Chasing You

Prologue

There isn't much about his childhood that he remembers. He just sees the vivid night sky and a face smiling down at him. A child, about the same age as him, pushing him to the ground. Behind his head rests the constellations. His smile quickly turns into a frown, a strained expression, and he begins to sob. 

"I don't want to do this," he says, but does it anyway. "There is no other way to save you." 

The apology is quickly forgotten by the intense pain on his skin. Piece by piece turned to ash. His arm. His legs. His neck. His face. Nothing is safe. He screams. This isn't anything like the abuse he felt from his father. This isn't a repeated kick to the stomach. This is a different type of agony. He passed out. Everything turned to black. He can't remember a single thing after that. 

When he woke up, he was in an orphanage. His father was taken into custody for child abuse. His mother was still in the hospital and was unfit to handle taking care of him. He was on his own. Now and forever. No family. No siblings. Just himself, these other rejects, and a couple of disgusting scars to live with. 

"I'm going to find him," he curled his hand into a fist and promised himself. "I'm going to find him no matter what." He sat on the edge of the window and stared up at the sky. The sky that reminded him of all those times they'd visited each other in the park, sneaking away like bandits, to chatter about constellations and astrology signs. 

"Going to find who?" Himiko Toga, the kid that slept on his upper bunk, hung her head off the side and questioned her new roommate. She enjoyed having messy side buns on the sides of her head. She called them 'pigbuns' because they weren't pigtails and they weren't buns. All of the others called her Princess Leia. She didn't understand the reference and never bothered looking it up. She only insisted on them being called 'pigbuns.'

"Tomu."

"Tomu?" she frowned. "Who is that?" 

"He is the one that gave me all of these injuries," he gestured to himself. 

She scrunched her face up and cringed. "What would you want to say to a guy like that?" she shook her head, clearly disappointed in his reasoning. Didn't he escape an abuser? Why did he want to chase after another one?

He frowned. He hadn't thought that far ahead. He just knew that he needed to find him. "I'll bridge that cross when I come to it." 

"I think you mean: 'I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.'" she corrected. 

"I know what I said," he sighed, returning his gaze to the stars. He needed to find him. That's all. He just needed to find him. Everything else would pan out after that single event took place.