#katsukibakugoxreader

[avaxxlin]

tough love || Bakugo x reader (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/story/290759852-tough-love-bakugo-x-reader?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_myworks&wp_uname=avaxlin&wp_originator=1yAVI%2FXZbdK7loYz17%2BfP5KLZKA%2FivQ6RCw4aAe0w0ke9In%2F7Eu%2BNchtHndwKFifeCuYYzhC4XDpvU%2Ba7zI56DE69C%2F38uSiOBYsZ%2FvIG5UX4mPDY3USw1Wd6VWxmGCv katsuki bakugo has been desperately in love with his best friend y/n aizawa since the young age of four but is too terrified to tell her in fear of rejection. while she reciprocates the same feeling doesn't realize how he feels no matter how obvious it is. izuku midoriya her childhood best friend feels the same way as bakugo even if he knows how she feels about the blonde-haired male bakugoxreaderxmidoriya started 11-12-21 picked back up 2/1/23 ended -/--/-- *rated mature for strong themes and language and possible smut*

[kcwritesbnha]

“Ruin our friendship.” - Katsuki Bakugo X Fem!Reader

This was def inspired by this song. its such a bop. Idk I came up w this in like 5 minutes its probably garbage but this song gave me a strong urge to write.

TYPE: Fluff??

WARNINGS: idk swearing ig lol

•••

Y/L/N and Bakugo had a relationship you couldn’t exactly explain.

Bakugo never outright said you were best friends. He acted with you as he did with Kirishima, only.. different. He tried to pretend that you didn’t phase him at all.

Everyone knew this wasn’t the case, seeing as if anyone even slightly degraded, teased, or hit on you, Bakugo was there, standing behind you with a scowl scary enough to murder toward the person offering you the comment.

He couldn’t even deny it himself, no matter how much he wanted to. He was overprotective.

“Bakugo! Wanna come to Karaoke night with the rest of us!?” Kirishima offered his friend cheerfully.

“Piss off.”

“Alright, alright,” Kirishima retreated with his hands up in surrender. “Y/L/N is coming, maybe her and I could do a duet~” Kirishima began to taunt Bakugo, knowing the end result.

“If you even stand as much as five feet from her I will put you six feet fucking under. I’m coming with.”

Kirishima had a knowing smirk on his face as him and the angry blonde walked side by side to meet everyone there.

“Is Y/L/N actually going or did you just spew some bullshit to make me come.”

Bakugo acted as if your presence didn’t make any difference in the world, but him and everyone else knew it did. He knew he wouldn’t bother to come to this stupid extra-get-together if you weren’t going to be there.

“I haven’t actually asked her, but I’m sure she’d love to! Text her and make sure.” Kirishima shrugged. Bakugo grunted in frustration at the unconfirmed situation before yanking his phone out of his pocket and quickly sending you a text.”

To: Shit face

“Go to this karaoke bullshit or I will seriously lose my fuckin mind.”

You responded within 5 minutes.

“Of course Katsuki, see you there.”

Bakugo let out a small sigh of relief, knowing at least you’d actually be there. He looked forward to making you laugh by whispering criticism against the others’ singing into your ear.

When the boys arrived, they found the rest of their classmates joined together at two tables put together to make one. Bakugo spotted you and immediately kicked Denki’s chair away from you and sliding another one over to sit next to you. Your chair was placed where he faced your back. He placed an arm against the back of your chair and immediately started distracting you from Mina’s singing to Party In the USA by leaning in close to your ear.

“I’m already fuckin’ bored. We don’t even live in the US.” He whispered immediately making you snort and start giggling. He smirked at your laugh in victory.

Mina had finished her song and everyone clapped. You offered a flirty whistle as she walked off the little stage. She faked being bombarded by paparazzi before she sat back down. “Alright! Who’s going next?” Mina asked the group.

“What did you get?” Bakugo asked you over your shoulder, gesturing to the bowl of food you had placed in front of you. You left half of it for Bakugo, knowing he’d refuse to get anything for himself and just eat off of whatever you got, so you ordered accordingly.

“Tan Tan Ramen.” You winked at him before pushing it toward him.

“No fuckin’ waaay.” he quietly gushed before snatching your chop sticks.

He took a bite and leaned his head back happily, before giving you the “This is fuckin’ dank” look. You laughed and shook your head at him before paying your attention back to the group. You noticed Jirou had decided to go next, you immediately shouted your support, knowing Jirou was already an amazing singer and she’d absolutely crush whatever song she chose.

She began singing Reputation By Joan Jett.

“Hell heah Jirouuu!” You shouted at her, making her stop to giggle before continuing.

In conclusion, Jirou kicked ass just as you expected and you jokingly rolled up a $5 and tossed it onto the stage.

“Y/L/N, your turn!” Ochako exclaimed excitedly. Your eyes nearly bulged out of your head.

“Woah, what? No!” You shook your head rapidly before feeling a slight nudge from blasty boi behind you. Upon hearing him imitate chicken noises behind you, you got up and took the microphone from Jirou.

“I hate you all.” You joked before stepping onto the stage and looking through the song list. You spotted one that made your eyes flicker to your explosive best friend, your explosive best friend that you were incredibly in love with.

You thought for a solid minute before deciding to say fuck it, and clicked on the song.

Worst case scenario, he doesn’t realize its toward him. Or, he’ll realize its about him and reject me.

Before you can change your mind, the song started.

Jenny, darling, you’re my best friend

But theres a few things that you don’t know of

Why I borrow your lipstick so often

I’m using your shirt as a pillow case

The chorus was about to begin, so you made sure to look your best friend right in his eyes.

I want to ruin our friendship

We should be lovers instead

I don’t know how to say this

Cause’ you’re really my dearest friend

You quickly brushed it off by doing a silly dance inbetween lyrics.

Bakugo, on the other hand. Wasn’t sure what to think. You looked right at him, what did that mean?

Regardless, he allowed himself to nod his head slightly to the beat of your song, almost his way of silently supporting you on stage. In his eyes, he’d be your number one fan.

The chorus came back, and here you were once again, staring him dead in his eyes as you danced.

I want to ruin our friendship

You very slightly gestured between the two of you with your hand.

We should be lovers instead

You nodded in agreement to the lyrics, eyes still locked on Bakugo’s, a nervous smile appearing on your face.

I don’t know how to say this

cause’ you’re really my dearest friend

He began to smirk slightly, finally coming to his conclusion that he was getting a little serenade.

When you finished your song, Kirishima and Kamanari took turns jokingly wolf howling. “Whaddya got to say about that blasty?!” Kirishima exclaimed, slapping a hand onto Bakugo’s back. Bakugo shoved his hand away quickly, not paying it too much mind as he watched you come back to your seat shyly, not saying anything to him as you were about to sit down. He quickly kicked your seat to the side and pulled you down onto his lap, one of his arms wrapped around your waist, the other resting on the table as he leaned into your ear, but this time felt different as his breath tickled your ear.

“Go on, ruin our friendship.”

[rhea4liv-slvt22]

𝙱𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝙱𝚢 𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚢

𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: 𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚢 (𝙰𝚄) (3𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝙾𝚅)

𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐: (𝙰𝚕𝚙𝚑𝚊) 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘𝚞 𝙺𝚊𝚝𝚜𝚞𝚔𝚒 𝚡 (𝙾𝚖𝚎𝚐𝚊) (𝙵𝚎𝚖) 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 13+

𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐(𝚜): 𝙱𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝙶𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝙻𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚐𝚎, 𝙵𝚒𝚛𝚎, 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑, 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚏𝚝

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 3250

𝙾𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚎(𝚜): 𝚂𝚘 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢/𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊 𝚘𝚏 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘'𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎 [𝚈𝚘𝚞]. 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚊'𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝙸 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝. 𝙾𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎, 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚜𝚘! ♡

𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢: 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘'𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢'𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞�� 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚙 𝚊 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍. 𝙷𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚕, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍/𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒��� 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚠 [𝚈𝚘𝚞] 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚎𝚝. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙾𝚖𝚎𝚐𝚊 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚠𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 [𝚈𝚘𝚞] 𝚞𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎.

𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚙, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍; 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍. 𝙱𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍; 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎, 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙. 𝙰𝚗𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜. 𝙰𝚜𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚗, 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎.

𝚆𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚣𝚎, 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚕𝚎, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚙. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚞𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗, 𝚜𝚊𝚌𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚌𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚓𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚛𝚢. 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎'𝚜 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎, 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚝. 𝙷𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜, 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚙 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚢.

"𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛?" 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘'𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝, 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕 𝚜𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢.

"𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜." 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚘𝚗 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎, 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗.

𝙸𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊��𝚍𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘.

"𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜." 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚢. "𝙶𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛; 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚜." 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚜𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝.

𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚊 𝚍𝚘𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝, 𝚜𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚞𝚙. "𝙰𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚜, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕." 𝙷𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍.

𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎, 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝, 𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖'𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢'𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚝 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘'𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝙰𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐. 𝙵𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗��𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.

𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝. 𝙸𝚝 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚜; 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝, 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘'𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚝.

"𝙿-𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎..." 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚝 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘. "𝚆𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗-𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎...𝚠𝚎'𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜..." 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚢 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑. "𝚆𝚎-" 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢'𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏, 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢'𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚜, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖. 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚢, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛, 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

"𝙸-𝙸...𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞..." 𝙷𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘'𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍. "𝙿-𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎...𝙸-" 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚙𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢'𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍.

𝙷𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚊�� 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚝, 𝚠𝚒𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛. 𝙾𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚎, 𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑.

"𝙶𝚎𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚞𝚝." 𝙸𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗, 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜.

𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗, 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚞𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜. 𝚃𝚠𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗, 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚔 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍, 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐'𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚜𝚎.

𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚒���𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐.

"𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛? 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚝? 𝙸𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐?" 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍.

"𝙸 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐.." 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜, 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚢. "𝙼𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎," 𝙸𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍.

"𝚈𝚎𝚜 𝚂𝚒𝚛," 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘'𝚜 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙.

𝙰𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚜𝚘 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘'𝚜 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚢. 𝙷𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙱𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛; 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕.

𝙷𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍...𝚏𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎? 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜? 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚎'𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙰 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕, 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐, 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝. 𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝙰𝚗𝚡𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚢. 𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝙴𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚝. 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕, 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚋𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖��𝚌𝚑, 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚖𝚒𝚡𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜.

𝙰𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚍, 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔, 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚍 [𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛] 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝚃𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚛𝚊𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚝.

𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢. 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚙𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚛. 𝙷𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚢𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝, 𝚊𝚍𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚛, 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚢 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘'𝚜 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠.

"𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙸-" 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘'𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜. "𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝?" 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎, 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚢 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢.

𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚎. "𝙰𝚗 𝙾𝚖𝚎𝚐𝚊. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍; 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍."

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚜𝚎. "𝚂𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐," 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚜𝚎, 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐.

"𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑." 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜, 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎. "𝙸𝚏 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑, 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝙾𝚖𝚎𝚐𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔."

𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘'𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝, 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗. 𝙷𝚎'𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚍𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎.

𝙷𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕. "𝙱𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝, 𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞." 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢, 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢, 𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞, 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗, 𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚋��𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎.

𝙱𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘'𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗, 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

"𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝. 𝚆𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚙 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍." 𝙷𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚜, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚗.

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗, 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞'𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚘 𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗, 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘'𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

"𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚎, 𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞." 𝙰 𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚕 𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝, 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚑 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜.

"𝚂𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚂𝚒𝚛," 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍.

𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚙, 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚗 𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚙 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚞𝚜𝚔, 𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚕𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚍. 𝙱𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 ��𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚍𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚙, 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜, 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚒𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚙 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝.

𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞, 𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘'𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚜𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎. 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚍, 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚞𝚗𝚠𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎.

"𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞," 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢'𝚜 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘. "𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛."

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚜, 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐. "𝚈𝚎𝚜 𝚂𝚒𝚛," 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜.

𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚔𝚢 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛.

"𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚊𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗-" ���𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜. "𝙼𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎?"

𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚍, 𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

"𝙰𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝙾𝚖𝚎𝚐𝚊 𝙸 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎." 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚠𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑, 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗.

"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛." 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎, 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞. "𝚆𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛? 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚝."

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚝 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔.

𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚜, 𝚍𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚡 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞. "𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠."

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚢, 𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚍. 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚑𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢, 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗.

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚠𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚞𝚙," 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚠. "𝙸𝚏 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜."

𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚠 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎, 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚜. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚝.

"𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚞𝚍?" 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛. "𝙱𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘," 𝙷𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚜, 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚜, 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚞𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚡𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚊𝚙 𝚒𝚝 𝚞𝚙.

"𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚝 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎...𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍?" 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎.

𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚎𝚎��𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚘, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚎𝚝.

"𝙶𝚘𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚊!" 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗'𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍. "𝙶𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚎."

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝? 𝚆𝚑𝚢?" 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍.

"𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍. 𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑." 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚜𝚑, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚑𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚜, 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚕 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚔𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑. 𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚜 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚜 𝚋𝚢, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗, 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍. 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍.

"𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝙸 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚞𝚙." 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚍𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛.

"𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎? 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝! 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙸 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕!" 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢.

"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎. 𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍." 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎. "𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚍𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚌𝚢."

𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚢, 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚕���𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝. "𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛, 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜? 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍," 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝. "𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖."

𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚜, 𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚛. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚛𝚊, 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚌 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚝 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎.

𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚓𝚎𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝.

"𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝. 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝." 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚙𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛.

𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚘 𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚞𝚍. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚡𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 ��𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚘𝚏𝚏, 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜.

𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝙿𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎, 𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎.

"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙱𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎, 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞?" 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚜, 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗.

𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎, 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜, 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚌 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚙, 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚊𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝.

𝚂𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚎. "𝙺𝚊𝚝𝚜𝚞𝚔𝚒.." 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎.

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐?" 𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎.

"𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙴𝚒𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍,"

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝?" 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛.

"𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚒𝚜?" 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚙, 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

"𝙽𝚘. 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎," 𝙷𝚎'𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝.

"𝙺𝚊𝚝𝚜𝚞𝚔𝚒..𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔.." 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑.

𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚑𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚜, 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝, 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔.

"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜-"

"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎. 𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎." 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜. "𝙺𝚊𝚝𝚜𝚞𝚔𝚒..𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎."

"𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎?" 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚎𝚜."

𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑.

"𝚂𝚘..𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎? 𝙼𝚢 𝙾𝚖𝚎𝚐𝚊?" 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍. "𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛?"

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚜, 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢. "𝙱𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚢, 𝚢𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎."

𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚊𝚍𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝙱𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚐𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎, 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑.

[tsukuyimi-blog]

Bakugo Katsuki x reader

"You get aroused by this?" He teased, lifting your face with his strong hand. "This is pathetic, ____." His face got so close to your own, you couldn't handle it.

The meanest guy in school, you where having a crush on secretly, decided to teach you a lesson, after he has been bullying you your whole life.

oneshot.

[taliya-art]

Primo giorno (BakugoKatsukixReader)

Capitolo 2

T/N POV

(Flashback)

- “Kacchan !” urlai cercando di raggiungerlo tra gli alberi.

Io e Izuku gli camminavamo alle spalle aspettando che ci degnasse di una risposta.

“Cosa c’è ?” domandò Katsuki.

“Che ne dici se giocassimo alla squadra di eroi ?” rispose Izuku.

“Ok ! Ma ovviamente io sarò il capo dato che il qwirk di T/N è ancora troppo debole e il tuo non si è ancora mostrato.”

“Uffa, Kacchan… devi sempre fare tu il capo.”

“Certo ! Per i motivi che ho appena detto, Deku. Il mio qwirk è il più figo di tutti !”

“Ma per stavolta potrebbe farlo Izuku, no ?” dissi senza pensarci troppo.

Kacchan mi guardò stranito.

“No, no e ancora no ! Io sarò il super eroe mentre tu e Deku farete i cattivi. Non ho bisogno di palle al piede.”

Fummo costretti ad accettare.

Dopo un pomeriggio passato a prendere botte da Kacchan, ci avviammo verso casa esausti.

Izuku lasciò il gruppo per primo e con il suo solito sorriso ci salutò mentre io e il biondino avevamo ancora un pezzo di strada da fare insieme. Il viso di Katsuki si fece serio e cominciò a fissare l’asfalto tirando di tanto in tanto dei calci ai sassolini che gli capitavano a tiro.

“Tutto bene ?” chiesi.

“Certamente.”

Dopo qualche minuto di silenzio il bambino si fermò e mi guardò negli occhi.

“T/N...sbaglio o il tuo qwirk si sta facendo sempre più forte ?”

“Ehm, credo di si! Finalmente, non hai idea di quanto io ne sia felice !”

“Capisco.”

Si voltò e mi diede le spalle. Non capivo dove fosse il problema.

“Kacchan...” bisbigliai tendendo una mano verso la sua spalla.

“Io sarò l’eroe più forte di tutti. Nessuna Unicità è figa quanto la mia, nemmeno la tua, chiaro ?” disse girandosi verso di me. Notai che nonostante l’espressione rabbiosa aveva gli occhi lucidi, non era una cosa da Katsuki.

Mi bloccai.

“Non devi preoccuparti di questo.” dissi.

“Come no ? Deku non mi preoccupa, ma se tu diventi più forte di me sarò costretto a sconfiggerti per essere il numero uno, quindi non farlo !” urlò, mentre una lacrima gli solcava il viso.

Rimasi interdetta, ma dopo qualche istante sorrisi e presi le sue mani tra le mie.

“Trovo difficile che qualcuno sia più forte di te. Hai un’ Unicità spettacolare, Kacchan !”

Rimase immobile a fissarmi, notai anche un po' di rossore sulle sue guance.

“Lo so.” rispose liberando le sue mani dalla mia presa e asciugandosi le lacrime.

Fece qualche passo proseguendo sulla strada, ma vedendo che ero rimasta ferma si voltò.

“Vieni o no ?” sorrise con fare beffardo. In un attimo era tornato il Katsuki di sempre.

“Certo !” dissi correndo nella sua direzione e ridendo gli saltai sulle spalle.

“Che fai ?! Levati !” reagì cercando di liberarsi dalla mia presa.

Le mie risate si fecero più forti e dopo aver cercato inutilmente di disarcionarmi finalmente lo sentii ridere.

Vederlo sorridere fu la cosa più bella che potessi ricordare di quel periodo.-

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T/N POV

Quel dannato raggio di sole tornava a tormentarmi attraverso quella finestra.

“Devo comprarmi delle tende.” fu la prima cosa che borbottai tra me e me una volta aperti gli occhi.

Data la conclusione della serata precedente  mi scordai di mettere la sveglia. Lentamente mi sedetti sul letto e cercai il telefono per controllare l’orario.

Era tardissimo.

Mi alzai di corsa, mi lavai, indossai la divisa in fretta e furia e mi diressi correndo verso la UA.

Una volta arrivata davanti agli enormi cancelli, mi fiondai nella hall cambiandomi le scarpe. I corridoi erano già vuoti e non c’era nessuno in giro.

“Non male come primo giorno.” dissi a bassa voce.

Mi avviai verso le aule ma l’intreccio di quei corridoi mi fece perdere il senso dell’orientamento. Cominciai ad andare nel panico.

Nel mio vagare disperato intravidi un ragazzo con i capelli viola che stava uscendo da una stanza.

“P-perdonami!” dissi parandomi davanti a lui con il fiatone. “Sai dove posso trovare l’aula della 1A?”

Mi guardò con aria interrogativa.

“Sei una nuova studentessa?”

“Si, esatto e sono già in ritardo il mio primo giorno. Puoi aiutarmi?”

“In fondo a questo corridoio troverai una porta simile a questa ma con scritto sopra 1A.”

“Ti ringrazio!” Mi inchinai e ripresi a correre.

Una volta arrivata davanti all’aula corretta mi fermai per riprendere fiato, ma in quel momento la porta si spalancò. Un uomo vestito di nero e con dei lunghi capelli anch’essi neri mi stava fissando.

“Sei in ritardo.” borbottò.

“Ehm, si. Mi scusi, davvero, non avevo intenzione di...”

L’uomo si spostò di lato e con fare annoiato mi disse di entrare. Eseguii gli ordini.

Mi ritrovai davanti una classe di ragazzi della mia età che mi fissavano con aria curiosa, poi un ragazzo dai capelli verdi ruppe il silenzio.

“T/N!”

“Oh! Ciao Midoriya!”

“Vi conoscete?” indagò quello che intuii fosse il professore.

“Si, eravamo amici d’infanzia quando vivevo ancora in Giappone.”

“Fantastico.” ironizzò il maestro.

Nel frattempo, con gli occhi scannerizzai ogni persona in quell’ aula e alla fine lo trovai.

Katsuki Bakugo.

Era diventato bellissimo, proprio come lo immaginavo.

Non mi considerò nemmeno un momento, i suoi occhi erano troppo impegnati a scrutare qualcosa fuori dalla finestra.

Sentii salirmi un nodo alla gola e lo stomaco rivoltarsi.

Per fortuna l’uomo vestito di nero parlò riportandomi alla realtà.

“Io sono il professore Shota Aizawa, il coordinatore di questa classe. Prego, presentati.”

Deglutii. Mi sentivo in colpa perfino a parlare. Piegai la testa verso il basso cercando la forza per non pensare.

“Tutto bene?” intervenne Aizawa.

“C-certamente mi scusi.”

(-Insomma, una fila di figuracce dietro l’altra oggi.-) pensai.

Alzai lo sguardo cercando di sfoderare il mio sorriso migliore. Con la coda dell’occhio notai Katsuki che mi guardò un istante per poi tornare a fissare il vuoto. Decisi di concentrarmi sul sorriso di Midoriya e iniziai a parlare.

“Ciao a tutti, mi scuso per il mio ritardo. Mi chiamo T/N T/C e ho vissuto in Italia fino a qualche giorno fa nonostante io sia nata qui in Giappone. Ora sono tornata per studiare qui con voi alla UA.”

Mi inchinai. “E’ un piacere fare la vostra conoscenza, spero che diventeremo ottimi amici!”

“Vai a sederti nel banco vuoto in fondo alla classe. Finalmente, possiamo iniziare.” disse il professore.

Eseguii l’ordine e passai di fianco al banco di Katsuki che continuò ad ignorarmi. Il suo profumo non era cambiato, era buono come sempre.

Mi sedetti al mio posto e una ragazza molto carina dai capelli castani si voltò verso di me.

“Piacere, T/N! Com’è l’Italia? E’ un posto in cui sogno di andare da quando ero una bambina!” bisbigliò allegra.

“Uraraka. Segui la lezione dopo potrai importunare T/N quanto vorrai.”

“S-scusi, professore!”

Mi fece l’occhiolino e si voltò verso la cattedra.

C’era una bella energia in quell’aula. Ovunque, tranne intorno a Katsuki. Ora si era finalmente voltato verso il professore giocherellando con una penna, mentre fissava il banco praticamente vuoto con aria distratta.

(- Devo assolutamente parlargli.-)

[avaxxlin]

tough love || Bakugo x reader (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/story/290759852-tough-love-bakugo-x-reader?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_myworks&wp_uname=avaxlin&wp_originator=tGyoQeg1YYLUdFaI8kjDh1YMBGBDLy0%2B7k%2BQ6shiHoWMn%2B8KDdDGvViU8Qi%2BXOugw2HrIUHboEWLQvoOgyTfUBWmQFgbKjvKaYsC9y4myZor8JiXZv03hS3vtfYHZr5l katsuki bakugo has been desperately in love with his best friend y/n aizawa since the young age of four but is too terrified to tell her in fear of rejection. while she reciprocates the same feeling doesn't realize how he feels no matter how obvious it is. izuku midoriya her childhood best friend feels the same way as bakugo even if he knows how she feels about the blonde-haired male bakugoxreaderxmidoriya started 11-12-21 picked back up 2/1/23 ended -/--/-- *rated mature for strong themes and language and possible smut*