CH38 - Partners in crime

[Lyon's POV]

The morning sun's light shone through the thick gray curtains of the living room windows, illuminating the interior of the house which was in front of me as I watched Amaya stare at all of the dolls left scattered on the desk. I had spent a minute or two scraping off every single piece of wax I could manage before placing the box atop its surface and leaving it there before sitting down on the couch as I watched Amaya open it.

My attention was divided between my machete, the sheath, and the child though I made sure I wouldn't end up being nicked by my weapon, that'd be embarrassing. I've been keeping my machete in my bag but it was about time I got to taking care of my last weapon, I'd already done so with my revolver and rifle after all. I place the blade back into its sheath a few seconds later with a satisfied hum before turning my attention back to Amaya.

She had been watching me on the floor motionless the entire time though she appeared to have already pulled out whatever toy seemed interesting to her, either that or she was just randomly picking out ones from the multitude of toys that were stored inside. I just watched as she picked one up and played with one of their arms and rotated them to an angle that would've caused a grown man to cry had it been done to them.

She does this action a few more times before leaving it on the table's surface, turning her gaze to my watching figure which is where our current situation was. Our situation remained seemingly the same for who knows how long but it thankfully ended after my staring game partner decided to start the conversation herself.

"How did he... how did he die?" She asked with a shaky but neutral voice, placing her hands atop her lap which meant I couldn't see it from where I sat anymore though her unsteady breath and shaky shoulders showed just how anxious she truly felt. "Please tell me he died without feeling too much pain..."

"... I'm sorry but no, he died with a painful but quick death." I answered, causing her to release more tears that slowly dripped down her reddening cheeks before she placed her arms atop the table and laid her head down, muffling her cries as she cried into the sleeves of her clothes. "What he did have was an honorable death, he fought until the end and made sure that his killers wouldn't live to see another day to harm more innocent people."

I stood up from the couch and slowly made my way to the opposite side of the table, placing my hand on her head before she suddenly turned her face and quickly pushed her head into my torso, wetting the hoodie I wore as the tears turned whatever surface of the fabric it touched a shade darker. I could've lied to her, yes, but it was a policy of mine to tell the truth if it brought no real disadvantage to myself, this was also something I had done in honor of his sacrifice so I didn't mind having to endure wearing a slightly wet hoodie.

What I did mind though was the snot that had begun seeping out of her nose but I guess I'll let her off this time, after all, she was a mere child that had just lost what remained of her first-degree blood ties in a single week. I continued patting her head the entire time, offering what little comfort I could since I was never really good with handling children nor was I any better with consoling someone who had lost a loved one.

Each person handled loss in a different but usually somewhat similar manner but that slight bit of difference was all it took to make the act of comforting them all too complicated, especially so for someone like me who never really bothered consoling someone with nothing but the cliche words of "condolence". We stayed in that position for about five minutes before she pulled her head away, wiping her face clean of tears and snot with her right forearm and fist, leaving only small amounts of tears at her very eyes which I cleaned with the cuffs of my hoodie.

"Come on, let's go to the kitchen." I whispered while helping her stand up and weakly pulling her into the hallway and only stopping when the dining table was in front of us. I tell her to sit down and wait for me before going upstairs to the room I and Alyssa had slept in for the night and take a t-shirt from the closet and my bag with me downstairs to the kitchen, laying them both down on the countertop before pulling out two sealed cups of beef noodles from my bag and sealing it shut.

The house's stove was of an electrical variant and since the electricity was still working, it meant we could still use it for this idea that had come to me after thinking of what I could do for the small child that was with me. Weirdly enough, the family bothered to buy a working stove but not a single piece of cookery to boil water in which meant I had to resort to more... unorthodox means just to boil the contents of these damn water bottles.

I turn on the stove and place the t-shirt on the surface that was slowly heating up before taking out two bottles of water from my bag, using up the next ten minutes just heating the bottles by wrapping the very hot piece of cloth around them before pouring their contents on the two cup noodles. I seal the lid shut after pouring all of the water inside the small cup and place the towel back on the stove after five minutes, repeating the same process but wrapping it around the cups this time.

I turn the stove off and let the towel's warmth seep through into the water inside the cup for a few minutes before bringing them to the table and opening the lid. The noodles were... less than cooked as how I would've wanted them to be but we weren't exactly in a situation where we could choose what we eat so we stomach it down, we had no forks or spoons to eat the noodles either which meant we'd just have to tip the cups over our mouths and hope that we manage to eat the noodles before draining the soup it had.

"Uhm... I may not be a cook or anything but I assure you... I know the difference between raw cup noodles and cooked ones so I promise a cooked version in the future..." I whispered with my eyes doing their best to avoid looking at her just so I wouldn't lose what little dignity I had over this embarrassing post-breakfast meal that I had just made.

Regardless, I steeled myself for the insults and demeaning gaze I had expected to come from her but all I got instead was a short giggle that was followed by a heartier laugh with each that passed, causing me to dismiss my attempts in avoiding her gaze to just outright looking at her instead.

"It's fine... thank you, Lyon" She replies with a laugh disrupting her words as she forced each one out while removing the small amounts of joyful tears that came out of her eyes with a smile. I let out a smile as well, more so because the awkward atmosphere between us was gone and less so because of how she didn't make a joke about my abhorrent attempt at "cooking" the most basic of meals that could be done correctly just by the use of boiling water.

We finished the meal slowly, letting the somewhat warm soup soothe our throats as we spent the next thirty minutes just chatting about our hobbies and interest with me mentioning my interest in guns while she told me how Unicorns and Pegasi were inherently different from the emotions it gave down to the anatomical aspect of the imaginary creatures.

"Pegasi can fly so they're cooler in my book! I mean can you just imagine how it'd feel to fly in the sky with the breeze hitting your face? You really should see the show I and my... brother... used to watch... together..." She tells me with an energetic voice that trailed off into a silent whisper by the end of it, her eyes moving their gaze to the floor as she fiddles with something inside of her pocket.

I just watched in motionless silence as she takes out the remains of the necklace Hoga had given me alongside the bracelet I had taken from Higashi's corpse, her eyes gave off naught but silent emotionlessness which caused me to slowly stand up from the chair I was sitting on. The floorboards make a barely audible creaking noise as I got closer before kneeling on one knee and taking the bracelet away from her palm as she watches.

She seemed hesitant to part from the piece of fabric but I closed her left hand into a fist and tied the bracelet around her wrist, the action itself seemed simple but the difficulty rose for me because this was the first time I was doing this. The bracelet wasn't something that you could just push your hands into the opening, after all, rather it was the kind that you needed to tie which meant I had to make sure that it wouldn't fall off.

"There... now you'll have a piece of him tightly wrapped around your hand." I whispered before standing back up, patting her head with my left hand before picking up the empty plastic cups of the cup noodles and throwing them away into a trash bin that was placed beside the countertop. She just wordlessly follows me around the entire time with her hand weakly gripping the hem of my hoodie though her gaze was still on the bracelet rather than what was lying in front of her which meant I had to carefully make sure she wouldn't trip over something.

We were about to exit the hallway that led to the living room though I stopped moving as soon as I heard a car's engine turn off from outside, causing me to weakly push Amaya's back to the wall while I risked a peek at the door. I placed one finger against my closed lips and did a "shh" gesture at her before taking out my revolver from the police belt that I wore, slamming the gun's hammer down after making sure that the chambers were filled up with live rounds.

I used both hands and stabilized my aim at the door itself, closing a single eye so that I could focus on the small iron sights of the gun I held as I felt nonexistent sweat go down my face. The tension in the atmosphere quickly disappeared though as soon as a voice came through from the two-way radio I had been keeping with me the entire time.

"Lyon, I'm about to enter so don't shoot okay?" Ren asks with a whisper, the door to the living room opens a few seconds later as his head peeked through the small opening it provided. I had already shoved the gun back into my holster by the time he does so though which meant he'd managed to evade getting shot in the face for today at least.

"Radio me earlier next time, I wouldn't want to accidentally kill a friend after all." I told him while moving closer with Amaya following behind me, his chest going down gradually as he released a tired sigh after I had finished telling him my piece. "So, what car did you guys manage to find?"

"We got a pickup truck, the one with an open back, big tires, and a sky window at its roof. It was either that or a five-seater minivan with barely enough space in the back for our supplies and I don't think choosing the minivan would've been the best choice considering its size." Ren replied before moving to the side of the door so that I could finally see the car he was referring to.

Aside from the details he already told me, the car itself had a dark green color job with two doors on each side which meant two to five people could fit inside, we could do six if we tried squishing everybody inside like a pack of sardines but I don't think anyone would enjoy such an act. Chisato and Alyssa then suddenly appear beside Ren before going inside and heading toward a door that led to the inside of the stairway itself.

I nod my head in Misako's direction as a greeting and received the same before she turned her head back to the surrounding area, attentively watching for any movement while hiding behind the car's large and metallic frame for safety. I go down on one knee and whisper to Amaya to start packing up her toys since we were about to leave which she does rather quickly by stuffing all of the stocks back inside the box and shoving it into her bag which was quite small but still big enough to do its job.

I follow the rest of my group inside the stairway only to be presented with a small room filled with various boxes and duffle bags which I'd presume to be the same ones that we stored our supplies in. I try to help them by carrying a few boxes out but I was shooed away by everyone using reasons like how I'm still injured which caused me to narrow my gaze at all three of them.

"I'm not some disabled puppy that all of you need to take care of, okay?" I reasoned before moving closer to Alyssa who was carrying one duffle bag per arm, everybody's gaze following my movement before I brought my face closer to Alyssa's ear. "I think I've shown more than enough of my ability to move around last night after all."

Her reaction was exactly how I expected it to be, a red face and a few weak punches to my torso which was done after she had dropped the two duffle bags she was carrying to the floor with a light thud. The latter of the two results I expected was one I'd rather not have to go through but she controlled the force she gave each punch just enough to not hurt me so I didn't mind for long.

I quickly left the room with a weak chuckle before making my way outside with the bag and its straps firmly wrapped around my back and torso. I drop the back of the car and use my two arms to raise myself higher while making sure that the butt of my rifle was slung on my right shoulder in a way that it wouldn't hit the car so I could sit on the back while everyone else got to sit inside. The other three were still carrying each bag and box to the front yard which meant we wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

"Is Amaya doing okay?" A voice to my side suddenly asked, causing me to turn my gaze to my right only to find Misako relaxedly carrying her bow around while still making sure that an arrow was notched at its string. I remember wanting to try shooting a bow as a child but that dream never really manifested in my later years to the point wherein I'd attend or join a club that focuses on it but its benefits as a silent, long-ranged weapon with retrievable ammo were indisputable.

"You should ask her yourself you know? You're her family after all so why bother asking a stranger she just met a few days ago." I asked her with a silent voice while watching my group do their thing, I'd assume she was already more than aware of the most common changes to Amaya's emotional well-being which meant she was asking for something deeper, something that a person would only share to the people they trust the most.

Of course, not every person tells their secrets to only people they trust a lot, rather, some even prefer talking or consulting with a stranger or would choose to confide in a friend rather than a family member. Such wasn't the case for Amaya though, or at least not yet since she hasn't told me anything which meant I was more or less just reacting using the emotions and actions she'd show at a surface level just to determine how she was doing.

"... She's reacting just as you'd expect of someone who'd just lost her family, she's grieving but I'm sure she'll be able to pull through as long as you continue giving her a shoulder to lean on." I whispered after a few seconds of the two of us just wordlessly staring at each other, her beautiful but seemingly emotionless light blue eyes boring into my emerald ones. "Just... make sure you're there for her and everything will be fine in the end."

"We both know we can't make promises like that, doing so would be the same as lying and only an idiot would believe such a statement when faced with a predicament like this." She quickly replied before turning her gaze to the door, I moved my gaze in the same direction while watching her wave her hand in reply to Amaya's greeting.

"I prefer being the only pessimistic person in this group you know?" I asked in a joking manner, a thin smile finding its way to my lips before turning my gaze back to the empty road in front of me while ignoring a quick snort that came from Misako, . "Well, I guess having a partner in crime to spew depressing shit along the way wouldn't hurt too much."