another lecture

With her hands shoved deep into the pocket on her hoodie, Kioko rolled her eyes for the millionth time to yet another boring lecture. The only difference is this time she was getting it from V. Vagabond, yeah, whatever he wanted to be called. It didn't matter who he was, it mattered that he was giving her the quadrillionth lecture like this in her life.  

"You can't keep running out..." His voice trailed on, but the longer he spoke, the more Kioko spaced out, focusing on the face paint he sported instead. There was an obvious line around his lower lip where it had rubbed off, probably from him biting at it, she guessed. Another line was on his cheek, with a bright red strip of flesh below it. Either a fresh wound or a new scar, probably. That, and the black looked caked on, like he was more lazy than usual today putting it all on.

Her focus was snapped away from the paint when another person entered the room, and a sly smile rose to her face. Completely ignoring V's continuing lecture, Kioko leaned to look behind him, offering a wave and calling out Gavin's name. He brightened up immediately, apparently unaware previously of her being in the room. Walking over, he leaned against V's side, offering the girl a warm smile. 

"Hey, Vagabond over here giving you another talking to?" Gavin hummed, snorting when Kioko nodded. 

"She ran away again- We all know if her brother finds out she's with us we're going to go belly-up and Lindsay's gonna kill us." The Vagabond, in all his spooky glory, shot back immediately. Kioko stood, then, her hands slamming against the table, making Gavin jump.

"Michi doesn't even ask where I go anymore!" She complained, sinking back down into her chair. "He cares, yeah, but he doesn't give a shit where I go anymore. I told him I finally made some friends that weren't homeless weirdos, and now he leaves me alone as long as I come home every few days."

V and Gavin shared a look that she couldn't figure out, before Gavin pushed himself up, walking around the table to clasp a hand over her shoulder. Oh, great, here comes the 'We know you don't want to be at home, but you have to...' lecture, Kioko internally whined, sinking further into her chair. 

"Kioko, I personally don't care where you are," Gavin started, effectively making her eyes pop open in shock. "...but, I don't want you to get in any serious trouble. At least text someone- or something. Let us know you're coming, yeah?" 

Kioko stared up at him in silence, before turning her attention back to V, who nodded quickly. She blinked a few times, before shaking her head. 

"Yeah, if you fuckers would give me your numbers, I totally would." She hummed, fishing her phone out of her pocket and waving it. V reached over the table, snatching it out of her hands, making her yelp, and somehow effortlessly traced her unlock pattern. He typed for a few minutes while Gavin grinned at Kioko's confused expression.  

When V pressed her phone back into her palm, the screen was open on her contact list. Which sported about 10 new contacts, six of which were listed as favorites. She recognized all but one. 

"...whose Ryan..?" She asked, tilting her head in confusion when all she got in reply was a laugh from Gavin.