乇卩|乙ㄖ́

匚卄卂卩ㄒ乇尺 ㄒ山乇几ㄒㄚ-千ㄖㄩ尺

I woke up the next morning, oddly feeling my hunger first.

I realized that me and Griff had skipped dinner. That made me feel kind of bad because I was sure Aino made something for us. I felt that I should definitely go out now to make up for it.

I finally opened up my eyes, stretching my legs only so I wouldn't hit Griff.

After yesterday afternoon, we just laid on the bed talking about random shit. That was what went through dinner, and then we both fell asleep. I didn't even bother getting ready, so I felt every inch of the blanket touching my bare skin.

I finally got up, slipping underneath Griff's arm. I took some outside clothes from my side, quickly slipping into them.

I snuck out of the room, quickly rushing to the bathroom right next to it.

I cleaned myself up as best I could, then went out to the main apartment.

"What happened to you two? I didn't see you guys for dinner," Aino frowned, already serving breakfast.

I wasn't sure if I should tell him. It'd be better not to, especially without Griff's permission.

Just, 'Hey! I may or may not have fucked your best friend, no big deal'.

I actually laughed to myself when I put it that way.

"Sorry, we hit the hay early. Griff was tired and had a lot on his mind," I excused, sitting down on one of the couches.

"Oh." was all Aino said, handing me my plate.

I glanced up at him, noticing the vagueness in his tone.

A similar vagueness I used to hear with Griff.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, setting my plate in my lap.

"Nothing, it's just... everything feels different. The last time I spoke to Griff, we argued about his vagueness. Now he's opening up, just... not to me." he muttered, lazily throwing food onto his plate.

I glanced down, not really sure how to respond to that.

"Not to who?" I heard someone speak behind me.

I turned, seeing Griff walk up to the couch I was on.

"Nothing, we're just talking about random stuff," Aino chuckled, grabbing another plate for Griff.

"Oh," Griff mumbled. It seemed like he sensed the elephant in the room right now.

Before I could get back to my plate, I felt Griff's arm reach down, grabbing a piece of bacon from me.

"Hey, we're not on food grabbing terms," I huffed, keeping my plate away from him.

"Sorry, I wanted some extra food," he smirked, taking a small bite of the bacon.

I rolled my eyes, deciding to take a bite as well.

When Griff sat at the opposite couch, Aino quickly handed him the plate. They both awkwardly stared for a moment until Griff finally reached out to grab it.

Before he could fully hold it, Aino let go, causing Griff to nearly drop it. He caught it in time but was still a bit confused by the interaction. Aino didn't even apologize or seem to notice either. He just speed walked back to the kitchen.

I heard Griff let out a long sigh, setting his plate down on the coffee table.

"Alright, we need to talk."

"About what? I don't think we do," Aino spoke in a high-pitched voice. He was actually really bad at lying, I never noticed it before.

"I feel like there are a lot of things we're not telling each other. A lot of opinions, that we're afraid to share," he glared up at Aino, causing him to freeze in place.

I honestly just watched the two of them interact, actually enjoying my meal right now.

"Another thing, Kama hardly speaks up."

A piece of bacon got caught in my throat when I breathed in hard from shock, a loud cough coming from me.

They both glanced over as I literally died from choking on bacon, trying to hawk it back up into my mouth.

"Don't do that. It's nothing that all of us should talk about," I chuckled, finally putting a stop to my coughing fit.

"You hardly speak up and force yourself to be uncomfortable until you break. Even after your breaking point, you still claim that you're fine with the way things are. You've never even pitched in your true opinion about this place. You just side with either me or Aino." Griff spat back, no sense of humor behind his tone at all.

My small smile faded, this conversation making me lose my appetite. I put my plate down on the table, letting Griff continue.

Aino did the same, settling down on the couch in between the two of us.

"Aino, you hold back your true opinions as well. I feel like you're still mad at me from that day, and you crave but never beg. It's a good thing on some level, but you can't live a life that you don't want. That's why your answer to Aurelio's question is the most important. It'll change the course of your life, so you need to be entirely sure."

Aino let out a deep sigh, his hands moving as if he was piecing together what he wanted to say.

"I am still kind of mad, but not at you. I'm mad at myself and at this camp. If Aurelio and David had never been there that day, maybe things would've been different. Maybe I would've been half happy with the way things were. Instead, I missed out on so much. When I left, you and Kama would bicker every 2 seconds. Now, you have inside jokes, you're more comfortable with the other, and I feel like I missed that. I feel like the odd one out now, and you two have ideas and opinions that I'm not a part of." Aino finally spoke, his hands moving to gesture along with his word.

I shrugged, leaning back into the couch.

"We spent... all this time traveling across the country to see you again. We want you back. It's just going to take time to get back to the beginning," I stepped in, messing around with my hair, so I had something to do during this.

"Not totally back to the beginning, I don't need Griff trying to kill you,"

Griff let out a small chuckle, leaning back into his couch as well.

"Kama's right, but there is one problem. If you want to stay here... I don't think we could ever be the trio we want. I can't stay here, Aino. So I'd have to be the one to step back." he spoke with seriousness again, practically glaring into his soul.

"But why? Can't you give them a chance? They've actually treated me well, and Oli-"

"They're making Chimeras, Aino. Can't you see the problem with that? They killed your family and your crops. They destroyed your hometown. They killed off Kama's entire city, leaving her stranded in a fucking train station. They killed my parents, and then they adopted me to use me as a murder weapon. I've been through their shit, and I know everything that they're planning. I never told you guys this, but they made me kill humans. Anyone who tried to stop them, anyone that tried to expose their plans. I..." he stopped, seeing our already shocked expressions.

"You what, Griff?" Aino asked, all focus going to him.

He deeply sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"I was the one that wiped out New York, not the Chimeras."

My eyes widened, my heart racing as I began to connect the dots. I began pointing to the two of them, trying to get their attention.

"They're making Chimeras. This isn't recent. This was since the beginning, right?" I quickly spoke, pointing at Griff.

"Yes, since the apocalypse started," Griff's eyebrows narrowed, seeming a bit interested in what I had to say.

"If they've been making Chimeras from the beginning, who's to say that they didn't create them?"

"Kama-"

"If they created Chimeras..."

"...they created me and you, Griff."