Lemme Out[private]

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Red-eyed and irritable, Okada Umeko, age four, sat staring at the closed, locked door that stood between her and the outside world she knew existed beyond the quiet hospital ward she was trapped in. Beyond that was another door, she knew because she had made the dash to escape that morning when the nurses changed only to find out they locked one door before entering the other. There had been a bit of chaos surrounding her escape attempt and now, well, she was in as much trouble as a child could be when already stuck in hell could be. She had to sit in the corner during play time.

All around her children played, the youngest energetically rummaging through toys or stacking blocks while the older laboriously flipped through books or quietly coloured. Umeko wasn't interested in them though, and they had never gotten close with her. They were nice enough, but none seemed capable of keeping up with her games and they got tired easily. They didn't understand her stories or anything she tried to babble to them about what she remembered from the outside world. In fact, none of them seemed to know anything that wasn't about the hospital ward or in their picture books. What they chose to believe was random too; a speaking tiger was normal but trees taller than the hospital or skies that never ended were unimaginable. This made her angry, and she'd hit one of them before for calling her a liar, so now they all avoided her.

All the children here were all sick, Umeko knew that much, but struggled to understand what was making them ill. Nurses fussed at them all with their bland food and quiet games because too much activity made them pale, ill, break out into hives or struggle to breathe. Not one of the children here was above the age of six- the girl that had made it to seven had disappeared in her room some weeks before and most arrived as babies so small they couldn't walk. When she asked what was wrong with them though, the nurses would struggle to explain. An allergy, but not.

She also knew that she was different among the children. There were medicines she took that the others didn't need. When she ran she didn't get sick but there was a pain like she was standing too close to a campfire and breathing in the flames. The other children's parents, the rare few who visited, side-eyed her and seemed afraid to talk to her. The nurses said words like "long term damage" and "cure" in hushed tones whenever her mother or father paid their separate visits. Her mother would say things like "when you come home," but never tell her when that was. None of the other children expected to ever leave. She was the only one who wanted out.

Ume made a frustrated grunt and kicked the wall. She would show them next time.

 

[Hak]

A boy stepped from the shadows, a boy too thin and gaunt for his age of five. He wore a sweat-stained t-shirt and shorts caked with dry mud, his bare arms and legs smeared with dirt. He wore two different colored shoes, both of different sizes and torn as if they were collected from garbage. Even through the grime and dirt, it wasn't hard to tell that the kid's skin had more abrasions than a knocked about stray mutt. His eyes were far too heavy, indicating many sleepless nights. The natural color of his hair was impossible to discern; it was dirty and mangled with knots and dust. Despite possibly looking like one of the most sickly children in the ward, he was quite probably the only child in the department who wasn't ill.

His mother Suzu is one of the nurses who work in the specialized hospital ward. Suzu was a kind and hardworking lady; however she also showed signs of extreme poverty and as such both her and Hak are judged and ridiculed. Hak often accompanied her to work due to unique home circumstances that hardly anyone knew. Hak would spend most of his time playing with other children, though they often make him sit out, clean up after them, or do things they didn't want to do themselves. Often his lunch would be stolen due to the bland meals the hospital made, and as such he often went hungry. However, Hak never complained or got angry; instead he smiled and virtually let everyone take advantage of him and insult him as he was often the target of insults and jokes. Kids, after all, were cruel.

Hak viewed the world as dull and gray. The world showed him no colors, everything to him was a shade of gray. In his eyes, he was a dead white creature roaming the world of gray. The other children never caught his eye; he only hated being alone. He was too young even to understand what he longed for or desired; he merely knew the feeling in his heart was icky and empty. Despite his gray world, his lifeless eyes traced over to the young girl sitting in the corner. Color. She was the only one in this square room which offered shade to his murky world.

Umeko was a recognizable child. Full of life and vigor despite whatever circumstances she currently struggled with, a sign that life poured into her young being. To Hak, she was a brilliant star in his colorless world. However, he was also greatly intimidated by her. Her anger and rage and how she struck another child once before showed a rather violent side of her. Hak, being a completely passive child had a hard time around such energetic children. In a way, he idolized the color she brought to his blank book called life.

Watching Umeko sulk in the corner tugged at his heartstrings. He recalled the only time she ever seemed excited was when she spoke of the outside world. Being the only healthy child here, he was familiar with what she spoke of, so he knew she was telling the truth unlike the one who called her a liar. He waddled to his dark corner and reached into his backpack, retrieving the only book that he could call his own. It wasn't a child's book; however, instead, it contained pictures and artwork of beautiful landscapes. In the book, there were pictures of the trees that seemed to reach the sky and an endless sea of blue. Mountains higher than the eye could see and never-ending skies in various shades of blue and red from when the sun would rise.

Like an ugly duckling, he walked over nervously to the rage-filled child and with both hands, he kindly extended to book towards her. The cover of the book showed a scene of an endless green landscape with a neverending sky of blue. Despite his unkempt and poverty-stricken appearance, he was remarkably a cute child, and his stance and nervousness only added cuteness, as if a stray dog begging for attention.

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

As she grew angrier at the door, at feeling trapped, and at being forced into a corner, Umeko was aware of her chest growing tight and her breath turning hot. The small child squirmed and twisted until she was facing the wall, steadfastly refusing to call one of the nurses to help her though. She didn't want the them, she didn't want to be fussed over and taken to bed. She didn't want the inhaler that felt like breathing shards of ice or to be hooked to the annoying, beeping machine by the tubes kept under a bandage in her hand. She didn't want to be reminded, again, that she needed to learn to be calm for the sake of her health and her mother. Mama was always used to make her feel bad for misbehaving, or when they really wanted to make her feel bad; Papa.

The anger and pain twisted to rudimentary self-pity and self-loathing. The others had always been weak, but Umeko knew she wasn't supposed to be this way. If she could only figure out how to get better she would be allowed to go home again. She would be able to leave where she liked, just like-

As if the thought had summoned him, the one and only child allowed to come and go from the small hospital ward cautiously moved into her peripheral. The golden eyed boy had caught her attention before. Not only was he proof that children could come and go, but he also had a vibrancy to him that the other children of the ward lacked. His eyes reminded her of the tiger she remembered, his hair was a warmer brown than her own and ended in red like her aunties. He always seemed to be trying to help, and while that could have made her angry just like the other children who felt weak, Ume found it more fascinating to see what a healthy child was capable of. What she should and would be able to do when they finally fixed her and let her out. She had covertly watched him on the rare days like today where neither her parents or red-haired aunt were around, wondering.

A moment passed before Umeko realized he wasn't just standing there but was waiting for Ume to notice him and the book he was holding. Boldly, she stared at him, then the book, then him again while trying to make sense of what he wanted.

"For me?" she rasped in a small voice, awkwardly reaching to take the book then turning it in her hands to look at the cover picture. "Lots of ABC's" she observed, making a pinched face, "Ume don' know."

 

[Hak]

As the child studied him, anxiety slowly began filling his young body. She was after all known for her violent outbursts and rudeness. However, she merely studied him. He half expected a monster from the way people avoided her, however, all he could see was an outsider such as himself. She wasn't like the other children here; she had vigor and color. With a simple look, he could feel the pages of his blank book of life slowly come alive. Perhaps this was why he gained the courage to come up to her. The "red rage" didn't suit her at all. No, from what little he observed, Ume even at her young age was one who refused to allow someone to choose her path, refusing to let anyone else's color dye hers, she colored the world around her as she saw fit. It was fascinating to him, intriguing.

He nodded as she took the book from his hand as he flopped like a rag doll next to her awkwardly and amusingly. Her comment of the complicated manners made him genuine laugh, not in an insulting or demeaning way but with warmth and friendless. Leaving the book in her hand, he opened the cover and flipped a few pages in, pointing at trees that resembled those in the Land of Lightning, trees that seemed to reach the skies.

"Not a liar" he stated awkwardly, referring to the infamous event where she slugged a fellow patient. "Everywhere!" he exaggerated with his hands, making whooshing sounds with his hands in the air to emphasize the great heights of the trees. Placing both thumbs together, he playfully flapped his hands as if imitating a bird and made more whooshing sounds "Sky that goes forever." he stated childishly, his speech perhaps a little more childish than necessary for his age, though that was for lack of talking to others as attention was never paid to him. It was awkward, albeit cute and sincere with his exaggerated movements as if it was important to him for her to understand that she was, in fact, an honest person.

After speaking, he placed both hands on his lap and studied her with his golden orbs. A cheeky grin as he closed his eyes and did the goofiest biggest smile he possibly could show. Momma always said, to make friends he had to seem friendly. Smiling is a friendly gesture after all.

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Ume was careful with the book, just as Aunty Kiyo had taught her to be with the picture books she sometimes brought to read her. These were adult books, with thin paper that ripped if pulled the wrong way or bent if you didnt put it just right. Her face lit up as Hak opened the first page for her, and the colourful glossy photo of trees was presented to her. Somehow, Yuii could remember the way the trees would wave in the wind and the rustle they made. She remembered her mother jumping, and jumping, and jumping until they had reached the top of the dark needed redwoods. She leaned forward until her nose was touching the page and her breath fogged the page.

"Yeah!" she agreed, lighting her head to glance at Hak and flash him a smile, "Kids doesn' know. Ume knows. We knows. Theys doesn'." She was ery careful when she slipped her tiny fingers into the pages of the book and at random flipped it open to a red sanded desert. Her nose was immediately back to the page, wide aqua eyes searching the landscape like she hoped she could sink into the image. "Mama says is cause theys s'ay here always and never seen. The kids cand knows." she added, almost absently.

"Ume knows 'dis one." she declared after a moment, leaning back and again, very carefully, flipping the book to another page, "Ume knows 'dis one." then another, "and dis." and another "Ume knows 'dis one. " all with confident gestures. Whether or not it was true was hard to tell, though she seemed to believe it completely. Finally, she flipped to a picture that looked a lot like the mountains surrounding Kumo, and Ume's eyes lit up.

"My Papa can fly!" she squeaked, sounding like she was bragging. She hopped to her feet, and with all the grace of a baby giraffe clamoured up a small child-sized chair to similarily red painted table. "he flies down the mountain like whoosh!" She jumped, wobbled, and dramatically landed on all fours without any trouble. Her cheeks were tinged a bright pink as she watched for Hak's approval.

"Umeko, back to the corner!" snapped the nurse keeping a watchful eye on the children, and though Umeko scowled, she did as she was told. She rag-dolled back beside Hak and the book.

"Mean Lady," she muttered, glancing at Hak again to judge his reaction, "Ume pud soup in theys shoe."

 

[Hak]

Hak hugged his knees close to his chest as his golden hues studied Ume carefully. She was so innocent even as she read, so colorful in everything she did. The cuteness on how she handled the book with such care escaped him as he was far too young to be perceptive of such things; regardless he was quite happy that she respected the little he owned enough to be careful with it as most children their age were irresponsible with such things. He smiled to himself and knew there had been a reason why out of everyone he had ever met, Ume was the only one to bring color to his dull gray world.

He nodded as she explained that only they could understand the outside world. He carefully studied every illustrated page which she claimed she had seen before as his eyes were filled with awe and wonder, amazed that someone his age could know so much of the world. Even he hadn't seen so many of the things from the book before as he was never taken on trips and all of his time was spent at home or going to his mother's job. The thought that she may be fibbing a bit as many children do never cross his mind, he believed her wholeheartedly. His eyes glanced down to the pictures of the mountains as he leaned in himself, one of his favorite photos. He wondered whether one day he would travel the mountains of Kumogakure himself, something he desperately desired to see in person.

At the declaration that her father could fly, he watched with excitement as she imitated what he assumed was her father flying through the air. "No way! So neat!" he claimed excitedly at the declaration her father could fly. The image of a ninja bird popped in his head as his eyes studied the small back of Ume as if looking for a sign that she was perhaps half bird. A sizeable warm grin appeared across his face as he bounced excitingly on the floor "I wanna fly too!" he claimed as he giggled at her impression.

The screaming of the nurse caused Hak to jolt back against the wall nervously, anxiety overwhelming him. Loud voices frightened the young boy as he looked at the nurse with concern before his eyes tracked back to Ume. She didn't seem to mind the yelling, though she seemed annoyed at the scolding. A small gasp escaped him as her energy didn't seem worried, it allowed him to calm down fairly quickly as he merely followed her lead and decided perhaps that scolding wasn't too bad after all.

He laughed at the soup comment as he got a little nervous again, grabbing the sides of his shirt as he clenched the fabric between his hands tightly. His head went down slightly, almost as if afraid to look Ume in the eyes as a bright red blush could be seen even on his darker complexion.

"Can Hak and Ume be fwiends?" he asked shyly, unable to look up.