Yor Briar, the Thorn Princess, had taken the next few days off of work to pursue this new mission the Shopkeeper had assigned her. After sending Anya off to Eden college for the day and wishing her fake husband a great day at work, she put on her new curse-revealing glasses and waited.
It didn't take long before the bird-curse became visible, circling the sky above her as if it had been waiting for her this whole time. She supposed it could have been up there for hours, just waiting to finally take notice of its very existence. Yor tried not to dwell on that fact for too long, only following the bird as it guided her to the city, towards her mission.
When she arrived, she honestly thought that this boy was dead. The boy who showed her an entirely different world hidden in her won was actually fast asleep in this alleyway. It would have been heartwarming if she wasn't immediately concerned about the number of diseases that could be crawling into his system. The assassin kneeled down, placing a hand on the boy's face. Megumi jumped awake, his eyes shooting open and his hands scrambling together. Without thinking, Yor grabbed Megumi's hands to stop whatever he was reaching for.
"What are you-?!" the boy started in protest.
"You need to go home, Fushiguro Megumi," Yor said calmly. Megumi tugged at his hands, but Yor held firm. She raised an eyebrow at him, something that Yuri had always dubbed as her "No Arguments Face". The kid looked at her for a moment before a look of utter disappointment and exhaustion washed over him. He looked more tired than she had ever seen a teenager his age look, like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. It tugged on her heart. No kid his age should be feeling like this. Yor sighed and stood up, pulling Megumi up with her.
"Come on, kiddo." She said, tugging him along. She was expecting an argument or at least a little bit of a fight. Instead, the spiky-haired teenager stumbled along beside her in a way that almost reminded her of how her brother used to act. It hurt her heart to imagine this kid in a similar situation that she had been in at his age. No one should have to go through what she did.
It was a short and brisk walk back to her apartment. Now that Loid had gone to work and Anya was off to school, the only one to keep the apartment warm was their large white dog Bond. He perked up when they stepped through the door, eyeing Megumi suspiciously. His ears perked up for a moment before he lazily sauntered over to Megumi and rubbed against his leg. The kid pet him, scratching behind his ears and rubbing under his chin.
"Do you have any dogs back at home, Fushiguro?" Yor asked, sliding to the side to allow the boy to step further inside. The boy just nodded, shuffling over to the couch.
"I'm sure your parents are taking good care of them while you're away. Is that why you weren't sleeping?" Yor asked, prying ever so slightly. She needed to figure out what his situation was. And what about any other kids he's working with? That kid with pink hair with the personality problem, did he have anyone waiting for him when he got home, or was it all on the shoulders of this one grumpy teenager?
"That's not why. Just wake me up in an hour," Megumi huffed, crawling onto the couch. He then froze and looked over at Yor. "Please. Ma'am."
Yor smiled.
"Of course. Get some rest," Yor said softly.
Yor waited a short while for the kid to go to sleep. He needed rest and she had a mission to accomplish. She quietly scratched out two notes; one for Fushiguro and one for her husband. To Fushiguro, she apologized for not waking him up but promised she would take care of this so he would not have to. To Loid, she explained that she found this orphan boy on the street and needed a bit of help from them.
