A Different Path (Growing Up)

Passing Days #2

Shopping with the Aishi's

"Ayano-Chan this looks good on you, right?" Tatsui questioned, showing his daughter a cute yellow shirt with a cute bunny head printed in front. He then held out another shirt, pink with flower patterns. "Or do you like this one?"

Ayano stared at both of them. "I like both."

Tatsui sweatdropped. "That's great sweetie, but you have to choose one... Or can we get both?!"

Ayano stared at her Papa, before passing by him and choosing a shirt that caught her eye. Tatsui stared.

"A-Ayano-Chan? Are you sure you want that shirt?"

Ayano held a red shirt with a strange monster printed in front, and it was obviously for a boy that had somehow made it into the girl's clothing department. Yet the blank-eyed girl seemed to like it, with how tightly she was clutching it and how she was looking at him rather pleadingly.

"Well.. If you want it, then it's yours! But I'm also getting these two shirts! They're cute, and also Tsumura-San will yell at me if I don't buy anything cute for you to wear..."

A Helping Hand

There were very few people Ayano trusted. A few of them included her Papa, Nemesis, and Tsumura.

And there was a reason why she only trusted those three.

"Why are your eyes so dead you fish?"

"See! Even if you push her to the ground she doesn't react!"

"Or if you kick her."

"What a freak!"

Kids were so cruel when they wanted to be.

Ayano and her Papa were playing in the playground until her stomach growled. That was when her Papa decided to run a quick errand to the nearest convenient store, just right next to the park. Ayano had decided to stay here and wait for her Papa, but she was currently wishing she went with him instead.

Crouching, Ayano held her legs as she stared blankly on the ground. While she didn't feel anything to their taunts or mean words, she did feel the physical pain they inflicted her. She was emotionless, not painless.

As the kids continued jeering around her and laughing and calling her mean names, they didn't notice a pink-haired teen passing by until they called out to them.

"H-Hey! What are you doing to the poor girl?"

"R-Run!"

As quickly as they came, the kids dispersed. Running as far as their little legs could carry them. At least she was finally left alone...

"H-Hey, are you okay?"

Looking up, Ayano stared blankly at the teen with long pink hair bangs. He was fretting over her, and especially fretting over her injured leg. Ayano nodded her head slowly.

"I'll be okay... Thank you."

Ayano tried to move away, but the teen fretted even more. "W-Wait- Your knee is bleeding!"

"It'll be okay."

"N-No it's not! What if it gets infected?! Here, let me deal with it!"

The teen was rummaging through his backpack, muttering to himself as he frantically searched for something in his bag. Ayano stared, and wondered when her Papa was coming back.

"Oh! I-I found it! Don't worry! I'm going to be in the medical field one day, so a cut like this should be no problem for me!" The teen exclaimed, and unlike his fumbling self, Ayano watched as he expertly cleaned off her cut. She barely flinched when the pink-haired teen touched her cut with an alcohol soaked cloth. "Wow! You must be very strong little girl! You barely flinched!"