[The small, childish wish that had kept him warm all these hours - that somehow Reiju and the guards were playing a cruel prank on him - dies when Jae-Ha chimes in with the same story: that Father said that he was dead. And Sanji has already learned that dead people don't come back from their graves.
The boy's fists tremble, then drop, while he stares dead-eyed at Jae-Ha's progress. There's no reply to his friend's apology.
But it doesn't stay quiet, and not only from the older boy's kicking. The door at the end of the hall had never been closed after Jae-Ha had barged down the stairs, and they'll both be able to hear heavy footsteps - the sound of numerous people - over their heads. Seconds later and the narrow hall is filled with a handful of soldiers, bows aimed and arrows cocked. In front them stands one man.
Jae-Ha will recognize him from all those hidden moments in the shadows. Judge Vinsmoke is an abnormally tall, large man, more mountain than flesh, and as he crouches slightly to clear the door's entrance, he looks at Jae-Ha with faint surprise and little else. He's no time to ask stupid questions, like how the boy got here (obvious) or what he plans to do (he isn't blind, he sees the unconscious bodies on the floor). So instead:]
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The boy's fists tremble, then drop, while he stares dead-eyed at Jae-Ha's progress. There's no reply to his friend's apology.
But it doesn't stay quiet, and not only from the older boy's kicking. The door at the end of the hall had never been closed after Jae-Ha had barged down the stairs, and they'll both be able to hear heavy footsteps - the sound of numerous people - over their heads. Seconds later and the narrow hall is filled with a handful of soldiers, bows aimed and arrows cocked. In front them stands one man.
Jae-Ha will recognize him from all those hidden moments in the shadows. Judge Vinsmoke is an abnormally tall, large man, more mountain than flesh, and as he crouches slightly to clear the door's entrance, he looks at Jae-Ha with faint surprise and little else. He's no time to ask stupid questions, like how the boy got here (obvious) or what he plans to do (he isn't blind, he sees the unconscious bodies on the floor). So instead:]
Your name, boy.