𝘋𝘈𝘙𝘓𝘐𝘕𝘎.

ii. what to do

'What to do'

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He ran, and it hurt him to do so.

Sanemi felt his composure crumple, his soul damaged beyond mortal repair, and yet he didn't stop. 

He swiftly put one foot in front of the other, past the gorgeous houses he promised his little siblings they would live in one day, just give him some time. Past the soft leaves, blowing in the bland, late morning sun.

But soon, he felt weak, and he stopped to catch his breath. 

The sweat dripped off him, but that wasn't his biggest concern. He felt his chest empty out, and his all that remained was a hollow boy, the horrible sinking feeling leaving him with the need to scratch, kick and scream.

He continued down the road. That innocent girl made him want to throw up. It wasn't her fault, but he felt resentment rising in his hollow chest, filling his nothing with something.

 His mind jumped from Kanae, to her broach, to his mother, and to his siblings. His siblings! How would he tell them. Would he dump it on them fully, full on 'dead' and 'not coming back', or sweet and soft.

Mother left for a long while. In the meantime, grow big and strong while you wait for her to return.

The though made his stomach twist into a deeper knot. He felt gratitude towards their poorness, as he would be regurgitating the remains of food they didn't have.

He looked up from the dirt path, worrying for his future.

The houses soon changed. The beautiful houses, with exquisite details and expensive touches morphed into bland houses as he passed, the people gaining clothes that were no where near the smart clothes of the rich.

 The houses faded, until finally, the safe-space slum he called his home, cheap pain, cracked windows, shoddy sliding doors, and the undeniable, yet familiar sense of disgust building up, greeted him.

He stopped, train whistles and shrieks replaying in his mind, over and over as he took big strides towards his shaggy home, now housing six lonely kids.

 He finally found himself at the door, the rusted groove dirty and brown in his shaky hands.

He slid the door open, eyes prickling with tears at the sudden chill the home radiated, yet he found five other children, seeming to glow with an individual, exquisite shine of happiness and warmth from within.

"Nemi!" Sumi yelped, the first to notice him, and his other siblings clamored to greet him. Sanemi felt the whole in his heart rip wider.

"Hello, Sanemi." Genya greeted,  Shoko sleeping softly in his arms.

"Where's mom?" he asked, seeing no one flank Sanemi as he slid the door closed. Sanemi looked at him, softly shaking his head, and Genya cocked his head, confused. 

"Listen," he said to his siblings, slightly inaudible over the giggles. "Mom's not with us anymore," he said. 

Genya looked up from his younger sibling, alarmed by the soft-toned words that shouldn't have been spoken today.

His siblings noticed it, and they looked at him, confused. They didn't know or understand what he said, but all they knew was that their mother had vanished.

"Genya," Sanemi said, his tears controlled, calm, and now, gone, "follow me, please."

Genya kept his composure, even as the entered the thin-walled room, and sat down opposite of each other.