There was Aki, laying against the wall, dead.
There was a woman perched to her side, who seemed she would crumble from a small, delicate touch. There were at least seven more people who laid limp in the fairly large room, but Yuta didn't pay much mind to them. If the pair didn't notice the smell before, they most certainly did now. It was a revolting, rotten smell, it stained the entirety of the room and now into their souls.
Every step taken felt like poison, as Yuta's knees shook from disbelief. Tears began to burst from her eyes unwillingly, as she stood in front of her deceased sibling. Her knees finally gave out, as she gripped onto Aki's shoulders, desperation shone in her eyes. She was searching for something, anything, to give her reassurance that Aki was still in fact alive. After finding no life behind dull eyes, Yuta finally reached her breaking point. She pressed her palms against Aki's shoulder blades harsher than intended, pulled the limp body towards her chest, and screamed in pure agony. Yuta's eyes squinted from the strong sting of tears gushing down her stained cheeks, her jaw on the verge of unhinging as she let out ungodly cries for her fallen sister. Greg winced from the pitch but stood aside respectively, eyes pricked with unwanted tears. He could hear the stupid voice start to chime in, as Greg failed to block it out.
"Damn, look at all of this homophobia."
Oh, Greg shouldn't laugh at that. Greg mentally apologised for Yuta's reasonable reaction to death and grief, and quietly coughed to himself, a lousy way to cover a giggle – he felt disgusting for laughing in such situation. Once Greg zoned back into the situation, he noticed the snotty-faced Yuta slobbering all over the dead corpse, dried blood and the smell of death sunk deeper into her skin and clothes. Greg frowned, as he placed a tender palm onto Yuta's shoulder.
"I know this is hard for you, but please don't rub all over her. That can't be healthy." Greg informed Yuta, as he cringed. He doesn't know how to look after others whilst under pressure.
Yuta whined and stuffed her face into the dried-oily scalp of Aki before she withdrew.
"Sorry." Yuta, for some reason, had apologised.
"Don't apologise, I've been through this shit too. It's not fun, but you'll get through it. I know you will." Greg tried to reassure her, as he offered a smile as a way of comfort.
It seemed his way of comfort indeed worked, as Yuta tried to throw a smile of her own. The way her nose wrinkled the wrong way, as snot began to run down her churned lips. The way her red, puffy eyes had tried their hardest to seem its brightest, as the build-up of grieving tears completely contrasted the expression. Even if her smile wasn't the prettiest, Greg wouldn't trade it for any other in the world.
"There she is." Greg arose his arms in a beckoning embrace, as he gave her a fond, emphatic expression. "Come here."
The bundle of tears ran down her face, as she rushed towards Greg's right shoulder for comfort. She stuffed her face in the crook of his neck, as she jumped and wrapped her legs around Greg's waist. Greg was taken aback from the sudden weight and placed his palms onto Yuta's thighs as support. They removed themselves from the sickening room and made their way outside, settling on the small staircase just outside the front door.
"What am I going to do now? She meant everything to me..." Yuta sobbed, her voice lost within Greg's shoulder.
"Yeah..." Greg began, however didn't know how to reply. 'I wonder how she died.'
"I know how she died-"
'Shut it, dickhead. I don't want to hear your sickening lies.' Greg spat, as he continued to caress Yuta's trembling form.
"If you say so, bitch." The voice replied, Greg swore he felt it shrug.
The concept of time was irrelevant. It seemed an eternity passed, though it'd only been an hour. Yuta was nowhere near healed, but was able to take that time to stable herself and think clearly.
"I should break the news to da- James." Yuta lent back, wiping her face with the sleeve of her blue top.
"You don't have to tell him straight away, only when you're ready." Greg reminded. "We should also find you some different work clothes."
"Why?" Yuta enquired, as she tilted her head.
"I don't know if you recall, but you're kind of a 'wanted criminal' Yuto- Yuta." Greg replied with air quotations. "Especially whilst you're in the origins of that supposed crime."
"Oh shit, you're right. Today is just not it, is it?"
"There'll be better days, Veggie."
Yuta smiled from the nickname. "Alright, I'll call dad now."
"...Dad?" Greg's eyebrows scrunched.
"Oh, James. I consider him as a father figure."
Greg smiled. "That's cool. Want me to be there with you?"
"Please." Yuta almost begged, as her lips trembled.
Greg patted her shoulder, as Yuta reached for her tablet. She clicked James' contact and awaited for the anxiety-ridden call.
"Hi Yuta! And Greg, I'm assuming? Glad to finally meet you." James greeted cheerfully, not fully processing the broken woman in Greg's arms yet.
"Um... Hi?" Greg replied, his social anxiety beating rapidly in his chest. He doesn't even know this man, how is he supposed to tell him about Aki's death!?
Once James finally glanced towards Yuta, his entire demeanour became scarily dark within seconds. "What happened."
Greg wanted to burst into tears from the sudden growl of a foreign face. Nothing is more terrifying than a pissed off person you don't even know. In a matter of seconds, his eyes began to water, as he clutched Yuta closer to his chest as comfort and a hope to escape this call.
"A hell of a lot." Yuta croaked, as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her palms. "So you know how I was going to ask Aki about the transition?"
"Go on..." James replied sceptically, as his eyebrows scrunched.
"Well. She's... kind of... dead...?" Yuta hesitated, as she tried and failed to pull off a smile.
Almost like a wild fuse, James slammed his hands on the table and roared. "She's WHAT?!"
Yuta flinched from the sudden yell and buried her face into Greg's chest. Greg wished he had a chest to stuff his face into, as he averted his head from the camera and began to quietly sob. What a way to meet your crushes' dad. James noticed the distress from the young adults and sighed to himself.
"I'm so sorry," He began, his voice attempting to be soft. "I just can't believe this has happened again."
Greg and Yuta perked from that statement. "Again?"
James hummed in approval. "There's a suspicious pattern, and I can't figure out why. Other guardians call me in similar states as you, telling me the same outcome. Something is trying to kill off the guardians as well as humans. It might be just a coincidence, but I need to at least know it's a coincidence otherwise more guardians might be killed in the future."
