Tokyo, Japan
Nala-19
"This woman is so cool"
I was wary at first.
I've never been around her before. I did not know about her. I had no idea what to expect. I was hesitant to spend the day walking around the streets alone with her. She was beautiful, skin as silky and smooth as a milk chocolate commercial. She was tall for a woman, maybe around 180cm. Her hair looked easily manipulated into whatever style she wanted naturally. Her smile turned the heads of countless men as they walked past. I felt inferior to her but at the same time I felt inspired by her. I'm an only child but I couldn't help thinking that if I could have an older sister, it would be her and I would want to be around her all the time.
"Nala, are you alright?" Her dark brown eyes stared into my soul, such a stark contrast to Ty's deep grey eyes that had mystery to them. Made you wonder how genes actually worked.
"I-I'm fine, I just spaced out a bit." I put on a fake smile. Truth is I was incredibly nervous. It never even crossed my name that Ty had siblings. So maybe him not telling me, is partly my fault. I should be invested into getting to know him. Sometimes that's what I feel like I'm doing but other times I feel like I have no idea who I'm standing next to. I should start with his sister if I want to know more about him.
"So, Ty tells me he was born in Sierra Leone. How was it growing up there?" she didn't immediately answer. She seemed to be picking out her words carefully.
"I can't really speak for my brother but for me it was a very happy time. It was just like any other childhood, the ignorance of just being a kid. It's not something I take lightly; it was freeing. I miss those times." I kind of tilted my head at her. In this way I can see the resemblance.
"You and your brother are really alike, such an introspective answer. You guys really aren't simple." She almost choked on her own spit laughing. To hear her laugh really eased my tension.
"To hear that I'm just as cringe as him, makes me feel like I need to lighten up a bit. I guess I've had a lot of time to think about my childhood and how different things are now. Sorry it couldn't be simpler." She sounded like she really wanted to go back to those times. She spoke like it was a very tender memory, a memory that she cherished.
"When was the last time you were there and what made you come to England if you loved it so much." She gave me a bitter smile.
"Circumstances I guess, I'm not the one to want to talk about it to be honest. That answer to give you, belongs to Ty." I made my face give her a little playful pout. That made her smile, and she pulled me closer to her. "Awe 'little one', you're so cute." I giggled a little until I noticed a billboard in my peripherals. An iconic straw hat made my eyes sparkle. I started getting really excited. CniDaria, seeing my excitement started giving me a knowing sinister smile. I looked at her suspiciously.
"What are you on about?" If she was going to make fun of my love of Anime I was going to argue to my dying breath. But what she said next took me off guard.
"Sanji or Zoro?" I blinked and returned her sinister smile.
"No one likes that Marimo Head." The look of disdain she looked down at me with, made me laugh uncontrollably. I was having the best time with her. I really do feel like I could look at her as a friend, as a big sister. I think I could forgive Ty for keeping her from me. She special and worth coveting. After another moment however I felt CniDaria body tense up, the atmosphere changed, and her smile was nowhere to be found. Her face turned stony like it never seen joy before or it would never see joy again. "Ni, it's just a joke I didn't think you would take your fandom this fa-"
"NALA GET DOWN!" Gun shots started raining down from above and my ears started ringing. I started to feel disoriented. CniDaria pulled my head down and she dragged me away from the scene as quickly as possible. I didn't understand what was going on. Why were people shooting at us. I almost died. That realization took over my body like a disease and I started shaking violently. My legs gave out and I fell limp towards the floor. The reaction to my mortality did not compute in my head. Not just my mind was panicking, my body was panicking as well. It started to shut down, I felt myself passing out, my eyes were closing slowly but surely. "Calm yourself." A serene voice broke through all the noise and panic. The voice calmed all my senses down. I pulled my eyes open and I could see the light violet eyes of CniDaria push all unnecessary thoughts from my mind. I felt a steady pressure rock my body back to normal. My mind settled and came to terms with our situation and I was back to thinking rationally. "Are you fine?" I took a deep breath and exhaled. I was being carried by CniDaria like a baby. Embarrassed I hopped from her arms and answered softly looking at the floor.
"I'm fine now, I just never experienced something like that before." We were a fair distance from the shooting, and we were now very close to our hotel. I don't know how long my mini episode took but Ni did good to carry me such a far distance. That must have been a couple of kilometers carrying my dead weight. She didn't seem tired at all though. She was standing with just a hand on her hip looking at our surroundings. I looked back up into her eyes and I saw the same dark brown eyes. I must have been just imagining the violet irises of her eyes before. Her face was still profoundly serious, and she was concentrating on the crowd around us.
"Go on ahead into the Hotel." I looked at her incredibly, I would never leave her after what just happened to us. What was she thinking?
"I would never-"
"I SAID GO!" her face was fierce, full of fear and frustration. I immediately turned towards the hotel, followed orders, and never looked back. I felt tears threatening to gush out of my eyes. I had no idea why she yelled like that. Did she blame me for the shooting? Did she feel resentment that she had to carry me all the way here? I didn't get that feeling but my intuition was screaming for me to do what she said and worry about the why later. Right now, I needed to get back to Ty and tell him what happened.
I burst into the hotel and ran straight to the elevator smashing the button to call it. The door opened relatively quick, and I hurried inside. I pressed the button to our floor and continually press the button to close the door. As the door closed, I started hearing screams in the plaza. I started to panic again. I started to hate my decision to leave her, and my hands started shaking again. The elevators doors opened, and I took off to our room, pushing away people walking the halls that were in my way. I got to the door, and I fumbled for my room key being unable to steady my hands enough to actually get the door open. Apparently, I was making a real ruckus because Ty came to the door.
"Did y'all have such a good time that you can't even open the doo-" He opened the door with a teasing smile that instantly disappeared once he saw the state I was in. I was shaking violently now; he had to grab my shoulders just to steady me. "What happened." I tried to tell him everything, but no words came out. I was just moving my mouth with no sounds. I could not tell him I left his sister to die. I could not even look him in the eye. I just stared at the floor. "Where's Ni?" I continue to look at the floor trying to get the words, but I couldn't get it out. He started to shake me out of my stupor to get answers out of me. "WHERE"S MY SISTER!" The amount of emotion that was in his voice is something I never heard before. I didn't even know he was capable of such anger. All I could muster was a whisper.
"She's outside in the plaza." He let me go and I fell to my knees still shaking from the realization that I left her to die. Thylonius left me there as he ran down the hall not looking back once.