~Chapter 2~

Ryoko had seen a lot in her past life that could scar anyone for a lifetime, especially in her line of work so this shouldn't be anywhere close to that but...

She'll admit that she did almost jumped out of her skin in fright.

"What in the heavens above do you think you're doing!" She shouted at the boy across her, balancing precariously on top of a jagged rock that is twice her size. "Get down from there! You'll get hurt!"

The boy, started from her sudden outburst, teetered too far back and was falling down to his ticket for broken bones and possibly concussion. She ran towards him, leaping over the stream and was determined to catch him when he suddenly back-flipped over her and landed a perfect landing.

"Touchdown!" Was what he said.

Ryoko was surprised and shocked but they wore off and were soon replaced with anger, "Touchdown my left foot, you peanut-brained neanderthal!" Followed by a punch on the back of the head. "What would happen if you missed your landing and sprained your ankle! Or failed the landing and broke an arm or a leg?! What then!"

The boy was so shocked at the girl who was shorter than him by an inch or two lecturing him on his safety and health like a mother would. Never in his life had he been scolded for something he did or shouted at or even punched at. He was so dazed that he didn't hear a thing she was saying.

"Seriously, men and their pride..." Ryoko muttered after calming down from her angry rant. "Anyways, what were you doing here?"

When she didn't received a reply, she looked down to see the boy still in his daze. It took a while for Ryoko to understand that the boy was in a stupor... Which means he had not heard a single word she had said. Knowing this, a tick mark appeared on her head and 'Ryo' appeared.

"First you did something foolish that could endanger your safety. Now you're ignoring me? You have some iron guts there, young man."

The boy, finally snapping out of his daze due to the high concentration of KI being directed at him, trembled at the sight of a furious dragon with fangs bared at the ready.

"I hope you're ready to face my wrath."

And the dragon roared.

XXXX

The next day, Ryoko walked back to the stream from yesterday. After giving the boy a severe talk-down that could make grown man bleating like sheeps, she sent the boy home after noticing how dark it had become. The boy had looked downtrodden as he headed the direction she thought was his home before doing the same. It was until she got out of the forest that she finally realized what she had done.

'I just gave a young boy who I don't even know nor have I met before a harsh dressing-down, a punch on the head, sharp words and a long-ass lecture on his safety like a mother.' She face-palmed herself as she walked through the forest. 'I am the most despicable human being that has ever walked this earth. I haven't even noticed I had slipped into that during the whole time. It was only until I literally walked out of the forest did I realized.'

It had bothered her greatly that she lost sleep over that so she decided to head back to the stream to find the young boy and apologize.

'If he would go back there...' She bitterly thought. After what happened yesterday, she doubted. Once there, her shoulders sagged a bit. As she had expected, no one was at the clearing. 'Yeah, as if he'll come back...'

She was about to head back when...

"Ah! You are here!" She turned around to find the same boy sitting criss-crossed on a nearby rock with a innocently-bright smile that reminded her of Kyoko. He leaped down from his perch and ran towards her.

Ryoko involuntarily took a step back in shock, 'Wait, why is he here? No, better question is why is he so happy to see me!'

"I didn't think you would come back here but I kept waiting and you did!"

"W-Waiting? For me?" She repeated. The boy nodded. "...Why?" The boy blinked and hummed to himself in thought. 'Don't tell me he came here without a reason!'

She cleared her throat, "Anyways, I came back to apologize for my behavior yesterday. I let out my anger on you when you were the innocent victim... Even though my actions were justified since you did such a reckless move. Regardless, it is still my fault and I'm sorry."

The boy stared in awe, "You sure used a lot of big words for someone my age."

"Well, excuse me for using such advanced words." Ryoko said with a tick mark. "It's not like I have a choice." 'Since I am technically a grown woman in a ten-year old body.'

"...You have no choice?" She glanced at the boy and was surprised to see a shadow over his eyes.

Gone was the spiritedly young boy and replaced by a kid who had a troubled background. She had seen many children in her past life with the exact same eyes as his and that made her wonder, 'Why?'

"So why are you here? Wouldn't your parents be worried?" She asked. It was quick, like in an instant if she didn't pay attention, as a flash of hurt went through his eyes before disappearing.

"...They're busy with work..." Was his reply.

'Ah. So that's how it is... Typical.' She inwardly scoffed. 'Why have a kid when your first priority is work?'

"I see. Well, I better get back home then." She casually said, not wanting to get involved in this family drama. She wanted to help him but she's not some godsend miracle worker. She can't just waltz into someone's life, wave a magic wand and hope everything would be okay. She had turned around and was about to walk out when she felt a hard tug on her arm, causing her to fall back a bit.

She turned back around and had a direct confrontation to the infamous 'puppy-dog eyes'. Granted, she was subjected to it by Kyoko multiple times but that's from someone younger than her so it was a natural cuteness. This boy, however...

'Is it possible for someone who's the same age as me to have such dangerous eyes?!' She exclaimed in her head as the boy did the best impression of a kicked puppy in the rain.

"You aren't staying?" The boy asked in a tone like a child begging his mother for a cookie.

'Why me?'

XXXX

In the end, she ended up accompanying the boy throughout the day. They mostly chatted about each other, which gave Ryoko a basic story of him. She learned that he came to Kyoto with his family for a vacation; apparently, his father lived in Japan before flying off to America where he was born.

'So it's like a home-visit...' She thought as she glanced at the boy sitting beside her. Now that she thought about it, the boy's appearance clearly shows his foreign blood; blonde hair and green eyes. 'Come to think of it, why does he look so familiar?'

"What about you? Do you live here?" He asked, eyes shining in curiosity.

"No, I was found here." Was her automatic reply. She froze when she realized what she had said. 'Wait! I wasn't supposed to say that!'

"Found here?" The boy tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

Seeing there's no take-backs, she decided to go along with it, "A couple who ran a ryokan near here found me in the forest one day. They tried to find my parents but no one was there; no car wreckage, no note. Nothing."

She wanted to stop there but decided to add her amnesia problem to make it more believable, "Then they found out I had lost all of my memories; I had no idea who I was, where I came from, or who my parents were. So they took me in."

"Weren't you scared?"

She smiled ruefully, "Who wouldn't? You woke up and found yourself in a strange place with no idea who you are or where you're from."

"What about your parents? Aren't you worried about them?"

She shrugged, "Not really."

She didn't need to face him to see his surprise, "Why? Wouldn't you want to find your parents?"

"It's been two years since I was found. That should be enough time for them to file a missing child report. If they did, I would have been found months later but since not even the foreign customers that occasionally visit the ryokan had any say about a missing child report, it's either they don't care about me or..."

"They're dead." was left hanging in the air. Ryoko knows that she's evil to think that such parents exist but she had encountered multiple times in her past life to they truly do; children were left out in the streets to fend for themselves either because their own family doesn't want them or they were orphaned.

"Even then, I'm happy where I am since I have a family here." She smiled at him.

He blinked before returning the smile.

"Ah, it's getting late. We better head home." She said, noticing the setting sun. It's true when they say 'Time flies when you're having fun.' "That reminds me, I didn't catch your name. I'm Ryoko."

The boy grinned, "You can call me 'Kuon'. I'll see you tomorrow then, Ryoko!"

The girl blinked, trying to process what he had said, "H-Hey, wait! When did I agree that I'll meet you here- And he's gone. Such a 'my pace' boy. And what did he say his name was? 'Corn'? What a weird name but why does it sound so familiar?"

Ryoko pondered during her walk back to the ryokan. When she entered, she was greeted by a smaller body crashing into her and crying. Looking down, she saw Kyoko bawling her eyes out before looking up to see Shoutaro with a guilty look. She sighed as she carried the crying little girl into her arms and consoled her.

It took a while but Kyoko finally calmed down and the rest of the evening passed by in peace.

Ryoko yawned after she had tucked both kids to bed and headed for her room across theirs, 'Typical... Never trust Shoutaro to console Kyoko. All you have to do is a simple pat and hug... Instead, he stood there looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Well, he never did know the fundamentals of women even if you gave him the manual for it so it's useless to change that.'

She sighed as she got into her futon and switched off the lights, 'If it weren't for me, Kyoko would have ran off somewhere to cry alone. Maybe the nearby forest... Yeah, that's what she'll do. She never did like feeling like a burden...'

She quickly sat up, eyes blown-wide open in realization, 'Wait, wasn't Kyoko supposed to run into the forest? To cry alone? Shouldn't that be where she first met-' She gasped, 'Now I remember where I seen his face and heard his name!' Her mind then went back to the blonde, green-eyed boy, 'That was Kuon! AKA Tsuruga Ren! AKA Kyoko's future love interest!'

She mentally screamed at her stupidity, 'There's still ten more years before the start of the storyline... And I already messed it up!'