She was up at four a.m., as usual. The day always began in front of the fire. When it was close to seven, Rei left her meditations and got ready for school. Breakfast was the same - a bowl of rice with a little fish. The hairbrush always went through her hair one hundred times. And right at 7:50, Rei kissed her grandfather and her large black crows goodbye and went to school.
When Rei was walking home after school, she sighed. "It's always the same. Some days I just wish..."
------------
Blood. Fear. Love. Power.
Rei sat up, jolting herself out of a dream. Her hair was everywhere and she was panting heavily. It took her a few seconds to realize she was safe in the Jinja. Grabbing a small handful of birdseed and her sandals, Rei slipped outside.
"Phobos. Deimos," Rei whispered into the dark night. The sound of flapping wings filled the air around her. She opened her right hand, revealing the birdseed, and two crows landed on her, one on her left fist and the other on her right shoulder.
"Hey you two," she whispered as she fed her crows. "How is the night?" A feeling came over her. A feeling where everything was right. Rei giggled. "You always did make me feel safe. Now if only I could get that nightmare out of my head. Maybe I should consult the fire." Rei paused for a moment. "No," she said, shaking her head. "I always go straight to the fire. Today is going to be different. Today I'm not going to be the priestess. Today I'm going to be the girl."
The crow on her shoulder pecked at her head while the one on her fist cawed. "Oh shush, Deimos. And you stop that Phobos or else I won't bring you any more birdseed. There. That's better. Now you two need to go off again, or else Grandpa will be after me about visiting you late at night."
The two birds spread their wings and disappeared into the black night, while Rei returned to her room and settled back to sleep.
--------------
Four A.M.
Mervyl Himura eyes opened, and the first thing he noticed was that he felt... great. Fresh. It was awesome how unburdened he felt.
That feeling vanished when he blinked and remembered the last time he felt like this. Immediately he sat up and lifted his covers... No blood.
Sighing hard, Mervyl slumped backwards. Then he felt it, sharp pain lancing from the front of his chest to his back. His heart felt like it lurched sideways into his lung and this caused him to cough spasmodically, his eyes blurring from the watery tears that formed.
This lasted for several minutes till at last his vision cleared and the blockage was cleared. His white sheets were now splattered with the fresh blood he coughed up.
The pain on his chest and back were still there, which reminded him of what caused it. The Moon Tiara. Right through the heart.
He was about to kill again, he was about to feel the thrill of ripping through flesh, of spilling sweet blood, and he was interrupted. The self-proclaimed champion of love and justice stopped him.
Mervyl sat up finally, taking slow breaths to avoid coughing again. He was fully refreshed otherwise, and he had to take advantage of it by cleaning the sheets before his Mom awoke.
---------
Rei naturally woke up. Time for fire meditations, she thought, and then stopped. "No. No, today is different. Today I'm sleeping."
----------
Ten A.M.
His mom sailed away with the clients, leaving Mervyl by himself. Problem was that his homework package was nowhere near as complicated as he thought. By ten he was finished, and was bored out of his mind.
So he began walking, being careful to avoid the usual walking path. The guilt was back in full force. He killed them. Umezawa has been bullying him for two years... but still, he killed them. He had no right.
...or did he? They were the ones who started it. He finished it.
Permanently.
Mervyl smiled. He didn't have to worry about them again.
...
...
...what kind of sick, twisted bastard was he?
He couldn't accept that! What would his teachers say? His mother?
His father?
He was almost ran over by a girl at this point, the only glance he managed to get was a streak of jet black, raven hair that drifted past his nose, giving him a scent of shampoo. As he stumbled to the ground, his eyes managing to catch a brief glance under her short skirt, that was drifting on the slight wind.
Mervyl blushed instantly and turned away, unaware if she ever stopped to apologize to him. But getting up, he realized that he wandered quite a ways away from his usual spot, not to say he was lost or far from his house. He even saw that he was still in walking distance from his school. But he most noticeably saw that he was now near another school. That all-girl school that he heard so much about.
Didn't Umino mention something about a famous Priestess here?
Mervyl shrugged. What if he was ran over by the same Priestess? Wouldn't that be a hoot?
------------
Rei was late to class. Perfect Hino Rei was late. That was the talk of all the classes since Rei burst into homeroom, panting like a dehydrated dog. Now everyone was wondering why she was so late.
"I heard she fought off three men in the park."
"No way. I heard she finally got sucked into another world with all her fire readings."
One little girl was finally brave enough to talk to her. "Um... Miss Hino? Miss Rei? Umm... is it true? What they say? That you were late because you couldn't find enough young children to eat for breakfast?"
Rei smiled wickedly, sending the girl running without an answer.
--------------
"I really shouldn't have done that. Now the whole school thinks I'm some kind of witch." Rei sighed. "I need a pick-me-up of some kind. Oooh! Look! Soba Noodles!"
Rei dug around in her bag for some money, and then walked up to the little noodle house and asked, "One bowl please." When her order came up, Rei carefully carried her bowl of noodles and a set of chopsticks to a table. She was almost there when, suddenly, she tripped over a foot that jutted out from beneath a nearby table.
The world went in slow motion for Rei as she watched her noodles fly from her hands and flip about in the air. A gasp escaped her lips as the contents of the bowl let gravity take over and pull it to the floor. A magnificent splat happened and some noodles even managed to dress up Rei's gray school uniform as she caught her balance.
---------------
"You're alright?" Mervyl asked, as he saw her on the ground. He witnessed the entire spectacle.
In his hands was an un-opened pack of soba noodles that he bought from home for a quick lunch. He looked at it, and then looked back up. "Here, you can have mine... but I don't have a napkin for the mess..."
The entire time, Mervyl's eyes were staring at the wall behind her. He just couldn't bring himself to look at her face. Curse his shyness.
"Oh. No, no. It's okay," sighed Rei as she picked herself up. She brushed off what she could on her skirt, but couldn't do anything to her jacket. Pausing for a moment, Rei looked at the boy who offered to help her and smiled. "Thanks though. I meant it to be something good for my obviously bad day, but I guess it's just not to be. I'm just glad classes are done for today; Sister Mary Catherine would report me to Mother Superior if I went without part of my uniform." She carefully shrugged off her outer jacket. Thanking the heavens that her uniform included a short-sleeved blouse, she folded her jacket and laid it on her bag.
Rei looked again at this boy; he wasn't looking at her. Rei was used to having people give her sideways glances, but not our and out avoiding even looking at her. "Um… hello?" She craned her head so that she would be in his line of vision. "Hi," she said, smiling. "What are you looking at?"
"Gah! Uhm..."
Mervyl couldn't believe this. Yet as he slowly brought his vision to face the smiling, radiant girl in front of him... he felt like his head was about to explode. His heart began to flutter, and his knees were weak.
Yet, this was a far cry from a crush. Mervyl knew what a crush felt. This wasn't it.
Feelings were in his mind. Something was clicking. Something... but what.
What was it?
Mervyl turned away sharply, his eyes closing. He couldn't bear the feeling of staring in her eyes any longer and soon found another reason to look away, walking over to pick up a napkin.
"Well... you really shouldn't let that stain sit. The longer you take to get it out, the longer it'll take to clean."
"Right," Rei sighed. She bent down to pick up her jacket and her bag. "I guess I should go home and wash it out. Besides, my meal's gone to waste anyways. It was nice meeting you." Rei smiled again, and started heading out the door.
'Baka!' she thought. 'You don't even know his name. And he doesn't even know yours! What are you playing at Rei?'
A tension rose between the two. Backs facing each other, breaths breathed, seconds passing...
Shockingly, it was Mervyl who spoke, turning around to face the girl. It wasn't any easier to stare at her back. Actually, it was worse. Much worse. What, first he didn't want to face her, and now he did?
"...the name is Mervyl. Mervyl Himura. I attend Juuban jr. high, but I'm on leave."
Mervyl swallowed. "And you?"
Rei stood, her back still to Mervyl. "Hino Rei," she said stiffly. She turned her head ever so slightly so she could see him and added, "T*A Private Girls School." Rei didn't want to say anything else, but he had her curiosity. "Why on leave?" She turned fully around so that she was facing him. He looked... Rei couldn't place it. Not yet anyways.
It was Mervyl's turn to stiffen, and it was his turn to decide to withhold information. "I walk to school, but recently they found horribly disfigured bodies at my usual walking path. My mom was greatly disturbed by it and wished me to stay home at the time being till the police either caught the murderer or it's apparent he moved on."
Mervyl wanted to smile as the thought of Umezawa, the same one who beat the crap out of him for so many years, was imagined on the coroner's table. But his smile froze, not because of him worrying about Rei, but because of the thought that his family may have been called to identify him. He could imagine what a shock it would be. And the sadness...
The smile reversed and a large frown was showing on Mervyl's face. He soon realized that seconds has past with him standing in silence. Alone. Alone except for his mother. Alone because of...
**Ba-bump**
His heart fluttered at that, scrapping his lung yet again, causing him to cough spasmodically.
"Are you okay?" Rei was really worried about this boy. Which was really odd for her, because a few minutes ago, they had met, and just seconds ago, she was ready to walk on with life with their meeting being only a blip in her memory. She hovered near him, placing her hand on his shoulder blade. The action seemed so natural to her that she jerked her hand away. Between that and the movement of his body due to the cough, it seemed as though Rei never touched him.
"I... I..."
Mervyl couldn't stop coughing, his spasms ending with spittle of blood ending up in his palm. A palm he immediately closed into a fist to hide. His shoulder almost erupted when his shoulder was touched and just that quickly; he was on his feet, his arm slapping her touch away.
"I'm fine... really. Just a little sick."
His voice tone was a complete opposite of his aggressive reaction, a difference that Mervyl was now getting to notice. "...sorry, just... maybe I should go..."
Rei held her hand close to her chest, conscious that Mervyl could have taken it off with how aggressive he was acting. Her eyes were wide with shock as she agreed with him.
"Yeah... Yeah you should. Probably to a hospital would be best. Coughing like that is never good for you."
Mervyl chuckled. "If I ran to the hospital for every cut and scrapped knee suffered, my mom would be very broke. Injury comes with the fishing boat business."
"Right, right," said Rei distractedly. "Well I guess it was nice meeting you then, Mervyl. See you around then?"
Mervyl stood straight up as he now began to look around. It was nagging him in the back of the head, but now he realized just what was wrong.
He was being watched.
And by more than one set of eyes.
Girls bearing the same school uniform as Rei were walking past, and each one gave him a lengthy side-glance, before realizing that he noticed them and they scampered off. No, they weren't looking at him, they were looking at... Rei?
Was it fear? The only other time he ever saw people avoid another was when they try to stay away from a bully.
Was Rei a bully?
It would make sense then why she seemed a little standoffish... and why he had a nagging feeling about her. She must've been trying to set her up...
Set him up for her own gain...
**Ba-bump**
"I... (cough)... I gotta go...." Mervyl ran off after coughing out his good by, brushing past Rei, nearly running over another group of ease dropping girls, and when he was sure he was out of sight, ducking into an ally.
**Ba-bump**
He was beginning to sweat, as thoughts that he was about to get suckered again were entering his head. This started the exact same way... Umezawa acted like he was concerned for Mervyl. He acted like he wanted to help Mervyl adjust to school. But Mervyl was a fool for trusting the boy...
No... Umezawa was the fool. Mervyl's skin tuned black as he thought about tearing the boy into pieces. His hair flashed into silver and stood on end as he remembered the screams of terror. And the shadows flushed around him when he remembered stabbing the corpse over and over with his fist.
This was an opportunity... an opportunity to show that he wasn't an easy target. Now, and ever again.
Vortex was loose... and his target was Hino Rei.
After he kills that group of girls for ease dropping.
--------------------------------
A small female sprite watched over the dark haired girl, invisible to all eyes. She dressed in all gray, while her partner, also a female sprite, was in black.
"She still doesn't know," the gray clothed one said. "How can she not feel that something is wrong?"
"I know Phobos, but what is there to do?" replied the other.
"If not for those stupid rules," cried Phobos. "We could influence her to remember!"
Deimos sighed. "We're only Guardians. We can't interfere. All we can do is help her out and provide information."
"But --"
"And only once she has awakened. Until then, we just watch over and make sure she can awaken. There's nothing we can do. No matter what we feel about the company she keeps."
Deimos followed the dark haired girl, while Phobos stayed behind, watching the boy. "Something's wrong," Phobos muttered, "I just know it." And she took off; she had just lost the mysterious boy.
-----------------------
Two days. It had been two days. Never before had Rei stayed away from the fire for two days. Taking a deep breath, Rei sat in front of the fire and began.
It seemed like no coincidence that those rumors of the girls who were brutally killed happened in an area very close to where she had met that boy. What was his name? Mervyl...right. Rumors that became news, which spread like wildfire through the school. Like every other girl at T*A Catholic Girls School, they looked up to Rei to the point of worshipping her. But just like every other girl, they wouldn't talk to her. She didn't even know what year they were in, only that they were younger.
She sank deeper into her meditations. Mervyl... she knew him. But from where? It seemed like she was reacquainting with an old friend. But she didn't have any friends...
--------------------
"He's coming..." whispered Phobos.
"I know. We'll keep her safe. Safe so she can come back to us," replied Deimos somewhat sadly. "How soon? How soon until this enemy comes?"
"I don't know. Just soon. Today or tomorrow... but at night. Definitely at night."
"We'll be ready..."
---------------------
Funny thing was, it wasn't exactly night when Mervyl walked to the temple. He arrived early afternoon purely out of coincidence. His mind was in a daze, as he remembered the conversation yesterday morning...
"Mervyl, have you seen this?" His mother had asked him when he entered the family room and kneeled in front of his breakfast.
"Seen what?"
"The paper."
"I'm just waking up, how would I see it before now?"
"Good point. Anyway, it happened again."
Mervyl didn't need to ask what his mother was referring too. And even if he didn't know, common sense alone would have steered him in the right direction. "...the murders?"
"Yes! And these were teenage girls. This... I just don't know how to feel. I mean yes, it's horrible that he killed again... but it was further away from here. You think he moved on to another area?"
Mervyl could understand his mother's awkwardness. She was concerned for him. Unlike this attack, the attack on Umezawa was close to impossible to prove that he wasn't nearby. At least this time, only one witness saw him there.
Rei.
**Ba-bump**
Mervyl slightly flinched. The coughing ended last night, and the searing pain in his chest became nothing more than a slight throb. Rei Hino... what was it about that girl? Why did he feel animosity towards her?
...because she had tried to dupe him.
...just like...
...just like...
"...just like who, damnit!?" Mervyl asked himself, as he returned to the present. This was nuts. His brain felt locked in a train of thought that refused to not only go forward, but it was unable to go in reverse.
So deep in thought, he never realized till it was dark that he was wandering in circles. Taking in his surroundings, he looked up to see the Hikawa Jinja. A Temple?
"...those... girls." Mervyl mumbled. His heart fluttered, but for an entirely different reason. Those girls that were killed. Over and over, they were asking why. Why was he doing this? Why was he choking them? Breaking their arms? Forcing their limbs to bend the wrong way?
It was a sickening thought. Not the fact that he killed them, but the fact that if Mervyl could answer that question.... he wouldn't have an answer at all. Those girls only crime was spying on him. That's all. And they could've been doing it for a plethora of reasons.
Mervyl needed to get this off his chest. Off his conscious. Confession, perhaps.
"...no... Shinto Priestesses can't be trusted. They are with Serenity."
Mervyl blinked. Did he say that? He spun around looking this way and that, before his eyes bore on two crows sitting on a tree branch. Crows can't talk.
But... he couldn't have said it. Who's Serenity? Why can't Shinto Priestesses be trusted?
Why does he want to kill everything that annoys him?
"...no... everything. Everything must die."
**Ba-bump**
"Everything."
**Ba-bump**
"Everything."
Mervyl shook his head. His mouth wasn't moving. In his head?
"That's it... this is all a dream." He said to himself in a low whisper. "I'll just walk away, back to my futon, and sleep. Tomorrow I'll wake up, go to school, get beat up by Umezawa and live my regular life."
"The life as a bootlicker"
"A senshi boot licker."
"SHUT-UP!!!!" He practically screamed. And like that, the voice stopped. A voice. A voice that sounded just like him.
---------------
Deimos was napping on the branch. She would wake when something would happen, Phobos knew that. Ever since she lost that boy near the noodle house, she had been on edge. And it didn't help matters that he showed up in the middle of the afternoon. She just idly watched him; the enemy was coming at night sometime, she knew that much. But now it was night and he was still here. She stretched her wings enough to bump Deimos and wake her up.
Deimos ruffled her feathers. It was night and that boy was here. Usually Phobos was always overreacting, but she never threw off her words as idle babbling. If this was the enemy, he'd catch Rei when she came out for her nightly visit with them. She had to distract her. Leaving Phobos to watch the boy, Deimos took off.
Rei stood up, stretching her legs slightly. She had been meditating for hours. Something was nagging at her brain. Shrugging it off, Rei grabbed her customary handful of birdseed and headed outside. She had barely made it through the door when Deimos flew into her face. The force of the wings forced her back inside.
"Deimos! What do you think you're doing?"
Deimos squawked back at her. An indignant squawk. One that said, 'don't snap at me!'
Rei sighed. "Sorry. It's just... the fire's not telling me anything. I know that there's something that I need to remember, but it won't clue me in. I hate this feeling! I hate feeling helpless and uncertain!" She took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and exhaled. That's when she felt it.
"Deimos. What is that?" The crow sat silently. "Is this what you want me to avoid? This unknown being? Something is on the Temple grounds. That's it isn't it?"
Ignoring the squawks, Rei grabbed her broom and went outside to see what was out there. She was just about to see what it was, when another set of wings beat against her.
"Phobos, Deimos! Stop!" The wings stopped, and Rei looked at who was on the Temple grounds.
She saw nothing. Nothing was there, and that quickly, the sense of evil seemed to have passed. Then it happened...
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!!!"
The evil aura spiked up to the point that it became nearly overwhelming.
Since the aura became more intense, it was even easier to trace. It was coming from the front gates.
Rei gripped the broom. Hard. Without realizing, her feet started to move forward on their own towards the aura. "Hello? Is Anyone there?" Rei asked into the darkness.
She was answered by silence... and the beating of her own heart. If it wasn't for the aura, which seemed to slowly move towards her, it was as if nothing was out there.
"Something's there... I know it," she whispered to herself. She swung her broom in the darkness, and the air around it seemed thick.
It was here, when she swung the broom high that she saw it. Something in the shadow ducked, and then just as quickly leapt into the air, over her, blocking the moonlight and casting a shadow, before it jutted a leg out to push into her face. It was an attempted jump kick, sent at a high, precise angle...
The kick knocked her back. This was not what Rei was expecting. Holding the broom in front of her like a bat, she called out, "Who are you?"
The shadow dropped in front of her, and just as she spoke, he sent another low kick to knock aside the broom tip. Another low kick from the opposite leg came around to send a reverse thrust kick towards her chest, aided by a short spin the resulted from the first kick. He didn't say anything. No grunt, no whisper, not even breathing.
A grunt did come from Rei, though, as she was flung back. She landed on the ground. "Why are you here?" she shouted uselessly.
Part of her knew she needed to fight, fight for her home. But the other part... the other part didn't know what to do.
The creature walked towards her and its face was finally brought to light. A lot of good that did, as the only distinguishable feature on a face of pure blackness, were two almost soulless eyes that were drilling into her.
Strange thing was... it didn't follow up its attack... it did the strangest thing. It walked towards a nearby lamp stand, and grabbed it, the metal pole might as well been made of wood, the way he twirled it around his body. It then dropped down into a stance, similar to what Rei was in with her broom a few seconds ago. A challenge?
Rei pushed herself up to standing. "What do you want here?" she hissed. Never one to back down from a challenge, the fact that this creature was ten times stronger than her only registered in the part of her that didn't want to fight.
The pole whipped it self into a series of twirls before it ended up in his off hand. His fore hand, the one facing Rei, extended one taloned finger. It was pointed at her.
"Me. Well... you can't have me. Akuryou taisan." Rei pulled out a scroll from her sleeves, and threw it at the creature.
The creature made the mistake of catching the scroll. The burning sensation engulfed his entire arm and, finally, it did speak. Its scream echoed the night. It almost dropped the pole and it stumbled backwards to lean onto a nearby wall.
Rei smirked. If one scroll could cause this much pain, imagine more. She pulled three more scrolls out and threw those. It didn't matter that the creature was showing an opening; it didn't belong in Rei's temple.
Wounded, the scrolls smacked him in the shoulder, causing him to shrivel back even more. One would think that this was a good thing... but Rei underestimated the primal instinct that ran through this creature. It felt pain. And it knew that the woman was capable of bringing more pain.
Solution? Rush her before she presented anymore damn scrolls. And so, he did, the pole spinning behind his back. Twice. On the third revolution, he slid his body so that he was underneath her legs, the pole twirling to strike the back of one knee and the front of another.
The impact of the pole sent Rei to the ground again. Her head took the most of it, giving her the worst headache she ever had in her life.
"Why do you want me?" she said, taking out another scroll, hoping to beat the creature into telling her.
The speed of this thing was astounding. It was on its feet just as her head met the ground. When she took out the scroll, a foot came out of nowhere and pinned the arm to the ground. The tip of the metal pole was now inches from her face. "...who's... better... now...?" It was a low rasp... almost as if he was forcing himself to talk.
Rei struggled to free her arm. "Better? I never said I was better than anyone or anything! And I'm NOT." Rei tried rolling away, but the sudden movement didn't roll her backwards. Because her arm was still pinned down, she ended up rolling forwards and hitting her head on the pole. Before everything went black, she heard the cawing of crows.
A figure stepped out of the black. "Step back," a midnight female voice spoke, a voice with both a high pitch and a lower one as well.
His head turned towards the voice. Did this... person... tried to tell him what to do. NO ONE told him what to do. The last one who did...
Drilled a hole in his chest.
**ba-bump**
"...pathetic meat-bag. I'll feast on your entrails... AFTER I had my fun with the girl..." This time the voice didn't seem so strained... almost as if it was learning how to communicate.
There was humor in the dual layered voice. "No, I think you'll be dining on my entrails first. Besides, the girl is mine. If you want her, you'll have to fight me for her." The voice was most definitely in front of the creature, but it also seemed to come from the left and the right. "So step away from the girl. You don't want damaged good now, do you?"
The creature chuckled. "Fine... you want death so much... I'll make it quick and painless. Lets play!"
And with that, he leapt into the shadows. The fight was on.
"Aw, look at the big bad baby boy. He's standing up to his own challenge." The figure laughed. "Do we start with a kick to the chest? Yes... let's."
A leg arced up and got his side, right beneath the arm.
The kick was on target, hitting him at the top of his side ribcage. This, along with being called baby boy...
Baby boy...
"Aww... poor baby boy... miss your mommy... then join her... time to die..."
The roar that left his throat threatened to shake the whole Jinja. Grabbing his head and ignoring his sore ribs, the creature stood up. "The one who will die... IS YOU!"
He dove in the direction of the kick and he missed by an inch. It seemed that he was headed directly for the figure, but he missed.
Laughter came forth. "Aw he missed. First time for everything now isn't there?" A knee came up into his chest while a fist pounded into his back.
Two precise and targeted blows hammered him. Yet his leathery hide was up to the task of defending the knee to the chest. His back, however, was a different matter. His spine was struck. Hard, and this became a concern as he spun a reverse roundhouse in the direction behind him. He was just lashing out now.
The figure stumbled back. "Ooh. The baby boy must be angry. That one hurt." With a jump, she cleared the creature and slammed her feet into his back. The high heels pressed into the skin for about half an inch before she landed behind.
And that did it. The spine can only take so much, and with a crackle, his spine fractured. It wasn't a clean break, but it still caused him to lose his balance and fall to the dirt. He was like a wounded animal, trying to standing, but after a few seconds stumbling to the side. It was almost pathetic. But the thing had guts. "...the one... who'll die... the one who'll die... the one who'll die..." He was growling the statement over and over...
The figure stepped into a pool of light, showing a feminine figure. Her hands were placed on her hips. "The one who'll die sure isn't me tonight. And if you don't want to either, you'll leave now."
He was on his feet, his eyes were fierce. "Never..." He spread his legs into a firmer stance. "NEVER!!!" No words were said. Like the kamikaze fighters of World War II, he leap high in the air and lunged for a final attack...
Black hair moved in the air movement caused by the figure moving to the right. She herself launched into the air and delivered a roundabout to the creature. Red glinted in the night as her foot made contact.
The foot connecting to the back of the head, his body landed awkwardly to the ground with a loud 'snap'. He became motionless, the body unmoving. His eyes stared at nothing.
The figure bent close to his ear and whispered, "That'll teach you to mess with Sailor Mars." She turned around, stepped over Rei's unconscious body and walked back into the darkness from whence she came.
---------------------------
Two blocks from the Jinja, a drunk staggered down the street. He glanced upwards while taking one more swig. Two birds were carrying a body. He took one look at his bottle, and promptly poured the rest of the alcohol into the gutter. That was enough for one night.