Mitsuru patiently watched Minato walk towards her, a small teenager with extremely long, black hair holding his hand. He had a huge smile on his face as he watched the girl point out things and question them. She was evidently a teenager, but she still managed to remind Mitsuru of a child. The sky had gotten darker and the moon shone brightly. The grassy field around the base was almost empty aside from the numerous police officers and a few victims that had stayed behind to watch the kidnappers get packed into a police van and get sent away. Everyone had a sense of pride over what they had done.
Minato finally reached Mitsuru and Terra hid behind his back like a small child who had never seen a person before. "It's okay, Terra. This is my friend. Her name is Mitsuru. She won't hurt you." Minato assured. Terra hesitatingly stepped into Mitsuru's field of vision and nervously stared at her. "Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?" Minato quietly asked.
"She's giving me a scary look." Terra muttered quietly. She nervously twirled her ridiculously long black hair around her finger.
Mitsuru tried to lighten up her expression, but no matter what Mitsuru could do, she still looked like a mature business woman. "I see that you made a new friend." Mitsuru teased.
Terra's curious eyes reacted to the word "friend". She had read about friends and how much they care for each other. She always found this concept fascinating, but hasn't had a friend to experience the sensation with.
"Yep. Terra is my new best friend, right?" Minato asked, looking at the girl for a response.
She blushed slightly, although it was hard to tell in the darkness of the night. "Y-Yes." She stammered.
"Mitsuru, I don't think she has anywhere to go..." Minato whispered quietly into the woman's ear.
Mitsuru let out a quiet sigh. "I know. I tried to look her up in the system but there is no one that fits her description. It's like she doesn't exist in the eye of the public." Mitsuru commented.
Minato was surprised by her reply. Terra doesn't exist outside of the abandoned military base...? No birth certificates? No school records? Nothing? How is that possible?
Yet, in the back of his head, Minato knew he should've expected it. Terra was different. She didn't have any knowledge of the world outside of the fairy tales and basic educational books she's read. She didn't even have a real name until Minato spoke with her, according to Terra. He had a feeling that things would get stranger and stranger the more he questioned about the girl.
"...It's over now, right? No more kidnappings?" Minato questioned.
"I'm afraid not. A few of the kidnappers have managed to escape and we still haven't found a woman named Teresa Jones. She's the last one on the victim list to be checked off." Mitsuru explained. "I think they took her to another facility. She was the first to disappear so what ever they are using her for, I assume that they became fond of her. We're going to examine the base for more evidence tomorrow." Mitsuru added.
Minato looked over at Terra. The girl was too preoccupied with chasing a firefly to pay any attention to the duo's conversation. She was the invisible girl. The girl without any records. Nonexistent in the public eye. She might as well have been a ghost.
"I'll take her in until she is old enough to make her own life." Mitsuru assured, seeing that the male was genuinely worried about the girl.
"Thank you, Mitsuru." Minato quietly whispered, watching Terra finally grab the firefly and clasp it in her hands, admiring how its glow turned her skin red.
