Erase

Act 72: The Box

It's been weeks after her nightmarish experience of being under Evelyn Lau's captivity for several weeks, but Mayuka's mental scars are still ripe to this day.

In a span of a few weeks, she was kidnapped by the White Lion triad, subject through inhumane amounts of torture and witnessed the death of her loving parents at the hands of Evelyn and her goons right before her very eyes.

This traumatic experience marked several changes within Mayuka's mental behavior, as Shino herself had noticed.

Not only did Mayuka lose most of her original cheerful behavior, instead acting more sad and depressed, but she  also became more cautious and skeptical about a lot of stuff that she used to have no problem with before.

All of these changes with Mayuka's attitude stem from her kidnapping and the emotional stress and trauma it caused to her.

In a span of weeks what was once a bright, bubbly and cheerful girl, has now become nothing more than a hollow, depressed shell of her former self.

Shino knew that, while it's good to have Mayuka back, she has to find a way return Mayuka back to her old, cheerful self so things are once again back to the way they used to.

Unfortunately for Shino, this task appears to be much harder than she thought it would have.

SATURDAY

-Mayuka's Bedroom 10:01 AM-

It was a slow Saturday morning. Shino was playing around with a mobile game she had recently downloaded on her smartphone, meanwhile, Mayuka was sitting down her desk with a melancholic look at her face, whilst reading a book. Specifically, a light novel, which, judging by the cover, seemed to be about incredibly handsome angels.

Mayuka had been doing nothing but read her light novel collection for days. She barely spoke to everyone besides her father Akira and Shino, and has only left her room a select few instances, particularly when Akira wants her to fetch something for him.

"Say, Mayu. What you want to do today?" Said Shino.

Mayuka did not answer, instead simply returning to reading her book.

"Mayu? Hello~?" Said Shino.

It took a few more seconds before Mayuka responded.

"I wanna... fly away." Said Mayuka.

Mayuka's response surprised Shino. It wasn't something she was expecting to come out of Mayuka's mouth

"Fly away...?" Said Shino.

"Like the angels in the sky... floating above the clouds all day long." Mayuka replied. "I wonder how it's like... to be with them..."

Eventually, everything became clear to Shino. The melancholic tone of Mayuka's voice, the sadness in her blue eyes, the significance of the words that she had just stated...

"N-Now, don't say that, Mayu..." Said Shino. "If you're gone... who's gonna be able to take care of me? Who's gonna take care of your dad?"

Mayuka did not answer, instead she began to sob. Shino simply patted Mayuka's back to comfort her.

"There, there... don't you worry, Mayu." Said Shino. "I'm sure things will get better eventually."

"... You think?" Mayuka replied, in between sobs.

"As long as you're by my side, I won't let anyone to hurt you ever again." Said Shino. "That's a promise I stated to myself, ever since me and Jun rescued you."

Mayuka felt the warmth of Shino's love for her from words alone. She then forms a slight smile on her face, whilst still in tears.

"... Th-Thank you... Shino." Said Mayuka.