Upon taking a step outside my current home, I feel the fresh breeze hitting my face. Taking a step outside of the mansion, I run off. At this moment, I have no interest in lingering around in the dining room any longer. Abruptly leaving is the only solution. After all, because his presence was there, they kept their entire focus on him, never realizing that I was there too.
It is now just my third day on the island, and I have made a quick recovery from my fever. Throughout the entire previous day while I was bedridden, my newfound sisters often came to visit me. Feeling loved by all the attention they had given me, I had believed that the event of the previous night had never happened.
Then this morning had arrived. My illness passed, and I was healthy again. Dressing myself in a plain, sleeveless beige dress with a white sweater over it, I departed from my room to the dining room. When I arrived and cheerfully yelled "Good morning," I had expected my sisters to greet me in the same cheerful manner I had greeted them as well as converse with me.
Instead, they were talking to our brother, never realizing that I was even there. It was that night all over again. I didn't even stay in the room for ten minutes as they were trying to feed him breakfast that he clearly disliked. Knowing they wouldn't pay attention to me, I fled.
Now, having run off, I am no longer nearby the mansion. Despite being very well aware of that, I continue to run. After several minutes of running, I had decided to finally look back and see how far I was fromt the house.
Bad idea... Not watching where I was going, I immediately feel another body colliding with me. Most likely, they had no idea I was even coming, and that is my fault. Following the collision, we fall to the ground. Going through a hard, unexpected bump to each other, we lie there, wincing in pain. After a minute or so, the other person recovers and comes to my side.
"Are you okay?" A boyish voice rings in my ears. Finally opening my eyes, I turn to stare at the person I bumped into. A girl with a boyish appearance – very short hair covered by a hat and dressed in gym wear – stands there, holding her hand out to me. I accept it and stand up with her help, and while I help myself with her aid, I noticed the skates she is wearing on her feet, leaving me to realize the girl has been skating around when we collided.
"I'm okay," I reply to the girl with a slight smile. The girl then smiles back with a big grin.
"I'm Mamoru!" Cheerfully introducing herself, she shakes my hand. "What is your name?"
"I'm Yomi," I answer in a somewhat quiet voice.
"Haha, that's a cute name," she commented, and then she looked down. "Haha, it seems you don't like to wear shoes, do you?"
"Hm?" I look down and realize that once again, I have gone out in public with absolutely no footwear. Oh well. If I don't even notice or even feel anything weird while I was walking, then I have absolutely no problem walking out in public barefoot.
"Haha, I sometimes don't," I answered back to her. Besides, I never wore shoes inside my former home in Tokyo, due to me being a hikkikomori. It must have been a habit I picked up on my way here. I looked down and eyed on her skates again. "You were skating when you and I bumped into each other," I start to tell her. "I never skated before."
"Oh, really?" She looked at me with a surprised look. "Skating is a lot of fun! One day, I will teach you to skate, okay?" I nodded in agreement to her. Mamoru smiled at me again, then gasped after just realizing something.
"Oh yeah, I have to go! I'll see you later, okay?" Right after saying those words, she quickly skates away, turning back just to wave at me. "See you soon, Yomi!" She screams at me before she continues to skate away.
I silently wave back, wondering when I would meet Mamoru again.
After spending the next hour wandering around, I allow my body to rest on the grass in a vacant park. Gazing at the bright blue sky above, I stare at the clouds and seagulls that fly by every few minutes. Where I am at right now, the breeze is softly hitting my body. The rays of the sun lightly warms up my bare skin. Eventually, I close my eyes and allow my mind to doze off.
I recall yesterday. The way those four girls spoke to me, how they encouraged me to fight against the fever that lingered in my body, the look of care and kindness they have given me, I truly loved all of it.
But do they truly care about me?
When Wataru was with them, he was the only one they were interested in. Why? Why Wataru? Why him of all people? That boy was so busy crying over his idiocy the first day we came here. In addition, he is incredibly awkward towards anyone who was not Akio, Minai, or Jiiya. Hell, I could tell by the look on his face back at the Welcome House earlier that he didn't even wanted to be bear those girls. Did they not notice? Why do they want him?
Why not pay attention to me!?
Woof!
My eyes immediately shot open by the sudden sound I never expect to hear. The vast blue sky is no longer in my view. In replacement is a face covered entirely in golden fur with two eyes, a nose, and a mouth with a tongue sticking out. The canine continues to stare down at me with a glint of excitement in its eyes. Unsure of what to do with the dog that was towering over me, I simply raise my arm up, allowing my hand to graze through its fur, petting it. The dog barks happily in response. It eventually backs up a bit, allowing me to sit up. After doing so, I turn around and found myself making eye contact with the golden canine in front of me. Once again, I went and pet the dog, and it seems to enjoy my touch as it barks happily again.
"Michael!"
A timid, feminine voice cries out. The dog perks up and runs off to the owner of the voice. My eyes follow the dog, assuming his name is Michael, and I continue to watch him run up to a girl with long hair tied in a braid and dressed in a green overall dress. The girl bends down to pet her dog happily, and then she turns her gaze up, eying me, who was still lying on the ground.
Politely smiling towards the girl, I stand up and walk towards her.
"Your dog is really friendly!" I yell to her. She simply smiles at me.
"Thank you," she politely responds. I reach to where she ss at and went to pet Michael again. Once again, he barks happily.
"My name is Yomi," I introduced myself to the bespectacled girl.
"I'm Marie," she responded to me. We continued to walk side by side with Michael in between us.
"I just moved here a few days ago," I informed the younger girl next to me. Then she and I continued on talking.
After a nice walk and conversation with Marie for minutes, I depart from her and Michael as they both have to go somewhere. Marie is a child of poor health, as she has informed me. Despite living in a clinic most of her life, Michael had always been by her side, so she is never alone.
I couldn't help but envy her for a tiny bit. I had been alone for a very long time, while Marie, who has been sick all her life, had at least something that kept her from ever feeling alone.
Continuing walking, I find myself slowly getting closer to the sight of metal. As I continue on, it becomes clear the metal ahead of me is in a giant robot form. A girl dressed in green and mechanical goggles worn on her head is working on it.
Reaching the robot, all I could do is look up and stare at the girl who is adding on to the robot. Is she working on that entirely on her own? She must have put a lot of work and effort into it… god damn.
Once the girl finally looks away from what she has been working on, she turns and sees me, standing there gawking at the robot.
"Have you been working on that robot?" I ask curiously.
The girl grins at me. "Yeah, I have been working on Mecha Rinrin for several months," she beams. "She is almost completed."
All I could do is look at her invention in awe.
"Did you work on that all by yourself?"
"Yep!"
"Amazing!" I cheer. She smile and goes down to the ground, standing in front of me.
"I'm Rinrin," she introduces herself, then turns her head to her creation. "And that is Mecha Rinrin."
"I'm Yomi. Nice to meet you," I respond back to her in a happy tone. "Is Mecha Rinrin finished?"
"She is almost done," Rinrin informs me kindly. "I just need to add several more parts to her. She should be complete in a few days."
I continue to admire the robot in front of me. The Mecha Rinrin is huge, much bigger than Rinrin and me. It slightly resembles its creator, having a similar hairstyle on its head as well as matching goggles on top.
"I'd like to see her when she is completed," I tell Rinrin.
"Great!" Rinrin cheers at me. "Now, time to resume my work on her."
After that has been said, I have departed from Rinrin, bidding farewell to her, and continue on.
I'm hungry…
I realize the appetite I desire as I continue walking. Right now, food would be great to have now. When I had gone and ran off this morning, I had also not eaten breakfast. Goes to show just how smart I am. Now, my stomach is growling for energy, and I am nowhere near the shopping district. Here I am, still around the park on the top of the island, with no food area around me.
"Ikatakimasu!"
A cute feminine voice catches me off guard. Someone is nearby, ready to eat her meal. Once again, I grow curious of where the voice had come from, and instantly, I begin to look around, searching for the source.
Turning around, my head faces towards a young girl with lavender hair whose ends curled at her shoulders, and decorated with a darker purple bow, dressed in a violet dress and an apron over it. She is seated happily on the grass, with a bento on her lap, and another right next to her. The one on her lap is opened, exposing delicious food to my sight, and the one next to her is nicely sealed close.
The girl has placed the tip of her chopsticks in her mouth, and then she removes the sticks, chewing on the food in her mouth. After swallowing it, she lets out a sigh of pleasure. Then the girl has noticed me staring at her. Smiling, she waves at me, signaling me to come over to her. After a millisecond of hesitation, I walk towards her, reaching her spot right near the tree she sits by. Grabbing the bento that is next to her, neatly closed and wrapped, the girl hands it over to me.
"This is for you," she informs me with a polite smile. All I could do is stare at her in shock.
"Aren't you going to eat it?" I ask her. I don't want to accept it without knowing she might still be hungry enough to eat her second box of food. The girl simply shakes her head.
"I made too much. I was too happy when I was cooking today. Not only did I made so much for myself, I had also messed up a meal meant for someone I care for earlier," the girl rubs her head in embarrassment when she made that last comment. Since she might continue to insist I take her second bento, I give in and accept it, thanking her.
Seating myself next to her, I open the bento and my eyes take in on what is inside. There is onigiri, sashimi, tako sausage, curry, and key lemon pie, and they all appear to be very well made.
"You made this?" I question.
"Yep!" the girl smiles at me. Staring at the meal, I grab the chopsticks that were packed inside and grab one of the little sausages. Bringing it to my mouth, I chew on the food and then swallow it.
"It's so good!" I cheer.
"Thank you!" she responds to me with a huge grin on her face.
I continue to eat the food in the girl's spare bento. Soon, all the sausage is eaten. Then I have gobbled up the onigiri. After that, I went and eat the sashimi and curry. Placing the chopsticks aside, I take out a fork that is also packed inside and went to eat the pie with it. In minutes, the pie is gone, and I finish everything that was inside the bento.
"Thank you for the meal," I thank the girl.
"You're welcome," she responds happily. "My name is Shirayuki."
"I'm Yomi," I tell her with a smile. After bowing to her and thanking her, she and I bid farewell and I wonder off.
Shirayuki has been the fourth girl I met today. I wonder if there will be more interesting people to meet today.
