?? ??????? ??? [ the promised neverland ]

panic filled ray's mind when he saw (y/n) fall unconscious on his arms.

"ray..." norman's trembling voice shook him out of his thoughts, "there's blood."

ray followed norman's eyes and saw that there's a puddle of blood in front of them.

it was (y/n)'s vomit.

his eyes widened at the sight and wondered what could have been the reason for this. why the (h/c) haired girl fainted when she's clearly doing so well this morning.

"please call mama and sister krone! quick!" emma ordered the younger kids around them.

× × ×

mama stared at the younger children in front of her, a serious expression written on her face.

she glared at the trio before sighing in disappointment.

"whom of you took the bottle of aspirin from the infirmary?" she asked angrily, rubbing her temples in the process.

the children were scared of what they witnessed. not only because of what happened to their older sister, but also because of their furious mother.

at first, the trio thought it was their mama and sister krone who did that. they have their own reasons.

but seeing how they reacted to what happened, the kids quickly changed their mind.

before they we're called downstairs, they had a quick talk on the library, away from everybody else.

"there is someone, right inside this house, who tried to poison (y/n)." -it was their conclusion.

emma, norman, and especially ray was very infuriated when they found out that (y/n) was overdosed with aspirin.

"there's no way in hell (y/n) would do such a thing!" was ray's frustrated scream to the four kids who knew the secret.

he thought he'll talk to mama about this. he simply couldn't think of a reason why she would commit such a thing.

"i know, she never even showed any signs of... negativity," emma rubbed her chin with her index finger, "who could've possibly done it?" and then she finished with an irritated sigh.

don and gilda turned to look at each other with a worried face. "we're sorry, we don't even know how it happened."

ray glared at the floor.

"enough," norman stated, he face palmed and sat down beside emma, "mama will find them," he continued with an annoyed expression.

"right, i bet mama would be so angry because one of us got hurt. if she acts the complete opposite then..." and so, emma couldn't end her own statement.

"if it's not mama or sister krone, they'll definitely find who it was," it was the first time that they saw norman this serious in a while, "but if they don't..."

it certainly can't be one of the children. ray grinded his teeth at the thought.

all of them stood in silence, the ring of mama's bell soon interrupted their small talk.

with that, all of them walked out of the library and pretends like they never talked about what happened.

it's just powerless and remorseful faces when they got out of the room.

"i repeat," mama held the empty bottle out to the kids, "who took the bottle of aspirin out of the infirmary?" this time, her voice was louder.

some of the kids flinched at the sudden tone, some younger kids cried out loud. but the five stood there, keeping their composure.

mama drew a deep breath before turning her expression into grief, "if no one's going to talk, everyone will have to be punished."

the kids whined and sister krone looked at the kids in pity.

× × ×

it was deep in the night when ray and norman came to check (y/n), and was not surprised when they also saw emma there.

they sat in silence, watching the sleeping girl.

as soon as the blue-eyed boy neared the bed, he reached for (y/n)'s forehead. it was burning hot.

the (h/c) haired girl's sudden paling was very noticeable, her breathing is a little faster than normal, and her pulse beats like an unstoppable drum.

emma sighed in sadness. "mama said (y/n) is going to be out for a short while," she fiddles with the hem of her sleeve.

her eyebrows furrowed as time passes by.

"why would someone ever do this?" she continued as her grip on the cloth grew tighter, "why would anyone want to hurt (y/n)?"

norman noticed the growing anger and disappointment on emma. "i don't think (y/n) has done something wrong for her to be in this state."

emma nods and then opens her mouth to speak, "right, i didn't notice anything suspicious about her."

ray furrowed his eyebrows as the two talk about the possibilities and theories as to why this happened.

"someone poisoned (y/n), and she might know who it was," ray said as he cupped the (h/c) haired girl's hand, "we have to wait until she wake up, then we'll have a clue on who it is," then he sat on the side of the said girl's bed.

"for now, we have to watch over her," he murmured as he stared at her with worried eyes, "we don't know what might happen to her while we're out-"

and then three consecutive knocks came from the door. it slowly opened with a loud creak and it revealed mama, her face still etched with an annoyed expression.

ray gave her a cold look.

"why are you three still awake?" and she returns the same look.

these kids. isabella thought to herself. i can't let them go near her.

"go to sleep," she ordered them, "don't worry, i'll take care of (y/n) the whole night."

emma gave mama a look of distress, "but mama-"

"no buts, no nothing," mama cut her short, "no one is allowed to visit (y/n) until someone confessed their wrongdoing."

the trio had nothing to do but stare at mama with guilt.

(y/n) is important, i can't break grandma's trust. not right now.

"i'll stay," was ray's cold reply, "i want to help, mama."

too tired to have an argument, mama lets the younger boy stay the night with them.

while norman and emma thought it was the best to actually leave the girl to their care, they still think they should look over her. as much as they don't want to admit it, they felt a bad feeling about this.

especially norman, now that he knows about ray's secret along with (y/n).

but they couldn't do anything about it and left the room without another word.

once out and away from the infirmary, emma whispered, "ray..." she clutches her fist and looked over norman, "there's something suspicious about ray."

surprised, norman's mouth was left agape from the green eyed girl's statement.

she catches up fast. he thought.