Manic Pixie Flower Girl (3)

"Ugh." I groan. My body aches all over from how hard I pushed myself the day before. It's even worse after having a day of respite due to my temporarily enhanced endurance.

I shiver as the North gate comes into view due to the cool fall air. The morning dew still wets the ground.

I notice Tyrion snooping around looking suspicious so I walk up to him.

"Morning, you lost?"

"I'm busy, go away." He says without looking at me. I can hear the anxiousness in his voice.

I follow his line of sight and see a man with eastern features. He is speaking to one of the guards while holding a katana at his side.

"Who's that?" I ask, pointing at the man.

"Don't point, idiot." Tyrion smacks my hand down as he glares at me.

"Why are you spying on him?" I ask, flatly. His eyes narrow as he stares at me but he doesn't respond.

I take another look at the man and notice the respect the guards are showing him; even Sampson seems on edge.

"I guess he's a noble. Is he high ranking?"

"…"

"If you don't answer me I'm just going to point at him again."

Tyrion sighs and turns back to his target.

"That's Baron Kobayashi, he's the captain of the guard."

I glance back and forth between Tyrion and Kobayashi.

"You're the son of a noble, right? Is he a competing faction?"

"We're allies."

"Spying on your allies? Makes sense. So, are you going to double-cross him or is he planning to betray you?" I ask while not expecting an answer. Tyrion pauses for a moment before replying.

"Baron Kobayashi wouldn't betray us." There are a lot of emotions and implications behind his words but I decide to stop digging. Tyrion doesn't look at me but I can still see all the tension he's holding.

"I guess that answers my question." I frown at this new information that will likely affect my future. "Being a noble seems hard."

"It is, so stay out of it."

"I will, good luck." I nod at him and continue on my way.

The guards are noticeably on edge after encountering their boss. I see Josh approaching me as I stand shivering by the North gate. The cool fall morning warns of a very cold winter.

"Morning Josh." I sniff back the snot threatening to run down my face.

"Good morning." He responds.

"So, you want to run to warm up?"

"Spar." Josh holds up a wooden sword as he responds with a serious expression. He must have got it yesterday after we finished training.

I look down at his hands and see them wrapped in bloody bandages.

"Josh, what the hell happened to your hands?" I rush up and inspect his hands.

"I was training."

"Then how did you hurt your hands so bad?" I carefully pull back a small section of the bandages and see raw, bloodied skin. "Josh, did you practice with that sword until your hands were bleeding?"

I look up into his eyes and see his fierce determination.

"I know you want to win but you've got to take better care of yourself, okay?"

"..."

"I'm not going to spar with you if you hurt yourself like this."

What the hell is happening in this kid's head that drove him to mutilate himself like this? I stare into Josh's eyes and search for what's driving him but all I see is the same burning determination.

"...Okay." Josh murmurs after a moment's hesitation. "But I won't lose again."

"Josh, there's always going to be people stronger than you. Losing is part of learning. You need to accept that. I can't have you having a breakdown every time you lose a fight."

"Okay."

"Cool, it hurts to see my friends in pain so don't do that again."

"Friends?" Josh asks as he tilts his head.

"Yeah, of course, we're friends." I shake my head at Josh's confusion and turn back to the gate. "Anyway, Are you ready to go?"

"Okay."

"I'll take that as a yes." Despite Josh's questionable mental condition, I'm feeling good about my situation. I'm developing a routine and getting to know people. It feels like I'm progressing but I still don't have a way to help the kid's parents pay the bills. In the worst-case scenario, we can sell some of his books but I'd like to avoid that if I can.

I force my haggard body around the town and nearly collapse as we return to the North gate. Out of the corner of my eye, a puff of pink hair is peeking over at us.

"Hey, Josh, who's that pink-haired girl over there?"

"That's Sakura." He responds while trying to catch his breath.

"She a friend of yours?"

"No, she just lives near my house."

"Do you want to be friends with her?"

"Yes."

"Okay, let's go." I stand up and head towards the gate with Josh in tow.

"Eeep!" The young girl squeals as she sees us approaching and runs into an alley to hide. We follow her into the alley and find her crouching behind a box.

"Sakura?" I call out while maintaining some distance.

"Eeep!" She cries as she curls up in a ball. She's wearing fairly light clothing considering the cold weather but they're basically spotless. Most of the people I see have a few stains here and there so I can only assume her parents dote on her quite a bit.

"Josh says he wants to be friends with you." I ignore her embarrassed behavior and cut right to the the chase.

"Really?" She asks as she looks up at him with tears in her eyes."

"Yes." Josh replies.

"Yay! We're friends!" Sakura jumps up and hugs Josh as if her tears were a lie. "Let's play!"

She tugs on Josh's arm but he doesn't budge as he's easily twice her size.

"We're training." Josh says.

"Well then I'll do that too!" Sakura clenches her fists to show her resolve.

Looks like we've got another person joining us on our morning jog.