Chapter ten

"Yuki!!" A young girl with medium-length black hair in low pony tails squealed in excitement, running up to a small house. She wore a simple half-sleeve, pink, dress with white underneath, with matching pink knee-high socks and shoes.

"Neah, sweety, please wait!" A mother with black hair and red eyes, where the daughter got her traits, called after the girl.

The man beside the woman, her husband, laughed, "She's so full of energy."

The young Neah bounced around outside the small grey house's door as her parents approached. "Can I ring the bell, Mummy? Please??"

"That's if you can reach it," Her father teased. Neah pouted and reached up on her tip-toes her hand barely reaching the small button on the side of the house. Her father laughed and picked her up, "Here you go." Neah pressed the button repeatedly.

"Daniel, don't let her press it so much," Her mother scolded.

"What? She's fine." Daniel laughed, placing his daughter on the ground again.

Seconds later the black door was opened and another couple smiled at them, "Hey! Dan and Amy! It's been a while!"

"Hey, Lee, you ready for tonight's game?" Daniel asked, shaking the other dark haired man's hand as he entered the house.

"Hell yeah! It's going to be great!"

"Don't swear around the children!" Lee's wife, Mary, reminded.

"I'm sure they've both heard worse." Lee waved her off.

"I bet they've said worse." Daniel added.

"They're only five-year-olds, Dan! They don't even think like that yet!" Amy exclaimed, sharing an eyeroll with the Lee's wife.

"Hey, you'd be surprised at what kids know these days," Daniel shrugged.

"Neah, why don't you go find Hiroyuki? He's in his room." Mary spoke to the young girl.

"Ok!" Neah agreed and skipped off. She ran into the young boy's bedroom, "Yuki!!"

"Ne!!" A young boy with fluffy blonde hair falling around his face, and bright blue eyes smiled and abandoned his toys to greet the girl. He wore white shorts and an oversized long sleeved, blue, sweater-vest that covered his hands completely.

"I told you to call me Neah," The girl pouted, crossing her arms. "Nee-yah! Got it?"

"Hehe~ ok, Ne!" Yuki nodded.

"Neah!" Neah corrected again.

"Come on! Let's go outside, Neah!" Yuki grabbed her hand and pulled her from the room.

Outside, the pair began playing with a ball, tossing it back and forth between them. "Yuki! Stop throwing so hard!" Neah complained, struggling to catch the small red ball.

"It's not my fault you can't catch." Yuki shrugged. "It's cause you're a girl, you know."

"Who said girls can't catch?" Neah pouted.

"I did," Yuki smiled.

"Well I'm going to show you that girls are way better than boys!" Neah proclaimed, running at the young boy and pinning him to the ground.

"H-Hey! Get off!" Yuki laughed.

Neah pinned him to the ground, sitting on his chest, "I win! I win!"

"Oh yeah?" Yuki taunted, trying to push her off. After a few moments of struggling, he gave up. With a huff he said, "Fine. You win."

Neah smiled triumphantly and got off of him, sitting beside him on the grass. Green grass stains decorated the knees of her pink socks, a few other stains on her dress. Yuki's clothing was just as ruined. He crossed his legs beside Neah and looked at the distant sunset. "Hey, Neah?"

"What?" Neah looked at him.

"You'll be my friend forever and ever, right?"

"Forever and ever and ever and ever." Neah smiled widely, her small teeth showing.

"Good!" Yuki smiled. "What if we get married like our mommies and daddies did?"

"That'd be fun!" Neah gasped, "Then we could play all the time!"

"Yeah!!" Yuki agreed. When they both calmed down, Yuki said, "Neah, I want to show you something!"

"What is it?"

"It's a cool thing I learned!" Yuki stood. "But it's a secret, okay? Mommy and Daddy said I can't tell anyone else, but I want to tell you."

"Tell me, then!" Neah stood as well, standing close to the other child.

"Ok, ok, watch," Yuki moved his hands in what seemed like a random motion. Droplets of water from the grass and a nearby puddle from the rain earlier that morning began gathering in front of the children. It floated there, until Yuki grew tired and it splashed onto the ground.

"Woah! That was so cool! What was it?" Neah jumped up and down.

"I dunno... Mommy said I can't do it around anyone though... I dunno why..." Yuki frowned in thought.

"I wanna do it too! Show me how!" Neah continued to bounce excitedly.

"I dunno how I did it," Yuki said. "But try doing it yourself!"

"Ok!" Neah copied the motions Yuki had made before and concentrated on the water. It slowly began gathering in the air like it had when Yuki had manipulated it. "Eek! I did it! I moved the water!"

A gasp and scream sounded from somewhere nearby. Both children looked up, the water splashing to the ground. A woman from the house next door was watching them, wide-eyed. "Neah! Yuki! Get in the house now!" Mary, Yuki's mother called, her tone desperate.

"Ok Mommy!" Yuki ran to his mother. Neah followed.

"Oh my, what have you two done to your clothes?!" Amy, Neah's mother, gasped.

"We were playing, Mummy!" Neah smiled happily.

"Yeah!" Yuki agreed.

Amy sighed, "Alright, time for bed, we'll clean your clothing tomorrow." She began ushering the kids to Yuki's room.

"Are we sleeping at Yuki's, Mummy?" Neah asked, looking back at her mother as she walked.

"Yes, we're having a sleepover." Amy nodded.

"Wee!" Yuki ran and jumped on his bed. "Neah's sleeping over!"

Neah copied him and jumped on the bed beside him, "Wee!" They both bounced around.

Amy laughed lightly, "Ok, ok. Bed time, kids. Calm down." Both kids climbed under the blankets, only their small heads poking out. "Goodnight, Neah," Amy kissed her daughter's forehead.

"Night, Mummy."

"Daddy and Yuki's parents will come say goodnight in a minute, okay?" Amy smiled and took a step back.

"Ok!" The kids agreed in unison. Amy smiled more and walked to the door, turning off the lights before leaving.

~

It was midnight. Everything was dark. The rain had started up again outside, the sound of the large raindrops the only noise heard before the screams. Neah and Yuki had woken instantly at the sound, but were too scared to leave the comfort of the green blankets. Outside the bedroom, in the living room, unfamiliar male voices asked, "Where are they? Where are the magis?!"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Mary swore, her voice trembling.

"Tell us the truth!" Another man yelled.

"You know what happens when you lie to us!" The first man spoke.

"W-We swear!" Amy insisted. "We don't know anything!"

"Please leave, it's late." Lee tried to calm the strange men.

There was the sound of a large gun cocking as the man spoke again, "Where are you hiding the magicians?"

"We don't know what you're talking about!" Daniel said, "Why would we hide magicians?!"

One gun shot. Neah and Yuki flinched, huddling close together. "D-Daniel!" Amy gasped. "W-What did you-?!" Another gun shot.

"Where are they?" The man with the gun turned to Mary and Lee. "Where?!" The gun cocked again.

"We-we promise! We don't know!" Mary's voice cracked.

"P-Please, leave." Lee pleaded. Another shot.

Now only Mary was left, "Where are the kids?" The second man spoke again.

"T-The back bedroom..." Mary was sobbing now. One last shot.

Loud footsteps approached Yuki's bedroom. "Y-Yuki, we need to hide!" Neah whispered urgently.

"Y-Yeah..." Yuki agreed. They both got out of the bed, "You hide in the closet, I'll hide under the bed."

"Right." Neah nodded, her entire body shaking. She quickly slid the closet door shut, Yuki crawling under the bed. Neah could see though the cracks in the shade-like door. Two men dressed in white armor entered, each with a large white gun.

The men patrolled the room, one stopping at the closet. Neah held her breath. She quietly backed farther into the closet so the man wouldn't see her. In the dark light of the moon she could see blood splattered on his armor. She felt like her throat was closing. Her lungs burned for air.

The second man stopped at the bed. Everything was silent until Yuki squeaked in fear, unable to stop himself. The man standing in front of Neah turned towards the sound. The second man crouched down and looked under the bed, "Got one!" He pulled Yuki out by his hair. The man laughed, "Hah, you thought you could hide, didn't you? You're coming with us, you filthy magi. Come on, that other magi is probably long gone by now."

Yuki stared at the man, frozen in fear. He couldn't speak. He couldn't move. He couldn't do anything as the two men took him away. Neah watched in horror, silent tears flooding from her eyes.

~