Marionette

Cosmos, Chapter Forty One - Kiken kuiki [危険区域]

The waking world was that of mutual disorientation and confusion for Amaya, who by the waking hours of Saturday morning had failed to get any decent sleep no matter how much she had honestly tried.

Many times, if she so much as twitched in her sleep, she would wind up jolting right awake as pain shot through her body. And no sleeping position at all graced her with reprieve from her aching body. It was thanks to the pain in the ass who'd gotten rid of the couch that she couldn't even utilize it to try and get some sleep sitting upright.

It was somewhere in the early hours of the morning that Amaya had resorted to sleeping on one of the dining chairs half-slumped over the table itself. And when she'd awoken, she found herself still there, with a pillow mysteriously tucked beneath her head, a blanket draped over her shoulders and that obscenely large jar of treatment Daniel had made for her on the table right in front of her face.

The house was once more or less silent as she managed to straighten up in the chair, with no sign of any siblings within immediate vicinity of her. The only sounds that echoed were the sounds of her own breathing, and the faint, far-off mewling of two kittens, whom had been returned some time last night.

Her gaze narrowed upon the jar in front of her face as she blinked sleepily. She had no doubt in her mind that an arrogant jerk had left it there specifically as a message. And with a pained groan, she carefully dragged herself to her feet and left to do as she was obviously expected.

Her gaze didn't fail to shift to the empty square of floor where the couch used to be, wondering just where it was that Karma was sleeping since he got rid of it?

He was too lazy to make the trek half-way across the city when he felt he didn't have to.

The rather noticeable silence that engulfed the house remained fixed upon her thoughts, even many minutes later when she'd finished painstakingly applying the treatment Daniel had made for her and managed a glimpse of the clock on her way back.

'Okay, there's no way they've all slept in after eleven...' Amaya muttered as she trudged up the stairs.

And while proven right for the most part, Amaya couldn't help but stare blankly at the empty rooms one by one.

No Reiko, no Yuta...

'G-good morning, Big Sister Meow...' Samuel mumbled sleepily as Amaya opened the door to his room.

Oh, so Samuel was here.

She cast a rather bemused look towards the blonde boy, who was curled up beneath a tent built from two dining chairs and the blankets from his bed.

'Where are your siblings?' Amaya questioned seriously.

Without a word, Samuel lifted his arm to point directly at Amaya.

'Ha ha, very funny. You know I meant Yuta and Reiko.' Amaya muttered as she shook her head. 'And anyway, it's rude to point at people.'

Samuel didn't hesitate to lower his arm.

'Big Brother Glasses and Big Sister Plushy left ages ago.' He mumbled as he crawled out from beneath his makeshift tent.

'And where'd they go?'

'With Mister Bell Pepper.'

A scowl was quick to spread across Amaya's face.

'Oh of course that jerk has something to do with it...' Amaya cursed as she managed to lift an arm to rub her hand over her face. 'Did they say how long they were going to be gone?'