Roll The Dice - Celegiri and Saiouma

My hand I would fold.

Chapter 8
🖤My hand I would fold💜

(Warning: Smoking.)

Kyoko was up early the next morning. She hadn't set an alarm, or a schedule at that, but three a.m. could definitely be considered early.

She had tossed and turned all night, not getting to sleep until well past one. Then, two hours later, she was awake again. She had never had nerves like this before, but the thought of catching her parent's killer...

Kyoko shook her head, standing and stretching until she heard a satisfying crack in her back. She looked around the room.

Maki was fast asleep on the floor, a blanket and pillow acting as a makeshift bed. On the bed next to her, Shuichi was curled into a ball. He seemed to be missing a blanket and Kyoko concluded that Maki had either stolen it, or the young detective had handed it over. She went with the latter, seeing as Shuichi was an objectively considerate person.

Stepping over Maki's sleeping form, she made her way into the bathroom. It was rather clean. The walls were painted white with black tiling from the floor to about midway up. The shower doubled as a bathtub, tucked neatly away into the back of the room.

Kyoko took a quick shower, finding it much needed. She had been so stressed that she hadn't even felt the headache pounding at her skull. Her hair was wiry and oily from the lack of care put into it, she scrubbed at it perfusely with shampoo. She finished quickly, changing into a new set of clothes. She considered blow drying her hair with the provided dryer sitting on the sink counter, ultimately deciding to wait until the other's were awake, as to not disturb their sleep.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she noticed Maki was missing from her spot on the floor. A note was left on the table, reading:

Your shower woke me up, thanks. I'll be outside, I need a cigarette. Be back in a bit.

- Maki

Kyoko turned over the note in her hand before opening the motel room door. Like stated, the strange girl was leaning against the wall outside, smoking a cigarette.

Maki glanced over when she stepped outside, holding out the package to her, which Kyoko declined.

"I haven't smoked in three years," She explained, "I'm not starting now."

The girl nodded approvingly, "Good for you. I don't have the determination, nor the will, to stop."

Kyoko glanced around. The sun hadn't risen yet and the hall was dark. It was mostly quiet, except for a car driving by every so often. There was a slight breeze that made Kyoko consider going inside to grab her jacket, but she stood still, leaning against the wall with Maki.

The girl put out the cigarette on a nearby ash tray, flicking it onto the ground and crushing it under her boot.

Kyoko looked at her strangely, "You do realize you just openly littered in front of a cop, yes?"

She shrugged, "It's on concrete, so it's technically not littering." She dug it into the ground harder before pulling her boot back, "Besides, the janitor will clean it up. If they have one."

The detective stared at the cigarette butt for a bit before sighing and turning back towards the room, "I'm going to wake up Saihara so we can get an early start."

She was stopped by a hand on her shoulder, which she quickly ducked away from. She turned back around to face Maki, who was looking at her with an analytic gaze, "You should let him sleep, that boy looked about ready to pass out at that concert yesterday."

Kyoko glanced at the door once more before sighing, "Yeah, I noticed that as well." She put her hand to her chin in thought, "I believe he has at least mild anxiety with how panicked he gets in certain situations." She mumbled to herself, "Strange, seeing that he's a detective."