Chapter 20: Playful Encounter

In response to the novel presence that contained astonishment and curiosity, Jogrin reabsorbed the dark matter that was crawling up the bones in his body back to the tip of his tail, and the wound on his right cheek that was inflicted by the branch earlier was healed as well. Of course, there was no blood oozing out. At the same time, he swiftly turned his head towards the presence.

'A... girl? I thought Naytia suggested I go here because... Is she here to have a feel of happiness by giving me pain... too?' A bizarre and intense idea that no normal person would think of appeared in Jogrin's mind.

The diminutive girl had blonde hair and doll-like eyes with the same colour. She was carrying a blue bag on her back and in pale yellow uniform dress. Her round head was tilted to the side as if emphasizing her curiosity.

One more thing, no "fear" could be sensed from her.

'What's wrong with this girl?' A brusque remark came from Jogrin.

The curious girl stared at Jogrin who was nonplussed for a good while, until she finally raised her voice.

"Hey hey! Are you a ghost?!" Excitedly, the girl queried with a voice befitting her age while dashing towards Jogrin.

"Huh?" Completely perplexed, Jogrin who managed to maintain his expressionless face returned the word of cluelessness to the girl.

Without displaying any signs of fear or caution, the little girl approached Jogrin. The glint in her eyes turned into sparkles, and it was blinding.

Before, the "stress" from tens of soldiers felt overwhelming for Jogrin, but the adventurous spirit arisen from the girl was as overwhelming, if not even more. It looked like the fire lit within her could never be extinguished. The one who was faltering, was astonishingly Jogrin, who'd never dealt with someone like her. Unconsciously, he took a few small steps back, away from the enthusiastic girl who appeared like a storm to him. 

Once she arrived right before Jogrin, she repeated herself.

"Are you a ghost?" She tilted her head again.

"... A ghost? What's that..." That was all Jogrin could mutter. Unable to figure out her intentions, Jogrin became cautious of the girl.

'I need to think off a way to get her to leave me alone without scaring... Huh?'

Not even having hundreds of guns pointed at him was able to make him flinch, but a gentle poke on his arm from a slender finger was, as he retracted his arm while gazing at the finger that came in contact with him.

"Hmm~ I can touch you so you're not a ghost." The girl continued to poke Jogrin's other arm, she noticed the spine-like tail. "Ah! Are you actually a demon that came from the underworld?"

"No, I fell from the sky..." Nonplussed still, Jogrin inadvertently replied with an honest answer. Then he realized he shouldn't have mentioned that, as he knew that not mentioning what happened in the last three days to someone uninitiated was an implicit rule between him, Proxer, Kapel and others. But that worry was soon dissolved.

"So you're an angel!"

Jogrin didn't think it was possible, but her eyes were giving even brighter sparkles. At the same time, she was gasping in thrill.

'Seriously, what's wrong with her?' Jogrin stared at the girl that was filled with anticipation, while making the very same brusque remark again. Then he averted his gaze as the girl was too imposing for Jogrin.

The girl responded by putting her hands behind her back, bent her body forward and looked up at the still expressionless Jogrin. Then, as if she had a realization, her eyes widened and stood straight again.

"Ah! I'm so sorry! Mama said I should greet and introduce myself when I meet someone I've never met before! My name is Suzannia! Umm... umm... I'm 9 years old and umm... my favorite food is Mama's handmade rice noodles, and umm..."

The girl named Suzannia suddenly began to introduce herself with lots of stuttering, which troubled Jogrin to an even greater extent.

"Halt. Did your Mama ever teach you to never talk to or reveal your name to strangers, especially those who idle in the middle of an abandoned park?" At long last, something that actually confirmed to common sense came from Jogrin, as he solemnly gazed into Suzannia's eyes.

"Hmm? She did, but she never said anything about abandoned park. You don't look like a bad person anyway, and you said you're an angel right? My friends all went home already but I don't wanna go home yet, so can you play with me? This park looks fun!" That reply of hers was all over the place, Jogrin couldn't help but scratch his head.

"Look, Ms. Suzannia. First, not everything is as it seems on the surface. I could be tricking you, don't be gullible. Second, I never said I'm a ghost, a demon or an angel, please don't assume I'm any of those for your own convenience. Third... what part of this place do you find fun?" Jogrin tried to straightforwardly and earnestly talk some sense into Suzannia.

"Hmm~ I see~ So what's your name?" Ignoring what Jogrin told her, putting his effort in vain, she curiously asked.

"No, you don't "see" at all. That didn't get through to you at all..." Jogrin sighed deeply as he became deflated.

To such a capricious girl, Jogrin had no way to deal with her, other than going with the flow. Of course he could easily threaten her out of here, but he chose not to. After all, she was just a curious and innocent girl. He looked at Suzannia again, only to see her waiting in anticipation. He cringed a bit before replying.

"Jogrin."

"What a weird name!" Without hesitation, Suzannia spoke words that would offend someone, but that didn't bother Jogrin a single bit.

"Uh so... can you forget about playing here and leave?" Jogrin urged Suzannia to leave impatiently.

Immediately, he sensed "downcast" from Suzannia.

"OK..." said Suzannia as she turned to the entrance while looking down.

"Ah... what I meant to say is... forget about leaving and play..." unexpectedly, Jogrin ate his words. He had o idea what he was thinking, wasting an opportunity just like that.

In response to that, Suzannia turned around and hopped in joy.

"Yay! Let's play!" She yelled in excitement.

Jogrin sighed as he asked himself why he was doing something that served no purpose... and could potentially putting the girl in tumultuous danger.

As Jogrin accompanied Suzannia while she was raring to play until she fainted. Jogrin kept being dragged around by his nose as if he'd become a pet - a scene that Jogrin himself couldn't have anticipated even with his intellect. It seemed that even without the intention to do so, Suzannia had somehow "outwitted Jogrin". Nonetheless, the joy being exuded from her whilst playing with the "angel" she'd just met was genuine, which was completely unexpected as well.

At the very least, Jogrin was able to make someone happy at that moment.

Out of the various games she thought of, she was greatly mesmerized by Jogrin's ability to find her in hide-and-seek. Every time Jogrin went straight towards the spots Suzannia was hiding in. Of course, her eyes were sparkling with glee even though she kept losing. She wouldn't stop asking how Jogrin managed to do it and him to teach her to become a master of hide-and-seek, which she referred him as other than "angel". Jogrin cringed at the name implicitly and kept it only to himself.

Contrary to Suzannia's exhilaration, having a blank expression for a whole different reason, Jogrin wished from the bottom of his heart that the end of Suzannia's playtime was imminent. Leaning against a wall that was made for wall climbing to take breather... for his mental state, Jogrin gazed at Suzannia, who seemed to have limitless energy inside her, running around and chasing after a flying bug with bluish-green wings.

"Ah! Wall climbing! It looks fun! Let's do it together!" Having her attention drawn towards Jogrin who became slightly slouchy, Suzannia noticed the wall and rushed towards it.

His wish was swiftly disregarded by the immense playfulness possessed by Suzannia as she went to a wall for wall climbing.

As she was making her way up the wall nimbly, she suddenly lost her foothold. Not able to hold onto the rocks firmly, her hands slipped and she began to fall.

"Fear" could be perceived from her. Even someone as gleeful as her could be fearful of falling from a high place.

In response to that, Jogrin, who was fortuitously below her, instinctively reached out his arms to catch her, whilst spreading his legs and bending his knees, bracing for impact.

Suzannia's back landed on Jogrin's hands, but Jogrin was unable to fully catch her and they both dropped on the floor.

"Crack", multiple fracture sounds resounded.

Following the cracking sound were that of tumbling down. And there, Suzannia was lying on top of Jogrin's chest. She was expecting tremendous pain as she was instinctively holding her head while curled up, only to find out that no pain could be felt. Then, that means the fracture noise came from...

Realizing that, Suzannia, with a pale face, quickly sat up and looked at Jogrin who was gritting his teeth, then she gazed all over Jogrin's body to find where the injured area was.

"Where?! Wh..." While yelling in a panic, she found where the pain came from.

Both of Jogrin's forearms were deformed. Suzannia, unable to think straight, hid her face in Jogrin's chest while grabbing tightly his purple coat.

"I'm sorry! I did something bad! I'm sor..."

"It's... nothing of con...cern. Don't fret, they'll heal completely in no time. Look, it's all fine now. Don't feel bad over something that's not worth any of it."

While apologizing repeatedly for what she'd done, Suzannia was interrupted by Jogrin, who sounded like he was in great pain. However, his tone returned to normal in almost no time. With dull eyes, Suzannia turned her gaze back on Jogrin's forearms as instructed, and became mesmerized by what was presented before her. They looked as if they'd never sustained any injuries in the first place.

Suzannia, who was sitting in Jogrin's lap, reached out her fingers and poked lightly at Jogrin's arms.

"It's real..." Her eyes became teary.

'Is she going to... cry?' Nonplussed by the girl in front of him after he sat up, Jogrin could do nothing but stare at her with a puzzled look. And to his dismay, it was as he guessed, Suzannia burst into tears as if she were the one who was hurt.

However, instead of "sadness", only "relief" could be sensed from her.

'Tears of... relief?' Jogrin couldn't comprehend the relation between tears and relief at all as all he ever knew was that "tears come from anguish and pain".

"Wah..." Suzannia's cry snapped Jogrin out of his thoughts.

"Just don't do anything reckless again and be more prudent." Jogrin warned without showing consideration of Suzannia's feelings. Yes, consoling her was never on his mind.

"Hn..." Suzannia responded while nodding.

"Then, it's time you head home." Taking advantage of Suzannia's compliance, Jogrin impelled her to leave.

Suzannia hesitated for a moment, but in the end she accepted that she had to.

"Umm... Mr. Angel, will you still... play with me next time?" Before exiting the park, Suzannia asked hesitantly while sheepishly showed her doll-like eyes.

Those eyes were a like an unstoppable storm that could blow anything in its path off their original spots and bring them all along with it.

Even for Jogrin, he couldn't say no to Suzannia when he saw the storm.

"...Sure." And so, he was swept along with the storm once again.

Suzannia turned around and ran until she reached the exit. With sparkling eyes, she turned towards Jogrin.

"Then Suzannia and Jogrin will play again!" She announced gleefully before running off.

'What am I getting myself into..." Jogrin groaned internally as he was regretting having agreed to Suzannia's request.

...

We turn the time back to earlier that day.

It was the second day since Proxer had returned home. Without realizing the existence of an alien that'd come with Proxer on the excursion, Zanphia and Zenover alike remained their usual selves as they went on with their daily lives, including the former teasing the latter as long as they were next to each other at home.

It was almost noon, and Zanphia set out to go on a date with her boyfriend while Proxer and Zenover stayed at home. Naytia and Suzannia set off way earlier to spend some time together. And by spending time together, it was actually Naytia lecturing Suzannia about staying out so often and so late that it'd always been worrying her. Unsurprisingly, the past attempts all ended in failure because of how capricious Suzannia could be.

"Hey Dad... Can I talk to you for a bit?" The usually quiet Zenover initiated the conversation as soon as Zanphia left.

"What is it? How are you feeling? Any better now?" Proxer voiced his concern. It wasn't without a reason though, because...

"Come on Dad... I'm not like I was before you know... My condition's gotten better."

"Ahahaha... I'm sorry boy. Aw man, it's hard being a Dad isn't it?"

"Dad, please don't do a "Zanphia" on me..."

"Haha alright... So, what do you want to talk with me about?"

"... Is something bothering you?"

"..."

"Ah! I mean, like... you seem dejected since you came back... and the fact that you returned earlier than expected... Were you laid off?"

"No, boy... I'm not dejected, but more like pensive. It's a long story... well, not really long, but a lot happened that I was kind of forced to come back early..."

"But what could've..."

"I will tell you about it when the time is right. I promise."

"Alright. I believe y... *cough*"

"Hey now, let's keep this conversation short. You still need to save some of your breath to retort your sister you know."

"...Dad."

"Ah sorry sorry... And thank you for believing me. I'm glad you're my son."

As Proxer was ruffling Zenover's hair while the latter was resignedly accepting his fate, the phone rang. Proxer picked it up and on the other side was his beloved.

"..."

"She ran off again, didn't she..." Fearful of his wife's wrath, Proxer kept the number of words that came out of his throat to a minimum.

"Proxer, she ran off again..." Just be the fact that his wife is calling his name instead of "darling", Proxer knew for a fact that Naytia was irked to the point that fire breathing dragons would be utterly defeated by the fire from Naytia.

"Well uh... Just come back now, alright? I'll make sure to reprimand her when she comes back..."

"You always say that, yet you always let her off the hook "because she's too cute". I really can't stand this!"

"Well, I mean... our daughter is cute... Ahem! I mean! I promise I will this time!" Proxer was panicking.

Zenover looked at him in a daze.

"Right~ I just remember I have something else to do! Talk to you later!"

With that, Proxer hung up and sighed with all his might.

"Phew... She can be frightening sometimes..."

"... Nevermind Dad... I don't actually believe you now..."

And this very sentence put Proxer in a much bigger daze than the one Zenover was in just now. No, it was more like consternation.

...

Returning to the current.

It was already dusk again, because the playtime lasted from noon till dusk, and the original plan of abating "emotion perception" had ended in failure again because the process was interrupted unintentionally by a playful girl.

From a resigned expression, Jogrin's face turned into his usual gloomy solemnity.

He went to the wall where the accident took place and gazed at the artificial rocks inscribed in the wall.

'Looks like it wasn't enough to drive her away. I found out the surface of these rocks has been worn down and became slippery, so I surreptitiously drew her attention to the wall by standing close to it. The "accident" was bound to happen as long as she climbed on it. When it took place, I could try to catch her purposefully hurt myself deliberately while minimizing the damage she would take. Then she'd find out what kind of monster I am by witnessing my healing... But she was more concerned about me than what I am... Why... Is it because she had her head buried in my chest and didn't see the dark matter was traveling within me? Even so, she should still be taken aback by my healing pace, but instead all she expressed was genuine concern for me... This doesn't make sense. I even took advantage of the fact that she's a kid since even if she told someone else about it, no one would believe her since she's a kid... An outrageous existence coming from a child's mouth would only be taken as a mere fantasy.'

It seemed that was all a ploy, but there was one more thing Jogrin couldn't comprehend.

'... Why did I get swept along with Suzannia like that? I could've rejected it... Looks like my resolve to live in solidity still isn't strong enough. Next time, I will push her away... for sure...'

With that, Jogrin made a promise to himself that he wasn't so confident about being able to fulfill.

"If only that was all but a mere fantasy..."

Becoming sentimental, Jogrin began lamenting the same way Proxer did when he revealed his past to Jogrin.