Chapter 138: Rudey and Yappy

Elias’s POV (Thirteen years old)

I sneak a glance at the chatty boy, and just like I always feel with Kai, I want to knock him on the head.

It’s so annoying that he even has blonde hair like Kai. The only difference is that Kai’s hair is whiter. He looks my age, but he acts and talks like a kid. He’s too happy for my liking.

The boy suddenly stops talking and looks down at his hands.

He’s holding on to something, and when I look up at his face, he’s sniffling.

What’s his problem? Why is he yappy one moment and sobby the next?

"What’s wrong with you?" I ask, scrunching my nose in disapproval. Even Kai doesn’t cry this quickly. He hisses, bites and scratches like a cat before yowling like a farm animal in defeat.

"I want to--" hiccup "I want to go home" the gold-haired boy bursts into tears and I stare at him in disbelief. He’s using his sleeves to wipe off the flowing tears.

He’s so messy and it’s getting even more annoying.

"Then go home" I snap at him, scooting away from him and looking into my book with concentration. I’m getting to the good part of the book, mom said this Chapter was the best.

"I can’t go home" sobby boy says.

"Okay" I say without a care.

"I’m lost" he whispers and I lift my head. "You’re lost?" I echo his words in confusion.

No one gets lost in Gottingen. Mom and Dad make sure of it. Dad is the best protector in the world, and my mom is the best caretaker to ever exist.

"You are not lost" I state plainly and he pouts at me.

"I am too" he argues like a kid, and I turn my nose up at him. I learned that to turn up one’s nose at something means to regard it with contempt or scorn. I’ve been waiting for someone to do that to ever since I learned the phrase.

"I don’t know how I ended up here. The angel is scary and it’s staring at me. I’m so scared" he says in a small voice and pulls his legs up to the bench.

He sniffles a few times and starts to cry quietly again.

"No one is coming to get me" he says with a tearful voice, and I want to cover my ears.

"No one cares about me. Everyone goes away and mom won’t play with me and..." he continues to cry.

I stare at him with annoyance and he wipes his tears with the back of his hand again, spreading boogers across his cheeks.

I’m angry at him, but I pull out my handkerchief and throw it at him.

The kid boy looks at me with surprised blue eyes, sniffling again as he slowly lifts the handkerchief.

"Th-thank you" he says.

He uses one hand to wipe his face with the handkerchief while the other one stays balled into a fist. He’s protecting something, and I’m getting curious about what’s in his hand.

"What are you hiding?" I ask and he slowly opens his hand. I gasp in surprise as I stare at the things in his small hand. They’re really beautiful and delicate-looking.

Cherry blossoms.

I look at his face and then at the pink blossoms again. They look wrinkled from being wrapped in his hand for so long. Some of the petals have fallen off, but it’s still a pretty sight.

"Give me" I say, stretching my hand to take the cherry blossoms, but he draws his hand back.

"No, they’re mine" he says, as he holds it to his chest. He squeezes them tightly, and I scowl at him. I just want to see them up close. I’ve never seen one in real life, and I’ll clearly treat them better than he’s doing.

"You’re being too rough with them" I say in complaint and the boy refuses to hand it over, he turns his body to the side.

"It’s mine. It’s mine. Conan gave it to me, so it’s mine" he starts to cry again, and I put my hand down.

"Why?" I ask and he stops crying. Forgetting about the handkerchief in his hand, he wipes his face with his hands again. Does this kid not know how to do anything right?

"Why did they give you the cherry blossoms?" I ask and he sniffles.

"Because he’ll come back for me before the flowers die" he says and opens his hand to look at the flowers again.

For something that should still be fresh, they look like they’re about to die and it’s all thanks to his rough handling.

I can take care of flowers. Mom used to show me how. I know I can do it better.

"Will you give it to me?" I ask and he looks at my face like he’s thinking of it. "But...what if I give it to you and they die and he never comes back to me?" he asks me with fear.

"If I hold them, they won’t die in my hands" I tell him.

I don’t have magic to keep the blossoms alive, but I can help him. I can take him to mom and mom can help us find his mom.

But if I will do that for him, he has to give me his flowers.

"Are you sure they won’t die?" he asks with uncertainty and I nod, holding my hand out again for him to hand it over.

"But..."

"Give your death to me, cherry blossom boy" I insist. This is how cool characters in books talk, and it seems to work because the boy slowly lifts his hand.

"Okay" he says and puts the flowers in my hand. I nod and sneak it into my pocket. "Okay" I say to him.

He keeps staring at me with wet blue eyes, and I also look at him with my brown ones.

He’s so innocent.

He’s annoying but I think I like him. Maybe I’ll ask mom to keep his mom’s number...maybe we’ll be friends.

"So...what now?" the cherry blossom boy asks and I shrug.

"I guess you’ll be mine and I’ll help you find your way back" I say and he nods, sniffling again for the hundredth time.

"Okay. Thank you, rudey" he says, wrapping his arms around his legs and resting his chin on his knees.