Temporary Youth

Almost in wonder or perhaps shock, Code X looked as her wrinkles unfurled themselves the moment that her skin brushed against the boy's hands. Even with the slightest touch, her old age seemed to reverse as if time suddenly decided to flow backwards whenever she was in contact with the little boy.

Rubbing her eyes in utter disbelief, she went to a corner with more sunlight and reexamined herself. Same as before, a few seconds after she let go of the boy's arms, dark spots and blemishes would reappear. Yet if she put her hand back, the old age would be immediately erased.

Her voice shaking, Code croaked out once more, barely able to control her torrent of emotions. "You said that you would never lie to me, so tell me now, who are you?"

She bit her lips, adding, "And tell me, what do you see when you see me?"

He looked innocently up at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I see a woman."

If it wasn't that she wasn't a fan of child abuse, she would have smacked the smirking kid right there and right then.

"I really do though." He half-batted his eyelashes, barely able to control the smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I see you as a woman… a beautiful woman."

"Why thank you for your obvious words. I hadn't been aware that I had been a man ever in my life." She tightened her grip on his hands, threatening to dig her nails into his soft skin.

His expression remained unfazed. "I'm telling you, elder sister, you are a beauty in my eyes. Even in the moments when you grow old, that doesn't stop your image from staying as dazzling as always in my mind. Whichever witch cursed you had obviously failed their mission to make you less appealing."

In response, Code X only lightly slapped his wrists, like a stern teacher would do to an overly playful student. "Watch your tongue now, little kid. I could chop it off in a single cut if you don't be careful with your words."

She made a motion to pull at his tongue. "So be really careful now. You don't know when I'll strike."

He looked up with dazed eyes, almost as if he was in shock from her words. But it wasn't even a few seconds after that he couldn't hide a wide smile that spread across his face. "Please, elder sister. If you really wanted me dead, you wouldn't have saved me in the first place."

Inching closer after seeing the glum expression on his face, he motioned to reach up to pat her shoulder. "And if my touch can help lessen your age, then I would gladly stay alive so that I could continue to help you."

Suddenly, he let out a small yelp of pain. In reaching up to her shoulder, he had accidentally torn part of his barely healing wound, and already, more spots of red were peeking through the cotton bandages.

It was at that moment that Code X decided she should stop reasoning with this kid.

"Fine. Just stop calling me elder sister. With my ages, I could either be your aunt or your grandma."

He rolled his eyes around, thinking of a potential comeback. And it was true, this scrawny and short kid looked to be at most five years old, and even in the moments where she was back in her "youth," she was at the significantly older age of twenty three.

"I'm seven though," he protested. The pouting of his lips did not help his case in the slightest sense. "And you're at most eighteen years elder than I am. That is hardly any difference at all."

Seeing her stern expression, he pursed his lips together in serious thought. "How about I call you by your name then, elder…" He cut himself off, putting his hands to his lips as if to lock the remaining words in his mouth.

For a moment, Code X hesitated. What was her name in this world again? Or should she actually tell him her own?

"I'm waitinggggg," the little boy chirped in a singsong fashion.

"X." She ultimately decided to save the boy from the pain of pronouncing the word Code. It wasn't like English was a language here in this ancient kingdom, and she didn't want him to know her full identity either.

"Ai...?"

"X."

"Eh...?"

"X."

"Eh…ke…?"

"X."

"Eh…ke…see?"

If the little boy hadn't looked cute in his deep concentration of trying to pronounce her name, Code X would have made sure that he could never speak again in the future. However, seeing him purse his lips and then puff out his cheeks like a little squirrel, she found that she really couldn't stay mad at this little devil after all.

"X….Like a hissing snake at the end…"

"Eh Kesi." After struggling to keep his tongue unknotted, the little boy finally spoke out her full name. Perhaps it was his childish voice or the way his mouth couldn't fully form the sounds, but despite pronouncing Code X's name partially correct, it sounded almost foreign to Code X herself.

"Eh Kesi," he repeated, his face reddening from forcing all the air out from his throat in the attempts to sound out X. "Is that your real name?"

Code X froze. She wanted to nod, but at the exact same time, she had no answer. It wasn't like she really had a name to begin with. After all, her biological parents had tossed her onto the streets and had never given her a name. Simply, Code X was just the only name that she had ever known.

"How about I call you Kesi?" He beamed, and sensing her downed spirits, he danced in a little circle around her.

"Kesi."

"Kesi."

"Kesi."

With every time he said her name, his goofy smile grew a bit wider. Seeing it, somehow, Code X's lips also twitched into a small smile. It was a very small one, but there was no mistake that it was there.

Admittedly, she needed a new identity in this world after all. And while Code X never sounded like a name but rather an assassin's title role, Kesi was a legitimate name, a name that normal people had. A name that she could have had.

"Kesi…" While these words were initially foreign on her tongue, as she spoke it out loud, it sounded like she had spoken it countless times before. It sounded like…a name. Not the label of a cold-blooded killer. Not the temporary term for an unwanted and abandoned child. "Kesi…" Unknowingly, a bright smile had cleared all of her stormy emotions.

A little tug at her skirts dragged her back to reality.

"Kesi, promise me that you'll remember my name."

The little boy looked up, staring straight into Code X, or rather, Kesi's eyes.

"My name is Mu Luming."