Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 596: Black Skull. (Part Twenty Eight)

Hesitantly, Rose turned around. Her eyes met his, and she froze for a moment. He hadn’t moved any closer to her, and the look in his eyes was no different from how it was when they first met, and yet...

"It’s not that easy to tell them apart, but..." He said. "You can’t get this hue from a simple dye."

"... so what about it?" Rose snorted. "It’s just some stupid color."

"True. It might be rare here, but it’s actually pretty common on the eastern side of Lumeria."

"Lumeria..."

Hearing the name sent her mood diving, and she looked away, sinking into hr own thoughts.

"My mom went there once, on her honeymoon..." The words came out on their own, and by the time she realized it, it was already too late. "She must have liked the place quite a bit. So much so that she decided to get a souvenir, making sure she doesn’t forget."

"... oh..."

"Things worked out just fine for a while, then I was born. You can probably imagine the look on her husband’s face when he saw my purple head."

The man had every right to be angry, and so he left shortly after. Her mother had been angry, too, and she chose her as an outlet for that anger. She blamed her newborn daughter for how the marriage turned out, as if it were the baby’s fault that she chose to cheat. Time failed to make the problem go away, and little Rose was left stuck with an irresponsible mother who refused to take accountability for her own actions, abusing her own daughter to cope with the loss of a relationship she herself ruined.

"I couldn’t take it anymore and... well, I just didn’t go back one day..."

Rose hadn’t told anyone how she ended up on the street, so putting it into words felt rather strange. Despite everything that happened to her, not once did she think about going back. Not that she could, even if she wanted to. On that day five months ago, she exchanged one prison for another.

"Is that... how you ended up like this?"

"Did you think I’m doing this because I like it?" She snorted. "You would think I would be a little smarter after what I went through, but..."

All it took was accepting a little help from someone who looked to be in the same situation as her. No matter how smart they think they are, a fifteen-year-old is still a fifteen-year-old, and it doesn’t take much to manipulate them, especially when they are in a desperate situation.

"Rose, I..."

"Don’t." She shut him right away. "I told you... I don’t need your pity."

Silence returned to the room, and it soon grew far too awkward. Rose didn’t know where to go from there. Nothing came to her mind, and she could only sit on her side of the couch and wait. Likely noticing that she had given up on the conversation, Sirius spoke again. Somehow, he managed to say something she had never expected.

"I fell in love the first time I saw it," He said. "Your hair, I mean."

"... what?"

"I don’t know why myself, so don’t ask." Shaking his head, he looked back at her and smiled. "You’ve probably heard it many times before, but you have really pretty hair. From what you said just now, I... I got the impression that you don’t like it that much, but..." Pausing, Sirius pursed his lips, appearing to struggle to find the right words. Giving up halfway through, he looked her in the eyes once more, and with all the seriousness in the world, he put how he felt in the simplest of terms. "I really, really like it."

Once the words left his mouth, he seemed to realize that what he wanted to say was different, going on and on about how none of what happened was her fault, and that she had nothing to feel guilty about. Rose listened to him in silence, and after a while, she found herself laughing. The reason eluded her, but she couldn’t stop it.

"Hey, why are you laughing?" He frowned at her. "I was being serious just now."

"Of course you were," Rose replied, a mischievous smile pulling on the corners of her mouth. "I’m just surprised you admitted you like little girls."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Sirius went pale.

"I was starting to have doubts, you know? Why would you hear but do nothing?"

"Now hold on a minute! I didn’t-" the words got caught in his throat, and he seemed to give up the next moment. "I guess there is no way I’m beating the allegation."

"Yup. You aren’t convincing anyone."

Though she said that much, the doubts she had didn’t go away. At the very least, he didn’t seem to be like the others. He could have done anything he wanted in the last three weeks, and considering the risk he was taking and the money he was spending, not doing anything just felt like a waste. His actions confused her a lot, and for some reason, it didn’t feel like she would understand, even if he told her straight to her face.

"Well, I would have much preferred if you were a little older." He said. "But there is no point in saying that now, is there?"

"You still haven’t done anything."

"I don’t think that will hold in court."

The two laughed some more, and for a while, Rose forgot all about what led to that conversation. Still, she managed to confirm one thing from the way he responded. Though her hair made him feel a certain way, Sirius didn’t want to hurt her. He was probably the only decent person to visit her in this prison, and most likely, he would be the last one. As nice as it was, all things would eventually come to an end.

~[ ]~

"You have one week. I want you to cut things with him by then."