Chapter 2

"Hi Kiyomi..." The doctor says to Kiyomi. Kiyomi tilts her head a bit and smiles at the doctor.

"Hi." She coos.

"Do you remember who I am?" The doctor asks. Kiyomi furrows her eyebrows and slowly shakes her head. 

"Mm-mm." She hums.

"I'm Dr. Snizek... Do you remember now?" She asks. Kiyomi shakes her head again.

"Well I help your mommy... and I talk to her about her feelings. Do you know what that means?" She asks. Kiyomi looks at her confused. "Do you know your feelings?" The doctor asks. Kiyomi slowly nods. "What are you feeling right now?" She asks.

"I feel... happy." Kiyomi sooths. The doctor nods and smiles back.

"Do you feel happy when you're at home too?" She asks.

"Mhm." Kiyomi hums. The doctor nods and writes it down on her computer. 

"Is there things that mommy or daddy does that would make you angry?" The doctor asks. Kiyomi slowly shakes her head. "What about sad... do they ever make you sad?" She asks.

"No... but when mommy and daddy argue it makes me sad." Kiyomi says laying her head down on the table and playing with a small plant. "I do not like it when mommy and daddy argue." Kiyomi softly says.

At home the mother and father are quietly talking in the kitchen while Kiyomi is playing in the living room with a puzzle.

"She said that we shouldn't argue around Kiyomi... That it can cause stress and anxiety in her." The mother says to the father.

"Well, if you stopped claiming that I'm cheating all the time then we wouldn't be arguing all the time." The father responds. The mother sighs and slams down the cutting boards and glares at the father. 

"You give me reasons to suspect you of cheating..." She huffs. 

"Tsk... yeah whatever." The father groans.

"You're off tomorrow, right?" The mother asks the father. The father nods and asks why. "I need to deliver some fresh veggies to the senior center. So, I need you to watch Kiyomi." The mother says washing the veggies.

"Yeah... ok." He sighs walking out the kitchen and into his office. The mom sighs and continues to prepare dinner. Kiyomi watches her mother as she cuts up veggies with a sad expression on her face. It is often she sees her mother sad but never once did Kiyomi feel sad after seeing her mother sad... Instead, it made her more confused.

The next day Kiyomi's mother leaves her with her father. Kiyomi plays in his office as he works. He gave her a stack of papers and paperclips to play with. They might not seem like much but to a little girl with a strong imagination she was able to create a lot with those papers. 

RING RING

"Hello?" The father says into the phone. "Right now? Yeah, but I've got my kid with me... Bring her with?" He looks at Kiyomi and then back towards the wall. "Shes four... I can't just take her with me to a bar..." He sighs and nods. "Fine... I will be there in a few..." He places the phone back down and looks towards Kiyomi.

Kiyomi and her father walk into a pretty dim bar. The father walks up to the bar counter where a bartender is at.

"Hey Greg... you here for Collen?" The bartender says. The father nods and sighs. 

"I brought my little girl here with me... I can't take her in the back with me so... can you watch her?" He asks the bartender. The bartender looks at Kiyomi who's climbing up onto the bar seat. The bartender raises an eyebrow and looks back at the father. The father sighs and leans on the bar a bit. "I'll pay you... alright?" He adds. The bartender smiles and nods.

"Gotcha... She'll be safe with me... Isn't that right... little girl?" The bartender says smiling at Kiyomi and holding out his fist waiting for Kiyomi to fist bump him. Kiyomi stares at his fist in a confused way and then sticks a sticker on it. The bartender pulls his hand back a bit looking at his hand in confusion.

"I gave her papers and stickers to play with... so that she's distracted." The father comments.

"Yeah... it's alright... as long as she doesn't stick any stickers on the table directly... I'm not really up for scrapping stuff off the bar tonight." The bartender sighs. The father nods. A man in a nice outfit sits down beside Kiyomi. The father furrows at the man and looks back at the bartender. 

"Oh... and make sure no creeps talk to her..." The father comments. The bartender slowly nods and smiles. The father walks away and disappears to the back. Kiyomi watches as he walks away and then she turns and continues to play with her paper.

"Hello sir, may I get you a drink or anything?" The bartender asks the man sitting beside Kiyomi. The man slowly looks up at the bartender and smiles.

"Yes, may I get a glass of water to start off with..." The man says. The bartender smiles and grabs a cup and fills it with ice water. 

"Here ya go..." 

BZZZ BZZZ

"Oh shit... I have to pick this up..." The bartender says pulling out his phone. He quickly looks at Kiyomi and then the man. "Uh... shit- Sir can you watch this girl real quick... I will be right back." The bartender says as he quickly walks out through the back. Kiyomi continues to draw and stick stickers onto the paper she's playing with. The man watches her as she does.

"What are you making... If you don't mind me asking..." The man asks Kiyomi. Kiyomi slowly looks up at the man. He has black hair that went down past his forehead. His eyes are grey, and he looked pretty young.

"I'm making a story..." Kiyomi softly says.

"A story? Interesting... what's the story about?" The man asks, smiling at Kiyomi. She slowly looks back at the man and then back at her paper.

"A story about a cat who wants to protect his home..." Kiyomi slowly says.

"A cat? Why is it protecting its home?" The man asks.

"Mean dogs kill the cats. This cat wants to protect his home from the mean dogs..." Kiyomi softly says pointing at the black shaped cat in the middle of the paper.

"Is the cat crying?" The man asks. Kiyomi slowly nods. "Why is he crying?"

"He lost his friend... she just wanted to help him find a blue butterfly... but the mean dogs killed her." Kiyomi softly says. The man's eyes widen and then he furrows his eyebrows.

"Why did they kill her?" He softly asks. Kiyomi sits quietly before looking at the man.

"They killed her for fun..." she softly answers. The man looks at her with shock in his eyes and then relaxes them.

"How old are you?" He asks.

"... four." Kiyomi responds.

"You're very smart for a four year old." The man softly chuckles. Kiyomi picks up her pencil and continues to draw on the paper.

"How old are you?" Kiyomi asks the man. The man smiles and then sighs.

"How old do you think I am?" He asks.

"You look younger than my daddy and mommy... but you are older than me." Kiyomi softly says. The man slowly nods. Kiyomi looks up at the man and shrugs. "I don't know how to count more than ten... You are older then ten..." Kiyomi bubbles. The man smiles and nods.

"Yes... you're right. I am older than ten." 

"How old are you then?" She asks.

"I'm nineteen..." he softly says.

"Is that old?" Kiyomi asks. The man softly laughs and shakes his head. Kiyomi smiles and then continues to draw.

"You know... your story sounds kind of familiar..." 

"Huh?" Kiyomi looks up at him confused.

"I mean... I can understand what the cat is feeling... The cat is small compared to the dogs... so you would think the cat can't protect himself or his friend. But maybe if the cat worked with other cats to protect his home, then they can beat the dogs." The man implies. Kiyomi slowly nods and smiles.

"Yeah... The cat should have friends to help him..." Kiyomi bubbles. The man watches Kiyomi as she adds more cats beside the cat. The man smiles at Kiyomi's drawing then his smile slowly disappears.

"Do you think it would be bad if the cat took revenge on the mean dogs for killing his friend?" The man asks Kiyomi. Kiyomi slowly stops drawing.

"Revenge? What does that mean?" Kiyomi slowly says looking at the man. The man stares at Kiyomi before looking down at his glass of water.

"It means... killing the dogs..." He quietly says. Kiyomi stares at him for a bit before she goes back to drawing.

"No." She softly says. The mans eyes widen as he stares at the water. "If I was Mr. Cat... I would kill all the mean dogs..." Kiyomi listlessly says. The man slowly looks at Kiyomi with a soft look in his eyes.

"Even if it means you will be not loved by many?" He softly asks. Kiyomi slowly nods. The man slowly looks at the drawing again, watching Kiyomi slowly drawing. "What's your name?" The man asks. Kiyomi looks up at the man.

"Kiyomi..." She softly says.

"Kiyomi..." The man quietly repeats. "Nice to meet you Kiyomi..." He sooths as he smiles at Kiyomi. She smiles back at him.

"Nice to meet you..." She pauses and furrows her eyebrows. "What's your name?" She softly asks. The man relaxes his eyes and looks down at the bar table.

"Sameul..." The man softly says.

TING

Kiyomi flinches a bit to the sudden shock she felt when he said that name. She furrows her eyebrows unable to figure out what that was she felt.

"Oh... okay..." She says, nodding a bit. The man softly smiles at her. Kiyomi goes back to drawing.

"Your pencil is getting dull... Isn't it hard to draw..." He says pulling something out his pocket. 

"It's okay..." Kiyomi implies.

"Here..." He says handing Kiyomi a pen. Kiyomi stares at the pen in confusion. "I always carry a pen on me... They come in handy..." He chuckles. Kiyomi takes the pen and smiles.

"Thank you." She says. Kiyomi starts drawing with the pen. The man watches as she drags the pen across the paper. "Can we be friends... Sir Sameul?" Kiyomi asks the man. The man stares at Kiyomi unable to give an answer. "I always want a friend... But my mommy doesn't let me..." She softly says. The man relaxes his eyes and then smiles at Kiyomi.

"Sure." He softly sooths. Kiyomi smiles at him and nods happily.

"KIYOMI!" The father yells out as he walks over to the bar counter.

"I'm so sorry sir... I had to pick up a call... I apologize." The bartender says rushing behind the father. The father grabs Kiyomi off the bar stool and yanks her with him.

"Wait... my paper- no..." Kiyomi says reaching towards the paper on the bar counter. The man stares at Kiyomi as the father drags her outside with him.

"Fuck off... I'm not paying you... I told you to watch my kid but you left her... fucking useless ass bastard..." The father fumes as he aggressively pushes the door open and leaves. After the door closes the man looks back at the drawings Kiyomi drew. He picks up the papers and fixes them.

"I can clean that up..." The bartender says rushing to take the papers Kiyomi drew on. 

"No... it's okay." The man says putting his hand on the paper. The bartender looks at the man confused and let's go of the paper.

"Oh... okay..." 

The man picks up the stack of paper and walks out the bar. He pulls out a small tracking device from his pocket. The small red dot is slowly moving away from where he is. He slightly smiles and puts the device back into his pocket and walks away from the bar.

"Kiyomi... can you put your toys away so I can set dinner down." The mother says. Kiyomi nods and jumps, picking all her toys up off the table. "Wait... where did you get that from?" She asks Kiyomi. Kiyomi stops walking and looks at the mother confused.

"Huh?"

"The silver pen in your hand... where did you get that from?" The mom asks.

"My friend Sir Sameul gave it to me." Kiyomi softly say.

"Sir Sameul? Who's that?" The mom asks in confusion.

"My friend..." Kiyomi answers.

"Did you take her somewhere?" The mother asks the father.

"To a bar..." The father listlessly answers as he types on his computer.

"A BAR! WHAT DO YOU MEAN TO A BAR?!?" The mother yells.

"Calm down... she was perfectly fine." The father sighs.

"YOU LET OUR DAUGHTER TALK TO A STRANGER! WHO KNOWS! THAT PEN CAN BE A TRACKER... HE COULD BE A SICK PEDO WHOS WILLING TO KIDNAP HER!" The mother screams. The father groans and stands up, walking towards Kiyomi.

"You're overreacting... but whatever. Give me the pen Kiyomi..." The father says holding his hand out. Kiyomi's eyes widen and then furrows.

"No."

"Excuse me?" The father huffs.

"NO... My friend gave that to me. It's mine." Kiyomi says squeezing the pen and turning away. The father grumbles and grabs Kiyomi's hand and tries taking the pen away from her. "NO! STOP!" She yells.

"LET GO KIYOMI!" The mother yells.

"Noo...." Kiyomi cries. The father snatches the pen from Kiyomi's hand and Kiyomi falls back on her butt. "NO NO! GIVE IT BACK!"

"No..." The father huffs as he walks away.

"GIVE IT BACK!" Kiyomi's eyes go white and the father stops walking. His face relaxes and he slowly turns towards Kiyomi. He hands Kiyomi the pen back.

"GREG! WHY THE HELL DID YOU GIVE HER THE PEN BACK?!" The mother yells as she rushes over towards Kiyomi.

"What?" The father snaps out of it and looks down at Kiyomi confused. The mother grabs the pen and Kiyomi holds the pen tightly.

"LET GO" Kiyomi yells with white blank eyes. The mother stops and her eyes relax. She lets go of the pen and Kiyomi runs towards her room, closing the door behind her.

"... What happened?" The father asks in confusion. The mother snaps out of it and looks at the dad with fear in her eyes.

"... She made me let it go... She did it again..." The mother shivers.

"What? What are you talking about?" The father asks walking towards the mom. The mother flinches and shakes her head.

"Nothing... I don't care about the pen anymore." She says rushing away back towards the kitchen. The father looks at the mom confused before shrugging it off and going back to his work.