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In a dessert of ruins, rubbles and dust were her home. A Home destroyed by bombs and granates in a war she never wanted or participated.
...
Yosano gained conscience when rays of sun shone down on her face. Her body was weighted down by something.
She opened her eyes and was surrounded by grey. Grey stone, grey rubble, and grey dust. She could see her toys, the doll house as destroyed as the roof and wall with the once small pretty window to the gardens.
How many days had it been?
Where were her parents?
Muskels twitching, she tried to move but the weight wouldn't buge. Still trapped.
She looked back. What had her trapped?
The sight that greeted her was gruesome.
The support beam, the big wooden beam from her former ceiling, lay on her lower body half. The pelvis?
Bold seeped out of her.
Oh.
Now that she thought about it, she couldn't move her toes or feel the sunny warmth on her legs.
How can she be free again?
She couldn't move on her own. She couldn't move.
SHE COULDN'T MOVE!
But she needed to move. Her parents needed her to carry the water to the house. She was needed in the shop.
Her breathing quickens, raspy and swallow, her throat hurt, and her mouth dry and dusty.
Panic overcame her, and she tried to call for help, but nobody came.
"Help me," she whispered more than shouted.
Weakened by the blood loss and the dryness in her mouth.
The sun became a nuisance. The gentle warmth of before became an uncomfortable scorching heat.
She didn't know how much time went by.
Nobody came, and nobody saved her. Her only company were the countless butterflies that came and went like they wanted, mocking her for her loss of freedom.
Her desperation turned to acceptance. She accepted the most obvious facts. Nobody would come and save her.
After the acceptance was only numbness left.
Then the rats and insects.
She lost track of time.
The next time she came to conscience, it was night.
Was it still the same day or a new day all along?
In all that time, the shining butterflies kept her company, or were they mocking her?
Her legs still felt numb, and Rats were beginning to eat parts of her.
When they came to her arms and face she swated them away But they still came and her legs were unprotected.
She didn't watch, but she could feel the ripping of skin and muscles and the cracking of bones.
The butterflies were unaffected by the noises, still resting on her arms or the rubbles of her former home.
Then, one day, the weight of the beam stopped weighing her down. At first, she thought she finally could die.
But then came back the butterflies, shining brighter than ever before. The rats had eaten her lower body parts and her abilityhealed her instantly, that allowed her to be freed from the beam. Gruesome. And before she could process the while situation, she was free and could feel her legs again.
She hated the butterflies.
They prolonged her suffering.
With weak arms and on unsteady legs, she dragged herself upward. Just to fall back down face first and hitting her head on a stone.
Everything went black. Blissful nothingness and unconsciousness.
....
Yosano awoke on a rough surface, probably a cardboard with a shiftmake blanket over her.
Her emotional, empty eyes looked around the makeshift house or tent. She wasn't sure.
In the end, she was found by someone.
"OH, you awake," a young voice speaks up.
A boy, maybe around 16 years old, was sitting on the floor next to her cardboard bed. His brown hair was overcoated with a light layer of dust. Dirty and not well cared for. But his green eyes shone with a bright kindness and happiness she could only dream of.
"My name is Tanako," he introduced himself, smiling at her friend.
"Ah," she coughs the words not forming with her dry mouth.
"Ah, wait a moment, drink some water," he ot up, holding a bottle to her lips.
She drank greed.
"I'm Yosano Akiko," she wispers voice still rough and raspy.
"If you want, you can stay here as long as you want, we're a group of Orphans, our parents left us to fetch for ourselves, not protecting us as they should. So we do it ourselves, protecting each other and staying together to become strong."
Tanako finished his little speech.
'How can he shine so brightly' was Yosanos only thought while watching Tanako speaking.
"Protecting each other?" She rasped , coughing a bit from straining her voice too much.
"Yes," he exclaims energetic. " Me and a few others have founded our own organization of street children." He gives her a smile, nearly bordering on a smirk. "We call ourselves 'the Sheep' "
....
In the following days and weeks, Yosano becomes part of the self-proclaimed Sheep. The group was actually just a collection of street kids protecting and helping each other.
At first, Yosano stayed on the cardboard bed. She first woke up on, but Tanako would always visit her, animating her to move, to think, and especially to smile.
She looked forward to their time together, but at the same time, she felt guilty of not helping in the organization.
So, she became an official member.
She started helping out with the sick or wounded children, which luckily weren't many.
Slowly but steadily, she had her stamina rebuild, and her smile returned.
Nearly a month later, she started helping to find food. That was also the moment she witnessed the great explosion.
An explosion.
An explosion that ruined her wall with the small beautiful window to the pretty garden.
An explosion that destroyed the ceiling of her former home.
That destroyed her ceiling and a support beam that weighted down on her for days or months? Maybe she was already dead.
Hopefully, she was already dead.
But she could still hear the rats, and she would still see the glowing butterflies.
And she knew that she was still trapped under that support beam from her former ceiling.
...
She didn't know she lost her conscience until the moment she woke up again. She was again on her cardboard bed. But this time, instead of waking alone, there was a boy a few armlengths away.
He lay on his own cardboard bed. A thin old blanket over his small tiny body. He couldn't be older than 7.
She was fascinated by his fire red hair and horrified by his skinny frame.
She didn't know how long she sat there with her legs crossed, observing the boy.
But when he awoke, a night had already passed, and her eyes felt irritated.
The child awoke slowly. Taking in his new surroundings carefully.
He had a certain curiosity that could be compared to a newborn. It was cute in Yosanos' humble opinion (not that anyone would know that)
The boy looked at her. Seemingly startled by her presence but slowly relaxing when he realized she didn't mean any harm.
Yosano watched him neutral.
Not showing any negative reaction or emotion, but also not showing any positive emotions.
He seemed to like her presence because he shifted closer.
As they eyes met, dull magenta and dull curious blue-brown she felt something inside her move. Something protective.
How could someone so lost still have the curiosity and will to live. How did he not cussed out the world and dammend them and their torments all in hell.
A lone tear escaped her eye.
He was like herself. She was betrayed by fate, and still he shone so much brighter than her.
She promised she would give her all to keep that shine.
....
Years passed and the small lost child she swore to protect grew up to a wild, loud and strong teenager 'Chuuya Nakahara' she found out later, was her little brother and the 'king of the sheep'.
A silly little name their enemies thought of.
But in Yosanos' mind, he still stayed the young child that was fascinated by the simplest thing he saw.
She smiled fondly at the memories.
She worked part-time at the docks, earning a few yen for food and other things for the sheep and especially the street kids.
Then it came the beginning of the end.
...
It all started with Chuuya's personal quest to gain information on Arahabaki and the explosion 8 years ago.
No, no, actually, they were doomed the moment the older kids of the sheep were caught midfire in a conflict of the Port Mafia and died before Yosano could do everything.
After that, everything went down, the established Chuuya as a gravity manipulator on the top, but at the same time, they took advantage of Chuuya's good nature.
Chuuya's side mission was just the oil feeding the already lit fire.
Yosano was still at work when it apparently happened. Chuuya spotted together with the Port Mafia, betraying the sheep.
She heard it from Yuan. Chuuya went with a bandaged brunette from the Port Mafia on a mission. Following orders from the Port Mafia Boss
Obviously, rejecting the sheep.
Yosano didn't believe that.
Chuuya was just on a side quest, and he would never betray their family like that. He didn't have a reason for it.
It was more possible that the Port Mafia was blackmailing Chuuya to help in their mission.
Yeah, that was probably it.
Even though she was convinced by Chuuya's loyalty, the rest of the Sheep were wavering in their faith for Chuuya.
She saw it. Even a few days later, when Chuuya returned. The poisoning looks he received were saying it all.
So Yosano took it in her own hands to warn Chuuya of the misstrust of their family.
"You seem down the last few days. "
Chuuya looks at her, then gazes back to the ocean.
"It was a shitty week for me," he replies, not looking at her.
She sighs "Your like a little brother to me, so I only say this once. The others started to mistrust you because of your last side quest." He sharply turns to her, shock apparent on his face. Ready to defend the family.
"I know their our family and I know you needed your own time to research your own interests, but going with the Mafia boy gave a false sight and now yuan in her jealously and Shirase in his controll-mania belief your with the Port Mafia."
She stopped heart heavy with fear and worry.
"Don't worry for me, Akiko-nee. I'm sure this misunderstanding will be talked out, and in a few days, we're back to normal."
"If you say so," she replies, unsure. She had a bad feeling. The feeling that this 'misunderstanding' could not be so easily solved as Chuuya said it could.
...
Three days later, she was proven correct in her bad feeling when Shirase introduced GSS Soldiers and a trap to kill Chuuya.
"OBJECTION!" she screams her lungs out the moment she gears the proposition.
"It's all a misunderstanding," she tries explaining.
"A misunderstanding?! Chuuya betrayed us for th Port Mafia, behind our back!" Shirase counter immediately. He was lost in his rage and hated being only second to Chuuya and his powerful ability.
Akiko of you can't understand that, then you're a traitor too, " he accused her.
Yosano could feel all the eyes on her. Their Opinions on her turning hostile.
Suffocating her.
In her panic, she turned, running for her life.
That was bad she needed to warn Chuuya before it was too late.
Tree shots from one of the machine guns were heard, then came the pain.
Two in the back.
One in her left leg.
They shot her. They wanted her dead. They betrayed her. Her family.
She wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't come, the shock too big, the betrayal too deep.
Footsteps came up to her, and she looked up.
Shirase stood before her.
His face showed ho remorse.
"I'm sorry it had to end this way, but we couldn't have you warn Chuuya and dismantle our surprise attack on him." he smiled apologetic.
Then he steeds her in the back.
Her vision swam. She felt weak. The blade was probably coated in poison.
Losing conscienceness, she overheard Shirase ordering her being thrown into the garbage.
...
It was night when she came back to conscience. Her body aches, but she needs to search for her brother. Chuuya needed her.
She stood up. Chuuya, stay alive.
The spot the attack was planned on was a masaker of GSS soldiers and Mafios cleaning up the place. She was too late.
They were all gone.
But where was Chuuya? Where was he? Was he under the bodies of the gss Soldiers, did he and Shirase reconnect and mend their relationship? Very unlikely.
Where was he.
'Chuuya, come back to me'
...
She stayed there till the Mafia goons left. Finished with their clean up and no body was left behind.
Never in that whole time had she seen a member of the sheep. They all came out unscraped.
She felt relieved by that. Still, her heart weighted heavily in her chest. The betrayal was not easily forgotten.
With that, she stood up. Knowing she could go back to Suribachi city, back to the Sheep. She went direction City. I was hoping she wouldn't step inside Mafia territory.
It was a bridge.
A high bridge, surpassing on of Yokohama's rivers.
O calm days you could seel the beautiful sky reflecting in the waters, now there was only dark, dangerous deadly waters below.
"You shouldn't jump, " a voice disrupted her thoughts.
Young but still serious. She turned to see the stranger.
A boy around her age. Dark hair and a detective outfit. His eyes closed.
"Why?" she asked. She didn't ask for this cursed existing.
Why shouldn't she end it here and now.
"There are a lot of people who'll still need your kindness." An honest reply and piercing green eyes, eyes that saw her pain and understood her, looked at her with care.
(She was reminded of a similar boy years back, for years dead)
"Come to the Armed Detective Agency, become a Detective and save people," the Detective gives his hand.
She looked at it for a moment.
She had nothing more to lose. She already lost everything.
There was no reason she shouldn't agree.
Maybe she could even find out what happened to Chuuya one day.
Reluctantly, she shook the Detective's Hand.
"Ok."
"Welcome to the Armed Detective Agency, I'm Ranpo Edogawa World's greatest detective."