As morning arrived, Akio woke up next to Makoto, who was still sleeping.
He didn't want to wake him up, so he silently got out of the bed. He walked towards the door and turned around to see whether Makoto was still asleep before opening the door as quietly as possible. Akio went out of the room and closed the door behind himself.
Akio had already memorized the path from the bedroom to the kitchen, so it was no issue to get there.
As he arrived in the dining room, he halted.
Vyko was nowhere to be seen. Instead there was someone he didn't recognize, sitting at the table. He took a step back.
"Ah, good morning. You must be one of their guests. Don't be afraid to take a seat. I don't bite."
Akio reluctantly made his way to the table, sitting as far away from them as he could.
"Who are you?", he finally asked.
"Ah, right, my apologies. I forgot to introduce myself, how careless of me. My name is Levan, it's a pleasure to meet you," the person said politely. "Oh, and I will stay here for a few days, just so you know," they added.
Akio nodded in response. He then looked at the clock before returning his gaze to Levan.
"I am Akio. Uhm... Where is Vyko? They're usually very early."
"I don't know, I'm afraid. They're a very odd individual. Sometimes they wake up early, sometimes they're sleeping till afternoon. You never know," Levan said with a slight smile on their face.
It seems this Levan person knows them quite well...
Before Akio could respond, Vyko had already entered the room.
Akio's eyes widened.
They didn't wear their robe...
Instead they wore a dark brown sleeveless turtleneck shirt and long gloves, that reached their elbows, in the same color. Their slacks were black and they didn't wear their typical mask. Instead they had the lacy, white blindfold covering their eyes.
The shirt was so tight on them, you could almost see their muscles...
"Morning," was all they said.
"Ah Vyriel! You're here!", Levan exclaimed.
Akio still looked severely dumbfounded.
They didn't wear the robe they always wore without exception. What happened?
"Don't call me that, Levan," Vyko said exasperatedly before glancing at Akio. "Ah, you look confused. I guess this is about the fact I don't wear a robe today. Well, it's currently in the washing machine, so I had no other choice."
"Huh? But you have more than one robe, why not wear one of those?", Levan asked with a puzzled expression.
"Shush. I simply had no interest in wearing one today," Vyko said and crossed their arms.
Levan rolled their eyes.
"You only say that because you don't want to wear a robe that isn't your favorite."
Vyko huffed in response.
"I don't have a favorite robe, I love all of them equally."
Levan chuckled, hiding their mouth behind their hand.
"You sound like a parent who tries to explain they love all their children the same amount."
Meanwhile Akio's face grew more and more red, the longer he stared at Vyko's form.
He had to admit... They were quite attractive...
Vyko noticed Akio's red face, but surprisingly didn't comment on it.
"Well, I'm going grocery shopping, the fridge is almost empty. I'll be back in about an hour. Maybe two if I stumble upon a cat. Levan, you take care of the two boys and don't do anything stupid."
Akio and Levan watched them walk out of the house. Then an awkward silence filled the room.
Fortunately, soon Makoto made his entrance, and smiled as soon as he saw Akio.
"This house is confusing as hell, I got lost six times. Morning, Akio."
"Also who is that?", Makoto pointed towards Levan.
"I am Levan. A friend of... 'Vyko', as they'd like to be called now," Levan said distastefully.
Makoto blinked.
"Talking about Vyko, where are they?", Makoto questioned, looking around.
"They're out grocery shopping. You two are stuck with me for a while, it seems," Levan explained.
Then an uncomfortable silence fell over the room before Akio broke it.
"Why did you leave the Hollow Hand because of me?"
Makoto hesitated a bit, confused by the sudden question.
"I couldn't leave you here."
Akio kept his eyes on the table.
"Why not? I'm not that important to the organization."
Makoto however looked directly at Akio's face, examining it.
"You're important to me though."
Akio was quiet for a bit before continuing with his questions.
"But why would you choose me over the organization? It makes no sense."
"To you. To you it makes no sense. You're not used to having people care about you. But I'm here to change that," Makoto stated firmly.
Akio stayed silent once again.
Makoto sat down next to Akio.
"You deserve to be chosen. Not because you're a valuable asset. But because you're a valuable person."
As Vyko was looking for the groceries they needed, they didn't notice the person standing in front of them, making them accidentally bump into them.
"Ah, my apologies."
"No worries! Are you okay?"
The voice belonged to a girl. Vyko looked down at her from their taller height. She wore a yellow-black dress with a black corset. Her blonde hair had black stripes in them on one strand. She also had some freckles on her face. But that wasn't what Vyko took notice of first. They looked at the black capelet with white fur trim that she was wearing. Why? Because she had a small bumblebee brooch on it.
"Yes, I am okay. I hope I didn't injure you. May I ask a question?", Vyko inquired politely.
The girl tilted her head in question.
"Of course, what is it?"
Vyko pointed at the brooch.
"Why are you wearing a bumblebee brooch? It's very... cute. I like it."
The girl practically beamed at what Vyko said.
"You like it? Thank you! It's a gift from an old friend! She always calls me 'Stumble-Bumble', because I stumble a lot. And because my last name is Hummel. Which means bumblebee in German. I'm so sorry, I'm rambling again-"
Vyko chuckled at her ranting.
"It's okay, I don't mind, I find it rather charming."
The girl blushed a little in response.
"Thank you, uhm... What is your name?"
"My name is... Vyko. What is yours, my dear?"
The girl's eyes widened.
"Vyko? The cult leader?"
Vyko halted. So she knew who they were?
Vyko responded anyway.
"Yes."
The girl tilted her head.
"Really? I expected you to be more... eerie. Well, either way, my name is Julie."
"Are you not scared?", Vyko asked incredulously.
"You seem nice. Besides, I think everyone has a bit of a good side, so there's no way you're *completely* evil," she answered with a smile.
Vyko didn't know how to react. In all their years on earth nothing like that had ever happened to them. Sure, some people didn't fear them out of stupidity. But this girl... Julie... She didn't fear them because she sees the good in everyone. Which is naive, but also strangely endearing.
"Julie. Alright. Noted."
Julie chuckled.
"It's odd. I always run into the enemies of the Hollow Hand when I'm not at work."
"You're a part of them?", Vyko questioned, now even more interested.
"Yep. A rather new recruit, though. I'm still inexperienced with the whole villain-y stuff," Julie said, still keeping the smile on her face.
Vyko then looked at their watch.
"I see. You'll figure it out eventually. Well, it was nice to meet you, but I need to finish my shopping now. Do you perhaps want to exchange phone numbers? I wouldn't mind talking to you again. Quite the opposite actually."
Julie gasped and pulled her phone out of her bag.
"Yes! I'd like that!"
After they exchanged numbers they said their goodbyes and continued their shopping.
Vyko was lost in their own thoughts as they made their way back home.
*I didn't know the Hollow Hand had such an endearing girl as one of their members...*