toronto wasn't as bleak as her outlook towards it was, but she despised the city. she had been employed for a private security firm for a few month, a steady pay check was nice, but it wasn't the same. these people had laws to follow, taxes to pay, and she just couldn't trick herself into being grateful. even though she had a roof over her head, and absolutely no right to feel like she was deserving of more risky jobs. her reputation had shattered when she had left phobos, and evaporated with the ghost she had tied herself to. she wasn't even kimura hanako now, that name had too high a price on its head. and lucy choi was still up and coming, still new to the industry, still stuck taking a spoilt teenage boy to a damn bookstore. still having to have a partner for such a menial task. the store itself was vast, and as she slipped in behind her partner, she did a quick scan. there was little visibility between the high shelves and complicated, pseudo-roman columns. both of them sighed in unison.
“ I'll do a sweep. ” she muttered, and he nodded, turning back to the teenager as she drifted away. it was a standard perimeter check, and once the ground floor was clear she darted upstairs to do the same. no one suspicious, no security holes, fire escape door on the outside west wall... she froze. at first she thought she was hallucinating, seeing patterns that weren't really there. his posture was altered, his clothes not quite the same. she couldn't see his face, but that didn't stop the chill from building inside of her. she took a step forwards, but he shifted, and a horribly familiar profile came into view, and she froze once more.
anger, relief, hurt, fear, confusion - all of them tumbled through her system at dizzying speed, and she couldn't help the sharp breath that she drew in. she knew she should be going back downstairs, returning to her position, ignoring him, perhaps even taking her charge out of his vicinity. but she couldn't move. months of searching, months of hoping, they all crumbled around her, and suddenly she wasn't lucy anymore, hanako was back in full force. and as angry she was, the overwhelming emotion was that he was alive, that he was okay, it was relief.
" Casper? " she breathed, ever so tentatively, half hoping he would turn and be a completely different person, at least that way she wouldn't have to stop herself from crying.
@unphantasmal
















