This story is part of the Wanderer series.
Upstairs, in her room, Rin rested alone on her bed, wide awake. She stretched her arms up and tucked them underneath her head. Crossing her legs, with one propped up on the other knee, she idly bounced a foot up and down. Her breaths slowed as she laid on her back, staring blankly at the ceiling.
She recalled their encounter with the strange man, dressed in dark robes with glowing yellow eyes. He seemed to know her. Nozomi. He knew about her castle. Even her guardian. He seemed to test her, repeatedly chastising her way of throwing her power around.
With all the strange things that happened since she met the girl… What has she gotten herself into, she thought. When the man came out of nowhere, looking for Nozomi, she knew something was wrong. Something was not right. And now, after they somehow escaped, they were no longer safe. Surely he would not let them go like that.
Downstairs, she heard the screeching of a chair against the wooden floor. She could slightly feel it as well. Then, there were light and rapid thumps in the stairway as someone rushed up the steps. Rin uncrossed her arms and pushed herself up and forward on the bed as Nozomi broke into view of the doorway, gripping the frame with one hand as she locked her eyes on Rin with great resolution.
“We have to find him again!” she suddenly announced, shoulders rising as she slouched forward.
Rin returned her gaze with blank face at first, uttering a closed-mouth gasp at her sudden demand. “… What?”
“We have to find him!” Nozomi repeated. “Before he leaves here!”
Catching up with what she was proposing, Rin quickly frowned, leaning further forward on her bed. “Are you kidding me?!” she gasped in disbelief. “We just barely got away from him, and now you want to find him?!”
“But…!” Nozomi backed off for an instant before regaining her courage. “He knows something about Sen that we don’t! We have to find him again and ask him to tell us nicely!”
“As if he would! He tried to hurt you!” Rin raised her voice. “He’s going to hurt you!”
“He was testing us, didn’t you see?!”
Rin gasped. She was taken aback by how this bumbling girl was able to notice that detail.
“He was testing us to see if we really knew Sen!”
Speechless, Rin continued to stare in disbelief for a brief time before pushing back, uncrossing her suspended leg to plant both feet down firmly on the bed. “By fighting us like that?”
Nozomi took a step forward. “Sen would do that too, when she meets people she doesn’t know. She would fight!”
“What is wrong with you people?” Rin exclaimed.
“Sen said she had to keep our castle a secret to only people she knows, so she would test people she didn’t know!”
Rin’s lips silently sputtered as she searched for what to say, only comprehending half of what Nozomi was saying. “B-by fighting?!” she repeated.
“Yes!”
“You just… You just meet someone you don’t know and start fighting them?”
“Well…” Nozomi’s face shone some hesitation. “Not always…”
Rin shook her head. “I don’t believe it. That man was trying to hurt you for real,” she insisted. “He fight have been testing you, but he was going to hurt you for real. He was going to hurt me for real! We are not going back there!”
The rough edge on her voice made Nozomi take a step back from the doorway. She sunk back, seemingly disappointed.
“And don’t you try to go searching for him alone!” she added. “You’ll only get yourself killed!”
Nozomi seemingly jumped, expelling an audible gasp. Her eyes widened, reflecting a new expression of fear she had never seen in her before.
So sudden was her transformation that Rin quickly retreated as well, reflecting on what she just said. “I mean… look… I…”
Slowly, Nozomi’s gaze fell to the floor. Already, Rin’s voice was lost to her.
“Nozomi…”
Rin tried to bring her back. But she did not listen, letting go of the door frame and walking back from which she came, dragging her feet. Rin leaned forward, but did not chase after her. staring at the empty doorway, she listened to the sounds of creaking wood in the stairway. Then, a few soft steps downstairs. She heard a quiet thump. Then, she briefly heard Yuka’s muted voice, unable to discern a word. The house went quiet again.
Swinging her legs off the bed, Rin finally got up. Worried Nozomi left the house anyway, she hurried to the stairway and rushed down the stairs. Turning the corner halfway down, eyes already searching for the door, she stopped abruptly as her eyes caught a dash of colorful pink at the dining table.
Her eyes flicked to the right to find the back of Nozomi’s head. She was sitting in a chair, slouched forward, head down and gazing at the table. Yuka was standing on the other side, one hand gripping the back of a chair, leaning towards the girl. She looked up at Rin just as she appeared in the stairway, gazing with confusion. She said not a word.
Rin returned her gaze with a similar look of confusion, providing no answer. Her eyes went back to the girl, observing her sitting there, absolutely dispirited. Then, without saying anything either, she turned and returned up the stairs.