Lost Between The Tracks

3

Hey Hiro-kun? You looked hesitant and worried... Do you have a problem, friend?

Hiroto was startled by the sudden voice, and then he looked at the other ghost and forced himself to smile lightly. He didn't want to let anyone know just how much he was hurting, so he didn't want to act upset. But he could also tell that Horu was concerned by his mood, or maybe it was just his imagination (it wasn't lol), so he decided to change the subject. "Umm..."

He paused for a moment, thinking of what to say.

"Do you know if there is a book that has information about ghosts and the afterlife?" Horu shooked his head as he gave Hiroto the child and the Queen's sword. "No, but I do have the Queen's old sword and the kid..."

"Thank you very much..." He said, taking the little girl in his arms. Hiroto was a bit nervous at first, but once he realized that she was comfortable in his care, his heart melted. "This kid's parents were slained by the Queen, so she became an orphan for years." Horu explained briefly. A sad story... this world has been so cruel to this poor child. Hiroto couldn't imagine being in her place. The thought made his heart break for her. He asked something, as he looked at the small child in his arms.

"So... she'll be with me now?"

Yeah." Horu nodded. "I need to gather some wood for the kid, the weather is cold." The streets of Ai began to fill with snow, thanks to the cold weather. If it kept up like this, the next thing they know, it would be snowing. They better have a place where they could shelter from the elements if that happened...

"We should hurry then." He said, quickly grabbing extra blankets and carrying them over his shoulder before going out the door with the child in his arms. "Lock the church." Hiroto pushed the large door shut.

"This... Is h-heavy...." Horu was struggling because of reasons. First, he's pretty short, and second, the door's pretty large for his strength.The door was indeed heavy, and while Hiroto had the strength to handle it, it wasn't easy for someone his size. He grunted as he pushed and pushed against the door with all his might, his brows furrowing as he tried to make it close completely. "Grr..." After a lot of effort, he managed to close the door, locking it and securing it shut. He was out of breath from the effort, but nonetheless, he exhaled in relief. Phew... at least they're safe in here.

He placed the Ai's book of history in his drawer. Words began to sink in Hiroto's head. He looked at Goddess Ai's star pupils, it was red, and yet, the book wrote that red star pupils are the weakest, despite of it is the original color the goddess had in her pupils. As he flipped through the pages, he noticed it.

"Hmm... so these are 'star pupils', huh? I've never heard of a ghost with something like that in their eyes..."

He said, looking at the little girl in his arms. Her star pupils were glowing red in the light of the lamp, and she seemed like an angel in the middle of that darkness. He didn't know why, but... those eyes... they made his heart flutter for some reason. Perhaps it was simply because they were so beautiful to him.

The book may be altered. He had saw people with dark star pupils, and they were kind. Hiroto did a reasearch on the book. After doing some study on the book, he found out that it seemed to have been tampered with. It seemed that someone had been editing the contents and messing with the text to make certain things seem a certain way that fit their own purpose. As he read about that, he felt a wave of disgust and anger rise within him.

Who could be so greedy and self-serving as to do something like that?

He closed the book, feeling sickened and disappointed by what he had just read.

Horu came back with a shocking news.

"The Church of Sakiko got the Queen's curse. We need to be careful." Horu showed the effects of curse, the Sakiko clan were turned into cats.

WORD COUNT: 726 WORDS.