The Butterfly Effect

Overdue

I've never told anyone this, but sometimes I think my parents abandoned me. I just got a call on the cell phone I completely forgot I had. I certainly don't pay that bill, so my parents must. I must still be on their cell phone plan, the one with unlimited data and international coverage that I know they didn't get because of me. That isn't what makes me think they could have abandoned me, though. What's starting to make me think that they abandoned me is the notice I got on my apartment door this morning.

The notice that the rent is overdue.

Normally, in the event of something like that, I would be completely calm. Something's overdue? Just get it in as quickly as possible. That's the thing, though; I don't have a job. It's moments like this that remind me how old I actually am, that I'm not the adult I am in my head. I still have nightmares. I still wake up crying and wishing I could hug my mom. Every now and again it hits me that my parents aren't home and I break down.

That notice on the door only makes it worse. The rent isn't being paid. If the rent isn't paid, then they're obviously going to contact the person living there. Right now, the only person there is me, and once they figure out the only person in an apartment is a child without his parents...

Parents of Bladers are pretty lenient about letting their kids travel the world and compete in tournaments. It's also allowed in the legal department, as long as the kids are supervised, which they are most of the time. However, leaving your kid alone for almost a year in an apartment without any contact whatsoever is definitely NOT legal. If the people that own the apartment building find out about it, they will definitely contact authorities, and since I have no other family left around, I'll probably end up in foster care unless Valt actually meant that thing he said about getting his parents to adopt me. We're close enough to brothers, anyway, given that we've been best friends since we were little.

Where is Valt anyway? I really hope he's not in the Snake Pit. With any luck he's a member of the Bulls and his apparent vendetta hasn't caused him to make the same mistake that I made.

Oh, that call on my cell phone earlier was Kurogami Daina asking how I'm doing. I told him I'm fine, and that I'm kind of glad I stayed in Japan. I ask him how it is in France, and he starts telling me all about his team and the people he's met and the friends he's made. He definitely sounded happy, and I told him that I was glad he was having so much fun. I then decided to ask him if he had heard anything about Valt. That's when he went grim.

He told me that there's tons of rumors flying around about things that could've happened to Valt. Some people think he did go to the Snake Pit, which would be my worst nightmare. Other people think he's just too excited about being in New York City to settle down enough to call anybody. A few have said they just think Valt's too busy training. Daina heard someone say they think Valt got kidnapped. That one nearly gave me a heart attack.

When I asked Daina what he thought happened, he told me that he thought Valt went somewhere remote to train, like where Lui is. Nobody knows where Lui is, actually, and considering that Valt's one of those people that loves to go new places and try new things, it wouldn't surprise me if he did do something like that. Though, why would he do that without telling us? Valt hates being alone - the only time he's thriving is when he's around people. I doubt he'd go off like Lui on a solo journey of self-discovery.

But maybe he did. Maybe Valt wants to try something like that out. Who knows? Either way, I really wish he would call someone. Everyone's worried about him. I'm sure his parents are freaking out. I'm definitely freaking out, about multiple things. Not only do I have Valt to worry about, but

The character limit on the 'memo' app of my phone told me that I had to stop, and reluctantly I put my phone down. Daina had a point when he said writing down my feelings would help, but I didn't think it would turn into an addiction and force me to type on my phone just to get my mind to relax.