A Hero I Look Up To

What Do I Do?

The sun has nearly set and the park has become much quieter. Tobio has reunited with Chris after a year, but Tobio remembered another time that he had with his parents—the moment he was told to block Chris' contacts. Of course, Tobio didn't tell Chris about it because he was worried, but Chris suddenly changed the mood.

"Is your parents... the reason why I was blocked from your contacts?" Chris asked Tobio with a serious tone.

Tobio didn't know how to answer, but he also didn't want to answer the question. He felt scared to answer, because one wrong word—then everything would be over.

"Yes..." Tobio said with a broken voice. "When I tried to tell them 'no,' they slapped me... and said that they would do it if I didn't."

Chris felt dismayed. He didn't think Tobio would be abused—neglected by his parents. Chris started to realize that Tobio was being neglected and he avoided the signs of help coming from Tobio. Chris caught his breath before he was able to go into a full on panic attack.

"I didn't know... you were going through so much while I was gone..." Chris said with regret. "How did I not notice this..."

"It's not your fault...!" Tobio yelled, sitting up from Chris' lap. "It was my fault for not noticing from the start!!"

"What do you mean?" Chris asked.

"I..." Tobio took a deep breath, ready to tell everything that he learnt from Loid. "When I first started middle school, I reunited with Loid. There... I learnt about neglect through him... and when I found out... I cried... I cried so much, and it started to hurt when I found out the truth."

From there, Tobio started crying and looked down at his lap, recalling the past. "I'm scared, Chris... if something happens to me... I-I wouldn't know what to do!! I don't want to be neglected at all, Chris! I want to run... but I can't!! They'll find me if I try to run away!!"

Chris didn't know what to say. He went silent, looking away from Tobio with regrets inside his mind. He felt like he wanted to do something to help Tobio, but he couldn't. He knew what his parents would do if he was seen with Tobio, but if would be over for the two of them if Tobio's parents got caught. Tobio decided to say something to lighten up the mood for a bit.

"M-Maybe we can go to your workplace... and we can talk about it! What should I do... or what I should start with!" Tobio exclaimed, grabbing Chris' hand. "Come on Chris let's go!"

However, as Tobio tried to drag Chris, he didn't move. He looked down and let go of Tobio's hand. He stood still as if it's the end of the world. Tobio started to notice something was wrong with Chris, so he walked up to him and looked at him with fear.

"Chris... why aren't you moving?" Tobio shakes his hand to try to get him to move. "Let's go to Red Lotus Cafe and talk about this!!"

"Tobio, I..." Chris wanted to say something, but it got to Tobio's surprise that what he was about to say wasn't something he wanted to hear. Chris turned his head away from Tobio, looking at the ground, saying one sentence that he had to say to Tobio, which got him raising his eyes in fear and denial.

"I'm no longer working... at Red Lotus Cafe..." Chris said with a broken voice. "The moment I stopped babysitting you... I quit my job."

Tobio took a step back, trying to process what was going on. He held on to his head, hoping it was all a dream... but it wasn't a dream at all. Chris—really quit his job—for real.

"Why... why did you quit!?" Tobio asked, pulling Chris' shoulders towards him. "How come I didn't know!?"

"I had no reason to cook for anyone after I was dismissed," Chris replied.