Beneath The Surface

Act 18 - Tell my mom to buzz off or I'll make her.

Normal text
Thinking
Onomatopoeia

Akali's POV
My eyes sweeped the packed marketplace, trying to catch a glimpse of the black figure. It has been following us ever since we're in the fancy mall. And no amount of twists and turns we made could get him to fuck off. The feeling of being watched from the shadows never faded. The thought of prancing around in the eyes of an unknown assailant didn't sit well with me. Judging from how well that bastard could diminish his presence, it meant that he at least knew some concealment techniques. And I'm pretty sure I know who this mofo was. There's only one kind of footwork that could evade my radar.

"Hey."

A fair hand waving in front of my face got me to snap my attention back to Asta.

Her brows furrowed with obvious displeasure as she impatiently pointed at my hand, "You want that cotton candy or no?"

I lowered my head. A stick of pink cotton fluff was still firmly grasped in my hand.

"Uh, yeah."

She turned back to the stall owner and handed him a bunch of metal scraps. But I could still keenly sense that the girl's anger hadn't dissipated yet. She was so soft and compliant when she's a kid. Who knew she'd grow up into a temperamental woman that always frowned 24/7. Besides the perfunctory quirk of her lips, I've never seen Asta smile genuinely before. Even the dead expressionless face she had when she's young was a lot more real and expressive than this duplicitous girl. All the emotions she showed were forced, filled with calculations. Which I hated. I want my cute airhead back. Not this unpredictable moody brat. I was about to say something to ease the tension when Asta just walked off without a word. I tacitly decided to zip up and follow quietly. The warm afternoon was too good to be blasted with a faceful of stinging cold winter. So I'ma just eat this cotton ball and let the kid cool off on her own before placating her odd temper.

While zipping through the street, we happened to bypass a stall selling trinkets. My footsteps slowed down. I remembered that Asta didn't wear the bangle I gave her years ago. She must have lost it. So why not give her a new one? I zeroed in on a golden coloured bangle. It's kinda similar in design, minus the missing flower piece. The soft rattle on my wrist made me glance at the swaying cyan flower before focusing on Asta's empty wrist. It's way too plain. She looked better with an accessory on it.

"Luna-wannabe," I called.

"What?!" a disgruntled growl returned.

I caught a glimpse of Asta's gloomy face. Her jaws were tense from clenching them. The ashen-grey expression along with the dark shimmer in her eyes seemed to hint that she's about to lose her marbles any minute now.

?

I gestured to the gold bangle on the table, "You want a bangle?"

Her line of sight followed my hand. Suddenly, the girl screeched to a halt in the middle of the rushing pack of people. Her initial dark face paled in an instant. It's as if all blood had been drained from her colourless lips as her murderous eyes glazed over. An aggrieved face greeted me.

Wait—Is she crying???

Alarms set off in my mind as panic creeped up my consciousness. It seemed like I could never escape the damn fate of making pretty girls cry. Last time it was Kaisa. And now it's Asta... I'm an absolute scumbag.

I approached the watery-eyed girl, trying to soothe her, "Hey. You okay?"

My hand extended awkwardly to her clenched fists that looked like they were about to bleed from the force. The thought of silly Asta hurting herself because of her violent emotions was enough to trigger an anxiety attack. She had always been like this, not taking care of herself. If you think I'm a dumb kid who keeps picking fights I can't win, this girl really took the cake in terms of foolishness. She's the only idiot who would poke a damn beehive just for some sticky yellow substance!