Chapter 3 – Drifting Apart and Making Up

The news of what had happened to Kumatora soon spread like wildfire, not mainly because she was a “princess” but the fact that she acted more like a man than a woman. Every day she was becoming more and more distant to her friends. At first Kumatora would hardly come out to greet them until eventually she would not leave her room at all. Duster tried all he could to make her feel better but she just ended up either taking off for what was left of Osohe Castle or attacking him with a PSI technique. Eventually, he just gave up and became a bit depressed. Unknown to him, she was feeling the same way. Kumatora was all ready 3 months into her pregnancy and was beginning to show a bit. She refused to leave the house except at nighttime when everyone else was in their homes asleep.

“This is going to be a living hell,” she said to herself one night as she placed her hand on the baby bump. “Duster won’t leave me alone, I’m tired of feeling sick and drained, and I never wanted a child in the first place. Damn it. Why me? Why now? If anyone else knows about this, I’ll make sure that they won’t be able to tell anyone else.” As she stood there, a twig snapped followed by a quiet gasp. “If that’s you, Duster, get out of here. I don’t want to see anyone.”

“It’s not,” a young voice answered. Kumatora looked behind and saw that it was just Lucas.

“What are you doing out here so late at night?” she asked.

“I came to see you.”

“Great, not you too.”

“I can’t help it. You’re my friend.”

“If you’re going to keep on showing up here every day trying to ‘help me out’ like Duster has, you’ll get the same treatment.”

“But he’s given up on that.”

“What?”

“You’ve given him so much grief that he’s become depressed. You’ve hurt him, Kumatora.” 

“Well, how do you think I feel? He shows up every day when he’s not wanted, I feel like crap, and I never wanted to become a mother! Why can’t he understand that I just want to be left alone!”

“Fine,” Lucas responded, tearing up a bit. “Your closest friend wants to support you through a hard time you keep on pushing him away. If this keeps up, you won’t have any more friends. You can be a single mother for all I care.” He ran off back home, now upset.

“Fine!” she shouted at Lucas as he left. “I’m use to being alone! I can handle it all by myself!”

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The next morning, Lucas was lying in bed, still sad about last night. He just didn’t feel like getting up and getting breakfast. All he could think about was that Kumatora’s friendship with him and Duster was in jeopardy. Flint went inside the house to see if Lucas was up yet but his son was still there.

“Kumatora getting to you too?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Lucas replied “I want to help her out as much as Duster does but all she wants is to be left alone.”

“That can’t be helped. She’s going through a hard time. She’ll eventually come to terms with what’s going on.” He put his hand on Lucas’s head, trying to cheer him up.

“Thanks. Hey Dad, did mom go through something like this when she was pregnant with me and Claus?”

“Not really. Kumatora’s situation’s a bit different, though. For one, she’s not married.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Now you better get something to eat before it gets any later.”

“Okay, dad.”

Duster was still lying in bed too, feeling depressed. No matter how hard he tried to cheer her up, she refused. Nothing worked. He had just about given all hope, for her and their relationship. “Maybe I should try just one more time,” he said to himself. Duster got up, got dressed and headed over staring at the ground. On the way, he ended up running into his father. “Oh, hello,” he said, half-heartedly.

“Are you still trying to get through to her?” Wes asked.

“Yes and it’s still not working. I’m worried about her, dad.”

“You’re not the only one.”

“Lucas too?”

“Him and myself. She hasn’t adjusted like I hoped she would.”

“Maybe it’s partially my fault. I didn’t leave her alone like you said.”

“I had a feeling you would mess things up, you moron.”

Duster sighed. “I suppose there’s nothing else I can do. I want to try one more time but I’m afraid of what might happen.”

“Oh, no. You’ve caused enough damage.”

“If you’re going to try and reason with her, it won’t work. I’ve tried over and over and still no luck.”

“I have a feeling she’ll listen to me. Just try and stay out of it for now.” Wes headed over to Kumatora’s house but she wasn’t there. She was able to sneak out when no one was looking to the ruins to get some air. The old thief made his way there as well after discovering that the house was vacant. She was leaning against a nearby tree, staring at the ground.

“There you are, princess,” Wes said as he approached.

“What do you want, old geezer?” she asked.

“Have you been hiding out here all of this time?”

“Why would you care? You’re not my father.”

“True, but I still can’t help but worry about you. Your friends are worried about you, especially that moron.”

“Figures. He’s been acting all weird ever since he found out that I was pregnant.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“You know too?”

“Just about everyone knows, actually.”

“Great,” Kumatora groaned and sat down on a nearby rock. “I guess it’s no use to keep hiding now, huh?”

“I would say not. Also, it’s not healthy to be doing this. Remember, you’re responsible for more than just your own life now.”

“Why would I care about some living thing that resulted by some science experiment?”

“You should be. Do you want to go through the rest of your life knowing that you kept a child from living, especially one that was your own?”

Kumatora was a bit surprised that Wes would say such a thing. He hated what Yokuba and the Pigmask Army had done to their home and this child being a result of one of their machines. Then again, the machine was made by Dr. Andonuts when he was forced to work for them. She still haven’t forgiven him for that.

“I guess you have a point there.”

“Actually, I was hoping that one day I would have some grandchildren. I just never expecting that you would be the one having my first.” Kumatora smirked at the old thief’s comment.

“Same here, old man.” They both chuckled and she got up and started heading for Tazmily but Kumatora headed to Duster’s place.

“Where are you going?” Wes asked.

“I’m going to go and apologize to Lucas and Duster about how I’ve been acting.”

“There we go.”

“Besides, I was probably going to have a child one day, right?” she said, winking. 

Fortunately for her, the two were together, talking about what to do about their friend.

“There you guys are,” she shouted to the two, trying to get their attention.

“Kumatora? What are you doing out here?” Duster asked.

“Listen guys, I’m sorry about how I’ve been acting. It’s just a lot of pressure, you know. I didn’t want to believe it at first and I felt that I wasn’t ready.”

“What made you change your mind?” Lucas asked.

“The old geezer.”

“He does have a way with words,” Duster admitted.

“Anyway, I thought about it for a bit and I shouldn’t really be on my own because of what’s going on.” 

“Great! For the time being, you should stay with me. It’s best if you were surrounded by those who care about you.”

“Yeah,” Lucas said in agreement. Duster took her by the hand started to lead her home.

“All right, all right. Calm down. I’m expecting, not dying!” She started to look a bit green after saying that.

“Everything all right?” the thief asked.

“Sick…” She quickly ran off into some nearby bushes.

“I guess I should get use to that…”

Lucas smiled. He was glad that Kumatora was talking to them again. At first he thought their friendship might end because she was feeling sorry for herself. All it took was a few choice words from someone she trusted. One thing was for sure, though. Things were never going to be the same.