「 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚊𝚕𝚏𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 」- 𝙻. 𝙻𝚊𝚠𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚝 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝚇𝙸 - 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎

H.H.S.A Guidebook for New Inhabitants
Originally published in 803 A.D by V. Atticus
Edition 34

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11. Psychopomp is a cat that lives in the Halfway House. He's very friendly, and has lived here as long as anyone can remember. His favourite foods are milk and tuna.

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X was sitting cross-legged on my bed facing me, staring at me as if I had just grown another head. A cigarette hung loosely out of his mouth, smoke floating above him in wisps.

"What?" I went. "I don't care if you think it's vapid or in bad taste or whatever. This is important to me."
He eyed the papers between us and picked it up to examine it, exhaling a large cloud of smoke.
"I never called it vapid, just odd. How am I even supposed to know who to give this to?"

"Let me bum a cig first."
He frowned. "That's not a polite way to ask. Do you mind non-menthol? I'm not a baby like you with your Newports."
"Good to know your cigarettes tasting worse makes you superior." I replied, rolling my eyes. "I don't mind, I just prefer menthol. I smoked your cigs the other day, remember?"
"I figured that was because you were drunk, but ok." He tossed me his pack of Pall Malls and I took out two sticks, setting one aside and lighting up the other.

"Really, dude?" He swiped his pack out of my hands indignantly.
"Oh, lay off. You could spawn a whole carton of these any time."
He shot me a dirty look. "I couldn't, actually. Spawners keep you from getting more than three packs per week. These have to last me till Monday."
"What? Jesus X, you smoked two packs in five days? You're lucky you can't get cancer. There's a limit on these for a reason, you know. Spawn a vape or something."
"Ugh! Vapes are gross, why would I want to do that?"
"How is a vape worse than a cigarette?"
"They taste like shit!"
"...Ironic. Just find a flavour you like."

X rolled his eyes. His hair was down (usually he ties back the top half) and wildly messy, which might have been more endearing if it weren't for the pouting.
"Tch. As if. I prefer my emphysema all-naturale. How about you get a vape, if you like them so much?"
I wrinkled my nose. "No thanks, I rather like my Newports. I'll get you a pack of Pall Malls later, so stop complaining."
X stuck out his tongue out at me and let out a rather pointed puff of smoke at me, to which I gave a caustic smile.

"...Cute. Now, back to what I was saying. I'm not asking you to go very far out of your way. If someone comes in that could possibly be affiliated with my orphanage, just ask if they've heard of the Wammy's House. If they say yes, give them my entries. That's it."

"'Wammy's House'?" He repeated. "How do you spell that?"
"W-A-M-M-Y. Like the inventor."
"Wait, Quillish Wammy? Is he the one that created your little genius cult?"

I nodded. "He discovered Ryuzaki as a child, and made him into the detective he is today. I don't know how much you know about L, but he's the guy known as Watari. He's like L's representative, surrogate maybe. Later he went on to found my orphanage so he could raise more children like him."

"Oh... wow." He leaned back on my bed frame and was silent for awhile. His eyes had taken on a faraway look.
"...I haven't told either of you this, but I actually worked alongside L once."
I turned my head. "Did you now?"

"Yeah. I used to be an investigator for the NPA. L stepped in to assist us after a kidnapping of a Japanese politician. I quit before the case was over, but I worked directly under him and Watari for some time."

"Really..?" I was surprised by his sudden forthrightness. Usually we kept such personal details to ourselves. "It's pretty ironic that you were a cop, seeing how much you admire the profession."