It's Been Hard

As Kenji's footsteps echoed in the distance, Mia's Gameboy vibrated. She took it out, to see Anna's anxious expression.

"Are you alright, Mia?! Did they do anything to you?"

Mia couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Thankfully nothing too crazy happened, though I did need to use some playing cards, so my gains from this game were kinda low..."

Anna let out a sigh of relief.

"What matters is that you're safe. Anyway, we should continue on to go towards my game!"

As the arrow appeared onscreen, Mia furrowed her brows slightly.

"By the way, how far is the game you are talking about?"

The arrow went away and Anna reappeared with a cheerful expression.

"If you continue walking for ten hours, you should be able to make it there!"

Mia blinked a few times, rather astounded.

"W-What? Ten hours?"

Anna nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! It's not even a day of walking, so it should be fine, right?"

Jessica sucked in a cold breath. She closed her eyes in thought.

"If we consider it to be a round trip, it might be a little harsh on us in terms of food. We've already been walking for pretty long, including this would mean we would have to go on empty stomachs for a little while on the way back."

She swallowed.

"And that's assuming that nothing ends up interrupting our journey, and we go in the right direction."

Mia ruffled her hair a bit before sighing.

"Sorry, it looks like there's just too much risk. It's already going to be hard to navigate backward from here. The risk of dying from dehydration would be too high. We should try this again when we're better prepared."

Anna let out a sad hum.

"Alright..."

Jack scratched the side of his head and looked up at the others.

"Does that mean we're going back now?"

Mia gave a small nod before patting his head a few times.

"That would be for the best, yes."

Jack raised his hands and waved them around excitedly.

"That means we get together with Emma, right?"

The corner of Mia's lip twitched. Jessica furrowed her brows before crouching down next to him.

"Maybe it would be better to avoid that girl. She seems a bit... dangerous."

Jack puffed up his cheeks before crossing his arms.

"Everybody is a little bit dangerous!"

He stomped on ahead, while Jessica and Mia followed after him with bitter smiles. The trip back was fairly uneventful. For the most part, they were simply walking while occasionally glancing around.

Mia had put Anna away, as she decided it would be better to put more focus on her surroundings. They continued on back, following Jack's directions. While he was accurate the majority of the time, they skewed off the direction occasionally, which made their several hour-long return trip even longer.

Eventually, they simply decided to set up camp again, the same way they did last time.

Jessica lay down and let out a long sigh. She immediately closed her eyes with the intent of going to sleep as fast as possible. On the other hand, Mia was just staring at Jessica. She was on her hands and knees, slowly getting closer.

After a few moments of silence, she looked away and brought up the courage to speak.

"H-Hey, do you mind if we um... hug each other."

Mia coughed right after and covered her face, trying to hide the fact she was blushing.

"It's just that it's a little cold, and it would probably be easier to sleep that way. A-At least for me."

Jessica opened her eyes and tilted her head to the side.

"I guess that's right. If it helps you sleep, then..."

She spread out her arms as a small smile formed on her face.

"Come here."

Mia flinched. She silently swallowed while brushing her hair over her ear.

"A-Alright."

She crawled over, awkwardly reaching over her arms and slowly lowering herself. Mia let out a small sigh as she felt Jessica's warmth. She hooked her chin over Jessica's shoulder and closed her eyes.

On the other hand, Jessica just let out a laugh, wrapping her arms around her.

"It's been a while since someone asked for a hug from me. You remind me of my little sister a lot. She always asked for a hug in the same way."

Mia felt her face heat up even more, as the embarrassment continued to settle in. She felt Jessica's chest vibrate when she spoke. Mia shifted around a little to get a strange tingly feeling to settle down.

"I can see why your sister asked for so many hugs..."

Jessica let out a soft laugh and reached over to pat her head affectionately. The smile on her face grew a little wider.

"And as we were hugging, she would always beg for head pats like a greedy little girl. I probably spoiled her a little too much..."

Mia pursed her lips, not knowing how to feel. Although she did enjoy the feeling of being head patted, it was a bit disheartening to be compared to a little sister at her age. Though she felt conflicted, the part of her that liked the head pats won in the end.

"Hearing that I can't help but feel jealous. If only I was also your little sister..."

Jessica's smile gradually disappeared. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes tightly.

"Well, her situation isn't the best right now..."

Mia felt a cold bucket of water wash over her. She felt the shift in tone, feeling responsible for the sudden sad atmosphere.

"O-Oh. What happened to her?"

Jessica's hold on Mia got a little tighter like she was afraid of everyone around her disappearing.

"You might have heard of it, or maybe not. But there was a strange illness that suddenly spread to every child in my town all in a single day. Nobody knows what happened, and the symptoms seem to be some sort of cancer. That's all the doctors were able to figure out, but things like surgery or chemotherapy have no effect."

Mia wrapped her arms around the back of her neck.

"That's... terrible. I'm sorry for bringing it up."

Jessica let out a weak laugh before closing her eyes.

"No, no, I was the one that brought it up in the first place. Anyway, it helps me remember why I came here, to find a cure. I just couldn't stand seeing her like that. She was losing so much weight and was always tired. There were also these scary bruises all over her body."

Mia let out a small hum and nuzzled in closer.

"Then let's find that cure together and bring it back to your sister."

Jessica fell silent. After a few moments, she mumbled in an incredibly low voice.

"That's also what he said before..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Mia pushed herself up slightly, confusion written all over her face. Jessica saw that, but that only made her insist.

"It's nothing, really."

Mia hesitated for a second but nodded in the end before laying back down.

"That's a really noble and caring reason. I wish I could say that I had something like that."

Jessica suddenly lost her despondent expression and let out a giggle, bringing her in closer.

"Oh come on, I'm sure that you have something. It's only fair if you tell me since I told you."

Mia let out a nervous laugh, regretting that she even brought it up in the first place. She spoke in a low voice, but it was easy to hear because of how close she was.

"W-Well, it's just... because I didn't know where else to go."

"Eh? What do you mean by that?"

Jessica questioned her gently. Mia also subconsciously softened her tone as she spoke almost like she was narrating a story to a child in bed.

"My parents were suddenly killed."

"Oh my, I couldn't even imagine something like that..."

Mia let out a low hum.

"You don't have to feel bad. They weren't really good parents anyway. Even after they died, they left me with a lot of debt that came from all their gambling. It wasn't like their death was very unexpected since it was known to be a very dangerous neighborhood."

She let out a small sigh.

"But because it was dangerous, that was the only place we could actually afford rent. It was to be expected to happen soon enough. And when it comes to the debt, even if I worked until I died, I still wouldn't be able to keep up with the interest. So... I just decided to run from it all. After all, the debt collectors wouldn't dare follow me here."

Jessica turned to the side and gently placed a kiss on her cheek. Mia flinched, nearly jumping up in shock.

"W-What was that for?"

Though Jessica didn't seem to notice that distress, only smiling warmly as she gently stroked her hair.

"It's been hard for you too... just relax now and go to sleep."

Mia let her eyelids fall down naturally and looked down. She gradually relaxed before firmly closing her eyes.

"Ok..."