A World You Deserve

"This isn't what I asked for, Seraph", she complained, fixing her glasses on her tiny nose.

"I don't get what the hell it is that you want exactly, June", I was beginning to get tired.

"You don't understand at all", she folded her arms.

"You're damn right, I don't. What kind of crazy a-"

"One thing.", she looked at me sternly, "One thing I'm asking for is a place to be happy. Not a mother, not a wife, not a hero, not any of the other things you're trying to come up with."

"What'll make you happy, exactly?", I folded my arms and leaned against the wall of Valhalla.

Everyone else was off to fend the red sky off. June had been left behind in a protective barrier.

She fell silent.

"How about Lady? Isn't she your favorite?"

"I could care less about her", she answered, bluntly, "I hate her."

"Huh?", I wasn't sure I'd her heard her right.

"She does everything on a whim. She claims to understand everything when really, she's just a very stupid kid. She doesn't have any morals to cling to. She doesn't know right from wrong, nor black from white, nor happiness from regret. She's just so confused, I don't get what she-"

"Could you shut your trap?", I needed to stop herself just so I could have a fit of laughter.

"Alright, quit the act now, June. Can we be serious here?", I asked after the fit had subsided.

She seemed to be quite on edge by now.

"Please quit smoking", she took up another thread with me.

"June, for god's sake, can you get to the point? God, I prefer you being silent, honestly."

I knew she was lying through her teeth. She simply didn't want me to put her in a world where Lady existed. As for me, I was never going to do it anyway.

"What's your qualm with her anyway?", I asked.

She glared at me.

"You just wanna run away from Lady 'cause you don't think anything will change for her if she exists with you. Or perhaps, you think you'll end up depending on her again and she'll be burdened again. Is that it? Is that your pathetic excuse? Well, don't bother. I won't let anyone else have Lady anymore, anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?", she asked, in a low voice.

"You don't need to know."

She went back and sat down in her chair. She had apparently decided to ignore me. Taking out a blank page, she began working again.

"I'd like to be left alone", she whispered after a deathly boring long pause.

"I'd like you to leave here too", I answered without a breath.

She lifted her eyes and glared at me, annoyingly.

"You're so afraid of depending on other people. Yet, that's all you ever end up doing. That's because you're so weak. And though no one ever told you there's anything wrong with that, you decided to feel guilty about it all on your own. You're so afraid to say it but you're apologetic to everyone and everything. You're sorry even for the sound of that typewriter. If it were up to you, you'd disappear into thin air and not bother anyone ever again. You're sure you shouldn't exist. But that's where you're wrong."

June lifted her hands from the typewriter and kept looking down. Seemed I had hit the mark.

"You're wrong because you're just one person. One person that isn't a bother. One person that isn't a burden. One person that isn't weighing the world down. One person that has the right to raise her voice and scream and be angry. One person that deserves to live. One person that exists."

"You're too sure about all this", she muttered.

"I am. It's very clear to me, June. It's not the worst thing in the world to reach out to someone and say that you need them. Its alright if you want to thank them. Its alright if you want to say sorry. You're not below the rest of everyone and everything. Maybe Lady's twisted worldview made you think you'd never be accepted but there's plenty of people out there who'll feel blessed to have you. You don't need to have a reason to be important to someone. You don't have to do anything in return if you need them."

She left her chair and walked towards Lady's table. She was facing the other way. I had worked my way through the cigarette and popped out a new one. I searched for Chopper's lighter in my coat. It had a dragon emblem on it. June had recognized my lighter as the one that Chopper held so dearly. Something, everyone knew, he would never part with. I wonder if she realized how I got it.

"You don't need to lie to yourself anymore, June. I know what you'll like. I'll send you to a world where you'll be really happy."

She wasn't looking at me. I left the support of the wall and made my way towards her.

"I think you'll fit right in with your favorite. This time, you make sure to tell him that you're grateful."

She knew what was coming to her but she didn't resist. I bore a whole through her chest with my arm but she stayed standing. I didn't pull my bloodied arm out, either.

"Are you sure, Seraph?", she asked, as if nothing had happened, while blood trickled down the side of her mouth.

"I'm not. But it's worth a try", I answered, letting go.

She collapsed on the ground. Drops of her blood were splattered all over Lady's table. I didn't think things would turn so distasteful. Lady's pretty box was covered in June's blood too. I spared the mess a look and then turned around.

But then I remembered I'll need to take something from her too and that made me sigh. I turned back and walked over to her corpse. She looked like she was merely asleep with her eyes open. I didn't know it was possible to have such a peaceful death.

I placed my hand on her head. Her glasses had slipped off and rolled away.

"I wouldn't want to but I suppose if I can, I would like to read a mind or two."

She looked rather sweet. I almost knelt to plant a kiss on the side of her forehead but I abandoned the idea of it and got up to leave.