𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐌𝐏𝐇 || ʜᴀᴡᴋꜱ

37➟ In which Rin tries to cheer me up.

Rin woke me up the following morning. I don't remember falling asleep, but apparently, I had done so in the clothes from last night. I had a rotten headache too. Like someone had taken an axe to my head and just hacked away.

I felt bad when I didn't mirror Rin's enthusiasm as he spoke. He caught on quite quickly, as per usual. Though he didn't really have to rely on mind tricks this time, I'd say it was pretty much written on my face.

He'd gone out of his way to make breakfast too, not ice either. Rin had actually managed to use a stove and cook breakfast.

I managed a small smile, ruffling his hair, "Thanks kiddo."

"No problem," He sat down opposite me, a judgemental look on his face, "Are you hung over?"

"No," I replied simply, picking at the food and managing a small bite.

"Then why are you acting like that?" He gestured to the whole of me.

"Like what?" I shook my head slowly.

"Like you've just seen someone die."

I winced, bad choice of words.

"Someone died?" He leaned forward, a look of worrying falling on his face, "Who?"

I shook my head, "No one you'd know-- look, don't worry yourself with it, it's not your problem Rin."

"Clover killed your friend?" He said simply.

As much as I didn't want to take anything out on him, I couldn't help the sheer anger that filled me when I realised he'd used his quirk, "You had no right to do that," I scolded, pushing myself up from the table with such force that the chair legs ground against the floor with a high-pitched screech.

"You weren't answering my question."

I squeezed my eyes shut, taking a breath, I wasn't going to get angry at him, it wasn't his fault I was so on edge. "I'm sorry Rin, I just can't talk about this right now. Why don't we just get ready for work and then we can go?" Though it was phrased like a question, it sounded much more like a direction.

He gave me an odd look, one that looked as though it were right on the cusp between concern and dismissal as he was trying to figure out if he was going to agree with me or not, ultimately deciding to agree. It was probably the least troublesome choice at the time.

My room was quiet. Part of me thought the silence would be welcoming, but it was more off-putting. Like some unspoken emotion hung in the air that didn't want to be acknowledged, only present.

I tried to get changed as quickly as possible so that I could distract myself from that uncomfortable silence. Rin was sitting in front of the TV, he'd turned the news on which I thought was a bit out of character for him, considering how fond he was of the Property Brothers. He looked up at the sound of my door closing, I tried to give him a small smile and a nod, but it must have been pretty terrifying, as he quickly turned his head toward the TV.

So I just decided to grab all of my stuff.

The news always sounded the same to me, politics, death, politics, oh look this cat just did something cool, death, politics. Someone in the production room must have realised how uninteresting I found the news because the presenter said a name just as Rin was about to switch off the TV. Grace's name. Grace's name was followed by two others that I'd never heard of before. Not until I saw their faces. The two men in the corridor by Grace's dressing room faced the camera in what appeared to be their mugshots.

"Three people have been reported dead at an underground bar..."

I made my way over to Rin, sitting beside him as the newsreader continued.

"One victim suffered a fatal gunshot wound, whilst the cause of death for the final two victims is unknown."

"Unknown?" I mouthed, racking my brain for answers. Did Clover shoot the other two men? That would explain why they were no longer in the corridor when I went back to the table.

That concreted in my brain just how evil that man could be. Someone needed to stop him-- even if it was a child and an incompetent spy.

"That was her?" Rin asked quietly, trying to gauge what kind of reaction the question would garner from me.

I nodded slowly, "Why don't we go to work."

Rin tried his best to cheer me up, keeping up a constant stream of conversation, like he knew that I needed a distraction. I appreciated the gesture, he was trying his best, but something in my brain just didn't want to work with him. It was as if it had fogged over with this thick, dark smog. The kind writers always try to get you to picture when they describe Victorian England. Every now and then, that same smog seemed to creep its way into the corner of my vision too. To a point where it was a relief to walk through the Clover Agency's comically large sliding doors.

"Morning Fujiokas," The woman at the desk greeted us with her usual nod. I felt bad that I still couldn't remember her name, she had the decency to remember mine. I nodded back, giving a small smile, Rin gave a childish wave that was surprisingly out of character for him-- a big smile on his face like he was meeting his favourite kids TV show presenter.

We got into the elevator and I gave him a look as the doors shut behind us. He shrugged, "What? I had to make up for your terrible acting skills."

His voice rung out in my head and I gave him yet another confused look.

"They've installed cameras, Brenda was watching them when we came in. They might have microphones too, just being careful."

"Who's Brenda?" I asked, the doors chiming open. We made our way out, walking to my office.

"You don't know who Brenda is?" Rin sighed, "The lady at the desk."

"Oh yeah, Brenda," I pushed the glass door open, holding it open for Rin, who had stopped just before the door and was giving me the most judgemental and disapproving look I'd ever seen in my life.

I rolled my eyes, deciding against holding the door open for Rin and letting it go behind me, walking into the room and throwing myself onto the desk chair, only to look up and see Rin right in front of me.

"I'm going to be nice to you because you're in a bad mood," He nodded, like this was the most generous thing I'd ever been on the receiving end of in my life.

"Gee, thanks." I mumbled, trying to fight back the smile that pulled at the corners of my mouth.

"You're welcome," He replied, crossing his arms over his chest and laying down on the couch on the left hand side of the room.

Just as he strew himself across the cushions, there was a knock at the glass door that connected my office to Clover's. He walked in with a grotesquely large smile on his face, like he hadn't just murdered three people.

Being around Rin had almost been enough to cheer me up, even a little bit, but seeing Clover again just made my heart sink. Rin had mentioned my terrible acting skills earlier and I wasn't about to pull that again if it meant I gave away Rin and I's position. So I smilled at my 'boss', realising that this was how I was to act for the foreseeable future so that enough evidence could be gathered to put him and the Librarian away.