Alis said, “My parents sold me to this rich guy who used my blood to sell to other people. They must have really needed that money for their farm to sell their four-year-old son, but what would I know? Haha…”

There was silence, and then Ei said slowly, “So, you escaped?”

“Yeah, just yesterday,” Alis said. “I was sleeping in a forest until I got hungry and came here. You should go back to the forest with me.”

“And why would I go anywhere with you? Do you truly know what will happen to you if you let something as dark as me follow you around? You’ll be hated by everyone you meet.”

Alis said, “I don’t care if everyone hates me if it means I don’t have to leave a starving person alone to die.”

Ei muttered, “You’re so fucking weird.”

Alis laughed, and then Ei turned to him and stared at the braid in his soft white hair.

“Thank you.”

Alis thought he heard wrong and then turned swiftly to gaze back at Ei.

“I’m not saying it again,” Ei said bluntly.

Alis saw the world around him change, and the same eyes that were once staring at him had grown mature, and all around them there was the roar of war. The man before him was clearly Ei; only he was older. There was a fire in his eyes that was completely different than the empty coldness. Ei smiled warmly, which seemed to light up the world in an everlasting flame, and then Alis blinked, and he was back in the alleyway.

Ei asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Alis looked away swiftly and said, “It’s nothing.”

Alis rubbed his eyes and pondered internally, “Was that a vision? It felt so real.”

“Weirdo,” Ei muttered as he squashed the anthill under his heel. 

Ei watched the ants scramble around their home that had just been destroyed, and he felt nothing, while Alis cried, “Why did you do that?”

Suddenly, the ants turned to them and began swarming toward them. Alis stood up and picked Ei up by the arm.

“Those ones bite,” Alis yelled.

Ei didn’t seem to care, and then Alis hurriedly escaped the alleyway with Ei in tow. The wind pushed the two, and hail pummelled them strongly.

“What are you doing? They’re just ants," Ei complained as he tried to pull Alis back.

Alis cried, “But when I was younger I destroyed an ant hill, and they crawled up my pants and bit me everywhere!”

“So what! Surely they aren’t chasing us this far. Let’s sit at the front of the alley.”

The two turned around and saw ants running toward them, and one was on Ei’s foot. He hurriedly shook it off, and then Alis saw the food covered in black and red ants.

They ran through the street, and their feet splashed in puddles of water and mud as they dashed away. Soon, Alis couldn’t contain his laughter, and he exclaimed, “This is so stupid! Why are we still running?”

Ei looked like a wet dog, and he asked with a darkened tone, “Exactly. Why are we running?”

Alis spotted another alley, and they sprinted toward it and huddled under a roof to hide from the rain. Ei squeezed his shirt, and water pooled onto the ground, and he glared at Alis with fury.

“Haha?”
Ei punched Alis in the arm, and Alis complained, “Ow!”

“You deserve it.”

“You were the one who poked the hill! Do you want to be covered in ant bites?”

Ei pouted, and Alis shined in his victory. Wind shot by that didn’t feel like wind at all but rather a wave of snow. Both Ei and Alis froze still as their wet clothes stabbed them with a chill.

“I would rather be on fire,” Alis complained.

“I would rather set you on fire and watch you burn,” Ei said with a smirk.

Alis cried, “Why are you so mean?”

Ei shrugged, and Alis sobbed internally. The two of them sat down side by side, and Alis inched closer.

“Go away,” Ei barked.

“It’s warmer if we stick together,” Alis stated.

Ei grumbled, as he couldn’t admit that Alis was right, but he didn’t care to argue any longer. Alis closed his eyes, but his shivering kept him awake, and then Ei softly said, “I was abandoned.”

Alis opened his eyes and picked at his hangnails, as he waited in silence for Ei to say more.

“My family was running away from demon hunters, and I was a burden. So they left me behind. The demon hunters said that they couldn’t kill a kid, so they left me and continued chasing after my family… I wish they would have just killed me. I don’t care for their supposed kindness. Hearing my parents' screams as they died was more than enough to curse me.”

Alis’ didn’t know what to say, as his breath was caught in his throat. He remembered his vision where he was still by Ei’s side in the future, and he longed to see that gorgeous smile once more. Alis looked down at Ei’s hand which was playing with blades of grass. He took that hand into his own and promised, “I won’t ever leave you.”

Ei felt strange and he said, “You should.”

Alis leaned his head on Ei’s shoulder and said, “I won’t leave you. I promise.”

Ei grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it above his mouth. Quietly he said, “Do whatever.”