Rokuya looked perfectly unperturbed and even played along with Kanae's joke. "I'd like that too. Too bad a certain someone is just a little devil who pokes people in the kidneys. I'm even afraid she'd abuse me."
"Takanashi Rokuno! Shut up!" Shinobu Kocho lashed out in embarrassment, her finger predictably jabbing straight into the soft flesh at Rokuya's waist without mercy.
"Ow-murder!"
Watching their usual antics, Kanae's smile deepened. But when her gaze returned to the little girl, who was so quiet she might not have existed, profound pity filled her eyes.
"Poor child..." Kanae crouched down and tried to pat the little girl's head.
The little girl neither dodged nor reacted. She simply stared blankly ahead.
"She was like this when we found her." Shinobu Kocho stopped fooling around with Rokuya, her expression turning somber. "On the way here, she didn't cry or make a fuss. She didn't even say a single word. Whatever we asked her, she didn't respond."
Rokuya walked up to the little girl, frowning slightly. He took a piece of red bean cake he had bought on the way out of his clothes and held it to her lips. "Hungry? Have something to eat."
The little girl neither opened her mouth nor reached for it. She simply stood there quietly.
Rokuya sighed and forced the red bean cake into her hand. "Eat."
Only upon hearing this command did an extremely faint flicker finally appear in the little girl's empty eyes. Like a robot receiving instructions, she mechanically raised her hand and stuffed the red bean cake into her mouth. Without even chewing, she swallowed it straight down. Even when she choked so badly that her eyes rolled back, she made no sound.
"Don't do that!" Distressed, Kanae hurriedly fetched a cup and gave her water,