(Ace Katsuro)
I couldn’t have left her there. Despite how much I hated her, I just couldn’t. She was barely breathing. If I didn’t do anything. She would’ve died. I can’t take that blame. But seriously, what was wrong with her? Why did she have to go out and- I let out an annoyed sigh. I had been stirring grass mush over a fire for about ten minutes. I’ve added some other plants for flavour, but it still looked unappetizing. Not my problem. I carried the bowl into the shed next to Mira. Her bag was tossed aside. Cautiously, I rummaged through it to see if there’s anything else that could help her. That’s when I found a small sized bottle labelled: Medicine.
Why didn’t she use this?! I thought in anger. I poured it into the mushy soup. I sighed again, somewhat regretting my previous actions. Her mask was off so I gently used my fingers to part her lips. From there, I poured some of the soup into her mouth and closed her lips. I left the bowl aside before climbing back to the roof. No one needs to know about this. She’s going to be fine.At least, that’s what I hope. Even though I hate her so much. I stared at my bandaged hands, then looked back at the sky.
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We met up together that morning. Vera was babbling about whether or not we should be able to get through the city easier with the additional hideout. On the other hand, I could see Mira giving me looks from the corner of my eye. I didn’t bother to look back.
“Is there one outside the forest?” Anita asked. “Like, nearby?”
“About a fifteen minute walk from the entrance of the forest.” Mira said.
“Then instead we can go to that one?” Vera suggested. “And see if we can do anything about that?”
Mira shrugged. “Let’s do that then.”
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When we arrived, something was blocking the entrance.
“Caution tape?” Vera asked.
I rolled my eyes. “Great. Now we’re stuck here.”
“We can’t rip it right?” Vera asked. “It would be bad if people noticed.”
Anita scratched her head. “Okay, so now what?”
“We have to go the longer way,” Mira answered. “Which means we need to make more than one hideout to keep us safe from danger.”
“I wonder what the caution tape is for,” Anita started. “Do they know we’re here?”
“If they did, we’d be captured by now.” I told her.
“Then it must be something else,” Mira said. “So let’s be careful.”
Vera shivered. “The word on its own is quite scary.”
“Let’s not waste anymore time.” I said. There better not be any more random cliffs.
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We walked deeper until we found a larger pond and taller grass. There were also more trees. Is there even an exit at this point? I was too bothered to even worry about that.
Vera walked toward us with an abundance of branches in his arms. “Let’s teach you how we made the last hideout. It will be fun.”
Vera explained that the thicker pieces of wood go at the bottom. We basically have to make a cube and a roof, replicating a shed. Then Vera would strongly tie the pieces together with his hair and tree sap.
I was grabbing branches for the walls of it. Mira followed. I was sticking them on accordingly, when Mira mumbled, “Thanks.”
I froze for a second. That comment alone caught me off guard. It was the last thing anyone would say to me. However it didn’t suddenly make me all cheerful. “For what?” I asked flatly.
“It was you, right?” She asked. “The one who made that soup, and used that medicine. Because you were the only other person out there last night.” She applied tree sap to the branches before sticking them together.
“I can’t believe you didn’t bother using it,” I snapped, not looking at her. “Were you trying to make a scene?”
“N-No, I just thought it wasn’t necessary. I didn’t think it was going to be serious, but…”
I turned to her just to roll my eyes and leave to get more branches.
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The group decided to take a break after creating a wall for the shed.
“Do you think we’ll ever get out of here?” Vera asked with a worried tone.
“Eventually,” Mira replied. “We just need to keep moving in the same direction.”
I didn’t feel like talking so I decided to obtain herbs and plants to eat. There were no animals in sight. This was a strange forest. As I was picking, something sharp pricked my finger. I winced for only an instant. My finger was dripping with blood. Deep shade of red. Deeper than others. Because I wasn’t normal. I hated being reminded of that, so I wiped it away and continued picking.
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After I cooked the herbs over the fire, the others joined. I was trying to get used to the taste. I forced myself to swallow the rest of the gooeyness while Mira explained about the city itself.
“There are sewers to travel by that lead to my next hideout.” She said.
“You travel through sewers?” Anita asked, before gagging.
Mira nodded her head knowingly. “I know, that would be the last place to go. But it’s hard to get through the city alone. Without a disguise that is.”
“There are a bunch of clothing shops,” Vera said. “There’s even a mall. People get so crowded they’re unaware of the troubles that could happen.”
“The Grand Mall, you mean?” Mira asked. “Seems kind of good that it’s crowded, people won’t really notice troublemakers like us. If we can somehow get there, that would be great.”
“It’s in Diamond street though,” Anita said with pouting lips. “Most busiest street ever. And with the worst people. You’d get caught instantly.”
Mira let out a sad sigh.
I didn’t want to listen anymore, so I left mid-conversation to continue with the hideout. All that was left was the roof.
“Ace, do you need-”
“Don’t help me.” I fired, cutting Vera off. I felt like doing something alone anyway. I kind of regret making that deal with them, but if I hadn’t, I’d be screwed. At least, I would be alone for this bit.
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I sat on the roof that night. The caution tape image popped in my mind. What was it for? Going deeper into this forest is risky. Is every other entrance blocked then since there’s something wrong with this place? I bit my thumbnail. It better not have something to do with me.
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