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Natsuki looked at the older boy sitting next to her. She didn’t recognize him, but then again he hadn’t stayed around the orphanage long enough to meet anybody. He was weird. And no, it wasn’t because of the two toned hair and the gleaming silver and gold eyes. It was him. His actions. After he saved her from that group of boys, he just… lingered.
He did try to get her to return to the orphanage, but when she staggered over to the river side and sat down, he just restlessly paced behind her. He eventually decided to sit down beside her and gave her a little speech, but it wasn’t really his words that got through. It was the look on his face. She knew it. She knew that guarded and lonely look. She saw it in the mirror all the time after all. It was startling to see it on him since when he’d looked at her and chased off those boys it was nowhere to be seen. When she saw it on him though, she knew they understood each other.
It didn’t stay on his face though. As he gave his little speech and grumbled about the apparently very friendly towns people, the lonely look melted away, a bright smile blooming in its place. If someone could look that lonely and smile that brightly, then maybe there was hope for her too.
After his little talk, they sat there. She looked out at the river and thought about what he’d said. She supposed she could give it a shot. At the very least, if things didn’t work out with anyone else this older boy would probably stay around. He’d chased after her after all.
Natsuki heard his phone buzz. He clicked his tongue and got to his feet, holding a hand out to her. “Come on, we should head back.”
She looked at the outstretched hand a little warily. He seemed nice and safe but the idea of going back to the orphanage seemed overwhelming. She squinted at him. “They’re going to crowd me like earlier, aren’t they?”
He snorted. “Probably. Like I said, the entire town is pushy. I’m pretty sure that as long as you aren’t physically attacking them, they’ll get all up in your business in the most friendly way possible.”
Natsuki looked back at her knees. “That sounds like too much.”
He huffed. “That doesn’t cover the half of it, but they back off a bit if you make them.”
She shrugged, unsure.
He scratched his head. “Listen, I’m hungry, so will you just take my hand already? I’ll even let you hide behind me if they get too overbearing. The people at the orphanage don’t know me, so they will probably be a bit curious about me too.”
Natsuki was a bit disappointed to hear that the older boy wasn’t part of the orphanage, but decided that since he was there today, he’d probably come by again. She reached up to take his hand, but when she shifted her weight forward to get up, she felt the unpleasant tingling sensation in her legs and ended up grabbing his pant-leg instead. “My legs fell asleep.”
“Ugh, you better not bee faking it like Granny Sato.”
Despite his grumbling, he sat down in front of him, arranged her arms and legs around him piggy back style, and in an impressive feat of strength and flexibility, got them both off the ground. As he walked back towards the orphanage a thought occurred to her.
“Hey, what’s your name, anyway?”
He glanced back at her. “I’m Sakura Haruka. You’re… Natsuki-chan right?”
“Right,” she confirmed as the orphanage came into view. She hid her face in his neck and repeated his name in her head. She couldn’t ask the adults to get him to visit if she didn’t know his name after all.