[KIYOMI]
"Let me be there for you. If not on the battlefield, then let me nurse you when you tire," Elif said, her soft eyes pleading with Kiyomi's defeated ones. It was not something the Kiyomi could just decide on, and surely Elif had to have known that.
But what was the point of all this, then?
"I know you care about me, which is why you have to stay behind, Elif. I am not good for you. I am a Lycan rogue. A beast cursed and banished from home. I am a creature that lives off of blood and flesh.
"I feed worse than the beasts you know of, or watch on human television. I am a horror that you need to stay away from. I am not telling you this to scare you, truly. I am just being honest with you.
"I contemplated erasing your memory of me, but I am too selfish, sister. Maybe it's because I want at least one person to remember me, if ever Sakura kills me. Or maybe I just want you to be a part of my life and keep the good times we had once upon a time.
"I am not strong enough to fight fate, sister, but I know I am strong enough to keep you away from danger. The Doiwa accords demand that humans be left out of the war with any Lycans, rogue or not.
"If you come with me, your life will always be in danger, and the Bogdans won't step aside just because you are human," Kiyomi tried to explain.
Elif listened.
It was surprising for Kiyomi, honestly. She had half-expected that her best friend would blow up in her face, but then she was quite like this was a history lesson that she needed to understand.
But then the dangers were real.
The hurt was real.
The madness that lingered was real.
And if ever Kiyomi went feral, there was literally nothing stopping her from ripping through Elif. That was Kiyomi's worst fear. To have her friendship reduced to nothing just because one was a beast and one was a pretty girl that she never intended to hunt.
It wouldn't be fair on any scale, and Kiyomi needed Elif to understand that as soon as possible.
"I am still coming with you. It doesn't matter what you say about the Lycans and how dangerous they are, it doesn't matter if you say that Sakura will kill you or that the Bogdans will tear through us, or the irrational fear that you have of being the one to tear me apart.
"If you leave me behind, I will go to work at Yena. I will use Sakura's name and get her attention. And I will have to face her for both of us. If that doesn't work, I will find a way to get into Doiwa.
"It might take me a while since I'm human, but I am a curious, determined human, and the Russians will want a piece of me, so this will be my stepping stone to Doiwa. And I will find them. I will find your people and even Izanami.
"I won't rest until I find out where you are and what happened. And if you're hurt, I will pick a fight with Sakura and have her break your precious accords by ending my life. That is a long procedure, sister, so how about we just face what is, as is?" Elif said.
Kiyomi sighed.
She had expected this from Elif.
Honestly, it was relieving to know that the woman was willing to fight beside her. Ever since she had run away from Doiwa and Izanami, Kiyomi had never known that there was a life beyond.
She had only been focused on buying herself more time to prove her family's innocence, and a lot of things had happened in between.
But then the rumors about Sakura being the one who ordered her family's death had reached her ears faster than the truth of the Bogdans being the ones behind it or even of Izanami and the communication channels.
It had all been a lot, and Odanera was the one place that seemed home enough for Kiyomi to settle. Now it seemed like she was going to have to leave that city and figure out how she would be living on the run from a queen who already knew her scent.
"And to think I prepared a speech," Kiyomi said as she stared into her best friend's eyes. She was scared of what tomorrow or even the day would hold. She was worried that everything could happen to her here, but then she had Elif.
That was a crazy truth still, but at least Elif smelled like home.
"You can't run forever, Kiki… It's impossible, no matter how immortal you are," Elif said.
Kiyomi nodded sadly.
The truth was a burden she had to carry with her all the time. A reality that scared her out of her wits and yet one that seemed to remind her each time that she was always going to be alone.
But what if she let Elif come along?
Would it be any better?
"You might die," Kiyomi tried, even though a part of her already knew that Elif would come up with some weird answer to that.
"I'm almost thirty, Kiki. A human lifespan is roughly seventy at best, I will be gone in forty years. Eventually, that will happen. It is the cycle of life, so don't stress about it," Elif said, and Kiyomi chuckled at that.
She knew where best friend was always a few screws too loose but this was just proud of it all. But at least it was the little smile she needed in the chaotic phase of her life, right?
"Clean up then. We have to go to the hospital," Kiyomi said.
For a moment, Elif stared at her like she had lost her mind. She was being hunted. She knew she was being hunted, and yet she was placing herself back at the one place that her hunters knew she would be at.
What sort of that made any sense at this point?
"Hospital? As in Odanera hospital?" Elif asked like she hadn't heard Kiyomi right.
"Yeah. We have patients. Besides, if I am going to have you beside me, we might as well keep doing what we need to. If the Lycans are to come for me, which they will, they will have official letters.
" And those take a while, depending on what mood the Lycan queen is always in. Normally, the ministers would approve on Her Majesty's behalf, but that was before they saw what Queen Sakura did to her dear mother and her dear father.
"No one would be dumb enough to override the psycho queen's orders. If it's any consolation, she promised she would hurt me," Kiyomi said, and Elif could swear that her friend's brain had stopped functioning.
In what world was this supposed to be moral? When had they gone from wanting to run away to staying behind? But then again, there were so many things to consider for Kiyomi.
Perhaps that was why the good doctor had decided to stay, even if it was going to cost her life. She knew that hell was coming, and she wasn't ready for it. Then again, who would ever get prepared for the mad queen Sakura Watanabe anyway, right?
"Fuck," Elif sighed in defeat.