96+ Quite Bitter Beings

[KamiKaze]

Suddenly, a hard object hit the side of Junko's skull. Before she could react, Darius pushed her away and stood up, running. Damn it, the thing he threw at her- the bottle, the one he wasted- bought him time to escape. He was already several feet away before she realized what was happening.

She saw the bat, still laying on the ground. With another growl, Junko picked it up with her free hand, and stood up. She stomped the direction Darius went.

Her feet pounded down the stairs, making loud noises against the metal. But, she realized quickly, she was too late for that. Darius had left for real. Good, she decided. He was probably off to try the same bullshit on someone else.

She stepped back upstairs, her heart still pounding from the anger and adrenaline. She saw the bottle still on the ground. Still no idea what she was going to do about the water he just poured out, like it was damn unimportant. Her blood still boiled at the thought.

Junko sat back down next to her pack, and took a closer look at the sharp object. The chisel still had streaks of red on it, from when she slashed Darius' cheek. She wiped it against the bottle of her tank top, only to realize that was a bad idea. It left a stripe of dark red. Junko let out a frustrated sigh.

Damn it, Darius. Again, no clue about what she was going to do about the water. She didn't know how to filter water. She was probably going to end up dehydrated or getting some sort of disease, because she just had to give him a bottle. He didn't just drink from it, no. Instead, he poured it out. He probably did the same shit to his own water, too. Gah, she knew she shouldn't have trusted him.


Her limbs were still shaking.

The feeling of adrenaline, of anger, had started to simmer down, though, and-

She'd hurt someone.

She attacked Darius.

When Junko was younger, she occasionally got into trouble because she was fighting on campus. It was nothing huge. If anything, it was her and her friends screwing around. They did get into hot water with the teacher, yeah, but they weren't trying to hurt each other. It was an odd thing to realize, but it was the first actual fight she'd been in, even without the death game thing.

But she still hurt someone, caused them to bleed. For a moment, a feeling of dread passed over her. Junko decided to push it aside. Well, he had it coming, didn't he? He decided to waste her things on stupid shit when, you know, she needed it, and she gave it to him out of kindness. He also tried to slit her throat. With a chisel, yeah, but it was a clear attempt. Even if she attacked him first... it still happened.  Plus, he could have been dangerous.

She had her reasons. A few times, her brain tried to come up with counterpoints, but her arguments seemed to be stronger. Junko didn't feel like she could feel too sorry for Darius. At least she got a chisel out of it. At least Darius might not try that again.

At least she knew what she was capable of. In a way, it was nice to get confirmation that if someone else decided to screw around with her she could easily deal with it. Okay, yeah, that's a bit of a messed-up thought process, but there you go. As cruel as it sounded... she tried to push her conscience away.


After making sure the chisel was clean, she slid it into the pocket of her cargo pants. The bat went into the bag, its handle sticking out of an unzipped hole. She didn't think she was too injured after the fight. Her legs, chest, and head still ached a bit, but she didn't think it was anything stronger than bruises. She might have to check soon, though, see for herself if it was any bad. When she stood up, her limbs felt both loose and tight at once.

She still played the memory of Mr. Graham getting shot in her brain. The memory of Darius pouring out her water still got her heated up. But, Junko figured, in a way it was motivation. She didn't want to die like Graham, and she didn't want to deal with any more idiots like Darius. She still didn't think she was a killer, but if someone decided to screw with her she was going to go down swinging.


About half an hour later, Junko left the helipad.

((Junko Kurosawa continued in Helvetica Standard))