Be mad

Pair of red horns was flying above the clouds, no one deducting it. 

In a day off his ni-san was sitting on a kotatsu and solving a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle, on the other hand Ryu was vigorously deep cleaning his suite. The fan was on the highest setting, blowing the white hair that wasn't in the usual tight braid.

"Please clean under the bed every once in a while." Ryu said like a judgemental mother in law, vacuum sucking loads of dust.

"The monster that live there won't like that." He said, most his attention on the puzzle until Ryu pulled a dusty unopened puzzle box from the there.

"I was looking for that!"

Certificates and trophies was covered in dust on a forgotten shelf. Ryu looked at them while wiping the top of the ceiling fan with a wet cloth. He looked at the obscene amount of dust on it.

"Do you come here anymore?" Ryu asked, looking at the air freshener he hanged last year, looking relatively new.

"No, I grab my stuff via the magical portal in the closet." He jokes before laying down, annoyed with the heat.

"What's bothering you?"

"Nothing, just me and my roommate, two hypocrites narky at each other."

"Why?"

"I got mad because she didn't tell me something, but I also didn't talk to her when I should've in the past."

"So it's not a mystery roommate anymore?"

"Well when president aren't around, don't tell her though."

"Ryu lives with a girl ~ Ryu gonna get a loong lecturee~ "

Ryu was giving him a look and extended his arm, holding a two thousand piece solved puzzle in the air, threatening to drop it. They had a staring contest which Ryu won.

He put the piece back after dusting it.

"Well if it got too awkward just move back here. Your room is dusty though."

"Nah, you're barely come here. I'll just miss your stupid face." He pretended coldness, arranging few books back on the bookshelf.

"Some books are missing though." He quickly followed.

"I read them at the hospital." He had an earnest smile that the other didn't see, looking at the shelf in front of him.

Soon enough he ran out of things to clean, aside from the dust everything was well maintained. With treats baking in the oven he sat on the kotatsu facing his not blood related brother, looking the puzzle in progress. He suddenly had the expression of realizing something.

"What would you do if you were in my roommate's shoes?" He asks suddenly, cutting the comfortable silence.

"Not if I were in your shoes?" He gave him a curious glance.

"You both get along with everyone yet you keep your distance with them all."

He reflected on his saying, blinking.

'Wait what's that saying about me? I'm attached to them. '

"Just talk it out, rip the bandage off."


In the apiary Karaza was holding a frame full of wax and bees, training her eyes to spot the queen. She is currently a shadow beekeeper, just following other beekeepers around and learning from them.

"It's lunch time." A coworker called to her.

The workers of each sector eat together in the same table so she sat at the table of sector 3 with other four people, silently eating. Egg and rice were a new combination to her but the omuricu was good.

One of her coworkers was gushing to another about her cute pet raccoon.

' This...isn't a code name for something else right? Of course it's not, they're regular citizens! But raccoons? the trash animals? Pets?..'

"Do you have pets?" She was asked.

She shook her head to negate.

' I'd like to trust my ability in socializing, even though I can't push the feeling of everyone trying to get me.'

Chats and group conversations were particularly a pickle for her so staying silent and trying to pick up the cues was the best option. Pet raccoons can't be a thing right?

Unlike the warehouse committee where people knew how to interact with people who are rough around the edges and socially alienated. Normal people although polite were harder to figure out.

It was interesting to her that in sector 3 all coworker were born and raised in the land of the unwanted. On the surface it the difference wasn't all too much, although she noticed their comfort with the bizarreness of duckweed, qunshy and the flinching people of the veterans of other countries, yes they got sent to here after severe injuries, as well as elderly people with no one to look for them. This was truly the land of the unwanted.

But it was wired, no body had a sense of nation, most continued the tradition of their home lands, and the one who resented the heritage because of oppression, they spoke Sadi and drank quenshy and called it a day.

'It's weird, even for someone who lived in the dessert near the wild. No national anthem, everyone took the weekend in days according to their religion, or Tuesdays and Fridays if you want an -official- weekend. Oh, I also shouldn't call this place a country, I got a weird look when that slipped from me once.'

She sat for too long with her thoughts while she waited for her turn, the sector's supervisor was teaching each person something different one at a time. This was a training program in the end.

Roxy looked at the summery of the scarce translation books she had to return to the library today. She also took one last read for the rough draft she did.

'I never thought a sixty pages book could humble me this much. Well, let's see the editor first; maybe I will end up needing the books again.'

Instead of the stones streets and the wooden pavement she took a different road, a shortcut grassy area with many shrubs trees and all kinds of plants, a mini forest according to her.

'To communicate clearly one must understand how the receiver of the words interpret the words, and to understand how humans understand words one must understand humans. But even humans themselves don't understand themselves or other humans, which mean the road to make a clear translation is to understand humans believes about their own understanding of things! Plain and simple.'

&What is she blabbing?"& One tree asked.

&Don't bully the odd ones.& A shrub replied.

"Hello, can I get an editor assigned to me? I would like to assess my draft." She asked the only person in the editors room.

"Sorry kid, all of them are occupied with projects now." She said while making herself some coffee.

"But the deadline is in a week."

"You don't have to worry, it'll get published." Shutting down the room for argument the woman sipped her coffee.

Roxy didn't bother, instead she looked at one sad potted plant. More yellow than green.

"Shall I fix this one for you?" She requested.

"You can?"

"I can try."

She handed her the plant, and giving her one scanning look.

"You can hire an independent editor if it matter to you that much."

It wasn't the classiest way to say it, but an advice is an advice.

In the empty apartment Roxy wore a sturdy work full body overall, which was glittery of course. She took the plant out of the pot, the roots were so big, filling the whole pot, there was practically no soil except for the top layer.

'You poor thing, no one bothered to give you a bigger home.' She talked to it while potting it in a bigger pot.

"Hehe, perfect timing! Certain cleaning freak isn't here." The grin turned into a flat face when she remembered him.

The plant probably didn't like the change of mood.

&They don't want to give you the editor thing.&

The plant said, telling her the conversation between Yuki and the chief editor, she concluded that they were actually short handed on editors when Yuki decided to give the gig to Roxy. But Yuki simply told them to let Roxy produce couple low quality translations until publishers stop sending non fiction to be translated.

&"She's good enough on paper and not so in practice, we can work with that." & The plant quoted Yuki.

Roxanne listened with a neutral face but at the end she couldn't help but smile and rest her head on her hand.

" Oh this is gonna be fun." She smiled.

In the other room of his brothers suit Ryu was turning around in bed, he has gotten used to sleep in his blob form most of the time.

He covered himself completely in a frustrated manner.

'Something is off.'

He turned on his side and pressed his back on the wall to prevent any accidents incase he fell asleep and turned on the wrong side.

He stared at the wall across him with a blank expression, his mind was dozing off. Going to a place far away, a time far away as well.

He felt tired and grody like he was just waking up but that was a far cry from the strangest thing to happen, upon looking his hands looked small, like ones of a child, he recognized his younger self that reflected on the metal mixing bowl.

Few glances were enough to conform that was indeed the orphanage. He looked at the old woman standing next to him, weak arms kneading a dough.

Auntie Martha was the one to teach him how to make sourdough bread.

The calmness of that old morning routine, the heat of the stone oven in the chilly morning how everything felt like a warm hug after a long day. His small hands kneaded and shaped the dough the best he can, earning a head pat from the older woman after she washed her hands.

They waited for the bread to cook. He puts a blanket on her lap while she read a letter.

"Thank you sweet heart."

His child self would probably lay on her thigh to get more head pats, but now he didn't want to put too much weight on her thin bones.

"You know dolly, my son is coming soon. I can't wait to see my grandson." She told him, looking fondly at the paper.

He remembered he was under a strange effect when he was suddenly waiting to give her a goodbye hug like the others, while her son was putting her luggage on a metal chariot, her grandson was fidgeting with excitement inside it.

He observed the scene in piece from what felt like far away.

' Everyone leaves you. ' A voice spoke in his head. Bitter and angry.

Although the sensation startled him the words themselves didn't do much.

' Everyone leaves you, for someone who's theirs.'

' I know.'

'For someone they really love.'

'I guess.'

'Hate them!'

The woman finally opened her arm to him, he went for the last hug.

'They deserve to be hated!' The voice implores with sympathy.

' You should try baking a thing or two, it'll calm you down.' Ryu told him, hint of sneering in his low polite voice.

In the main room of the suite his brother was laying down on the bed playing snake on a floating hexagono board when he saw a shadow looming over him. Like a serial killer except with a pillow and a blanket for a weapon.

"Scoot over." Ryu demanded, putting his pillow on the bed.

"Your house is scary." He added after he settled next to him. An arm reached his head, massaging his scalp.

"It's my cousin's house actually."

Karaza jittered in her place, she gasped for air. Sweating and throat dry.

' Nightmare?' She assumed. But after looking around she crossed her eyebrows. The vibration of her axe conformed the suspicion.

' Screw me. Wish I was dreaming about drowning inside a walnut butter jar like usual.'

The dark, humid, almost collapsed cave she was in was a well known memory, replicated her past actions, raising her axe up.

Sound waves shaped themselves as a dome, protecting Karaza, her blond companion in a shield covered in mud, and a paper hand fan on the ground.

The knight bite the inside of his cheek, stress seeping from the tight clench of his jaw.

"How much time this will take to ripen?" The knight ask with little patience.

"About three days, give or take." She replied, she noted these weren't the exact words she said in the past.

'So I can act freely in this illusion. Let's get it over with.'

"I can handle this on my own, you should go."

"You Assume you can hold up until this plant ripen?"

They both looked at the hand fan planted in the ground. He still had doubts on how this is a plant, she didn't think much.

"We have to divide our forces anyway. Go get Feronika sama, and I will deliver this to his grace when it's ripen. That's my responsibility anyway." She rationalize. It didn't slip behind her how his expression changed when hearing the woman's name.

'In the past he left anyway, persuade or not. So let's make it easier this time at least.'

"How you gonna get out from here anyway?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I have been in worse." She vaguely told him, sitting down and getting a little comfortable.

Even though he was right. This cave in the wild was designed in such a way that one can only exit if someone in the cave lifted them upward, or someone from outside dragged them out. Being alone was a death sentence, one that she escaped in the past.

He turned his back on her, she cultivated some sound waves that pushed the rocks out and lifted him upward.

'Make him stay! He's gonna forget you for that wench!" A voiced hissed in her head.

'Here we go.' She growled inwardly. Watching him go away, raising the axe, blocking new falling rocks.

'Have you forgotten how you stayed here, until mold grew and died on you?'

She closed her eyes, holding the axe tighter focusing on the task.

'You have given enough to the duke and his sick offspring.' The voice rationalized.

'It's my job, so I will do it probably.'

'And for how long you gonna continue that.'

'Curse him.'

She yawned and laid down, careful not to touch the fan. Still holding the axe.

The voice had some truth within its twisted words, After the knight went away staying alone in a dark closed space was mortifying, specially without the luxury of knowing she's gonna be saved from the cave logic.

'You're right I guess, the darkness weakened my retinas, could've been permanent without a healing gem.'

'It's not too late to throw all that away, I can get you out of here.' The voice offered in the sweetest voice, dropping of care.

"Nah, Imma carry it till the end."

After three days and a half the open fan closed on itself, indicating the ripening. She took it, along side the rocky soil underneath it, wrapping her dress on it in a tight knot. Climbing the pit a little.

'I think it's couple hours from now..'

But to her surprise, and joy a muffled voice called her, lifting the rocks.

"Cherry blossom!" The red haired young man yelled, the shine of his ruby earrings poking her eyes a little.

He extended his arm, lifting her upward, out of the cave.

"Looking like night in a shining armor, young master." She said with light hearted sarcasm, her voice hoarse and tired.

"Yeah sure, Sisila! call my doctor." He called his servant.

"I'm okay, young master."

" I have opinions about that." He said, the sassy tone covering his worry.

"More importantly, shouldn't you be comforting your fiancé?" She signaled with her eye at the brunette woman, and the knight patching up her wounds, looking away before her heart ache, but perhaps is was already aching.

"She need a true knight in a shining armor now, not a spoiled brat. You should see him! He slayed the kidnappers one right after the other."

"I have no doubts about that." She said, before he shoved a date in her mouth while the hands full of golden rings dragged her to the carriage.

"Fathers assistant waiting for us, Hori's condition has worsened." He said while she sipped water, resisting the urge to gulp it.

"Roger!" She wiped her mouth, in ready mode.

Her determination was contagious.

"Need a piggyback cherry?" He teased.

In the past she teased back or give him the 'I'm done look' but now, she had the liberty to smile sincerely at him.

"What?"

"Getting emotional after seeing my young master after a long time." She scratched her hair and looked away. Even if it was all an illusion.

"DOC! I think Cherry hit her head!"

In the real streets of the real city, she lit her pipe. Walking slowly under the cloudy sky.

On the other hand Roxanne was flying under the cloudy sky. Although not with the broom.

Her body was floating on its own, She zoomed around the dark forest.

"Weeee" She flew till a small bloody pond caught her attention.

Plenty of small burgundy creatures took the newly hatched offspring and walked away with them, leaving one behind.

"Oh noo, they left me behind." She said with a light hearted tone, almost not caring,

The abandoned round creature crawled dragging some spilled intestine, the disjointed pupils were alarmingly narrow.

"Keep going me, you gonna make it." She drew circles with her flying.

'Cures them.' The voice interrupted her freestyle air cheerleading.

'Curse it!'

She stepped in one direction, staring at one point as if there is someone there, her last step was accompanied with her head moving forward in a challenging gesture. Smile faint but confident.

"Never."

In the real streets of the real city, she took watermelon juice from a vending machine. She sipped the drink pretending she didn't see the person with a pink pipe walking across the street. 

The two horns in the clouds burned itself into evaporation.