120 Missing (15)

When they entered the apartment, Kyro turned to the young woman, thinking to start questioning her, but her appearance chased all such thoughts away. As much as he didn't enjoy her presence in his home, he wasn't going to be a monster.

"I suggest you take a warm shower now," he said.

Water was dripping down from her hair in rivulets and pooling into puddles on his floor. Her over-sized clothes were drenched to the last thread, and she was shivering uncontrollably. He'd be surprised if she wasn't sneezing and coughing tomorrow.

The girl looked up at him with familiar black eyes, and he had to shake his head to chase the image away. Even her hair was sandy brown, matching the coat of the fox.

She nodded at him warily, but didn't move. "You know who I am?" she asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

'Know? What is she— Oh!' "Yes, I saw the footage from the warehouse."

For a moment, she stayed still, frozen. Then, as if in slow motion, he saw her cheeks flush red. Their eyes met, and she dashed in the direction of the bathroom like a frightened deer.

Kyro chuckled to himself and brought Lucy to the kitchen. That girl might not be as bad as he'd expected. She didn't have the airs of someone used to playing with people, nor acted in a manner most advantageous to her.

"How are you doing?" he asked Lucy, returning his attention to the important matters.

The cat's fur was dirty and wet. He could also see a patch missing on his back. When he used his fingers to explore that area, Lucy hissed at him and jumped out of his hands.

"What did you do to Lucy? Why is he wounded?" he demanded, instantly moving to the door of the bathroom.

There was no sound of the rushing water from the other side, so the girl couldn't have started washing yet. She didn't open the door, though, just said, "We-we got into a fight with strays… and he protected me."

"You?" Kyro asked in disbelief. In what kind of situation did a human need help from a cat to defend themselves? This made no sense.

"I-I can't… I was a fox then."

The next second, she started the shower, shutting him off. His temper rose at such a dismissal in his own home when he was acting generous, but he soon calmed himself down. There was no point to throwing a tantrum.

Once she cleaned up and got warm, he could question her about everything he wanted to know. There was no hurry in him finding out what happened to Lucy. Half an hour earlier or later wouldn't make a difference.

Instead, he took out some chicken he'd specifically gotten a few days ago and put it in a plate to warm up a bit. Not a second later, Lucy showed up, demanding his due. The explanation that the meat was still cold did not work on him at all.

"Give it at least a few minutes, you impatient monster," Kyro chided him, but Lucy was hearing none of that. He wanted his meat, right there and then. "Do you want to get sick too? Come with me."

He brought Lucy to his bowl, which was filled with dry food. The cat was indignant at such treatment and tried a couple times to go through Kyro to the counter and the chicken, but he was out of luck. In a few minutes, he gave up and ate some granules while giving Kyro a dark look.

"I promise, once it warms up, I'll give it to you."

In ten minutes or so, the girl left the bathroom in his bathrobe. Her cheeks were still flushed, but this time from the warm shower, and she no longer looked like a pale ghost.

She did pointedly ignore him, though. Without sparing him a glance, she walked to the sofa and sat down, knees drawn up to her chest. It was the exact same position he had found her in the street.

Frowning, he picked up Lucy and went into the vacated bathroom. "You need to wash up too," he told the suddenly struggling cat.

He didn't close the door as he poured enough water in the bath to reach up to Lucy's chest, and the cat's meowing rang through the whole apartment. It was so sharp, one might think someone was about to butcher the cat.

'Again.' If there was one thing Kyro seriously hated doing, it was giving Lucy a bath. The whole neighborhood would echo with the loud screeches, and he would end up with dozens of scratches and an unwanted shower.

But it was necessary. Lucy was filthy at the moment. He had clearly made an effort to clean himself up, but it wasn't enough. There was dirt on his paws and between his fingers, his fur smelled of cigarettes, and there was also that wound that needed to be disinfected.

As Kyro struggled to keep the cat in the water, he felt someone behind him. The girl stood in the doorway, her brows furrowed as if she was thinking about something really hard.

"Do you want something?" he asked harshly, not having the patience to entertain her while dealing with the demonic side of Lucy.

The girl stepped forward and rolled back the sleeves of her bathrobe. "I'll help."

He thought to refuse, but Lucy clawed at him at that moment, and he changed his mind. If she wanted to suffer this, who was he to say no to her. With the two of them, this might even go faster, and he would end up sporting less battle scars.