An Inconvenient Attachment

Prologue (part 1)

Kasumi Yamato POV

I have always known that I am a very privileged person. I have a huge mansion and loving parents. The servants of the house are all loyal and love me. My father may not be at home often because he has to take extended missions as a hunter but even that has decreased over the course of me growing up.

I know that everyone's life cannot be as privileged as mine. With masses of riches there comes destitute poverty. As unfair as this may be, it makes up the balance of society. The first time when I had come to terms with my privileged life was when I was 5 years old.

I was shopping with my mother in the nearby town when suddenly a girl bumped into me. I closed my eyes at that impact but when I opened my eyes I was surprised. The person in front of me was a little girl. She was even smaller than me. She had short unkempt hair and was wearing rags. She was just another child in the street. That's what I thought at first. But then I saw her eyes. They were really bright. Just like mine. Her eyes were blue though. Mine were green. From when I was born,  my eyes always had a glow in them. She was the first person I met who had the same glowing eyes as mine,  although a different colour.

I knelt down. She was quite frail but at the same time quite tough. She is just full of contradictions.

"What's your name?" I asked her smiling gently.

She looked at me with distrust and hesitated before answering, "Anzu Momoki."

Her voice was soft but timid. Normally street children do not have a last name.

"How old are you?" I asked brightly.
She was smaller than me. She has to be younger than me. Growing up in a family with hunters also meant that I had to be mature than my age. So when interacting with others I always put up a child like mask. Don't misunderstand. It does not mean that I still do not act like a child. I am a very extroverted person. But this kid in front of me did not need to know that.

"I am nine years old." That girl - I mean - Anzu answered.

Huh? What? Nine? She is nine years old! How the heck is that possible? She is smaller than me. And I am five! My shocked expression must have shown on my face because she chuckled.

"I have not eaten well for a long time. I had escaped a few years ago from some people who tried to sell me. I tried to look for my family but I could not remember where they were. I am-"

She suddenly stopped talking and fainted. I flinched when she suddenly fell on me as it was so sudden. She was interesting. I got interested in her past. Seems like I found myself something interesting.

I decided to take her home. My mother was still in the boutique when I went out of there. I tried to carry Anzu to her so that I could convince my mother to keep her in our house.

Suddenly I encountered a problem. I forgot I was still five. That means I could not carry heavy beings.

'For a girl so small and thin, she sure is heavy!' I thought as I gritted my teeth.

I glared at the unconscious body in front me and sighed annoyed.  I just decided to drag her by her clothes. She will get treated at my house anyways, so it did not matter that her clothes got more dirty or not.

As I dragged her to that boutique,  I thought of how to convince my mother to keep her.
'Should I try my Puppy Dog Eyes Attack or my Smiling Attack?' I mused. 'Well.... I will think about it when I get there.

What I didn't know at that time was that what I had done that day gave me something very precious. A true friend for life.

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