"I was once a person roaming the alleys of PandorA, a man whom you'd want to avert your eyes from." Keisuke said, frowning. "One day, I was just sitting around and she was running by. She was such a klutz. She spilled her tea on me. She freaked out, and followed me for the rest of the day. It was annoying. To scare her away, I told her that I loved her and asked her to go out with me. That idiot said 'kya, really?!' and accepted." He looked like he had a headache. T-That's Yiru all right. Yuri thought, groaning.
"Anyways, everyday, she would go to the same spot we met and wait for me. I felt bad watching her from afar and ended up going over there everyday too. Sooner or later, I ended up really falling in love with her.
Then there was that day. I was walking her home. She was a few feet behind me. The bridge collapsed. She had managed to grab onto the side. I took a step forward and the rest of it fell. She fell. I went down to the ground level. I couldn't find her. I stayed there all night until the police made me leave. I also got a call when you guys did. The same call. That Yiru died." Keisuke said in a monotone. Yuri stared ahead, taking this in.
"Well, that's that. I told you." Keisuke said, stretching. The humour was back in his voice. "Thanks." Yuri said. But. . .there was something that didn't make sense in his story. . .
"Can I ask you one more thing?" Yuri asked. "Why not?" he said, rubbing his neck. ". . .I met a Seller in school. His name is Mamoru. He told me all about PandorA. he said that you're called Requiem and your mother is a—" she started, before Keisuke got up. His hair cast dark shadows over his eyes, making him look rather malicious. "Don't ask about that." he said coldly. Yuri blinked, startled. She had crossed the line. "S-Sorry," she stammered, standing as well. Keisuke glared at her, but then tsked and walked into the other room. Uhm. . .oops?
How strange. Ever since Keisuke got mad, Yuri had noticed the tiniest details about him. Firstly, she had caught on to the fact that Keisuke didn't walk. He limped. The way he moved suggested his left leg had been either permanently damaged or just recently. She couldn't tell. He looked used to it, however, and he limped very proudly, almost like a stride.
Next, she saw that he never showed any skin on his left arm. When he took his jacket off, one sleeve would be short, and his left sleeve would be long, stretching to his palm. His fingertips were covered with gloves. Kinda weird.
She had already seen his eye, the artificial one. She had even asked him to see it. He was confused at first, then a little hesitant, but with some pressure he pulled the long strip of hair that covered his right eye up. She had seen it close up. It was eerie. No shine, dull, dark. It was like his right eye died. Kinda gross, but kinda cool too. Yuri asked him how he lost it.
"When the bridge collapsed, and I tried to get to Yuri, some metal fell from above. You can imagine what happened after I looked up." he told her. Now that's bad. she thought, wishing she hadn't asked.
The next day, when Yuri woke up and pulled her uniform on, she had noticed Keisuke was gone. He had left. Ichihari said, "He'll be out of here as soon as he comes." Yuri must have looked defeated, because Ichihari offered to show her where Keisuke was at a very safe distance and she was not to leave his side or let go of his hand for an instant. "Jeez, how old do you think I am?" Yuri said coldly, pulling her boots on.
As Ichihari promised, he picked her up after school and drove her to the slum of her urban town. As soon as they stepped from the car, Ichihari's fingers were locked around Yuri's. He led her to a wall and climbed up, then hoisted her up. Carefully, like a cat, he led her farther down the wall and finally sat down. He pointed. "See that alley? That's like the Red Light District. Every single girl you see is either a Madame or she works in the brothel. We call the brothel workers 'Girls'." he explained.
He pointed to the next one over. "That's the main PandorE alley. There are smaller ones, but many people use this one for quality." Ichihari said. "I see Mamoru-kun!" Yuri said, squinting. Indeed, Mamoru was nearby, holding a vial of the red liquid up and holding his hand out. The person he was speaking to paid him and Mamoru handed over the vial. Whoa. I just saw a drug dealership. she thought nervously.
And so it went on, Ichihari naming the alleys they could see from the wall. "This here wall we're sitting on is known as Hell's Gate. If you look behind you, you see the area where you live, right? The good part of town. Look ahead and you see the ghetto, the slum. This wall is what keeps little misses like you and innocent people from seeing, basically, Hell. Hence the name Hell's Gate." Ichihari said.
"You can't see PandorA, because that's underground. I'm not taking you underground. That'd be insane. Anyway, let's go home." he said, grabbing her hand and taking her back.
She walked lightly, her footsteps ringing throughout what appeared to be a subway tunnel. However, this was just one hall of PandorA. Her voice was high and melodic, perhaps even sweet, if not accompanied by the sloshing of the contents in the three bags she carried (one in one hand and two in the other) and the sound of her footsteps. She sang the song over and over. Only she had used different lyrics. In the dimness of the hall, red stains seeping from the bag, she sang eerily.
"Baa Baa Black Sheep, have you any kills?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags filled.
One for my master, one that was hung,
One for the mouth out of which this was sung.
Baa Baa Black Sheep, have you any kills?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags filled."
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