The next time she went to see the fountain, Lee-kun's brother was there as well sitting on her favorite bench, a drawing book in his hand and colored pencils scattered about him.
When she saw him last week, she suspected that Lee-kun was with him. But seeing him absorbed in his work, probably for quite some time too, maybe this was where he found his peace as well. And Lee-kun was nowhere to be found.
Guilt rose up and itched her insides.
Even if he was with Lee-kun, her leaving like that was still rude. Not to mention he had nothing to do with what happened. He was not a Tamer and only got dragged into this because of his father. He probably didn't even know the whole story.
Her guilt consuming her whole being, she approached him and bowed as low as she could.
"I'm sorry for leaving before. I shouldn't have done that."
She rose up and was about to walk away, wanting to leave him in peace, but he stopped her by tapping her arm. He flipped to another page in the drawing book and started writing something.
He showed it to her. "It's okay," the words read followed by a faint yet still legible "Jenrya told me everyth-" that he couldn't erase.
As if fearing she would feel offended and leave, he quickly followed up by writing something else, hands shaking as he did so.
"Do you come here often?" The words read this time. When her brain finally caught up to why he was writing instead of speaking, her eyes landed on his ear. A hearing aid rested there.
"It's rude to stare." Her (step)mom's voice made its entrance and pulled her gaze away but it was too late. He didn't seem to mind however and only smiled at her, waiting for her reply.
Juri pictured an embarassed pose, taking Takato-kun as a model, and molded her body into the imaginary frame.
"Just when I'm free. I come after school sometimes too."
He pulled out a folded piece of paper from his shirt pocket and handed it to her. There was a "hello" written on top, followed by a short introduction:
"I'm Rinchei. 17 years old. I like to draw. It's okay to stare. I don't mind."
This time Juri didn't have to imitate anyone. Her face reddened on its own, and his laugh only worsened it. Thankfully it didn't last long, but she now personally knew how Takato-kun felt whenever she teased him.
Lee-kun's brother picked up his colored pencils and gestured to the spot beside him.
Juri hesitated but his insistent smile made her give in.
"What's your name?" He wrote.
Juri internally smirked. "Katou Juri. 11 years old. I like cats. It's okay, I won't call the police. I don't mind a suspicious man I don't know trying to talk to me."
The internal smile turned into a full blown smirk on her face when he gave her an unimpressed stare.
Lee Rinchei was a man of a lot of words. His lips might not move, but Juri had never seen someone more motivated at writing essays after essays as much as he did.
A few minutes into their conversation, Juri asked a question that had been nagging at the back of her mind.
"You can hear and understand me."
He nodded.
"You can sing," she said, remembering their first encounter.
He nodded again.
"So why write if you can just speak?"
He paused before putting down his drawing book. He opened his mouth. Whatever she expected, it wasn't the off-tune speech.
"PeOpLe dOn'T lIkE mY vOiCe," he said with a shrug as if describing the weather.
Juri felt embarrassed for asking, but he waved his hand and smiled before picking back up his drawing book.
"It's fine. I like signing more than speaking anyway."
She shared her bread with him as an apology and they spent the entire morning talking about life.
It also seemed she gained a gossip buddy. Who knew Lee-kun's brother would be into such a thing.