#k'ula

　　K' woke up the moment Kula left. Though he had not opened his eyes.

　　It had taken him three restless days and nights to get away from the military affair, and his first thing when he got home was not to greet someone he had not seen for a long time and ask if she had upset her stomach, but to go to sleep with Maxima.

　　He was always more casual than Maxima, passing out almost as soon as he touched the edge of the sofa. It didn't matter that his clothes were dirty, his forehead was wet with sweat, and his sunglasses rubbed his ears when he slept on his face.

　　He felt it even in his sleep when she leaned in. Her body was cool, and when she came she was like a little fan, blowing away all the heat of his sleep. It was not comfortable to take a nap with her on the narrow sofa, where he was bent and she pressed his arm; Perhaps he was too tired, but he just gave a little snort without resistance.

　　Kula takes long naps. Normally, when supper is served, he and Maxima will look at each other and mutely pass the buck of waking her. But when she woke up today, he silently blamed her for the short sleep. Sleepiness clung to his eyelids and held him in the palm of its hand; His spirit struggled to get up as to at least see what this girl was up to.

　　At last K' got up, and as soon as he opened his eyes he wanted to close them and go back to sleep. He gave a dry cough to keep himself awake and slowly turned to her. "... What are you doing?"

　　There was no answer. Her shadow leaned against the window, her back to him, her blue hair bleached linear gray through his dark glasses.

　　"It's too late to cook. You can order what you want." Then he rolled over. "If Maxima and I aren't awake when dinner comes, no need to wake us. You go ahead and eat alone."

　　Finally, before closing his eyes, he added, "Only one ice cream."

　　When he woke up again, there was still light, but the light was a little different. He heard the birds chirping and saw the faint morning light coming through the curtains, and thought of how harmless the early morning sun was. A good night's sleep made him feel relaxed, but as he looked around the room, his good mood evaporated.

　　He waited for Kula to wake up and walk out of the room and grabbed her at the door. She kicked and threaded, and finally raised her eyes to the detestable K'.

　　"You didn't have dinner?"

　　It's not like her to be squeaky clean. She can have her takeaway everywhere.

　　She dismissed his query: "If you don't eat, so do I."

　　K' let go of her, his eyes hidden under his glasses, his lips tightened into a thin line. "You're usually gluttonous, but now you don't feel?"

　　He didn't mean to be angry with her, he didn't care if she didn't eat, it's her own business. It was just that she didn't have regular meals, and in the end she suffered herself. But these twists and turns could not be untangled in one or two sentences, and no matter how Kula arranged them, she could not read between the line a single kindness. Tears of grievance came into her eyes and glistened in their meeting gaze.

　　"There's nothing I want to eat, that's why I won't!"

　　K' is a bit surprised and confused. He had shunned her tears, made excuses in his mind, pressed down on his out-of-control worries and doubts.

　　"What are you going to eat then?"

　　She spoke out a name that he had never heard of, except that it was probably pizza with an exaggerated name. Puzzled, he asked, "How is this different from a regular pizza?"

　　"Of course it is! This is for amusement park!" Kula's voice trembled once with emotion. "K' must have forgotten about our amusement park rendez-vous, right?"

　　K' touched his nose and finally chose not to lie: "I don't remember promising you." The blank in the tone was just right.

　　Kula, even forgetting to cry, stared at him for two seconds and shouted at him with all her might, "You great fool! You don't care about me at all! Go out for your tasks for so long without me, also don't play with me!" She caught her breath and pointed at him. "Kula is angry! Kula runaway from home!"

　　What runaway? What does it mean by saying he doesn't care? K' was caught off guard by her, his mind was in chaos, and his first thought was: "How can I possibly take you out on mission?" Don't be kidding. What if she childishly gets kidnapped halfway?

　　But by this time Kula had reached the door, and it was too late to address any other apologie. Plus there's a question marking over whether he really wants to apologize. K' did not feel that he was wrong. He was not angry, but he was not pleased.

　　"Well, where are you going?"

　　Kula looked back at him. "You don't care anyway. I can go anywhere!" She left him with a grimace and quickly slipped away from the door. The sound of the lock tightening echoed through the room, and K' thought he should run after it.

　　But why? He didn't do nothing wrong.

　　K' stood where he was for a moment, then turned and went back into the room. Kula would be back soon. She had no money, and she would not like to spend the night outside. They've been treating her like a baby, haven't they? K' remembered how quiet and defensive she had been when she had just escaped Nests with them. Maxima said she was too immature and frightened by the Nests crew. What Maxima said was like a switch that turned his protectiveness on.

　　Even as a child, what on earth will happen if you let her go out all day? Thinking it was no big deal, K' went to bed to catch up on sleep. But tossing and turning he could not fall asleep by all means. He didn't think he was troubled by those chaotic thoughts, but in his shallow dreams he had visions of Kula in all sorts of danger. When he dreamed of her dismembered he could not bear anymore so that he sit up in bed eventually.

　　It was a blurry image. It was not real, after all. His dream just put her up in those scary scenes. But the more he thought about it, the more details he added in the picture. He stared at the opposite wall. The sun was already high, and the girl, who was afraid of the high temperature while willing to go out at anytime, will always lean towards him under the heat...

　　K 'decided that if Kula did not return by noon, he would go out and look for her. For she's definitely going to get sunstroke, or sit on the side of the road crying because her ice cream melted. Even when Maxima woke up and inquired of him, he gave those good enough reasons.

　　He moved calmly about his room, ate his lunch in silence, and then received a hostile message.

　　When Maxima had checked it, he asked K', "What now?"

　　K' said: "To get her back. What else? " In spite of the cloud that had hovering upon most of his thoughts, he seemed somewhat glad that at least he had a good excuse, and there was no shame in being the first to rush out the door for her any longer.

　　Maxima read the message carefully again. "Do you think she's really in danger?"

　　K' replied, "I hope not." He returned to those strange images of his dreams.

　　His partner laughed. "You rarely say 'hope.' You seem really worried about her."

　　"You're not?" Asked K'." She's like a child. Her fighting skills won't easily beat a genuine gangster."

　　"Yeah, yeah." Replied Maxima."However, she doesn't seem so fragile to me. You've always thought that she is..."

　　K' decided to quit listening to Maxima's comments. How could Maxima know what was going on between him and her? And that she was not like a child, he should have heard what she said to him. K' leaned back in his chair and gave a little sigh. He was probably the biggest hater of fighting match in the world, but he could feel that he hated Kula's dangerous situation much more than he hated the King of Fighters.

Chinese ver.

　　K'在库拉离开的一瞬间就惊醒了。尽管他还没有睁眼。

　　从军方的事件里抽身已经花费了他三个不眠不休的白天黑夜，回到家第一件事不是和很久没见的某人打招呼，关心她有没有吃坏肚子，而是和马克西马各找地方倒头就睡。

　　和马克西马相比他总是更随便一些，几乎刚碰到沙发边缘就昏睡过去。衣服很脏，额头还有未干的汗，墨镜戴在脸上睡觉会磨到耳朵，这些都无所谓了。

　　她靠过来的时候他即便在睡梦中也若有所觉。她身上很凉，过来的时候就像一架小风扇，把他睡眠的燥热全部驱散。在狭窄的沙发上和她一起午睡并不舒服，他本来就歪倒着，她又压着他一边手臂；或许太累了，他只是微微哼了一声，毫无反抗之意。

　　库拉的午觉可以睡很久。换作平常，晚饭上桌了，他和马克西马总要面面相觑，无声地相互推卸把她叫醒的责任。可是今天她醒来了，他反而又默默地怪她只睡这么一小会儿。困意死死地缠住他的眼皮，把他握在自己的掌心；他的精神却挣扎着要他起身，至少看一下这家伙想做什么。

　　最后K'还是醒过来了，甫一睁开眼又立刻想闭上眼睛继续睡。他干咳了一声，让自己保持清醒，缓缓转过脸去找她：“……你做什么？”

　　没有回应，她的影子靠在窗边，人背对着他，她碧蓝色的头发被墨镜漂成线状的灰。

　　K'强撑着对她说：“晚饭来不及做了，你要吃什么可以自己点。”然后他翻了个身，“如果晚饭来了我和马克西马还没醒，不用叫我们，你自己先吃。”

　　最后闭眼之前，他又补了一句：“只能吃一个冰激凌。”

　　再醒过来的时候，天还是亮的，只是亮得有点不同。他听到鸟叫声，看到淡淡的晨光从窗帘里透进来，想到清晨的太阳如此无害。充足的睡眠令他感到轻松，可当他环视房间，他的好心情又立刻荡然无存。

　　他等待着库拉醒过来走出房间，在门旁一把把她抓过来。她又踢又蹬，终于抬起目光对上面目可憎的K'。

　　“你没吃晚饭？”

　　干干净净可不像她的风格，她能把一份外卖吃得到处都是。

　　她对他的质问不以为然：“你们都不吃，我吃什么。”

　　K'松开她，眼睛藏在镜片下，唇线抿得很严肃：“你平常那么怕饿，现在又不觉得了？”

　　他本意不是要和她生气，她不吃就不吃，他管不着。只是觉得她饥一顿饱一顿，最后还是她自己难受。可这些弯弯绕绕在一两句话里根本解不开，库拉无论如何排列组合这些字句，都读不出他的一分好意，委屈之下眼泪涌进眼底，在他们相接的目光里闪闪发亮。

　　“根本没有我想吃的，所以我才不吃！”

　　K'有点意外，也有些无措。他回避过她的泪光，在心里给自己找借口，按下他失控的担忧和疑惑。

　　“那你要吃什么？”

　　她说了一个名字，他闻所未闻，只知道大概是披萨前面被冠以了一个很夸张的名号。他费解地问：“这个和普通的披萨有什么不一样吗？”

　　“当然有！这个是游乐园里才可以吃到的！”库拉的声音因为过于激动而颤抖了一下，“K'肯定忘记了和我约好去游乐园的事对不对？”

　　K'摸了摸鼻子，最终没有选择撒谎：“我不记得我有答应你啊。”语气里的茫然恰到好处。

　　库拉连哭都忘记，瞪了他两秒钟，使出九牛二虎之力对他大吼：“你这个大笨蛋！你根本就不在乎我！出去办事这么久都不带我，也不陪我玩！”她喘了口气，指着他说，“库拉生气了！库拉要离家出走！”

　　什么离家出走？什么不在乎？K'被她打得措手不及，头脑一团乱，最先想到的是：“我怎么可能带你出去办事？”别开玩笑了，万一她真的这么笨，任务途中被人绑走了，他又该怎么办啊？

　　可这时库拉已经走到门口，再说其他的抱歉已经来不及。何况他是不是真心想要道歉，还得打个问号。K'不觉得自己错了，被她莫名其妙地拿来撒气，他算不上生气，但也不太痛快。

　　“喂，你要去哪儿？”

　　库拉回头看了他一眼：“反正你也不在乎，我去哪儿都可以吧！”她留给他一个鬼脸，然后迅速从门边溜走了。门锁卡紧的声音回响在室内，K'想，他应该马上追出去。

　　可是为什么啊？他明明什么也没做。

　　K'在原地站了一会儿，然后转身回房间。库拉很快就会回来的，她没带钱，让她在外面过夜她想必也不愿意。他们一直太拿她当小孩了吧？K'想起她刚刚和他们一起逃离音巢的时候，既不爱说话，对身边的人也总是很防备。马克西马说，她太小了，又被音巢那群人吓坏了。那句话就像一个开关，把他的保护欲完全打开了。

　　就算是一个小孩子，放她出去玩一整天又会怎样呢？K'想着没什么大不了的，准备在床上补眠。可是翻来覆去无论如何也睡不着。他自认为没被乱七八糟的想法所困，可浅眠的梦里却出现各种库拉陷入危险的情景。在他梦见她被分尸的时候他终于忍不下去，一下子从床上坐起来。

　　那个画面很模糊，毕竟不是真实的，只是把分尸的样子拼到她身上而已。然而越是去想，他就把那个画面描绘得越发清晰。他注视着对面的墙壁，太阳已经升得很高，那家伙怕热又喜欢出门，还老往他身边凑……

　　K'决定，中午过后库拉还不回来，他就出门找她。理由很充分，她绝对会中暑，或者因为冰激凌化掉一个人蹲在路边哭。就算马克西马醒过来问他，他也是这么说。

　　他镇定地在房间里活动，不言不语地吃午饭，然后收到一条不怀好意的消息。

　　马克西马和他都看过以后，他问K'：“现在怎么办？”

　　K'说：“去救人。”尽管阴云笼罩了他大部分的心思，他似乎还有点高兴，至少他有了一个正当的理由，第一个冲出门找她不再是什么丢脸的事。

　　马克西马又仔细看了看那条信息：“你觉得她会有危险吗？”

　　K'回答：“希望不会。”他又翻出那些梦里的奇诡想法。

　　他的搭档笑了：“你很少说‘希望’。看来你是真的很担心她。”

　　“你不担心？”K'问，“她就像小孩子一样，她那点打架的功夫可对付不了有心的歹徒。”

　　“是啊，是啊。”马克西马回答道，“可是在我看来她没有那么脆弱，反而是你一直把她想得……”