ChapterO6
A/N- Ok, so you guys probably think that it's been too long since I've updated, and technically, it's true. But at least I came back, right? But I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long, I got stuck on several occasions writing this chapter but I think I'm pretty happy with what I came up with. Thanks for those who haven't given up on this and for those who reviewed or just read my story. It means heaps, it really does.
I hope you enjoy this chapter,
Cheers.
--
Normal POV
The three found themselves back at the park, nibbling wordlessly at the bread Soi had, once again bought for them. Yoruichi remained silent though endless questions seemed to float through her mind yet Soi was determined to ignore answering them. Not that she would in the first place anyway.
But now, she had already noticed that when the purple haired woman was around, there'd be this feeling right in the pit of her stomach. And she couldn't quite place her finger on what it was called. But whatever it was, it made her feel two things at the one time. Annoyed yet curious and frustration along with respect.
It didn't make sense to her, not at all.
It was completely new; one, because Akio was the only person in her life before Yoruichi and two, because it made her think.
"Hey Soi, did you just blank out on me?" the 24 year old asked, waving a hand in front of her face.
Soi fon almost raised a brow at this because she wasn't even paying attention in the first place. Yoruichi seemed to notice the look and stood up, pulling the girl with her, watching Akio get up on his feet also.
"I feel like getting some real lunch, don't you Akio?" the cocoa-skinned woman grinned.
The boy looked up at his guardian whose lips were pressed together tightly with puppy dog eyes. Soi sighed in result and started off walking, their bread already tucked away in their backpack for later at night. Akio pounced onto Soi, taking her hand with his right and then took Yoruichi's hand in his left, swinging them both together.
"Thank you Soi-chan!"
The three walked around blindly, still looking for a place to eat at, with Akio's eyes lighting up every now and then when passing toy stores. Yoruichi took note of this but remained silent, still pondering where to go until a big yellow 'M' flashed back at her in reply.
She grinned and clicked her tongue,
"Come on, let's go" she said, pulling Akio with her gently, who took Soi fon with him.
Soi immediately felt an uneasiness start in her stomach at the crowded fast-food store with people walking in and out and about. Already, some people pushed past her and she fought to keep Akio in front of her, protecting him as best she could. And taking chances, she snuck quite a few wallets and purses from pockets that were wide open and urging her to take them. Yoruichi looked back at the two every few seconds to make sure they were ok and told the 19 year old to find a table for them first and the girl nodded in reply, frowning as an elbow dug into her hip.
Akio tried to push the man away who was currently trapping him and Soi, squeezing his eyes shut angrily,
"Excuse me! Soi-chan and Akio want to get through!" he hollered,
The man spun round and apologized profusely, making the little boy feel slightly guilty and grinned sheepishly,
"Its ok mister!" he laughed, pulling his care-taker with him to a table he spotted.
"There, Soi-chan, there!" he pointed to a table for two at the corner.
Even though there weren't enough seats for them all, Soi sat down at the table anyway. And she tapped at the marble table with her chipped and somewhat dirty nails, with one glance down she looked away.
Questions of her own started forming in her head and no matter how hard she thought it over, there were no answers. Her brows knitted together in thought, and she almost forgot Akio was seated across from her until he climbed over the table to touch Soi's brows. He rubbed his small fingers over them softly to stop them from frowning and beamed when the young woman let a half-smile settle on her face.
"Soi-chan look pretty like that" he attempted to hug the older girl from his position on the other side of the table and ended up sprawled on the surface.
The goddess came back just in time to see the display and chuckled,
"Having fun there, Akio?"
"Hai!" he replied, eyes shining.
Yoruichi set the tray down and turned to the boy, taking his small hand in her own,
"Well then, let's go wash our hands first shall we?" she turned to Soi for an answer and received a nod.
It was the only response she ever got anyway.
Once the two were out of sight, Soi took the two wallets from her dirty jacket and emptied the money out into her pant pockets and did the same to the expensive looking purse which was still brand new. The money she had at hand was more than enough to keep them alive with food and water but she had to pay the cocoa skinned woman for the meal they were about to have. And because she had only ever been to McDonalds a handful of times when she was younger, she had no idea how much the food cost. But if anything, she figured 15 would be enough to cover for both her and little Akio.
With the remaining colored notes, she thought about the food she could get Akio and maybe a little surprise for him wouldn't hurt because it wasn't everyday they had this much money.
The 4 year old deserved so much more than he had now, he should have had a bright future with a family, friends, an education…But he had nothing, he had nothing but Soi fon and it wasn't fair.
It wasn't fair that his parents could just dump him out in the streets when he was barely 1 and expect someone to take him in.
It wasn't right.
A nameless, and unwanted baby left alone to die in the streets.
If it had been anyone else who stumbled upon the small bundle wrapped in blankets, she wouldn't know what would have become of Akio. It was still hard to believe that she, at a young age of 16, decided to care for the baby and feed him with money meant for herself. She had hoped that whoever left Akio there would come back for him, so fed him and bought new clothes for him, the only things she could afford to keep him alive. And the asian girl had starved for almost a week just to see the baby well, and hear its cry.
Soi put him back where she first found him 5 days later in hopes of his parents picking him up; naïve, but it did happen. And she sat in the park opposite the road and waited, waited until the first signs of rain began to fall from the sky.
And she knew; she knew no one would be coming back for Akio so ran over to the baby and held him in her arms, biting her bottom lip.
She could barely keep herself alive, and now, she would have an extra person to look after.
Shaking away those thoughts, she took him in, and sat under the trees in the park, her home. It took her the whole night to name the child, and when she did, she wrote his name in the dirt with unknown feelings.
Akio
The name Akio suited him well, for he was a bright boy. Despite never really knowing the truth about his barely there past at 4, he was happy with his Soi-chan.
Broken from her reverie as Akio jumped onto her lap, the 19 year old was once more reminded of the past of when said boy had started to crawl. The first time it happened, Akio was crawling the length of the bench they slept on, climbing over Soi's lap in the process, giggling.
Soi smiled and patted his messy hair and Akio seeing this, grinned in return before turning to the food on the table.
"Akio never see so much food before!" he said in awe, eyes roaming over the fries, to the nuggets and then to the burgers.
His blue orbs settled on a colorful looking box with pictures and mazes on the outside and tried to peek inside when a dark hand slid it into his hands.(it's a happy meal, sorry if I didn't make it clear enough)
"That's for Akio" Yoruichi said.
"Wow…" his eyes widened at the amount of food in the small box compared to what he usually ate in the park.
"Is this really for Akio?" he asked, surprised.
"All of it, and don't worry Soi-chan has her own too" the 24 year old assured him.
And at those words, doubts started filling her mind.
Soi's brows knitted together tightly, her head turning to the side to stare at the floor.
Why?
She didn't understand it, didn't understand her.
Why was she doing this?
If there was one thing she couldn't stand, then it was someone else's pity. She didn't need anyone to sympathize her, she's been fine without it ever since she was out in the streets and that wasn't about to change. She didn't want anyone to feel sorry for her because it made her feel weak and pathetic; it made her feel useless.
She didn't need someone to remind her of what she could have done and what she could have been.
With her mind full of bitter thoughts, she took a ten dollar and a five dollar note, sliding the money over to Yoruichi, eyes hard.
The dark woman looked down, face neutral before it broke out into a grin,
"Don't worry bout it, it's my treat" she pushed the money back Soi's way and the younger girl clenched her teeth.
She didn't need someone to feed her and Akio.
Although the money they had didn't come from the right reasons, it was still money that kept them alive. And the asian wasn't about to change what her whole life had been until Yoruichi stepped in.
Again, she slid the money over with more force and controlled anger bubbling inside her body.
Yoruichi, who didn't seem to get the point, and even if she did, made no indication that she understood. The 24 year old brushed it off once more and shook her head,
"I'm shouting you guys" she thought that maybe if she used different words, it would get through Soi's head.
No such luck.
Loosing whatever patience she had for the woman, she stood up rather rigidly. Her mouth dried as she parted her lips, finally swallowing the lump in her throat.
"…We," Soi never thought it would be this difficult, never really though about talking again until that moment made her snap.
She tried again, brows furrowing and nails digging into her palms.
"Don't need your pity…" Soi forced the words out, her voice so foreign even to her own ears.
Akio, who had almost dropped of Soi's lap when she stood, peered up at his guardian; shocked. He had never heard her speak before, this was the first and he didn't know what his little mind and warm heart was feeling.
Her voice was quiet, strong yet weak at the same time; a little husky.
The purple haired goddess was a little speechless on her side, never expecting to hear the 19 year old talk, let alone to her. She made to reply to the accusation when Akio cut the tension and beginning of awkwardness with his small voice.
"Soi-chan…"
Soi fon looked down at the little boy, fingers unclenching one after another, her body visibly relaxing, even if only a little.
"Soi-chan talked…" Akio's eyes were red and teary as he held onto her pants, tugging at them until Soi kneeled down in front of him.
A light choke sounded from the boy as a tear rolled down his face, he himself didn't even know why he was crying. But it was just the fact that Soi fon had spoken after so long of complete silence, it struck something in him. The 19 year old meant everything to him, absolutely everything and today, was probably one of the best days of his life.
"Soi-chan talked!" he wrapped his short arms around the young woman, face at her shoulder.
"…I'm sorry" the raven haired girl let out a strangled whisper.
Yoruichi was temporarily forgotten as the two embraced tightly, earning confused looks from people around them. The 24 year old sighed and ducked down beside the two, her chin propped in her palm, whose elbow was resting on her knee.
"Alright, so I was an insensitive ass, how bout you shout me lunch?" she offered with a raised brow.
The younger girl felt the irritation in her slowly melt away just by looking at those golden eyes that still held unknown intentions along with fondness for them both.
Nodding her head once made Yoruichi switch back to her carefree and playful mode, popping back into her seat.
"So, it was 18.75 all up" she grinned.
Soi dug the coins from her pocket and placed them in both of Akio's outstretched hands, handing him a blue and pink colored note. He then ran over to the cocoa skinned woman and showed off all his baby teeth.
"Here you go Yoru-chan!" he exclaimed.
The 19 year old would still be a little hesitant in trusting the slightly older woman, but right now, it was beginning to be ok again. Judging from Yoruichi's reaction to Soi's small outburst, she knew that they already held a place somewhere in her heart, whether it was small or large percentage didn't matter. Because they were already in there.
And maybe, maybe things were gonna be ok.
--
So that was it…hopefully you guys liked it. Please review and tell me what you thought of it, it'd be greatly appreciated. And sorry for any errors, mistakes, whatever there might be. And thanks for reading!
Cheers.