Chapter Text
It had been about two weeks since Mafuyu and Natsuki ran away and about a week since Natsuki got caught. His parents hadn’t come to talk to him since then, just leaving him locked in his bedroom, the door only opening when he was brought his meals. It wasn’t much of a shock that his father hadn’t come to see him, but usually his mother came to try and smooth things over whenever he got in a fight with his father.
Now that it had been a week, his bruises were starting to fade and the pain was subdued enough for him to start considering another escape attempt. He was going to do it—he had to do it—but it was going to be a lot hard. His room had been stripped of everything but furniture and the bare necessities, and there was someone guarding his door at all times. He knew his father had lost it, but this seemed like overkill just to keep a teenager from running away.
It would definitely be harder than last time.
“Natuski.” He was startled by his mother’s voice outside his door. “I’m here with your lunch.”
He didn’t respond, but after a few seconds, the door was unlocked and his mother walked in, looking as meek as always.
Natsuki knew she had been a decent assassin before she retired to raise Natsuki and Mafuyu, but it was hard to believe that someone who was such a pushover at home could’ve been even a little good. She might tell his father not to hit him, or to treat him and Mafuyu better, but she never did anything to stop him.
And she could probably stop him if she actually cared to. From the little he knew, she’d been a better assassin than his father even before his injury. Even as out of practice as she was, she could take his father. Just about anyone could. If Natsuki were just a little bigger, he could probably take him. If she really wanted to, she could stop him, but that would require her to care.
“I’m sorry I haven’t come to talk to you. Your father thought we should leave you be for a little.”
Natsuki didn’t know what to say so he didn’t respond, just nodding as if what she was saying made sense. As if she had no say in how he and Mafuyu were raised.
“Natsuki, where’s your brother?” She asked, setting down a plate of food on his desk. “I’m worried about him.”
Natsuki almost laughed. She was worried? If she were really worried, she would’ve left with them a long time ago. If she were worried, she would be glad Mafuyu was gone.
“I don’t know,” he said, which was the truth. At this point, it was long past when they would have met up, so there was no real way of knowing where Mafuyu was. Mafuyu was smart enough to stop going to their meeting point. He was probably pissed at Natsuki, but he would know he needed to figure out what to do on his own. “Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”
“Please, Natsuki. Mafuyu is only nine. He can’t take care of himself. He’ll get hurt.”
That made him laugh; if you could call the humorless sound that tore its way out of his throat a laugh.
“But we were fine training in the mountains?”
“Natsuki, that’s different—”
“It’s not,” he interrupted, standing to walk as far from her as he could, trying and failing to push down all the emotions trying to fight their way to the surface. “And Mafuyu is eight.”
“What?”
“He’s eight, not nine.”
Letting her see how angry and upset he was was a mistake. His father hated Natsuki and Mafuyu’s emotions, but his mother would use and weakness against them, all while pretending she cared. Pretending she wanted what was best for them. Pretending she was the voice of reason. Pretending she wasn’t just as bad as their father.
“That’s hardly what’s important,” she chastised. “Natsuki—”
“I don’t know where he is,” he interrupted. “I don’t know what you think you’re going to get out of me, but it’s nothing.”
“At least tell me where you were supposed to meet.”
“We weren’t supposed to meet anywhere.” That was his first lie. It was true he’d planned for them to escape together, but he’d still made sure to have a backup plan in case they needed to split up. “We weren’t supposed to get separated.”
She continued to make pleads, but he barely heard them, tuning out her words. He’d gotten good at tuning out the droning of the adults in his life without them realizing he wasn’t listening. It was easy when the adults didn’t care enough to want him to respond.
“Natsuki, please,” his name brought his attention back to her words. “We need to find him.”
“I can’t help you.”
“You can—”
“I won’t help you,” he interrupted. “I won’t let you or Father hurt Mafuyu anymore.”
He was starting to see the edges of her annoyance which let him know she was realizing he wasn’t going to budge. He didn’t understand how she thought he’d change his mind. Just about the only thing he’d learned from his parents was how to be obstinate.
“Natsuki, everything we’ve done has been for your good.”
He didn’t even try to argue with her, knowing it wouldn’t do any good. Instead, he walked over to his desk and sat down, his back to his mother.
She tried to talk to him a few more times before giving up and leave, the door locking behind her and leaving him alone in his room.
He needed to start planning. He didn’t have very long until he was going to the JCC and once he was there, he would be stuck for a long time. With each day that passed, the chance that he’d find Mafuyu became slimmer and slimmer, so he needed to get out as soon as possible.
He looked at the food on the desk in front of him, not feeling hungry. He didn’t want to eat. He just wanted to start working on his escape plan. But he needed his strength if he was going to get out of here, so he forced himself to eat the food.
Once he was done, though, Natsuki got to work.