𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐘、𝖻𝗎𝗇𝗀𝗈𝗎 𝗌𝗍𝗋𝖺𝗒 𝖽𝗈𝗀𝗌

꒱.✧ 夢中 ;; familiar stranger

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"Have you ever met this man, sweetheart?" A female police officer knelt on my level. My eyes focused on her hands as they were slowly approaching me. An uncomfortable feeling washed over me and took one step backward to express my distress towards the officer's action. She was a bit taken back, but she quickly accepted my reaction as swift as a breeze.

"I'm sorry. I do not like to be touched." I speak. Her lips contour upwards, giving me a reassuring smile, silently giving me the fact that she understands. Her hands stayed with her and instead, she placed it on her chest, performing a knight on their knees to a princess they served. I found her actions rather fascinating as I could never imagine myself doing that for any stranger, let alone a child like me.

"I'm sorry if I unconsciously tried to reach you. Thank you for telling me about it. I just cannot help it as I found you rather cute. You remind me of my younger sister." And so, she says. I could not tell whether her words are the truth or just mere flattery to please a young girl. And although I do value her concern, it must have been caused by my memories of my previous life that have made a difference. The detective* was rather stingy and uncomfortable to physical touch. [ *Sakuya was referring to Yvette, her previous life.]

"I'll be asking you several questions and I like them to be answered truthfully." I simply nodded my head as a sign of acceptance to their favor. I, too, want information about the man who died in front of me. I cannot simply sit down. Not after what they had told me. I could not help myself but imagine countless possible reasons regarding how the man recognized that I was not some mere child as I portray.

"Do you recognize the man in front of you?" the first question was predictable. A matter of yes and no. Depending on my answer, the question will be morphed into another one. What if I lied and reply yes? What kind of reaction will I be seeing on their faces? Certainly, they would pester me for more details. Classic police interrogation.

"No." I shook my head, acting how a child expresses their feelings. Despite considering answering otherwise, I should be telling the truth. "Mister told me to run away and that someone will come after me."

"Did he tell you anything else?" the officer looked away from me for a split second and gestures her co-worker to listen to my story. I observed the man she called in. He was a bit reluctant for a few seconds. His face formed a bitter expression before faking a smile at me and his eyes gleamed with such disgust, did not bother to level down and be equal with me. He certainly doesn't want to be called in for a child. It's no surprise for me. Rather, quite elementary for me as they already sent out a young lady to interrogate me.

"No. He already died." The look on their faces says it all. The female officer was unable to look for proper words for me, thinking that she should choose her words carefully. The man, on the other hand, had himself wear a frown at me. They bicker in front of me for a short while. I did not understand some words. They were too difficult for me to understand and must be beyond higher than what Sakunosuke was teaching me. But what I do understand by the gist of their faces, is that it revolves around my reaction.

"Excuse me. But can you at least mind your manners? You have a child watching at you." The owner of the Curry Restaurant, which also happened to be our landlord, reprimanded me on my behalf of me. One of them scoffs, muttered under his breath before he waved off his hand as a dismissal-"I'm outta here."-is what he unable to voice out.

"How can you be...so calm?" I stared at the young lady who stressed her disbelief and now looking for my reason. I did not answer her though. I remained silent yet I also did not leave my eyes out of hers either. I supposed this is a way to tell her the reasons that even I could barely even absorb yet. My childhood consists of running away from one place to another. My job was to stay silent and watch how my older brother kills every man who dares to block our path to freedom. My newly gained information was surprisingly less horrifying than what I have seen as Sakuya. I saw men get killed but the detective would only see them as lifeless bodies.

What more is there for us to fear death?

The police officers left. They were clueless as me. The only difference was I was new to this case, and they were simply had no clue what to do. I watched both an ambulance and a police car drive off and turned to the direction where I could no longer watch. I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I looked up and see our landlord weakly smiling at me, and he offered his hand, silently asking me to go back with him. I was hesitant for a moment, but I supposed you could say that no matter how mentally strong I am, there was a bit of time I had longed for this moment to act out. To have someone ask me to go back with them. I somehow felt excited to tell all this to Sakunosuke. However, I felt disappointed when my older brother did not go back home later that night after I waited several hours.