I am bored. Concrete boxes tend to do that to you.
I'm cold, hungry, and thirsty. These fuckers really didn't know how to treat guests.
"Guest" was a little too lenient a word. "Prisoner" might be better. "Murderer" could work too. I'm not innocent. I have killed people.
They have as well.
Yet I'm the one stuck in this hellhole, being forced into submission, because they have more power than me. I hate them.
The paper in my hand explained the first day in my life that really mattered.
I was awoken in the middle of the night by loud noises. I escaped with my brother out of a window. My mother screamed about my father being dead, then she was killed herself. We ran away, and encountered a police officer. He threatened us, so we ran away. We stayed at a local park for six months.
Of course, we didn't actually stay in a park. However, I'm not about to rat out my aunt. Even if she was harsh, those six months were the nicest since my parent's murder.
I could be honest with the police, but there is no way in hell that they deserve that. Being honest wasn't to my benefit; it rarely was.
Nonetheless, I'll write some more. Maybe they'll feel pity on me and let me free.
I laugh. Who am I kidding? When has anyone ever felt true pity on me, let alone heartless scumbags like them?
A twinge hits my heart. There have been people. They are all dead to me now, both literally and figuratively.
I write.
I woke in the morning to find Touya awake next to me, staring off into the distance like he had the night before. I was disoriented, because the familiar pink ceiling of my bedroom wasn't there and was instead replaced with a white one. Then I remembered the events of the night before. Touya noticed my stirring and greeted me.
"Good morning, sister."
"Good morning, Touya," I replied. I removed myself from the bed and noticed the family photo on the end table. Touya noticed my gaze and explained.
"I found you sleeping on it last night, so I put it on the nightstand so you wouldn't be uncomfortable," he said. I smiled, partly at his care, and partly at the family photo.
"Are they really gone?" I asked. I looked to him for the answer, genuine incomprehension in my eyes.
"Yes, Sakura. They can't come home anymore. We're going to have to support each other from now on, OK?" he replied softly.
My brother knew everything, so I knew I could trust him. The actual implications of his words hadn't hit me yet, and they wouldn't for quite a long time. Death is a difficult concept to understand.
We didn't have any clothes with us, so I went to exit the room while still in my pyjamas. I discovered that the door was still locked from the night before. I knocked on it softly, hoping that someone would hear and let us out.
The door unlocked, and Tomoyo slowly opened it.
"Cousin Sakura!" she squealed, and threw her arms around my neck. "I heard that something terrible happened, so I was very worried about you."
She noticed my state of attire. Then she looked to Touya as well. He had removed himself from the bed too, and was still wearing the same pyjamas from our escape the night before.
"We didn't have time to bring clothes with us," Touya explained. I nodded in agreement.
"Well, we'll just have to fix that. Sakura, come with me! I have the cutest dresses prepared for you. Touya, I'm sure Mom will be able to find something for you to wear. I'll call her."
Our morning proceeded as it normally would if we had been visiting our aunt's place on an ordinary day, with a few exceptions. All the blinds were pulled shut, and both Touya and I were wearing abnormally frilly clothes. Not to mention, both of us had red eyes.
We ate in silence, until Tomoyo finally announced something excitedly.
"I'm going to school now, Mom. Can you drive me?" she asked. I suddenly realized that my school would be starting momentarily too. We did go to the same school after all. I looked over to Touya, who normally made jokes at me whenever I was late. However, contrary to the norm, he didn't show any hints of teasing, but instead a hint of anger at something else.
"Of course I'll drive you sweetie. Get your things to the car and wait for me. I have to speak with your cousins for a moment first." Aunt Sonomi answered kindly. Tomoyo grinned and ran to find her things. Aunt Sonomi looked at the two of us apologetically.
"Kids, you may have figured it out already, but you won't be able to go to school anymore. There are lots of mean people looking for you right now. You have to stay safe in the house."
"No... school?" I pondered aloud. The thought might have pleased me before- I didn't like school because it kept me away from my family- but now it felt like an added change to the countless changes already occurring.
"We won't be able to attend school at all anymore? How will we learn?" Touya demanded politely but firmly. "Sakura needs to go to school to learn so that she can have a good future! I won't let you take it away from her."
"Touya, please don't speak to me like that. I would like to remind you that it is not me who is stopping you from going to school, but instead the bad people. Of course I have made arrangements for you two to continue learning, even if you don't attend schools," Sonomi reassured us. I squirmed a little. I didn't really care too much about losing my friends at school, because I hadn't made any yet. Then I realized that both Touya and I had to stay home from school. That led me to one conclusion.
"I can be with Touya all day! Whoopee!" I cheered. Sonomi smiled at my revelation. She continued to explain the way our schooling would work.
Simply, Watashi, one of Sonomi's longterm staff, would be in charge of home tutoring us. He still had his everyday work jobs to complete, so Touya would fill in any gaps.
She also said something about us only having Watashi because she didn't want many people to know we were in the house, but I didn't really understand. For one, I was really enjoying the hot food that Sonomi's chefs had cooked. Secondly, it was all too complicated for me. Thirdly, I didn't really care. I was still ecstatic over spending time with my brother.
"Hey monster. Only monsters inhale their food," Touya teased, causing me to pay attention again. I frowned, pushing my eyebrows as close together as I could.
"I am not a monster! You big meanie!" I whined. I quickly took back my comment about being happy to spend time with my brother. He was just a meanie after all.
Our days carried on pretty consistently from then on. We would wake up and go downstairs to eat breakfast with Aunt Sonomi and Tomoyo. Then Tomoyo would go off to school, and Watashi would give us two private lessons. After that, Watashi would leave, and Touya would teach me, or help me through a few exercises. We would eat dinner with the group of us again, then Touya and I would go upstairs to his bedroom to sleep. Aunt Sonomi would lock the door behind us, and warn us to hide if anyone tried to enter.
Then the cycle would repeat.
I was pretty happy with this new life. I missed Mommy and Daddy a lot, but a part of me thought they would be coming back. I mean, Daddy disappeared all the time on his archaeology trips. Maybe Mommy went with him this time.
I often caught Touya staring blankly at the ceiling when I was trying to fall asleep. I nearly always fell asleep before he did.
We hadn't been outside since the night we ran, and I was starting to miss the sky. I discovered that if I pulled back the bottom flap of the curtain in Touya's bedroom, I could look out and see out the front to all the houses on the street. I found it quite relaxing and sometime daydreamed while staring at the sky.
My favourite daydreams of late were of princes sweeping off into their far away castles. There weren't many children's book around here, so Touya often read me the same one. It had a gorgeous prince with fancy hair and a pretty white horse. I liked it a lot. I wondered if I'd ever find my prince, but then it occurred to me that I had no friends. This made me sad. I decided that Touya would be my prince, but we wouldn't get married. That would be gross. Touya definitely had cooties.
Watashi could be the king in the kingdom, I guessed. He was pretty cool, though he never really did anything but speak about smart stuff. However, I could completely imagine him owning a really big castle.
Aunt Sonomi would be the picky duchess. I couldn't view her as a queen. Queens were bubbly and gave motherly advice to children about following their hearts. The image of Aunt Sonomi saying that made me giggle. Then I stuck imaginary- Aunt- Sonomi in a big puffy dress and gave her a flamboyant up-do. The image was ridiculous. Aunt Sonomi had a very different style that her daughter's- our aunt preferred a sleek and glossy look while Tomoyo enjoyed big bright gowns and puffy sleeves.
Personally, I liked Tomoyo's style better. When both she and I were done our schoolwork, she often sketched dresses out for me, and sent them to her tailor for him to make. Tomoyo hadn't learnt how to use a sewing machine yet. I was always overjoyed when a dress came back from the tailor's, and Tomoyo let me wear it. I asked her if I could keep a particularly pink dress that had red hearts along the rim of the skirt, and she gladly agreed. I often wore it while daydreaming out the window.
It wasn't until a month or so later that I learned anything extra about our situation. I hadn't particularly worried about our situation up until then, because I really didn't care. I had Touya around all the time, and he distracted me from my sad memories. I still daydreamed at the window often.
I caught Aunt Sonomi talking with Watashi one day, and her voice was more serious than normal. I smirked a bit and scurried around a corner, then I plopped myself on the ground. I listened very carefully. I always found it fun to eavesdrop. You learned a lot of things. People don't tell things to three year olds, and if they won't tell you, then you've got to find out yourself. So I sat patiently, waiting for the knowledge that I craved. I can't say that I had an idea of what I was looking for, just knowledge in general.
"..told you not to tell the others! You disobeyed me, Watashi," I could hear Aunt Sonomi saying.
"I'm begging your pardon mam, but you've left me with too many responsibilities. I only told my most trusted employee."
"I decide who we trust around here." Aunt Sonomi spat. I could tell she was quite angry. She was normally known for keeping her cool, calm exterior. This made me even more eager to listen. Something really exciting must have happened.
"In all respect, he is my son. I trust him as much as I trust you." Watashi countered.
"My darling children are living in this house right now. The Organization is looking for them as we speak. At any moment, they could attack. At that moment, the fewer people who know that they are here, the better their chances are. Understood?" Aunt Sonomi scolded. The Organization was not something I'd heard of before. This was very interesting.
"Yes mam."
"They killed my sister and brother-in-law. They are attempting to take away the kids. They are equally able to harm your son too. You have put him in danger."
"Y-yes mam."
"Never disobey me again, Watashi."
"Never again, ma'am."
I could tell that this was some sort of conclusion to their discussion, so I knew I had to make my exit. I took off the shoes I had been wearing and held them in my hands. Tip-toeing carefully backwards, keeping an eye on the direction they could approach me from, I backed away. When a safe distance was achieved, a distance where they wouldn't presume I could have heard them from, I replaced my shoes on my feet.
It was not a moment too soon. Aunt Sonomi had started to walk down the hallway I was in, and noticed that I was there. She walked over to me, peering questioningly.
"What are you doing here, darling?" she asked. "I did tell you to stay in your bedroom, or the hallway right in front of it."
Luckily, she didn't seem too suspicious of my presence, but I decided to pull an act just in case. I looked up at her and pouted.
"I was hungry, so I tried to get to the kitchens," I whined. I squished my eyes as though I was crying and continued, "but then I got lost. P-please help me. I was worried that I'd never get out."
Aunt Sonomi took pity on me and helped me get a snack from the kitchens. I inwardly cheered that I had gotten away with my plan.
That night, I joined my brother in looking aimlessly at the ceiling.
I wasn't sure what to make of the tidbit of information about the Organization. I still didn't know what that was. All I knew was that they killed our parents, and that they were looking for Touya and me.
This "Organization" killed my parents.
It was still a difficult concept to understand. Parents came for and stood by their children. Killing them made them unable to do that? Mommy and Daddy always came back, no matter what. Therefore, they couldn't be killed. However, everyone talked as though they were. It was too confusing.
The second thing that hit me was that they were looking for Touya. They were looking for my precious meanie of a brother. They were looking for me too, but I didn't understand what that really meant. All I knew was that if they were looking to take away my brother, it would mean that they were going to keep him away from me. That was bad. That was very bad.
I realized that the best person to deal with this problem would be the person in question: my brother. I rolled over to address him.
However, he was asleep.
He rarely fell asleep before me so I was amazed. So this is what the sleeping face of my brother looks like, I thought. I considered drawing on it, but I didn't want to wake him. He would wake in the morning. I could talk about the Organization with him then.
