Cold Blooded

Ready

 The next morning, Ajax woke to see Chongyun curled up on the floor with a coat bundled in his arms. Saya's coat. Where was Saya?!

Ajax jumped up and ran for the mouth of the cavern. He stumbled into the snow and almost tripped over himself. He crashed against a boulder and then finally managed to stand up straight.

"Saya!?" Ajax yelled out to the snowy landscape. "Saya! Where are you-"

"Shhh," Saya raised a finger to her lips and quieted Ajax. She offered a small smile and hopped down from her perch atop the boulder that Ajax had just crashed into. "Are you okay? You ran out of there like your legs were made of jelly."

"Ye- yeah," Ajax ran his hand through his hair and over his face. "Yeah, I'm fine. This whole place just makes me feel... never mind. The real question is, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Saya sighed and grabbed her arm. "I'm doing better now. He- he would've wanted us to keep going, so that's the only thing we can do."

"Yeah..." Ajax looked down at his feet. He knew this was all his fault. He had hurt them over and over, and yet... Somehow Saya had forgiven him. He definitely didn't deserve it. Looking up again, he repeated the word with more conviction this time. "Yeah."

"Why were you so against taking this path again?" Saya looked towards the journey before them. "I mean it's a tiny bit of a hike, but not too bad. Is there something I should know?"

Ajax slid one of fingers along the smooth surface of his vision before letting out a small sigh. She deserved to know after all the secrets and lies. "Well," Ajax started slowly. "A long time ago, when I was a lot younger-"

"Miss Saya? Mr. Ajax?" Chongyun walked out from the cavern, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He looked even younger now then when they had first set out. It was genuinely disturbing. The little boy continued. "Is it time to get going again?"

"Um," Saya looked from Ajax to Chongyun to the road ahead. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Do you want to walk with me today? I think it's Mr. Ajax's turn with the backpacks."

"Okay," Chongyun smiled as he hurried back into the cavern to collect their supplies.

"Ajax?" Saya looked back at the man before her. Ajax felt almost uncomfortable beneath her strong gaze. He knew he didn't deserve the tenderness there.

"Y- yeah?"

"Do you have something to tell me?" Saya reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "Even if you don't... I- I trust you."

"Thank you, Saya," Ajax tightened his fists. He should tell her. She deserved to know. But at the same time... It might not even end up being important. He didn't want to have to burden her with a story that wouldn't even matter. Yeah, that was it. She already had so much weight on her shoulders. He shouldn't put anything else there. "I- Well, no. I- I don't think this is a great time or place to tell useless stories."

"Okay..." Saya looked almost disappointed but didn't push. The two went into the cavern without another word and got ready to leave.

"Mr. Ajax?" Chongyun tugged on the edge of the man in question's jacket with his small hands. "Why did you say 'I'm sorry' when I first met you and Miss Saya?"

"I- Well, I-" Ajax fumbled for words as he looked into the boy's innocent eyes. "I did some things that... Well, they really hurt you and Miss Saya, and I- I'm really, really sorry. I'm so sorry, Chongyun. You deserved so much better from life."

"Hm," Chongyun let his hand fall from Ajax's coat. "Well, it is not nice to hurt other people, but I think that you are sorry. If you are really sorry for something, you don't do it ever, ever again. Just don't hurt Miss Saya anymore. She seems really hurt even though she smiles. It's very confusing."

"You bet it is," Ajax chuckled, feeling a bit better from Chongyun's words. "Girls are really confusing."

"Hehe. They look like they are." Chongyun turned towards Saya then looked up at Ajax. "Ready?"

Ajax took a slow breath and threw the bags onto his back. He hadn't been here again since the day he had left it. It was... scary. Petrifying really. He didn't know if he really was ready, but he had always been a good liar.

"Ready."

chapter art posted by @nhii1704