[08.5] Hope

I was breathless. Literally and figuratively. Being flipped over your head and onto your back by a girl half your size can do that to you. After the fact, she took off, so I lay there in the middle of the street for a while, attracting stares and hushed voices. Humanity really was something.

My stomach growled loudly, and it took me back to another time when I was laying on the ground, starving to death. Except no one stopped to feed me this time. I sighed loudly and sat upright, startling a group of passing girls. I smiled slightly and gave a small wave, sending them away with whisperings of something about a pervert. I dropped my hand with a frown. It wasn't like I was lying on the ground with the intention of looking up skirts.

Oh right. Something about skirts snapped me from my daydream. Which was odd, as neither Naoki nor Miyako wore skirts. My mind lapsed into thinking what the two would look like in skirts. Miyako was easy enough to picture, as she usually didn't move and much prefered to sit and read. Naoki, on the other hand, was too much of a tomboy. Skirts would definitely be a no-go for her, especially the short ones that other girls seemed to enjoy wearing.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts and to my feet, brushing dirt off the seat of my pants. Naoki would be done delivering by now, right? She would usually buy me food, even if I didn't ask. That's just how she was; an indifferent kindness toward everyone. It was a bit painful to think about, the fact that one was no different from another, but even then, that was better than the nothing I had had before.

x x x

Naoki, as it turned out, hadn't even shown up at the little post office in the middle of town. The postal worker didn't seem too concerned, though, grumbling about how none of the 'part-time' kids showed up.

'Happens all the time with kids, they either forget or find something better to do,' he had explained without looking up from his organizing. His tone gave off a feeling of dissatisfaction at working with kids (or maybe working in a rarely-used position in a small town where you could yell down the street and reach the person you're trying to contact), which I didn't blame. But I didn't need to know about your average Kid Joe, I needed to know about Naoki. I left with uneasiness gnawing at my chest. For the little while I had known Naoki, she was periodically late, but she would show up nonetheless. And at this point, it was an hour past when she was s'posed to be done.

"Naoki, where are you?" I muttered to myself, walking sullenly back to our usual spot by the train station. Today was turning out to be a rather strange day, and it was barely past noon.