uncertainty.
At the same time, she noticed that a shadow loomed over her but it was far too late. The assassin had also leaped right after she raises her head and was now above her with a blade clutched tightly in their hand. They brought their blade down as they descended downward, ready to strike her. She can't-
-----
Crimson liquid stains the dirty floor. It was chaos inside, a visible sign of struggle and desperation. On the ceiling, the old lady had been left in a mangled shape, and in one of the corners of the room, the teen missing his head and left leg. The two other customers, mere bystanders became unintended casualties of the bloodbath.
Amidst the chaotic view, a lone figure stood at the center, holding a cracked porcelain mask and looking down on a dead body that was drenched in blood and lying on the ground, motionless with multiple stab wounds and their innards scattered on the floor. Casually, the figure pocketed the mask before crouching down to retrieve something near the corpse.
The clerk, still alive after witnessing how it all unfolds can't move a single finger. Despite the front door, which is so close that it would take him 2 seconds to get out of there, he remained paralyzed by an overwhelming fear so intense that the thought of trying to escape never entered his mind, all he could do was stand still like a statue and pray that the looming figure wouldn't acknowledge his presence. The clerk saw it turned around and walked past the dead body in his direction. As the footsteps grew closer, the clerk's heart beat faster and faster.
'It's coming for me. I'm gonna die!' the clerk thought to himself.
But much to his surprise, the ominous figure simply walked past him, reaching for the front door's handle and opening it.
As the door creaked open, the clerk breathe the deepest sigh of relief of his life. He had escaped certain death.
Yet, the relieve was short-lived.
Just before stepping outside. As if struck by a sudden realization, the figure halted abruptly. It turned around and slowly walked back, eventually coming to a stop in front of the counter. The scenery that showed glimpse of the outside street was slowly closing as the door closed back. Sealing the convenient store inside from the outside world. The figure took out something and put them in front of the counter, fixing its gaze straight at the petrified clerk.
"Let's see, 0.99... right?"
With its head slightly tilted, the figure smiled as it handed the money to the clerk.
Staring at him with its eyes, void of any emotions.
-----
A door creaked open, with lights from the corridor illuminating the dark apartment room. A silhouette of a girl was seen in front of the door, bringing with her a blue bag on her left hand and what seemed to be a bag of chips on her right.
"Phew." She let out a deep breath. Her whole clothes are tattered, barely staying in one piece and her whole body and face were dirty.
Just below the table in the dimly lit room, a shadowy figure popped out. It approached the girl with deliberate slowness, only to be gradually illuminated by the corridor light, revealing a grey cat.
image [https://i.imgur.com/vMOvT43.png]
Noticing them, the girl walked inside and crouched.
She was about to pet the cat but changed her mind the moment she saw her how dirty her hand was.
instead she stood up again, closing the door and walked off, her hand flicked the light switch on the wall. The lights illuminates the surrounding apartment, revealing a plain but decently spacious rooms inside. Returning her attention to the cat in front of her, she puts her hand on her hip.
"I'm home, Kai." With a smile on her face, the girl greets the cat.
The cat with the same name as her, simply meows back.
She puts the bags on the table and turned to one of the door in the room, leading to the bathroom. Inside, she can felt the damp air of the bathroom. her eyes wander to the bathroom mirror that reveals a reflection of a girl that are covered in dried blood. She gaze at the reflection in the mirror for a few second silently. There was no expression to be made. Her eyes staring deep, as if she was making sure that the reflection is that of herself and not someone else. Her hand slowly reaches up trying to touch the reflection's hand but she was reluctant to do it. before it reaches the mirror, she returned her hand back down.
"Your. Fault." Her voice was cold, her eyes unchanging.
After uttering the words, she walks away from the mirror and enter the shower. Slowly removing her clothes and turning the shower knob. As the water hit her face, dry blood began to slowly drip down the floor. her supple body that were stained with the crimson liquid slowly began to clear itself, showing a pale white and spotless skin underneath.
Slowly she opens her eyes, staring at the ceiling trying to make sense of the events of today.
"Earlier..."
Seems as if at some point, they stop trying to kill me and decide to reach for Coco's belongings instead.
An image came into her mind, that of Coco's expression. There was something different in his expression when he came out of that Café. That of unease. But a different one, stronger.
"He must've gotten it then."
She think back to the masked assassin... Back in that convenient store, despite the situation currently in front of them, the assassin refused to escape and instead intended on taking the bags even if it compromised their safety.
Or... maybe it's precisely because they cannot finish me off that they switched targets.
"A time sensitive mission." She weakly murmured.
I was not the main objective. They could've run and waited for another opportunity to kill me, yet once they knew killing me was no longer an option, they opted to steal the bag instead. Then it wasn't me that they after... It was the content of the bag and my knowledge of the content itself. It had to be kept a secret.
"The hit and run..."
The incident that happened to Coco comes to mind. A hit and run, then followed by an assassination attempt.
Can't be a coincidence, can it?
"...But was it really the same culprit?" She thought about it yet again.
Hesitation forms beneath her mind, the hit and run culprit... She had seen him. It was a much elderly man, different from that assassin's face... Or lack thereof.
The old man's bloodlust also suggests that it was personal, unlike the faceless assassin.
"Multiple party?" She muttered again.
Then, the two are not from the same group. They were working together.
Kai thought about the chances of that... But it was impossible.
Lǎo Shèngrén works alone. There are never any cases where they committed assassination in cooperation with anyone. If anything, they avoided outside bystanders, always making sure that it was known to everyone who the true culprit was.
There is still too little information for her to come up with a proper conclusion.
"Fufu..." A faint, weak laugh echoed in the bathroom.
Interesting.
She placed her hand on her forehead, pushing back the hair that covered her face. A crooked smile was plastered into her face. She finished her bath and turned off the shower head, wiping herself dry with a clean towel. The bathroom door opens, letting the steams inside out of the bathroom, She got out of the bathroom and felt a faint cool breeze that touched her skin.
Her gaze fixed on the table in the center of the room, two bags with two different contents.
"..."
She walked to one of the plastic bags and reached for the content inside. A bag of chips.
Her eyes giving zero interest for the content of the other bag. Kai stepped away and headed to the kitchen, not even bothering to humor the idea of checking what was inside the 'package' that Coco had gotten back at the cafe.
"As if."
It belonged to him and besides,
She had a bad feeling about what was inside the bag ever since she held it.
I felt bitter whenever I took so much as a glance at it. Someone put a curse on it. Or... maybe whatever it was, contained the curse itself.
Once in front of the fridge, she took out a carton of milk from it. That's about all the preparation she needed.
"Now then... The star of the show tonight." She grabs the bag of chips and observes its packaging. "Mearl's, huh?" She glance again at the mascot.
Must've been a new brand.
She try to tear open the bag. It managed to pop open with little strength, and a brief stench of spice entered her nose. It was somewhat unpleasant yet new...
She looked inside and her eyes met with ominously red-looking chips that barely filled the bag.
With the carton of milk right beside her, Kai decided that she was ready for what was to come.
"..." Kai gulped as my hand hesitantly took one of the chips.
Without another pause, she placed it in her mouth and close her eyes as her tongue savor the taste.
"..."
"....."
"........?"
It's not spicy at all...