I felt heavy as my consciousness began to fade in. Everything seemed normal till something rough began to rub against my nose. Opening my eyes, I look and see in my face was that grey kitten the girl brought in earlier. It was meowing and licking me as though it wanted to play.
Looking up from the kitten, I began to sit up but the pain in my gut begins to hurt. I pull over the blanket that was over me and look down to see that my bandages were replaced. They weren't blood soaked anymore and it felt like there was ointment around the wound. After inspecting the bandages, I noticed that I was wearing different, clean clothes and I didn't smell odorous. I smelt fresh and clean. I felt my hair and I could feel that it was still slightly damped as though it was washed. I then begin to look around the room. Nothing has changed besides for the part that it was cleaned and some of the holes in the walls were patched up.
"Meow…" The kitten meows again and rubs its head on my arm, needing attention. But I didn't do so as I attempted to stand up.
I check out the window and see that it seemed to be late afternoon, making it that I slept for several hours. Walking out of my room in a limp, I walk down the hallway towards the guest bedroom. I knock on the door a few times and waited a few moments before siding the girl's door open. Looking around the room, I find it empty besides for her bag on the side of the room and the futon on the ground. Walking down the hall again, I made my way towards the kitchen and living room and also find those places empty.
Where did she go?
"Hoo…hoo…" Hosuke flew next to the front door as though he was trying to go out.
Opening the door, Hosuke flies out and down a backwoods path that lead to a small riverbed. I began to walk with my limp in silence with Hosuke flying around me as a guide. After a few minutes, I finally saw the figure of the girl sitting on the ground with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. When I got near her, I called out,
"Hey, girl." She looks back in surprise before quickly standing from the ground and walking up to me. She took off the blanket from around herself before wrapping it around me. I immediately took the blanket off of myself and wrap it around the girl's shoulders. "You need this more than me." I tell her quietly. But she only looks down to the ground as though I was punishing her.
"There is some dinner in the house." She quietly states after a minute of silence between us. Walking past me, she continues to look down at the ground in shame.
I didn't understand why she was acting this way and before I knew my own movements, I grabbed her firmly on the shoulder and pull her into an embrace. I felt my cheeks flush pink as I continue to hug the girl in the cold. And now that she was near me, I am finally able to notice how small she was. From what I remembered; Goemon said she was a sex slave. Used just for pleasure purposes. Must be hard to just be around me when in a room alone.
"Kotaro, you shouldn't be out of bed." She states to me in a low voice.
"I came looking for you." I confess as I held the girl firmly against me.
"Why?" I look down and see the girl looking up at me with a blank expression on her face.
I don't know what came to me, but instead of answering her question; I leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. Her lips were warm and soft as they were against my rough, cracked lips. It felt like I was kissing Akane again. But as I got too into it, the girl roughly pushes me back, making me lose my balance and fall on my ass. She then threw the blanket at me before running up through the path and towards the house. I sighed to myself as I watched her disappear into the snowy forestry. Why would I do such a stupid stunt like that?
Picking up the blanket and getting up from the snow, I slowly begin to walk towards the house as I kept kicking myself mentally. She went through shit and I was bringing her back to that experience. And it wasn't just her, it was also me. My feelings think that this girl is Akane, and it makes me want to do things to her that I wouldn't just do to some girl I met. Such as when I kissed her; I felt like I was kissing Akane, making me go too far and scare the girl.
Making my way into the house, I look around and see a bowl of miso soup on the table with a note written "Please Eat" on it. Looking around again, I didn't see the girl around until I heard sobs coming from down the hall. I strain my hearing and listen to her cry for a moment before I decided to just drink the miso soup. Chugged it down within a minute before placing it back on top of the table and walk back to my room. Before shutting the door, the girl's voice made me stop and sick to the stomach.
"Why are they all the same?"