“Hnnng. Papa…”

My eyes felt heavy as I drowsily awoke with a sharp pain stabbing the back of my head. The chill, gentle breeze help wake me up and despite my best attempts to resist, the stimulation was far too much. I buried my head deeper into Papa’s hair, hoping to escape this dreadful day.

So, Papa saved me again…

Burying my head deeper into Papa’s hair was soothing, like trying to absorb some of his warmth into my heart. But instead of the tender wood scent I’m accustomed to, my nose screaming aches yanking my head back in a single quick motion, causing me to fall off of him.

Disgusting. Gross gross gross!

I spat, trying to get the stench of a tangy sour burning, while somehow having a texture like curdled yogurt out of my mouth.

“Eww! Papa, you need a bath!”

“Yer a rude one, lil miss.”

I knew Papa could inflect his voice, but a girl was definitely not on his repertoire of imitation; well, he technically could sound like a girl, but it sounds more like a high-pitched squeaking than anything.

Also, I distinctly remember Papa bathing right after me, so it was impossible that his clothes would get this dirty in only a couple of hours.

Actually, it was more than possible with Papa, of all people, but he wouldn’t want to ruin my gifts even if his life depended on it. I know because he told me so many times.

It couldn’t be.

No way it could be Sophia. My mind races all around my skull. I mean, it sounded like hers and it was a girl’s voice I had just heard.

The head trauma, that’s it.

After hitting my head when Sophia, well…and I must be hallucinating now. I’m sure it’s back to normal by now. I close my eyes, hoping the voice that raised me all these years would call back.

“P-papa w-why do you stink so bad?”

Now he’ll respond with a joke, like always.

The person came closer and closer until we were within smelling distance, which was not good for my expectations. The person barely made a sound with each step, and it was only thanks to the silence between us, allowing me to hear them. This ‘Papa’ was definitely a smaller size, just from what I remembered when we were at home.

M-m-maybe it’s a prank.

I hoped, clenching my fists together, shivering furiously. I want to believe it was the cold causing me to shake, but deep down I knew it was certainly not it.

“That’s rude, y’know. How are ya gonna treat someone who’s been carryin’ ya home like that?” This voice was not my fathers; however, it wasn’t Sophia’s either. It sounds like that girl I didn’t get to talk to.

That should have made me feel better, but the daggers from her stares crushed me under its sharpness.

“Pa-pa?” I ask again, begging for it to be his voice this time.

“Oi, I think she says it like that, Ima lotta things, but yer Pops ain’ one of them. I’m me, that’s all to me.” The girl’s voice was firm, seemingly unstoppable, completely opposite to my barely audible tone. “Ah, your eyes! Open em up already.”

I felt a pair of hands reach for my eyes, prying them open to meet this person. Forcefully revealing to me was the same white hair dark skin girl from this morning wearing a wide, playful smile as radiant as ever.

“You’re not Papa…” I unintentionally slip out.

“Yup, just yer typical snake eatin’ spider de-eyin’ wrangler.”

I had no idea what any of those were and they didn’t help ease me, either.

“T-then you are, um, uh.”

“Whauh?”

The debate in my mind about what to do next is as the mysterious girl standing in front of me silently watching my every move. When I try to avert my gaze, she follows me even before I turn my head. Giving up, I lowered my head to the ground where I belong and there she was, squatting to meet my line of sight.

“Pfft. This is fun. Fwa heh-heh-heh-a!” The girl nasally cackles like gremlins in my stories.

I guess it is funny seeing someone like me, so pathetic.

“W-w-what’s so funny?” To my surprise leaves my lips as I remember the classroom event.

“You’re an interestin’ one, that’s all.” The girl shot back, still brimming with energy.

“W-why…” I reply solemnly.

I’m only interested ‘because of Papa’ is what she’s about to say, right? Of course, that’s the only reason she’s putting up with me right now. There’s nothing about me worth knowing about right.

“Dunno ya just are.” She replies, still looking up at straight into my eyes. “Hey Ani, chill it with the commentary. I’m talkin’ to this cutie here.” She says like she was talking to someone, but when I look around, no one is there. Even looking around causes her to jump into my line of sight as if she wouldn’t allow me to look away. “Oh. Sorry, she’s a bit too noisy and way too curious ‘bout ya, y’know.”

“Who?”

“An important person who’s talkin’ to me in my head.”

I look around again and beside her marble-like blue eyes tracking me again, me and her on the sidewalk leaving me confused.

“Is somethin wrong? Ya seems down. I ain’ much for conversatin’ but I can listen.”

As much as I want to believe she cares, no, I desperately want her to, but I knew already from my last mistake that I really am just a fool. Just talking to me was enough to make me want to open up, but I just couldn’t.

“I get it.” I muttered, feeling a powerful grip choking my throat. “You want to know more about Papa?”

“Huh? Whose dat?”

“You want to know about Papa too, right? You want to know more about the outside and everything else, right? That’s why you're nice to me, right…”

“What?”

Of course, this was about Papa. I could feel my mind fogging up with whispers of despair. It always was about him. No one would actually be interested in me unless somehow Papa was involved. Just like the last time I tried; my information was the only valuable thing about me.

“Hey.”

“Just let me go. I know nothing, so leave me alone.”

“Look, just listen.”

But the girl’s voice could not reach me anymore, trapping me in a whirlpool of misery, swirling my thoughts in a pit of darkness, pushing me away.

“Sigh.” She said the word aloud. “Fine, but yer gonna take this cause it ain’ mine.” The girl reaches for something over her shoulder, and I stand up, hoping for it not to be a weapon, but if it was, I didn’t even care if it hit me.

“Fine.” I respond autonomously.

I heard her reach for something metallic and closed my eyes, accepting the outcome.

“Here.”

A metal clunk sound falls below my head and right in front of my eyes and as I instinctually raise my head to see the sound, I saw something unbelievable. It was my poorly wrapped box lunch I had packed this morning with my I.S.D inside and a single whiff convinced me it was.

“Ah, this is Papa’s lunch!” I shot up, grabbing the box and holding it to my chest. I couldn’t believe it as I lift my head to meet her sight for the first time; the dark skin white-haired girl stood there bearing a bright smile that seems to make the icy air surrounding us melt away with its warmness. Despite how filthy the strange looking stranger she looked and even worse smells, at that moment, somehow, she seemed absolutely stunning.

“Hehe, yer finally lookin’ at me.” The girl's hands were on my cheeks, gazing directly at me with that beautiful gentle smile like she was telepathically telling me that things would be okay. That it’s okay to let her inside and to talk to her.

I felt like, like I could actually believe her.

“Oh?” I automatically respond again entrance by her blue gemstone like eyes as I felt my turning on its power, but what I saw surprised me the most.

No color. Her aura didn’t even exist, like I could see right through her. Was it because she was blocking me from seeing or was there nothing to see from her?

“Nice golden eyes ya got there. Ya seems down, so I’m happy it made ya feel better. Glad it worked.”

The girl extends her hand to lift me off the ground as I continue my unrelenting stare, still trying to process the lack of colors.

“But why do you have Papa’s food? Papa never shares.”

“Umm. Ya sees, some guy gave it to me while I was nappin,’ and I guess he was your Papa, I think? It was good and since he told me ya made it, I wanted to ask ya if maybe ya had more and if perhaps I can have some?” Scratching her head blushing shyly, making her cuter than ever. “I’ve been eatin’ spider eyes for sooo long, so this kinda made my day honestly. Thanks for that.”

Spider. And eyes!?

“So…you’re not here for Papa.”

“Did he make it?”

“N-no…”

“Then nope. Got more?”

“I do at home.”

“Yes!” the strange girl yells, hopping around excitedly just like when I get a new gift from Papa; her abundant energy honestly frightens me, but at the very least it wasn’t bad. It made me thrilled that someone was so ecstatic to eat my cooking outside Papa.

We continue down the empty streets together with the strange girl humming a bubbly tune, skipping and around me as I walk. For a moment, a thought pops into my head ‘Don’t we kind of look like friends right now?’

Maybe I should say something to her?

“D-do you, um, like food?”

What was that?! Out of all the things I could have asked, that was the best I could do.

“I positively absolutely 100% love love love it! I haven’t had my stomach filled in a while, so it’s the best feeling ever. Well, next to fightin’. Yeyeye Ani. No violence.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“An-ni?”

“Yep yup yep, my most important heart inside my head.”

Heart in head...huh.

“Okay…” I was unsure how to even respond to that, so moving on. “But isn’t fighting a little, you know… scary?”

The girl froze in place in an epiphanic shock.

“Fights…are…scary? I never thought about it like that?”

“Um, b-because you can get, um, hurt, so isn’t it…scary?”

Then an awkward silence.

I was too selfish thinking about myself again.

Internally yelling, rubbing my hair viciously from another mistake.

I should’ve kept my mouth shut and just followed what she said.

“Whatcha doin’?” The stranger asks.

“N-nothing.” I try to regain my composure and used my single brain cell to maximum capacity to get myself out. “J-just you know.”

“Know what?” She replies with a cock in her head.

“B-b-b.” Even in overdrive, my brain cell was struggling to come up with something.

“B?”

“B-brushing my hair! I-i-it’s a technique my Papa taught me that gets rid of dandruff!”

Idiot! Now she thinks I don’t take care of myself and dirty.

Her eyes lit up, and she looked upwards at the barrier.

“Oh that! Hey, ever heard of it, Ani? No? Try it. It’ll make you more beautiful than ya already are. Oh yeah, I forgot yers is different.” Once again talking to herself. “Really, but doesn’t it use water though? Ah, I get it now, thanks.”

I wanna ask more but what if her made up voices were something personal, and she takes offense to it if I asked? I don’t wanna ruin what we have going on right now.

“Somethin’ up?” She asks.

“N-no.”

“Okay.”

“Y-yeah.” I sigh, feeling relieved.

We resumed walking towards my home as she darted her eyes around while swaying her head.

“It’s like, y’know, limit testing.” she said, breaking the tension wall between us.

“What is?”

“Y’know, fighting.”

“Oh.” I figured that’s what she meant, but still didn’t get it. “I don’t get it.”

“Well, um, so like y’know, when ya work hard for something, you’d want to see how much better ya got, right?”

“Yeah, I-I think?”

“It’s kinda like that.”

“So, like when I learned how to burn off the alcohol in wine, so I made a lot of trial and errors to find the right amount to use?”

“Yeah! Like that. Well now, I’m not sure.” The girl seems even more confused than I was, but she was still as enthusiastic as ever, and that energy feels like its rubbing off on me.

“You know, or you think?”

“I know, I think.”

Whether it was from the long day or emotional exhaustion, I couldn’t help but chuckle after hearing that and the girl follows with her own cackling. Each burst of laughter dispersing any of my bad thoughts and making me succumb to her own tempo. The girl wipes her eyes from all our laughing, then continues talking.

“I know, I know, it’s kinda silly, but it’s the way I like to communicate.”

“Communicate with who?”

“Family and friends, mostly. Nothing like physical contact to get closer to someone.”

“Wow, I’m jealous.”

“Yup, ya don’t?”

“No, it’s just me and Papa right now. Sometimes Gammy visits, but no one else really.”

“Want one?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know where to look and even if I did, I’m not sure they’d like being around me.”

“How ‘bout me then? I like ya, and ya found me.”

There she is again, brightening up the air with her big silly smile; so giddy and full of life that even I smile. I don’t know how to describe it, but right now I feel great. Exactly what I was looking for when I left this morning.

It was almost too good to be true.

“They are amazing. When ya meet them, you’ll see. Some strong, some smart, and all hard workin’. They are precious to me but…” Her smile fades a bit as she stares at the empty road ahead, reminding me of Papa from this morning.

“But?”

“It kinda sucks bein’ away from them, y’know, but when I’m done here, I’ll get back to them no matter what.”

“What business do you have here if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I don’t and just some checkup stuff. They don’t seem to be listenin’ to me, so I’m thinkin’ of givin’ up on it.”

“Who?”

“Nobody that important to me but important to someone else I know.”

“Oh.”

Maybe I shouldn’t pry anymore. It seems to something she doesn’t want to talk about so I’m gonna change the subject.

Now how I should do it exactly is the big issue here. Papa is way better at changing the subject than me, so I’m at a loss.

“Besides, I found somethin’ way more interestin’ that I wanna keep my eye on.”

“What is it?”

She says nothing and just stares at me with a smug look.

“W-what…”

Again, nothing but that cheeky grin.

“Me?! Why?!”

“Because my fists tell me so.”

“But what about the others that were special to that person you mentioned? They must be better than me…”

“I-I.” She seems so down for the first time completely opposite of moments earlier, which made me sad too. “I dunno. They won’t listen to me, y’know. They're just ain’ what they used to be, but…”

“But?”

“A-anyway, I’m investin’ my interest in ya, and nothin’ can stop it.” She re-energizes herself, turning her full attention onto me. “That’s how special I think ya are.”

Something about that smile was too infectious, with just a single look, and it made all of my worries fade away.

I wonder if it was her power or if she was just that charming?

But something else bothered me, though. Why did all this seem so familiar?

“So? Whatcha wanna do? I’ve talked enough about me, now ya and yer Papa.”

“Oh um ah. Where do I start?”

Then I remembered my morning goal.

“C-c-can I ask you…s-s-something?”

“Sure, go ahead. I’m listening carefully with my ears, face, body, knees and toes.” She replies, pointing to the corresponding body part.

Normally, I’m overwhelmed by even the thought of asking this question, since it’s one that I’ve been wanting to ask for so long. To finally make a connection outside my Papa and develop into a person he could be proud of. To be honest, I thought I would be terrified, but right now, at this moment, I feel calm.

Relaxed even.

The words just slip out of my mouth as natural as a spring flowing in the Southern Continent.

Here goes nothing. My second shot.

“C-can we be…friends?”

There it was.

I put myself out there for her judgement.

How would she reply?

Would she say no?

What if she says yes?

What will I do with her response?

“Are we not friends? I thought we already were but oki.” Triumphantly raising her hands in the air. “We’ll be the bestest friends out there! Besties even! Oh, we’re here.”

I turn my head and there it is, my haven, yet it feels off. This morning when I left, I was ready to run inside and cuddle back into my sheets like any other day. Yet right now, I want nothing more than to stay out here and talk to my new friend more than anything. My heart sank just at the thought of her leaving me after we just confirmed our short, but hopefully strong bond.

“Well, see ya tomorrow.” My new friend signal goodbye and heads down the street and in a state of panic I grab onto her left arm pulling her back.

“Um. Uh.” I barely let it out of my mouth.

“Hm? Whatsup?”

I didn’t want- I can’t, I won’t let go. Not right now, because it felt surreal; a new friend that I had a weird but fun conversation with and someone outside Papa genuinely enjoys being around me.

If I let her go now, then what would I do if she’s not here tomorrow? What if she disappears and never comes back?

I know it might be wrong and I didn’t care how desperate I looked, but I want to keep this person here even if it was for a bit longer.

“Do you want to come inside? I have food that you want, and we have plenty of room and and…please come in.”

The girl seems truly shocked by my actions, eyes wide and everything, but then she grabs me with her other hand.

“Can’t say I don’t, but what would yer Pops think about lettin’ someone ya in there?”

“I’ll…I’ll convince him! I’ll message hi-.” But my I.S.D was broken. “Just stay here. Just for a bit. Please?”

“I can’t do that. I got places to be, and I don’t want ya to fight yer Pops over silly ol’ me.”

“But.”

“Ask your Pops first, then w—”

“Ask me about what?” And there he is, just like always, the man who adores and who I was lucky and grateful enough to call my Papa appears behind us with a bewildered expression. “Who’s this Ophi? A pet?”

“Who ya callin’ a pet?!”

“You, obviously.”

“That’s rude y’know.”

“And that’s my problem, how exactly?”

“P-Papa?”

“Yes, honey bunny?”

“She’s my friend and, well…can she come inside?”

“Hm. I dunno seems a little dangerous to let someone you just met inside.”

“Please, she’s my bestest friend, bestie even, so can I let her in? Please please please.” I beg with the cutest gaze that I could make.

“Wow, this creature?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Okay, sure, on one condition.”

I nod, shaking, anxiously waiting for his next words. If Papa said no, then there wasn’t anything I could do, but I really really did not want that.

“Tell me her name.”

“Of course, her name is—”

It finally dawns on me that my new friend that I’ve been talking to this entire time, I never asked for her name.

“My my. Don’t tell me your bestest friends, bestie even, and you don’t know each other’s names.” Papa waggles his finger in my face.

“Um. Uh its uh.” I panic out of desperation to bring my newly found friend inside, trying to revisit all my memories from school to see if someone mentioned her.

But nothing.

From what I remember, no one even acknowledged that she was there.

My head drops to the ground, overcome by the feeling of my quivering lips, and my eyes well up with tears. How rude I was to take up someone’s time and not even bother asking for their name. I really was the worst.

“Ophi listen okay.” With a single finger, he lifts my head gently, looking into my teary eyes.

“Mm.” I reply, unable to speak because of the sorrow in my throat. Papa presses his finger against my lip, calming down the quivering. “Then ask her. I mean, she’s right there sweetie and I’m sure she doesn’t mind, do you little pet?”

“Of course I don’t mind ya damn ol’ man.”

“See, even she can bark nicely if you ask her.”

“Ima beat ya.”

“Anytime Girly. Oh, I like that one.”

“Um.” I interrupt, turning their attention to me. “Is it really okay for me to ask?”

“Yep yup yep.”

“It’s not rude?”

“I mean, it just kinda never came up, y’know. Hey, look at me for a minute.”

I turn my head, seeing her making a twisted up silly expression, making me jump back uncontrollably, laughing as Papa caught me.

“Better?”

“Better.”

“Go ahead Ophi. Go for it.” Papa urges me.

“Okay.” I readied myself by clenching my fists and gathering all my inner strength. “Can I ask for your name?”

“Are you asking for it or asking to ask?”

“A-asking…to ask.”

With a chuckle, the girl extends her hand out to grab mines. “My name is Kyrie Testament. Nice to meetcha.”

“Ophelia Akachi and this is my Papa Syrus Akachi.”

“Aww, you ruined my introduction, Ophi, but that was so sweet I’ll forgive you.”

“Papa…”

“Let’s go inside; I’m freezing like there’s a thunder bear around.” Lifts me up and carries me inside like a baby.

“Man, they smell awful, but sure taste good.” Kyrie says rubbing her stomach.

“Ever try using persimmon juice? The acid gets rid of it easily.”

“You hear that, Ani? Try it for me. Oh, that I’d wear it right now if I could, but I left somewhere. Oh, come on, don’t be like that. It’s not like anyone’s ever died from a lil cold. Wait, they can?!”

Again, not sure who she was talking to, but whether they were real, I didn’t care. This very, very, very strange person is my friend and they seem to get along with Papa and that was more than enough to make me satisfied.

Do I really deserve this, though? Even after all my mistakes today, was it okay for me to be this happy?

“Ya comin’ in or what, Girly?” Papa calls out to Kyrie.

“Heck yea I am!”

As she ran up the steps, I knew that even if I was unworthy, I’d never give this up for anything.