There's a particular kind of tragedy in surviving a deadly battle, escaping death by inches twice in one day.
Well, I might argue that I was never in real danger, at least not against both Hanyu and Haba. Hazenoki, on the other hand, and yes, since now I got the bastard's memories, I also happen to know his name now, was actually dangerous.
Not in an 'I can't beat him' way, but more like, 'If I'm not careful I might actually die,' way.
However, realizing that the greater enemy was never those three, or this annoyingly gorgeous girl with a scorpion tail with me right now.
Nope…
It was my own stomach.
"Alright," I muttered, surveying the kitchen of whatever unfortunate soul used to live in apartment 4B. "Let's see what we're working with."
Not much, as it turned out. A half-empty jar of mayonnaise that had seen better decades. Some bread that was, miraculously, still bread and not yet a science experiment. A single, slightly suspicious cucumber. And — jackpot — a block of cheese that hadn't fully surrendered to mold.
A lesser man would've called this "meagre."
I called it salvation.
I laid the bread out with the reverence of a man plating for a Michelin inspector, because honestly, when your last real meal was theoretical and your current one was scavenged from a most likely dead stranger's fridge, presentation becomes a personal act of defiance.
At least something has to be there to make it appetizing, not that I need that to gulp down everything in front of me including the plates themselves, yeah I was that hungry, but I digress.
Presentation matters.
I stacked the cheese at a precise diagonal — for maximum bite coverage, obviously — layered the cucumber like I was constructing a load-bearing wall, and finished with a mayo swipe so clean you'd think I trained under someone with actual culinary credentials instead of learning to cook through sheer mistake, or should I say, miracle…
Heh…
"And I'm done…," I said to the empty kitchen, holding the finished sandwich up like a trophy.
It was still a sandwich, no matter how good of a cook I could have been, I can't turn that into a pizza, or a burger, but at least it's a nice sandwich.
I made a second one without really thinking about it — cut it diagonally, because diagonal cuts taste better… well, not really but it makes the sandwich look bigger at least.
Once done, I carried both out to the living room where Remi sat curled on the edge of a dusty couch, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else.
"Here." I held one out to her.
She stared at it like I'd handed her a live grenade. "...I didn't ask for one."
"I know. I made it anyway. Basic manners Princess, and you say thank you when someone feeds you."
"I told you not to—" She cut herself off, eyes flicking between the sandwich and me, some internal calculation clearly not adding up in her favor. "Why?"
"Because you led me to a place that had nothing but crumbs left, thanks to someone's — and I'm guessing that someone is you — habit of raiding it for snacks. Least I can do is share the consolation prize."
Her ears actually went a little pink at that. "I don't just—"
"Take the sandwich, Remi. And shut up and eat when someone actually made something for you if you're not going to thank me for it." I waved my hand at her, rather irritably because unlike her, I was really hungry.
She took the sandwich.
And then, with the kind of restraint that lasted exactly four seconds, she tore into it like she hadn't eaten in days. Which, judging by the way her shoulders dropped and some of the wariness bled out of her face with the first bite, might not have been far from the truth. Quick snacks, she'd said. Grabbed on the run, never enough, never real.
I didn't say anything. Just ate my own, savoring it with the kind of focus usually reserved for facing Maki because you never know whether you'll come out alive from that even when it was just training.
And I savoured that too. Just like the first piece of real food I had since last night. Who would've thought fighting for one's life makes you hungry AF.
I just silently chewed on the sandwich and for once after entering this godforsaken colony had a bit of the luxury to relax.
The silence stretched. Comfortable for me, but not so comfortable for her, apparently, because I could feel her stealing glances at me between bites, waiting for something.
A price tag. A demand. The catch that always came wrapped around kindness in a place like this.
Or perhaps my sandwich, well she can kiss my ass, I'm not giving that.
Jokes aside though, I could feel she was uncomfortable. I just kept eating, content, half a world away from whatever was chewing at her.
She lasted about three more minutes before she cracked.
"...Are you sure you want to go after Reggie?"
I swallowed, considered the question, and nodded. "Yeah. Pretty sure."
That should've been the end of it. Instead she looked more unsettled, not less, fingers tightening slightly around the last bite of her sandwich.
"Why," she said again, quieter this time. "Why him specifically?"
"Points, mostly." I leaned back, stretching my legs out. "I need enough of them to start bending the rules of this whole mess — free some people stuck in these colonies, maybe find a way to actually end the bloody game instead of just surviving it one fight at a time. Someone happened to tell me that Reggie's apparently sitting on a stack of points and a nasty reputation to match. I don't see any downside to taking him down, only upside."
Something in her expression shifted — guilt, maybe, or the beginning of it, though she covered it fast enough that I almost missed it.
"You should target someone else," she said, too quickly. "Reggie's — he's dangerous. More than Hazenoki. More than anyone you've fought so far. It's not worth it."
I for a second stopped, looked at her. Really looked at her, right in the eyes which unnerved her even further.
The girl didn't even realize that she was naming the explosion freak by name now when she herself stated she didn't know him.
It's actually funny since now that I have access to Hazenoki's memories and actually gone through them a bit, I know exactly who she is.
Part of the reason why I kept her around, she was supposed to be the honey trap right, luring unsuspecting innocent and not so innocent players to Reggie. It's better to let her take me directly to him, even if it was a trap, than waste hours trying to hunt down his location on my own.
So, why the change of heart, it almost feels like she doesn't want me to visit Reggie anymore.
Why?
I was uncertain. Hazenoki's memories of this girl were sparse; he mostly considered her useless dead weight. Knowing her technique and control over cursed energy, she definitely wasn't a fighter.
So perhaps Reggie Star just needed someone to warm his bed.
I can't say I was a very good judge of character, didn't have that much experience which I could recall to claim anything like that, however, I had good instincts. And my instincts told me that at the core, she wasn't bad.
Seeing her hesitating, I might as well have been on the spot. I couldn't help but let a small smirk appear on my face.
A bad girl with a good heart. Now that put a smile on my face.
But….
"Appreciate the concern, but I've been called someone's death sentence more than once this week alone. I'll manage."
I have to find Reggie. And I need her to take me to him.
"You don't understand—" Remi, a bit unnerved at my earlier stare especially when I wasn't gawking at her body like others do but looking right into her eyes, felt a bit subconscious all of a sudden. However, she reacted a bit violently when I didn't heed her warning.
"I understand plenty," I said, gently but firmly enough that she stopped. "Look, I know he is dangerous, however, I'm not changing my mind, Princess. Wherever he is, that's where I'm headed next."
She went quiet again, jaw tight, eyes dropping to the crust still in her hand.
I didn't push. Whatever was going on behind that hesitation wasn't my business to force open — not yet, anyway.
Finally, with the air of someone walking toward something she really didn't want to, she set the sandwich down and stood.
"...Fine." Her voice was smaller than I'd heard it all day. "I'll take you to him."
"But don't come to me when you're dead, you idiot." She retorted with irritation.
Now that I think about it, in this world, that is a very possible outcome depending on how I die.
"By the way, are you eating that? If not just pass it over. Don't waste food."
Her eyes went to the half-eaten sandwich and then to my own very empty plate and then to my face.
"No way, it's mine."
xXx
A/N : For some reason Remi is kind of popular between JJK fans, I never found her that interesting, but I decided to give her slightly more screen time here.
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