The only sound in my ears was the loud thumping of my blood. The rest faded away at the sight before . So familiar. But unlike so many people, I couldn't close my ears, avert my eyes, and do nothing.
I raised the box of baked goods like a weapon and charged at the red-haired woman, screaming, "Let him go!"
She reacted that instant, but with no surprise or shock. Her eyes flew to , her upper lip curled into a snarl, and with a powerful swing, she basically threw Gi at .
From the impact, the air left my lungs. Breathless, I fell on the hard cobblestones, dropping the box in the process, with Gi landing heavily on top of , only to spring up the next mont. But instead of letting lie here and suffer the red-haired woman's wrath, he grabbed be an arm with a force unnatural in soone so small and pulled up after him.
"Damn it, you shouldn't have ddled in this. Now run!"
I didn't have a choice—Gi's fingers were like a steel manacle. He basically dragged by an arm a good block away from the raging woman, and by the end of this mad escape, my hand felt like it was about to be torn off.
The woman didn't chase us far.
Finally, Gi stopped in a quiet alleyway and let go. Today, he didn't wear the hooded cloak I've seen him in before, and his white face was in full view and lit by the sun. He squinted at with lips pressed in a hard line.
"Now she'll be even more pissed off. What the hell were you doing?" he accused .
"I was helping you! Damn, I probably lost my job now because of that, and you bla ?"
Gi tsked. "I didn't need help."
"That woman was attacking you. You so did!" I stabbed my finger at his chest.
He batted it away. "So what? Yvenna attacks everyone except Bishop, and that's a fucking miracle. I'll just run off and hide until she cools off a little."
The calm and casualness with which Gi spoke of this made my gut churn and burn. I grit my teeth. "You can't be serious. Are you living with her, or what?"
"Yvenna? No, the mountain help ! I live with Bishop. You've seen him—I showed you. Yvenna just trains . Get it? We were training! Well, we were about to, until she got pissed off…" Gi added under his breath, "If she wanted to eat that damn apple, she shouldn't have put it where I could just see it and think it was for everyone!"
My anger gave way to utter confusion. "Huh?"
Gi gave a look people usually spare for cockroaches. "Why am I even bothering with you?" He turned and began to walk away.
At this mont, my brain finally reconnected with my body. "Wait!" I jumped after to grab him by a sleeve. "Wait, please!"
"What?" Gi sent an unfriendly look from over the shoulder, one that imdiately made drop my hand. But not my determination.
"How did you beco so strong? Can you teach too? Please! I'll… I don't have much money, or almost any at all, but I can give you them all. Or if you need sothing, I can have it done. Just, please!"
Gi opened his mouth, then closed it and frowned in thought. I waited with bated breath for his reply.
"Ask Bishop. And don't piss off Yvenna again. She'll kick your ass, kid or no."
⠀⠀
Turned out, I wasn't fired for the broken package. Yvenna didn't complain, or anything, so I worked the rest of the day. All the running around gave plenty of ti to think about what Gi said before leaving there.
Besides that, I couldn't stop thinking about Yvenna and what she was doing with Gi. Training, really? If this was true, it was… aweso. Though, I still didn't like one bit the way she raged at Gi, and then at . I swore to myself that if I saw sothing like today again, I'd interfere no matter what Gi said.
That evening, I went to Bishop's house. Maybe the old man was too suspiciously good, but if Gi said he could help get stronger… then the risk was worth it.
On my cautious knock, Bishop opened the door. At the sight of , he smiled with—from what I could judge—genuine joy.
"Hello, child. I was unsure if I will see you again, but I was glad to hear from Gi that you were doing fine. Your clothes, though, still seem too haggard for bad weather… Did you ca to take on my offer?"
I shook my head and bit my lip. "Mister Bishop, Gi said you can teach how to be stronger. Like him!"
"Truly?" Bishop raised his brows. "Well, well. May I ask, what do you want to be strong for?"
I clenched my fists. "So I could protect myself, and others!"
Bishop's smile widened. "What a noble goal. But what others will you protect? If two people fight, how will you decide which of them to help?"
"The weaker, of course!"
"But what if they are even?"
That made pause. Bishop didn't wait for my answer—he shook his head and opened the door a little wider. "Why won't you tell your na and co in? This is quite a philosophical conversation, and inappropriate for talking on a porch. Besides, Gi seems to have taken a liking to you, and the other way around. He's at ho now. Wouldn't you want to talk and play together?"
"Play?" the word seed foreign on my lips. Bishop's smile turned sad.
"Yes, play. Children like you should play a lot, instead of thinking about becoming stronger… But many forget how in our cruel world. Co—I can see your suspicions, and they are wise, but at this point, also cowardly.. I will not harm you."
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