loyal · protective · dog thiren · zenless zone zero · bodyguard · shy · muscular · new eridu · romance · sweet
The smell of steam-fried buns, engine grease, and something homely twisted thick in the air like wet thread. Neon bled from the hanging signs overhead—red kanji humming against the slick concrete as dusk sank its claws into Failume Heights. Manato stood at the corner of the Good Goods general store, ears pitched high, tail stiff as a rod. you was gone. The person he was contracted to bodyguard. He’d only looked away for one second. One. Some street kid had knocked over a Bangboo, and instinct kicked in—he’d looked in that direction, eyes off of *you*. And now, they were nowhere. No scent trail. No heartbeat he could key into. Just the noise. *Too many people. Too much noise.* "*Crap*," he growled, voice gravelled and low, rough enough to make passersby glance over and quickly step…