Chapter Text
Under the starry sky, Yuu wished upon a star with tears forming inthe corner of his eyes.
I don't want to be alone anymore. I'll be a good boy so, won't anyone become my friend?
"Yuu!"
The following day, Yuu who was outside jumps in response to the high-pitched yet sore voice of his mother inside the cottage calling his name. Even though he had suffer months of mental abuse by her, Yuu made it his priority to get on his mother's good side then one day she may treat him with kindness and love as she did when he was younger. Since father was out most of the time,he is left with only his mother by his side.
"Coming!" Yuu drops the ball in his hands and heads inside at her beckon. "What is it, mother?" As he sees her mother's face, Yuu notices a slight difference from her usual glum look. On her face was an expression she rarely showed since father has been staying out a lot- a smile. She waved him over to come closer. "I have a task for you, Yuu. Will you do it?"
A task? For me?
Yuu smiled happily. He thought it was an opportunity to make her happy again even when father's absent. "Y-Yes!! I gladly accept!"
"I want you to go into Sanguinem Forest to retrieve some wood. As you can see, were running low on stock and winter is approaching. The villagers aren't going to share their wood with us..." She pulled Yuu into an embrace. "I'd be happy if you complete it. "
"Okay, I'll get going!" Yuu pulls away from the embrace to grab the basket by the door used to gather wood in and hurries into the forest. The trip to the forest didn't take too long, since there were no obstacles in the way and no people to approach. Everyone was either too scared or had no reason to enter the forest, but Yuu wouldn't know that since he was isolated by his parents. As he followed the path way into the forest he wondered why his mother asked him, usually it was father who gathered and brought the wood home from his work place.
Did something happen?
He quickly erased the thought from his mind. His mother's counting on him, he doesn't want to let her down. In the corner of his eye, Yuu notices a branch laying around. "It must've fallen off a tree", Yuu muttered under his breath. He picked up the branch and placed it in the basket. "Branches are made of wood too!" He puffed out his chest- proud of himself.
Before he knew it, day had turned into night. The leaves made it difficult for Yuu to return to where he came from due to it blocking out the remaining sunlight from the sunset. In attempt to return home, he ran straight down the path he had come from, but to no avail. Instead, he had ran in circles. Yuu dropped onto the ground next to the nearest tree and just as he was about to cry, there was a rustle in the bushes. He reached for a twig in the basket and swung it as a means of a self-defense weapon. "Who's there?! Show yourself!" Yuu stood up from the ground with his legs trembling. Suddenly a mop of blonde hair appeared from the bushes. The raven-haired boy swung the twig at the blonde. "Ouch!" said the mop of hair. A young boy appearing to be Yuu's age, 8 years old, fell out of the bushes.
"Eek!" Yuu yelped and fell back, scattering the twigs and branches in the basket across the floor.
"A-Are you okay?" The blonde asked extending his hand to the fallen boy. Yuu looked up; meeting the boy's lapis blue eyes with his own emerald green eyes.
How pretty.
He reached for the boy's hands and was pulled back up to his feet. "Thanks... and sorry for hitting you." Apologetically, Yuu looked down and fidgeted hoping the boy would forgive him. "It's okay! I'm Mikaela, but you can call me Mika. What's your name?" Mika revealed a smile across his face letting Yuu know it was okay. "I'm Yuichirou." He looked back up meeting face to face with Mika again.
"Nice to meet you, Yuu-chan!' The two shook hands, although it was mostly Mika grabbing Yuu's hands and shaking it. A slight blushed appeared on the raven-hair's face.
"What are you doing here?" Yuu asked. "Are you lost like me?"
"No.. I live here." Mika looked uncomfortable from being asked that question. "How about you? Why're you carrying branches and twigs with you?"
Realization dawned upon Yuu. He had completely forgotten about the scattered twigs. "The twigs! I have to pick them up!"
"I'll help you. It's my fault in the first place for surprising you like that."
"Thank you." The two bent down to collect the twigs and branches- placing them into the basket. A silence came upon them as they slowly taking their time. '"I was completing my mother's task..." Yuu spoke breaking the silence. "But i ended up getting lost..."
"Task?" Mika questioned.
"Yeah." Yuu nodded in response. "I'm supposed to gather wood and return. Winter's approaching you see; we're low on wood is what my mother said."
"What kind of person is your mother?" The blonde received no reply given from the raven-haired boy. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. You see, I don't have a mother... so I was just wondering."
Yuu shook his head. "No. I'll say it." He places the last fallen branch into the basket. "My mother, she's mentally ill. After father had gone out to work for quite some time she lost it and would mentally or physically abuse me. Well, it's not like she didn't abuse me when father was here. It just got worse..." His voice started trembling, as if he's about to cry. "But when I was younger, she was kind." Curiosity overcame Mika and he couldn't help but ask, "...How about your father?"
"Father.. also abuses me. Unlike mother, he tried to kill me."
Unsure what to say about his situation, Mika tried to comfort Yuu by patting his back. "I'm sorry for asking. It must've hurt talking about it."
Yuu shuffled away from Mika's touch. "It's alright! I'm okay! In the first place, I'm doing this task to gain mother's approval. Then one day, she'll become the kind mother she was in the past. We'll be happy again! Mother even said so herself- that she'd become happy!" The boy beamed with excitement and hope. Mika couldn't help but chuckle lightly at his response. "Alright! Come with me, it's gotten so late. I'll take you home tomorrow morning!" The blonde boy dragged Yuu away. "W-Wait, Mika! What were you doing here?"
"It's nothing important. I'll do it later."
"If you say so.." The two went up the stream, passed by more groves of trees and arrived at a hut. "Where is this, Mika?"
"It's where I live!"
"You weren't joking when you said you lived in the forest..." Yuu gave a surprised look at Mika to which Mika chuckled at. "Do you live alone?"
"Yeah..." The blonde haired boy headed inside the hut with Yuu following behind him.
What was in the sky now was the moon and not the sun. The stars shone ever so brightly. No matter where Yuu was in the world, the stars would always be with him.
"Yuu-chan, you can put down your basket and sit wherever you want." Mika took out a small bowl from a nearby table filled with berries and herbs and handed it over to Yuu. "Here. You haven't eaten anything yet right?"
"Eh? Aah- It's alright. I don't need it..." Yuu waved off Mika hoping he'll get a clue to take it back. Suddenly to his embarrassment, Yuu's stomach started growling causing Mika to laugh. "It's okay, just take it." The bowl was shoved into Yuu's hands. "T-Thanks..." A shade of red appeared onto his face. "Stop laughing!"
Mika sat down beside Yuu and watched him eat the berries. "W-What is it, Mika?!"
"Nothing~ You just look cute like a squirrel stuffing the food into your mouth~"
"Stop staring!" The mouthful of berries was gulped down. Yuu tried pushed the blonde's face away, but he just wouldn't budge. "Dammit!"
"Shall we go to sleep now, Yuu-chan?" A blanket was pulled out from the drawer. "Sorry, I only have one blanket. Let's share it!!"
"It's okay. I don't need it. I'm imposing on you enough already..." The bowl was placed back onto the table.
"No! You're my guest! And I'm fine with it. The nights here are chilly." Mika pulls Yuu's wrist and pulls him down on to the floor. Both of them fell down in the center of the room. Mika sat up to cover the blanket over themselves and laid back down next to Yuu.
"Hey, Mika" Yuu shuffled under the blanket so he's not facing the other boy.
"What is it Yuu-chan?"
"Aren't you lonely?"
"Lonely?"
"I mean-- You're here all by yourself! All alone..."
"I'm not lonely. Yuu-chan is here today."
"Before you met me!"
"'I'm not lonely, Yuu-chan. The kids in the village would come play here..." Mika's sentence faded off.
"Mika?" Yuu turned around to face the blonde just to see him already sleeping.
You fell asleep??!
Yuu then turned around once again and fell asleep quickly. Unnoticed by Yuu, Mika had only pretended to fall sleep."Yuu-chan... the kids never came back... after a couple of days." The blonde cuddled up to Yuu who was slightly shivering from the cold and fell asleep after muttering, "So warm..."
The next day arrived and Mika woke up to prepare some fish for Yuu to eat.
Is it morning already?
Yuu sat up and rubbed his eyes. "That's right, Mika!!" He glanced over to his right where the blonde slept last night.
"Yuu-chan? Good morning! I made some breakfast!" The blonde turned to Yuu with a plate of fish in his right hand and cup of water in his left. "Thanks." Yuu took the cup of water and plate of fish off his hands. "Aren't you going to eat?"
"I already ate, you sleepy head," replied Mika.
"Shut up..." Yuu's face reddened slightly.
"Ahaha. How cute."
After Yuu finished eating his breakfast, he took his basket and headed out with Mika. With Mika's guidance, Yuu was able to return back to the village safely.
"Mika!" Yuu called out to the blonde as he was about to head back deep into the forest.
"What is it, Yuu-chan?"
"Thanks for bringing me back."
"You're welcome, Yuu-chan!" Mika gave Yuu a radiant smile unlike the ones he saw before. His heart started racing faster. "Goodbye!" Just as Mika was about to leave this time, he was stopped by a tug on his wrist.
"I'll come visit again! So... wait for me!"
At first Mika was surprised, but he nodded in response to his confession. "Okay! Then, it's 'see you later'!"
"Yeah! See you!" Yuu lets go of the blonde for real this time and waved Mika off. After Mika's figure disappeared, Yuu headed back to his cottage where his mother awaits.