The Golden Pear [YA - Featured]

♫~Notes 72~♫

 Her heartbeats ticked away speeding seconds, but nothing happened. She let out a deep exhale.

'Don't be an idiot. Who would dare to lay a hand on you?'

As if the world didn't understand, she didn't need an answer, Freya's face flashed inside of her mind. The cheek she hit burned. She covered the area, continuing forward.

The same sound alerted her, but this time she wasn't startled. "Whose there?" she shouted, looking around. The school building towered above the trees, so she knew which way to go. Weighing her options, she ventured deeper, searching for the source of that sound.

Anything was better than staying with those idiots in the school.

"Was it my imagination?" She put her hands akimbo, standing near the old gazebo featured in Garden Parade. Crossing her hands, she walked around it.

Age and neglect took its price on the wooden building. Slightly kicking into the base, she took down a bit of the plaster, but the building remained standing.

The railing missed a lot of paint, and it actually needed to be redone completely. The roof had three holes and plants covered them and grew inside out.

"Does Mother really wants to fix this place?" She played with a flock of her hair. This was the first time students could directly change anything without submitting it to the Council first. "Whatever. Not like I cared for my design."

Stepping away, the sound appeared right behind her. Freezing, she turned around using her will instead of body. Her eyes searched for the source, going lower and lower until she noticed a big hole in the base.

Her stomach squeezed, and her lungs refused to inhale as she met the gaze of a fluffy creature. Then her stomach pumped the acidic liquid up to her throat. She stumbled a few steps, puking under a bush.

Her eyes watered, and her body shook as if the temperature dived below the freezing point. Bloody memories danced around her.

Her father was kneeling and crying, pressing small Ueno against his chest. Young Ueno couldn't close her eyes even if she wanted, petrified from the fear.

Her mother's high heels stomped a small body, splashing blood and twisted inners over the carpet over and over again as she raged. Then her mother's rage turned towards both of them.

Ueno coughed the last gulp of digested remains of her breakfast. Wiping her mouth, she looked over her shoulder.

In the hole, laid a cat with a big belly. Its ears turned toward Ueno, and her fur slightly bristled. Ueno's dark eyes concentrated on the belly as something moved under it.

"Pregnant cat?" She got up, needing three tries to not fall back. "It's hiding here?" She stepped forward, and the cat bristled, hissing.

Ueno studied the cat's fur. Stripes of black and brown raced across the white background as if she looked at a tiny tiger. Her gaze broke the sound of a machine cutting grass.

"No! Gardeners!"

Shiver danced across her back. The bloody image revealed a crushed face of a kitten.

"She'll kill you!" She panicked, snapping her head left and right. "What to do—!"

The cat got up, slowly moving away, its steps wobbly.

"Hey!" Ueno called the cat, kneeling. "Come here! Quickly!"

The cat hissed.

"Less hissing, more coming!" Ueno crawled closer, the cat taking a step back, baring her teeth. Before the cat could sink her teeth into Ueno's hand, the girl scratched her behind the ear.

The cat calmed down even purring for a short while.

"You like this, huh? Figures." Her fingers slid down, and the cat rubbed her head. "Fine, enough cuddling. We need to move." Ueno spread her skirt, patting it.

The cat had to be smart, as it came closer, laying there. Lifting the cloth, Ueno stood up, taking the cat to a safer place.

'But there?' Theater got reviewed, behind the gym was no good either, and anything around the school was bustling with students. She headed deeper than before, realizing she had never visited these parts.

"What's there?" Spotting a shady wooden hut, she headed that way. Webs and plants covered its walls. The only window missed half of its glass, and the rest was so dirty it could hardly let in any sunlight.

With a tip of her foot, she touched the door. It remained shut until she pressed harder, squeaking hinges made her wish to have cat's ears so she could fold them. Inside, spiders crawled the dark walls. The floor disappeared under the dust and weed growing through the gaps.

Everything in Ueno screamed to get away from here, but the cat got restless, so she put it down. The cat meowed, walking to the wall and laid under it.

"Well, this should be a safe hideout. Given how it looks here, the gardeners didn't visit this place for years."

She watched the cat groom her fur by licking, spotting cuts and messy spots over its body.

"Did somebody toss you away? You have pretty nice fur."

As if the cat knew Ueno talked to her, it turned its head her way. They dived into each others' eyes, finding a strange sense of comfort. Clenching her teeth, Ueno stood up. "Wait here, okay?"