Translated by Mecorx and Pixel
I put my bag away in the usual place, and hung my hat and jacket on the wall. As I took off my boots and changed into my slippers, I noticed a scratch on the toe. It must have been from when I kicked the bulletin board. Serves me right. I thought about buffing it out with oil, but it was too much trouble, so I just flopped into bed. What a day. I closed my eyes, and hoped for the sandman to come along. But there was no sign of him anywhere. I took a deep breath, then let it out. I turned my head, and looked around the room. It looked exactly as I left it this morning. Belongings scattered all over the place. The floor glowed faintly with the spilled paint. Right, let’s clean this up. Let’s put things away one by one. That’s what I learned after getting out of Midgar. Don’t drag things on.
As I got out of bed, I checked for daily necessities. There didn’t seem to be anything to be thrown away. I returned things to their proper places as I rinsed, and wiped them down. Housekeeping is something I’ve done since I was a child. I remember my mother’s voice praising me for being so dependable. I went to the bed and put my hand under the thin mattress, looking for a photo of Mom. One of the few memories I brought from Midgar.
“Mom, what are you doing?”
“Evan?”
As if in response to the murmur, I heard a voice from outside the door. It was Vits’ voice, but it seemed faint.
“Vits? It’s open.”
But there was no answer. Hearing the voice of a child in the middle of the night worries me. This can’t be good news. I rushed to open the door. Vits looked up at me, and just collapsed. I instantly caught him.
“It hurts… it hurts, Evan.”
“I know.” I carried his light body, and lay him on my bed, “Where does it hurt?”
“My back—”
Vits gasped. I carefully rolled him onto his stomach. I cautiously touched the lesion, and start rubbing. I heard that Fabio would stay up all night doing this. It had no effect, but sadly, this was all I could do. Oh yeah. Where’s Fabio? He should still have medicine. Why didn’t he give him that?
I told Vits I’d be right back and left the room. I peeked inside, through the green door, which was left open.
“Fabio?”
Fabio was lying on the floor, covered in blood. I ran out of the room, and stood motionless. I hesitated to make my way back inside again. What was the best thing to do? I want to sit down on the bed. I want to fall asleep, if possible. I want this all to be just a dream.
“Fabio’s dying!”
It took a full minute before yelled that.
