Tangled Leaves

"Ow ow ow…."

With each desperate squirm the dull pains grew sharper. Each tug made escape that much harder, which only encouraged him to thrash about in panic.

How dare they treat us like that! Once we're free, I'll—

No. That is no better than what they have done to us. To stoop to their level would be counter productive and—

Oh, shut up. Nobody cares what you think.

With a small groan he sunk to his knees in defeat, whining a bit as the branches tugged at his hair. He had only meant to stay in there long enough to hide from the mean old bullies who were searching for him. But now the branches had took up the game of grabbing and snarling his hair where the bullies had left off. It wasn't his fault that his hair had feelings! That's the only reason he had it long, he'd cut it if he could…. But now he was trapped.

"It's no use…."

The more he fought to free himself, the tighter the knots became.

The prickling of tears welled up in his eyes from the discomfort. How would anyone find him? He bit his lip to try and keep it from quivering.

"Ba-chan!"

But how could she possibly hear him? She was on the edge of the western district today, far far away from the park where he had hid. In fact, no one had passed by during the numerous years that he had been stuck there for. Or at least it felt like years…. At this rate, no one would find him until he was old like Ba-chan was!

He couldn't hold back the tears any longer and a soft whimper pulled itself from his lips. His imaginary friends—that's what they are, right?—continued to bicker back and forth between themselves as he sobbed into his hands. He was going to be trapped there forever! He'd spend the rest of his life as the girl-who-was-actually-a-boy-but-had-long-hair who was trapped in a bush.

He'd never see his parents again, that is if they'd ever come back in the first place. Ba-chan would wonder why he didn't answer the door for her when she got home. He'd never—

"Aoba? What are you doing in there?!" Aoba froze and looked up from between his fingers. Koujaku's voice was concerned, yet it still held his cheerful undertones. Aoba looked away from the older boy's gaze. The voices echoing in his head paused, concentrating on his rescuer. "Did you get stuck? Don't worry Aoba, I'll help you—"

"No!"

Koujaku paused for a moment before he tried again. "No what? Do you like being stuck in a bush?"

"I'm not stuck!"

The older boy chuckled and shook his head. "Liar. If you're not stuck then why are you sitting under a bush crying?"

"I'm not crying!"

"Yes you are. You're crying right now."

"I'm nooot!" Aoba scowled and tried to turn around to ignore the older boy and prove he was indeed not stuck nor was he crying. But there was a key problem with that plan. For one, he was crying, and two, he was stuck. So when he turned, instead of proving he was right it only did the opposite.

"Aoba…. Hold still. I'll get you out."

It took Koujaku a while to free him. He was as careful as he could be as he untangled him strand by strand. Aoba most certainly didn't make it any easier for him. The only thing the child did was complain and squirm about. But finally, they were done and Aoba was free. He scrambled out from under the bush and swore he'd never go near another again. Koujaku only smiled and quickly suggested that they head to Aoba's house, saying Tae-san would make them something yummy when she got home.

Aoba nodded and after a moment he grabbed his hand, keeping his eyes away.

"…Thank you for helping me, Koujaku…."

The older boy smiled and squeezed his hand. "Welcome, Aoba."