Chapter Text
"Mom, why are you leaving?" Nathaniel asked.
"Because, I can't stay here anymore. Remember our rules?" Mary replied to the young boy.
"When Dad's angry, hide. If there's no food, just wait. If any of Dad's friends show up, hide. Don't try to run." Nathaniel listed off on his fingers.
"Such a good boy, Abram. Don't wait for me, alright?" Mary said, she took one last glance at Nathaniel, almost melancholy as she said her last words to him.
"Goodbye Abram."
Nathaniel didn't understand what was going on, why was his Mom leaving? What was happening? Did Dad say something mean again?
His head spun with questions, but none of them were spoken aloud as his mom opened the door to the tunnel and locked it behind herself
Idly, he wondered when she would come back, hopefully with food, Nathaniel was getting hungry.
┐(‘～`;)┌
She never came back, Nathaniel waited, and waited, and waited.
But she never came back.
His dad got really mad, he started to throw things and Nathaniel had to hide. As he usually does, but he felt empty without his mom.
He hid as best he could, but eventually Nathan found him. He got really mad again. Mom always said to hide, but Nathaniel couldn't get away from his father's iron grip.
Nathaniel had to patch himself up by himself for the first time that night. Mary taught him how many times before, but it still felt wrong to do it without her.
But of course, it was his fault in the first place for getting caught. He shouldn't have a pity party over it.
The day after, some of Nathan's friends came over. Again, Nathaniel tried to hide, but his father had found him again. He pulled him to his friends.
Apparently, they were called the Moriyamas. Nathaniel wasn't allowed to talk while they were there.
They told him about going to a really talented Exy team, apparently way better than little leagues.
But, he would have to live with them, honestly, Nathaniel wouldn't really mind that. Maybe they would give him all of the food.
Nathaniel almost giggled at that. But he caught himself before it could escape his chapped lips.
They said that he would leave tomorrow. He had to pack his things.
It was the first time that Nathaniel would have to pack his bag. He felt almost sad that all of the things he had fit into a single duffel bag.
Whatever, Nathaniel didn't mind. It would be fine.
"We are leaving." Mr. Moriyama said.
Nathaniel took in a deep breath and followed him out the door.
( ╹▽╹ )
Nathaniel didn't like being with the Moriyamas, specifically Riko.
Riko was so annoying. He's always with Kevin and sometimes doesn't even let Nathaniel talk to him.
He was way too possessive of Kevin and was just really mean to him.
"Nathan!" Riko spooked Nathaniel.
"I told you to stop calling me that!" Nathaniel said while he looked around, thankfully nobody heard Riko say that name except Kevin, who was catching up to them.
"Pay attention, Nathan." Riko grabbed Nathaniel's chin and tilted it towards himself.
Before Nathaniel could start complaining, he saw the knife that Riko was holding up to his face.
"My dad gave it to me today." Riko said, "I wanna test how sharp it is."
Nathaniel's heart stopped, "Th-there are o-other ways to do that, y'know."
Riko sighed, "but this way's the most fun."
His face twisted into a sadistic grin, he held the knife up almost a centimeter away from Nathaniel's eye.
Kevin finally spoke up, sounding bored he said, "I want to go practice that quick shot we looked at earlier, stop wasting my time."
Riko looked annoyed that his fun was stopped, he started to pull the knife back, but suddenly he jolted forward and cut Nathaniel across the face.
Pain exploded all over his face. Even his eyes felt like they were burning. Nathaniel immediately jerked back and backed away from Riko.
Riko just looked amused, "oops, look at what you did, now I'll have to clean the blood off. You're so messy."
"Riko." Kevin warned.
"Ugh, fine, see you later." He mocked a salute and followed Kevin away to the field.
Nathaniel ran to the bathroom and took care of the gash as best he could.
He really didn't like Riko