Cherry was impressed by just how haggard Kai seemed. She was even more impressed how expressive his eyes were, how they flashed so quickly between emotions. She felt confused by the last emotion, but chose to not look to much into it. She had a bad habit of reading far too much into things and now was not the time to do that.<br/><br/>"Hey Cherry," he said, his voice full of exhaustion. His hand was raised in greeting, though his eyes were distracted by the presence of Mira's bag. "Hey, Kai," Cherry replied softly, almost as if she were apologetic. They both knew she probably was. "I'm a bit surprised..." she stated as she looked around at anything but him, "At first I thought maybe the girl got away because you let her." She finally looked to him, giving him a once over, "Looking at you now, though, I'm starting to think you don't have a handle on things at all. You don't have a handle on her."<br/><br/>It was a harsh truth that Cherry was surprisingly upset she had to see. Kai not having a handle on things should have pleased her. It didn't. She frowned, upset at the realization. "Look, Kai...I wanted to drag this out and make it a game, but I don't think either of us are in the mood," her eyes dragged themselves to look at Kai's, "I didn't mean to turn her. Honestly. I'll take that one...I need to know though...Why are you trying to keep her around? We both know that you hate humans, so why didn't you kill her on the spot?"<br/><br/>She wondered if Kai would give her a truthful answer or just some lame excuse. She wasn't sure if either one would make her happy, but she was curious. She would be surprised if he demanded Mira back. He looked far too exhausted. Far too....weak.<br/><br/>She looked away, embarrassed for them both.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Mira didn't care as much as she thought she would about cutting her hair. Cocoa, of course, had done the honors. She had done surprisingly well Mira decided as she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Maybe it would be harder for people to grab.<br/><br/>She paused, blinking at herself for a moment in the mirror. It was an alarming idea that she was worried about anyone grabbing her by her hair. Even with Chuck she didn't have to worry about him physically hurting her.<br/><br/>She looked down into the sink, unable to look at herself anymore. Everything was quiet in the bathroom and it made everything in her head seem so much louder. She wanted to close her eyes, but every time she did she could only see Chuck's mangled, spineless body. Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes and her hands clenched tightly on the edges of the sink.<br/><br/>"You know, Mira, you shouldn't feel guilty."<br/><br/>Mira didn't respond to the voice. It wasn't real. There was no point.<br/><br/>"I know that you think that I'm not here, but I am...and it's not your fault."<br/><br/>"Go away, Chuck. Please. I can't do this. I could barely do it when you were alive," the dark haired girl finally said, refusing to turn around. She could hear that familiar awkward shuffling Chuck did when he felt scolded, "Yeah, okay Mira. I'm here whenever, though."<br/><br/>Suddenly the bathroom felt less heavy, something she hadn't noticed before. She stifled a sob with the back of her hand. Why were these hallucinations so vivid? Why did they feel so real? She hoped they went away soon, she couldn't live with them. She couldn't live with Chuck's ghost lingering around, a constant reminder of the hell she had brought to him.<br/><br/>She was pulled from her thoughts by a knock on the door. She gave a quick look in the mirror, wiping away her tears as quickly as possible. "Just a minute! Just trying to freshen up!" she called out in what she hoped was a steady voice. She turned on the water and splashed some on her face, then dried it with a nearby clean handtowel.<br/><br/>She straightened her shirt, took a deep breath, and opened the door.