Game Of Life [ No.6 Fan-Fiction ]

Latch Building

" Inukashi ? Dogs don't really seem to get along well with me though they don't really bite me or anything but they do tend to flee when they sense me, " I shrugged and Nezumi threw me the book I had shouted for him to get since I wasn't the one living in a mess of a  library the past few years. It was Volume 2 of a tragedy trilogy ' La voiture ensanglantée ', also called ' The Bloodstained Carriage ' by many though the book had been lost over time, especially in a place like No.6.

" Shion doesn't approve, "

" Of what ? " I ask.

" Of that book. He says it gives him nightmares, " Nezumi pointed to a sketchy illustration of a man's face rotting away as a butterfly emerged from his neck. 

" Then he would be referring to ' Madame Butterfly ' won't he ? That book is completely unrelated to this series at all, what a stupid guy, to be deterred by only a drawing, " I sighed as I carefully flipped the yellowed pages, in fear that they'd crumble away into pieces in my hand. 

Humans break too easily, so fragile. 

To think about it, X hadn't talked to me in quite a while. But even now, I doubted that the voice belonged to her. X's voice could be described as a mild voice whom didn't really raise her voice much but preferred explaining things along the lines of calm reasoning. 

" Mentally disturbing, he calls it. It brings up bad memories, " Nezumi broke the sketch with a firm touch and I watched it crumble away onto the floor, nothing could be pieced together but a pile of black and yellow paper. 

" How merciless, the paper will be sad, " I teased as I ran my finger along the jagged edge where the picture should have once been. Now it was gone forever, what could have remained in a book for a hundred more years at least could now only remain as a memory in our heads, a memory we'll one day still forget I bet. 

" Sending Shion away under the pretence of ' dog washing ' just so you could do your ' undercover ' job without him bothering you isn't going to solve anything you know, " I muttered as my eyes skimmed over the pages, greedily swallowing every word which I stored in small little convenient jars hidden in shelves and shelves of similar bottles. You never knew when such information would come in useful and for a person like myself whom had been deprived of the familiar touch of hardcover-bound books and paper, I just couldn't help it you know. Nezumi nodded and shaking the brown paper bag from yesterday, two small apples no bigger than the palm of one hand tumbled out and I snatched both away from Nezumi's reach. 

" Oh, Nezumi, can I ask you a question ? " feigning innocence, I asked with wide eyes. 

" Yea ? "

" After escaping from the Correctional Facility, how did you come to adapt to this area ? " It was a simple question but I noticed Nezumi gagging from the corner of my eye. Was it really such a horrible experience that even he could not bear to recount ?

" It's alright if you don't want to --- "

" As they say, those whom adapt the fastest will live the longest anywhere. It was a tragic journey especially for the child I was at that time, dressed only in thin rags. I quickly escaped when the first break of dawn arrived, travelling via another passageway underground since I knew the others would have been trapped and blocked but this one, this one was a risky escape route especially with it's crumbling infrastructure. I was so tired and hungry but when I came out here, I thought ' Here, I could live again. ' so I just happened to chance across this wonderful place and took over it. End of story, now go to sleep like a good little girl and ... " Nezumi smiled sweetly as he patted my head then in a swift movement, wrestled an apple from my grip ... and he succeeded.