The tall, young looking girl nudged her brother awake with a jab to the ribs, despite this, he woke silently, glaring up at her. She rolled her eyes, and nudged him again, until he stood. They moved together without a word, both attune to the other. They were twins, 16 years old. In normal terms, they would be considered quite young still, but cursed children were never young.

Silently, they continued about their work. The girl was named Hope, the boy Solias. They worked in the darkness, save for a fire, in an abandoned house. Darkness wasn't an issue for the twins, their eye sight was exceptional. They wrapped sandwiches in bags, along with some drinks, so that when there was that first, fleeting knock they were ready.

Hope opened the door, to a terribly young child, clearly a cursed child, looking at her with wide, terrified eyes. Hope gave her a rare smile, hoping to put the child at ease, and a bagged lunch, or dinner, or breakfast, whenever the child would eat it. They fled the moment they had it, and Hope returned to helping Solias. They did this every day, although there were times when they had to skip a day as they relocated, or if they were to help another cursed child. Often, they stole the provisions that helped make the sandwiches, but they hadn't been caught in years.

They dedicated their lives, however short, to helping other cursed children, to give them a slightly better life, or at least a chance at a daily meal. When all the meals were given out, the twins headed out themselves, splitting a sandwich of cheese and bread between them, as well as an apple. They had hats on their heads, and long jackets, hiding their differences some what.

Solias had insisted that they seek out the Kirihaya family, after hearing about them, and hearing that they helped cursed children and herig that they had developed a substance which seemed to slow down the erosion rate, although the twins didn't seem to have a high erosion rate, just yet. But they knew they really only had a maxium of 20 odd years, and maybe they would reach thirty, if they were lucky before succumbing to the virus. They did not care. Maybe there would be a cure one day. Chances were, that would be after they were dead and gone. But the Kirihaya family could give them some more years, so more chances to do good.

Hope was suspicious of these people, but then she was of everyone really. Still, Solias was eager to do this, so Hope would do so. She wrapped the sandwich wrapper and shoved iti n a pocket, as she followed her brother.

For now, everything seemed okay.

A young child had heard rumors, rumors about two teenagers who had been stealing from people. The regular people. As she had finished helping some of children and come back home, she was given a warm hug and welcome from her parents. She felt so loved. "Yuki, we have a favor to ask." they asked her. "What is it Mama? Papa?" Yuki replied.
"You see, we have heard of these two teenagers that have been stealing. We think they could be just like you. Do you think you could get them to come here? It is obvious that it is wrong for them to steal. We want to teach them how they can live independently, without needing to steal. As have the other children here have learned." They informed her of what they wanted to do.
Nodding, "Of course! Bad people need to be punished and reprimanded!" she cheerfully replied with a smile. Her smile showed a hint of mischief.

Grabbing her backpack that she had from elementary school, Yuki left home to search for the two. "Be sure to be home tonight!" were the words she heard behind her as she rushed to find any information on the two. Her parents were well-connected to a few people who lived in the regular society. They were mostly close research buddies, that knew of their secret. They had delivered some recent information on what was being stolen recently. Yuki, looked at the map, illuminating it with some fluorescent pigment. Looking carefully, she deduced that they could be staying in one of three areas, or would be moving from one of them to a location eastward, closer to her own home.

With that knowledge, she ran to the closest one. Opening the door, she found a young child, abandoned, and frightful, having dropped the bag she was holding. Yuki spoke to her, a child who was even younger than herself, whom had somehow survived by herself for now. "Hello. I'm not scary. Are you alone?" she asked. The young child, still frightened, slowly nodded.
"Okay. Look. I'm just like you. If you would like, I'll take you to a place where a lot of us are. You don't have to be alone. Just wait here a bit, as I look for some others, okay?"
The young child's eyes seemed to show a glimmer of hope, and tears, almost like she couldn't believe the small thread of hope that was given, and with that nodded.

That's another one I have to take back. Hope I can do it. Yuki thought, quickly taking off. Running, with her eyes all red, she could hear it, the vibrations. There were two others, running. Their speed, was definitely Cursed Children. Judging from the course they were running, she ran ahead to cut them off. These shapes ... dogs? Wolves? Yuki could determine they had ears and a tail, and the shape of these features from the vibrations she took in. But she could not tell what model they were.

Before appearing, she mixed some chemicals in her body. Storing separate sets of chemicals. Yuki had a lot of room and different areas where she could store what her organs mixed in. She carefully mixed a paralyzing agent which worked from the skin to interfere with neural transmissions. Additionally, in a separate area, she mixed some fluorescent organic dye.

Jumping out of the bushes in front of the two teenagers, she spat a large amount of the fluorescent dye in the air, making a mini light show. Yuki then posed, announcing herself. "Punishment to all who are wicked! Tenchu Girl Yuki is here to deliver divine retribution!" Moving from pose to another pose while pointing to the two teenagers, she continued "Stealing is wrong! And for that you must be punished, will you repent or accept your punishment!"

Yuki was a fan of the tv hit series Tenchu Girls. Because of that, she would act out in the way she did just for the fun of it. On the other hand, there really was a punishment to be had for the two of them, which would occur once she had paralyzed them. For now, she waited, on guard to see their next move, her hand reaching into her backpack.

Although disadvantaged in numbers, Yuki had experience in taking others down. Some of the cursed children she lived with, had to be subdued in the same manner. Her concoctions were very effective for killing and capturing. She had taken down a group before, but of course, because she had been using her javelins to poison them from afar, whether they took the hit or caught it. She was thoroughly prepared for a fight, and was ready to shoot (spit) at them.

Angelo yawned as he woke up on a rooftop of a building. He was sleeping on a dirty mattress he found a while ago. Angelo had woken up and he rubbed the sleep from his eyes looking around at the wasteland around him. This city was going to die eventually because of the monsters but Angelo was created for the exact purpose of killing said monsters. Angelo is a monster and that's why nobody wants to help him, nobody wants to be friends with him, and why nobody will ever trust him completely. Angelo cant really blame them anyways, even his own family didn't want him when they realized he was a cursed child.

Angelo soon picked up his scythe and swung it experimentally just to get the feel for it again before he strapped it behind his back as he usually did making sure that the blade was in the staff. Angelo soon walked downstairs below the building and started to walk through the streets Angelo had no money so he made sure to do odd jobs for the shop owners and instead of being paid he asked for a meal. Angelo soon found a place that sells bread and asked if he could work for the day so he could have some. Thankfully the woman was understanding considering Angelo's cloths were ragged so she knew he was an orphan and decided to let him work.

After a few hours she gave him some bread and honey and he didn't complain as he ate it wondering what he would do later...

It was Solias that sensed the one tracking them, and Solias that got them running. They ran silently, one looking around, the other ready to pounce if things got sticky. They hadn't expdcted to be hunted down, but they were always prepared. Their coats flew behind them, almost like capes, and they constantly sniffed the air, tasting it for scents and any sign that their pursuer was getting close.

At once, they both sensed the danger, and they both leaped back, together, synchronized. Hope hissed as the misf was shot in the air, crouching, her eyes narrowed. Solias stood over her, protective, hands curled slightly, ready to pounce. They moved as one, a deeper connection then simple blood and simple knowledge of one another. A pack connection. Hope shifted just slightly, and Solias responded in kind.

"stealing may be wrong, but it is an even worse crime to let people die. We get away with stealing, to enable others not to, so that they can live in some people. We feed the population, those that can't protect themselves. If that is wrong, then I don't want to be right" Hope spoke softly, her voice a light tenor, but her voice was furious, and her expression matched it. The shadows seemed to bend around her, but she didn't seemed to notice.

Solias watched the girl, his legs ready to launch, to pounce or to flee, whatever was necessary. He was slightly smaller then his sister, but he was stronger, and with his abilities, he often took the role of attacker, while Hope was more...sneaker. "some of the children that we steal for are those that we have rescued ourselves. Why is it considered wrong to steal, but not considered wrong to let people, children starve because of bias's?" Solias echoed his sisters thoughts.

Niether Attacked the girl, watching to see her next move. She was obviously a cursed child, but was she with those that would take them down, or was she some form of friendly? They didn't know, and at the moment had no way of knowing. They watched her, and Hope was certain that she was alone. They could, if needed, take her down. They could also escape. Solias shifted, and Hope shifted the opposite way, as if they were both ready to pounce, in different ways.

The air was illuminated for a while, before the fluorescent pigment fell on the ground, glowing in a circular formation, giving Yuki the image of a magical girl using magic as a magic circle of light formed beneath her. She could not see the teenagers clearly, but from the vibrations, the subtle vibrations as they breathed, moved, lived. Her senses for vibrations were one of the best. The two teenagers had stood together, one standing over the other. The shorter one was above the taller one, ready to pounce. The vibrations were almost synchronous. The matching of their breathing and movement. It was almost better to think of the pair as one entity, with two bodies.

Yuki prepared herself, her javelins and her spear ready to be grabbed at any moment. They were likely to be tougher than most of the others, especially at this distance. Was sniping them better option? The two teenagers then began to speak. "stealing may be wrong, but it is an even worse crime to let people die. We get away with stealing, to enable others not to, so that they can live in some people. We feed the population, those that can't protect themselves. If that is wrong, then I don't want to be right"

It was the taller one, whom was crouched. It was a girl, who was speaking softly, yet with great fury. Her presence, her vibrations were slowly fading, but she could still sense them. Is she trying to hide in the shadows? That won't work when I am not even looking in the first place. "some of the children that we steal for are those that we have rescued ourselves. Why is it considered wrong to steal, but not considered wrong to let people, children starve because of bias's?" The shorter one was a guy. Yuki listened to their reasons. The two began to move in opposite directions, slowly like they were circling the girl. It seemed they were wary, and were not going to attack stupidly. Well it was the right move, no sneak attack could work and brute force was not a good option either. She wasn't sure if it was their instincts, or their experience, but she felt they had a general idea of what to do.

"I never said it wasn't wrong to let children starve. In fact, I like the fact that you are helping them, similar to what we do. But your method is all wrong." They seemed like they might be more logical. Maybe they could talk it out. Nonetheless, Yuki was prepared for confrontation, and if they ran, well a rain of javelins would make it their way. Of course, her mission wasn't to kill but to capture. She was hoping to quickly paralyze the pair, so she could have a little fun, but that seemed to not be the case.

"If you repent, I can take you to a place where you do not need to steal to help the cursed children. Just like the one you just gave that bag with sandwiches, whom I will also take to that same place. A place where Cursed Children can learn to be self-sufficient and live without the interference of the 'others'." Yuki offered once more to the pair, ready for any sudden movements from them. Would she need her spear, or would she need her javelins?

Once Angelo finished eating he bowed to the woman in thanks before he left and as he walked he couldn't help but feel jealous about some of the other kids around with their parents or a loved one. Angelo had no such relationship to speak of but thankfully he hasn't shown others that he is a cursed child at least for now.

Angelo walked and he went into a park obviously abandoned as he walked over to the rusty swing set and just sat their and people watched. Looking at the different people who would pass by....

Hope gave a bitter laugh, looking to Solias, "Did you hear that, we're doing it wrong. Nevermind the fact that most of the population would kill us, given the chance, and wouldn't help us to save their own skins" She shook her head, but she remembered the girl, the little girl, this morning who had grabbed the bag of food and scampered away.

Hope would have given anything to be able to help her more then a simple sandwich. But she didn't trust this girl, didn't want to simply succumb and allow the girl to take them to whoever was in charge of her. She prawled, easily matching her pace to Solias's as they circled the girl, wary.

Solias was by far the more reasonable of the twins. He figured that if things went south, they could always run away again, if they went with the girl. He looked to Hope, knowing that she would be reluctant to do this. He gave a slight nod, and heard the answering sigh, before Hope rose from her crouch. "We will come. But we won't promise to stay. There are many cursed children here that need help, after all" Solias said, but he still watched the girl warily.

A bitter laugh could be heard, coming from the girl, "Did you hear that, we're doing it wrong. Nevermind the fact that most of the population would kill us, given the chance, and wouldn't help us to save their own skins" Yuki smirked, it seemed likely that they would attack, and she could have some fun, however ... the boy was much more reasonable. She could tell by his movements, she was on guard but was not threatening her. It was not like he trusted her or anything, but decided to give it a chance. Feeling the vibrations in the air as he nodded and the girl sighing and rising, the boy spoke, "We will come. But we won't promise to stay. There are many cursed children here that need help, after all"

Yuki lowered her hand, wary of that the two could still attack, but it seemed that they would follow. She silently sighed to herself. I guess I won't get to play. she thought. "Well, let's go pick up that other child for now and head back to where I came from. " She turned to face the boy, and started to walk his way. It was the direction she came from, the direction of the child she had promised to take with her.

Whether he moved to keep distance or stayed where he was, Yuki was on guard, feeling any of the slightest vibration from either of the two, ready to guard. If nothing happened she would just simply continue on her path. If the two tried to run away, she would have to pull out her javelins and start spearing away, while chasing. Well she didn't want to do such a troublesome thing like that, so, hopefully they complied like they said they would.

A somewhat loud screeching sound echoed throughout the empty streets. Every several seconds the screeching sounded again and drew a little forward. The streets were filled with rubble and trash that was all light up by the large sun above the world. Some buildings covered parts of the street in a deep cold shadow. A small trail of blood followed the screeching sound. The amount of blood wasn't much but it already was a rather long trail in itself. But there was something else lying on the street, it could be seen by the sun. Glimmering brightly on the street as the screeching kept moving forward. Multiple tears were lying close by the trail of blood together with a new sound. The sound of a sobbing little girl that was walking all alone down the street. The wounds that she had gotten during her last event hadn't completely healed yet and were leaving a long trail of blood on the ground. She was dragging her boomerang along with her but she didn't felt the need to hold it properly and even wondered why she was still taking it along with her. The small girl was holding the boomerang onto one of his knifes that was slowly burying deeper into her hand. The girls name was Mai and she had just lost one of her most valuable things in the world. Her partner.

The girl three feet and seven inches tall, dark purple hair, fiftyfive pound heavy and with the model of the arctic fox was wandering down the street with no particular goal in mind. Once she finally had found a purpose in life she had all soon lost it and ended up on the streets again. There wasn't much she could, there were either two options for her to chose from: one would be to return to the agency again and end up getting a new partner or two, returning to the outer districts again stealing and survival for herself. She didn't want either of them and was quickly trying to find the third option which wasn't the happiest option in the world. Mai hasn't been keeping track of where she was wandering completely and soon found out that the direction she was heading wasn't the best way to go. Before Mai knew it she felt something hard hit her head and made her immediately fall over. Mai her vision began to get a little blurry from the hit and made her react of pain by placing both her hands on the spot she was hit. Mai had already dropped her weapon but didn't intend to grab it either way and already gave up. Once she had opened up her eyes Mai already felt something tugging on her dark purple tail. The ground began to distant from her body as she was being raised up by her tail and flung around against the side of a wall. Mai hasn't even seen the thing that hit her yet and was already being beaten to pulp. Mai tried moving herself up a little with her right arm and looked over at the thing that was hitting her.

A young looking man from around his thirties was heavily beating her up. He wasn't that much of a talker but let out a snicker from time to time. Mai already was intending to die but. It was still scary to die like this. Mai stood up and tried moving away from the man but the man rushed towards her and gave a heavy hit against her face. Mai breathed heavily while slowly moving over to her weapon and felt the foot of the man hitting her a few more times before she arrived. As quickly as she could she trew one of her knives into his left leg. Before she could dash away from him she already retrieved the knife from him. The knife was stuck in the right side of her back but at least the man was more or less unable to walk now. After Mai had made quite some distance she stopped for a moment and fell down to her knees while dropping her weapon and spitting out some blood. She slowly started crying again and tried pulling out her own knife out of her back but was unable to properly pull it out of her back by herself. There was she... Crying... alone on the street... after losing her partner... and all beat up... how could her day get any worse...

Angelo was just looking at the people nearby when he heard the sound of crying. Angelo turned around to figure out where it came from when he saw a young girl was bleeding out from what he could only assume was a stab and beating from the bruises that were already forming. Angelo sighed and he ripped off some of his shirt and pressed it against her wound to slow down the bleeding. Angelo then lifted her up and started to carry her back to his rooftop their he had some medical supplies, it wasn't much but it would keep her from dying. "my name is Angelo" he said to the girl knowing she was probably going to black out from blood loss but still.

Angelo carried her back to his rooftop and laid her down on his bed and he got his small amount of medical supplies which were bandages and a few wraps, along with some rubbing alcohol. He got the wraps and started to wrap them around her wound and he made sure to keep pressure on it to stop the bleeding. Angelo may be alone but he wasn't going to let some girl die that way...

Solid waited until Hope had reached him, before falling into step with her, the two walking in sync, following after the girl. Hope was ready to attack, or to flee if things got sticky, they had been in stickier situations then this, and both were fully confident that they would be able to get away if they needed to. Solias was more then ready to leap in front of his sister, knowing he could withstand most attacks.

Hope watched the girl, her eyes narrowed, while Solias watched their backs, both fully aware that they could be Attacked from behind, that this could be a trap. After a time when nothing had happened, Solias said softly, "where are you taking us, child? If this is a trap, you will love to regret it. My sister has a mean temper" he nudged Hope, who batted him, but Solias just smiled.

After picking up the child from the abandoned house, who had just finished eating the food given to her, Yuki could still feel the eyes of the two teenagers on her back. The young cursed girl was sleeping on Yuki's back. The child was a little younger than Yuki, but she couldn't tell at this time of night. After moments of silence, suddenly the boy softly spoke, "where are you taking us, child? If this is a trap, you will love to regret it. My sister has a mean temper"

"Well, if that's how you feel, then why do you follow? Anyway, I'm just taking you to my home. A place where others like us are living." Yuki spoke in a soft voice, with warm feelings mixed in. Moments later, there were a few houses, well cabins, and some light in one of them. Surely the wolves could have seen it before she did, since she could tell they had the superior eye-sight. Not that it would change the fact that she knew every step they took, and of everything around them.

Reaching the front of the cabin, Yuki turned to the two. "Welcome to the cursed children village, supported by the Kirihaya family. Where we teach cursed children how to farm, cook, gather water, build and live. This is where the Kirihaya's live. They offer shelter and Erosion Resistance Shots. They have the knowledge and technology to create the Erosion Resistance Shots and have supplied it for free to the Cursed Children that live here. Now then, would you like to see them? Kirihaya Shou and Kirihaya Ayame? Right through this door." Yuki indicated the front door. It was up to the twins whether they would step inside, or if Yuki would have to force them inside.

"Because we are a curious pair" Solias replied to the girl's question, giving a slight nod, indicating that he was listening. Home, and a play were cursed children lived were odd concepts to the two, and they exchanged looks, more wary then before. But there didn't seem to be any scent of deception, not that Hope could tell. Still, Hope would be wary for a long time. Solias trusted more easily, so Hope was happy to leave all the talking and anything else to him.

She'd just be looking for a knife in the back. But when the girl spoke of the Kirihaya family, she frowned. The kirihaya family had been who they had been looking for. No one should have known that, so perhaps this was genuine. "They are who we came to see" She said softly, glancing around them, wary still.

Solias looked to her, and took her hand, giving it a squeeze, before pulling her into the cabin. She sighed, and took her hand back, walking in on her own power, glancing around the cabin, and then back to Yuki, watching her with suspicion.

The inside of the cabin was homely, warm, but that just put Hope's back up more. The Kirihaya couple appeared to be middle aged, a nice looking couple. Solias, being the friendly person that he was, greeted them. "hello, Mr and Mrs Kirihaya. I'm Solias, and this is my sister, Hope. Your...hunter here came across us, I assume at your orders...but we were coming here anyway."

"Yes, we sent Yuki out to collect you, as you have been stealing" mr Kirihaya said, causing Hope to scoff.

"And while we steal, it prevents other children from stealing. I don't care if it's wrong. There are children starving, and you can't support them all. And every day, there are more cursed children born, more left to die. You can't keep us here"

"That's never our intention, merely to teach you to be independent without steal-"

"if that were possible, don't you think we would have done it by now, especially when we provide food to others? I suppose you want us to stop rescuing imprisoned and captured children, to? That's not going to happen"

"Hope-"

"no, solias, this is just another kind of prison! They keep the children here, because of the shots. Its just another form of control." While Hope thought it was good for cursed children to have a home, it nevertheless irked her that it just didn't seem...all together right. No matter how safe they thought they were, as well, normals would hunt them, and children would die. Hope had thought this was a bad idea from the start, but had gone along ith it because Solias had wanted to. Now, she turned away, and headed back outside, fully expecting Yuki to prevent her from leaving.

Hope would have relished that.

Mai kept on coughing more blood as she slowly lost the strength in her arms and legs and had difficulties keeping herself upright. If she didn't get the knife out now it would probably end up not healing and keep on pouring out blood. With her last strength she placed both hands on the knife and made a swift movement backwards. The knife dropped down on the ground making a few more rinkling noises and ended up a few feet away from her. Blood came gushing out of her wound as she fell down to one knee. Mai slowly fell down on her side and made a small tuff onto the ground coughing up some more blood once she was lying down. Well atleast the wound could slightly heal now. A dark figure appeared in her vision as she was about to pass out. The person moved her into his arms and carried her up to the roof of one of the buildings. Mai gently smiled at him with a light trail of blood still by the corner of her mouth. Since her vision started to get blurry and it was harder to move she was only smiling in a general direction at him.

Once she was placed down on the bed the pain seemed to be already completely gone or maybe it was her senses that weren't working completely right by all the blood loss. Mai looked around her a little trying to figure out where she was or where the person had gone to but she could only see the blurry sky in front of her eyes. She heard the person talking but she couldn't see him. Mai softly started talking once she saw a dark figure in front of her "Thank you fo..." She went quiet and seemed to be staring into empty space. Only a few moments later she slowly closed her eyes and slowly let her drop slightly to the side and eventually passed out. However due to the quick regenerating abilities it wouldn't take that long to completely recover.

Angelo sighed a little as he heard her thank him but in reality he wasn't going to let a girl die on the streets. He let her stay on his bed until she would feel better Angelo knew he would need to get some more food since he barely had enough to eat by himself. Angelo did have some small rations he was saving for a rainy day so this should qualify. He got a can of beans and put it next to her waiting for her to wake up again. Angelo did all he could with the limited supplies he had so all that was left was to see how she would recover. Angelo sat nearby just in case she needed something as he stared off to the sky and seeing the world from above even if Angelo barley lived at all it was enough just for the view everyday...

Only after a short while she regained her consciousness again. She had only been unconsciousness for around ten minutes and already seemed to have some more color on her face and somewhat healthier. Mai slowly opened her eyes immediately seeing the boy sit next to her staring up into the sky. She noticed that she was lying on something soft that was to be assuming a bed and tightly pressed bandages around her middle. She felt happy he did help her but she didn't even know this person. There also didn't seem to be a way to escape right now so that was out of the option. There was still a irritating bonking pain in her head and some parts of her body still hurt from the fight. Mai slowly tried to sit herself upright by supporting herself with one of her hands. Once Mai was a few inches of the bed a stinging pain entered her back which made her scream out the pain of it. She dropped down to the bed again and had to struggle to keep her body from moving anymore. Small tears were dripping down her face as she was still moving most of her body except her back. She was afraid to say anything to the boy and kept quiet for now.

he sighed a little when he heard her scream in pain instead of trying to talk to him. That was annoying, Angelo turned around and looked at her "don't worry your safe but you wont be leaving until the wound heals." Angelo said softly as he got the can of beans and opened it and he got a somewhat clean spoon and put it in the food and gave her the can. "eat up, its not much but its enough to keep you going" he said softly as he turned back around to stare at the sky for a while and he was still nearby in case she decided to talk. Angelo was like her most of his life, battling just to stay alive and making sure to keep the secret that he was a cursed child and that everyone would just think of him as an unfortunate orphan...

Seeing the twins enter, Yuki decided to set the child she was carrying into one of the other cabins. Knocking on the door, she asked quietly, "Excuse me, Martha and Tadashi, would you mind taking care of this girl for the night.". The door opened, a boy, aged 14, named Tadashi yawned. He was normally asleep, but easily awoke. "What is it Yuki? Hm? This girl, do your parents know?"
"Not yet, I'll tell them later. I have to see what happens with a troublesome pair of twin wolves."
"So you were sent after wolves this time. Well good luck with that. They don't trust others outside of their pack often you know?"
"Yeah, they were aware of me the whole time. One seems more sensible than the other though."
Taking the child, Tadashi closed the door and went back to sleep.

Yuki could hear the whole conversation between her parents and the twins. It seems their names were Solias and Hope. Heading back to her home, she continued to listen. It seemed Hope was not trusting at all. Her brother, whether he was trusting or not, he seemed to be calm and collected. Solias was probably going to feel it out before not trusting them. Hope left first, Yuki saw the wolf girl coming out.

The girl seemed like she wanted a fight, wanted to let out that anger. Yuki just sighed. "You could really learn from your brother you know? At least let them say their piece."

---

Back inside the house, Kirihaya Shou sighed, before looking at Solias and speaking. "Solias was it? I am sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused, but it seems your sister has taken everything the wrong way. The children here are free to do as they wish. Some have even left us. We give them the shots for them to use. If you head to the North, about 4km from here, you will find a boy of 17, named Kent. He decided to leave us, we have sent him a crate of 100 shots to help him. We visited him just yesterday, we helped him build a home for himself and he has a farm there. We do worry about him, since he has been exploring outside the monoliths."

Kirihaya Ayame then interrupted, "You are getting side-tracked dear. Anyway, we offer the children a way of living. Knowledge about farming, foresting, hunting. Helping them build homes, learning how to read and write. They can leave whenever they want. We encourage them not to leave before 14 though. One more thing, we protect the children here from the rest of society. When cursed children, such as yourselves, who have caused mischief have been found, we ask Yuki to get them. After they arrive, well, it is up to them. But if they continue their mischief, Yuki brings them in time and time again, till they stop, and try other things. So, we won't force you to stay here, but maybe you should think about what else you could be doing. Stealing can hurt others just as much as you are helping others. Farming hurts no-one, and you can share it as much as you like. If you do not trust us, you can go ahead and visit Kent, or just continue what you are doing."

Kirihaya Shou then stepped forward. "Here, take these. These are the Erosion Resistance Shots. They will help you live a bit longer without worrying about your corrosion rate too much. If you leave and do not continue to steal, come back some time and we will gladly give you more shots. We can even organise to deliver them to you, if you let us know where you will be, or where you want to pick them up from." The middle-aged man handed out a box, of 20 shots. It will last the twins 10 days.

The middle-aged couple then bowed and said farewell to the more sensible twin, the brother.

Solias listened to what they had to say, unphased by it all, but he could see his sisters point. It seemed to get the shots, it was there way, or no way. He sighed and said "we are not farmers, nor foresters and we already hunt. You are pretty much giving us an ultimatum, here. Your way, we get the shots. If we don't follow your way, we don't get the shots. While I tespect what you are doing here, you aren't going to be able to change what we do. Farming takes too long, and there are children out there starving right now. You can't protect everyone, and nor can you make everyone see your way, if you can't see there's. We need food, and we need it pretty much now, all the time, for those we feed.

But, really, what you are doing is basically forcing people to see your way, in order to live a little longer. A week, a month, a year? It doesn't matter to us. We were dead the moment we were born. This? Each moment, is just another moment we weren't gaurenteed. You probably think that's all the more reason for the shots. But for us, life is helpong those we can, for as long as we can. For us, the shots mean we can give children a shot at more life.

They mean nothing to us, these shots. We were hoping to be able to get a supply, to give to children. There's a mother, she's nearly reached her corrosion rate. She hadn't meant to get pregnant, but nevertheless, she has a one year old. She lives a good life, a roof over her head, and food. She just wants to live long enough for her son to not be a burden on the rest of the population. She trusts us. She won't trust you and by the time she does, it will be too late. You may think what we are doing is wrong. And maybe it is. But in the long run, I don't think it is. We only steal when our own hunting is poor. Or when we are taken away to rescue a cursed child.

There are more ways then your way." he spoke softly, calmly, trying to get his own point across. He sighed and shook his head "I suppose we came here for nothing. I'd beat go collect Hope. She's like to tear the place apart"

Having said his piece, he followed Hope out.



"why? Is just going to be the same. Our way, or no way. You've already judged us guilty for stealing. But we were judged guilty from the day we were born, just for simply living. The girl who look after us tried her best. Until she was taken, for being a cursed child. This, is just one more thing denied us, simply because we don't see things your way. Not that it matters. We don't belong here. We belong in freedom. It's where we thrive. You can't cage a wolf. Look after that girl, or I swear to what ever gods are out there, I will come and rip your throat out"

Hope moved away from Yuki, and waited forSolias to join her. Solias was reasonable. But she knew he would come, soon.

Mai slowly stopped with moving and remained calm for now. When the boy wasn't looking she would often try to stare at him to get a better look at him. However whenever he turned back she averted her eyes to the other side again. She wiped the gew tears that were hanging around her eyes off and remained quiet so that she didn't have to talk to the boy. The boy still tried talking to her but she wouldn only simply ignore or give him a slight answere with her head. This time she bluntly didn't do anything as confirmation of hearing it and looked around herself a little to get a better knowning of her suroundings. He did say something remarkable that made her realise something.

She got the wound from her own knife and they are were being made especially to kill the gastrea. They wounds that she created by the gastrea had never regened completly and these wounds she got wouldn't do either. There were still traces of varanium left in the wound that wouldn't heal and maybe even infect the wound later on. Well it wasn't such a big problem right now since she only had to heal well enough to quickly get away from here. Mai turned her head back and found a can of beans in front of her face by surprise. She slowly got her uper body upright watching out that the wound wouldn't open up again and took the can of beans from hims hands. At first she quietly stared at it and even sniffed it to confirm that there werent any poisions in or the likes. She got a spoonfull of beans and putted the spoon in front of Angelo his mouth. Once she was sure about it she gulped down the beans but still kept quiet.