Bab 20: 20. SHOCHIN DISTRICT

20. SHOCHIN DISTRICT

TAP!

They both walked down the roadside with Sasha holding tight to her bike, for minutes no one said a word and only walked a little distance apart from the other.

Kay occasionally took glances over at Sasha who kept herself busy humming a musical tune. Unlike him she acted as if he was not there it made him feel if she actually recognized him as a human being. He parted his lips to speak but closed it back.

They walked down the Shochin district which was less populated that other parts of the city. Perhaps due to the experience of the night before Sasha was more cautious of her surroundings and also of Kay who she still believe harboured a dangerous spieiy even if he managed to control it the night before.

As they walked past an alleyway the caught sight of an old wrinkled woman glaring at them in a strange manner. Kay pulled back sharply and closed in on Sasha who was unmoved by the sight.

Only a few cars actually passed that area, and the people there even fewer. Most of the buildings there were being renovated. The poor usually trolled the streets looking things to scavange.

The sight being a first for Kay made him shudder.

Sasha broke the long held silence. "It's creepy, isn't it?" Her voice was calm and soft with a tinge of sweetness.

Kay glanced at her his hands clutching tight to his bag handles, his breathing revebrating with nervousness. "Um-- it is pretty bad." He responded the best way he could.

Sasha glanced over at the streets and walked up to a poor old begger. "I don't mean the buildings moron." She leaned over with her miniskirt barely covering her knees. She placed a container containing tokoyaki in the man's care.

The thinny man reached out his bony hands and took the container from her hand. "..."

Kay was taken back, "Um isn't that your lunch? I was wondering why you didn't have anything in school."

She gave the man her best smile before pushing herself back to her feet. "Sorry I couldn't make it yesterday Aoi San, I had a rough day." She turned to face Kay and kicked him on the thigh. "Pay respects to your elders moron."

"Oweeee!" Kay cried. He had been so stunned by her actions that he forgot to greet the old man.

He threw his head in a forward bow, his hands stapled to his sides. "Kon ni chi wa!"

He raised his head to find the old man fully engrossed in the contents of the container and Sasha gone. "Eh?"

"Over here moron! The time waits for no man!" She yelled as she walked down the street.

"Heeey! Wait up! Miss Sasha!" Kay cried as he rand up to meet her. "Don't vanish like that again, please. It's scary."

Sasha hissed. "It's called walking moron."

"I'm not a moron." He argued.

"Yes you are! Urgh!" She said with a loud grunt.

Kay resisted the urge to argue further. "Um, Miss Sasha. Why are you taking this shady area and aiding that man? Do you know him?"

Sasha rolled her eyes at him. "Must you know everything twerp?"

Kay ducked his head and apologized. "Sorry. I just-- you're right it's none of my business anyway."

Sasha looked over at him, his face looking hurt and his hair bouncing up and down as he walked. "Uhhhh, did you get taller or is it because you started to look more bigger?"

She was referring to when she first met him when he looked tiny and helpless. Kay just stared at her and gave no reply.

"I just find that helping people is a really good thing, especially the elders." Sasha said in a proud manner. "You know. Honour your elders."

Kay said plainly while giving her a straight face. "Sorry but you don't seem like the kind to want to put the need of others before your own because your whole attitude is more likened to a delinquent and not one who factors moral value over her own bad behavior."

WHAAM!!

Sasha felt an anvil drop on her head in a literal sense. Her eyes exploded from their sockets. Her voice dry and hurt. "Gee thanks, now I know I'm not even a human being."

Kay started to feel timid. "Sorry, I just gave my analysis of you based on all the data I have collected of recent. I apologize if any of this feels hurtful in any way. But as they say the truth is bitter."

Sasha screamed as she slapped him so hard that the back of his neck started to hiss out smoke. "How is that anyway to talk to a cute and innocent girl like me... ?!"

Kay burst out in tears. "Oweeee! I can't feel my spine, you really are a brute. And here I was thinking that you are cute and adorable."

Sasha's face widened as she gasped. Kay wondered if he had said anything wrong at the moment.

"You think I'm a cutie patootie?" Her cheek reddened. "It's the first time anyone has ever confessed so openly to me before."

Kay's face flushed with embarrassment. "Umm-- no-- I-- uh, not what I meant."

Sasha smiled cynically.

"!!" She raised her head and stopped abruptly. "That reminds me... We have been followed by that ugly old hag for a while now."

"?" Kay turned back still clutching to his burning neck. "I thought you respected elders."

Down the street was the old woman they had encountered from earlier.

"It's strange that she has been able to keep up with us this long even at her age." Sasha uttered in a cold voice. "My You - Have - Better - Get - Outta - Here syndrome is starting to kick in."

Kay gulped down. "GOLLUM!"

Sasha turned around and bolted on her bicycle leaving a trail of dust behind. "Every girl for herself! Run for it nimrod!"

"Eh--!" Kay screamed and ran after her at a much slower pace. "Wait for me, please! Mommy, it's a scary place."

Yet as his legs carried h farther fr the figure he could not help but think --

--"I have seen that old woman somewhere before, could she be--"--

A gust of dark fog envelops the street behind them. Within it was an elderly female figure with a long, hooked nose and metal teeth. In one hand she held a long wooden pestel, her cloths likened to rags that had once been fine woven fabric.

Her lips curved down beyond a nature that could be percieved normal in a long frown, the wrinkles on her face showing evidently. Her eyes an full black and giving off a bone chilling aura.

"R---- Rotten Kids they is, full of fibre aye and rich in spirit energy! Makes my mouth water!"

The dark fog dispelled and her vanishing with it. But who is this ominous figure who has set her sights on the duo... ?