Y/n was the first to wake the following morning. As soon as she saw Mob sleeping on the floor beside her bed, she remembered everything from last night, leaving her with plenty of questions.
Who is this boy? She wondered. And why was he in my kitchen last night?
She was tempted to wake the sleeping boy, but it felt wrong to do so. He looked like he hadn't slept in a long time, and she figured it would be best to let him rest for as long as he could. Maybe that would be enough time to make him some breakfast.
Y/n quietly snuck out of her bedroom (careful not to wake Mob) and ran downstairs to the kitchen. Both her mother and father were already downstairs, and they had some good smelling food laying out across the dining room table.
"Good morning, Y/n," Mrs. L/n greeted. "How'd you sleep last night?"
"Fine." Y/n tried not to give any sort of hint that there was a stranger sleeping under the same room as her.
"Your mother and I are going to be gone all day," her father announced. "A new hot spring has opened up recently, and we both want to check it out."
"Like a date?" Y/n asked.
"Yes, like a date," Mrs. L/n confirmed. "Can we trust that you'll take care of the house while we're away?"
"Yeah, you don't have to worry about me." Y/n grabbed a serving of pancakes. "What time do you think you'll be back?"
"I'd say pretty late, but we may decide to stay overnight at the last minute. We'll let you know," Mr. L/n calculated.
"Sounds good. I'll just take some of these pancakes upstairs. There was some, uh, homework I forgot to take care of last night." Y/n stood up and gathered some pancakes and a glass of milk for Mob.
"We'll be on our way soon, so don't be confused if you don't see us," Mrs. L/n warned.
Y/n was already halfway up the stairs. "I know. Have fun on your date!"
When she had returned to the comfort of her bedroom, she slowly pushed the door open. Doing so, she accidentally woke up Mob, who sat up startled.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Y/n apologized. "I went downstairs to get you some breakfast. Here."
She set the plate of pancakes and glass of milk on the miniature table she had in her bedroom and signaled for Mob to scoot closer to it. Mob gratefully began to dig in.
"My parents are going to be gone all day, which should give us some time to talk," Y/n explained. "If you're going to stay here, you have to answer some questions first."
Mob nodded, then gulped down the milk. He seemed to really enjoy it.
Y/n smiled. "Alright then! Let's start off with introductions. I told you my name last night, so now it's your turn. What's your name?"
Mob set down the cup and didn't meet Y/n in the eye. He was still a little uncomfortable talking to her. "M-Mob."
"Your name is Mob?" Y/n asked. "That's an interesting name. Where'd you come from?"
Mob did his best to explain. "Um, a-a place with lots of scary people inside. There are many rooms and people in white coats. There was even someone in charge."
"I see." Y/n nodded. "How old are you?"
Mob hesitated. "I... I don't know."
Y/n tilted her head to the side slightly. "You don't know your age?"
Mob shook his head.
"You look to be around my age," Y/n commented. "I'm fourteen years old, and I can only guess that's how old you are too."
"Fourteen?" Mob pondered. "That... sounds about right..."
Y/n continued. "Last night, you got scared because I was holding a knife. Did something happen at this place you mentioned that had to do with knives?"
Mob began to fidget with his hands as he remembered the panic attack from the night before. "I don't want to talk about it."
Y/n blinked twice. "O-oh, that's– that's fine. You don't have to tell me."
"Thanks..." Mob took a break from his breakfast by standing up to stretch his arms and legs out.
As he was stretching, Y/n noticed something. "Mob, you're bleeding!"
Mob hummed in response, then glanced down at his leg. There was a huge blood stain all down his right pant leg. "Oh, I almost forgot. I got a bullet wound while I was running away."
"How do you forget something like that?!" Y/n shrieked. "We have to take care of that now. Sit back down."
Mob sat on the blanket as Y/n left the room to find the family's first aid kit. He felt embarrassed that he had forgotten about such an injury to begin with.
My exhaustion from yesterday may have been my main concern at the moment...
As soon as she left, Y/n returned with a first aid kit in her hand. Then, she sat down in front of Mob with her legs crossed. "I don't have any experience with removing bullets before, but I'll do my best."
Mob nodded, raised the bloodied pant leg over his knee, then placed his foot on the floor to hopefully make the procedure a little easier for Y/n. As for Y/n, she had to reposition herself to where she was facing in the same direction as Mob's calf, which required her and Mob's shoulders to touch. She pulled out a pair of tweezers and examined the injury as best as she could.
"How far do you think the bullet went in?" Y/n inquired.
"I'm not sure. I didn't get any time to check," Mob answered.
"This is going to hurt," Y/n warned. "I just need you to stay as still as you possibly can, alright?"
Mob could already feel a strong fear bubbling in his stomach. "Mmhm."
Y/n grabbed a small flashlight and stuck it between her teeth to hopefully get a better view of the bullet wound. Using her fingers, she spread apart the small hole in Mob's calf as far as she could. As soon as she got a clear opening, she quickly shone the light in the direction of the wound, then carefully pressed the tweezers inside it. Mob's breathing pattern changed to a shallow, fear-driven one, and he had to force himself not to make any movements that would disrupt Y/n.
Later on in the procedure, Y/n appeared to be struggling to discover the location of the bullet, due to it being far inside Mob's calf. She was starting to get nervous and wondered if she would actually be able to help him properly. She also started to notice Mob's panicked state, so she decided that maybe they should take a small break. She pulled the tweezers out, set both the tweezers and the flashlight next to the first aid kit, then looked Mob directly in the eye.
"Do you want me to stop?" she asked. "I can tell you're scared."
"I'm sorry," Mob mumbled. "I should've let you finish."
Y/n sent Mob a reassuring smile. "It's alright. I'll fix you up in no time. I just wanted to give you a little break."
Mob felt a wave of relief wash over him as he relaxed himself. He hadn't even realized how tense he had become. However, his leg still stung and he did want the bullet out. He just didn't have good pain tolerance.
"Are you ready for another go?" Y/n inquired gently. She was holding the tweezers again.
"Um, yeah," Mob agreed. He reluctantly returned to his previous sitting arrangement, allowing Y/n to start back up again with the procedure. She stuck the tweezers back inside the wound feeling determined to remove the bullet. She spent minutes searching deeply for it, while Mob tried desperately not to squirm. The excruciating pain was very uncomfortable for him and he regretted jumping out in front of the men from before.
"It hurts... really bad," Mob groaned.
"I know," Y/n sympathized. "I'm really close to finding it, I swear."
"Ok." Mob tried to clear his head to avoid thinking about the pain. It was difficult but mostly effective.
Meanwhile, Y/n's search had finally reached its end. The ends of the tweezers brushed up against something, and Y/n instantly knew it was the bullet. She pinched the bullet in between each tip and smiled. "Gotcha!"
She made sure to keep a strong grip on the bullet as she inched it out, being careful not to remove it too quickly. Within seconds, the bullet had exited Shigeo's leg in one piece.
"Mob, it's out!" Y/n exclaimed. She held the newly removed bullet up for him to look at. "See?"
Mob had snapped out of his daydream and his eyes widened at what he saw. "It's all over?"
"Mmhm!" Y/n confirmed. "All that's left is cleaning up your leg."
"I'm sorry for getting blood all over the pants you lent me," Mob apologized.
"Don't worry about it," Y/n assured. "I can get you another pair. It's not a big deal."
Mob was still concerned. "What about your parents? How will you be able to explain where that blood stain came from?"
Y/n let out a breathless laugh. "When it comes to blood stains, being a pubescent girl– such as myself– will give me plenty of excuses."
Mob gave a confused hum.
"Nevermind. Forget I said anything," Y/n dismissed, waving her hand. "Anyway, let's move on to cleaning that wound of yours, huh?"
"Sure," Mob said nonchalantly.
Y/n pulled out some bandages and a rag. "Let's take you to the bathroom. I need to wet this rag."
Mob stood up and followed Y/n to the bathroom that was just down the hall, then sat down on the counter as Y/n dampened the rag with some tap water. Then, she pressed the rag against the wound and wiped all the fresh blood away before wrapping it with the bandages she had.
Just by looking at her, Mob felt a little weird. He had never met anyone other than his friend back home who was openly willing to help him and not regret it at all. Even so, Mob couldn't trust her enough. There was always the possibility of betrayal, so he had to keep his guard up.
Aren't all people mean? Mob wondered. If so, then why is this girl helping me? She can't possibly want to... right?
"All done!" Y/n beamed at her work. "Looks like you're good to go."
"Thank you," Mob said.
"Any time." Y/n smiled. "I'm going to find you a new pair of pants. You're more than welcome to go back to my room, if you'd like."
(You can stop music here)
Mob did as instructed, sliding off from the counter and returning to Y/n's bedroom. He had pancakes to finish, anyway. He walked with a small limp, but, thankfully, he felt a little better now. His leg didn't sting as much as it did before. Sitting down, he resumed his pancake-eating progress. The pancakes had become slightly soggy, due to the syrup soaking them, but Mob didn't mind at all. He really liked how the pancakes tasted.
Y/n returned with a fresh pair of sweatpants for Mob to try on. She handed it to him. "Here. I'll just... step outside for a moment while you change."
Y/n shut the door behind her as she quickly stepped outside the door frame. She was embarrassed at the thought of watching Mob change pants like a total creep.
What should I do with him now that his leg is all fixed up? Y/n asked herself. I can't just let him run loose, can I? I mean, he said he ran away from someplace, so that could only mean he's in danger... I'll have to figure out something later. He needs my attention right now.
"Miss L/n, I'm finished." Mob creaked open the door and poked his head through the doorframe, holding the bloodied pants in his hands.
"Thank you. I'll take care of these." Y/n took the pants from Mob and placed them in the basket meant for dirty clothes. "If you want, we can go downstairs and have some fun."
"Fun?" puzzled Mob.
Does he not know what fun is? Y/n wondered. "C'mon, I can show you around."
She grabbed Mob's hand and gently guided him down the stairs and into the living room. She then led Mob to the couch and persuaded him to sit down and relax.
"Is there anything you need?" Y/n offered. "I can get you something to eat or to drink."
"No, I'm fine," Mob answered.
"Ok." Y/n sat down next to Mob and the two didn't say a word for the next couple of minutes. They had no idea what to say to each other. "So, um, what's something you like to do?"
Mob looked Y/n directly in the eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Like... anything you like to do to pass time," Y/n explained. "A hobby, maybe?"
Mob shook his head.
Huh... that's odd... Y/n mused. Her eyes scanned the room, desperately searching for something they could do together. She didn't want any more awkward silences. "Oh! Have you ever played a video game before?"
"No," Mob replied, looking more confused.
"No? You'll really like it. Trust me." Y/n stood up abruptly to turn on her gaming system. She looked through her pile of games until she spotted the perfect game: Mario Kart 8.
Once she had finished setting up the game, she handed Mob a controller and began explaining the controls. "First, you use the joystick to scroll left and right when selecting a character and car. Then, you press the 'A' button to select what you want."
Y/n demonstrated by choosing her lucky Mario Kart character and vehicle. Mob chose to play as Yoshi. (My lucky character is Rosalina. How about you guys?)
When they were finished, Y/n decided to start off with the Mushroom Cup to make things a little easier on Mob.
Before the race began, Y/n finished off her tutorial. "Lastly, all you have to do is hold down 'A' while rotating the controller to steer the vehicle. Then, when you unlock a power-up from the Mystery Boxes, you just have to press 'ZL' to launch it."
"Sounds easy enough," Mob smiled. "I'll do my best."
The first race (Mario Kart Stadium) had begun and Y/n got a good head start. Mob was getting the hang of it easier than Y/n thought. He and Y/n were neck in neck by the time they reached the third lap around the race course. Ultimately, Y/n won, due to her previous years of experience.
"We still have three races left to determine your redemption," Y/n promised. "Even though this is only your first time playing, you're surprisingly good at this!"
"It's not that difficult." Mob shrugged.
Soon enough, they had completed Water Park, Sweet Sweet Canyon (Mob's favorite level), and were now on Thwomp Ruins. Mob had won two races already– much to Y/n surprise– and this final race was to determine if they would either tie or have Mob win it all.
It was intense.
"Let's do this." Y/n spoke with determination. She would much rather be in a tie than lose to a newbie.
(You can stop music here)
The three-second countdown began. Y/n gripped onto the controller and could've sworn she felt a single drop of sweat trickle down her forehead. This was the last chance she'd get to prove to Mob that she was a Mario Kart pro. She took a quick glance at Mob, who looked over at her with a winning grin on his face.
Is he mocking me?! Y/n bit her lip. Man, he's not as innocent as I thought.
In truth, Mob was just wishing Y/n good luck in a quick, subtle way because they only had three seconds left.
Then, the final race began! Y/n was able to get a good start because of her pre-race secret: holding down on 'A' when the clock reaches two seconds. (Does anyone else do this?)
With that small boost, she was able to just barely pass by Mob and reach the first Mystery Box, receiving a coin. She quickly swerved left, left, then right into the cave area. She drove up along the ramp along the right side of the track and hit every single speed boost until her time on the ramp was over. Choosing to go right on the sudden forked road, Y/n veered onto another sideways route to try and avoid the Thwomps. When she reached the second cave, she noticed that Mob had passed by her after hitting her with a red shell. Getting a little frustrated, Y/n collected as many coins and power-ups as she could to catch up to Mob, but she had remained in second place behind him throughout the next loops around the track.
Finally, during the final lap, Y/n managed to get past Mob halfway through. However, he was still close behind her. He wasn't going to finish this without a fight. The end of the track was nearing and Y/n was mid-parachute when Mob reached a Mystery Box that granted him the most hated power-up in the entire game: the blue shell. The blue shell granted the power to hit whoever was in first place, and was on Y/n's list of video game pet peeves. As soon as he got the shell, he pressed 'ZL' and allowed the shell to work its magic. The shell hit Y/n and she fell down from the sky while Mob glided past her and towards the finish line. No matter how hard Y/n tried to catch up to him, Mob still won the race, giving him a winning streak of three.
Y/n stared at Mob, jaw dropped and eyes wide. Mob smiled with a glimmer of excitement in his eyes.
"This must be the fun you talked about," Mob beamed. "Incredible..."
"H-how? No one's ever beat me at Mario Kart before!" Y/n sputtered
"Do you want to go again?" Mob asked. "You're really good at this game."
Y/n grinned. "Of course! I'll kick your butt this time, for sure."
"Alright, then. Let's see if you can," Mob challenged.
Several hours passed since Y/n and Mob had started playing, and they were having a blast. None of Y/n's friends had ever really shown an interest in playing games with her, and it excited her that she had finally found a challenge to accept: defeating Mob in Mario Kart.
For the first time in forever, Mob finally got a chance to really let loose and spend some time enjoying himself. It felt nice.
"That was a lot of fun, Mob," Y/n stated as the two of them put away the controllers. "You're really good at Mario Kart."
"Thanks," Mob smiled. "I had a great time as well."
It came to Y/n's mind that Mob most likely had never done anything fun before. He mentioned earlier that he had come from a scary place, which made her really wonder where it was he was talking about. There was something else going on with Mob that she hadn't fully grasped yet, but she was willing to go to the ends of the earth to figure it out. A sweet kid like Mob didn't deserve to run and hide.
Suddenly, her ringtone went off, and Y/n pulled her phone out of her pocket. Her mom was calling. Y/n accepted the call, then held the phone up to her ear. "Hello?"
"We're almost home," Mrs. L/n informed. "Is everything ok back at the house?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Y/n answered. She looked over at the clock and realized that it was getting late. "I'm just getting ready for bed."
"Alright. We'll be home soon."
"See ya." Y/n hung up the phone and turned to Mob. "My parents are almost home, so we have to get back upstairs."
"Ok." Mob made his way to the staircase with Y/n following close behind him.
"I'll set up your bed inside my closet to avoid any awkward confrontations with my parents," Y/n added. "I don't want to have to worry about what my parents would do if they saw you here."
"How come?" Mob wondered.
"They'll either send you to the police or back to where you came from, and I don't want that to happen to you," Y/n answered. "I'd miss you if you had to leave."
Mob's heart skipped a beat. He didn't want to admit it, but he was starting to enjoy Y/n's company.
Once Y/n finished setting up Mob's blanket inside her closet, she slipped under the covers of her own bed. "I'm going to go to sleep now, if that's alright with you. If something's bothering you, you could always wake me up. I won't mind."
"Sure thing." Mob laid down on the blanket and pulled up a smaller blanket until it reached his shoulders.
"Good night, Mob," Y/n yawned. She repositioned herself until she got comfortable.
"Good night." Mob couldn't help but stare as Y/n slept, observing her side slowly rise up and down as she took each breath.
That was one of the best days Mob had ever had in his entire life, and it was all because of Y/n. He was starting to think that she wasn't as bad as he had once believed.
Extra:
The next morning, Y/n made her way down to the kitchen to retrieve some breakfast for Mob, wondering what her mother had cooked this time.
The tiredness in her body disappeared the moment she smelled bacon, and he eagerly sat down at the table to gobble all that had been sitting on her plate.
Once Mrs. L/n had finished cleaning up in the kitchen, she joined Y/n and Mr. L/n at the table, wearing a look of concern on her face.
"Y/n, we need to talk," she began.
Y/n almost choked on her bacon. "Huh?"
Crap! Don't tell me she found out about Mob!
"I was going through the laundry this morning and I noticed a massive blood stain on the right leg of your pajama pants," Mrs. L/n continued. "Care to explain?"
Y/n blinked. "That's all?"
Mrs. L/n was confused. "Yes...?"
"I'm on my period," Y/n blurted.
Both Mr. and Mrs. L/n glanced at their daughter in shock.
"Wasn't that supposed to be–"
"Last week? I know," Y/n interrupted, continuing to eat her bacon. "It came back."
"Then why is the stain on the lower half of the pant leg?" Mrs. L/n pressed.
Y/n shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know. Periods are weird, I guess."
"Um... whatever you say." Mrs. L/n stopped any further questions and ate her bacon in silence. Her daughter was so weird sometimes.
Word Count: 3886