Complex Judgement

[Shuu Kamino]

I gracefully carried my way to the banquet, scanning around my perimeter to spot Amethyst.

And there she was, following a servant of another household holding a tray full of glass wines. After a few minutes, she managed to lure them.

"You!" her target shouted, catching some attention from the crowd.

"I'm sorry sir," the poor servant frantically wipes his master's drenched suit with a mere handkerchief. When a hand was making its way to the boy's face, Amethyst shielded him.

"I'm terribly sorry, sir," I read her lips. Her mask almost fell off when she decided to interrupt the punishment that wasn't meant for her. "It's my fault, I'm quite clumsy," and she grinned surreptitiously.

"Is that so," the man eyes the young boy and pushes him away, then focuses on Amethyst. "You better pay for this," the old geezer took her arm by force and dragged her out of the room. I know that she'll be alright on her own, but I still better back her up when things might get messy.

I quietly followed them and am I not even surprised where they were heading. I stood outside the entrance of the toilet for men to stand guard.

I put on a stoic and poised attitude to not let any passersby get suspicious. A minute didn't even get by when she got out with a bitter expression.

"Fast as ever," I complimented and saw her eyes widen as if she saw me as a ghost.

She's wearing a knee-length black puffy leather skirt, dark violet stockings, and a black corset over her white blouse decorated with a dark violet ribbon as the bow tie. The black coat was a cropped top, which also had a few buttons and pockets. Some amethyst trinkets on her cuff, buttons, and designs all over her uniform. Black stockings and black leather boots made me confused about how she could hide her presence with those on.

Her mask is...unique too.

The black colored base covers her left eye to her forehead, and also her right mouth as if the puzzle was missing its pieces. The forehead piece was decorated with a large violet ribbon that matched her bow tie, while a few strings decorated with amethyst dangles down her left mouth part.

"Why are you here?" as if she's frustrated and marched to where our masters are as I follow.

"The others insisted you need some hand," she doesn't need to know the whole story. "If you'll excuse me," I say when I notice some stain on her left cheek after I catch up to her. I wiped the blood off with my handkerchief and gently smiled when she gave me a disgusted look. "It must've been hard to erase," forcing a conversation in an awkward situation.

~~

Already at our mansion as soon as the 'calling' came to an end.

"Are you sure you're alright with this?" I only nodded as he poured my milk into my wine glass.

Tasty.

"I'll take care of your teacher. Go to sleep and pack your bags first thing in the morning," he could only sigh after my decision to follow him abroad.

I have to take an opportunity that was handed to me. It's because the case we were tasked to do has intel that might be related to the death of Mother, and 'supposedly' me too.

The reason why I'm acting as a butler is that the sole heir of the Kamino Household was long 'dead'.

*****

I was only seven at the time, but I remember everything vividly.

Mother was carrying me, running to the woods. I could hear her panting from exhaustion and wailing in pain. It was dark and scary.

A few minutes later, we found an abandoned inn for shelter. She hurriedly locked the door and shoved me under the broken bed.

"Mom, I'm scared," even if it was dark with no light source, my watery eyes met her beautiful wounded face. "I wanna go home," even if I was fully aware of the situation, I still acted horribly.

She was about to say something after she kissed my forehead and caressed my cheek. But the running footsteps were closing in.

"Where's the child?" the man's voice was demanding to hand me over. But my mother kept silent.

Then the clashing of knives and lights from gunshots began.

I held my mouth to prevent any noise from leaking out as my eyes became an infinite fountain when my Mother sang me the lullaby.

Her tunes were expectedly poor but she did her best to calm me down as I saw her finally struggling and losing her balance.

"And come kiss you goodnight," her voice trails off and I just knew she dropped motionless on the ground when I heard a loud thud.

"I thought she was tougher than this," a man scoffed while the other called on his phone.

I wanted to scream.

I wanted to reach for her warmth.

I wanted to hear the lullaby again.

I wanted to do so many things but I'm hopeless. And I can't waste my Mother's sacrifice if I just let them catch me.

"We need to find the kid too," I felt shivers and prayed that they'd just go away.

"Forget it, Mr. Kamino's probably on his way," I prayed harder that my Father could come faster and save us...me.

I thought it was over when I heard them leaving, but someone came back and even shot Mother three times.

"There's no way she'll live, right?" he finally left.

I waited, still hiding while crying silently. The whisper of crickets and the howling wind covered my tiny sobs.

Then soon after, I heard a familiar voice running in our direction, calling Mother's name and mine.

When he arrived along with some flashlights, I still kept hidden just to make sure. His suits and tie were covered with dirt and sweat.

"No," he whispered. "No, no, no, no, no," his voice was trembling. He embraced Mother as he kneeled to the ground chanting her name countless times. I tried to control my sobs but a few leaked out when Father's hysterically laughing turned silent. "Son, please come out," the lights were on me as he sweetly smiled and extended his arm.

"Father," I said with a sorry tone. Because I knew that it was my fault Mother lost to those weaklings. If she hadn't been carrying me around, protecting me, she would've properly defeated the bad guys.

I was clenching my shirt as I tried to stop the flow of my tears, the sounds of my sobs, and my snotty nose.

"Come here, blow your nose," he carried Mother in his lap and sat in the broken bed. I did as he told me and smiled back when he smiled. "Now can you be a good boy, kiss, hug, and tell you're Mother that you love her?" he wipes my tears with his bloody hands as I see tears flowing down his cheeks.

"I love you," I say, opening my arms as much as I can. "This much," I gestured then proceeded to hug her and kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you for giving birth to me," I commented and my Father was caught off guard. "I love you just as much, Father," I climbed the bed to hug him too.

"I love you too, buddy," he said, only able to pat my head with a hand as he was still carrying Mother in his lap.

We stayed like that for a few minutes until he finally moved and laid Mother in the bed.

"Now let's get you cleaned up," he showed me his best smile to convince me that everything was finally alright. He carried me out to the abandoned inn where some car lights greeted us. I hid on his neck and hugged him tightly, thinking it was an enemy.

"Light it up," he coldly says and walks inside one of the cars that drove us back to the mansion.

~~

The next thing I knew, I was lying beside Father in the master bed. My right side feels so empty with only me taking up all the space. We were wearing pajamas and were ready to slumber.

His hug felt as if he was preventing me from going away. But I didn't mind even though it was kind of suffocating. I remember waking up from time to time, only to hear him sobbing nonstop. I was still processing everything when I fell asleep from exhaustion.

Then the very next day, at breakfast, we were left alone with no one in sight.

"I know you're smart enough to understand the situation," he calmly said, slicing a lump of juicy meat. "To protect you, you need to disappear," he said to a 7-year-old who was terrified to take another bite off an egg sandwich. I paused to look at his devastated expression. His under-eyes were bright red, wrinkled skin, and messy hair as if he went straight out of bed without even washing his face.

"Disappear?" I repeated. 

"What I mean is, the current you will cease to exist. You'll have a new name, background, and such things," he continued chewing without laying a single glance at my reaction.

"If that's for my safety," I nodded. That means I'll also lose the name my Mother gave me; Yuuya. I quite liked what it meant and just to think I'd lose such a pretty name, what a pity.

"Shuu Kamino, that'll be your name. The story will be that I've adopted someone the same age as my 'deceased' son," some personnel then entered the room. "They will be your teachers from now on," he introduced them one by one. Some teachers for homeschooling, two for combat training, one for etiquette, and a lot more. 

"I'll be treating you poorly when others are watching" He slowly approached me after he sent everyone away. "But when it's just the two of us," he knelt and hugged me tightly. "I promise I'll spoil you rotten and give you everything you want," I can feel him shivering from mixed emotions.

"It's alright, Father," I hugged him back.

"I'm sorry for forcing you to grow up at such an age," I just kept caressing his back. 

"I couldn't ask for a better parent," after my comment, Father failed to hide his emotions and wept for some time.

*****

We successfully fooled everyone. 

I acted as a servant in front of others, he treated me coldly and badly although I never resented him for anything. Because when everyone turns their back, he pours all his love and sincerity as if I were a child in his eyes.

I was trained for a lot of things. Self-defense, shooting practice, even martial arts, and of course, I didn't let my academics fall behind. Everything that could protect me and may serve useful, I've endured it all and became the perfect young butler for him.

There came a time when he asked me if I wanted to attend school. And there was no reason to reject such an offer. I guess he felt bad enough to let me meet and interact with people.

That's why I'm not afraid of being in the spotlight or even falling in love. But if everything went south, I'd have no choice but to make tricky choices.

~~

We're now sitting in an economy seat on a flying plane. And amid a relaxing flight, a huge commotion arose.

"Put your hands up and all your possessions into those bags," a man who was covered with black clothing that even covered his face said. And when nobody paid attention, he shot a random passenger. "Hurry," he shouted and people panicked.

I was guarding the toilet where my Father was doing his private business.

"You," another man with the same clothes pointed his gun at me.

"Sorry but I don't have anything with me," I faked my yawn, then the butt of his gun hit my face. I took the chance to pretend to lose my balance as I scanned the area. There seem to be only three of them. At least from what I've observed but there could be more.

"Your suit seems expensive enough," he said. As soon as he let his guard down with my acting weak, I took the chance and unarmed him. 

[Mr. Kamino]

"What was that?" I heard a loud sound that banged on the door. I finished my last stick of cigarette and ate a strawberry-flavored candy to erase some scent of it.

"Nothing to worry about master. I'll be back for a bit," and just like that, I heard his footsteps getting far away. I spent a few more minutes there until I heard some cheers from people. By the time I got out, three people were tied up together in a corner, unconscious. 

"There's no need to worry, I'm with the law enforcement unit," Shuu was showing his ID around for them to calm down and clear up the suspicions.

But two gunshots were fired where the pilots were. 

"Buckle your seatbelts because we're going to hell," that must be with the other hijackers. His screams and laughter are heard by every speaker. 

Shuu already ran to the cockpit to take care of the situation. And I stayed to calm everyone down.

"The problem has been resolved so there's no need to worry anymore," Shuu cleared his throat before he spoke

"Master, can you find someone who can fly the plane? All the pilots and crew have been shot dead before I even arrived," To further prevent panicking, he used his earpiece to communicate with me.

"I don't have a license yet, but I think I know how to fly a plane," a young boy around his twenties approached me. He must've known the current situation with my complexion.

"Come with me," I took him to Shuu. "I'll be your guarantor and sponsor if everything goes well," I think I'd hire him as our private pilot after all this. That is, if we stayed alive.

[Shuu Kamino]

Waiting for my Father and someone who can assist me in flying this plane, I look at my broken phone on the floor. I'm glad my conversation with her ended before the hijacker shot my phone. I just hope she doesn't suspect anything.

"I brought this boy," Father barged in with a young-looking boy.

"I don't have a license, but," he says.

"Me neither," I smiled, cutting him mid-sentence. But I know how to fly any vehicle. I told you, anything to protect myself and everything that can prove useful in any situation, I studied it. "You can call me Shuu. What's your name?" I added.

"My name's Khier. Khier Bugay," he smiled as if he was having fun even in this situation.