Chapter Text
Uki Violeta.
A man with little words, someone who manages to converse his needs and wants through his stares and mere glances. He was beautiful, handsome, ethereal, many words to describe his looks but so little words to describe what he’s like.
Fulgur observed that he was not the talkative time, and when he does, it’s usually with Sonny, who’s eyes which were usually frosty like the dead of winter, soften with small warmth when it came to Uki.
If Fulgur had one word to describe Uki, he would say Uki was Apricity, he was warm but cold, it was like he was the sun on a winter’s day. Fulgur wondered what could have caused Uki to be this shut in, or was he always this way?
“Gur… Fulgur… Fulgur!” the voice of Alban Knox rattles the grey colour haired man from his thoughts and gaze from the idyllic purple haired man opposite the room conversing with a bright yellow highlighter much to his annoyance .
“Man, are you even awake? Do you need another coffee?” Alban questioned as he took a look at his partner with confusion. “I’m fine Albanyan.” Fulgur gave a reassuring smile, before extending his hand, expecting something from the Phantom Thief who grumpily passed a file to him.
“I snatched this file from Kaneko and Zotto a few hours ago, it seems like they did not realise the files were swapped to begin with.” Alban grumbles, surrendering the file to the black gloved male who opens it and reads the entire case.
“Let’s take this case.” Fulgur said immediately, noting the location of the case is at. “Hm? Why? You’d usually give me a long lecture on stealing cases especially from Kaneko and Zotto, why are you keeping this case?” Alban questioned curiously, catching the file that Fulgur tossed to him. “It’s an important case, let’s hurry before we lose the case and the Cannibal at large.” Fulgur stood up, “Violeta, Brisko, get a move on. We have a case to crack.” he called for the two men conversing by the window, they turned, one with a devious smile the other with a cold face.
But both said one word with the same unemotional tone.
“Understood.”
-
The car ride was silent and, dare Fulgur says, awkward. Fulgur behind the wheel, Alban at the passenger seat beside him, Uki behind Alban and Sonny beside him. There was no way of starting a conversation with Alban without leaving the pair at the back feeling left out, so they settled for silence.
“Ah Fulgur, one more turn.” Alban informed, knowing how the man behind the wheel would always miss a turn by accident whenever he was by this road. “Got it, thank you Alban.” Fulgur gave a relaxed smile, he could always count on Alban to give him directions whenever he was driving.
Then there was once again, that awkward silence.
…
“Which case are we assigned on and where are we going.” Sonny breaks the silence, but even with that cool and collected tone, it was not that helpful but whatever, it helped dissipate the awkwardness between them. “It’s a normal case, however due to the rise in Cannibals there, we are better off working together if we don’t want to get pounced on.” Fulgur said with a monotonous tone.
“We’re here.” Alban announces as Fulgur parks his(well technically the company) car in the nearby parking lot. Stepping out of the car, Fulgur inhales the scent of rain on the ground.
Petrichor , was the word he learnt from his novels as he was reminded of the word while he inhales the scent of the pleasant, dewy petrichor of the post-rain afternoon.
“Mr Ovid.” a melodious voice filled his ears as he was mid breathing the air in, his breath hitched. Hearing that sweetly sick voice say his last name aroused goosebumps all over Fulgur’s body.
Fulgur turned his body around, standing face to face with the violet coloured hair man, whose eyes were calming, gentle and placid as Socrates. “Yes, Mr Violeta?” Fulgur questioned, curious as to why the male called out for him as he never spoke much, only to his partner.
“Is there any particular reason you accepted the case even though it was clearly taken by Mr Knox from Kaneko and Zotto?”
Fuck.
Uki sure was observant even when he’s not looking.
That could be a problem.
A million thoughts, reasons, excuses and lies to give Uki the clear reason of why they accepted the case rushed through Fulgur’s head but he could not utter a single word to the man in front of him, perhaps it was because he knew that even if he did gave a simple excuse as to why they accepted the case instead of returning it back to the people who initially had the case.
“Well…” “You don’t have to tell me if you refuse to.” Uki gave a gentle smile, tilting his head to give an innocent doe-like expression. It reminded Fulgur of a shy deer that ran freely in the forest.
It also reminded him of a innocent sheep ready to be hunted by a wolf, and the wolf? Himself.
“I’m sorry… It’s a… personal reason.” Fulgur apologises sincerely, to which Uki slowly blinks at. “If you say so, thank you for clarifying with me.” he nodded, turning around and walking into the apartment complex, Fulgur walking behind him.
-
“Stop.”
The abrupt word halted the team of 4. Alban feeling chills down his spine from hearing how icy the word was being said as he inched closer towards Fulgur, whose guard was up from the word.
“What’s wrong?” “Cannibal… I hear more than 1… no. 2.”
Uki gave an understanding nod, “Not a problem. Let’s just take them out.” It was amazing to see how other people looked cool and collected during situations that placed them on thin ice, that compromised their safety and required them to be in mortal peril. It must be because of how society was these days. Messed up with Cannibals on the loose and people who would sacrifice other peoples lives in exchange for their own safety. Of course Fulgur only ever saw some cases where the people he saved had killed sacrificed their peers, their friends and their lovers. And unfortunately depending on how cruel the case was, their family.
Strangely, right after Uki said that, he stopped. Alban bumping into him and Fulgur bumping into Alban. “Sonny.” was what he uttered and the yellow haired man who was standing all the way at the front, whipped out a gun from his gun holster, pointing it towards Fulgur’s direction.
“Whoa what the fuck!” Alban steps back, trying to pull Fulgur, who was standing his ground, face stoic and unfazed. “Stop Alban.” Fulgur tapped Alban's hand 3 times, a code that meant trust me, trust them .
They established this code the day Uki and Sonny joined their group because of Alban’s severe trust issues when it came to strangers invading his space(aka his team and aka teammate, Fulgur Ovid.)
But even then, Alban could not help but distrust the fact that Sonny, a newcomer of their group, was pointing a gun at his teammate. Uki, Sonny’s teammate was also just standing there, blocking their way, with a smile so mysterious and hard to read, but not in a way that he is hiding something or there is something that he isn’t saying.
Fulgur held his breath, without a sway or any small movement that could affect his legs that were grounded to the floor like heavy weights were on his foot.
And right after,
Sonny fired a shot.
-
“I didn’t even see you turn back, how did you know-” “That there was a Cannibal sneaking behind us? Cannibals have a distinct way of moving.”
Turns out there was a Cannibal following them, quietly. It must have been one of the smarter Cannibals who know how to kill stealthily. Uki figured it out immediately when he felt a presence and Sonny was the only one out of the 4 of them who could do long ranged attacks without any casualties.
“Is there any identification of who they once were?” Uki questioned, backing away from the corpse, slightly squeamish at the sight of the blood.
“Hm…” Alban rummages through the pockets, maybe for some form of wallet or identification. “No… none. We’ll have to do check-ins and an autopsy.” Alban groaned.
Check-Ins and Autopsies.
Autopsies are part what helps the studies of Cannibals. However, due to the Cannibals hunger for flesh, it rots their brains and there will never be a body that lasts for no longer than 48 hours. This is why the company’s cleanup crew delivers the rotting corpse first with security for the study of Cannibals.
Check-Ins are somewhat part of the autopsies where they identify the Cannibal’s type, identification before they turned into a Cannibal and their relations with other people such as family, significant others and friends. It is the most tedious type of work that causes most of the people working to Overtime(OT), however, it is also important as some may not realise they have been affected by said Cannibal after being in contact with them(a rare case but they don’t need the government calling for Martial Law when the citizens find out)
“Don’t be lazy, Albanyan.” Fulgur sighs as he goes through the case file through his tablet, adjusting the “Number of Cannibals Sighted ” tab to 1.
“...Albanyan?” Sonny questioned curiously, Uki also slightly perked up to it. Both Alban and Fulgur froze slightly, Alban from the exposure of his embarrassing nickname and Fulgur from accidentally revealing said nickname.
“Now that I think of it… he looks like a cat…”
“With the clip on and everything? Yeah.”
“FULGUR I’M GONNA KILL YOU!”
“IT’S NOT MY FAULT-“
We apologise for the commercial break~
After the 4 of them calmed down from stifling laughs(Uki and Sonny) and fighting(Alban and Fulgur), they straightened up together. It was a serious situation if there was a wild Cannibal wandering in the hall and it would be a terrible situation if the entire building had been affected.
But Fulgur was glad that the tension and ice had broken down between the 4 of them, it could have been worse but it was actually a better outcome than he expected. Maybe Uki and Sonny really could fit in with Alban and him and make their team bond stronger.
Maybe.
Ṇ̴̛͔̬͙̰͔̩͖̱͇̠̬̤̑̈́̔̈́̇͜ő̵̡̘t̷̫̤̖͎̞̿͆̃̓̅̒́̓̃͐̀͛̄͘͘ͅ ̷͕̃̀͌͘͝a̵͓͇̮̹̣͌̍̈̀̾͒͌̄̆̃̄̾͘l̷̢̨̢̢̛̦̺̲̲͈̼̪̟̈́̃̿̾͌ͅļ̷̩̼̪̜͗͐̆̄̐͘ ̸̗̤̮̿̀͑̌̈́̌͂́̍g̴̤̪̟̮͉̬͎̳̎̿͌ơ̷̞͕͔͍͇͊̋̈́̑͆̈́̉̅͘͠ô̶̺̩͚̻̟̍̋̽͋̀͗̊̈́̓̔͘d̷̲͙̯̄́̊̔̄̌̍̉̐̋̕͘̕ ̶͖̰̣̦͚̲͚̭͉̻̺̺̞̝̈́͑̔͑̓̇̍̈͌t̸̤̑̒̃͐̽̽̈̈́̌̕͘h̵̨̨̛̙̰̬̪̬̋́̏͋̍̏̂̇̎̿̋̕ȉ̶̲̦̱̥̼̟̰̝̅̅̍̃͆̇͑̃̕̕͝ͅņ̸̣̣͍̲̬̬̬̼͔̍͊́̌̇͛͠g̴͚̩͉̠̫͓͚̱͍̟̟̻͛́͋̏ͅs̴͙̦͂͂̒̽̇ ̸̦͇̞̠̻̪͍̠̲͒̂́͋͌̈͒̏̄̋̍͘͝͠l̸̩̜̿̐͑̾̑͋̉ȃ̷̛̛͓̀̐̿̃̉͑̌͐̉̓̽̇ş̷̟͇̦̖̯̗̅̅̋̌̐̀́ͅt̸̨̤̼͇̖̯̮̩̙̪͙̊͒͒̈̍͐̌̃̈͌͌͠͝ ̴̮̏̍͋̇͆͆̃̑͑́͒̃̕͘f̸̧̠̗̖̥̣̠̟͎͍̠̫̖̉̎̈́̒̓́̚ö̷̩̯̳̝̖͙́̾̈̓̊̄͛̔͘r̵̛̰̥͚̯͕̗̫̳̒́̓̐̂͆͒̊e̴̙̜͐̈́̓͒̕͠͝v̵̟̼͙̲̰͈̬́e̷̡̧̮̱̙̤͚̼̭͙̫̓̂̓͂̋̅̚͝r̶̢̛͚̠͈̯̗̝̂̃̀̒̌̋̈͗̔̈́̔̚͜.̷̛̦̼̯͍̲̜͕̈́͊̿́̃̈̊͘͠ͅͅ
“...” Uki delicately places a gloved hand on the door, face contorting into a fretful and worried expression. “There’s more than one Cannibal in here. And the air is thick with the smell of blood.” Uki let out a small sigh. Fulgur inhaled through his nose, and confirmed Uki’s statement. The air had a strong smell of metallic, like a human corpse that bled dry onto the ground. It smelt filthy and metallic, most importantly, it smelt like death.
“You’re better off unsheathing your sword, knife, dagger, guns, anything you use, first. I have a hunch we won’t be let off easily once we enter this room, even with the four of us.” Uki retracts his hand from the door and places it on his chin, considering the circumstances, the entire situation with the roaming Cannibal and thinks for a solution. The other 3 nodded, Sonny reloaded his gun while Fulgur unsheathed his blade, meanwhile Alban and Uki stood back while they kicked the door open.
-
“That’s the last of them!” Fulgur called out, pulling his blade out of the cannibal and cleaning up the blood with the bloody handkerchief. “Wow, it’s a bloodbath here…” Uki commented, face slightly scrunched in disgust. “You’re free to stay back, Uki.” Sonny called out as he reloaded his gun, a lazy “Okay~” came from the door area.
“I’ll go investigate the other rooms.” Fulgur announced to the other 2 in the room who started to investigate the bodies and the room for any form of identification. Standing up, he ventured through the apartment complex, looking at the pictures hung on the wall, the decor and how the white walls were coated in splashes of red from blood.
‘ Must have been a party, someone turned while they were partying and nobody noticed until it was too late. ’ Fulgur made his own analysis from the bottles of alcohol and plates of food on the dining room on his right, the wild confetti strands that had blood on them and the way the corpses and dead Cannibals had a party hat on, it would have looked funny if they were passed out rather than dead .
Opening the door to the bathroom, he finds another corpse, ‘ Female, looks no older than 20, party hat again. Probably the first victim, no one would have heard the unsuspecting screams if there was loud music on. ’ Fulgur notes as he left the bathroom to the room opposite which surprisingly were clean but nevertheless he ventured in to search for any identification documents.
After only finding a passport and an ID, he continues his journey forward. Reaching the last room, he notices that there was soft sobs and hiccupping coming through the door.
Placing a hand on the door knob, he twists it open and he sees a girl, no older than 9 in there sobbing, holding onto the hands of two dead bodies in front of her, tears streaming down her eyes. She got up and tried to shake the bodies, sobbing and hiccupping whilst repeating the words “ I’ll be good, I won’t fight with you anymore! ”
Fulgur could barely move, the sight in front of him was just…
painful.
A memory.
Something he does not want to see.
Something
Painful to him.
A painful memory.
It gave Fulgur the sense of
Déjà vu.
W̷̡̛̻͉̅̌̐͝ä̵̺͔͖̱̺̙̰̠̟͖̫̹͔̣́ķ̴̢̨̢͓̖̱̮̰͍̮̳̉̽̌͋͑͗͋̏̿̽̂̚e̸̛͖͒̊͒̋̀̃͝͝͝ ̷̻̞̈͂̊̊̈́̍͊͑͗̂́̑̕ȗ̶̢͔͖͊̽͊͛̀̇̔͐̾p̶̧͚̼̜̤̱̪̐͊̈̃…̶̮̱̣̜̫̝͓̜̲̪͑̽̊̕ ̵̧͉̱̹̩̣͑́̂͆̅̏͘̕͝M̴̬̲͚̿̒̇̉̔̒ͅõ̵̢̤͈͔̦͉̘̞̭͙̙̙̗͊̍̋m̷̗̦͉̉̐͊͌́̈́͆̌̒͋͒̒̕…̶̡̮̝͍̯̠̪̻̦̽̓͗͜͝ ̵̦̱͑̍̿͝Ḍ̷̥͚͖̫̝͙̲͇̘͖̊͆̒̈́̄̏͐̑̀̑̂̕͠͝ä̷͓̼̫͍͗̑͋̈́̉͠͝d̷̨̩͔͈̜͕̮̘̏̉͜…̸̞̹͇͕͕̟̮͔̈́̀̓̀̇̏̑̌̓̓͊͜͝͝
Ẇ̴͎̖̰͕͎͓͖̩̓̋̐̽̌̾̅h̶̢͔͇́̃̈́̇̾ý̶̡̡̢̢̛̮͖͇̦͕̣̳͐̆͑̂̾̇͋͌̓͜.̶̢͉̯͉̝́̄̇͒͛̊̀͗̈́̒̂͒͘͝.̸̢͔͎̗̖̖͍̠̻̯͚͑͛̇̎͑̀̍̓̎̂̆̆͜͠͝?̵̛͔̽̆̔͊̏̽̐̌́͆̒̐̋̔͘͘ ̴̢̡̤̪̹̝̜͍̰̳̈́͜͝D̵̝͇̫͐̔́̿͒͂̃ơ̸͚͕̈͒̉̇̏̋̄̈́̏ņ̶̠̳̖͕̲̺̠̹͓̥̜̘͇̻̼̐̎̉ͅ’̶̨̡̧̛̗͎̣̝͎͎͐̈́̏̅̍̀́̈̋̃͋̍͝t̷̢̛̞̠̬̥͖̩̬̮̥̦̎̿̌̉͊̅͛̏͝ ̸̨̱̘̞̱͙̞̙͐̾̾͒͋̍͌̀́̋́̐̀̒̏̀͜l̵̢̞̼͉̬̒̓̊͗͊̈̋̈́̔̇͘e̴̛͔̱̞̻̘͚̯̞͌̓̑́̇̎̾̿̍̇̅̉̕͠a̶̡̡͔̱͉͍̤̝͚̪̳͗̔̐͛̋͑͠v̶͚̝͎̣̭͖̞̒̇͑͛́̎̅́͛̀́̀̿̀͝͝ë̵̛͍͕̬̲̮́͛̍͊̅̀ͅ ̶͚̘͓̯̅̊̆͛̏́̇̋̕͠m̸̬̣̞̖̮͎͖̀̾̋̀̾͋̇̓͜e̷̡̢̫͐͆̌͂́ͅ…̵̨̟̩̹̝̞͎̄́̒͘͝
S̴̡̜̥̫͓̟͙͎̎̽̍͐̈́̆̽̈̐̉̕t̷͖̳̮̖̱̱̋̌̔̑ẳ̷̯̞̪͇̪̲̻́̋̑́̀̾̉̊̿̌̑͋̚͠y̴̛̭͓̗̪̔̒́̑͆̐͋̑͐͂̈͝ ̵̨̦̳̼͈̔͊͊͋̈͗̀̏͑̎̑̉̚͘͠͝w̶̤̳̯͔̣͂̉̒͋̆̂̇̅͌͂͌ì̷͈̜̤͕̯̫̞̻̥t̷̨̛̛͎̦͍̘̜̠̱̻̼̐̓͂̊̆͋̊̀̊͛̍͆̉͑h̵̥͌̑́͠ ̶̧̹͇͚̮̣̺̠̜̲͓̜̫͉̾͑̾͐͊̒̔̍̃̌͝m̵̪͕̪͙̥̰̣̬̰̯̉̍͜e̴̩̜̺̣͍̠͈̳͚͚̾͐̓̓̐̒̏̽̔͋̈̽͌͘.̸̨̡̜̖̱̞̹̖̥̰͚͉̯̮̥̀̆̇́̾̅́͐̆̿͘.̸͖̮̪̳͚̾̔̐̍̀͆̎́͌̄̏͆̓̾̃ͅ
Even while the static of words were playing that usually makes him freeze up, he moves.
There’s someone other than him who needs a human by their side for comfort.
“It must be scary for you right now.”
Fulgur knelt down next to the girl, who turned to him while she continued to sob.
“But everything will be alright.” Fulgur promises, opening his arms for the girl whose eyes were full of grief and fear, yet she let go and hugged the stranger, who hugged back.
“Please… Don’t leave me, mama… papa…” she sobbed into the shirt, perhaps she had been there for far longer than Fulgur anticipated as she was still murmuring those few words with a despondent tone. Nevertheless, Fulgur picked her up and walked out of the room, his free hand covering her eyes from seeing the blood covered living room scattered with bodies as he gave a nod to his team.
-
“Oh the poor thing…” Uki placed a hand on his mouth while looking at the girl sympathetically, the girl was currently asleep on Fulgur while he carried her, head on his shoulder, no doubt exhausted and traumatised by the ordeal which was why she was in deep sleep.
“There’s a convenience store down the path. I doubt Alban and Sonny would finish soon, and she must be dehydrated, perhaps even hungry.” Uki deliberated as he pointed to the path down by the left. Fulgur nodded, agreeing and they slowly walked together to the convenience store in order not to wake the girl up.
“Will the company send her to the orphanage?” Uki questioned, eyes full of melancholy. “Yeah. They have to if there are no living relatives around for her.” Fulgur said stiffly, hating the mention and thought of an orphanage because of his background.
He hated it all.
“Rather disappointing I would say, considering how the system works.” Uki spoke aloud, with no hint of remorse or regret in his tone. “Really? I thought you would agree with the system.” Fulgur said, outside he was aloof but inside he was shell shocked, not many people would disagree with the system.
In fact, everyone in this country seemed to like the system. It was only those who had one hand experienced the system that hated it so much.
“Yeah really. It’s disgusting. And don’t get me started on the stereotype in the system, it’s beyond ridiculous and the caretakers there will never be there other than to ridicule or egg the other children to torment you while they forcefully try to coerce you to submission.” Uki ranted for a moment before going silent, “I talk too much.”
“No. I agree with you.” Fulgur gave an understanding nod before letting out a small gentle smile towards Uki’s direction. “I believe a sweet girl like her doesn’t deserve to stay in a system like that.”
Uki perked up, “Do you mean…?” Fulgur gave a nod as they reached the entrance of the convenience store. A sudden gust of wind came, making Uki look more ethereal with that enthralled expression that had a really gleeful expression from what Fulgur was implying.
“Then I definitely look forward to it, Mr Fulgur Ovid.” Uki smiles as he looks away to enter the convenience store. Fulgur shudders, feeling tranquility from just that talk with Uki.
It felt like Uki understood the system, like he experienced it.
Just who the hell was Uki Violeta?
-
Half an hour into sitting around the convenience store, the girl woke up. Rubbing her bloodshot eyes as Fulgur handed her a bottle of water, eyes were devoid of any sympathy because if there was one thing he knew, sympathy was not a comforting emotion to the ones who lost their everything. If anything, it felt really unpleasant and also felt nauseating to deal with other people’s sympathetic gazes.
“Are you okay?” Uki asks, holding onto the girl’s hands gently. The girl shakes her head, tears clinging onto her lashes, some stinging her eyes as it rolled down. “Please don’t cry anymore, it will only make everything painful.” Fulgur grabbed the tissues from the open tissue box sitting on the table and wiped her tears away.
“Mama and papa…” she whimpered like a wounded puppy that got hit and kicked. “No no dear, everything will be alright.” Uki rubbed his hand over her hand in a comforting and calming way.
“W-What will h-happen next…” the girl hiccuped as Uki used his free hand to brush her blonde hair in a gentle way. “Well… you will be in the system for awhile. But, it won’t be long until someone takes you in.” Uki explained, subtly glancing at Fulgur.
Fulgur nodded, agreeing with Uki. “But for now, what is your name and do you have any relatives or did your parents tell you anything about your relatives?” he questioned soothingly, to the girl who shook her head a murmured a name.
“Millie… Parfait.”
To which the both of them nodded, “Millie, we know it must have been traumatising for you, but for now, we hope you could trust us.”
“Could you do that for us?”