Y/N ran down the street, almost tripping over her untied shoelaces. Rushing into the playground, she saw the boy waiting at the end of the slide. "Inside!" She hushed, "get inside!" "What?" Y/N grabbed his arm as she tumbled over him, pulling them both inside the slide.
"What are we doing?" He grumbled, trying to push her away, "get off!" "Be quiet!" She pleaded, holding onto his arm like her life depended on it. "Y/N!" A shout came from the streets. Gasping, Y/N pulled the boy up closer to her chest and placed her hand atop his nose and mouth to keep him quiet. "Shhh," she whispered, "be quiet."
"Y/N!" The male voice from the streets was strong and begging as they called out her name. She couldn't believe he had caught her climbing out her window. She should've known that he'd follow her so quickly. "Y/N!" The boy squirmed below her, his shoes squeaking against the tube as he tried to shake free from her grasp. With her palm tightly clamped on his face, he couldn't breathe and it felt like everything he had faced was crawling back.
That night, with the heat of the flames lining the street, those large, slimy hands attached to him, suffocating his soul. His hands reached up to her skin and pierced at her, clawing to get away. "Stop it," she mumbled into his ear, but his sweaty fingers continued to scratch at her. She listened closely until the heavy footsteps of her shadow walked past the playground.
Slowly releasing her hand, he took a large breath of air, his chest rising quickly as he finally was able to get out of his nightmare. He wanted to shout and scream and be angry for what she did, but he couldn't when she shoved her head in his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whimpered, "I'm so, so sorry." With her hand still awkwardly wrapped around his chest, she cried. He listened, deciding not to push her away as he knew it would only endure her tears.
"Please..." Y/N insisted, "Please forget the name you heard." Her voice cracked as it begged, a sound he had liked hearing from others, but from her, it sounded so sad. And it hurt. Crying into his shoulder, Y/N felt him turn around as she saw his red eyes as they looked at her without pity, as he was too good for pity. Growing his smile, he gave a devious chuckle, "I didn't hear anything," which made her begin to laugh.
Wiping her face of tears, she leaped at him, wrapping her arms fully around his shoulders. "I'm so sorry," she apologized, "I didn't mean to keep you from breathing." "Okay...okay..." he rolled his eyes, grabbing her shoulders and trying to shove her away, "I prefer a sarcastic crybaby over a touchy one." Y/N crawled around him and pulled him down. "C-come on," she gently smiled, "Let's get out of here! I can't be here when he comes back!"
He let her drag him along, listening to her cheerful humming as they hurried along the street. Y/N stepped on all the cracks in the road as they traveled and he held back his smile as he didn't want her to get too excited about his willingness to join her. "Lookie here!" She cheered, pulling him off the road and towards a couple of vending machines, the bright lights from inside them polluting the air with colors. "What of them?" "I love this place! It's spooky!" "Spooky?" He watched as Y/N revealed a small area behind the vending machines, filled with more vending machines.
"Follow me," she requested, holding out her arm for him to grab. He proceeded inside the space where it was rather dark from lack of light shining in from the street. The space was like a maze, with vending machines old and new, placed haphazardly around. She slipped through the cracks between them, giggling in the darkness while he looked around profoundly at the new place he was brought to.
Looking at the machines, behind the glass were different products, ranging from food, to toys, to mystery boxes. "Why are we-" He was alone. "Crybaby?" slowly, he cautiously stepped around. He checked behind each one, but she had disappeared from him. "Hello?" It was silent in the area and he could hear his breathing as it mixed with the rumbles from the apartments upstairs. He didn't think she was this good at hiding. Actually, her skill of hiding was concerning. The only places he found her blending into with ease were places like this; dark, seemingly forgotten, and filled with empty voices of those who once occupied them. She crawled along the cracks of these hideaways, like the spiders that lived in the dusty corners.
Perhaps that's why she flocked to a place so lifeless to rid of all her bottled up feelings. She acted like she was abandoned as if she wasn't capable of living among others. She walked around without a care in the world, like she had no meaning. She cried because she convinced herself that. She cried because she was trapped in a lie, unable to get out of it because of the world around her.
And he contributed to that.
Walking up to a vending machine with candy inside, who knows how old and expired, he saw his face in the dim plastic, staring back. He didn't know why she was selfless. He didn't know why she cared for people like him. He didn't know why she tried so hard. Y/N was born to be pushed around. She was born to be disliked. She was born to cry.
And she knew it. They both did. Because there were so many people like him. Too many.
Punching at the thick plastic, he left a large dent as a snack dropped towards the bottom. "Dude." Popping up from behind it, Y/N began to giggle at the fist-shaped crack before bending down to grab what had fallen. "I should've brought you here earlier. I've never been strong enough to shake something outta here."
He wished he was strong enough to get the truth out of her; someone who was adamant that she was unworthy of love, unworthy of respect, and unworthy of meaning. Maybe she was right to assume those things of herself, for he was having a hard time understanding them too.
Taking the candy bar from her hands, he split it into two. "Then bring me here more often. It's kinda fun." Y/N wasn't crying tonight. And that was enough for him.
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The Vending Machine Corner is a real place in Japan btw. It's really cool.
