Chapter 49 : Rehabilitation (2)
The next morning, Mark and Hughie stood inside Kimiko’s room.
Mark was holding a tray loaded with breakfast while Hughie stood beside him looking distinctly uncomfortable.
Being trapped in a room with a super-powered woman who had previously tried to kill everyone she met was not how he had planned to start his day.
Kimiko sat on the bed watching them carefully.
The hostility from yesterday had cooled slightly, but the distrust remained obvious. Mark couldn’t really blame her. The last meal he had given her had been drugged, which was probably not the strongest foundation for a friendship.
At least she wasn’t actively trying to punch him anymore.
"Hughie, play the translation."
Hughie pulled out his phone and pressed a button.
A recorded Japanese message played through the speaker.
"We are not here to harm you. We come in peace. Please do not attack us."
The pronunciation was probably terrible, but it was the best they had.
Kimiko listened quietly. When the message ended, she continued staring at them.
Carefully, Mark walked forward and placed the breakfast on a nearby table before backing away again. Kimiko’s eyes followed him the entire time.
After a few moments she reached for the food and began eating.
She ate quickly rather than politely, as though she wasn’t entirely convinced somebody wasn’t going to take it away from her.
The room remained quiet except for the sound of Kimiko eating.
Eventually Mark pointed at himself.
"Friend."
Kimiko looked at him.
Mark repeated the gesture.
"Friend."
Then he pointed at her.
Kimiko stared at him for several seconds before slowly raising a hand and pointing at herself.
A grin immediately appeared on Mark’s face.
"Yeah. Friend."
She clearly didn’t understand the word. What she did understand was that he was trying to communicate something, and Mark decided that was close enough.
Then he pointed toward Hughie.
"This is also friend."
Hughie awkwardly gave a small wave.
"Hi."
Mark immediately remembered she didn’t understand English.
"Right. Forget that."
Using exaggerated gestures, he pointed at Hughie, then at himself, then made a clumsy attempt at indicating that neither of them intended to hurt her.
The performance was terrible.
Hughie looked embarrassed just watching it.
Kimiko tilted her head, and for a moment Mark thought he had completely failed.
Then she glanced toward Hughie and gave a small nod.
After breakfast, Mark signaled for Hughie to help him move a small television into the room. Once it was set up, he spent a few minutes finding a Japanese television show before enabling English subtitles.
It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it was the best idea he had. Kimiko could understand Japanese, and if she spent enough time reading the subtitles she might gradually pick up some English along the way.
Mark switched on the television and handed the remote to Kimiko.
She looked at it briefly before taking it from him. Her attention shifted almost immediately to the screen.
Seeing that she seemed more interested in the show than attacking anyone, Mark considered the morning a success.
"Enjoy yourself."
Kimiko didn’t respond.
She was already watching television.
Mark stepped out of the room with Hughie and closed the door behind them.
"Well, Hughie, keep an eye on her. If she causes any trouble, call me. I’m heading out to deal with something else."
Hughie stared at him.
"Leaving? And you want me to take care of her?"
The concern in his voice was understandable. Frenchie and Mother’s Milk had already told him exactly how dangerous Kimiko was, and he had seen enough himself to know they weren’t exaggerating.
Meanwhile Butcher, Frenchie and M.M. were busy following leads on Compound V.
That left him.
Alone.
With Kimiko.
Hughie pointed toward the closed door.
"Mark, that’s the super-powered murder woman."
Mark shrugged.
"And?"
"And I’m Hughie."
For a moment Mark just looked at him before sighing.
"Hughie, stop selling yourself short."
"I’m not. I’m being realistic."
"No, you’re being insecure."
Hughie looked unconvinced.
Mark folded his arms.
"You’ve got more courage than you think. You have a good heart, you’re smarter than you give yourself credit for, and you’ve somehow survived everything that’s happened over the last few weeks."
"Mostly through luck."
"If it was just luck, you’d be dead already."
Hughie opened his mouth to argue, but Mark cut him off.
"So stop acting like you’re useless. If there’s a problem, send me a message and I’ll be back. Until then, I trust you."
Hughie blinked.
Mark had already started walking toward the exit.
A few seconds later the door closed behind him.
Hughie stood there for a moment before looking toward Kimiko’s room, then toward the exit, and then back again.
He had a feeling the next few hours were either going to be completely uneventful or an absolute disaster.
Knowing his luck, there was probably no middle ground.
After two straight days of dealing with Kimiko, warehouses, police investigations, Compound V, and generally everyone trying to make his life more complicated, Mark had finally done something revolutionary.
He took a shower.
A proper one.
Not the five-minute "technically water touched me" kind.
Now he stood outside the mall wearing dark sunglasses and waiting near the entrance.
A few minutes later, Annie arrived dressed in casual clothes.
Mark had to admit she looked significantly happier outside of work.
The moment she spotted him, Annie started walking toward him with a smile already on her face.
Unfortunately for Mark, it wasn’t the friendly kind.
It was the "I know something you don’t know" kind.
Annie stopped in front of him and folded her arms.
"So, Mr. Handsome Hero."
Mark immediately knew where this was going.
"You have something you want to tell me?"
Mark considered his options.
There weren’t any.
"Well," he said smoothly, "your smile is lovely as always."
Annie stared at him. The compliment almost worked. A second later, her smile widened.
"Well, who do you think is responsible for it?"
*****
A/N: Advanced Chapters are available on Patreon.
👉 /Mark841
Currently, 21 advanced Chapters are available