Noroi stood back and sighed in relief. His work there was done,he guessed. He felt slightly at ease but he knew after he had left Sakura,the hardest part would begin for him.
He picked up his luggage from the living room and started to head outside. Sakura realised it and ran towards him.
-''What's wrong..?'' she asked.'' Where are you going?''
-''Well,i dont seem to belong here,i didnt come with you to take shelter anyway.I made sure that everything will work out and now that it did,i have to go on. I need to start taking care of myself on my own,i would never want to be a burden and i need to get to the bottom of this.My past that is..So i will look for a place to live in,and a school that is low profile for us to get into. When the time is right i will come to get you.Dont worry...You know i can protect myself better than anyone.''
He looked back at her aunt and nodded a goodbye.She smiled and formed a ''thank you'' with her lips. He turned back to Sakura once more. She had a worrysome and kind of sad look in her eyes. She jumped at him and held him tight. He tensed up at first but then relaxed in her arms.
-''I'll be waiting.'' she told him and slowly let go of him.
He kissed her on the forehead and walked out of the house.
He went back to the bus station they had gotten off some hours ago and rode towards downtown again. He had an astray feeling of confusion but he tried to ignore it. And he managed to. With the money he carried he would be able to pull off for a long time and buy his way in and out of almost anything,for that he was reassured. He passed by a neighbourhood that seemed aproppriate for a start. Ghettolike and a bit loud,looked like a place where noone would ask much. It was perfect,he thought. And nobody would suspect a 14 year old of much either. After looking around and asking random older people he was told about a building with empty apartments for rent.
He walked up to the number he was told and faced a grey,unkept building covered in graffitti and dirt. On the lower stories he could see windows broken and garbage filled corners. He didnt mind it as long as he had the peace he needed. He knocked on the landladys door and waited. After a while an old spinster with a sour expression opened slightly enough to be able to put her head out.
-''Huh?! A brat..What it is?'' she asked suspiciously.
Noroi put his kindest tone and frown on and responded.
-''Excuse me madame for the disturbance..I was told that you are renting empty apartments and i am interested in occupying one if possible.'' At least he had to get along with that woman if he was going to live here,he thought while smiling at her.
-''And you,a child,wanting to live on your own? And who'll be paying me the rent,i dont see any parent behind you and you dont seem to be a working boy in the least!Now get lost!'' she said ironically,almost ready to close the door.
Noroi didnt lose his patience. He pulled a package of bills and handed it to the lady,his hand blocking the door,smiling the whole time.
-''I hope that this will cover my first months,wont it madame?''
That shut her up.She looked greedy from the beginning,the kind of woman who would die along with her inheritance burried in her arms and nobody to mourn her.
-''But of course Sir,please excuse me for my doubts before.It is 306 for you,on the third floor.If possible wait here until i bring you the contract to sign.''she said satisfied politely as if she'd turned to somebody else.
Noroi was pleased. The circumstances couldn't have been any more helpful on his behalf.
Money can do anything after all,he said to himself. He was led up the stairs after signing a scrappy contract,to a small apartment but big enough for one or two people to live in. He was given the key and the lady wished him a pleasant stay.As if.. The walls were dull,painted a fainted lilac barely noticable,at least it was better than grey. There was a medium sized living room along with the kitchen which was placed behind a wooden barrier in the background. There was a bathroom with broken tiles,a regular sized shower blackened in the corners and a crooked mirror above its sink. The bedroom had a wooden floor surprisingly not destroyed and smelled like death. Even more like murder he thought.
The furniture wasn't as damaged either so he would just have to clean up the place a bit and it would be inhabitable. He sat on the couch,happy that one of his problems was solved for now. He would go downstairs later and ask the landlady for some information on local schools he and Sakura could go to. Even if he had higher goals and more important matters to him,he couldnt be wandering around as a school dropout and he would not allow Sakura to either. He got up,took off his clothes and walked into his familiar smelling bedroom,and then he slowly closed his eyes for the first time there,to have again the only dream he had ever had. But this time,it was different..
(to be continued..)
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