After beating the shit out of the neighborhood brats and chasing them away, Yuto turned to look at the little girl standing to the side.
Her large, terrified eyes were brimming with tears.
She was just a small child, not even reaching his waist.
She had to be an elementary school student.
Her pale, soft pink hair made her look incredibly delicate and fragile.
The few heavy teardrops hanging on her tender cheeks reignited the anger that had just begun to settle in Yuto's chest.
He genuinely regretted not hitting those brats harder!
"It's okay now. Can you tell me what happened?" Yuto asked gently, crouching down to her eye level.
He patted her head with a warm, reassuring smile.
The little girl gradually stopped sobbing, though her eyes remained slightly red and puffy from crying.
She looked at him now, her expression caught in a pained, conflicted struggle.
Her eyes were filled with a chaotic mix of deep gratitude and frantic anxiety, as if she were desperately trying to hold something back.
Yuto felt a surge of concern.
"Are you feeling unwell somewhere? Did they hurt you?" he asked again.
But the little girl still didn't speak.
Her small face remained twisted in a mixture of pain and urgency.
The eyes looking back at Yuto were filled with a heavy, isolating sorrow that simply shouldn't belong to someone her age.
Yuto didn't feel impatient when she failed to answer his questions, he only grew more puzzled and worried.
"Ah—ugh—ga—eh—"
While Yuto was trying to figure out what was wrong, the little girl finally made a sound.
But the words she spoke weren't the clear pleasant voice of an ordinary child.
Instead, the sounds were harsh, strained, and entirely discordant—like someone desperately trying to force air through a broken instrument.
In that single heartbreaking moment, Yuto understood.
He knew exactly why the little girl in front of him hadn't spoken earlier.
She was deaf.
Yuto couldn't understand the syllables she was trying to form, but he didn't need to.
A wave of pity and fury intertwined and exploded within him.
He immediately understood why those little monsters had been bullying her.
It was nothing more than baseless, cruel discrimination against someone who was weaker and different from themselves.
'I really should have slapped those little bastards harder!' Yuto thought, his hands clenching into fists.
He deeply regretted only kicking them a few times.
If he were given another chance, he would permanently traumatize those brats to make sure they never picked on anyone again!
Seeing Yuto fall silent, the little girl grew even more anxious.
She knew strangers couldn't understand her when she tried to speak out loud.
That was why she always relied on her notebook to communicate.
But now... the notebook she carried everywhere had just been snatched and thrown away by her bullies.
She had no way to express herself.
"Hey, don't worry, don't worry. What's wrong? Take your time, okay? Take your time," Yuto said quickly, noticing her rising panic and trying to soothe her with a gentle tone and open hands.
The little girl hurried past him, making a beeline for a nearby public trash can on the corner of the street.
Yuto followed closely behind her, wanting to see what she was trying to do.
The trash can was nearly as tall as she was.
She tried her best to stand on her tiptoes, craning her neck as she desperately peered over the rim.
It seemed she had spotted what she was looking for, her eyes lit up with relief and she reached her small arm over the edge, trying to dig into the garbage.
But just as she was about to plunge her hand into the filth, Yuto caught her wrist gently to stop her.
"Let me do it," he sighed softly.
He didn't know what was inside the trash can, but the frantic desperation of this little girl was violently tugging at his heartstrings.
He gently pulled her hand back and stepped in front of the bin himself.
Looking inside, he saw a small notebook resting on top of some discarded wrappers.
The public trash cans in this district were cleaned daily, and this one had just been emptied that morning, so it was relatively clean.
He felt a bit puzzled when he saw it.
Was a notebook really what she was so desperate to retrieve?
He reached in and pulled it out.
The cover was mostly clean, save for a few smudges.
On the front, a name was written in neat, childish handwriting.
Nishimiya Shouko.
Yuto guessed this was likely the little girl's name.
"Is this it?" he asked, gently waving the notebook in front of her.
When Shouko saw the notebook, her face immediately lit up with overwhelming joy.
She nodded vigorously.
Yuto wiped the cover with his sleeve and handed it to her.
She didn't care that it had just been in the trash, she eagerly pulled a pen from her pocket, flipped it open, and began to write.
A few seconds later, she held the notebook up for Yuto to read.
[Thank you, big brother. My name is Nishimiya Shouko. I can't hear what you say, and I can't speak either. I can only communicate using this notebook.]
The handwriting was a bit crooked, rushed by adrenaline.
Yuto sighed heavily.
Shouko's situation was even more tragic than he had initially guessed.
He had thought she might just be mute, but he hadn't realized she was completely deaf as well...
Yuto gently took the pen from her hand and wrote his reply.
[Shouko, can you tell me what happened just now?] She took the pen back and wrote carefully.
[They tried to steal my hearing aids.] Shouko brushed her soft pink hair aside, revealing her ears.
Her small earlobes were red and slightly swollen.
It looked as if the devices had been violently yanked out.
Yuto felt his blood pressure spike again!
He had never felt such intense rage as he did today.
[Were they taken?] he wrote.
[Yes, they were taken.]
[Do you have any spares, Shouko?]
[Yes, but they're at home.]
[Can I walk you home?]
[Yes. Please come with me.] Shouko happily hugged the notebook to her chest, looking up at him with a bright smile.
Yuto grabbed his bicycle and pushed it along the sidewalk, following Shouko as she walked slowly ahead.
Her pace wasn't fast, and along the way, she kept stopping to write in the notebook and show it to him.
[Do you live around here, big brother?]
[I'm really grateful for what you did earlier.]
[Were you out buying groceries?]
[Can you cook, big brother?] Shouko wrote many, many things.
Since Yuto was pushing his heavy bicycle with both hands and couldn't easily write back, he simply nodded, smiled, and offered encouraging thumbs-ups to her questions.
But the warm smile on his face couldn't hide the heavy sigh echoing in his heart.
The more lively and cheerful Shouko seemed, the more an undeniable sense of heaviness settled over him.
'How can someone so sweet be treated so cruelly?'
They happened to pass by a colorful neighborhood candy store.
Yuto stopped his bicycle.
Shouko looked up at him curiously. Yuto held out his hand for the notebook and scribbled a quick message.
[Wait here for a moment, Shouko.] He drew a tiny, smiling face at the end of the sentence.
He walked up to the candy shop owner.
"Boss, give me some candy. One of each kind you have."
"Alright!"
Yuto spent several thousand yen to buy a massive overstuffed paper bag of premium sweets.
Shouko had obediently waited on the sidewalk.
When she saw him walk out with that huge bag of candy, her eyes widened with a hint of longing envy, but she quickly looked away, trying to restrain herself.
Yet, even after looking away, she couldn't help but steal another shy glance at the colorful wrappers.
Yuto noticed the internal struggle and smiled softly.
He walked over and held the heavy bag out in front of her.
Shouko froze, looking up at Yuto with surprise.
Yuto didn't say anything, he just looked into her eyes and gave a firm, reassuring nod.
He hoped this bag of candy could wash away the awful memories of the morning and make her just a little bit happier.
...
The Nishimiya household was surprisingly close to the Kamisaka Diner.
This surprised Yuto a little, but he soon calmed down.
His usual range of activities was strictly limited to the red-light district of Ichinosuke Street, and going far out was usually just for quick grocery runs.
So far, the trip to Shibuya with Utaha was the farthest he had been in this new world.
The Nishimiya apartment was located in an older residential block just a few dozen meters outside the borders of Ichinosuke Street.
The residential buildings here were vastly cheaper compared to other places in central Tokyo.
Yuto followed Shouko to the foot of the apartment building, still pushing his bicycle.
He had originally planned to buy the crop seeds and industrial blueprints for Rimuru today, but it seemed that errand would have to be postponed for a little while.
[Big brother, my home is upstairs. Follow me!] Shouko turned around, holding her notebook up to her face to show him.
Yuto nodded, and the little girl happily turned around and skipped toward the stairs.
Yuto parked his bicycle securely against the wall and looked up to survey the area briefly.
This neighborhood was incredibly run-down and old.
The concrete was stained, and the paint was peeling.
It seemed the Nishimiya family's living conditions were a bit tight.
"Ah—Ooh—"
Shouko, who had already started climbing, saw that Yuto was still standing at the bottom of the stairs and called out to him.
Because she couldn't hear herself, the sounds that came from her mouth were indistinct and harsh, but Yuto didn't care.
He smiled warmly and hurried after her.
To him, this little girl wasn't lacking in any way compared to anyone else.
He followed her step by step up the narrow, dark stairwell.
Even though it was bright and sunny outside, the concrete stairwell remained dim and shadowy.
Yuto walked silently behind her.
Shouko cheerfully and energetically led the way, practically glowing with pure innocence.
In this dim, depressing stairwell, she was like a bright, warm little lightbulb.
When they reached the third floor, Shouko faced a battered metal door and knocked loudly.
"Please wait a moment!" a somewhat aged, gentle voice called out from inside.
Shouko quickly wrote another sentence in her notebook.
[It's my grandmother.] She held the notebook up for Yuto to see.
Yuto smiled and affectionately patted her pink hair.
Click—
The door unlocked and swung open.
Standing in the doorway was a kind-looking elderly woman with a warm smile.
"Shouko! Oh, and who is this?" The old woman first hugged her granddaughter in pleasant surprise, then looked up at Yuto with curiosity.
Before Yuto could even begin to explain, Shouko raised her hands and began using rapid, fluid sign language to communicate with her grandmother.
Yuto's eyes widened with a hint of surprise.
'So she knows sign language too. Why was she relying on the notebook?'
As she watched her granddaughter's hands, the grandmother's expression shifted from gentle confusion, to horrified, helpless anger, and finally, to overwhelming gratitude.
After Shouko finished signing, the old woman slowly and deliberately responded to her in sign language as well.
Then, she turned to look directly at Yuto.
"Thank you. Truly, thank you for protecting her. Please, come in and sit for a while. Let me make you some tea," she said.
Despite her frail age, she bowed deeply to Yuto, her voice thick with deep, genuine gratitude.
This made Yuto feel somewhat uncomfortable, he wasn't used to elders bowing to him.
"It's alright, please, there's no need to trouble yourself," he said quickly.
He had originally intended to just see Shouko home safely.
Having an elderly woman go out of her way to entertain him felt unnecessary, and he planned to decline and leave.
But Shouko quickly turned around and frantically scribbled an invitation in her notebook.
[Big brother, don't go! Come in!] She held the notebook up, her eyes pleading and pitiful.
A soft, desperate light shimmered in her bright, clear eyes, like ripples on a calm lake.
Yuto smiled helplessly and gave her head another gentle pat.
He absolutely could not refuse that look.
"Then I'll impose on you for a bit," he conceded.
Yuto's agreement brought a relieved, grateful smile to the grandmother's lips.
She stepped aside, holding the door wide open for him to enter.
Yuto nodded respectfully and took off his shoes at the genkan.
Seeing this, Shouko's face lit up with joy.
The little girl closed the door behind them. Clutching the massive bag of candies tightly to her chest, she eagerly walked ahead of Yuto, pointing to a small, worn-out sofa in the living room and gesturing for him to sit there.
Yuto smiled and sat down.
From the moment he entered, he had subtly observed the Nishimiya household.
It was incredibly ordinary.
The layout and decorations were common, but everything was kept meticulously neat.
The only defining feature was that everything—from the furniture to the appliances—seemed very old and heavily used.
Shouko's grandmother excused herself to the tiny kitchen to brew tea, while Shouko happily sat down right next to Yuto on the sofa.
[Mom is out working, and my little sister is still sleeping,] Shouko wrote, holding her notebook sideways for him to read.
Yuto's brow twitched slightly.
'Mom is working... no mention of a dad?'
He wanted to ask, but after glancing at the cheerful little girl, he decided against it.
That kind of sensitive question was better asked to the grandmother in private.
He took the pen.
[Is your mom very busy?]
Shouko nodded, her soft, bright eyes suddenly carrying a heavy hint of heartache and mature bitterness.
[Mom goes out very, very early every day and comes back very, very late. It's all because she wants to cure my illness that she's so tired. I don't want Mom to be so tired anymore. I want Mom to be able to stay at home.]
Reading Shouko's messy heartfelt words, Yuto felt his eyes sting.
He swallowed the heavy lump in his throat and took the notebook back.
[When did Shouko get sick?]
[When I was three years old. Grandma says I'm just sick for now, and I'll get better when I grow up. When I grow up, I won't let Mom go out to work anymore. I'll work instead so Mom can rest.]
Yuto forced a smile as he wrote his reply.
[Shouko is such a good, brave child. Shouko's illness will definitely get better soon.]
[Mm!] Shouko nodded fiercely, beaming at him.
Yuto discreetly wiped the corner of his eye.
His heart ached terribly for this family!
"The tea is ready. Please, have a taste," Shouko's grandmother said, walking out of the kitchen carrying a humble wooden tray with steaming teacups.
"Thank you for the trouble," Yuto said respectfully, accepting a cup.
"No, no, no. The trouble was all yours. If you hadn't met Shouko on the road today, those awful boys would definitely have bullied her until she cried, and stolen what little she had left. You protected her, and you even bought her all that candy. I should be the one thanking you," the old woman said, taking a seat across from him.
As the grandmother spoke, her kind expression was filled with a sudden, bone-deep sorrow and bitter exhaustion.
A glimmer of moisture flashed in her cloudy, aged eyes.
It vanished in an instant, swept away by years of practice, falling as silently and unnoticed as a dead leaf in the autumn wind.
----
Sorry if there's a lot of grammar mistakes on this, got dirt in my eyes when editing this.