Mio
Mio blinked.
She thought Jii had actually smiled. Her mind was playing tricks on her. That was nothing new.
"How do you do it?" Mio said. To the boy with seven years left.
Kaito's eyes stayed on the road. "Do what?"
"Pretend it's okay."
He was quiet for a moment. The only sound was Mori's breathing against the window, halfway between a snore and a wheeze.
"Did you know Aoi loved fortune cookies?"
Mio shifted in her seat. Aoi had been a distant memory as of late. "No."
"She would crack them open and rewrite the ones she didn't like. Kept a pen in her bag for it. I still have the jar."
He changed lanes. A delivery truck honked behind them.
"If Aoi were still alive, I still wouldn't hesitate to kill a fucking monster."
Kaito let it sit. Eyes on the road.
Mio pulled the cuff over the obsidian arm tighter. She'd already forgotten what the little orc looked like. But she remembered the hot breath against her skin.
