Chapter 2: Mysterious little girl

"Honey, we have a problem here!" Gramps shouted barging into the house with the girl on his back.

His wife, Yokoyama Rinata was preparing the table for their arrival. When she saw the girl on his husband's back, she stopped what she was doing to aid the poor girl.

"Bring her to Ryu's room, I'll join shortly, let me go and get my medical equipment,"

She then ran to the room to get the equipment while Gramps brought her to Ryu's room.

Rinata later came into the room with the equipment she needed and closely examined the girl. She used to be the district's doctor before retiring due to old age.

"Apart from her bruised arm, nothing very grave happened to her. I'll put a bandage over the arm and with a little rest she should be better tomorrow,"

Ryu was in the room staring closely at the young girl, and he couldn't stop thinking about how divine and bright her aura felt.

From a very young age, Ryu was able to sense people's aura and detect whether it is pure or sinister. However, he cannot sense it to a great extent.

"This is the brightest aura I have ever seen..." Ryu mumbled, "I wonder who she is and where she comes from,"

"The best now is to let her rest in peace," Rinata stated.

All three left the room for her to rest, and Rinata left warm clothes at the bottom of the bed for when she would wake up. However, Ryu felt that there was something off about her from the beginning. What was emanating from her was all but not human.

{next morning}

"You lazy pig! You've been sleeping for way too long, wake up for heaven's sake!"

Ryu woke up to the continuous hits of his grandmother.

"What's going on Granny, didn't you say that I didn't have to do chores early today?"

"Well, that doesn't mean you have to sleep all day you lazy pig! Come downstairs for breakfast now!" Granny then stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

"She always has to be so grumpy..." Ryu sighed.

He later got changed and exited his room to enter the dining table. His gramps and granny were already at the dining table waiting for him.

Rinata and Kyoto Yokoyama were in their 50s and they were farmers that earned their life honestly.

"It took you a while young boy," Kyoto exclaimed with his arms crossed.

"Why is there another plate on the table?" Ryu asked with a curious face.

"It's for our guest, and I expect both of you to give her a warm welcome when she gets here," Rinata said pointing out at Kyoto and Ryu.

Before they could even answer, they heard a slow creak coming from Ryu's door. The three of them stayed silent and watched as the little girl exited the room.

Rinata immediately stood up and walked toward the girl.

"Please young girl, come and sit with us," Rinata said directing her to the dining table.

The atmosphere at the dining table was dense, and for some reason, everyone stayed calm.

"Thank you for treating and welcoming me to your house, I am very grateful..." the young girl said timidly.

"You don't have to thank us, we would be heartless creatures if we left a young girl such as you alone,"

"You don't need to thank us, however young girl, we would like to know what you were doing alone on the ground in the middle of the road?" Kyoto asked.

The young girl didn't answer the question, leaving another awkward atmosphere at the dining table.

She was facing her food, and her eyes were full of emptiness. It seemed that she went through quite harsh events, no one wanted to insist on the subject.

Once everyone was done with their breakfast, Ryu stood from his chair and walked to the entrance door.

"Where do you think you're going!?" Rinata shouted.

"Don't worry Granny, I'm just gonna feed the chicken," Ryu replied

"Well bring the young girl with you, I'm sure it will refresh her to spend time outside!"

Ryu turned his head to Granny with a disagreeing expression.

"Are you sure this is the best thing to do? I'm not the most sociable person you know?" Ryu exclaimed.

"Well now is the time to become one, so now bring her with you, it may be a nice experience for you too,"

"Alright then," Ryu sighed, "come with me,"

It took a while for the girl to stand, however, she eventually ended up standing and following Ryu outside.

"Well then, what's your name?" Ryu said slightly turning his head to look at her.

"Umm... well, my name is Hina," Hina replied with her hands joined to her chest.

Ryu was surprised that she answered the question given how quiet she was at the dining table.

"So... where are you from Hina?"

Ryu thought that it would be a great chance to get more information from her. Unfortunately, she stayed quiet and Ryu realized that she didn't feel very comfortable when talking about her past.

"Alright, if you don' wanna talk about it then I respect that, but could you at least tell me if you have parents or at least anyone close to a family looking for you?"

"Well... I don't have any parents or relatives from what I know,"

Ryu looked at her with wide eyes shocked by her answer. If she doesn't have parents, how on earth did she end up in the middle of nowhere unconscious, and why did she not want to talk about her origins?

Everything seemed more and more mysterious about her to Ryu now than before. However, he was sure of one thing, she was not a major threat nor was she dangerous. Maybe she was just lost and ran from child abuse inflicted by her parents.

"Don't worry, if you don't have shelter, then you can stay here for as long as you want, and free of charge!" Ryu said in an attempt to cheer her up.

A smile formed on her cute and round face for the very first time since she had arrived.

"Thank you very much, I'm very grateful!"

Ryu was satisfied that he managed to bring a smile to her face, however, this still didn't appease his curiosity concerning her.

'This pure aura, I must find out what is it and where it originates from!'

****

Fun fact: Hina may look timid, yet, she is a very mature and thoughtful girl for her age.