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It's not just one time.
It happened a couple of times.
And everytime, I feel I'm gonna lose her any second.
I never tried to get to know Yuu.
She's just there, painting, dancing, singing and making me not feel lonely in the tree house.
But sometimes, it gets to me.
I wonder why her arms are covered in bandages.
Sometimes, when Yuu was about to get home, I tried to follow her.
But I lost her every time.
I never knew that she was the Warden's daughter.
I hate that man, because of him, the Barrel Zone is hell.
The people here are too blind to see.
He's just one of Noble's lap dogs, and nothing else.
I know he is, the moment I saw him, I knew there's something going on.
Yuu came back to my tree house again.
This time, she had a band aid in her head.
Did she always hurt herself?
Or just like other kids outside, she was abused.
I tried to talk to her about this.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Why?" She replied while she started painting on my walls again.
"I was wondering about uh..." I was hesitant to ask, maybe this is a bad idea. Is my question over-sensitive? Maybe she doesn't want to talk about it.
"Hmm? What's wrong?" She stops her painting as she faces me.
"No, nothing..." I just pet her head and she immediately goes back to what she's doing.
My eyes soften when I'm observing her bandages and some bruises visible in her legs.
...
I followed her again.
This time I will make sure that I won't lose her.
I see, she was living on the other side of the Barrel Zone.
In a beer house.
She's too young to be in the beer house but the bouncers are letting her in.
Maybe she knew the owner.
"Stop right there!" One of the bouncers stopped me as I tried to go in.
I only chuckled nervously.
"Sorry, mister...but my father called me here..." I lied.
"Father? What kind of father calls their child here?" He asked suspiciously of me.
"U-uh...well, my father is drunk so I need to take him home...." I continue to lie about it.
"Not a chance, kid" the other bouncer finally intervened.
I was about to reach for my pockets when a random guy tapped my shoulder.
"He's with me..." He said as he faced the bouncers head on.
The random guy has white hair and hazel eyes, as if I knew him before but...
They immediately step aside as I walk behind him.
"T-thanks..." I mumbles against my breath.
"Find your father quickly, kid" he said while patting my head.
It kinda annoys me but I'm glad some kind adult still exists.
I flinched as we arrived in the main area.
Music banging on my ears. Lights flashing on my eyes.
Yes, it was chaotic outside but it's more chaotic here!
A room full of adults, drinking, dancing and doing some other stuff.
Why would Yuu go here?
I dive into the pile of people dancing.
I'm going light headed every beat of the music.
The smell of alcohol easily intoxicated me.
I need to find Yuu fast.
"Ugh.." someone bumped into me, making me stumble around.
I was about to pass out when someone caught me.
It was the random guy again.
He lifts me up and carries me like a sack.
Still feeling light headed, I can't fight against this guy.
Finally, he put me down in a chair, and the bartender gave me something.
"You okay, kid?" He said as he put his hand on my head.
I only groan.
"Tsk...tsk..tsk..." The bartender shook his head.
"You shouldn't help the kid getting in here..." He said while wiping the counter.
"Well, he said he was looking for his father..." The random guy answered back.
Before he can touch my head again, I slap it away.
It's getting annoying now.
"Well..." He scoffs.
"What are you doing here, kid?" Both the random guy and the bartender are now focused on me.
"U-uh...m-my..." Before I could answer, I saw a glimpse of pink hair.
It's Yuu.
I immediately hop off the chair, and I chase over her.
"Hey wait!" The annoying random guy grabbed me.
"What!?" I said angrily, I look Yuu's way, she's gone.
"Jeez, this kid has some serious issues..." The bartender raised his eyebrows and laughed at the scene.
...
I can hear her again.
She's back in my tree house.
Humming her mother's favorite melody while painting.
I can't just bring what happened that night up to her, maybe she had a reason why she's there.
"H-hey..." I nervously called out for her, she immediately turned to face me.
She's covered in bruises again.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
I didn't realize that I was staring at her for too long.
"Nothing...just..uhmm..." I look away trying to stop myself from asking her about it.
If I ask her about it, it'll look that I'm insensitive, maybe she'll never come back here anymore.
No...
I can't stay silent anymore. I want to ask her, and this is the best time for it.
Before she can turn her back on me, I stop her by grabbing her shoulder.
"Yuu, we need to talk..." I firmly said.
"Kay... what's up?" She asked nonchalantly.
"What's up is... these!" I grabbed one of her wrists and showed her bandages.
She only laughs at it.
What the hell?
"That? It's just, you know... I'm clumsy" she replied and continued to giggle.
"You worried too much, Lucian" she smiles at me as she gently takes her wrist away from my grasp.
"Too much? You're literally covered in bruises..." I snarled, "How can she laugh in this situation?"
"It's just—" before she can finish her sentence, I cut her off.
"Look...If you're not happy back at home, I can take you..." I take her small hands.
It was rough, skinny... she's too skinny.
"You can live here, with me..." I gave her a reassuring smile.
She stares at me for a minute, I wonder what's going on in her mind.
She takes her hands away.
"I'm fine, Lucian" she said, and it's not in her usual tone.
I know there's something wrong.
She turned her back on me.
She was cleaning herself up. She's leaving again.
I was hesitant to stop her from leaving.
Maybe she hates me now, afterall I'm just a nobody to her.
I have no rights on deciding where she should be.
But, I take all my courage and grab her by her hand again before she can walk away.
"Please tell me, Yuu..." I pleaded with her.
Please tell me what's wrong...
...
I need to get her Momo, or she'll hurt herself again.
I was stopped on my track when I saw the Aetheral knights and the Warden talking in the gates.
I listen quietly as they talk about Yuu.
The Warden better not sell her out to the knights.
After their little talk, I can tell the female commander is frustrated.
It doesn't matter anymore to me, I just need to find Yuu's doll.
I stole one of the knight's uniforms from the knight lying unconscious on the ground.
If I'm gonna go look for Yuu's doll, I should do it without them knowing.
I figured out that blending with the knights will make it easier to search.
As we, the knights, start searching the Warden's headquarters, I can feel his heavy gaze on us.
The other knights are complaining and getting scared.
Now, I'm wondering, why would the Warden's have a contract with the upper and they still don't want to give us fresh water.
No, that's not my priority right now.
I need to find Momo.
After a long search, I can't seem to find it outside.
The only room I didn't look at was the Warden's office.
Before I could turn the door handle, the female commander stopped me.
I flinched, I thought it was the Warden.
"Hey...The Warden's office is off limits..." She whispered.
"Are you new or something?" She scoffs and walks away.
I pretend to continue the search elsewhere, trying to find the perfect opportunity to go inside the office without them noticing.
Finally, when everyone was not looking, I quickly tried to open the door but it was locked.
Luckily, I found a small wire on the ground.
I used it to try opening the lock of the door, and it works.
I looked around one more time making sure nobody saw me and I quickly went in and locked the door.
I look around, it looks chaotic as if someone is already searching here.
Papers on the floor, painting on the walls.
The table is flipped over and the chair is broken as if someone fought here.
I start to look for the bunny stuffed toy.
While I was looking, my heart dropped when I heard someone trying to open the door.
I made sure to lock it, I was panicking.
Shit...shit..shit...
I don't have another choice but to hide behind the ridiculously big jukebox.
Suddenly, smoke invades my nose, I want to cough but I only cover my nose and mouth, doing my best not to make a sound.
I heard the Warden's voice.
He was talking to someone again.
I tried to peek to see what's going on.
It was a girl with a sniper hanging on her shoulder and him, the golden boy.
"What do you mean you can't find her?!" The Warden angrily said.
The girl with a sniper replied but I couldn't hear her response.
Melrick only rolled his eyes in annoyances.
I knew what they're looking for, it was Yuu.
The Warden sighs in frustration and looks around.
I immediately took cover hoping he didn't notice me.
Then I hear footsteps again, it seems they left.
I was an idiot thinking they all left already.
The moment I looked out again, I was greeted by the girl's face.
"Ah!" I flinched.
She raised her eyebrows.
Right she can't see my face since it was covered in Aetheral knight's mask.
I tried to play it cool.
"I-I'm sorry, I just told you to search here..." I lied.
She stepped away looking uninterested in me.
How rude...
I immediately left the room, I didn't even get to find her bunny stuffed toy.
I tried to look to other places I already searched but I just couldn't find it.
Maybe she dropped it somewhere when we're escaping.
"Hey! New boy, the commander is calling for everyone" one of the knights called out for me.
Bunch of the knights immediately stop their search and run towards the outside where the Warden and the female commander are talking.
We lined up immediately.
I can't go back empty handed, Yuu will be devastated.
She needs Momo, and my job is to bring it back to her.
I was deep in thought on what I should do if I can't really find it.
Should I just look for another bunny stuffed toy looking similar to Momo?
Should I tell her that she was taken away by the knights?
No, if I did any of that, she'll go nuts.
My eyes widened when I saw her bunny stuffed toy.
I finally found it, but not on the ground or somewhere I can reach.
In the Warden's hand, there it was the bunny plushie she always had.
This is gonna be a big problem.