Just keep talking to me.
“Yeah, I know. It’s a long time… but I’m trying… Y’know, I never realized… how difficult putting your thoughts together.. into words.. could be.." She laughed, which slowly sputtered off into quiet, small coughs, before she closed her eyes again, and focused on breathing, briefly touching her lips to the speaker, and tilting her head back. She could feel the light on her face. Warmer, than usual. Because she was colder, than usual.
"Not just thoughts, but feelings…. Like.. I can tell you.. how I feel.
That I’m… scared…
and…that it hurts. Fuck it hurts a lot, ehehh.”
‘But that’s good, right? I can still, if just, feel it. And.. you’re coming.’ She could hear, in the distance, just barely, the sounds from outside her front door. It was so unlike her to be a damsel- she did all she could not to rely on other people. Not to burden them, not to push her emotions, her needs, her desires, her hopes. Hers was a philosophy to serve wherever she could be used, however she could be the hope, the help, the saviour. When it came down to it, there would always be one person that she couldn’t always save.Himura Emi.
That’s alright.
Because for every damsel, no matter how occasional they were in their helplessness, their inability to save themselves,
There was a knight.
Himura-kun… I’m here.
She hung up her phone, and let it drop from her hand, turning her eyes away from the light, and opening glassy eyes his way. It was a morbid scene, of course. Dark poetry lingered in the almost picturesque contrast of red against white tile, and the black remaining clothes she bore. Her jacket almost blended into the scene, save the emblem on the back. It must have been a sight. But even still, she smiled at him.
“Yes you are, Hakuba-kun.”
“And fortunately, so still, am I.”
“Thank God for that.”
His tone was firm, but calm as Hakuba stood in the doorway to the bathroom, and surveyed the situation. Slipping the phone into his pocket, the detective ran through the figures and processes in his head. Female, seventeen years old, approximately… 160.8cm, 61kg, giving a body mass index of around 24…
“Are you staying calm?” Hakuba asked, this time adding a little bit of humor into his voice. Now that he wasn’t driving, his secondary function was to calm and reassure. Bedside manner to make the work easier on the both of them.
After setting the bag down, he stripped off his suit jacket and hung it on the doorknob, then removed his tie, movements quick and practiced. This done, he rolled up his sleeves and stepped over to the sink, turned on the faucet, and reached for the soap while waiting for the water to get as hot as it could.
There were three points of entry that he could see from his earlier vantage, but there were potentially more. She was pale. Once his hands were washed, he took reached for the cleanest looking towel and dried them, turning to her afterward. He took up the medical bag again, blanket stuffed on top, and walked through the blood to kneel at her side. He took the blanket and folded it flat, moving to gently first lift her shoulders and head to slide it between herself and the tile.