Chapter 4 - Fire Outbreak

"Hey, I said I took the thimble !"

Touya gave Fuyumi a sidelong glance as he finished preparing the game board.

"Why are you upset ? I always take the car"

"I say this in case you decide to take the dice because it's the best"

Touya snorted.

"Definitely not"

"It is"

The boy rolled his eyes and said nothing else. He was smart enough to understand that arguing with the demon in residence would not bring him anything but a headache.

The more it went on, the more I found that of the three, Touya was the most tolerable. He was calm, at least, and a little bit on the weird side, but isn't that the case for all children?

"Ah, for Natsu and Sho-sho."

Fuyumi rummaged through a cardboard box full of stuffed animals in poor condition. She put in front of me a small pink mouse with a frayed tail. Natsuo got a white rabbit that was missing an eye.

"Natsu, no, it's not a toy it's a pawn !"

The boy, seeing that his sister was going to steal his new comforter, stepped back and hugged his stuffed animal tighter to his chest.

Fuyumi tried to take it from him but failed: she sighed, and her eyes turned to me. My mouse was on the starting line.

"At least Sho-sho understands when I tell him that it's not a toy"

"He doesn't understand what you're saying to him, Fuyu", said Touya, condescending "He's just looking at you because that's what all babies do

The girl giggled.

"He totally understands me. Sho-sho is like, super smart. He understands everything we say"

Touya didn't look convinced.

Fuyumi continued:

"You'll see. I'm pretty sure that if I explain him the rules well he can deafeat us all"

She explained the game to me with a thoroughness that an eight-year-old girl was not supposed to have. I attributed that to her desire to outdo her brother.

I listened carefully because it was my first time playing Monopoly and I was intrigued by the system. It was like a parody of a capitalist society for children.

Personally, when I was a child, my hobbies revolved more around horseback riding and water polo. I had a pony once, flash of fire. A real winner. Then as I wanted to start trading and my parents didn't want to lend me money, I sold him to a slaughterhouse.

I had been, for a short week, the thirteen year old with the most pocket money in my boarding school. Ah, what memories.

Natsuo put a card in his mouth.

"No Natsu, these are cards to play with, not to swallow !"

Fuyumi grabbed the boy and tried to make him spit out the card. Tears welled up in his eyes and he started crying as the girl finally held the card, triumphant. It looked like it had been half eaten by a dog.

Fuyumi made a disgusted pout as saliva ran down her fingers.

She tossed the card aside and wiped her fingers on the carpet.

"Well, uh, let's just say this place doesn't exist anymore"

She grabbed a pencil and made a shaky cross on 'Rue Foch'.

"You can't delete boxes like that"

"Of course I can, look, I just did it"

Touya got impatient.

"If you do that the game doesn't work anymore"

"Why wouldn't it work? There's still, like, a hundred places to buy"

I thought it was admirable how the boy champed at his bit. Fuyumi had enough in her to make Angelina Jolie hate children.

The game began. Natsuo sucked his thumb and apart from throwing the dice, he did little else. In addition to managing the bank, Fuyumi had granted herself the right to be his financial advisor.

"What did you say, Natsu? You want to sell me your Rue de la Paix for fifty bucks ? Oh well, if you insist..."

Touya threw all his bills flat on the tray.

"Stop stealing Natsu's cards ! That's cheating !"

The girl looked dismayed. She pushed her glasses up on her nose bridge with her ring finger.

"Me, cheating ? I would never cheat contrary to you ! Remember last time you cheated when we played the duck game ?"

Touya grabbed his hair as if he was about to pull it out.

"I miscounted only once, once! And that was two years ago! Are you going to remind me of that all my life ?"

"Ha ! See, you cheated!

Touya's shoulders fell back. He stood up.

"Forget it. I'm going to the bathroom"

Fuyumi, a triumphant smile on her lips, watched him until he left the living room.

She waited a few more seconds before dipping unscrupulously into the bank. Her eyes met mine.

"What ? It's my banker's salary"

I blinked.

"Okay, here's your cut (she handed me a wad of 500s). Don't tell Tou-Tou, okay?"

I put the bills in my pile. Kids or not, I'll crush them all.

Fuyumi hid her new cash under her skirt. She looked up at the corridor, waited a few seconds. Then she dipped again in the bank.

"Hey, you're cheating !"

Fuyumi gasped. She pointed at me with her hand full of money.

"It was Sho-sho who told me to do it !"

Touya got really angry.

"Stop it, he doesn't understand anything and he can't even speak !"

Touya stormed in, trying to wrestle the money out of her hands. They bickered and knocked over the entire game board. The dice got lost in a dark corner of the shaggy carpet.

The housekeeper arrived in a hurry.

"What's going on here ? Why am I hearing all these screams ?"

"It's Touya, he keeps on-"

I stopped paying attention to them when I saw Endeavor enter the living room.

He was drying his face with a towel, his hair still wet. Purple bags hung under his eyes.

His eyes glided over us, as if he could barely see us, before he went to sit on one of the sofas, blanket in hand. He did this sometimes when he came home from work and had a few hours to spare.

As for why he was sleeping in the noisy living room full of whining children rather than his room...

I glanced at Narumi. She was still trying to resolve the conflict between the children, surely wanting to ease the tension before Touya murdered Fuyumi. The poor boy's left hand was shaking.

I grabbed the edge of a chair and used it as a crutch to help me stand up. I looked over my shoulder. No one was paying me attention.

I breathed in, mentally preparing myself for what was next.

That was when it got tricky: I had trained myself to stand up in my crib, but when it came to walking...

I moved a shaky leg forward on the carpet. I staggered, fell sideways against the upholstered sofa.

I straightened up and forced myself to move another leg forward just as shakily as the first. I had to raise my arms on either side of my body to steady myself, but I managed.

Frowning, I set off. One step. Rebalance. Second. Third.

It was a laborious undertaking, but I think I was beginning to understand how it worked.

"Hey, look at Sho-sho !"

Here comes the first obstacle: the coffee table.

I knew that if I went underneath and started to crawl, the housekeeper would come and get me in no time.

So I would have to take the arduous and dangerous road to reach my goal: the cold floor. I looked up from my feet to see the object of all my efforts. Endeavor was lying on the couch, a khaki blanket casually draped over him. One arm on his pillow supported his head, which was hidden under the blanket. Only his red hair was still visible.

My feet left the carpet. I staggered across the floor, my arms flailing in the air. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the housekeeper move forward to catch me, but I managed to stabilize myself without her help. She stopped but remained in direct proximity.

My toes twitched: I couldn't grip my toes onto the carpet fibers to keep myself upright, but at least they weren't frozen - thanks to the onesie.

I walked around the coffee table, swaying like a sailor who had drunk too much. I was not ashamed to hold onto one of the table legs to help me along.

The entirety of this undertaking and my difficulty in walking without faltering was, admittedly, a blow to my ego, but as the saying goes : the end justifies the means.

Pride washed over me as I saw the couch looming within reach. A little more and-

I stumbled, the toes of my right foot hitting the ground. Immediately the back of my foot followed, my ankle and leg being dragged along with the momentum.

My eyes widened as I stirred air with my arms. I crashed into the couch with a loud 'woof', my fists automatically gripping the brown cushions. My body was diagonal from the floor, as if I were a bridge with one of its pillars just collapsed.

I had to use all my strength to stand up and hold on my feet again. Even then, the top of my head was not above the seat.

I looked up.

Endeavor had half lifted the blanket from his face and was scanning me intently.

I looked down, intimidated. This guy had a way of looking at you that made you uncomfortable.

Focus, Shoto. We won't be frightened by a thirty-year-old who needs to take naps!

I was evaluating my next course of conduct.

If I held onto the armrest and wedged my right foot under the cushion-

My feet left the ground.

I blinked in surprise as Endeavor pulled me under the blanket beside him. He wrapped his arm around my body and pulled me closer to him, locking me against his chest.

He stared at me for a few seconds, silent, before holding me tighter against him. His eyes closed.

"Don't make a sound or I'll send you straight to the crib"

I hated the crib.

I knew it, he knew it, everyone in this house knew it.

That's a low blow, Endeavor. But since I managed to manipulate you into letting me sleep with you, I consider us even.

It took me only three seconds against the living heater to fall asleep.

*