A Chance To Live In Your Own Way (Sirin X OC)

Chapter 6: Just a regular shopping trip

When Sirin walked into the living room, Minato wasn't the least bit surprised to see her holding the plushy of Benares that he gave to her tightly in her arms.

Instead, he softly smiled at the sight of her.

Even though he knew his efforts yesterday weren't wasted, it was still good to see her reaction than just simply knowing.

She looked at him and tried her hardest to muster a glare, but couldn't find it in herself to do it. After all, he actually did what she told him to do, even though it wasn't exactly what she had hoped.

Like before, she didn't know what to do because she wasn't used to people being kind to her. In the past, she had only ever encountered people who treated her with indifference or cruelty, cruelty that made her who she was today.

She found herself struggling to hate him even though she wanted to hate him so badly...

Minato saw the internal struggle present on her face right now and decided to redirect her attention to something else. He turned to her and asked,

"Do you want to go shopping with me?"

He asked nonchalantly.

"Huh?" Was all she could manage to say in response.

"Do you want to go shopping with me?" Minato repeated his question. "I was busy the entire month slogging so I never had the time to buy groceries, besides, didn't you mention feeling restricted? How about let's go out and do something different than the usual things we do here."

Minato could see the hesitation in her eyes and knew that Sirin was skeptical about his offer to go shopping. Granted, she didn't fully trust him yet but the thought of doing something normal seemed to appeal to her on some level. She doesn't understand why.

As Sirin prepared to go out, she realized that she couldn't remember agreeing to Minato's offer.

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They navigated around the crowds of people in the busy streets as they make their way to the shopping center.

Minato offered to hold Sirin's hand for support, but she visibly recoiled at the idea. The thought of someone else holding her hand made her feel very disgusted.

Minato quickly picked up on her discomfort and quickly withdrew his hand away.

"I'm sorry, but you need to hold my hand in case you get lost." Minato said. "But if you're uncomfortable with that, then that's fine. Just hold onto my clothes so I can guide you on our way there."

Sirin did just as that, her cheeks flaring as she does so, her other hand clinging the Benares plushy tightly to her chest.

As they walked towards the shopping center, Minato and Sirin encountered several people whom Minato knew. They paused at one particular shop where Minato greeted a pair of old acquaintances with a wave.

"Oh Minato, it's been a while!" The wife greeted, smiling warmly at the pair. "Who's this lovely young lady with you?" Then she gasped. "Is she your sibling!?"

Sirin scowled at her. "I'm not his sibling!" She spat out in response; her tone bitter.

The old couple didn't react with hostility, something Sirin noted, instead they smiled at her. It made her furious, first this human, now them!?

The husband replied for the both of them. "We apologize, we were just simply curious."

"It's okay." Minato reassured the both of them. "A lot of bad things happened to her, so please go easy on her."