hOLY SHIT KURORO
"--Uff!"
Rhyme raised a hand to cover her mouth as she watched Kuroro fall on his face, arms windmilling as he tried to regain his balance in mid-air. There was no way he could have been that clumsy...
Rhyme could not believe that the Lord of Apathy had just fallen on his face in the middle of playing hopscotch. It was so amazing, she wished she could have had the foreknowledge to get her phone out to take a picture. Of course, that would have been cruel.
It would have been cruel if she had planned on sharing it... which didn't change the fact that she didn't have it.
"Are you okay?" Rhyme asked, walking over to him as he sat up. "That was a bit of a tumble..."
He glared up at her, as if it were her fault. "Fine."
Rhyme noticed that a bit of blood was beginning to slowly ooze from the other's nose and frowned. "You're bleeding, Kuroro."
Kuroro reached up to cover his nose, grumbling under his breath. He tilted his head forward a little. "No, really?"
She looked around and spotted a nearby bathroom. Kuroro had also scrapped his chin up a little when he'd fell onto his face and that was beginning to bleed a little too. The bathrooms in Miyashita were pretty clean (at least, the girl's were) so it should be fine.
"Come on," Rhyme said, offering her hand to him. "Let's get you cleaned up. You've got some scrapes that need to be washed off."
Now, he was looking up at her like she'd grown a second head. "I'm fine, Raimu. It takes a lot more than this to put me out of commission."
"That's not the point," Rhyme replied, keeping her hand held out to him. "It could get infected, so you need to clean it off. You should at least wash the blood off your face."
He frowned at her and picked himself up, still keeping his nose plugged. "That won't be a problem, I'll heal up fast enough. Some might even say supernaturally fast." He rose to his feet and dusted off his pants with his other hand.
She withdrew her hand and frowned back at him. "That's even worse. If you heal that fast, then germs could get trapped under the repaired skin and cause even more damage. We don't want that, do we?"
"Why is this so important to you?" He asked, letting go of his nose now. There was a smear of blood above his mouth that he wiped away using the back of his hand. "It's really no big deal."
"Because I care about you," Rhyme replied easily, letting out a sigh and slumping her shoulders a little.
When Kuroro didn't respond, Rhyme looked up at him. He was staring directly at her, hands resting limply at his sides. His eyes were scanning over her face like he was trying to figure out if she'd made some kind of joke or not.
Rhyme held his gaze and--to her surprise, he looked away. She could have sworn that he said something under his breath, but she hadn't been able to pick up on what it was.
"Now, come on," She replied, grabbing his wrist and beginning to lead him to the bathroom.
And that was how the two of them ended up in the boy's bathroom with Rhyme sitting on the counter and gently pressing a damp paper towel to his face. His nose may have stopped bleeding, but scrapes tended to be more stubborn.
Kuroro wasn't saying much, he hadn't said much this whole time. He'd never been this quiet before.
"You are one of the single strangest girls that I have ever met," He finally mumbled, looking up at her intently. "You act like you don't even care that I'm not human, Raimu. I have the power to destroy and you continue to spend time with me."
Rhyme stopped dabbing at his chin, looking at him intently. "Well... I don't care if you're human or not, Kuro. I really couldn't care less. You're acting like you're the first non-human that I've ever encountered." She smiled at him gently and proceeded to toss the paper towel into the trash.
"And, the idea of you being whatever you are doesn't strike me as completely strange either. I've seen a lot of strange thing over the past two years, you know! I've been in a lot of strange places too. Some of them are so strange, I'm not even allowed to remember being there."
She could feel her smile grow more plastic and hoped he didn't notice.
Kuroro suddenly leaned in close, like he was trying to look into her very soul. "Your dreams are beyond my influence. It's the most frustrating thing that has happened to me in a very long time, Raimu. It's like there's a small unchangeable rule written in the universe that applies to nobody but you. You wouldn't happen to know why that is, would you?"
"Is that why you put up with me, Mr. Lord of Evil?" Rhyme guessed, keeping the smile on her face. "I... might have an idea as to why, but I'm afraid I can't tell you that..."
Kuroro was still so close. Rhyme had never really noticed how red his eyes really were. So bright and vivid! They were actually almost pretty and...were they starting to glow?
They were! Rhyme stared in amazement as all the colors left his body. His bright-red hair grayed and his body turned completely black. Then a loud static sound seemed to fill bathroom. Rhyme's eyes widened and she closed her eyes tightly. She reached up to cover her ears and felt a familiar panic blooming in her chest. No--no!
When the static had faded, she looked up to try to see if she could run. She couldn't deal with that sound! What she saw was a large black snake with familiar red eyes. It was probably as long as she was tall! No, much longer! It rose it's head off the ground so that they were at eye level.
She brought a hand to cover her mouth.
"This is what I am, Raimu," The snake said, a distorted voice echoing from it. "This is my true form!"
This was what he really looked like? Rhyme looked him over again, her eyes quickly scanning it's body. She'd never seen any Noise look like this before! Was this...was this what Neku was talking about when he'd said that he'd encountered strange Noise during the Long Game!
"Wha--" She tried to speak, eye's wide. "I..."
The snake took on a more sneering tone to it's voice. "Exactly. You had no idea what you were getting into."
Rhyme blinked and then shook her head. "I had no idea it was possible to be a Noise in the RG!"
"What?" Kuroro's head moved back, his eyes narrowing.
"You really must be a Demon if you can do this," Rhyme replied, smiling now. She reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "That's so interesting! I thought Noise could only stay in the UG, I mean... wow! I know they can influence the RG, but...to actually appear in it? Wow!"
"What?" He repeated. "Are you--what?! What's wrong with you?!"
Rhyme faltered at that, her smile becoming more strained. "Why are you so angry?"
"I'm not angry!" Kuroro replied, moved closer to her, almost wrapping his body around her. "I'm confused about why you're not running away! You don't know who I am or what I've done! How can you be so stupid?!"
It was Rhyme's turn to be quiet now.
"Well?!" He thundered, the distortion in his voice increasing. "How can you keep... just smiling like that?!"
Rhyme looked down at the ground, folding her hands over her lap. "I guess... the answer is that I just don't care. What I don't understand is why you do."
He flew back like she'd thrown a live electrical wire at him. "What on earth are you talking about, child?"
"Exactly like I said," Rhyme replied, looking up at him again. "Why else would you be so concerned with how I perceive you? You're obviously bothered."
"I..." He trailed off, eyes widening. "Shut up! I don't care about anything! Especially you! You're delusional!"
Rhyme laughed at that. "What do you mean? Everyone cares about something. It's impossible to have nothing that's precious to you, Kuro. Even if it's taken away, something will move to replace it, given enough time."
"Besides," she replied. "I never said that I was important to you. I said that you cared about what I thought about you. You do care about your self-image, right?"
"..."
"I thought so."
Rhyme hopped off the table and began striding toward him, a thin smile on her face. She didn't fail to notice how he backed up from her. "I'm sorry if I offended you. That wasn't what I was trying to do. I wanted... I don't know what I wanted."
"What do you care about then? You don't seem to care about anything either!"
Rhyme paused, then crossed her arms. "That's... of course I care about things. I love my family and friends! And a lot of things!"
"Really?" He asked, getting closer. Rhyme took a few steps back, looking away.
"Of course. I told you that everyone has something that they care for. You didn't think that I would apply it to myself too?" She asked, looking back at him sternly. "Why the sudden interest?"
Kuroro actually hissed, the sound akin to a harsh static sound with the distortion.
Static...
Rhyme froze, beginning to back away from him. No... no, it was okay. That wasn't the sound of static. That was an angry sound. Not that... that on-going buzz of the afterlife. Tiny spots picked at the edges of her vision, shifting. Her head was beginning to hurt.
He was still hiss and the sound was sounding more and more like it to her.
"Please stop making that sound," Rhyme mumbled, raising to cover her ears with her hands. "I-I hate that sound..." She felt like her legs were beginning to shake a little.
"Oh, do you?" He replied, hissing louder and sending a crescendo of chills down her spine. "Well, I hate it when--Raimu?"
She was running out of the bathroom, needing to get into a more open space where the sound wouldn't reverberate into her head. It needed to stop--stop, stop, stop.
The girl ran through the park, stopping before the Miyashita Pass and staring down it. This was where she had died. And then beyond that--Towa Records--where it had happened. She couldn't go there. Not right now. She could never go through that area when she was like this.
"Raimu." His voice came from behind her, although the distortion to it was gone.
Rhyme didn't look at him, her arms were crossed tightly across her chest. Hugging herself.
"...Don't just stand there. Say something!"
She didn't speak up for a few seconds. Rhyme felt like she was choking while standing there and shivering pathetically. She still wasn't looking at him. "...I really don't like the sound of s-static."
There was something of a sigh behind her. "That was obvious enough... Stop breathing so fast, it's bothering me."
Was she breathing fast? She felt like she wasn't getting enough air! Still, she knew that she could very well pass out if she was hyperventilating.
Rhyme raised a hand to rub the sweat off of her forehead, trying to concentrate on her breathing. She was supposed to breath in five second intervals, right? She couldn't remember the number clearly, but assumed that was probably it.
In...and out. In...and out.
"Better," He mumbled, and Rhyme noticed that he sounded rather tired. She was probably just hearing things. Sometimes that happened when she got like this... "You should go home."
"...Yeah," Rhyme mumbled, starting to scratch at her arm. "Thanks."
"Don't thank me," he mumbled, walking past her. "You're not in a good position right now."
"What does that mean?" She replied, watching him walk and remaining in her spot.
He didn't reply to her.