The Girl With The Blood-Soaked Hands

[Aka Kuroi]

The sky was painted a warm arrangement of oranges and yellows, the telltale sign of the sun beginning its final descent into the horizon. Aka tilted her head heavenward and gazed upon the natural beauty, the assortment of colors seeming to envelope the world in its comforting embrace.

The girl fills her lungs completely before letting out a deep sigh.

She was lost again.

Situated on a lonesome bench near the entrance of a local park, Aka distracts herself from the impending doom of being lost in a semi-unfamiliar location by watching the sky as it shifts in color. Soon enough, though, the vivid colors will be drowned out by the thick black void of night. With this in mind, Aka blew out another sigh and pushed herself off the bench and into a determined stride. It was foolish to sit around and do nothing; even if she was currently lost, she might as well at least try to find her way back instead of sitting around like a duck in the middle of a pond. Her surroundings were both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, creating a sort of dissonance within her memory that did nothing but irritate her immensely. She would recognize street corners and buildings, but then suddenly find herself in an alley she had no previous recollection of.

What sort of madman designed the city to be this unnecessarily confusing? Was the disjointed design purposeful? Were the construction workers who built this city conspiring against her!?

That idea seemed a little far-fetched, even for her.

Shaking away her far-too-active imagination, Aka roamed the immediate area with no sense of direction, taking note of the buildings and people she saw. It seemed as though she had strayed from the bustling streets and vendors, appearing in an area that was much less crowded but still rather uncomfortable for her. The high-rise apartment buildings signified that she had stumbled into a residential area, situated just outside the shopping district. Aka looked upon the massive buildings with slight disgust, her expression morphing as she imagined an ocean of people cramming themselves into every nook and cranny. Apartments were like sardine cans for regular people.

Made uncomfortable by her own thoughts, Aka turned from the apartments and dove into an alleyway. Alleys were tall, dark, and unsettling, yet unsurprisingly, they provided suitable relief for the equally tall, dark, and unsettling adolescent girl. Breathing in the crisp air, Aka leaned against the cool brick wall and set herself to thinking. '...The guidance counselor said I wouldn't be able to participate in normal classes if I broke curfew again...' Beacon Academy had this strange rule that stated that students using the dorms weren't allowed to stay outside the school past 10:00PM, with repeated offenders of this rule being assigned detention. She had already broken this rule multiple times, though never purposefully.

With an absent heart, Aka reached into her belt and pulled out her scroll to check the time. She couldn't operate the blasted thing most of the time, but it was rather easy to check the time, even for a complete novice like herself.

9:30PM.

"...Hell."

It was not due to the constraints of her limited time that she uttered that curse, but to the current situation in which she found herself. Preoccupied with her own thoughts, Aka had failed to notice the trio of approaching scoundrels with daggers in their hands until they were already somewhat near her. "Hand over your scroll, freak!" One of the dastards demanded as they took a step closer to the leaning girl, threatening her with a grin on their face.

A moment later, a high-pitched scream can be heard from within the dark alleyway.

It was dark now, one wouldn't be able to view the truth of the scene from outside the alley.

[Forrest Waldstein]

As unlikely as it was, Forrest had gotten lost in the city. By now he felt confident to navigate around on his own, but he made a wrong turn somewhere. Forrest stopped to think in order to regain his bearings and go home.

I'm certain it was the street I passed a while back, maybe two blocks ago... No, it could've also been a right turn at the street instead of a left. Hmm... Forrest mused as he stood under a streetlight, which flickered ominously as he pondered his situation. Suddenly, Forrest heard a guttural, terrifying shriek in the alley behind him. He turned around on instinct, looking into the dark alley ahead.

What the fuck was that?! Is someone hurt?! Forrest's mind raced, trying to find a logical explanation for what he had heard. Before he knew it, he was already running into the alley, hoping that he could have the agency to change something in this situation for the better.

[Aka Kuroi]

It was not the sight of a simple mugging or other pedestrian crime that filled the alleyway; rather, it was the scene of something much more gruesome. Two figures were slumped on the cold, hard concrete that laced the ground, a trickle of crimson liquid pouring from their noses as they lay there, beaten and unconscious. The source of the spine-curling shrieking was the third figure, who was currently held aloft by the hands of another, whose fingers were digging into the howling figure's skin. The fourth figure stood out from the rest. They were unusually large, evident even from a distance, as they effortlessly held up the screaming victim. Their red eyes gleamed in the dark, and their predatory focus shifted from the source of the commotion to the newcomer. "...You." A strange voice, airy yet course and aggressive-sounding, echoed through the alley's narrow walls. With a sudden motion, the large figure threw the shrieking figure directly at the feet of the newcomer, aiming to dissuade them from approaching any closer. The looming figure then, with great strides, approaches the newcomer. Her movement out of the alleyway's shadow and into the shattered moonlight above revealed her true form.

That of a distressed-looking adolescent girl.

"Who the hell are you!? If you're another burglar, I'll butcher you, asshole!" The girl cursed as she attempted to glare holes into the newcomer's head, her bloodied hands clenched in front of her as a show of what was to come, less the newcomer explained themselves. "Are these your friends, huh?" The irate girl questioned with a snarl on her pale face, scanning the new figure for any signs of hostility.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest witnessed the display of ultra-violence before him and remained still. The figure noticed him and threw the screaming body at his feet, whose screams eventually were replaced by choking, and then silence. Not that he wanted to, but he couldn't will himself closer to the figure. Clearly, Forrest was in way over his head here.

Go into the dark alley, they said. It would be fun, they said... Forrest thought, sarcastically chastising himself for running headlong into a very dangerous situation.

"I'm not... one of them..." Forrest stammered. His shortness of breath, trembling body, and rapid heartbeat all betrayed signs of unmistakable terror in him.

[Aka Kuroi]

"Then who the hell are you?" Aka sneered as she took in the newcomer's appearance beneath the moonlight, noting the differences between the trio of darkly-clothed ne'er-do-wells and the brunette. It certainly didn't seem as though this stranger boy was directly involved with the burglars, yet that did not mean he wasn't dangerous. '...Suppose if I were an outsider looking in on this situation, how would I appear?' She begins to ponder this query as her eyes slowly disengage from their fixed position and bounce about the alley. The bodies of three adults were strewn about with blood painting sections of their faces with a dark hue of red, the same hue of red her pale hands were currently enveloped in. '...I probably would not be seen favorably...' She figures as she takes notice of the terror evident on the brunette boy's face.

It would be troublesome if he caused a scene.

As she glared a hole into the brunette's soul, the fallen burglar slowly began to stir. She quickly decided to deal with them first. Snatching the thief by the neck, Aka slams them against the wall and pins them in place. "Look at me, hey, look at me." She smacks the burglar's face to further gain their attention before digging into their pocket and pulling out their wallet. "Hey, listen. I better not hear a single damn peep from the police after this, understand?" She pulls their ID from their wallet and taps lightly on the card. "Because if I do, I know where you live." Her threat was clear. "And I'll beat up your family if anything happens." The burglar stared wide-eyed at the girl before nodding desperately, slumping to the ground after Aka loosens her grip around their neck and scampering off with their posse in tow.

That was one problem solved; now all she needed to do was finish the other.

"You, whatever your name is—" It didn't matter much to her what his name was. "—you didn't see a damn thing, you understand?" She demands as her lengthy stride easily cuts the distance between the two, practically looming over the brunette boy with a scowl etched onto her youthful pale face and specks of dried blood littering her cheeks. Nothing but trouble would follow her if this person reported this altercation to the authorities. After all, even if she was in the right to defend herself, she was also completely uninjured, while her assailants were left with broken noses and bruised bones. She didn't even want to think about the possibility of the school finding out; that would surely mean the end of her brief school career.

And that was something she desperately needed to avoid, at all costs.

But how could she assure the stranger's silence?

"...please."