"Ah-" Recette gasped as Kyoko dragged her along. Looking back to Ange, Kira, Olkio, and Citali, she managed a wave before begin dragged away.
---
Click...
Opening a small coin locker, Helen reached in, plucking out a small backpack, shaped like a silly rabbit head. Reaching in, she pulled out a bright yellow cellphone before throwing it over her shoulders. Turning it on, she couldn't help but smile as she saw so many unread messages...
---
Fingers tapping away at her phone, Helen waltzed through the alleys of Rindo, mouth absentmindedly chewing on a bread and meat thing she got at a stall. The she heard a scream from a cat. Attention piqued, she turned her course, soon coming across a mangey catch under fire from an even mangier boy, his skin dark, his clothes ratty and loosely fitting. A rock in his hand, as he pulled it back, it fell within Helen's grasp. Noticing her, he started to struggle, but he'd have an easier time wrenching his hand out from under the tire of a tractor. Yet her grip was gentle...and Helen held her food out to him, though not before breaking off a piece. The boy seemed shocked, but after carefully grabbing the offering, he began to devour it.
As he ate, Helen moved along to the cat, reaching her hand out. The cat lashed, scratching, then biting. As it gnawed on Helen's finger, it barely became red with irritation despite the ferocity of the attack. As it slowed, Helen reached out, patting it. As it seemed to calm, she offered it the food. The two now had something they'd never imagined it was possible for them to get: a big sister.
---
The doors hissed, and the fresh passengers filed onto the bus. There were only a few: among them, the big sister with a slightly cleaner cat with uneven fur in her arms, seemingly grumpy, and behind her the boy from before, more well groomed then perhaps he'd ever been in his life, though he only wore simple clothes, and his hair was still scraggly and a bit damp. He seemed sheepish as he stood on the bus, as if he did not belong, but without hesitation, the big sister wrapped her arm around a seemingly random red haired girl about the same age, before depositing the cat. Another boy, about the age of the tagalong kid came out of the blue, grabbing the big sister in a hug. She patted his head before taking a seat, reaching out to her new younger brother. He blushed as he was pulled into her lap, the two sitting behind the bus driver as the vehicle began to move.
A man, perhaps even older than the biggest sister, asked, "Eh? I thought you got rejected, onee-chan."
She laughed, "It was a big shock! I had to check and make sure it wasn't my fault."
"Oh~" cooed the girl now holding the cat. As she waved around its paw, she asked, "And what's your name?"
The boy opened his mouth, but the big sister said, "Well, he can choose." Leaning down, she spoke into his ear as her hands moved from her backpack. "You can choose whatever you want now, with only three rules. One: bothers and sisters above all else. You can ask for help from any of us."
She laid a gun in his lap. Fearful and confused, he picked it up, looking around. The girl's friends surrounded him, blocking lines of sight. No one could see anything.
"Two: you can always say no if you don't want to do anything someone asks of you." She guided his hand up, the pistol aiming at the back of the bus driver's unsupecting crown, but her fingers away from the trigger.
"Three: as long as the first two rules are respected, you can do whatever you want to do."
Freedom was what she promised.
Could she...really offer that?
Pure freedom? Anything?
If she couldn't, then...
...
...Click.
Giggling like children, the brothers and sisters ran from the bus accident, screams echoing behind them. The boy with the gun felt something he'd never felt before...
Alive.
Hel had treated all her brothers and sisters well. He would be no exception.
