#🪶 • threads | anya & yuki •

[withinkandquill-aa]

“Well… I hope you at least gave as good as you got.” // Anya & Yuki // @soulfulempathy

“Of course,” Anya responds, rolling out sore shoulders. Her injuries were significant in quantity but they were nothing serious - bruises and shallow cuts. “I always do.”

[withinkandquill-aa]

Anya turns back only at the sound of her name. Until then, she had been content to ignore him - sure he was a sleazy cat-caller or someone looking for cash she did not have. It had not taken her long to settle on that strategy; they had pestered her even as a homeless young woman herself, passing them on the streets and in back alleys.

Her eyes narrow in suspicion as she looks the stranger up and down. She doesn’t recognize him, and why should she? It wasn’t like she had a social life growing up as her father’s lab rat and she didn’t have one now.

“How do you know my name?” she asks. Her words are blunt and she knows. She just doesn’t care.

@withinkandquill

Occasionally, someone without the gift of an ability caught his father's eye. A woman named Anya, who Yuki had been tasked with watching. Unfortunately, though her aura was strange, dangerous, and carried the overwhelming, metallic scent and taste of blood...Anya was not particularly interesting. So far, he reminded himself.

It wasn't long before Yuki's orders changed. No longer was he to passively watch, but to meet her directly, invite her to the office building where Isen conducted all his meetings. More importantly, he was to make sure she didn't run and hide. These last few weeks he'd noticed she frequented a path, with variations each time, though she always seemed to pass by this quiet neighborhood, with a sidewalk that bordered the north side of a quaint little park. It was usually undisturbed -- but left very few places to hide if she decided to run. That suited Yuki just fine.

Normally, Yuki kept himself hidden behind some seemingly empty apartment buildings, prepared to act like a resident if need be. But this time he was out in the open, sitting comfortably on a wooden bench facing the park's basketball court. Today he wore a simple tshirt and well-fitted jeans, rather than his usual expensive clothes. He liked this better, though he knew it was only to decrease his intimidation, to blend in.

As footsteps approached, Yuki turned his head, as if noticing her for the first time. A smile crossed his face, though he knew any smile would probably read as suspicious to someone like her. Killers like the two of them were rarely trusting. And with an aura like that, she couldn't possibly be anything else.

"Excuse me," he said, not yet standing, but his body was poised for action despite his casual posture. It would be hard to pull one over on her and Yuki wasn't interested in trying. Mentally, he checked for the knives hidden throughout his person as he continued -- it was a mistake to rely solely on his abilities, as he'd learned the hard way. "Anya, right? I'm Yuki. I was hoping we could talk."