her upper torso was raised before yukina’s inquiry of her condition. cold sweat soaked her skin but, no expression was there to paint her reaction to her nightmares. her mind was still hazy from the illusionary reality. she didn’t react to yukina placing her appetizer in her hand; holding it as though she was some kind of coat hanger.
❛
it’s fine… ❜ tone was soft but, it wasn’t exactly positive at the same time. holding the flask with both hands, she stared at it; wondering about such thoughts that would damage her cheery mood. a kabaneri, she was manufactured into one by him. does that make her a manmade monster ?
❛ yukina… i’m not a monster, am i ? ❜ when she said those words, she remained descended, with eyes avoiding eye contact. her hair acted as a curtain for the end of her play, her facade that she had tried so hard to hide her troubles with. ❛ i mean… i could just become a kabane at any time… killing everyone on this train… ❜
Yukina… I’m not a monster, am I?
Mumei’s lament hung heavy in the frigid air, plunging Yukina into a stupor of bewilderment with traces of hesitancy infringing on her typically unflappable stoicism. She felt her stomach leadened, her heart tightened the somber sentiment skirting around its desired effect and imbuing her with an inordinate sense of liability. Whatever radiant promise the evening had previously held has dissipated and the stark turn in events throttles her, beckoning her into untreaded waters.
Monster?
Yukina’s lips furled inward, furrowed brow plummeting against perturbed features as she fixated her despondent gaze upon the younger’s dejected form. She permitted the deafening silence to encapsulate them for another moment, curling around her and Mumei’s emaciated contours like phantom feline tails.
mon·ster
ˈmänstər/ (noun.)
a threatening force; deformity, one who excites horror by wickedness and cruelty━
❝You are far from it.❞
Dour cadences countered the fleeting veil of quietude as the engineer finally vociferated her unyielding belief. She could sentient the fragility of the moment, but nevertheless understood where Mumei’s insecurity derived. Mumei, ever since she embarked the Koutetsujou, has posed as everyone’s strength. She was compelled into utilizing the prodigious ability she wields as a means to hedge the lesser.
With her bony shoulders, she braced the weight of the world.*
But Yukina has never once doubted Mumei’s intentions, not when they uncovered that she sustenanced on blood. Not even in this startling moment. To her, to everyone━ Mumei isn’t just a solider, she isn’t a monster. Mumei is optimism, she is innocence; a lingering tact of chaste that hasn’ yet been marred or blemished. She is cherubic, she is stubbornness, she is candor; and all in all
❝ You are Mumei. ❞
Yukina affirmed. Her voice strove towards fond sternness, but her expression is calm and knowing; belying her gelid tone.
❝ And if it ever comes to a point where your grip on sanity falter, he will fix you. ❞
Time: 7:45pm Location: The Koutetsujyo's deck Destination: Yashiro Station
❝ 𝓦e took minor damage to the water tank. ❞
Yukina concludes the inspection, breath remains captive in the catacombs of her chest as she regards her superior with a pellucid gaze.
❝Suzuki-san will be attending to the reduction of leakage, but we won’t be able to commence until the mending is complete. ❞
Her brow corrugates, bracing to a beat of contemplation; pertaining the possibility that their state of inactivity could be prone to an inevitable peril. The engineer cants her head, scouring the surrounding area; impervious gaze sears into the purportedly limpid landscape.
❝ 𝓟lease have the Bushi be on guard while the Hayajiro is idle, Ayame-sama. ❞
❝ 𝓨ou mean, the Kabane? They are corpse that prey on human. ❞
Irradiate optics purloin a glance to her newest acquaintance, Yukina scrutinizes the solitary female━ discerning that there is one subsidiary detail that must be addressed with haste.
❝ 𝓟lain sword won’t cut it. Not through their heart cage, I’m afraid. You will need to coat the blade with a metallic layer to enhance its durability. ❞
Yukina is patently taken aback by this diversion, albeit her prowess in initiating an impetuous conversation such as these make the prospect of a mannerly introduction improbable. Regardless, her previously pacified lids broaden; encasing scintillating oculars as she indulges in her curiosity.
❝ 𝓗ow would you rate your close combat potential on a scale? ❞
for a moment, everything was simple. the eternal black comforted her as she drifted to sleep. forgotten dreams played in her head, though, a few were memorable… why you may ask ? because they were her nightmares. that day when everything was lost but, she gained power. that day when the kabane attacked her family and everyone in the village. it was a bloody scene. everything was painted in blood a massacre of villagers played the tunes of screaming in the harmony of the kabane’s cries. ever since that man had saved her, she fought to be strong, and forcefully abandon those who die or just accept their fate but, deep down, she wanted to run away from this hell of a reality and go back to being the sweet innocence she had once had. a soft voice whispered her to awake. that’s right. her name was mumei. the name that everyone has been calling her ever since she came aboard.
❛ shitori station… ❜ eyes fluttered open, doing a short reality check. this wasn’t a dream. she was still alive. she lifted the upper part of her body; scavenging the area. this hard metal floor. there was no doubt that she had was still on the koutetsujyo. ❛ ahhh, yukina… it was you who woke me up… thank you. ❜
𝓨ukina’s expression wanes at the extrinsic frailness in the girl’s cadence; her impassive physiognomy dilute due to a stretch of unabated concern. Perhaps exhaustion has simply simply begun to debilitate Mumei’s convoluted mind? Thin lips pulled taunt into a perplexed frown, Yukina can almost decipher the faint resignation within her octave before she conjurers up enough will power to transpire the overdue query into a discernible vocalization.
❝ Mumei… Is something the matter? ❞
𝓢he approaches the girl attentively, delicately seizing her wrist to proffer a container of blood into Mumei’s dainty hand. The conductor’s emerald gaze scrutinizes the Kabaneri’s, desperately trying to suss out a hint of reason in the younger’s glazed hues.
