How could he react to that..?

Cyril simply stared at Hajime, pretty sure that his heart had skipped a beat or two. There... was someone that was after them? Why? What had they done? Was someone trying to get revenge on his father just by killing them off? Even when the Mafioso left, Cyril remained eerily silent. His hunger vanished and he was suddenly feeling very weak. Who is after me? he questioned. If he had given me a picture... I would have known who to look out for. But of course, the man was a dirty Mafioso. He probably wanted him dead, too.

"Cyril, are you going to have dinner?" His aunt asked.

Cyril shook his head. "No. I'll... I need some fresh air." he told her, feeling sick. Yet, he left the house with a steely expression, making sure not to look like he had just taken a bite of something sour. I should take a closer look around. he told himself, rubbing his stomach as he strolled near the water. Some people were laughing as a couple of boys shoved each other around. They weren't fighting, but... the boys thought they were. They were only five or six years old, anyway. Aunt is in trouble, too. I have to start telling her to make sure the doors are properly locked before we go to bed.

A sigh escaped him as he shoved his hands into his pockets. I wonder who's out. There should be some schoolmates around here. They could tell me if they saw something fishy.

Jakki, lost in thought, didn't say much as she walked along the water. She would skip practice today, or least some of it. After all, she'd just found her dad's favorite flowers. With everything that had happened today, she'd almost forgot. Stupid stupid! she cursed herself, holding the bunch of orchids in one hand and her bat in the other. The flowers hung limply at her side, while her bat rested on her shoulder, held in place by her right hand. Dad wanted me to try and play softball, so he bought the bat. she remembered. She caught herself in those thoughts and shook her head.

She would not be going all sappy today. So she stuffed the emotions back down in the glass jar of her heart and smiled. She must have missed some because her eyes were welling up again. Instead of keep walking to the spot, she sat down on the edge of the canal. It smelled bad, but if you ignored the garbage and smell, you could she the sunset reflected perfectly on the water. The orange flecks dancing between the gondolas and the boats. Her feet were so close to the water she thought a stray wave might make her sneakers soaked, but it didn't happen. Her bat was close, but the flowers sat farther away, as if they were trying to be some kind of replacement for him.

Nothing ever happened here if she was lucky. It was always quiet and out of the way. Most people avoided it because they thought it held some kind of magnet for troublemakers. The troublemakers avoided it because the police came through regularly. So she was relatively alone here, which was good. She just let the tears flow out. There was no need to sob or close her eyes. The tears just welled up inside of her and poured out. Once they stopped, she closed her eyes and wiped them away. Enough of that. She stood and continued walking, moving faster in case some random guy came up to her again.

(On Phone forgive short post)

Angel smiled as she thought back on the events of lunch from her old tree. She was back in her tree and thought about how life could be much better. The world was right. She thought back to the time she spent in Japan sleeping in Sakura trees. The scent was very relaxing.