𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄━━━S. Manjiro

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘆-𝗡𝗶𝗻𝗲

The little girl stood silently outside the house of a family she doesn't even know while drenched in the heavy rain. Who knows how long she's been standing there but she was already trembling from the harsh cold winds. 

The weather news from last night stated that today's downpour would be the heaviest because of the storm, to the point of flooding. Because of this, everyone shut themselves inside their house but... 

Finally, after standing in the rain for hours, the little girl fell to the ground, completely unconscious. 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Why is this girl even outside our house?" Manjiro sat beside his futon while looking at the girl sleeping on it with interest. 

Grandpa Sano sighed as he shook his head while replacing the cold towel on top of her forehead while making sure that she was carefully tucked inside the blanket. Manjiro continued to stare and finally let out an, 'oh'. "No wonder why she looks so familiar, she's the one who's always at the park!" He sent a suspicious look at her and mumbled, "Is she my stalker?"

Shinichiro raised his head and looked at his brother, "You know her?" But Manjiro gave a firm answer of denial, "Nope, no way. She's always in the park but she would be all alone. That's the only reason why I know her." He paused for a moment before sighing, "Must suck not having any friends. To think that you would even start stalking me... Do you like me that much?"

"I... Have friends... I never stalked you... You're delusional..." There was a weak voice trying to refute him, making Manjiro surprised. The little girl struggled to sit up but Shinichiro pushed her back to the futon softly. "You're sick, don't move too much." Grandpa Sano went to boil some warm water for her to drink once she woke up so it was only him, Manjiro and the little girl in the room.

Manjiro fell silent for a moment before looking at his brother helplessly, "What's 'delusional'?"

"..."

"..."

"... Come on, tell me."

Shinichiro paused to think but after a while, he started to frown as well without giving an answer. This scene left the little girl speechless. "... You look like a high schooler... But you don't know such a simple word? And you," she looked at Manjiro while ignoring the almost crying Shinichiro. "You're an idiot."

The two brothers shut their mouths up and stayed silent for a while. It was until the girl started to cough weakly that Shinichiro finally opened his mouth to speak, "Do you want anything? Food, water, or whatever?"

The girl hid her lower face under the blanket and whispered quietly, "Porridge... A really warm one..."

Shinichiro exhaled a sigh and got up, "Alright. Stay still and don't move. Manjiro, watch over her, alright?" The boy's eyes widened and were about to stand up but Shinichiro refused before he could even argue, "Do you really think that leaving a sick child all alone is a good choice?"

The two stared at each other's eyes for a while before Shinichiro turned around and left Manjiro's room. "... Fine then. I'll take care of you, alright?!" He told her with determination but the girl spoke up, "I'm better off taking care of myself than letting an idiot that doesn't know the word 'delusional' take care of me..."

He glared at her childishly and poked her forehead, "You speak too much like an adult when you look like you're the same age as me!"

"You just speak too much like a child... And please don't yell... My head is ringing from your voice..."

Manjiro placed a hand over his lips and stopped himself from speaking anymore. The little girl sighed while looking at him, "You're an idiot. You'll suffocate if you stop yourself from breathing like that. I just told you not to yell..."