An orphanage for cursed kids.

Ava sat on the ground, right in front of the beautiful woman who was pouring tea inside the small cups.

Once the woman had filled the cups, she picked one up and handed it to Ava.

"Thank you." Ava voiced before she took the teacup and looked inside.

They were the only ones in the room, the woman had already chased the children out but they were still sticking around to eavesdrop.

"I should introduce myself first, my name is Rachel Desmond, and I'm the caretaker of this fine establishment…" The woman introduced herself before taking a sip of her tea.

"Rachel? Are you not Japanese?" Ava asked.

"Oh my, you're certainly too smart for your age… Yes, I am not Japanese, I'm actually of mixed blood. My dad was from the South coast and my mom is Japanese".

"Okay," Ava uttered as she stylishly tried to drink the tea.

"I'm sure I'll get to know your name soon, but from the looks of it, you want to see your other male friend.. right?" Rachel asked calmly.

"Yes please!" Ava jolted from the ground and moved toward Rachel.

Seeing this, Rachel took Ava to the next small building inside the compound, it was her medical stay.

Rachel opened the door when she got close, "Come in." She said to Ava.

Ava didn't waste any time stepping inside the building to see if Yuichi was inside the small house.

Upon getting inside, Ava was stunned when she saw Yuichi's body laying on a mat, shirtless right in front of her.

"I was on my way to District 7 to get supplies when I noticed the whole district had been destroyed, I initially thought everyone had either evacuated or had been killed, that was until I found you, holding this young man tight to your chest." The woman exposed with a small smile on her face.

Ava slowly walked toward Sato with shock still on her face. She knelt beside him and immediately placed her ear on his chest.

Tears fell from her eyes when she heard the sound of his heart beating, "Thank goodness… you're alive." Ava sobbed, looking Sato in the eyes as her tears dropped on his face.

"You must be feeling relieved, I'm glad." Rachel looked at Yuichi with a sad expression before she continued, "I'd hate to ruin your moment but you should know, he hasn't blinked his eyes since the 2 days you guys have spent here".

Slowly raising her head, Ava looked at Rachel with a bit of worry written on her face.

"I wouldn't say he's unconscious but at the same time he is barely alive." Rachel explained, "In all my years of treating cursed children, this is the first I've seen something this complicated…. His heart still beats but every other part of his body has been shut down… it's intriguing, to say the least''.

Ava immediately grabbed hold of Yuichi's hand and noticed that it was extremely cold to the bone.

This startled her but knowing that his heart was still beating gave her hope that he was fine.

After she had her fill of Yuichi's body temperature, she stood up and faced the woman.

Bowing her head, she put forth, "Thank you for your help mam, I'm grateful." Ava thanked.

"It's nothing, I've been doing this for the past 14 years now, relax and make yourself at home." Rachel expressed, packing the cups on the floor.

But just before she left, Ava blurted out, "Is this an orphanage home?".

Rachel paused and looked at Ava before replying, "Yes it is, but unlike the rest, this was built to raise cursed children… like you." She then exited the room.

Ava fell to her knees before she slowly peeked at Yuichi behind her as she desperately tried to hold her tears in.

Flashbacks of her friends dying began to appear to her. Ava gripped her chest with her forehead touching the ground as she cried silently.

Rachel was still at the entrance, resting her back on the door while she listened in on Ava's grief.

With a sigh, Rechel spoke, "Looks like this week is going to be one hell of a journey for her… let's hope she can at least learn to control the curse".

And with that Rachel walked away.

...…

{The next day}

Ava slowly opened her eyes to find that she had slept off right beside Yuichi and it was the next day.

Slowly sitting upright, she noticed the bright sun beaming from the space on the door.

Ava looked at Yuichi and smiled, "Good morning." She said before standing to her feet.

She grabbed the blanket and covered Yuichi's body before she headed toward the door.

Her plan was simple: work as a maid for Rachel until Yuichi woke up so they could both move to a different district or possible state.

As soon as Ava opened the door to step out, she was halted when she met a black-haired girl standing right in front of the door with a tray of food with her.

"Good morning." The girl greeted.

"Morning," Ava replied, she looked at the girl for a while and noticed she didn't look older than her.

They both looked twelve, but the huge boobers on the girl's chest spoke otherwise, it reminded Ava of her twin Trisha.

"Excuse me, sorry, my name is Mira, I came to feed the guest." The girl informed.

"Guest? Do you mean me?" Ava asked.

"Oh no." Mira replied, "Miss Rachel already told me to call you from breakfast, I'm here to feed the boy on the mat".

Ava immediately turned to look at Yuichi before she darted back at Mira, "Sure… where is Miss Rachel?" She raised a question.

"Just down the hall." Mira directed.

"Okay, thanks." Ava began to make her way toward Rachel, but then all of a sudden, she ran back to the room.

Forcefully opening the door to see Mira slowly raising Yuichi's head to what seemed like she was about to feed him.

"Wait!" Ava shouted, "I'll… em… don't worry, I'll feed him myself!" She declared with her face beet red.