"It's time to take your medicine."
Shak stood outside the door with a wooden bowl in hand and repeated himself.
Bai Zhu rolled over and sat up, his Zanpakuto dropping from the system backpack into his palm.
Piyu pressed herself against the side of the door and tilted her head toward the window.
Milluki braced himself on the window frame and flipped outside, his feet gripping the outer wall as he circled behind the door beneath the cover of the eaves.
"It's time to take your medicine."
Shak remained where he was.
Bai Zhu hid his blade behind his back, exchanged a glance with Piyu, then pulled open the bolt.
The man outside had clouded eyes and steady breathing, with both arms extended in front of him. The water in the wooden bowl sloshed a few times, stirring up sediment from the bottom until it became utterly murky.
"Shak."
There was no response.
Bai Zhu raised a hand and waved it twice in front of him.
Shak did not even blink.
"Did you finish that bag of chips from earlier today?"
"It's time to take your medicine."
"Do I owe you money?"
"It's time to take your medicine."
Bai Zhu stared at him for a moment, then reached out and took the wooden bowl.
Beneath the eaves, Milluki hung upside down from the outer side of a beam, one hand gripping a wooden post while the other had transformed into a claw, poised at the back of Shak's neck.
If Shak so much as raised an arm, that claw would swiftly and cleanly rip out his heart.
"I got the medicine. You can go back now."
Shak released the bowl, turned, and walked down the steps.
His movements were stiff, exactly like those of a walking corpse. When he reached