Chapter 4
❀⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰❀
. . . 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝟚𝟘𝟞𝟟 . . .

|𝟡:𝟚𝟝 𝔸𝕄|

"What's with the long face?" I heard Yves ask beside me. For a split second, I almost forgot I was at the kitchen washing the dishes with him. He chuckled a bit when he noticed that I'd come to my senses. "You looked like you have some deep thoughts, care to share?" he said as he nudged me lightly.

"Nothing," I muttered under my breath. "Just continue washing," I added while doing the same.

"Jeez, the cold Vivi is back. You were smiling a while ago," he smirked, clearly teasing me. Wait, did he saw that?

I just played it off and responded, "I don't know what you're saying. Your eyes are deceiving you." I dried off my hands and carried the dishes I had washed to Lara to stock them accordingly. "Here," I said.

"Thank you. By the way, tomorrow's your–" Yves interrupted her by calling her out. She looked like she realized something she shouldn't say and went to him.

Tomorrow's my what?

Hmm. Something's fishy.

I headed outside to find where Mimi was since my part was done. I thought that maybe spending my time in the library would be a good pastime. I was going to ask permission if I could transfer my collection of books in the library. If there's still space, that is.

Moments later, Mimi permitted me and offered to help. I politely declined her, and this time, she wasn't persistent like yesterday.

I went upstairs to get my things. When I was done, I hauled my suitcase full of books downstairs and to the library. Along the way, I crossed paths with Yves and others. Some had confused looks in their faces when they saw me with a suitcase, thinking that I was going to run away from home. When I explained the reason why, they were surprised.

Yves, being the insistent boy he was, kept on tagging along even when I already refused. But somehow, I just couldn't stay saying no to him.

As we where inside the library, I immediately strode across the room, finding where the empty shelf were.

"Hey!" he called my attention. "There's two empty shelves here." I went to where he was while pulling the suitcase.

We spent the next half hour arguing rather than organizing the books because of how he carelessly put the books on the shelf; it made me mad. He was close to creating a freaking crease on one of my favorite books. Fortunately, I noticed it before he did. I confronted him and asked to leave me be, but he refused. He wanted to make it up, he said.

So here he was, quietly arranging them alone at the shelf fourth to the bottom where I ordered him to. There was still five dozen out of a hundred left so I wondered if he could finish it today. As for me, I was beside him, sitting on the floor while peacefully reading a book I found interesting.

"Hey..." he spoke in a middle of the silence, "Why's this book badly damaged?" he said as he sat down and showed me the book. It took me a while to remember that that book was the only one that held a happy memory before coming here in this orphanage.

I started telling him the story, knowing that he would just persuade me to if I would say no.

"It was 6 years ago, when I just fought with the two other kids and ran away from the house, carrying that book. I was actually reading it quietly on the bench at a park I found nowhere. I didn't really care about where I was and just kept on reading until some random boy came who kept on crying;it pissed me off. I nearly smacked him on the head to shush him but I figured that if I did, he would just cry again."

"Jeez, glad you didn't," he said. I almost chuckled and continued narrating.

"Luckily, securities were out of sight. So instead of being violent, the nine-year old me thought that it would be better to lend him the book. What I didn't anticipate was he actually calmed down and read it. I was irritated because he wasted my time when I was supposed to be finishing it. He was so engrossed with it so I tried to take it back but he slapped my hand away, claiming the book to himself. In the end, we played tug of war unintentionally.

I kept on pulling but his grip was tighter. Slowly, his grip loosen, making me stumble. What I didn't notice was there was a pond behind me. Due to that circumstance, the book fell while I maintained my balanced." I unconsciously covered my mouth as I wasn't aware that I was speaking too long for the first time. So, I just ended it with "That's it".

I glanced at him and he looked like he wanted more of the story. "What happened after that?" he asked. The 'Yves effect', as I liked to call it, worked onto me again as I told him the rest of the story.

"Well, he just repeatedly apologized and as payback, he invited me to play a game, secretly. I surprisingly found fun. It was one of the rarest moments when I was laughing and I couldn't control it. We introduced ourselves in the middle of playing. I wasn't interested to what his name was, but I'm pretty sure he said it. We stopped playing when we saw the sun fading out. Sadly, I never saw him again." I leaned my back on the shelf and looked up at the ceiling as I accidentally said my thoughts out loud.

"I wish I properly listened back then. Too bad I couldn't remember him now..."

I was stopped by my surprise and took a glance at Yves, who was wearing the same expression as I was.

We had an eye to eye contact for seconds until he broke it off. "I see, too bad you can't remember him, huh?" he answered as he continued what he was supposed to do earlier. I thought what I said was surprising enough but I thought wrong. He mumbled under his breath, not too soft as he looked back at me, "Too bad you can't remember me, then?"

I was speechless. My mind went blank for a second until I said, "What did you just say?" I really needed an explanation at that moment.

I was thinking of possible proofs that will make his statement true.

Wait.

Come to think of it, I really found him oddly familiar when we first met yesterday. His persistence never fade, too. Also, there was only one person who I listen to and that was him. The boy I met six years ago that turned out to be Yves.

"I thought you would recognize me when I said my name but sadly, you didn't," he said.

"When did you remember me?"

"The moment Mimi introduced you to us in advanced I thought, 'Her name sounded like I've heard it before'. When I saw you, again, I was like, 'She could be the one I met before'. But when I saw this book, I purposely asked you to tell me the story without you noticing it. You didn't changed and I knew you couldn't say 'no' to me," he answered as he smirked.

"Wait, why do you look so happy that it turned out to be me? I was just some random girl you played with back then," I asked. I was curious why this happening brought him such expression.

"You may think that you're just 'some random girl' but you were the first friend I had. Well, kind of. I used to be a crybaby you know, that's why kids don't play with me."

I would've never thought that the crybaby I met before was the irritatingly bright boy that was going to be my sibling now. He really did change but at the same time he didn't.

It's funny how this world works.

"For some reason, we really do have some similarities, don't we? Crying in the first meetings," I said, earning a contagious laugh from him which eventually, made me laugh, too.

"Oh! You laughed! Finally!" he exclaimed. He smiled softly and said, "It really is a small world, isn't it?"

"It really is."

❀⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰❀