What's Her Name?

"Y-yes?" Tris asked, wondering whether she should run away from Kazuichi or not.

Upon hearing Tris's reply, Kazuichi kept his distance as he sat on the other side of the rooftop. Well, the gap between them couldn't be considered significant since they were only a few feet away from each other. Kazuichi could tell that Tris was wary of his presence, but he didn't let it bother him. Even if he were in her shoes, he'd have reacted the same way. At the end of the day, he was bitten, and Tris was just a regular human who feared becoming an infected.

While Kazuichi still felt the throbbing headache, he knew that he was well past turning into an infected. A couple of minutes ago, he felt as if he was on the gray line between life and death, balancing on a tightrope while trying to control the virus running rampant in his bloodstream. But now, he just felt exhausted. Sure, he could still feel the mild effect of the other infection he received from the bite, but it wasn't enough to alarm him.

After tying the Merc and securing him on a rope, Kazuichi threw him by the side of the building, letting him dangle like a caterpillar in a cocoon. Even if he were to wake up, there was no way he'd be able to escape without suffering grave injuries.

Returning to his seat, Kazuichi rummaged through his backpack, grabbing a sachet of animal blood and slurping on it as if he was drinking tomato juice. He felt rather exhausted so he figured he would replenish his energy by eating something. But then again, there was no food left in his backpack, and the rabbit that he acquired thanks to Tris was not yet cooked. He may be a hybrid, but he wasn't a feral beast who would resort to eating raw meat.

(There were occasions when he did so though, but that's only when the situation called for it. As much as possible, Kazuichi preferred cooking his food rather than eating something raw).

Noticing that Tris had been looking at his packet of blood, he wondered if she was thirsty as well. "You want one too?" Kazuichi asked in a teasing manner. There was no way a regular human would drink animal blood, not if they could help it.

"Animal blood, I heard that it's used as a substitute to satiate your desire of biting humans." Tris began, slowly massaging her sprained ankle. "So you really are a Hybrid, I didn't recognize you as one."

"If that's a compliment, then I'll gladly take it," Kazuichi said as he smiled to himself. After finishing one sachet of animal blood, he proceeded to drink another one.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Kazuichi noticed something by the open shed beside the penthouse. He immediately grabbed it and set it in the middle of the rooftop. It was a portable smoke grill, and there was plenty of coal by the shed too.

"Nice!" Kazuichi muttered to himself as he set it on fire. With this, they won't have to worry about eating raw meat.

"How are you still conscious after being bitten? I heard that hybrids who were bitten by another infected would lose all reason and become a mindless infected. And they're especially troublesome since they still have their abilities with them. Why didn't you turn?" Tris asked, her curiosity piqued. While there were rare cases wherein a hybrid didn't turn, this was the first time she witnessed it happen firsthand. Hence, she couldn't help but ask.

"I guess I got lucky. The infected who bit me probably has the same strain of the virus... or probably a weaker strain than the one I already had. Had it not been for that, I'd have turned into an infected already." Kazuichi muttered.

Along the way, Tris had come to a realization that Kazuichi was a hybrid, but she didn't want to believe it. Now that he was casually talking about it, however, Tris already accepted it as a fact. For now, it didn't seem like he was going to turn any time soon, so Tris decided to let his guard down a bit.

"Ahh~" Kazuichi let out a satisfied exhale as he smelled the meat being cooked on the grill. His stomach complainingly grumbled as he eagerly waited for the meat to be eatable.

"How about you? How did you end up on a tree with a sprained ankle? Did you get separated from your party?" Kazuichi asked. If he were going to travel with her, he thought that now was the best time to get to know her more.

"I wish that were the case." Tris forced a smile on her face as Kazuichi handed her her share of the meat. She uttered a soft thank you before proceeding with her monologue. "I had a sister... but I got separated from her."

"Our stronghold had become pretty stable, with decent food and water supply since it was beside a lake and a thick forest. I was assigned as a scavenger in my previous stronghold. By the way, scavengers are people who go out with the scouts, and they get supplies from nearby areas, providing for the stronghold."

"You don't have to explain, I know what a scavenger is," Kazuichi mumbled, gesturing for Tris to continue on with her story.

"In one of our expeditions, the stronghold was overrun by the infected. We scavengers had no idea how it all started but by the time we got back to the shelter, it was already too late. We gathered information from nearby strongholds and shelters, but we barely found anyone who was previously in our stronghold."

"I knew my sister is still alive. Somewhere, out there. I can feel it in my bones. That's why, for the past week, I've been checking every stronghold and shelter I could find, hoping that I'll find another clue leading to her." Tris continued.

"And, your sister? What was her name?" Kazuichi asked. Despite knowing Tris's surname, he still hasn't pieced it together.

After taking in another mouthful of meat, Tris answered Kazuichi in a simple manner. "Amaya, Karuizawa Amaya is her name."

"Eh?!" Kazuichi let out as his mouth hung open in shock.