"Looking for this?"
Following the voice, Gavo looked over and saw Mir crouching on a concrete platform, idly playing with her gas mask.
"I thought you were hiding because you were ugly... Turns out you're just a pretty-boy sissy."
There was a trace of mockery in Mir's low voice.
Fortunately, Gavo's short black hair and delicate, androgynous features had led them to assume she was male.
Not angered in the slightest by his taunting words, she glanced at her bandaged wounds and asked in mild surprise,
"You... saved me?"
"It wasn't saving you! Don't make it sound like I'm some kind-hearted nice guy!"
"I just wanted to drag you back here so I could mock you properly!"
"I'm Mir the Faceless! Don't go mistaking me for some soft-hearted good person!"
Mir snapped back, clearly flustered.
It was obvious he was genuinely annoyed. White steam was even puffing out from his bare nasal cavity, and his exposed teeth had started grinding on their own.
Ignoring Mir's obvious case of saying one thing and doing another, Gavo urgently pressed,
"Where is my father?"
Hearing that question, Mir, who barely had much of a face left to begin with, somehow still managed to look awkward. He hesitated and stammered,
"Your father is fine... but not exactly fine... he's just..."
Gavo immediately cut him off, her temper flaring.
"What happened to him?!"
Mir looked displeased by her outburst and simply stared at her without speaking again.
Realizing she had lost control, Gavo was silent for a long moment before speaking in a calmer tone.
"I want to see my father."
Hearing that, Rabbit-Mouth raised a brow and looked at her like she was an idiot.
"Quit joking. In your condition, you'd better just stay put and lie there..."
Then the rest of his words died in his throat.
Under Rabbit-Mouth's trembling gaze, the heavily injured Gavo slowly rose to her feet.
"I want to see my father."
She said each word clearly and heavily, immense pressure radiating from her battered body.
Even Mir could not help but be moved by the sight. He tossed the gas mask in his hand back to Gavo and waved toward Rabbit-Mouth.
"Rabbit-Mouth, take him there."
"Then let's go..."
Rabbit-Mouth looked at Gavo, who had originally been small and slight, now wrapped up like a dumpling and somehow still standing there, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
As she hopped forward in an awkward posture, Rabbit-Mouth's mouth twitched harder than a bolter on full auto.
"Ahem."
He coughed a few times, forcefully adjusting his expression.
Then he led the rather ridiculous-looking Gavo deeper into the abandoned drainage pipe.
Along the way, they passed many other feral children, around ten or so in total.
"You've got quite a few people here."
Gavo glanced at the feral children staring at her curiously and spoke flatly.
Rabbit-Mouth gave a slight nod and replied in his sharp, distinctive voice,
"Yeah. Quite a few."
"It must be hard."
Gavo suddenly asked.
Rabbit-Mouth fell silent for a while. He neither nodded nor shook his head, only saying something that seemed unrelated at first glance.
"At least it's better than being alone before."
After that, neither of them said anything more. In that strange silence, they arrived at a relatively dry side room.
Rabbit-Mouth pointed at the door.
"Fish-Eyes is inside taking care of your father."
Gavo nodded. Just as she was about to push the door open with her head, she heard Rabbit-Mouth mutter beside her:
"...Sorry."
Gavo turned her head in surprise toward the foul-mouthed boy, but he deliberately turned his face away, refusing to meet her eyes.
"You already apologized. Back in my home."
She looked at him seriously as she spoke.
Rabbit-Mouth, still looking away, shook his head.
"That was me apologizing to your father... This time, I'm apologizing to you."
"How should I put it... I was kind of... jealous of you."
After squeezing out that sentence like toothpaste, Rabbit-Mouth lowered his head and said nothing more.
Yet, to his surprise, after thinking for a moment, Gavo also gritted her teeth and said,
"Sorry. I shouldn't have hit you that hard."
Rabbit-Mouth visibly trembled in shock when he heard that.
He stared at Gavo in disbelief.
Was this really the same terrifying battle maniac?
"Huh? What was that? I didn't hear you~"
Rabbit-Mouth leaned an ear toward Gavo's face, grinning as he deliberately taunted her.
"I said I really should've knocked out the rest of your teeth too."
Hearing that, Rabbit-Mouth's eyes immediately turned clear and honest. He obediently stepped aside by the door and made a polite gesture.
Looking at the door before her, Gavo took a deep breath and pushed it open.
Inside, Fish-Eyes, who had been feeding her adoptive father with a straw, jumped in fright when Gavo suddenly came in. He inhaled some of the liquid by accident and nearly choked himself to death.
Rabbit-Mouth poked his head in from behind the door and quickly gestured for the coughing Fish-Eyes to leave the room.
As the door closed, only Gavo and her adoptive father remained inside.
The moment she saw her father lying unconscious on the ground, her pupils flushed red with anger.
This was the first time she had seen the full extent of his injuries. Brutal traces of beating covered the poor mutant's entire body.
His nose bridge and brow bone were broken. A blood-swollen lump had formed at his temple. His fingers were twisted into grotesque shapes...
The fact that her adoptive father was still alive at all could only be called a rare miracle.
Looking at those injuries, which were little short of torture, Gavo felt blazing fury erupt in her chest.
That fury was both hatred toward the one who had done this, and resentment toward herself.
If only she had not been so obsessed with trying to break her limits through training that day.
If only she had gone out earlier.
If only she had chosen to go with her adoptive father that day...
But unfortunately, there were no ifs in this world.
Drip.
Tears fell from Gavo's bloodshot eyes and landed beside her adoptive father's barely clinging body.
This was the first time in this life that she had truly cried.
Struggling, Gavo pulled back part of the bandage on her right hand, then took out the Aquila necklace, still stained with a little blood, from her outer pocket and gently placed it on her adoptive father's chest.
After doing that, Gavo wiped away her unwilling tears, slowly stood up, and opened the door.
Her heart felt as though it were being cut apart, but she could not stop here.
She had to keep moving forward with all the rage in her chest.
Outside the door, Mir stood waiting with his arms crossed.
His pale green eyes accidentally caught sight of the overwhelming fury blazing in Gavo's eyes beneath the mask, and they contracted slightly.
But he quickly recovered and went straight to the point.
"You know very well that we can't keep you and your father here for free..."
"So you have to make a choice."
"I know."
Gavo answered before he could continue.
"I'll join you."
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[Thank You For Your Support!]