Another's Perspective-
"Here we are."
I wasn't sure what was going to happen with me, but it seems like my grandmother got into contact with my late mother's assistant back when she was working. He seems like a decent person as he even helped us move some of my grandmother's things over to the retirement home, as well as helping move my things to the new place I'll be staying. Before parting ways with my grandmother however, she gave me a few family photos of our family. I thought they were copies, so it came as a shock to me that these pictures were the only ones she had. I told her that she should keep them, but she said that she's fine with just the one that she has, which had the whole family together during one of our family meet-ups.
"I know it's not spacious, but I hope you can find some comfort here, Reina."
"Thanks..."
"Heh."
Like he said, the apartment we have arrived in is much smaller than any place I've been in before. The kitchen is right at the entrance and there's practically no living area, just the open bedroom with no door for privacy, but I guess there is one door inside this place which I'd guess would be the bathroom. It's not surprising that there's only one bed here... And that's not even mentioning the ungodly amount of rubbish and other junk scattered all over the floors... I wish I could've just stayed back at my grandparents place, but I know that this is the right move moving forward, especially with grandpa now gone.
The place we're at now is much more south than where we were before, much more closer to the bigger cities. With this, I should have more options when it comes to finding my sister and brother. There's also the matter of school as well. Grandma did give this man enough money to pay for my tuition, but during the drive here, he ended up spending some of that money on take out before our arrival here.
"Mmm, It's getting pretty late. You can finish unpacking tomorrow, I'm going to get some sleep."
Before I could even reply, he collapsed onto the bed, his arms and legs sprawled out as if to cover the entire bed. The only sounds now coming out of the room is the heavy breathing of him sleeping. I guess he's a fast sleeper? I'm a bit jealous.
"..."
Looking around however, I fail to find a place for me to sleep. There's no couch or anything else I could lay down on. There is the floor, but it's just hard floor boards... I try to look for maybe a futon, or even some extra pillow in the closet inside the bedroom, but it's only filled with the man's clothes.
Hearing the man begin to snore, I exit the bedroom and instead walk inside the only door in the apartment, which led me to the bathroom as I expected. However, it followed the same thing as the rest of the apartment as the only thing inside is a small shower, completely exposed inside the bathroom along with a toilet and sink right next to each other, cramped up in the corner.
"..."
Disappointed, I leave the bathroom, closing the door gently as to not wake the man up before scouring the rest of the apartment; not like there's much more though...
"Fine..."
Giving up with finding a place to sleep, I finish unpacking my boxes as I pull out my scarf and the blanket, along with a pillow I used back at my grandparents. I push away all the junk and garbage on the ground, making a clear space for me to sleep before laying out my blanket on the ground as well as the pillow. I try laying down on it, but the moment I do, my shoulder blades are assaulted from the hard floor beneath me. The blanket isn't big enough to make a second layer, so I'll just have to make do with this.
But just then, I feel my stomach grumble, bringing me back up from the floor. I look off to the side where the man is laying down on the bed, but it doesn't look like he'll wake up before morning.
So, I go into the kitchen, hoping to maybe cook something. I'm not that great of a cook as I'm only able to make the simple things, but surely this man has rice at least. But as I search through the drawers and cabinets, even the fridge, all I could find is junk food such as chips of many different flavors. There was rice, but no where near enough. It just looks like an empty bag that he just forgot about and just left it, much like all the rest of the empty containers scattered all over the ground. If my grandparents saw this, they'd take me out of here in an instant...
"I guess this'll have to do."
I take one of the two closed bags of chips that I found before opening it up.
"Hey!"
However, the moment I do, my wrist is suddenly grabbed, preventing me from pulling my hand out of the bag of chips. The force of the man's grip around my wrist is honestly painful, causing me to flinch in pain as his nails dig into my skin.
"Those are mine, okay!"
"...But I'm-"
"They're mine! You hear me!"
"Y-yes..."
"Good."
In an instant, he snatches the bag from my hand, pushing me to the ground in the process before also taking the other bag of chips.
"I'll buy something tomorrow, but don't you touch my chips, alright?!"
"...Yes."
He storms off back to the bed, stepping over all of the garbage on the ground.
"Oh and be sure to clean all of this up while you're here. I'm tired of looking at it."
"...Yes."
He collapses back on the bed as I remain on the ground, looking at the single chip in my hand. I wait for him to relax before eating it as silently as I could.
Does he seriously expect me to clean up all of this filth? If he was tired of looking at it, then why has he let it get to this point? I'd rather just leave it and let him do it, but now I'm afraid that if I don't, he might just let me starve. I do have some money left over from my allowance, but I was planning on using that money for transport in order to find sis. I would really like to not spend it all on food just to get by... There's also the option to contact grandma, but after everything that's happened... I feel like she doesn't need anymore stress in her life.
So, I do as I'm told and begin cleaning up the room in a quiet manner. There's not many garbage bags available, but I try my best to put all the recyclables inside one. I tried to find gloves to do this, but there wasn't any pair inside the kitchen or even the bathroom, leaving me to just pick up everything by hand. It's honestly revolting, especially with a lot of these containers still having some bits of food left over, some even rotting which only added to the stench of it all.
It doesn't take long for my hands to feel as though they're caked on mold and filth, but I push through it until all the bags I found were full. It's then that my stomach grumbles once again, causing me to clench my stomach to try and block out the pain. I guess I'll just have to do it, huh. I suppose I should clean my hands first. I'm sure "that's" okay, right?
Sneaking out the front door with my bag in hand, I step out into the darkness. There's other apartments around us as we seem to live in an apartment block, but no one seems to be out at this time of the night. I did see a convenience store not too far away during our drive here, so maybe I could find something there. Usually they're open for most of the night, right?
Thinking so, I begin walking in the direction of the convenience store. My body feels so conflicted at the moment. It's like my brain wants me to sleep, but my stomach is refusing to listen. I could've tried sleeping through the hunger, but with everything that's happened so far, I'd really like something positive to happen, even if it's just food from the store.
Thankfully, I don't run into any problems with directions as I soon make my way inside the convenience store. It was about a 15 minute walk, so it's not too far. But it was then that I notice that the chips and the other junk food here are the exact same brands from containers and garbage I had just cleaned earlier. I've already forgotten the man's name, and honestly I don't care much about it. But seriously? Does he only eat from this place?
"Hello~ Is everything okay?"
"Yes..."
I guess this worker is trying to look out for me? It is quite late. I don't really want to make them worried so I'll just pay for my things and go.
Walking out from the store, I begin walking back to the apartment. I tried to keep my spending to a minimum, so I went with a simple egg sandwich. I figured bread would fill my stomach up nicely.
Thinking about the food in my bag, my stomach immediately begins grumbling, nearly roaring it feels like. I guess I could eat it now?
However, the moment I reach into my bag, I feel my arm being grabbed as I'm quickly pulled off to the side into one of the alleyways. My body quickly being consumed from the encroaching darkness.
"Empty your bag."
"Huh?"
"Ah? Wait a minute... Bro, is that-?"
"Hmm? Hah! Well would you look at that~"
What are they on about? But before I could say anything more, the man that had pulled me into the alleyway looks up at something on my hair where his buddy was pointing at before pulling out a knife, flipping it out and pointing it to my face while his buddy keeps watch.
"Haha. Oh how the tables have turned."
"I don't know what you're talking about-"
"Shut up. Just give us what's in your bag."
His buddy seems to be already doing that though, and by the looks of it, they seem to have found my allowance from my grandma...
"Is that it?"
"...Yes."
"Hmmm, Ah~ IT sure is getting cold huh? Then we'll be taking this-"
"No!"
The man in front of me reaches for the scarf around my neck, but I quickly grab hold of his wrist.
"Tch. Do you even realize the situation you're in?!"
With the knife in his other hand, he presses the blade's point up against my cheek. It feels like he only needs to press down a bit more before it's blade could pierce my skin.
"Please... You can take anything, just... Don't take this scarf."
"Ohoo? Why? Is it 'that' important to you?"
"..."
I fall silent. Just seeing the look in his eyes tells me that I shouldn't have said that...
"Alright. Then we'll leave you with 'just' your scarf."
"Eh?"
"You heard me. Now hurry up."
He presses the knife harder up against my cheek as I end up tilting my head away just in time before it could break skin.
"..."
There's no way I'm giving up this scarf... But to take off my clothes? What are they planning on doing after that? But even as I think that, I begin doing as they say, unbuttoning my shirt one button at a time as the man finally pulls his knife away from my cheek.
With the man now giving me a bit more wiggle room like this, I take a glance over at his buddy. It seems like he's still searching my bag as he also seemed to have found the egg sandwich I just purchased... I really want that food, but with the situation I'm in now, I don't think there's any other way.
"Faster. Hurry up."
"Yes..."
I do as I'm told, picking up the pace as I soon reach the final button of my shirt. I look up at the man's eyes as it appears his gaze is now set on my chest rather than my eyes like before.
"Alright. Now for your-"
After I unbutton the final button, I take the opportunity to fling my shirt over the man's knife with all my strength, knocking it out of his hand before running off through the alleyway as fast as I can.
"Hey! Catch her!"
I run with all my strength, trying to be careful of not falling over anything. But right as I was about to exit the other side, I feel my arm being tugged back as I nearly fall back onto the ground in an instant.
"You ain't going anywhere- AHH!"
I waste no time and immediately bite into the man's hand, causing him to let go, however that led to the man slicing in the air with his knife as it catches my now exposed shoulder, quickly drawing blood. I don't let the pain get to me however as I continue running out of the alleyway, making it back to some sort of street.
I don't stop there however, and instead continue running with all my strength. But that wouldn't last for long as my legs finally give way, causing me to collapse on the pathway as pain shoots up from my knees. Looking back, it doesn't look like the men are chasing me, probably due to me now being in a more populated area as some cars are driving by now.
"Khh!"
Feeling like that whole ordeal is over, the pain from before quickly catches up to me as I hold onto my shoulder. Thankfully the cut doesn't look too deep, but it's still quite the slice as blood continues to pour out between the cracks of my fingers. My knees seem quite beat up now as well, but even with how I am, not a single person around seems to care as they continue to drive past me. I guess to them I probably seem like some sort of weirdo or a slut with how I look. Just then, a breeze comes by, sending chills throughout my body. I have to get home...
Eventually, I make it back to the apartment without my shirt or bag, but that doesn't matter to me. I'm just thankful that I kept this scarf...
"I wouldn't call this a home though..."
Reaching into one of my boxes, I pull out another shirt before going into the bathroom. I wasn't sure what to expect from the single drawer under the sink, but thankfully there is a first aid kit. Sadly however, there was just bandages, but I waste no time in bandaging the wound on my arm before putting on my shirt. And in that moment, my stomach grumbles once more.
"...Let's just go to sleep."
I don't know why I'm talking to my stomach. Maybe I'm trying to convince it to somehow not be hungry? I don't know...
After getting dressed into my pajamas, I lay back down on my blanket on the floor, being mindful of my shoulder. I cling to my scarf, as well as my bunny plushie for as much comfort as I could.
("Sis, it's cold~")
("Hehehe. Then lets do this!")
A flashback of a cold winter flashes through my mind of back when we were kids. Sis brings me into a hug as I too do the same as the two of us cling to each other for warmth. I end up trying to do the same right now, clinging tighter to the scarf and plushie as if it were sis, but barely any warmth comes.
"Sis..."
I just want to return to that time again... Before all of this happened. Maybe I could've done something that could led to sis and I living together. But sadly, stuff like time travel doesn't exist...
"..."
I feel my eyes growing heavy as I end up closing them, finally giving them a rest, but the moment I do, I feel my tears leak out from the cracks of my eyes as I feel them glide down my face and into the scarf.
("Hehe. Sis, you're so warm.")
("So are you, Reina.")