6 Chapter 4- Familiar yet unfamiliar
"OK! Seems like everyone is ready!" Reine said cheerfully, standing by the door.
"umm," the black-haired girl kept glancing at Riyoko, "are you sure? Umm, we could wait till… uh,"
"agh!" Riyoko groaned, in pain from touching one of the reddish burnt marks on his nape.
"That's what you get… I know the temperature spell was new, but why did you have to turn it up to the max?" Reine teased.
"Sorry…"
"Why are you apologizing?"
Riyoko bowed his head, hiding his embarrassment, "AAAAGGHHH! What did I think was going to happen? Despite it being completely new to me, that was still stupid of me isn't it!??" he thought.
He raised his head, "I'll be fine, let's continue,"
The black-haired girl nodded, "I see… if you say so…"
"aggh, this is so embarrassing…" he thought, "but… I'm pretty much excited, I need better confirmation if what I saw was really magic! This house seems like a normal one, yet there is a shower very out of this world for me, I'm excited to see what it's like outside!!" He let out a smile.
Reine glanced at Riyoko, "that's the look I've been waiting for… you're finally starting to heat up, huh?"
Riyoko nodded looking quite excited, "well… pretty much,"
"well then, you better observe carefully and learn all about what our country is like because it's really different from where you came from!"
The black-haired girl tilted her head, "is it that different?"
"well pretty much!" Reine answered, holding the door knob, "Now then, shall we go?"
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A neat and clean street, filled with houses and small markets. As the sun shines upon them with its bright morning hue, Riyoko could not help but think, "it seems like a great morning!"
"it seems like such a good day today, huh?" Reine said, sounding energetic.
Riyoko and the black-haired girl nodded.
"I wonder if I got too excited…" Riyoko thought, "Looking around, everything seems normal, it's different from where I came from, like the houses and stuff… but other than that, it seems pretty regular…"
Suddenly, something caught his eye as they walked past an intersection.
Bam*
Suddenly, a little girl with big brown eyes and pointy ears above her head accidentally hit her head on Riyoko's knee.
Falling down to the ground, the little girl quickly tried to stand up, "AH! Sorry mister!" looking nervous.
Suddenly the little girl shivered, as she received an odd stare, coming from Riyoko.
Riyoko slowly reached out toward the little girl's head.
"I'm… s…ss…sorry…" She shivered.
Closing her eyes and shivering with fear, she suddenly felt a warm and gentle touch behind her ear.
Riyoko gently strokes behind the little girl's ear like she's a cat.
The little girl's tail raised and began swinging with speed as her feared expression suddenly switched to a blushing cute smirk.
"So… SO CUTE!!" Riyoko screamed in his head, as he let out a gentle and peaceful expression.
Reine and the black-haired girl crouched down beside the little girl, "SO CUTE!!" both of them thought.
"Kirara!" a woman shouted from a distance.
The little girl quickly turned around, "Mama!" she then quickly ran towards the woman.
The woman had long pointy ears and long brown wavy hair.
"Who are they? Do you know them?" the woman asked.
The little girl shook her head in denial.
"jeez, this is why I keep telling you to not run too far ahead…" she glanced at the three, "I'm sorry, did my daughter bother you?"
The woman got shocked, as she sees the immense peaceful aura the three of them were emitting, smiling at her brightly.
"Nope, not at all, ma'am," Riyoko said with a bright smile.
The two girls nodded, "In fact, we're grateful to have such a wonderful encounter in the morning," Reine said.
The black-haired girl nodded, "true, I think she definitely made our morning,"
The woman let out a small laugh, "I see, I see, I'm glad, aren't you dear?" looking at the little girl.
The little girl tilted her head, looking confused.
"what's your name?" Reine asked.
"K…Kirara,"
"what a cute name! hope we see each other again sometime!" Reine said as they all stood up, "we're going now, take care, and don't wander too far away from your mom!" waving her hand as they walk away.
"Be careful… Bye!" the little girl waved.
"she's such a cutie, isn't she?" Reine said.
The black-haired girl nodded with a blush on her face, "yeah, she's the cutest I've seen so far,"
"I've had my share of cute little girls like her, but she is by far the cutest! How come I never ran into her before?"
Meanwhile, in Riyoko's head.
"An animal girl… An actual animal girl! Now that's something I don't see every day! Apart from the games I played back where I came from… anyway, this got my excitement back, I wonder what else I'll be seeing!"
Reine looked around, "we're almost there,"
"where is it exactly?" The black-haired girl asked, "I never went through that before,"
"oh yeah, you always go by car or other vehicles, right? Also, don't worry about the price, I'll be paying for our whole tour today,"
"That's reassuring, but I can buy for myself when we reach the city,"
"don't bother, today is a celebration of my cousins' arrival, let me handle the expenses!"
"if you say so…"
"Anyway, to answer your question earlier, it's that tall building over there,"
Riyoko looked carefully, "it's not that tall, compared to the ones from my city… but… they said something about reaching a city earlier, also from what I heard it doesn't seem to be by car or vehicle, I'm quite excited and nervous at the same time,"
"Oh!" Reine shouted as she glanced at a corner.
"what is it!?" the black-haired girl reacted with caution.
"There's still that limited-edition bread displayed in that bakery, and there is no line at all!!"
"oh…" she let out a sigh of relief, "OH!? What are you waiting for!? Go buy one!" suddenly getting serious.
"On my way!!"
Reine's shoes glowed for a short moment, after the quick flash of light, she suddenly dashed at an incredible speed.
"what's going on? Wait, where is she going?"
"At that bakery far ahead,"
"what bakery?" Riyoko thought looking carefully up ahead, "ah… there… WAIT WHAT!?"
Riyoko hid his shock with a blank expression, "I could barely even see the sign… could she have read that far?"
"what are you waiting for?" the black-haired girl said, "we don't have to run, but let's just go after her!"
"ah, yes!"
And so, they both walked at a faster pace, with the black-haired girl looking excited.
After a short moment, they reached the bakery, and Reine walked out with a bag of limited-edition bread.
"Hey guys! Umm, I have good news and bad news,"
"what is it?" the black-haired girl asked.
"the good news is, as you can see, I got us the bread!" she cheered, "the bad news is… there were only two left,"
"I see…" the black-haired girl let out a sigh.
Feeling guilty, Riyoko stepped up, "umm, it's ok if I don't eat one…"
"Have you tasted it before?" The black-haired girl asked, interrupting Riyoko.
"eh? Umm, no…"
"then you should eat one! Otherwise you'd be missing out!" she said enthusiastically.
Reine pulled one piece of bread out of the paper bag, the bread was as big as one large hand and was covered with a white wrap.
She gave the bread to Riyoko, "then, why not take mine?" she offered to hand the bread to the black-haired girl.
She looked as if she craved it. suddenly she shook her head, "no! you ran all the way here for us, I couldn't,"
"Are you sure?"
The black-haired girl nodded.
"I see, but I'm not feeling hungry yet, this bread is best as a snack after all,"
Riyoko nodded, "I feel the same,"
"well then, why don't we put it away for now and save it for later? You have the sack?"
"Sure, here" The black-haired girl took out a pink and neat small sack with a star design in the middle from her pocket.
"Don't tell me…" Riyoko thought, looking directly at the sack.
"here we go!" Reine said stretching the sack as she puts the bread inside, "spatial sacks sure are convenient!"
The bread went inside and the sack kept its regular shape as if nothing went in it.
"I knew it…" he thought.
Riyoko gave Reine his bread and went on their way.
