Soul
Harvest
Chapter 2
by Henageshi
Chapter Two::
Slowly touching the breaks with the tip of my foot at a red light I listened to the silence among the two children and me. It was awfully quiet. I glance a look at the little boy in the front seat looking out the window rubbing his hands together next to the heater. He looked at me and gave me a shaky smile.
“Are you okay?” I asked finally.
“My mom always told me not to get in cars with strangers.” He said
“Now I feel as though I have disobeyed her.”
I looked down. He was right. That was a terrible thing to do. Without an answer, I pushed the gas petal gently. Time flew by of silence. I didn’t know what to say. I was afraid that anything I would say would frighten them. Whenever we got up to the cabin I parked and released my seatbelt.
“Tell me your name.” I said to the boy. The little boy began to shake. I could tell it was of fear and not the cold. Finally, he answered.
“Mosaru.” He looked at me, then at his little sister. With a smile on her face, she said,
“Mayuka.” I gave them a smile as I began to open the door.
“My name’s Shuichi.”
***
“What do you got?” Yusuke peeked his head over his cards. Mosaru twitched his eye at his deck of cards. Looking up and down constantly he laid down his cards.
“WHA-WHA-WHAT?!” Yusuke shouted. Mosaru gave a little giggle.
“A ROYAL FLUSH?!”
“Is that what that is?”
“THAT’S THE FIFTEENTH TIME YOU’VE BEATEN ME!”
Mosaru laughed.
Kuwahara studied the beat very closely. Scratching his chin, and repeatedly blinking his eyes he looked up at Mosaru with a concerned stare in his eyes.
“You’ve… played this game before haven’t you?” he asked.
Mosaru looked down at his deck of cards in sorrow. Closing his eyes, he gathered them into his small palms of his hands and began to stack them.
“I would play poker games like this to win money for food.”
Yusuke’s mouth dropped.
“For how long have you lived like the way you have?” he asked quickly.
“About a month.”
Kuwahara and Yusuke looked at each other with their eyebrows raising. They did not answer. It was hard to answer this conversation. They felt sorry for Mosaru. All of the stories he has told were heart breaking. What they did for food, warmth, even for a place to stay. It amazed them how nobody picked them up earlier than I did.
“Here’s Mayuka everyone!” Botan jumped out of the bathroom holding the door open. A few moments of silence came among all of the souls in the cabin.
Botan looked into the bathroom. “Come on out, Mayuka. Don’t be shy.” They heard her whisper. Everyone gathered closer to see a small little girl walk slowly out. She was wearing a blue snowman Christmas sweater with a red silk shirt with black tights and black shoes. Her dark brown hair was up in a high ponytail tied tight with a red ribbon. She shyly had her hands tucked behind her back and slowly looked up to everyone.
“Wow!” Yusuke shouted.
“Amazing, Botan!” Keiko gasped.
“Mayuka! You look great!” I said to Mayuka putting my hand on her shoulder.
“R-really, Shuichi? Do I really look good?” she asked blushing.
I whispered in her ear. “You’re beautiful.”
Mayuka looked down with a blushing smile. She giggled a bit.
“Thank you!” she said cheerfully.
***
Mosaru slowly stepped into the hot steamy bathtub water one step at a time. His small foot touched the hot water. He quickly pulled it out for it to cool off. Then he stepped his whole body back into the tub and slowly sat down. Giving a relieving smile he looked up at me who was about to wash him.
“Does that feel good?” I asked with a smile.
Mosaru nodded but didn’t look up.
“Shuichi…”
“Yes?” I opened the mirror to get out the soap, shampoo, and conditioner.
“I’m…. ready to talk to you…”
I shut the door. “Talk to me…?”
“Y-yes.”
“What about?” I placed all the bath items on the rim of the tub.
“My…life.”
I paused. “Are you sure you want to tell me?”
Mosaru looked up.
“Can I trust you?”
I smiled.
“Of course you can, Mosaru.”
Mosaru looked down. He was silent for a moment.
“Well, my mom gave birth to me. Then when I was 2, she died giving birth to Mayuka. Before she died, she asked me to protect Mayuka with all of my heart. I promised her that I would always protect her. Then she died and my dad became upset. So upset that he would go to drug parties each night. He would come home and…and…”
“And what?” Kurama moved closer.
“H-He would abuse me…”
I dropped the shampoo. My mouth dropped as I gasped.
“How long was this?” I asked concernedly.
“It went on for about eight years.”
“What about Mayuka?”
“He didn’t abuse her. Just me.”
“W-WHY?”
“Because I was the oldest. And Mom loved me very much.”
“How did he abuse you?”
“Lots of ways. One time, I accidentally knocked over a drink of his then he grabbed me, tossed me on the floor, and began to hit me over and over and over.”
“…. What else?”
“Then, he threw me into the table. The corner hit my head and I had amnesia for a whole day.”
I felt a little water in my eyes but only a few drops. I could not believe all of this happened to just two little kids. It felt like my heart was being ripped out and stepped on. I was about to burst out in front of him but I swallowed my emotions hard and tried to act calm.
“Mosaru. Did he abuse you in front of Mayuka?”
Mosaru shook his head.
“He did yell at me and Mayuka would always run up in her room and cry. Each night, she would be afraid he would kill me.”
“What else would he do to you?”
“Kick me, hit me, slap me, broke my wrist once, and he also…he…”
I moved even more closer.
“And?”
Mosaru looked up finally.
“I think I’m clean now.”
I looked down, turned around and grabbed the towel.
“I agree.”
---
ACK! TOO MUCH DIALOGUE! O.o Oh well...it get's VERY INTERESTING later on. Thanx for reading!
~Henageshi
