Thanks to jquakers for teaching me again. She corrected my errors here.

Episode Two

The injured girl was partially awoken from a massive headache. Her eyelids were not yet opened because of exhaustion. Also, some parts of her body were itchy.

She groaned as she tried to hold her throbbing head using her left hand, but was very unsuccessful. Her eyebrows met in between because of the failure.

And, the next thing she knew was… a soft hand pressed on top of her forehead, massaging the skin on it.

There were also voices talking quietly beside her. She tried to distinguish the voices with her trained ear. One of the them belonged to a girl with a weird accent and the other, to an older man.

The teenager's whole body was hurting and she felt oddly hot. She tried to remember the last time she got a high fever. Ah, she was only eight at that time. And, that was all that came up to her mind. Because of the tender hand that was now stroking her cobalt hair, she easily fell back asleep.

(New Day)

The green eyed missy tried to stir her tired eyes, and now, she was very successful. Yes, successful, yet drained. It was a good thing that the blinds of the windows were not opened, or else she might have given out a few tears because of the aching pain of her eyes and body.

She tried to move and sit, using her hand that was not covered with bandages to assist her body. She was halfway on her task but fell down with a not-so-loud thud. Her body was still weak and heavy.

As soon as the sound of a thump was heard inside the room, a brunette woman who had just entered the room abruptly went beside the girl who was lying on the bed.

Curious eyes roamed the features of the new comer.

"Whe – where am I?" The injured girl asked and then looked at the red orbs of the woman.

"Ara. You are inside my room," The lady answered. She held the girl's forehead to check for her temperature and sighed in relief when the said girl's fever had cooled down. "Are you alright?" She asked with a indication of concern in her voice.

The blue haired girl looked peculiarly at the other woman. She did not know if the woman was being sarcastic and stupid at the same time or just joking. Her body was hurt and itchy in all places and that girl had just asked her if she was alright? And when she had asked where she was, the chestnut haired woman only answered that she was in her room. Yes, that was very helpful and insightful.

The jade eyed female pretended that she did not hear the question. She just raised her good hand to her sore head and massaged it as she winced for the reason that she was pain.

"Ouch. My head," she voiced out the main source of her suffering and winced again.

The crimson eyed lass took off the other girl's hand slowly from her head, and then replaced it with her own gentle hands. Her massage helped the younger woman who was in ache.

Green eyes went wide for what the newcomer was doing and how it helped lessen her misery. She turned her head to look at the scarlet eyed maiden to ask something, but suddenly blushed at the nearness of their faces; both shy girls turned their heads away.

The azure headed woman coughed to cover her sudden shyness, but was again surprised, as the caramel haired gal rubbed her back up and down, hoping to soothe her airways.

"I'm alright now. Thanks," the uncomfortable girl said and then asked, "How did I get here?"

As soon as the question was said, a man went inside the room. He was a fine tall middle aged man. He walked towards where the occupants were and smiled at the woman who was holding the cerulean haired missy.

He sat at the chair beside the bed and asked the girl who he had hurt unintentionally, "How are you feeling?"

The girl being questioned glanced at the man, and then stared at the blanket that was covering her and said; "A little bit…" she flinched again but continued, "Ouch! My head hurts. I think I have a headache."

The driver of the car who had hit her laughed at her response. "You're a funny girl. Do you not feel or notice your cuts and bruises?" he questioned in an amused tone.

"Eh?" She was flabbergasted because of the inquiry. "Now that you had mentioned it, I think I can it now. I forgot that I was in pain a little while ago," she said and wondered about it. Maybe, the other woman's massage could make her forget about her pain.

The man laughed again because of her eerie reply. "Sorry. Are you hungry?"

"I don't know. I can still see some stars dancing in front of my eyes." She was not trying to be funny, but as if everything she would say would sound funny to the man.

He giggled and said, "I apologize for my rude behavior. I'm Kanzaki Reito, by the way." He offered his hand for a handshake. The girl took it politely and they shook hands. "And, this is my daughter Shizuru." Kanzaki Reito motioned his hand to Shizuru's direction and smiled lovingly at his precious child.

Lime eyes found cherry ones. The oceanic haired female stared at Shizuru and said, "Hi there." She was no longer annoyed with the woman. It was like magic. She did not know how to explain what she had just felt when her eyes seek the other woman's ruby orbs.

Shizuru smiled sweetly at her and said, "Hello."

The two girls were staring deeply into each other's eyes. They were like searching the other's souls but were soon interrupted.

Reito suddenly ruined the moment as he pretended to cough. He looked at his visitor's eyes, "Excuse me but who are you again?"

"Ah, yeah, me?" The guest stuttered at first but then regained her composure and answered again, "I'm Kuga Natsuki."

Reito chuckled at his visitor's name. "You have a funny and weird name."

Shizuru butted in, "Otou-san." She was a little embarrassed because her father would always laugh at Natsuki's answers.

"Gomen. Should we call you Kuga-san or Natsuki-san?" Reito asked.

"My friends call me Kuga. But, you can call me whatever you want." Natsuki answered with a sigh. She suddenly thought about her friends.

The brown haired woman stared subtly at the other girl while they were having the conversation. "Natsuki," she blurted out. Her father and Natsuki looked at her. "Can I call you Natsuki? I like your name." she said with a smile adorning her face.

The only man in the house grinned. "Natsuki. It's all settled then. You can stay here as long as you like. You seem to be a nice person," he said and then turned to his daughter, "at least my Shi-chan here would have some company when I'm not around."

Shizuru beamed at her father and bashfully spoke to Natsuki, "I hope you won't mind sharing a room with me."

Natsuki wondered the reasons on why she would have to share a room with someone else, and be the companion of the honey haired woman. But, she remembered that she would only stay for a couple of days and that she was an intruder to their home, so she set aside the thought.

"No, not all. I appreciate your hospitality," she responded politely. "So, what's her story?" She asked and gestured at Shizuru.

Reito was a little hesitant to reply. He glanced at his daughter's face and saw her nod. "Ever since my wife Rena died…" He held Shizuru's left hand with his own and continued, "She seldom went out of the house," he paused for awhile and sighed, "To be honest, she only had a couple of friends," the man ended his sentence with another sighed.

He was greatly concern for his child's well being even though Shizuru was a grown up woman now. It had been three years since Rena left them. It seemed like his deceased wife also took their daughter's soul with her when she died. His daughter was no longer showing any sign of her old self, and she was not anymore interested in socializing and making friends at all.

It would be surprising for any father to easily trust their own daughter to a complete stranger. But, he saw something different with his unica ija upon seeing the blue haired girl.

After Reito arrived at his house and took the injured girl's body inside Shizuru's room, the brunette immediately grabbed the first aid kit under her bed and assisted her father in tending to her wounds. She helped cleaned the girl's body, put dresses on her gashes and so on.

Shizuru's face showed a great deal of worry and concern for the green eyed teenager. Natsuki was not critically wounded; she had some cuts on her head and arms, a bruise was also visible on her face and midriff. She slept for a day and a half, and that made Shizuru anxious. Shizuru was never a worrywart person; only when necessary.

The chestnut haired lady observed their patient attentively and never left her room if it was not required. She also hummed songs to the younger woman that her mother used to sing to her whenever she was sick. Everytime Natsuki moaned in pain, Shizuru would always relieve her pain by stroking her hair, hands, and even her face while humming.

Reito caught her doing this a couple of times, but never said a word about it. He had also seen her smiling as she cleaned Natsuki's face and body, and that made him think the new girl might help his daughter after all.

To be continued…

Unica ija – only daughter

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