We are all slaves of wealth, power, and will. Losing the chance to be free. This world couldn’t adjust itself to get easy on us, you know? Most of the time, those people who are strong enough to fight have the only rights to be free from being the slave of other people. Those who are free enough to live, and not just exist.

Most of the time, we thought that we are free until we realized that we are all slaves of other people’s opinions and emotions. We tend to adjust for the sake of others thinking that it’ll make us feel good knowing we just did something to please them. But not exactly, we are already isolating ourselves when you think of it hardly. Isolating behind the bars of others, slowly losing the right to be free and move with our own will.

All of it, we will regret it in the after-life when you didn’t justify your life at least once.

Through the narrow slit of my eyes, I looked at the horizon of the sky. Clouds, birds, and the sun. It’s just the same as this. A timeless curse behind these doors.

“U-Uh... Excuse me...” It was like an angel stuttered when someone spoke from behind me.

I never thought of talking to anyone in this room that I didn’t think I was the one that kid is talking to, yet, I still turned around. To my surprise, he’s really talking to me! And... he’s a boy, I thought it was a girl because of that feminine voice.

“K-Konnichiwa...” I managed to say it only with a wave of vibration in it. I don’t like it here, I want to go home! I don’t want to live here with kids and places I am not even familiar with. And their language, I only know a few of it so how am I supposed to communicate with them?

“Huh?” His forehead crumpled. “You don’t have to speak Japanese, all of us here are English speakers. We are all not from Japan at all...”

“Is that so?” Where are we? I’m still confused. Am I really in Japan right now? How? How did I end up being here when I was just with my parents two days ago?

We all stilled in our places when a man with a masculine body filled with tattoos sweeps inside the room with glaring eyes. The smell of cigarettes passes in front of me and I pinched my nose. This man’s also reeked of alcohol.

The man glared at my way when he saw what I did. My heart thumped loudly. I don’t know what to do. My parents, I need them right now. I’m scared.

I stayed still beside the boy I talked to earlier. The man walked in front of us, asking our names one by one.

“A-Aru... Aru Smith.” He tried his best to keep straight eye contact with the man. Behind that bravery of him, I can see the fear of being hurt behind his eyes. This man can hurt us based on the fact that they kidnapped us. He even hit someone just a while ago.

“Misa...” I whispered through the wind. I kept my eyes on the floor. “I don’t know my last name.” That’s the truth. I don’t know either of my parents’ surnames. Once, I heard them talking about our last name but I can’t remember it right now.

“I hate kids that are lying to the elders.” His voice was rough with a bit hint of anger in it. “Kids should be taught about how to answer properly—”

“But I’m telling the truth! My whole life, not even once, I heard about my surname—” I immediately stopped talking when I caught him looking down at me as if he’s ready to kill me right now. All the kids inside the room look so shocked as well, even Aru himself.

I tried to take a step back but he harshly pulled my arm. I feel like he’s crushing it on purpose.

“You’re not afraid to die, are you?” He sarcastically laughed. “In twelve years of working, this is the first time I encountered someone like you. Brat.”

I unconsciously sucked a full pack of air as soon as his hand landed on my right cheek vigorously. I went out of balance and fell on the floor.

Aru’s looking at me with the will to help me on his face. Yet, he couldn’t do it and I understand. We’re both scared right now and I don’t him to get dragged into my situation.

The man scoffed. “No one’s allowed to give her lunch and dinner today. It’s a punishment.”

I can feel my right cheek starting to get warmer because of the slap. As soon as the man left, Aru quickly stepped beside me. With his hand on my arm and back, he helped me get up.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concern was evident in his voice.

I gently rubbed my cheeks. “It hurts...” I am afraid of starving to death, but I am more afraid of staying here anymore. Someone help us, someone save us, please.

And they actually didn’t give me even a glass of water during lunch and dinner. I was at the corner, looking at them eating and enjoying their food even though it wasn’t enough to satisfy their growling stomach.

Aru, on the other hand, tried to give me the half of his food only if I didn’t refuse. “I’m fine, don’t mind me.” Besides, it’s almost bedtime. I can take this through sleeping and I’m sure, tomorrow, they will let me eat already.

Neither of us knows what they are planning. This is kidnapping, aren’t they supposed to ask our parents for ransom? If it’s all about the money, then why did they commit genocide in our village? Some of them got the chance to run away but the majority died. I’m the only one who’s alive right now.

“Misa... Misa...”

Aru’s voice keeps on repeating inside my head as he calls my name repeatedly. He pulled the hem of my shirt to wake me up from the will to escape my hunger by sleeping.

“Hm?” I looked up at him. His angelic features could be seen under the light of a lamppost outside this room. He appeared to be in a deep excitement after seeing me awake.

Aru brought his mouth nearer to my ear just so he could whisper. I’m still under a small towel, using it as a blanket.

“I have a surprise for you,” he whispered then help my wrist to make me stand up.

I let him lead me the way over our fellow kids who are sleeping on the floor. But when we got out of the room, I started to panic. “I-I don’t want to go.” Our room isn’t locked, surprisingly, that’s why it’s easy for us to go out.

My attempt to take away my wrist from Aru failed when he gripped it tighter. He pouted cutely. “Aren’t you hungry? I’m just helping you,” he reasoned before pulling me again.

“But you don’t have to. They are going to hit both of us when they knew about this.” We turned to the left where there is a stair leading to something like an underground basement.

“Sometimes, you need to take the risk to survive.”

It took me a minute to process what he have said. “But taking the risk could make it worse.”

“Not if you are acting smoothly.” He’s talking as if he is used in this kind of stuff. It made me ask him a question.

“Aru, how long have you been here?” I started nibbling my lower lip right after.

“Two... three, I lose count. It’s not been so long but it feels like it does.”

“Don’t you hate it here?” How could he last three months staying here? Away from his country, family, and friends.

“They are feeding us thrice a day. It’s fine for me as long as they are not hurting us. We should just be obliged what they want and everything’s going fine.” He sighed. I can feel the longing in his voice. “How about you, Misa? You’re going to do the same, right?”

“Who would want to be taken care of by those people who killed our loved ones then took us? I would rather die right now.” I looked down on the cobblestone where we are walking. I can accept their help but I don’t want it forever to be like this. I want to go home.

“You’re already dead from hunger right now if only you didn’t accept the food they gave you for two days. You can’t refuse to be taken care of by them, even if you hate that fact, right? That those people who killed your parents were the ones who are feeding you these past few days.”

I almost couldn’t move my head to look up at him. Has he been like this every new kid he met? Despite his soft physical appearance, the thought of him talking like a mature grown-up man never crossed my mind. Because most of the time, he looks like he is covered with fear and wanted to cry.

I wish I can be more like him. Someone who can understand the situation even if it’s scaring my soul. Someone who can take the risk to survive.

Frightened as I am, I felt the field of cold on his palm. It planted a kiss on my wrist. I felt it. We are both scared right now and in return for being kind to me, I tried my best to at least cheer him up.

I walked faster to be on the same level as him. “You know what I believe the most?”

He stopped for a brief moment to take a look at my face. It didn’t take long when he continued walking, still holding me. “What is it?” His pout became deeper. The way his eyes became droopy all of the sudden incited fire in my heart.

“Somewhere in the future, maybe tomorrow or the next following years, we will be free.” I pointed to a lonely butterfly wandering in this basement.

Aru looked at it.

And seconds later, it finally found its way out of here. “Just like that butterfly, we can find the way out of here. We can find our freedom outside when we survive.” I smiled. “And maybe in that uncertain time from the future, I am standing here, watching this memory where I was befriended by someone for the first time.”

All my life, I have never had friends. I used to live in a village deep in the woods. Most of them are already adults and even if I see a kid the same age as me, they never wanted to befriend me. I don’t know why.

“You’re the first friend I had that’s why you’re special to me. I want both of us to survive without taking the risk. So please, let’s go back. I’m not hungry anymore. When we got out of here, I will take you to the most important place for me.”

Aru’s eyes suddenly filled with tears. He cupped his mouth using his free hand. “Misa!” he whisper-shouted and I laughed. He looks like he wanted to cry like a kid having tantrums.

“And maybe somewhere in the future, you won’t cry anymore.” You will become stronger as days go by, I know that.

“Let’s hurry before someone sees us here.”

He nodded. “Are you sure you’re not hungry? You may pass out anytime right now.”

“Don’t worry about me.” I changed the positions of our hands. Our fingers intertwined with each other and as we were about to get back, someone spoke from behind that made us gasp and grasped with each other even more.

“Oi, oi, oil! What are you doing here?

My breathing hitched once again when I felt my feet already levitating and I even let go of Aru’s hand. The woman, who’s obviously older than me, is holding the back of my shirt to lift me.

“M-Misa!” Aru shouted.

I don’t understand what she’s talking about, I don’t know how to respond. I smelled the after-bath when the woman tried to scrutinize me.

I stayed still, afraid of what she is going to do. When I heard her voice, the atmosphere suddenly became heavy because of her presence. And now, she already caught us two. Is she one of the kids they kidnapped? But if she is, why does she smell so good that it seems like she’s living a good life? She even amell like lotus. If that’s the case, then she’s one of them and now, Aru and I ate doomed. I should’ve stopped him from the very first.

“I-I am sorry! It’s not her fault! Please let her go—”

“Shut up.” She immediately cuts him off with annoyance in her voice. Once again, fear dominated Aru.

I don’t know what they are talking about but I can feel that it’s not good. I tried to struggle to get away from her when she pulled my hair, making me look straight to the way heading to the darkest part of the basement.

“There’s a deep hole over there and those who got thrown inside never make it alive.”