-*| The Cursed World |*-

Chapter Fifteen: Musaraigne

(Some time after)

Spending time with Bean makes me feel not so alone anymore. However, all good things must come to an end, for now.

I'm in one of the guest bedrooms. A ton of dirt and clutter surrounds the wardrobe and nightstand. I don't want to imagine what is under the bed.

I have a small pan with me, and a broom. — Sweep, sweep, sweep — With each stroke, some of the clutter finds its way into the pan.

I don't mind being by myself, right now. I hum some small tune, and listen to the patter of the children's feet down below.

Well, I don't mind being alone, if I don't remind myself on how I am alone.

I shake my head, in an attempt to rid myself of topics such as that. The sharp memories of Clover yelling at me, and then the children and wives mocking me, to when that other wife told me I couldn't be around the others because I was too "impure."

These just hit hard. Harder than I expected. I have never seen myself as so... dirty before I came here.

So, here I am. I sweep away random debris. If I stay away from the others, then I won't get hurt.

Bean is really the only nice one I've met here. He makes me feel appreciated, and not so dirty, and can tolerate my stupid mouth running off without my consent. I guess I really needed that. I still need that.

After thinking of him for a little too long, I get that funny feeling. Not the dread one, that feels like I'm making a horrible mistake and that I'm going down the wrong path where everyone will get hurt and die. No, not that one. This one is good, I think. It makes me get all giddy; like too many butterflies flopping about.

I pause myself. Still, this feels like the wrong path. I know, I don't know who I know, but someone I looked up to once made a similar mistake to mine. Sure, Bean is a dirty-coat, but from what I know about them, he's just different.

'Stupid worrying.' I decide.

That's when I hear footsteps coming up the stairs. I realize I'm plopped down on the bed, and immediately push myself back up. I rush to grab the broom and pan.

I see a boy carrying a book, and recognize him as that bookworm that his siblings were following around. I can't tell if he saw me or not. For some reason, he reminds me a lot of Clover.

I sneeze. A real loud sneeze. Of course, he sees me. I brace myself for some of the nagging, rude words I know will come.

The boy gives me a smile, and then — runs up to where I am. — Help me.

"Hello?" My voice breaks, so I sound like a weird duck.

He comes into the bedroom. Can't he see I'm a little busy here? Oh, what does he want from me?

The boy comes into the room. His longish fluffed-up bangs hang over his face. He really is like a miniature, boy-version of my sister.

"Hi!" He says, so cheerfully.

The boy looks at the pan. "Whatcha doing?"

"Uhm," I stare down at what I was doing. I forgot, and then remembered. "...Oh, cleaning,"

"Hmpf," He walks over, and looks down at what I was doing, "looks boring. You must be lonely; doing this by yourself,"

I stare at him for a bit. He is rude, but not like the others. Like a certain type of rude, where it's rude, but he phrases it in a way that it is more like nice-rude.

Kinda just like he's saying facts right now, more than anything.

So, I give a small nod. "Yeah." Is all I can find to say.

Because, that's the truth. Even if I lie, and lie to myself, I can't hide from the truth. The truth will always come back to hit you if you try to hide it. Lies do not make you any less than what you actually are.

"Same." He says, "I don't know if you can tell, but most of my siblings are the stereotypical rich kids."

'What does "stereotypical" mean?' I think.

I know what "rich" means. I'm not that stupid. I also know that Lord Sun is a lot of that.

I don't say that I don't know what "stereotypical" means. Then I might sound more dumb, and he would leave. It's nice to have someone to talk to.

"Yes, they dress really well," I agree. I'm not too sure what to say.

He blinks at me in confusion, and then shakes his head. "Never mind. I'm Musaraigne, but I just go by Mus."

"I am Hebe," I give my name.

I have never heard the name, Musaraigne. I think it's a Leaf Tribe name; not that I know much of Leaf Tribe. I know Mus is also a Leaf Tribe name, but they mean two different animals.

Mus means a mouse, and Musaraigne means a cute little shrew.

Sounds like two different people.

I ask out of sheer curiosity, "Why Mus?"

"Mus was my late twin sister," He mumbles.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," I murmur.

He shrugs. "It's okay, I like to go by Mus as a way to remember her. No one seems to care about her now that shes, y'know,"

I give another little nod. Poor guy. I don't get how people can just forget about others like that.

"I lost someone too. Or I think I lost someone." I say, "She is still here, but it feels like we're worlds apart."

We both go quiet. I shuffle; not sure what to do. This is awkward.

"Oh well, I guess that's life." Mus grumbles. "You are born, you live a useless, forgettable life, and then you die."

That's a little sudden and morbid. "I guess—"

"So, I guess it doesn't really matter what we do. Do you want help cleaning this up?" He finishes.

"Uhm, sure!" I smile, and don't really think through the consequences.

——

A/N: Hi. Mus is 12 or 13 here. I'm putting this here as a warning to just not ship them, even though there is a big time skip next chapter. Also a reminder that this is whole book prewritten, so hopefully no one does ship them