Ruiko

The girl rushed forward first, tackling Sekai down and covering his mouth with her hand to prevent him from calling out.

“Sorry…I can’t be found!” The girl stated,

Immediately, Sekai saw the girl raise her fist, and that’s when he noticed it, a splotch of red on her hospital dress.

In a last ditch effort, Sekai jabbed at it, causing her to recoil in pain and release her grip on him. She recoiled back.

“Wait!” Sekai said quickly, standing up. “Just…wait.”

Thinking quickly, Sekai grabbed a packaged set of crackers. They had fallen to the dirt, but the packaging had kept them good. He’d tentatively open them, kneeling in front of the girl, who was still watching him with wary eyes.

“You were looking for food right? I don’t know who you are, why you’re dumpster diving, or how you got that injury…” Sekai continued,

“But this is probably much better than whatever moldy things you might find in there.” He handed her the cracker package.

The girl tentatively took them, and scooted up against the wall to eat.

“We should get you to a hospital…” Sekai stared at her wound, but the girl quickly froze in place.

“No hospitals.” She said resolutely,

“But that wound…!”

“I said I don’t want to go to the hospital!” The girl raised her voice, and the dumpster nearby vibrated ominously.

Sekai sighed, “...Fine. No hospitals.” He raised his hands up in defeat. “Do you have anywhere to go?”

The girl looked at the ground, and Sekai pinched the bridge of his nose. “So you don’t want to go to the hospital despite the fact you’re actively bleeding out, and you have nowhere to go?”

The girl pulled her face to her knees, muttering once again: “No hospitals…”

Sekai thought for a moment, really thought. “Well - the first thing is that we need to get that wound patched up.”

‘My house is within walking distance…no, that’ll take too long. I’ll try the School Nurse.’ Sekai resolved,

“Stay here. I’ll be back.” Sekai ran around the corner, as the girl didn’t even respond, still clutching the wound.

⸻

Sekai ran over to his table, and grabbed his backpack.

“Sekai?” Antei cocked her head curiously,

“Sorry…uh - I need to go!” Sekai quickly departed inside, leaving his three friends in confusion.

“What got in his pants?” Hokura questioned aloud, and the other two could only shrug as they watched their friend rush off.

⸻

From the lunch area, Sekai rushed to the nurses office.

‘She’s out for lunch…good.’ Sekai nodded. Ignoring the fact he had little to no idea how to administer first aid, he grabbed whatever he thought he might need.

‘Antiseptic? That reduces the chances of infection right? I guess I’ll take it. Gauze? Definitely want that.’

Before long, Sekai realized he’d hijacked most of the infirmary’s equipment.

And then he paused, and really started to think.

‘Hang on…I just found this girl dumpster diving and now I’m committing theft for her sake?’ Sekai was almost frozen in thought, and then sighed.

“Well…I suppose it’s just the cooler thing to do.” Sekai said to himself. Despite the gravity of the situation, Sekai couldn’t help but feel…giddy, somehow. This whole situation was just so...exciting for him.

‘Maybe she’s a foreign princess being chased by an evil terrorist group. Or a knightess from another world!’ Sekai’s imagination began to run wild as he moved with renewed purpose.

⸻

As the girl finished the last of the crackers, Sekai snuck back towards the dumpster, carrying his school bag filled with medical supplies.

“Alright, so what do you want to do?” Sekai questioned,

‘Wait - should I have saved that line?’ Sekai asked internally, ‘Oh man, I’m not very good at this protagonist stuff…’

“I…don’t know.” The girl stated,

“Ah,” Sekai waved the question away, “Don’t worry about it. Can you lift your shirt?” Sekai asked, looking at the instructions on a bottle of antiseptic.

“L-lift my shirt!?” The girl asked questioningly, stammering over her words as she wrapped her arms around herself.

“I need to apply this antiseptic and stuff…” Sekai explained, and after a few awkward seconds, the girl lifted up her hospital dress, exposing the wound.

Sekai then proceeded to do a very clumsy and unskilled attempt at first aid. Wasting a cotton ball by putting too much antiseptic, the girl winced as he cleaned out the wound with a fresher and less damp one.

“So…what’s your name?” Sekai asked as he wrapped the gauze around her waist.

“...Ruiko.” Ruiko stated after a few moments of silence, wincing slightly as he wrapped the wound in gauze.

“Just…Ruiko?” Sekai pressed, and the girl nodded.

“I don’t remember my parents, or family name.” Ruiko said to him,

Sekai finally finished applying the gauze, and genuinely looked at the girl. Despite her disheveled appearance, the girl looked amazing. Her messy silver hair caught the sunlight and her eyes seemed to reflect a million colors, only to culminate in a bright silver. Her face was dirty, but somehow maintained a soft and unblemished look.

However, arguably her most distinctive feature were her snowy white horns, which poked out from beneath her hair.

“Are those real?” Sekai blurted out, he said it without thinking, and quickly bit his tongue, recognizing his own rudeness.

Noticing his curiosity, Ruiko touched them self-consciously. “Yes…are they…weird?”

“Not at all.” Sekai said quickly, “I’ve just…never seen someone with horns.”

“Because no one else has them.” Ruiko deadpanned, “I don’t think humans are normally born with horns.”

“Fair enough.” Sekai sighed,

“I cleaned up the injury and stopped the bleeding…I think…but I’m not a doctor.” Sekai scratched his head, “But…my dad is a surgeon.”

“Why would I need a surgeon?” Ruiko cocked her head curiously,

“Maybe there’s still something in the wound…I don’t know.” Sekai shrugged, the boy sighed. He had no idea how to handle this situation.

“I need to get you home.” Sekai resolved, “At best, we can’t keep hiding behind a dumpster.”

Ruiko nodded, at this point, she was willing to try anything if it kept her away from Serpentine, even following this strange boy home.

⸻

“Captain, she’s on the move.” A man in a van reported,

“Tap into the local cameras.” Another older man ordered, without the ski-mask, his features were far more clear. He had a beard and a middle aged face that wouldn’t be out of place on the head of a tired salaryman, his body was different. He was tall and well-built, something clearly gained from years of training.

The man stuck a cigarette in his lips before lighting it and inhaling deeply.

“Well?”

“She seems to be leaving from Kotono High School, and she has an accomplice.” The operator stated,

“Oh?” The man exhaled a smoke cloud as he leaned forward into the screen, sure enough, a high-definition picture came up of a raven-haired boy, shielding Ruiko with one hand as he held a phone with another, seemingly dialing a number.

“Ruiko…you stupid girl, just who have you gotten roped into all of this…?”

“What do you want us to do?” The operator asked,

“Find out who the kid is, that’s what I ‘want you to do’. Find out who he is, and if he’s a threat or not.”

“Yes sir!”

⸻

Leading Ruiko by the shoulder, Sekai was frantically dialing Antei’s number, after a few tense moments, she picked up.

“Sekai?! Where are you?!” She hissed through the phone,

“Listen I…” Sekai began explaining, but paused after seeing Ruiko shake her head.

Inhaling, Sekai faked a deep hacking cough, “Sorry…I was feeling sick…I went to the nurse and they sent me home.”

“...Oh…alright.” Sekai could hear the disbelieving tone in her voice, but she didn’t pry.

“Yeah…tell Fereda-Sensei I went home early.” Sekai said,

“Alright, I will.” Antei said reluctantly,

Sekai nodded, quickly thanking her before hanging up.

“Thank you.” Ruiko thanked Sekai,

“I can’t hide you forever, my mom stays at home so…we’ll need to explain your existence at least to my parents.” Sekai stated,

Ruiko thought for a moment, “I…” Ruiko looked down, “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure it’ll work out!” Sekai stated,

⸻

“So you find this girl injured in the back of your school, and decide to listen to her about not going to a hospital? And you expect this to all somehow work out?” Mrs. Kaeru was rightly displeased, to put it mildly, with her son's behavior.

“But she really needed help - what if someone is after her? She was injured after all!” Sekai tried to appeal, but Mrs. Kaeru was having none of it.

“All the more reason you should’ve taken her to the hospital! Not attempt a bogus stitch-up job and bring her home!” Mrs. Kaeru rubbed her forehead in stress as she chastised her son.

“Listen Miss…”

“Ruiko, ma’am.”

“Miss Ruiko, you’ve gotten Sekai involved in something…very dangerous. I suggest you go to a hospital, get that looked at, and go to the police.”

“The police work for them.” Ruiko said simply,

“...what?”

“They pay the police.” Ruiko reaffirmed, and Sekai folded his hands as if to say: “See?”

“O-okay…!” Mrs. Kaeru started to show additional signs of stress, pinching the bridge of her nose, before suddenly standing and dragging Sekai off, Ruiko watched the duo go with an expression of confusion on her face.

⸻

Out of earshot from Ruiko, Mrs. Kaeru turned to her son:

“Are you aware you might’ve brought a criminal into our home?” Mrs. Kaeru said in frustration,

“...” The phrase genuinely stopped Sekai’s heart cold. He’d gotten so wrapped up in his own heroic fantasies that he’d didn’t take the time to genuinely sit and think about the situation.

A wounded girl behind a dumpster, a clear distrust for the police, all of the facts pointed towards it.

“Oh.” Sekai looked down, “I didn’t…”

“You didn’t think.” Mrs. Kaeru stated, “Honestly…you remind me of your father,” She said exasperatedly,

She was about to continue, when Sekai saw a black van pull up to the house out of the corner of his eye.

“I don’t think those are police…”