Rain

Yoruhi bursted out the door in panic, quickly taking the elevator down to the first floor and scampering his way outside.

Nene, who was cleaning nearby, heard the commotion and wondered what the boy was doing.

“At least take an umbrella if you’re going out!” she called after him.

When she saw him trying to pick up the body of a little girl off the road however, she instinctively rushed out to help him collect her.

“What in the seven cataclysms is going on!” she shouted, when they got back to the top floor, placing the little girl next to the fireplace.

Altair’s face was paler than normal, and her entire body was drenched by the rain. Most notably however, was the grotesque flower on her head. It looked as if it was about to wilt.

She ordered a nearby maid to retrieve some towels and warm blankets for her while placing her palms on Altair’s forehead to check her temperature. Tatsuko, notified by the commotion her brother caused when he slammed open his door, cautiously walked into the living room, curiously staring at the new girl her brother had brought in.

“Is she alright?” she asked with worry, “who is she?”

Yoruhi didn’t respond and remained quiet, silently praying that he wasn’t too late. Given her medical condition, it was more dangerous for her to be caught up in a situation like this than for the average person. When he saw her open her eyes however, he breathed a huge sigh of relief.

“Altair, are you okay?” he asked her, but her mind was still too hazy to respond properly.

“You know this girl?” Nene asked him.

He nodded his head.

“I met her when we went to the library,” he explained.

The maid came back in with the towels and blankets and quickly wrapped it around her while Nene patted her dry.

“What’s going on here?” Mizuki asked Nene, entering the room after being attracted by the noise, but her eyes widened in understanding upon seeing the flower on Altair’s head. “This is Anton’s daughter… What happened?”

That made her the fourth person in the room that didn’t know the exact details of why Altair was out in the rain, and they all silently stared at the child as if waiting for her response.

“I…” she quietly breathed out, “my… medicine… I can’t find… my… medicine… Dad’s… not… at home… busy… with work… Tried… to find… him…”

Mizuki rushed out of the room and returned shortly with a small vial of clear blue liquid.

“Give this to her,” she told Nene, “Hayate is not here right now, so I will go look for Anton.”

She opened a nearby window and quickly leaped out to no one’s surprise but Yoruhi’s.

Nene popped open the vial and gently poured the liquid down Altair’s throat. She coughed a bit, but immediately started showing signs of feeling better.

Seeing that she was mostly going to be okay, Yoruhi walked over to the still-open window and looked down to see nobody there. Tatsuko quietly followed behind him and gently shut it.

“We shouldn’t let the rain get in,” she lectured.

Annoyed but curious, he asked, “Is she going to be okay?”

“Who? Mommy? Yeah she’ll be fine. She used to be one of the best swordsmen at this estate before she married daddy.”

Is that so? He wondered, before turning his attention back to Altair. She had closed her eyes and seemed to have fallen fast asleep.

He then looked to the empty vial in Nene’s hands and asked, “is that a mana potion?”

“Finally caught up on your studies I see,” she said, floating Altair’s body onto a nearby couch. “I don’t know what this girl’s illness is, but your mom seems to be familiar with it. If she told me to give her the mana potion, I can only assume it’s because she has problems with her mana barrier.”

“What’s a mana barrier?” Tatsuko asked.

“It’s something that floats around your body and protects you,” Yoruhi explained.

She waved her arms in the air.

“I don’t see anything,” she said.

“Mana barriers are supposed to be invisible,” Nene said, “you’ll be able to see it when you grow older.”

Tatsuko looked over to her younger brother.

“Can you see the mana barrier thing?”

He shook his head, and Tatsuko continued observing her arms as if trying to manifest it.

The entire estate fell quiet, patiently waiting for Mizuki’s return. Only the sound of the flames flicking in the fireplace and the rain drumming against the window along with the occasional lightning could be heard.

Finally, after a few minutes of waiting, the sound of hurried footsteps outside caught everyone’s attention, and bursting into the room was a drenched, disheveled, worried Mr. Weiss with Mizuki following behind him.

In his hand, he held a medicine bottle, and quickly ran over to Altair’s side. As if somehow able to sense that her dad was near, she slowly opened her eyes.

“Dad…?” she asked.

“It’s okay, sweetheart, I’m here,” he said, “drink this.”

She gently swallowed the medicine, and immediately, the flower on her head began to revitalize. Yoruhi stared at it from afar in disgust.

It’s like a parasite, he realized, and if it dies, she does too…

The twistedness of Altair’s situation began to settle in, and he looked at his sister who had thankfully not put the pieces together.

“Nene, could you please take Altair to one of the guest rooms,” Mizuki asked, “I need to have a… chat with Dr. Weiss.”

Nene floated her out of the room, and Mizuki gave her two children a stern stare as if they shouldn’t be in there either, and they quickly scurried out after Nene.

The conversation contained sounds of unintelligible yelling, but otherwise remained quiet. Yoruhi had no idea what they were conversing about, but his opinion of Mr. Weiss had now fallen to the rock bottom. How could he have let Altair alone like that?

In the spare guest room next to Tatsuko's, Nene set Altair down on the bed, and told the two children to notify her if she showed signs of getting worse. Other than her still wet hair, she was a lot more lively than she was when she first got here.

Tatsuko silently stared at the flower on the girl’s hair, curious about what it was doing there, but otherwise made no comment about it. Instead she asked, “so… Altair… right?”

Altair nodded her head silently, trying to hide the flower behind a blanket with the best of her strength.

“What do you like to do?”

She shyly looked at her, and after a moment, she said, “I like reading…”

“Woah you can read!?” Tatsuko shouted, “you’re so awesome! I wish I could read like you!”

Altair blushed shyly and buried her face deeper into the blankets. .

“Y-Yoruhi can read… too…” she said.

“Yeah, but he’s my brother so that’s lame.”

Yoruhi was starting to understand this sibling thing a lot more.

“W-what about you…?” she asked, “what’s your name?”

“Tatsuko!” she said proudly, “and I like to run around and play tag! I’m training to be an assassin when I grow up!”

She stood up and did a twirl.

“I learned that from my teacher, Vivian!” she said.

Altair weakly laughed, but a sad smile formed after.

“I wish I could run and spin around like you,” she said, “you’re amazing too, Tatsuko.”

Tatsuko ran over to hug her.

“I should’ve asked for a little sister instead,” she said, “you’re so nice and adorable, not like this idiot nerd.”

Really now? Yoruhi silently sighed.

The two of them continued conversing until the rain stopped and Mr. Weiss entered the room to collect his daughter.

“C’mon Altair, let’s go,” he said, picking her up.

Behind the door, Yoruhi noticed Mizuki with her arms crossed.