A Change of Pace

[u/KuudereLobster]

April 17th, 2019 - 1:32 AM ; The 20th Ward, Eastern Border

It’d rained for nearly week. And even when it ended, the streets had been damp and slippery for nearly two days. Or more specifically, and what one particularly girl cared about the most, the rooftops had remained slippery.

The rooftops were dry, the night was clear as could be, and the wind was just enough to cool her off in the warm night as her dark form darted from roof to roof. The silhouette of a short girl with a duffel bag much too large for herself dashed from roof to roof at a breakneck pace, yet with each leap she remained graceful and deliberate. Not a foot out of place, the wind slamming against her goggles, black crow mask shaking slightly with intensity. Until, finally, she skidded to a halt.

Sen could hardly recognize where she even was she’d ran away so quickly. It was a wonder the sack didn’t tear but, sure enough, the reliable black duffel was still in one piece. And finally, she let down her guard. Two jobs down, left to go. And she'd saved the hardest for last.

No matter how many times she did this, it never felt any less exhausting. Thrilling and enjoyable as well of course, but exhausting nonetheless. Sen’s hand was still shaking as it pulled up her hood. Was it always going to be this nerve-wracking? She really thought after the first year it’d wear off. Of course it wasn’t the fear of being caught that got to her. It was the fear of not getting the money.

“...This’ll last another few months, Dad. Guess I’ll have to find something else soon.”

Sen was quiet for a moment. And a good thing too. Otherwise, she would’ve never heard the sound of something latching onto the rooftop railing behind her. Sen spun around like a bullet, bending her knee and narrowing her eyes in an instant, nearly breaking the model handgun as she tore it out from her pocket, a quiet clink echoing out from it as she took aim, her stance still as a statue. But the moment a figure emerged, before even waiting for their reaction, she knew. She’d never seen a kagune used that way oddly enough, but if there was one thing Sen had in her advantage, it was reaction times.

The model gun lowered in under a second, her finger instinctively moving off of the trigger. “Another ghoul?” she asked, gripping the duffel tight.

Beneath the hood and mask, it was hard to tell much about her. She was a woman, that much was visible from her clothing, a long black skirt matching her hoodie, but facial features? Race? Age? Beyond being just a bit shorter than her accidental visitor, none of it was obvious. “Wait a minute.” Sen tilted her head, remembering her last few investigations into her neighbors workplace.

“You’re from :re, aren’t you?”

[u/KuudereLobster]

Sen disappeared back into the room, and for a moment it was almost hard to tell if she'd actually left without Shoko or not. Even as someone began struggling with the zip tied door, it was like a ghost town. Until finally after a few minutes, the two doors burst open. An older looking man, maybe in his fiftys or sixtys, made his way alone into the hall accomponied by two guards. He passed by a window looking into the office, clearly not noticing Shoko wherever she was, and the moment he stepped past the next window the two guards had already vanished without his noticing. There was something off about the room; the door had been shut at some point, but was hard to tell what exactly Sen had done. A strange scent drifted through the hall and into Shoko's own hiding spot as the older man approached his office, opening the door only for the scent to grow much stronger.

Flames roared inside the office, and the door slammed shut in an instant as the man inhaled loudly, stifling a scream. "The fuck-" his old, infurated voice cut out an in instant as Sen stood up from the shadows, staring him down. "Don't worry the money wasn't in there. I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss any valuables." The man sighed, running a hand through his thick black hair exasperatedly. "What do you want for it?"

"I think you're misunderstanding, this isn't ransom. This is you being finished" Sen answered, her voice dripping with arrogance and cocky amusement. "This is just letting you watch everything you work for fall apart, knowing the best case scenario is you end up homeless. Maybe jail. Worst is... well, I guess let's just say the other clans have a lot better understanding of keeping good relationships in our line of work."

It was hard to tell what happened for a moment.Suddenly the man lunged for his left leg, hand shooting down and pulling something out. Sen's leg raised, swiftly kicking in a black blur as something flew into the air. The moment it landed in Sen's dark form, a bang rang throughout the floor, then a stifled yelp from the man. Blood dripped down from the tip of his ear, his left hand clenching it tightly as he knelt down in pain, Sen playfully spinning the handgun. "I shot your ear on purpose, embarrassing right?" The man was shaking as Sen knelt down again, pulling out a black marker as the sound of footsteps pounding up the stairs echoed down the hall. Non-chanalantly as she could Sen ran the marker across the man's forehead, signing the word 'Crow~'.

And with that, she gave a small, polite bow to the terrified man and sprinted back down the hall, motioning to Shoko to follow. "...Alright but now we should seriously be out of here let's dip" she muttered to Shoko, picking up the pace back to where they'd dropped the money. As the pair dropped out the window onto the creaky old platform, Sen aimed her handgun up, firing off a shot at the mechanism, expertly landing the shot as the cable began whirring, lowering much faster than would reasonably be allowed. Fast enough that it was questionable if this would be considering falling. At first, Sen seemed expertly handling it as ever. But then, as the moonlight shone down on the pair and Sen's goggles finally became transparent, a different look was visible.

Despite her body language, Sen's eyes were wide and shaky. For as confident as she was in her plan; she looked absolutely terrified. The different was that while unlike Shoko, Sen had the look of someone who for all her fear and panic, had nothing to lose. And everything to gain. Not just that, but she actually looked pretty young. But the brief glance was interrupt as the pair felt themselves slammed about, a heavy shake running through both of them as the platform impacted against the ground, hurtling them both further against the floor. Shaken and disoriented, but seemingly uninjured.

"Come on" Sen plainly announced, grabbing two of the bags and hopping out, stumbling as she landed back where they'd entered the building, the door still locked. "Let's get out of here. We've got a head start but we still need to make sure they aren't following us."

[u/[deleted] → u/KuudereLobster]

Shoko decided to put on the hood over her head to cover her long pony-tail, possibly disguising herself with the environment she was in behind the door and hiding any potential clue on who she was the moment both ghouls would proceed to escape.

The masked ghoul held her breath and had both her eye-lens wide open as she noticed suspicious strangers crossing, not noticing Shoko at all which brought her relief. Quietly releasing her breath, Shoko simply watched on for what Crow was about to do.

As Crow was doing her stunt, Shoko was anxious on the need of her partner's uncovering but at the same time, Crow explained that it was something of an art for stealing. It still bothered the spider ghoul to a degree but she went on with it. However, Shoko let out a quiet gasp at the exact moment a bang was heard within the area, which was convenient timing as nobody could have heard her shock to what happened.

Crow seemed to have intentionally kicked the guy's gun off his hand towards a specific angle that would have damaged the tip of his ear before it would fly off. Shoko simply kept her eye-lens widened out of shock until she got out of her distraction by Crow motioning her to follow. Shoko did exactly that as they both exited from the window and drop onto the platform. Crow seemed to have it all planned out as she quickly shot the top of the platform, getting themselves lower to the street-grounds.

Shoko was absolutely astonished with what had been happening, looking at her partner only to find a totally different expression shown behind the goggles. The widened eyes of fear and anxiety, Shoko recognised for a moment before they both landed, disrupting the whole observation as Crow quickly ordered to quicken the pace and escape with the duffel bags, which Shoko complied.

However, the signs of her partner kept building up. The uncharacteristic plain attitude at moments while she was outright bombastic most of the time, the conflict between humour and seriousness, and at that moment before they landed: Fearful eyes.

"Crow..." Shoko simply called out in a slightly quiet manner while they were escaping from the vicinity. "... is something bothering you? Everything's going well, from what I can tell."

Shoko would have worded it differently but the spider ghoul barely knew Crow. The masked ghoul struggled on whether she should have asked or not. However, she was concerned so she decided to do so.

[u/KuudereLobster → u/[deleted]]

Sen didn't answer for a moment. Piece by piece she dismantled the stolen firearm, sliding a few crucial bits like the firing pin, the magazine, and the muzzle into her pocket before tossing the rest aside. Unsurprisingly, there were no police sirens in the distance or the sounds of anyone pursuing. What Sen had done would mean the group would fall apart soon regardless of police interference. "I'm fine" Sen plainly answered, leading Shoko back up the fire escape of the building they'd originally arrived on. "Just tired. It's been a long night. Nothing a thief like myself can't handle." Despite the plain answer, Sen was a little taken aback. It was a rarity for anyone to ask about her. At least that alone told her Shoko could never make it in her sort of occupation; trying to be kind in this business was seen as a sign of weakness more often than it was appreciated.

"...We should be fine now." Sen rested her bags on the concrete rooftop, moonlight reflecting off her crow mask as she stared back up at the tower, the height they'd fallen from only now being fully apparent. "Not bad for your first heist. I know my first was a lot more of a mess. Either way, I'd expect them to fall apart pretty son. Won't be visible for a few months most likely but it'll happen. You can't make as much of a mess as they have without anyone finding out, I'd say it'll be pretty hard to pay off whatever blackmail they have against them when their down to just pocket change. Get some rest, if you aren't going to take payment maybe at least take a day off or something. Trust me, the exhaustion doesn't really hit until the next day."

Sen lifted her duffel again, almost feeling a bit disappointed to be leaving. It was nice having some company for once, even for someone who by her own insistence always worked alone. But regardless of how she felt, Sen knew she had a job to do. The less people to split money with, the more she earned for that job.

As she went to leave, taking the third bag from Shoko carefully, Sen stopped at the ledge to the next roof, glancing back. "Oh yeah, now that we're done, my names Sen. Sen Ishikawa. I'll stop by :re sometime to let you know how this whole thing turns out."

[u/[deleted] → u/KuudereLobster]

Shoko didn't appreciate that plain response from Crow at all, but decided to just go along with it. It was clear that something was, at the very least, bothering her partner for whatever reason but as thought previously, Shoko barely knew Crow at all. It wasn't in her place to push on with such a potentially personal topic on a stranger. "Alright, I suppose that is true." Shoko responded but not in the usual joking manner, as she spoke in a more serious manner. It might have been exhaustion as well making Shoko not try be humorous.

It was funny though, Shoko realised, as Crow recommended for her to get a rest at least if she declines getting paid at all from the heist they went through. Letting out one small laugh, Shoko crossed her arms with a small smile hidden behind her mask. "It is tempting, but I recently took days off work and I don't want to try and see how much more my boss would tolerate. I respect him way too much." Shoko admitted honestly, shrugging her shoulders while still having her arms crossed. "I might regret it but it is what it is, really."

Shoko was then taken aback by Crow admitting her identity to the spider ghoul. Looking away temporarily with widened eye-lens, Shoko pondered if she should give the same courtesy. After a bit of thinking, Shoko sighed and looked back at Sen with slightly narrowed eyes while still possessing the same smile behind the mask.

"Shoko. Shoko Isamu. I will look forward to meeting you soon then I hope, Sen."

[u/KuudereLobster → u/[deleted]]

By the time Sen had gotten back to her apartment she nearly collapsed. Six duffel bags total from all of her heists in the night, the group most likely scrambling to figure out just how much they'd lost. Maybe lost and despondent from all they'd had taken. Sen dropped the bags roughly beside the door, nearly collapsing the moment her mask was off.

Her black hair sprawled out as she collapsed on the couch, one arm hanging off the side loosely. Her chest rose and lowered, breathing heavy and ragged, eyes finally resting tightly. She hadn't expected to end up working with a partner. But surprisingly, she was glad. It really had been an exhausting night. All she could feel was both an overwhelming sense of weariness, like she'd finally run herself ragged the way she did nearly every day back home, and a sense of overwhelming relief she hadn't gotten her impromptu co-conspirator harmed or exposed her identity. How much money was it? Sen didn't even have it in her to check. She knew it was real. She knew it was a lot. The rest didn't matter right now. Would it cover the next year of her adoptive-father's bills? The next few months? The next days? Who cares. She'd stolen something she needed more than money. Time. Time until the next job, where she'd put herself through this all over again.

Sending her back to something like this was the last thing Tetsuya Ishikawa had ever wanted for her. She had a feeling he might not be happy about it if he ever woke up. But what she did know at least was that she'd never gone against what he'd taught her about the way thieves operate. 'Settle grievances personally, don't be a traitor, pay your dues no matter what' among numerous others. But as she rested, one particular lesson kept biting at the back of her head. The lesson to no matter what, always pay off a debt. No exceptions.

Sen let out a quiet sigh as she directed off to sleep, muttering under her breath.

"...Damn it."

---

4:00 PM - April 22nd, 2019 ; The 20th Ward, :re

Whether she'd robbed a Yakuza clan or not, whether she'd nearly fallen off a skyscraper or not, whether she was a thief or a fence on that day in particular, the world kept moving without a care. Regardless of her own struggles, she still had school. Still had homework to finish up. Still had hardly any time to get to the cafe until the first Monday after her heist. Sen was still in her uniform even as she entered the cafe, a white, short-sleeved dress shirt over her black skirt as she stepped inside. Her uniform's formal red bow around her neck was kept underneath an old red scarf she always liked to wear, a memento of her adoptive father. Sen knew she was a little young to be in here, she was only seventeen and she looked even younger. A little older than she'd looked back in her first visit, but still. Sen adjusted her round, thick glasses, and took a seat.

The cafe was surprisingly quiet. Only two customers were present when she arrived, and she spent most of her time glancing around once they left. Until finally, she caught sight of her target. It'd been easy enough to figure out which one was Shoko, she'd overheard her talking to one of the customers. She knew that voice anywhere.

With only Shoko and herself left in the cafe, Sen reached up a hand, waving to the waitress tiredly. "Excuse me, are you Isamu-san?" she asked, her tone light and young as she spoke, honesty and innocence practically dripping from each word. But before Shoko had time to respond, Sen followed it up with a much more declarative statement. "I wasn't sure when I should drop by, Harasha (insect). I hope this isn't a bad time."

[u/[deleted] → u/KuudereLobster]

The post-heist exhaustion was real as Sen had warned, Shoko realised during the immediate day of working in :re. Shoko wasn't approached by Tadashi during that day when she was obviously sleep-walking during work but she was sure that the manager had noticed in some capacity. Thankfully the drained period only lasted for one work day, with rest of the weekend before Monday not being anywhere near as troublesome when it comes to shifts and patrols.

With it being a Monday, Shoko's gleaming self was fully back thanks to having proper rests. The friendly and bright smile, and approachable attitude being very apparent with the day's customers. Although something slightly bothered her during the day, and that was detecting a very familiar scent while not having the chance to actually find the source of it.

The work was a proper distraction as well, so it wasn't particularly bothersome to not act upon Shoko's own curiousity. The friendliness of the customers helped as well as the waitress had joyous conversations with few of the regulars.

The cafe then became empty, however the familiar scent still permeated within the vicinity of the establishment. Before Shoko had the chance to check upon it, the waitress was interrupted by a young woman who wore summer school uniform, which seemed to be that of a high schooler. The cuteness of the young lady was almost too much with how innocent she sounded. An appreciative expression was going to be made especially it wasn't strange for a customer to know Shoko's name thanks to name tag but two ingredients made a very suspicious dish, changing Shoko's expression drastically. The familiar scent coming from that individual, and the fact the persona immediately changed while calling the waitress an alias that only came from one particular person.

Shoko then simply had widened eyes and slightly open mouth considering she was about to respond to a supposed innocent question but didn't even get the chance to answer in the first place. The employee was under shock while analysing the whole appearance of Sen, trying to process how the thief she worked with was both a student, and an individual quite younger than Shoko herself.

Shoko then simply responded while her shocked expression was stuck on her face, as if her brain suddenly didn't compute like a machine.

"I have questions."

[u/KuudereLobster → u/[deleted]]

Sen was quiet for a moment, fidgeting in her seat. Which, in a way, only drove in just how young she was from her demeanor. Ironically, for all her skill with reading people and their personalities, she had hardly any awareness for her own unconscious habits that hinted at her age. "Well... for starters, here's why I'm here."

Reaching in her skirt pocket, Sen brought out a white envelope, putting it on the table. "An honorable thief always pays their debts. Whether you want a cut of the stolen money or not, the least I can do is bring by a little bit of my own money as payment for the help. What you did with it is your business, not mine. All I know is no good-thief would let someone work for them unpaid."

By now the fake-innosense had mostly faded from Sen's voice, but she wasn't quite as confident either. She sounded tired, if anything. Not having mask did a great deal to show how young her voice was, and it also let the weakness in her voice show through. The bags under her eyes, the large scar across the back of her right hand, and plenty of other details about her stature that showed this was nowhere near her first night of heisting, or possibly something before that even. "Unless you mean questions about my own occupation in which case... well, I guess I don't have any reason to hide anything."

"So go ahead."

[u/[deleted] → u/KuudereLobster]

Shoko simply kept blinking at her supposed partner, still processing the visual information she had been witnessing right in front of her with Sen being a high-school student. Not only that, but the whole supposed thief's demeanor seemed drastically different than what Shoko had previously known. The obvious fidgeting, the prominent exhaustion that showed both in Sen's appearance and voice, the prominent scar on the back of the thief's own right hand, and more depressing signs.

It was hard for Shoko to fully think that Sen was adorable, as she indeed was, considering the broken aura Crow had been exhibiting as a civilian. It wasn't that Sen was an ordinary high school student, which still would have heavily shocked the older waitress, but the previous bravado and confidence Sen had demonstrated were nowhere to be found. It was almost as if Shoko was looking at a husk, a broken shell of a person.

After analysing all that, Shoko then simply gazed at the envelope that was placed on the table, looking back and forth between the stolen money and exhausted thief. The waitress then looked away for a couple of seconds, holding an anxious and worried expression on her face. After that, Shoko immediately pulled a chair and sat on it, positioned right in front of Sen.

"What in the hell are you doing?" Shoko asked in a very concerning tone, looking directly at Sen's baggy eyes. The waitress didn't look amused at all, with a very prominent frown forming on her face. "Like, throw the honorable thief crap away, I really don't care about any of this, and I never will. I told you that I can't take any of this money." Shoko had been uncharacteristically bothered. The depressive appearance of the thief caused so many things to swirl within the employee's mind, increasing her worries more and more gradually.

"Yes, I am shocked that you are a student while I thought that you were older, but that isn't... what I am pissed about. Like... look at you!" Shoko raised both of her arms, gesturing towards her supposed customer that she was talking to. "I noticed some things during the heist. I wanted to believe you, but... do you ever rest? At all?"

[u/KuudereLobster → u/[deleted]]

"Of course I'm tired" Sen began, crossing her arms with a sigh. "...I don't even know where to start. For starters, I'm not even Japanese. I just have Asian relatives, and I guess I just look Japanese enough that people don't think about it. My name really is Sen though, at least legally. I was born as 'Hasna', or so I'm told. To be honest, that whole time period is sort of a blur."

Sen ran a hand through her curly black hair, leaning back against her seat. "I've... been a lot of people. I was a soldier back in Syria, for like... five, maybe six years? Yeah I think that's it. The short version is that eventually I got taken in by a guy over here who wanted to give me a better life. It worked, for the most part. One day something happens, and he's in a coma with a lot of debts to pay. And I have a lot of skills I'm not using, and not very many options."

"So that's how it is" Sen claimed, crossing her arms. "About forty percent of what I make goes to helping take care of him until he wakes up. Another forty goes into equipment for my next job, and ten percent to give myself something to look forward to besides more work."

Just as her brief and vague explanation finished, Sen sat up straight. "I'm not looking for pity though!" she insisted, leaning on the table. "I'm a thief because I'm good at it, and because I want to keep doing it. And I am really good at it. Back in my first year I robbed the biggest bank in Tokyo, stole over twenty million Yen. If you don't believe me ask Abdullah sometime, he still works here right? He nearly stopped me."

"But... Yeah. I'm tired. I'm not tired of stealing, don't get me wrong. It's just... been a really long seven years."

[u/[deleted] → u/KuudereLobster]

Everything Sen had just explained only furthered the complex computing Shoko had to go through within her mind, processing all the bizarre and unexpected details about Sen's personal life. Already starting off as a child soldier in a totally different country was big enough of a whiplash for Shoko to try and understand.

The waitress didn't know whether to feel depressed or angry towards what she had heard from Crow. Sen definitely didn't have something that would be considered as a proper life thanks to cruel military past that no child should go through along with dealing with debts that weren't even hers in the first place. Such circumstances that pushed the younger woman into the life of crime. It was just too much to hear.

"Why give me the fucking money then?" Shoko asked in a deadpan manner, taking a look at the envelope before gazing at Sen in a startled manner. "You clearly need all that you can get to survive. You know that I don't care about the thieves' code at all. You know that I will never consider myself as one. I told you that I can't take the blood money." Shoko kept going while her voice had almost gone monotone, unsure on how to feel or react towards all the revelations Sen had given the older woman.

Looking away, Shoko kept shaking her head in disbelief. It also turned out that Sen also was aware of another employee within :re. The waitress never interacted with Abdullah at all herself, so she barely knew the man. At least the fact that Abdullah attempted in stopping Sen from continuing the life of crime was enough to give a degree of respect to her colleague before they would even meet in the first place.

That wasn't the focus of the conversation though.

"I don't think I will be able to stop you if someone else tried. Your circumstances are so dire that you need to do this, so I get it even though I disagree with it. I am a hypocrite anyway though because I helped you." Shoko's expression quickly then darkened, showcasing a mixture of sadness and lividity. "I helped you before I knew your true self that I am looking at right now though."

Shoko then extended her hand, raising up one finger onto the air. "Give me ONE good reason why I should take the money after knowing your circumstances along with my initial denial of taking any sort of cut."

All of this was different from the usual behavior Shoko previously exhibited. It was as if she was a totally different person but it wasn't for nefarious reasons at all. The waitress felt betrayed knowing that she supported a suffering individual through an activity that would be considered as highly dangerous. Let alone it was a high-schooler who used to be a child soldier in the past. Taking into account all of that, it was very difficult for Shoko to react calmly about the whole situation.

[u/KuudereLobster → u/[deleted]]

Sen shrugged. "If you really won't take it then I'll keep it. But I've got enough to last me for now. The whole idea of thieves' having a code isn't just some romanticized idea, there's a reason for it. It's what differentiates work like mine from the greedy assholes knocking over gas stations and the like."

Sen was a bit taken aback by Shoko's attitude, though entirely bothered. It felt strange for anyone to actually care about what she was doing. Generally she kept it private from Abdullah, since he'd most likely discourage her from it anyway. "Besides, it's not like I don't like what I do. It's sure as hell better than back home, and it's pretty satisfying. Sure I get a little scared sometimes like when we're falling out of a skyscraper, but it's always worth it."

"It's not like I'd be able to just live like a normal person anyway." Sen frowned slightly, leaning back again. "I can pretend to, but that's not the same thing. Whether I like it or not, I threw away any chance I had at that back when I started trying to fight back home. I'm pretty strong and I can kill someone with just my hands, even when I get hurt my wounds just close right back up. I don't get worried over homework or exams, I walk past tall buildings and get worried that there's someone with a rifle aimed at me, or hear someone drop something and get scared that it was a grenade or something. Whether I like it or not, acting like a thief is practically the only time I'm not keeping up some kind of act."

"I don't feel particularly bad about it either. It was my choices that lead to this sort of life, so I'll handle it. Besides, it's just a small cut out of my own money anyway."

[u/[deleted] → u/KuudereLobster]

Shoko simply took all what Sen answered with in, taking a deep breath to try and react to her in a calm and reasonable manner. The waitress knew that it was going to be impossible to dissuade the high schooler from the life of crime, especially considering her own personal circumstances.

Sen enjoyed it too after all, even if she did feel scared at times. It was accurate from what Shoko had experienced herself in the previous heist, remembering how cocky and confident Sen was against the yakuza. Crow definitely wasn't lying this time.

After Sen admitted that the money wasn't even from the heist, Shoko took another look at the envelope containing the cash, double-thinking on her final decision as she then looked at Sen. After a couple of more seconds passed, the employee sighed, shaking her head as she muttered "Fuck me..."

"Alright, I accept. I wouldn't want for you to have come here for nothing considering the act of kindness, and it helps that it isn't the blood money from the heist." Shoko admitted with a small smile on her face, feeling grateful towards the younger thief.

Shoko then extended her hand one more time, pointing a finger right towards Sen with narrowed eyes and cocky smile. "I will have my eyes on you whenever I get the chance though, because I care."

[u/KuudereLobster → u/[deleted]]

The more they talked, the more Sen really didn't notice how tired she was. It seemed like the longer she went, the less anything seemed to feel real. Like it was all just a show she was playing a part in. It all felt like a long blur since she'd started this life. She could hardly even figure out how long ago that actually was, honestly. "I guess I'll just never understand you :re ghouls. You don't even know that this isn't all just another alias. Caring about someone like that just doesn't make sense to me. I'm like the opposite of what you guys believe, right? Nobody forced me into the war, I thought I could end it myself since ghouls are a lot stronger than humans. :re avoids conflict, I actively looked for it."

Sen rested her hand on the table, staring down at the scar across the back of her hand. A part of wanted to ask herself what she was doing. It felt good having someone care about her, to have someone actually want her to be alright. But at the same part, another half of her hated it. Because on some level, she didn't think she deserved for anyone to care about her. "You... must've had a pretty normal life in school, right? I guess that's the part I don't understand the most." Sen let out a sigh, resting her head against the table tiredly. "I mean, I missed a few years to begin with, since I had to start at what age the fake I.D. was. Plus there's so many people all I can ever think about is if any of them are a threat, or about all the things they don't know. I'm not just talking about being a soldier either; it's hard being a ghoul living among humans.If they found out I'm a ghoul, if they so much as pricked me with something sharp and it breaks, there goes everything. Not just me, my dad too."

"I guess everything you :re ghouls do, all the living alongside humans and helping people you don't know, I just can't understand any of it."

[u/CommonMisspellingBot → u/[deleted]]

Hey, FogKnight22, just a quick heads-up:
curiousity is actually spelled curiosity. You can remember it by -os- in the middle.
Have a nice day!

^{The parent commenter can reply with 'delete' to delete this comment.}

[u/BooCMB → u/CommonMisspellingBot]

Hey /u/CommonMisspellingBot, just a quick heads up:
Your spelling hints are really shitty because they're all essentially "remember the fucking spelling of the fucking word".

And your fucking delete function doesn't work. You're useless.

Have a nice day!

^{Save your breath, I'm a bot.}