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āI put my arms around myself and I'm unbreakable.ā
ćÉĪ¹Ī±ĘĻgĻ Ń cĻĘĻŃ:#BDA0CB ā ŃŠ½ĻĻ gŠ½Ń cĻĘĻŃ #F7B3DAć
|| Dear Winter || AJR ||
ćÉĪ¹Ī±ĘĻgĻ Ń cĻĘĻŃ:#BDA0CB ā ŃŠ½ĻĻ gŠ½Ń cĻĘĻŃ #F7B3DAć
|| Dear Winter || AJR ||
"Tonight at 9, the Death of the Chrysanthemum's First Superhero."
"Winter Matsuri, a 16 year old student from City Center-"
"Sources say Ms. Matsuri was shot six times before she went down, protecting everyone around her with a wall of ice."
"This is what I'm talking about! We've become a society that gets angry about a kid with ice powers, but not angry about the gross mistreatment the Chrysanthemum is guilty of!"
"There will be a memorial for Ms. Matsuri at City Center on May 6th-"
"The body of Ms. Matsuri was stolen by the terrorists, Chrysanthemum officials say they will do everything in their power to retrieve it in order to give Winter a proper burial."
The television was a low drone in her ears. The room was dark except for the TV in the corner, an arm draped over her eyes so she wouldn't have to see pictures of herself on the screen. Her lunch sat untouched on the tray in the corner. She still felt tired, after two days of going in and out of sleep due to the amount of tranqualizers she was hit with. Apparently, the bullets she had thought shot her were actually rubber, leaving behind big, ugly bruises. Her concept of time was all messed up, her concept of everything was messed up really, considering she had no idea where she was or who had taken her here. She knew it wasn't home, considering the nightgown she wore was unfamiliar and the bed she lay in, while exravagant and plush, was not the hospital bed she normally slept on.
Whether she liked it or not, whether they was their intention, Winter had been erased. She was dead to the world, a city mourning a girl they had hated only days before. What had Winter done to deserve this? She didn't know. "You should really try to eat," Yuuki nudged her, sitting on the end of the bed. "What's the point? I'm dead, remember? Besides, I'm tired." Winter had no idea where she was. She could vaguely recall people coming in and out, but not faces. Everything had been a blur with so many drugs in her system. Both her cane, the one her Grandfather had shaped by hand, and her gloves, the ones that had been precious to her, were gone. Her hands itched without them, used to the warmth of the white leather. They felt naked, in a sense.
"Fine, then I'm gonna eat it all." Yuuki said, picking up the silver lid on the tray. Winter sat up slowly, her head still spinning. She turned the TV off, the room going dark. "Turn on the light," Yuuki, for once, did what Winter asked him. She reached out, making a cane out of ice to hobble to the bathroom with, her entire body sore. "Why don't we break out of this place?" Yuuki suggested. There were no windows in this room, it was rather small, as though it had been hastily set up to hold someone in. The cane broke right as she reached the bathroom, ice not meant to hold the weight of a small girl up. She would have fallen if she hadn't caught herself in the doorway. Yuuki didn't help her, he never did. Not even as he watched her crawl out of the bathroom and hoist herself onto the bed. She pulled the tray close, noticing the family crest stamped onto everything.
"Of course it's them," she growled under her breath. They just couldn't leave her alone, could they? Was this Claude's idea of saving her? Had he roped Elise into his crazy idea? She could remember a gentle breeze. They had Mercedes and Serenity working with them too. Was this their plan the entire time? "I'm gonna kill them," Winter said softly, the fork slowly beginning to freeze over. "That's the spirit!" Yuuki pat her on the back. There was a soft knock on the other side of the door, Winter wasn't sure if she should answer or not. "Winter?" Cynthia opened the door, apparently it hadn't been locked this entire time. "Oh, you're awake!" She smiled, all dolled up. "Claude and Elise should return from school soon." She opened the door a bit wider, the sunlight from the hallway flooding into the room.
"I've had the staff prepare you a proper room, now that the officials have left the grounds." So they looked for her here already? How had they kept them from finding her? Winter didn't know. Cynthia strode inside, Winter noticing a cane in her hands. "I hope this will suffice, I know it isn't that nice wooden one, but we can get you a proper one later on." The cane she brought was sleek and black, plain. "This is fine, thank you. I'm just a bit confused, why am I here?" She followed Cynthia out, Yuuki having disappeared as soon as the knock came. "My children and their crazy ideas," she laughed, the carpet thick and plush beneath her bare feet. Cynthia opened the door to a different room, "I'll have a fresh lunch tray made up for you. Don't hesitate to call for me if you need anything." She clasped one of Winter's hands between her own.
Winter didn't hear the lock click into place behind her, it was odd. She tested the doorknob, finding that no, it wasn't locked. She went to the tall windows on one of the room, overlooking the back of the property. Winter jimmied the handle, flinging the window open. They opened, but why? Were windows supposed to open? She took a step back, turning around. What about the bed? She went over to it, tugging at the blankets. They weren't tucked so that she couldn't take them off the bed. What else would she check? Winter threw the doors to the closet open, picking a hanger up off of the rack. It came off the shelf, it wasn't attached to it with a ring, like in the Chrysanthemum Government Tower.
The bathroom had no limiter on the tub or sink, she could even open the cabinet and look underneath it. She went back to the door, testing it once more, opening it up. No, it truly wasn't locked. She pooked her head into the hallway, but there was no one there. Did they trust her not to just leave? Winter closed the door once more, wondering if this was a test of some sorts. She went to sit in a chair, waiting, but the door only opened when a woman in a maid uniform came. "Excuse me, Ms. Matsuri, but the Matron would like to know what you would prefer to eat for lunch?" Winter blinked. Prefer to eat? No one had ever asked her that before. "I don't know," she looked at the window, which the maid went to close. "Are there... options?"
Ten minutes later, the maid returned with a tray full of different foods. Sandwiches and chips, cakes, and cookies, not a vegetable in sight. "It's not... poisoned, is it?" She asked, catching the maid off guard. "What? Why in the heavens would it be!" She pushed Winter's seat in closer, "eat child. I'll be back to see if you need anything else." She had left some sort of thick looking drink, a protein shake? No, protein shakes weren't pink. Winter picked it up, finding it to be icy and sweet. It broguht back memories of the farm, of picking strawberries with her grandparents and their dog that would eat berries right off of the vine when they weren't looking.
Was this truly allowed?