Chara lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.
Her body was relaxed and wrapped in the blankets, but she couldn’t close her eyes.
She was hungry.
She sat up and kicked the blankets away.
Wearing that light pink pajama set, the sleeves hanging down to cover half her hands, she stood up and glanced at Flowey on the nightstand.
He was already asleep, his petals closed, his roots and stem planted in the soil of the flower pot, completely still.
zzzzzzz —.—
Might as well not wake him up.
She walked quietly to the door and pulled it open, walking along the corridor.
She didn’t know where she was going, but felt that walking forward would eventually lead her to something.
After walking about two carriages’ distance, she smelled a scent.
So fragrant~
She followed the scent forward, turned a corner, and a door appeared in front of her.
The door was closed, but light seeped out from the gap at the bottom.
She pushed the door open.
Inside was a room with a long table in the middle and a row of cabinets against the wall.
The cabinet doors were frosted glass, revealing blurry shadows of the things inside, making it hard to see what they were.
She walked up to the row of cabinets and reached out to pull open one of the doors.
So cold!!!
…
Inside were several rows of things: bottles, jars, and boxes, all arranged very neatly.
She reached out, and on the bottom shelf was a box, square and neat.
There was writing on the wrapper that she couldn’t quite read, but she recognized the color of the packaging.
Gold.
She took it out and unwrapped the paper.
Inside were chocolate bars, arranged in the box.
They were a bit different from the ones she had eaten before; the color was darker, and they didn’t smell as sweet.
● You found a box of chocolate.
She broke off a piece and put it in her mouth.
Hmm??
Slightly bitter?
She chewed a few times.
The bitterness melted in her mouth, revealing a rich, mellow aroma inside, but it was thicker and richer than ordinary chocolate.
She ate one piece after another.
Her cheeks were puffed out, making soft crunching sounds as she chewed.
After about five or six pieces, the box was a little less than half empty, and she finally stopped.
She put the box back in its original place and closed the cabinet door.
She turned to leave, but someone was standing at the door.
Long pink hair, a white dress, holding a cup in her hand, standing at the door looking at Chara.
Dolly didn’t come in or walk out.
She just stood at the door, looking at Chara with those eyes.
“You…”
Chara parted her lips, wanting to explain, but she still had a small piece of chocolate in her mouth that she hadn’t swallowed, making her words muffled and unclear.
Dolly walked in and placed the cup on the table.
“How much did you eat?”
Chara swallowed the food in her mouth.
“About five or six pieces…”
“Chocolate?”
“Yeah.”
Dolly looked at Chara for a good while, then pulled up a chair and sat down.
“Were you hungry?
Or did you just want a snack?”
She didn’t answer the question.
Hungry?
As long as it was food, she didn’t even know what she would eat.
“Didn’t you eat your fill this afternoon?
You ate quite a lot at dinner.”
“Enough,” Chara said.
“But…
I get hungry again before sleeping.”
Dolly suddenly fell silent for a moment, then patted the chair next to her.
“Sit.”
Chara hesitated for two seconds, walked over, and sat down.
Her feet couldn’t reach the ground, dangling in midair.
Dolly turned to face her, her voice softening a bit.
“Can I ask you a few things?”
Chara lowered her head, not speaking, but not shaking her head either.
“On your planet…
did you live alone?
Or with your family?”
“I…
don’t have a family…”
“How did you survive?
I mean, before you encountered those bugs, what did you usually eat, and where did you live?”
“Looking everywhere.”
“Huh???”
“Climbing walls into villages to find things to eat.
Sometimes I could find dry flatbread, sometimes pickled meat.
Once I found a bunch of candies, the kind wrapped in paper.
I ate them for a long time.”
“Sometimes I couldn’t find anything, so I just went hungry.
The longest I went was three days.
On the fourth day, I found a discarded loaf of bread that had already grown mold.
I just broke off the moldy parts and ate it.”
“Alone?
No one else helped you?
Villagers?
Neighbors?”
“They didn’t treat me as a villager.
I was from the outside.
My parents died, no one wanted me, and they called me a wild child.
The older ones bullied me, and the younger ones followed suit.
The adults just looked the other way when they saw it.”
Dolly’s hands rested on her knees, clenching tightly.
“Then how old are you?”
“I don’t know,” Chara said.
“No one ever kept track for me.
Probably…
seven or eight, or maybe nine.”
Dolly didn’t ask any more questions.
Why did she ever doubt Chara?
She really deserves to die!
Her eyes reddened slightly, but she didn’t let the tears fall.
She turned her face away a bit, took a deep breath, and turned back.
“I’m sorry.”
Chara looked up at her.
“What?”
“When I just came in, my first reaction was to suspect you were stealing things, but…
I’m sorry…
I shouldn’t have looked at you with that kind of expression.”
Chara looked up into her eyes.
“That food is for you to eat.
All the food on the train is prepared for the passengers, and you are a passenger too.” Dolly stood up, walked to the cabinet, reopened the door, took out the box of dark chocolate, and placed it on the table in front of Chara.
“You don’t need to eat it sneakily.
When you’re hungry, come here and get some, or go to the dining car, or come find me.
Any of it is fine.”
Dolly squatted down to be eye level with her and reached out to gently touch her shoulder.
“You don’t have to wander anymore.
This is the Astral Express.
You are here, and the train will protect you.”
Chara lowered her head, looking at the box of chocolate on her knees.
“Yeah…
I understand.”
Dolly stood up, picked up the cup, and took a sip of the water inside.
Then she said to Chara, “Go back to sleep.
Tomorrow morning, Conductor Pom-Pom might notice a box of chocolate is missing.
Don’t worry, I’ll tell him I took it.”
Chara shook her head.
“No need, I can…”
“Listen to me.” Dolly interrupted her.
“Go to sleep.
There will be breakfast in the morning.
You don’t need to go hungry anymore.”
Chara hugged the box of chocolate, slid off the chair, her feet touching the floor.
She stood for a moment, then turned and walked toward the door.
…
Chara walked back to her room holding the chocolate box, pushed the door open, and walked in quietly.
She placed the box on the nightstand, then slipped into bed and wrapped herself up tightly.
She buried her face in the pillow, smelling that faint scent, and closed her eyes.
The next morning.
A scream came from the end of the corridor, piercing through several carriages.
Chara bounced up from bed, sitting up straight in a daze.
Flowey was also woken up by the noise, his petals opening and his eyes looking around.
“Pom-Pom?”
Chara rolled out of bed and ran out without even putting on her shoes.
Flowey quickly wrapped around her body, his head resting against her shoulder.
There were already hundreds of people standing in the corridor, all looking in the same direction.
She squeezed through the crowd and saw Conductor Pom-Pom standing at the door of the kitchen, holding a piece of paper in his hand, his ears trembling with anger.
“Who!
Pom-Pom wants to ask, who ate the dark chocolate from the kitchen last night!
And specifically chose the dark chocolate!
That’s a specialty from the neighboring star system!
Limited supply!”
Pom-Pom’s voice was high-pitched and anxious, the paper in his hand rustling loudly as he shook it.
A few people stood nearby.
Some were holding back laughter, some pretended not to hear, and some turned their heads to look at completely nonexistent patterns on the ceiling.
Dolly stood at the back of the crowd, guiltily turning her head to look at the stars outside the window, forgetting her promise from last night in an instant.
Chara stood at the corner of the corridor, hiding behind the wall.
She poked out half her head to take a look, then pulled back.
Flowey poked his head out from her shoulder, looked at the crowd ahead, and felt a bit dazed.
He pulled his head back and stayed quietly on Chara’s shoulder.
Pom-Pom was still shouting, “Pom-Pom is going to find the person who ate it!
Pom-Pom does not allow this kind of behavior to happen on the train!”
She retreated to her room, closed the door, and leaned against the door panel for a while.
Then she walked back to the bed.
The box of dark chocolate on the nightstand was less than half full.
She picked up the box, stuffed it into the main compartment of her backpack, and zipped it up.