Chapter Text
Rumi was in her room not two minutes before Bobby knocked on the door and called for her. Setting the box of juices—grape juice to be exact—down, she headed towards her door.
“Rumi? Can I come in?”
“Hey, dad. Something wrong?”
“I just wanted to talk about the Saja Boys and everything.” Once Bobby entered her room, Rumi closed the door behind him, “Soooo…this is pretty crazy, huh? A demon boy band.”
“Yeah. I don’t know what Gwi-Ma’s planning but this trick won’t work. I’ll make sure of it.” Rumi said.
“And you’re sure a demon hate track is the way to do it?” Bobby asked.
“Why? What’s wrong with it?” Rumi asked, “We all hate demons. Every single one of them.”
“Well…I can think of one half demon that I don’t hate.” Rumi’s face softened hearing that. She plopped herself down on the bed with a hand on her head. Bobby let out a breath as he knelt down to get on her eye level, “Rumi, I just…I want to make sure that you know I love you. I love you so much and I’m worried that writing about hating demons and wanting them to die and be sent back to the demon realm might affect you.”
“So what? I’m supposed to like the Saja Boys?” Rumi asked, “I’m supposed to like that they are killing people and we’re losing fans and Gwi-Ma could win and it’ll be-“ Bobby grabbed onto Rumi’s hands, using his thumb to gently circle her hand and calm her down.
“No. No, you don’t have to like demons but maybe just take a minute and think this whole diss track thing through. You don't even need it anyway.”
“What?”
“Use Golden. That’s the song that’ll unite the fans and that’s the song for the Idol Awards.”
Rumi’s gaze fell to the floor. She did love her dad but she also felt like there were things he just didn’t understand. The half demon and demon hunting part of her life was just one of those things. He tried to help her. He really did but he also tried too hard sometimes to remind her her demon side wasn’t everything. At some points it just got hard to hear.
“Dad-“
“What is that?”
Rumi, taken aback by his comment, turned her head towards a bird on her balcony.
A bird wearing a tiny hat.
“Is that a bird wearing a tiny hat?” Rumi asked.
The two walked outside to get a closer look at the sharply dressed animal. It wasn’t until two more eyes blinked open on the side of its neck that Rumi and Bobby grew shocked.
“A demon bird?” Bobby asked.
“I didn’t know there were demon birds.” Rumi admitted.
The bird walked off along the railing with an almost bored expression. Still so confused, Bobby and Rumi followed. Rumi was narrowing her eyes at the bird, trying to figure out what it was, when she heard something from the shadows. Without hesitation, she put one arm in front of her dad and used the other to summon her sword. Bobby hadn’t even heard the noise. Rumi was ready to protect.
From the shadows, a blue tiger emerged with a giant smile on his face. He looked like one of those statues in a museum come to life.
The tiger began to slowly walk towards them, closer and closer…until he knocked over a flower pot.
“Awwww!” Bobby cooed, “He’s so cute. Just like you when you were a baby.” Kneeling down, Bobby picked up the flower pot and set it back up, “There you go, buddy. All set.”
“I-I was not like that as a kid.” Rumi argued.
“You absolutely were.” Bobby placed one hand on the tiger’s head and the other under his chin, scratching him, “And he purrs just like you did when you were happy.” The tiger fell onto his side, rolling over so that Bobby would scratch his stomach.
A blush took over Rumi’s face as she glared at her dad, “Okay, dad, I get it. I was like a big cat. Can you move away from the demon tiger?”
“Why? He’s not hurting anyone.”
Rumi pressed her lips together. He wasn’t wrong. The tiger really wasn’t doing anything but she still didn’t like the idea of her dad so close to anything demon-like. The animal must have sensed Rumi was looking at him because he rolled back onto his paws and looked up at her, opening his mouth and letting his tongue roll out.
Rumi, holding back a grimace, grabbed the card and opened it, “Jinu…meet?!? He wants to meet?!”
“Who’s Jinu?” Bobby asked.
“The lead singer of the Saja Boys. I was fighting him in the bathhouse earlier-“
“You girls went to the bathhouse? That’s great! I know Zoey was eager to head over at some point before the Idol Awards so you guys could take some time to relax.” The tiger, gift given, closed his mouth and nuzzled against Bobby, searching for more scratches.
“No. The Saja Boys went into the men’s bathhouse and we followed them. I cornered Jinu and he ripped my costume and saw my patterns.” Rumi revealed, “I bet he wants to meet because of that.”
“Are you going?” Bobby asked.
“No! I….Actually, he said he’d be there alone. Without his group, this would be a good time to attack.” Rumi said, “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll go.” Hearing her words, the tiger and bird disappeared in a portal on the ground and reappeared down on the street. A similar style of teleportation that demons had but more mythical than demon-like.
“Hold on.” Bobby said, “If you’re going to meet him, I have conditions.”
“Dad.” Rumi whined.
“Just trust me.”
“Fine. What are the conditions?”
—————————————
Less than thirty minutes later, Rumi, Mira and Zoey were on the roof of some stores, walking slowly and carefully along them so both keep their stance but also keep an eye on Jinu. The demon, for his credit, didn’t take his eyes off of them either. Between the four of them, they always had one roof covered and continued to go around and around in circles.
“I thought you’d come alone.” Jinu said.
“I had to be prepared. What’s stopping you from bringing in a swarm of demons and attacking me?” Rumi asked.
“Fair enough. But I’m just here to talk.” He said.
“Talk?” Mira asked, “What could a demon want to talk about?”
“Why a demon hunter has patterns.” All three hunters froze. Mira and Zoey took their eyes off of Jinu, the first time they’d done so all night, and looked at Rumi.
“He knows?” Zoey whispered.
“He saw while we were fighting.” Rumi explained.
“Then we kill him.” Mira threw her weapon towards Jinu but he jumped from the spot and held up his hands.
“Woah! Woah! Woah! If you don’t want to talk about the patterns, we could talk about all the animals on your clothes.” Jinu offered, “Teddy bears, a bear and turtles? Really?”
“….Bobby got them for us.”
“Look, I came alone. Doesn’t that count for anything? I just want to talk. If I wanted to fight I’d have brought everyone else.”
“He has a point.” Zoey admitted, “It doesn’t seem like he wants to fight us.”
“….You get two minutes.” Rumi warned, “And our weapons are ready for any move and we outnumber you.”
Jinu chuckled, “I may be 400 years old but I know how to count. All I want to know is how a demon is somehow walking free in the human world and, apparently, has a human father.”
“Just human. I’m not a demon.” Rumi snapped.
“And that excited, childis-“ Rumi’s sword was next to Jinu’s throat in a second.
“One more word about my father. One more.” She warned.
Jinu held up his hands, backing away from Rumi, “Sorry. That-that was over the line. I can admit that.” The lead singer’s eyes grew. Out of everything she expected him to do, apologizing was not one of them, “I know I’d get upset if I thought someone insulted my mother.”
“Your mother? You have a mom?” Mira asked.
“Of course I do. How did you think Gwi-Ma controls us?” Jinu asked, “Why did you think I was so shocked that your leader here doesn’t have him in her ear?”
“I would never listen to Gwi-Ma.” Rumi snapped.
“You act like I have a choice in the matter. Gwi-Ma uses a demon’s shame, their hatred for themselves, and turns it into a way to control us. Romance was a guard before he struck a deal with Gwi-Ma to get a princess to notice him. He left his soldiers and they got killed in a battle.”
Zoey’s eyes widened. Her grip did not loosen on her weapon.
“Baby was actually royalty but no one ever took the youngest prince seriously. Gwi-Ma gave him a chance to prove himself to his older brothers and father and he ended up messing it up, costing them all their titles. They abandoned him after that.”
Mira stopped pointing her weapon at him. Her eyes never left the man.
“Abby, oddly enough, wanted to be a guard and help King Injo of Joseon. He was turned down again and again because he wasn’t strong enough as a peasant to help. Gwi-Ma promised him strength and the appearance any guard would long for. He thought it was everything he could ever ask for until he received notice that his little brother died while he’d been off fighting wars.” Jinu shrugged, “I don’t even know about Mystery but I know he made some kind of deal. He wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
“So what about you?” Jinu asked, looking at Rumi, “How’d you get the patterns?”
Rumi didn’t speak. She did get closer to him though and, this time, Jinu didn’t back away. He didn’t seem all that afraid of her despite the demon killing weapon she held.
“Not ready to share?” Jinu asked.
“You haven’t.”
“…My family was extremely poor and miserable. I had a single possession to my name. An old bipa. So I busked the streets, but it didn't get me anywhere. I was desperate. We were starving. Then, I heard him. Overnight, my fate was changed. I was praised for my voice. Even by the king himself. My family and I lived on the palace grounds. Our bellies were finally full, our clothes clean. We were happy. But the patterns, they kept spreading until they consumed me. And I was condemned to the demon world. Prisoner of Gwi-Ma for all eternity. My family lost everything. And without me, they were even worse off than before. Every day since, I've been haunted by the memory of failing them. These are a constant reminder of my shame. A shame I can never escape.”
“A shame you deserve. You listened to Gwi-Ma. Let yourself be swayed.” Mira brought her weapon up and pressed it against Jinu’s chest.
“Maybe but I do know that your friend’s patterns are a mark too. She has a shame she’s not telling you.”
Zoey’s eyes turned dangerous. Her weapons glowed against her face and Jinu’s where she was currently pointing them, “You don’t know anything about her.”
“Anything to add?” Jinu looked past Mira and Zoey towards Rumi. It was subtle but he noticed her slight hesitation and nodded, “Denial. I’ve been there. I’ll be here when you’re done pretending.”
“Ah!”
He was gone before any of their weapons could land a hit.
————————————————-
“So…we’re killing him first, right?”
“Mira-“
“What? I’ve never wanted to punch a demon so badly.” Mira said, flopping down onto the couch.
“You didn’t feel anything when he talked about his family?” Zoey asked.
“We don’t know if that was true. It could have easily been a lie he made up to get sympathy. Then we feel bad and he’s allowed to go out and kill people.” Mira argued.
“I don’t think it was a lie.” Zoey said, “It really sounded like he was telling the truth.”
“That’s ridiculous. A demon would never have a story like that. I’m sure there’s something more that he’s keeping from us. Right, Rumi?” When no one responded to her, Mira turned around towards the purple haired girl.
Rumi was out on the balcony, leaning against the railing. Both Mira and Zoey’s eyes softened when they saw her, especially when they noticed how upset she was. Thanks to Celine’s training, Rumi didn’t often show her angry or conflicted side but over the years the two had learned how to pick up on signs. They noticed Rumi’s nails digging into her hands, pressing her body against the railing, biting her lip. All clear signs that she was deep in thought.
“Rumi?” Mira asked. She gently set a hand on Rumi’s arm, “Are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine.”
“You don’t seem fine.” Zoey came up on her other side. She grabbed one of Rumi’s hands and opened it up to keep her from digging her nails into her palm, “Do you want to talk?”
She shook her head.
“That’s okay.” Mira whispered, “Can you come inside?”
It was the smallest of nods but enough for Mira and Zoey to start moving Rumi into the penthouse and bring her to her room. Mira helped get Rumi into bed and Zoey pulled down the curtain, making the room darker and more suited for sleeping. Rumi pushed herself up after Mira guided her to the bed, using one hand to push her body up.
“I don’t need all this, guys.” Rumi said.
“We know but we’ve all been working hard. We need every hour of sleep we can get and Zoey and I aren’t going to be able to sleep at all if we’re worried about you.” Mira told her, “We can talk about the diss track and Jinu in the morning.”
“Right. The diss track.”
“It was your idea to make a diss track against the demons.” Mira said.
“I know. I know. I think we should but…I don’t know. I was talking with my dad and he thinks we should stick with Golden. He says it’s the song that’ll unite our fans.” Rumi told her.
“Why don’t we try writing the new song but keep it hidden?” Zoey suggested, “We don’t tell the fans and, if we want, we can perform it at the Idol Awards, but if we don’t think it’s any good then we’ll trash it.”
“I think that’s a good idea.” Rumi nodded. Zoey quickly moved around the bed to hug the older girl. The quiet sound of Rumi purring was enough to make Zoey giggle and Rumi blush. Although Zoey’s laughter proved infectious once Rumi started quietly chuckling too.
“Alright. Let’s get some sleep. We have a boy band to kill.”
—---------------------------------
The next few weeks were intense.
Back to back, Golden and Soda Pop were winning award after award after award. It was a constant battle of who could get more attention from the fans. But, with every award they won, the Saja Boys became more and more popular. A few pictures around Seoul turned into billboards all around Korea which turned into soda products and advertisements all over the world. There was no denying that they were good and their song was getting more and more popular. And, the more Huntrix didn’t perform thanks to Rumi’s voice, the more fans started to push them away in favor of the Saja Boys.
Bobby started visiting the penthouse more than ever before. Not just to support Rumi and try to help her through her voice issue, but also to make sure Mira and Zoey were okay and that all of the girls were continuing to relax in this stressful time. He brought over their favorite foods, booked them at as many autograph signing and interviews as he possibly could, and just tried to be a good dad throughout all of it. Whenever he received messages on his phone, telling him to ‘Join the Pride’ Bobby deleted them instantly, no matter how alluring the lights looked sometimes.
Finally, he was able to secure them a good autograph signing in the middle of Seoul. It was early in the morning but that just made it all the better because it meant fans were waiting outside—some of them all night—to get Huntrix to sign things. He practically glowed seeing the three girls get so excited for a fan event.
Then they arrived.
“It’s the Saja Boys!” The fans yelled.
Bobby fell into manager mode in a second, “No. No, absolutely not. This is highly inappropriate. You boys need to leave. This is a Huntrix event.” Sparing a single glance to security, Bobby gave all five demons the ‘protective dad’ stare as best he could. Generally, security didn’t do much at events but Bobby liked having them in case the girls ever needed it. He’d heard too many stories of fans breaking into dressing rooms or rushing the stage.
Jinu chuckled, “Sir. We just wanted to see Huntrix and congratulate-”
“You can do that later.” Bobby snapped, “Right now you are not supposed to be here and I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Jinu walked closer to Bobby only for all three members of Huntrix to stand up. Rumi especially looked ready to jump over the table if Jinu tried to do what they thought he was going to do.
“You can’t take my soul in front of hundreds of fans.” Bobby smirked, “Nothing to do now.”
Jinu’s eyes widened. Clearly, he didn’t know Bobby knew they were demons. This left him not exactly knowing what he could do next. He couldn’t attack Bobby, not in fronts of fans,----especially not in front of Huntrix—-, but he also very much had planned to be at this event.
“I shouldn’t be surprised the demon’s father knows about demons.” Jinu said.
Bobby’s look turned deadly, “Security! Escort the Saja Boys out!” Bobby yelled.
Three big men came from the side of the room towards the Saja Boys, who were all already heading out. Jinu cast one final look to Rumi, a smirk, before heading out the doors into the streets. By now, nearly every fan had their phones out and was recording the event. Bobby could hear the whispers from the crowd but they didn’t seem like they were made. One or two fans walked out with the Saja Boys but the majority of them stayed at the event to get things signed.
After four straight hours of signatures and an hour of just talking with fans, the girls were allowed to head into their car with Bobby and drive back to the penthouse.
“I can’t believe the Saja Boys tried to crash the event!” Zoey cried, “Bobby, you were awesome!”
“It was nothing.”
“That wasn’t nothing. Did you see Jinu’s stupid shocked face?” Mira asked, “His jaw dropped so low.”
“You confronted a demon.”
“I confronted a demon in front of fans. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me.” Bobby corrected, “And I knew you three would jump over the table if they tried. I was perfectly safe.”
“That’s true.” Mira snickered, “I was so ready for one of them to try and get an excuse to kill them.”
“Later, Mira, later.” Rumi promised.
Zoey plopped two chips into her mouth with a giant smile, “That event went perfectly too! Did you see how many fans we had!?”
“I did!”
“And I’m looking at all the socials, that event is trending thanks to me kicking out the Saja Boys!” Bobby cried, “You girls are back in the spotlight.” All three of them happily grinned, “Now we just have to try to hold onto that until the Idol Awards.”
“We can do that.” Rumi’s voice turned serious, “I’ll fix my voice by then and we’ll be ready to defeat these boys for good!”
“With Golden!” Bobby finished.
Rumi didn’t respond. None of them did.
“With Golden?”
“Or the other song we’re writing.” Zoey said.
“Zoey.” Rumi hissed.
“You’re still writing the diss track?” Bobby asked.
“It’s a good song, dad. We’re calling it Takedown and-” Bobby shook his head, pinching his noise. He really did try not to show anger or disappointment around Rumi unless she did something really bad—any signs that she wasn’t perfect tended to mess with Rumi’s head—but he couldn’t help it this time, “....it’s a good song.” She weakly finished.
“I’m sure it is. I’m sure it’s an amazing song but…you girls constantly seem to forget you have a demon on your team.” Rumi’s eyes turned to slits. In the dark car, they practically glowed making them impossible to miss.
“I’m not a demon.” She snapped.
“Rumi, you know that’s not what I-”
“No. It is. I’m 23. I’m more than capable of deciding for myself what I can and can’t handle. Just like I’m capable of understanding Mira and Zoey aren’t writing a demon diss track about me. I can separate myself from soul sucking monsters! I’m not like them!” Rumi snapped.
Thankfully, that was when the car stopped in front of the penthouse. Rumi wasted no time getting out of the car and stomping through the doors. Mira, Zoey and Bobby made no attempt to follow her—Bobby didn’t even get out of the car.
“You coming?” Zoey asked.
“I think Rumi needs some time away from her dad for a while.” A sad smile covered his face, “I’ll keep in touch and keep setting you guys up with events. Just…keep me posted, okay?”
“We will.”
“Thank you.”
—--------------------------------------
Rumi wasn’t in her room for more than ten minutes before she heard noise on her balcony. Grabbing her sword, she pointed it straight at the window, just to find the blue tiger sitting there with a giant smile on its face and eyes staring at her.
“Derpy.” Rumi sighed, scratching his chin and behind his ears, “I told you. I can’t meet him. You can stop with the invitations.”
“I wanted to deliver this one myself.” Jinu’s voice caught her off guard but not so much that Rumi didn’t have enough time to grab her sword and point it at him, “Okay! After today, I can see where you get that energy.”
“Was your plan to just come straight to the demon hunter’s house and insult her father?” Rumi asked.
“.....No?” Rumi glared, “No, seriously, I just wanted to talk. I wanted to talk at the event but then your dad went all ‘angry fox’ on us.” Derpy nuzzled Jinu’s hand, earning a pet and scratch from the demon.
“Angry fox? That’s the best you could come up with?”
“Do people not say that anymore?” Jinu asked, “We used to say that all the time when talking about a dad who refused to give his daughter to be married.”
“You are a very old person.” Rumi sighed, “What do you want to talk about?” She asked, putting her sword away.
“Have you ever been to an aquarium?” Jinu asked.
Whatever Rumi expected him to say, it definitely wasn’t that, “Where are you going with this?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I just learned about them a few days ago. I’ve never been and I want to go. Abby doesn’t like fish, Mystery doesn’t really talk, Romance is too into the one phone we have and Baby…actually I probably could take Baby but I want to take you.”
“Why do you want to go to an aquarium?”
“I’ve never been.” Jinu repeated, “We didn’t have them when I was around. The closest we had was the king having exotic animals brought to him but I don’t think this is the same thing. Come on. It’ll be fun.”
Rumi glanced down at Jinu’s hand and back at his face. She remained still as a statue until she heard the distant sound of voices in the hallway. Mira, Zoey and her dad were talking—probably about her—and they were probably about to walk in any minute. Deciding within a split second, Rumi took Jinu’s hand and the two climbed onto Derpy, leaving the Huntrix tower and heading towards the aquarium. Rumi didn’t see Bobby watching her from the balcony.
—---------------------------------
“They have a shark!?! There’s no way!”
“I’m telling you! A giant whale shark just swimming around for anyone to see.”
“What’s a whale shark?” Rumi pulled out her phone and showed him a picture, “That thing’s real!? I thought it was just a sea monster everyone talked about to scare fishermen.”
“Is that…is that what you used to do?”
“Not really. Most of the sea monsters we talked about were real.”
“............”
“............”
“Well,” Rumi pulled up the American aquarium website, “this one is very real. He’s in the Georgia Aquarium in America.”
Learning over her shoulder, the demon smiled down at the pictures, “Okay. That has to be something that’s only for the king and his family.” Jinu plopped a couple pieces of candy into his mouth while the two walked next to the giant wall of water, “There’s no way they just let anyone see a whale shark.”
“Nope. A regular priced ticket for anyone to go see him.” Rumi took a sip of her soda, almost bursting into laughter when she saw Jinu’s dropped jaw, “Also, no country really has kings anymore. Just an FYI.”
“Huh?”
“FYI…for your information. It’s an abbreviation.”
“Ah. I didn’t really get caught up on all the modern day stuff when I was creating the Saja Boys. I only really know as much as I do about Korea because I was able to come into the human world from time to time.” Rumi was about to raise an eyebrow, “I had to see them.”
“Your family?”
He nodded, “My sister got married to a nice guy and they had a bunch of kids. I lost track of them after the fifth generation but I’m sure they’re still around somewhere. My mom passed away a few years after I became a demon. I know she wouldn’t have wanted me to but I went to her funeral and gave her an offering before Gwi-Ma brought me back.”
“I’m sorry.” Rumi whispered, “I never…I know what it’s like to miss a parent.”
“Your dad never told you about your mom?” Jinu asked.
“He never knew. Dad found me when I was a baby and took me in. It was only years and years later that we both learned about how I ended up in that basket on that street. Apparently, my birth dad wanted to drag me down to the demon realm but Celine saved me and then dropped me off to make sure Gwi-Ma couldn’t track me.”
“Huh?” Jinu muttered, “That’s weird.”
“What is?”
“Gwi-Ma has no control over you. He said so himself. And he can’t really track hunters even if Celine was with you the whole time. Just weird that that’s why she would abandon you.”
“I’m sure she had her reasons.” Rumi whispered, “Anyways, you said you wanted to talk.”
“I did and we did talk. Feel free to take Derpy home.”
“Wait. Hold on. That’s it? You just wanted to go to the aquarium?”
“That’s what I said.” The way he shrugged like it was the most common thing in the world made Rumi nearly drop her drink. For weeks, Jinu and his group had been smugly smiling and playing Soda Pop in their faces but now he just wanted to go to the aquarium together. It didn’t make any sense.
The two left the building side by side but, as Jinu started to pull away, heading down a darker alley to head back to the demon realm, Rumi stopped him by grabbing onto his hand.
“You know…if you want your freedom there might be another way.”
“I’m listening.”
Rumi told him about her plan. Her plan to win the Idol Awards and cut off Gwi-Ma forever. Her plan to become fully human and, if she could be human, then he could be too. For a moment, Jinu looked hopeful, like he believed in her and her idea. Then reality set in and his eyes faded.
“I hate Gwi-Ma. I do. But there’s…there’s no way that will work. Turning the honmoon gold won’t make us both human.”
Rumi, still holding his hand, pulled him down the dark alley. There was no one around them as far as the eye could see and the lights in nearby stores and homes were turned off or turning off. Finding a hidden spot, Rumi let out a sigh and took a breath, “In your full demon form…do you have a tail?”
Jinu, caught off guard by her question, turned to her with a raised eyebrow, “Uhh…No?”
Without hesitation, Rumi revealed her demon form. Her horns, her fangs, her eyes, her glowing patterns, her claws, her tail, all of it was visible against her human outside. Finally releasing Jinu’s hand, she grabbed her tail and gently slid her thumb across it with a sad kind of chuckle. One that saw some humor in her whole ordeal but also tragedy.
“I do. When I was three, I was playing and one of my toys fell over on me and I got upset. That’s when my tail appeared for the first time and I started crying for a whole new reason: I was sitting on my tail. My dad never questioned it, never told me I was wrong or looked disgusted by me. You know what he did instead? He spent hours getting more money to buy pants that he could cut a hole in the back of so I didn’t, in my three year old wisdom, sit on my tail.” Rumi let out the smallest chuckle she could make, “He sacrificed so much. So many late nights, so many unanswered questions, so many days wondering if he was doing the right thing and I….I want to be the daughter he deserves. He deserves a real daughter. A human daughter.”
“And you think ignoring your demon half will make you a real daughter?” Jinu asked.
“Yes. It’ll make me a real daughter and a real friend. Mira and Zoey won’t have to flinch whenever they see my patterns, or book a separate bathhouse for us or deal with my yelling and hurting the honmoon and I won’t have to hide my demon side because I won’t have one anymore.”
“This feels like an unhealthy way to be a ‘real daughter’.”
“How would your family feel? Seeing you as a demon?”
Jinu’s eyes widened just enough for Rumi to tell she hit a nerve, “Ashamed. They’d be ashamed.”
A silence overtook both of them. With no issue, Rumi slipped back into her human form, “If there’s hope for someone like me, there’s hope for you. You can be free.”
“....I’ll think it over.”
“That’s all I ask.”
After a very awkward conversation with an old woman selling bracelets, Jinu returned Rumi to the Huntrix tower just as the sun was rising over the city. Jumping onto the balcony, Rumi gave Jinu a quick smile and thank you.
“I really will think over what you said. I just….don’t want you to get your hopes up about me. I’m not-I’m not a good person like you are.”
“Maybe not-”
“Not what I thought you’d say.”
“But you can be and I truly think the honmoon will be able to see that.”
“Whatever you say. See you around.” Jinu said, giving Derpy a scratch, he urged him to leave.
“And I am everyone's type just so you know!”