After explaining everything to Hyuga, he let out an exhausted sigh from his mouth and also helped Benkei up from fainting. Apparently, Benkei was hiding from Lady Rui since she couldn't stop bothering him but he heard everything from another room. Goyo was also given ice to treat his black eye (that didn't look that bad) and should recover by tomorrow.
"Great... At least she's gone," Hyuga muttered as they were all seated in the room now to calm down.
"Anyways, we are glad that you both came back from your trip," Yoshitsune said looking at both Hyuga and (Y/n) who just went out.
"And earlier than I thought. Did something happen?" Sohma asked looking at the two.
"Oh yeah, we actually came back to report what we found in the forest," Hyuga said as everyone look at him curiously.
"Really? Did you find something related to our attack?" Yoshitsune looked at the two.
"It's not really a 'something but more like someone," (Y/n) corrected.
"Someone!? You mean one of the attackers?!?" Hyosuke raises his voice in alarm as he said.
"No no! It has nothing to do with the attackers but actually... A little... Girl," everyone stared at her wide eyed when she said that.
"A little girl?" Kazemasa muttered.
"Yeah, she was unconscious when we found her in the forest but she's in my room and we already gave her some medicine," she said.
"That's good," Yoshitsune smiled with relief. "Is it okay if I can see her now?"
"Of course my Lord," Hyuga replied and led him where the girl was sleeping.
Leaving the door open for some of the ninjas to peek. Yoshitsune sat on the floor near the futon where the girl was sleeping soundly with Hyuga and (Y/n) at the side of the room.
"YOU HAD A KID!!!" Enya shouted but quickly covered his mouth when everyone shooshes at him.
"...Her fever is really high..." Yoshitsune said after placing his head on her forehead.
"She really has hair just like you Hyuga!" he chuckled as he looked over to him.
"Yes... Just don't get the wrong idea," Hyuga looked over the others as they all shifted their gaze away from him.
"We should let her rest here. (Y/n), I'll leave her in your care," Yoshitsune says as he stood up.
"Of course Lord Yoshitsune!" she exclaims happily.
Two days have passed since and the girl still hasn't woken up but her fever was starting to get better. But once in awhile she was twisting and turning her body in different positions as if she was having a nightmare so (Y/n), and once in a while the guys, would watch over her to calm her down.
(Y/n) was in the kitchen preparing lunch as always and while the rice was still boiling, she decided to check on the little girl.
Arriving outside the room, slide open the door to find the girl sitting up in her futon and looking straight at her in alarm.
"Ah! You're awake!" (Y/n) exclaims happily but the girl covered her head with her hood in fear when she did that.
"O-oh... It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you..." she says in a gentle tone as she sat on the floor while putting some distance between them.
The girl looks at (Y/n) up and down and continues to stare at her with big deep blue orbs that seem to glint underneath her dark hood. The girl wondering what she was going to do to her.
"Umm... Be right back!" (Y/n) quickly stood up and ran to the kitchen, leaving the girl's head tilted in confusion.
The girl looked at the door the woman had left and thought about the strange woman. Then she looked around the room and her arm. They were patched up this morning judging by the smell it was coming from. But it didn't seem the woman just now did it, probably someone else, a man maybe.
(Y/n) races towards the kitchen where she quickly put out the fire so she wouldn't overcook the rice and prepared a small tray of food on it. Once she was done, she went outside but then met up with Ofuku.
"Ofuku!" she calls out her name as she rushed over to her.
"Yes, lady (Y/n)?" Ofuku said.
"Can you please serve lunch to everyone? I'm actually a bit busy at the moment."
"Of course lady (Y/n)-"
"Thank you!" Ofuku was cut off when (Y/n) left her dumbfounded.
(Y/n) finally arrived back at the little girl's room where the girl was waiting and settled the tray of food right next to her bedside before putting a distance between herself and the girl.
"Here you go. Go ahead and eat," she said as the girl kept looking weirdly at the woman and the food back-and-forth.
The girl hesitated but she took the bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks. After one bite, and a short moment, she grabbed the soup and ate everything hungrily with it. (Y/n) smiled as she watched her eat the food in front of her.
"Were you really hungry?" (Y/n) asked but that somehow change the girl's mood by realizing that there was a stranger right in front of her and looked down, avoiding her gaze.
"Oh! I'm sorry... my name is (Y/n)! What is yours?" the girl didn't respond and she looked like she wanted to hide under the covers.
"Are you okay..." tension was getting dreary in the room as she realized she probably made the girl uncomfortable.
(Y/n) tried to think of something when then slides open and standing there was Yoshitsune Minamoto.
"I apologize for the intrusion," he said while closing the door behind him.
"Ah! Not at all Yoshitsune," (Y/n) as he sat down right next to her and looked at the girl across from him. The girl looked at him with wide eyes, scared and panic but she didn't run away.
"Hello there Little one, how are you?" Yoshitsune asked with his gentle smile but the girl didn't respond and only look at him cautiously, the same way she did to (Y/n) when she woke up.
"It's okay if you're scared. After all, you only just woke up somewhere you don't know. Ah... by any chance... do you remember your name and how did you get in the forest...?" he asks.
The girl hesitated but Yoshitsune and (Y/n) kept quiet and waited for her to speak. After some thinking, the girl nodded her head, making him smile with relief.
"Whew..! That's good! Don't want to have history repeating itself don't we (Y/n)?" Yoshitsune looks at her as she chuckles.
"Oh you..." she lightly laughs as well. Seeing them smiling so casually, the girl seems to have relaxed a bit, her eyes looking much gentler now.
"You must be scared to be in a house full of strangers. Get your energy back up and then we can talk," he assured her but when he tried to pet her head she quickly back away in a panicked.
Yoshitsune frown at her reaction and pulled his hand away.
"Are you that afraid?" he mumbles sadly while staring at her deep blue eyes.
"Yoshitsune..." (Y/n) looked at him but he still manages to put a smile on his face.
"It's okay," he reassures her.
"Give her time to settle down and then we can find her family as well," with that, he stood up and left the room.
There was a long silence that filled the room after Yoshitsune left the two of them alone.
"...I'm sorry..." the girl finally spoke. Looking sorry for upsetting the man despite being so nice to her.
"Huh? Oh no! There's nothing to apologize about. Yoshitsune said it's okay," (Y/n) assured the little girl and smiled at her.
"He is a kind man and so is everyone else here. Anyways, are you still hungry? I can get you seconds if you want!" the girl nodded looking excited. At the same time, she was restraining herself.
Meanwhile, Yoshitsune was outside with a sorrowful look on his face. He thought about her reaction when he only tried to comfort her. She was definitely afraid and started to wonder what happened before Hyuga and (Y/n) found her. And her eyes even, there's no mistake he has seen that look before.
"Lord Yoshitsune?" in the hallway, Hyuga and Sohma approached him.
"What's with that face? Did something happen?" Sohma asked with worry.
"No no. I've been thinking about the child," he replied.
"So she's awake?" Hyuga said.
"She is. Although her fever has gone down a bit she is still shaken and needs to adapt to her surroundings."
"We can always ask around town or a nearby orphanage if they are missing any children," Sohma said.
"That's good," he approved of his suggestion.
"Actually, I think I found a clue about the kid," Hyuga pulled out a small pouch bag from his breast pocket.
"What is that?" Yoshitsune looked at the bag as Hyuga turn it over and black shards fell onto his palm.
"Where did you find this?" he looks at the pieces of shards carefully. It looked like to be made from some sort of expensive stone, jade maybe? Among the black shards, there was also a small, tiny pearl that looks like it could worth a lot.
"It was in the kid's hand. Apparently, she was holding onto this real tight that she cut herself and there were even some stuck to her hand," he replied.
"It might be important but we should ask her tomorrow. Kids need their sleep and it's getting late," Sohma added.
"Indeed," Yoshitsune agreed.
The next morning, (Y/n) was finishing drying out clothes out in the courtyard. Yesterday, she asked the girl if she could wash her hood and cloak since (Y/n) could never take it off without her knowing. She was awfully suspicious when she hid under the blanket to take it off but that didn't bother (Y/n) too much. After all, she wouldn't answer any of her questions but she didn't want to bug her for them. She was only a little girl after all.
(Y/n) finishes up taking all the dry laundry and head inside. She decided to head to her room first to give her back the girl's hood.
*knock knock*
She knocks on the door before going inside where the girl was lying on her futon while staring at out the window. "Hello there!" she happily greeted and settled the folded hood next to her.
The girl quickly took the hood and wrapped the cloak around her once more. She puts the hood on to hide her hair and smelled cloth.
"I should probably put medicine on you now," (Y/n) says as she grabs the bottle and bandages near the girl's bedside to replace the old ones. But the bandages that were on her now look fresh and new as if they had already been replaced.
"Did you do this by yourself?" she asked the girl and she replied with a hesitant nod.
"Oh..." she looked down in disappointment. Seeing her upset, the girl tugged on her sleeve as if asking if anything is wrong.
"Oh! It's nothing.. don't worry," she patted the girl on the head.
To be honest she was looking forward on taking care of the child because she and Hyuga were pretty close to starting their own family so she taught taking care of her would be fun until they found her parents.
She patted the girl on the head again and suddenly realize "Hey!" the girl jumped when she suddenly exclaims.
"You let me pet you!" (Y/n) said as the girl looks at her weirdly.
"Hmm hmm, I guess that did come out strange to you..." yesterday she was afraid of Yoshitsune and her when they tried to comfort her but now she looks like she has calm down a little. A little though since she still looked annoyed when she did that but she looked sad.
"Oh!" she exclaims again and suddenly stood up.
"I have to finish up my chores, I promise I'll come back. Okay?" (Y/n) gave her an assuring smile before walking off with the rest of the laundry.