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"What's on your mind?" She said to him.
"Aren't you tired staying here?" The boy jumped down from the window to face the girl.
"Here? What do you mean? It's fun here in the Barrel Zone" she said happily.
"Yeah, fun for you since the Leader is fond of you" he scoffs.
"Aren't you happy here?" She asks as she hands him a handkerchief.
He only looks at her.
He always adores her.
He likes her cherry blossom hair everytime it dances with the wind.
He likes her sound everytime she finds something fun.
He likes the way her emerald sparkles when he shows something new to her.
If only he was born noble, he would marry her.
If only...
"Where did you go, garbage boy!?" His father hits his face, making him hit the ground.
'Garbage boy' that's his name.
He was named by his father.
His father is alcoholic, his other siblings are in the corner.
They all look malnourished and skinny.
His mother's corpse is still lying in the bed.
Some of his younger siblings are still beside her.
He can't call this his home now.
It was a reek of the corpse's scent and a streak of alcohol.
"Stay here, I'm going out" his father said as he took the bag hanging in the worn out wall.
He knew where he was going.
At that bar again, gambling and getting wasted while his children are starving to death.
He wiped off his blood from his nose and sat in the corner.
He closes his eyes again and starts dreaming about her.
...
"Hey! Where are you going?" The girl asked him while he was walking in the dark alleyway.
"W-why are you here? It's dangerous here..." He worriedly said.
"Don't worry, people can't hurt me...you know, because of the Leader" she giggles as she wipes his face with scented handkerchief again.
"Why are you always dirty?" She asks as she continues to wipe the dirt away.
The difference between them.
She was treasured by the so-called Leader of the Barrel Zone.
He was a garbage boy.
She was always clean and happy.
He was always covered in dirt and grumpy.
They were completely opposite.
He got beaten by his father again after losing in the gambling.
Now, he was roaming looking for food and money.
"Thanks.. " he murmured after she was done cleaning him.
"Want some bread?" She pulled out a piece of bread in her pocket covered in a clean handkerchief.
His mouth watered in the sight of delicious bread.
She broke it in half.
"Oh, I know a great spot to eat bread!" She happily grabbed his rough hand with her soft hand.
Running, they finally reach a rooftop.
His eye's widen in the sight of the Capitol.
It was beautiful, it was peaceful but not as beautiful as her while smiling.
They sat in the railing and started eating the bread.
His hunger was now satisfied as he finished quickly.
She giggles and offers her bread to him.
He blushed in embarrassment and shook his head no.
But she insisted and put the bread in his hand.
He gladly accepted it.
"Do you know what it's like in the capitol?" She asked.
"Capitol is a place with a bunch of douchebags" he said while stuffing his mouth with bread.
She laughs at his comment.
"I read a book once...about a prince who fell in love with a lower..." She said while her gaze is still in the capitol.
He gulped down the last piece of bread, confused at her words.
"I wish I could find my prince too" she raised her hand and reached for the Capitol.
He stared back at the sight of the Capitol as he realized...
...
Their house gets ransacked again, by the people in the bar.
His father did not pay his debt again.
His father offered one of his children again and sold it as a slave.
He can't do anything but watch the scene while his younger siblings are hiding behind him.
"I-I'm scared, big brother..."his only sister said while holding onto him and trembling.
He put his hand on her head, petting it and whispering it's gonna be okay.
The people in the bar dragged one of his brothers.
His brother is desperately trying to get away from their grasp.
He was screaming and squirming.
The neighbors only turned their heads and ignored what's happening.
One of the people of the bar pulled out a syringe and shot his brother's shoulder making him slowly lose his consciousness.
"Don't worry, it's gone now..." He whispers at his sister while hugging her.
Suddenly his father grabbed him and threw him outside, making her younger sister scream "brother!".
But she was stopped by her other sibling while his father grabbed a stick and walked closer to him.
He was about to stand but his father hit him with a stick in his legs.
"Ahhhh!" He screams feeling his bones getting cracked.
His father continuously hit him and kicked him.
Again, the neighbors ignore the scene, no one dares to help the poor boy.
After a while, he was now lying in the ground holding his gut.
Curled into the ball, his body is covered in bruises and blood.
He can't move as if the pain is slowly killing him.
When he was about to close his eyes, he thought of her.
Flashbacks come to his mind.
The moment he met her, she painted his grey world.
The dark cold alleyways of the Barrel Zone became warm because of her.
She was his 'treasure'...
He slowly pushes himself to stand up but he stumbles on the ground again.
He has no choice but to crawl.
He pushes his limp body as he goes to her.
It may take a while but he finally reached the big door.
He was about to knock on the door when suddenly the Leader's men kicked him out of the way.
"Why the fuck you doing here kid..." He said as he squatted down and grabbed him by his hair.
He groaned in pain.
The man 's eyes widened to see the boy covered in bruises and blood.
"Oh shi—" he suddenly let go of the boy.
"You got into a fight?" He huffed a smoke from his cigar while watching the boy trembling and mumbling.
The man sighs, he pitied the boy.
He threw his cigar on the ground and stepped on it.
He carried the boy in his arms as he went inside.
...
The boy woke up with bandages wrapped in his body.
He tried to stand up but it was too painful for him.
He looked around the room.
It seems the strange man earlier brought him here.
He can hear the music from the bar coming from above.
It means he was in the basement lying on the cold ground with only a piece of cardboard covering the ground he was on.
The door opened and it was the strange man again.
"You awake kid?" He steps closer as he caresses the boy's face covered in bandages.
The boy only hisses in pain.
The strange man introduced himself.
"Zen..." He told the boy and handed him a piece of bread.
"What bout ya?" He sits down beside the boy.
"G-ga..." The boy is hesitating to tell his name.
"Ga what?"
"Ga..garbage boy...sir" the boy embarrassingly said as he stuffed his mouth with bread.
Zen only raised his eyebrow.
"I see..."
Zen pulls out a cigar and his lighter.
He huffs some smoke in the air, while the boy coughs.
Zen looks at the boy and immediately stops smoking.
"You know, you remind me of someone..." He randomly said.
The boy stopped coughing and looked up to him.
"Is that why you're being kind to me?"
Zen was speechless, maybe the boy is right.
Suddenly, they heard the music stop in the bar.
Zen suddenly stands up and looks above.
"What's going on?"
They heard glass shattered and people screaming.
"Stay here for a bit, don't go outside" Zen said before he ran to the bar.
The moment he reached the top stairs, he saw people in chaos.
He holds his sword as he looks for the cause of the chaos.
His eyes widened. It was the 'Leader' sitting in the corner as he drank a whiskey.
The Leader's feet are on the top of a poor looking man.
"What's going here, leader?" Zen asks.
...
The boy didn't listen to Zen's words.
He pushed himself to stand up.
Stumbling on the dark hallway, he found the stairs going up the bar.
He pushes himself while he takes one step at a time.
Finally he reached the last stair.
He looked around to see what's happening.
His eyes widened to see his father, kneeling down in front of the Leader like a slave.
"Father!" He called out.
Zen immediately turned his back and saw the boy running towards them.
The Leader raised his hand and his men immediately caught the boy before reaching his father.
"No!" Zen shouted, the Leader looked at him in curiosity.
"What's the matter, Zen?" He asked.
"Don't touch the boy..." Zen begs as he bow down to the Leader.
The Leader raised his hand again and his men immediately let go of the boy.
He takes a last sip in his whiskey and stands up from his chair.
"You have explaining to do, Zen" he warns as he walks away with his men.
The bar is still in chaos, the boy immediately runs up to his father.
"F-father!" He shakes his father's body.
It's not responding.
Zen only stands up there and watches the scene unfold.
The boy shakes his father's corpse again, and is still not responding.
Zen only sits down and pulls out a cigar while he watches the boy suffer.
...
The boy asked Zen to take him back to his house.
He was worried about his other siblings.
The moment they reach his house.
Everything is a mess and the house is on fire.
It was surrounded by their neighbors.
He can smell something nasty from the fire.
He squeezed himself through to see what's going on.
His eyes widened, he got shivers in his spine, he was paralyzed to see his other siblings were piled up and burning.
"N-no...no.."he mumbles as he convinces himself it was all just a dream.
"B-brother..." He hears his younger sister call out to him, he snapped and ran towards the fire.
Before he could reach the fire, he was held back by Zen.
"No! Let go! I need to go to my sister!" He tried to squirm out of Zen's grasp but he failed.
Zen doesn't budge a bit, the boy looks up to him to meet his gaze.
The boy felt Zen's tear drop down in his head.
His eyes widen again, Zen slowly covers the boy's eyes.
He was confused, scared and angry at the same time.
He was confused because, why is this happening to him?
He was scared because he doesn't have a home now.
He was angry because he had no one else to blame for this.
Zen kneels down and hugs him, he hears him whisper to his ear.
"Everything will change from now on, kid…"