Chapter 3 - Piriah

Recognition flickered in her eyes, which brought a warm smile to her face. The girl was glad that the boy survived the typhoon, and he looked much better and healthier. She stepped closer, bending over. "Hello! Nice to see you again! How are you today?" 

The girl from before was among the group of six people looking around, scared. Whispers and murmurs were heard behind, some mocking our helpful girl. They saw her as a fool. She heard them as well, but didn't pay any attention. 

Our boy opened his mouth, but nothing came out. That didn't discourage our girl and stretched out her hand for a handshake. "I am Petal. Nice to meet you." The homeless boy looked at his dirty hands and back at the girls. He was ashamed. She looked so neat, and he could even smell that nice scent from that day. Absolutely refused to soil her with his filth. He looked down and hid his hands behind his back. 

Laughter echoed from behind the girl. Our boy peeked a little behind. Petal sighed. Those rich kids, who never worked a day for the money they are spending here in Japan. On the contrary, she worked hard for hers. She just let them do their thing. Petal knew they looked down upon anybody "poorer" than them. Basically, almost everybody.

Petal was only tolerated by the group because of her skills and personality. Petal's friend, rather, walked away when she found an opening for her escape. Being associated with a homeless person would destroy her reputation as well. Petal was foolish to talk to him, so she should suffer alone. Not her circus, nor her monkey.

One of the guys threw some trash towards the boy. Petal swallowed hard. Without turning to the group, she politely asked them not to do that. Of course, by this point, nobody listened to her, and she became the social pariah in just one interaction. 

The guy threw another piece of trash, and Petal swiftly turned and blocked it with her hand, causing it to fly to the side. The laughter stopped in an instant. A cold expression was plastered on the faces of the whole group. Petal stared at them angrily. Our boy watched it, still from his sitting position in front of the tree trunk, afraid of what he had caused by just showing up in front of the girl. 

The growing guilt began to eat him up. He didn't want to be the cause of the nice girl's social downfall. It was stupid for him to seek her out and show up. The main perpetrator guy smirked and put his hands into his pockets. With an arrogant tone in his voice, he spoke. "So you chose a dirtbag over us?! I never expected you to be low class." Girls behind him, who pretended to be friends with Petal, giggled.

Our girl looked to the side and then, with a firm glare, responded. "So why do you behave like low class?! You have no manners, so stop speaking so highly." That threw the guy off. "What did you just say?!" Petal, relaxing her pose and folding her arms, spoke more. "You heard me. Stop pretending you have status, just because your daddy paid for you to study in a foreign country." 

Well, Petal wasn't wrong. She spoke the truth. Everybody knew that. The guy flustered, raised his arm into the air to say something, but had nothing that could help his case. After a moment, he collected the remains of his shattered pride... "I am done with you. Don't show your face in front of us. Common guys, we are leaving." Bumping into our girl on purpose. 

She stumbled and sat down on the curb from where our boy was watching it. He caught her by the shoulder so she wouldn't go any further, and god forbid, hit her head on the ground. Petal didn't expect them to turn on her so aggressively, but she already knew they had some prejudice from the first day she met them. 

Was she wrong to give them a chance to become "friends" with her? Well, she shot herself in the foot with this one. Enough time wasting over this! Petal turned to the boy, whose hands still held her by the shoulders. He immediately released her and scurried back to the tree trunk, scared and ashamed. 

Years on the streets taught him not to engage too much with people. Stranger danger, right? Why did he break his rules in the first place? This girl! She was the one who made him do that. That one warm gesture of humanity overthrew years of his caution. 

Raising his sight and meeting her eyes made it worth it. That gentle gaze in hers did something to him. Something like bewitching... Petal tried once more. "So, do you not understand English?" She tried Japanese, German, and some Slavic languages. Nothing. She pulled out her phone and began to show him flags of different countries. 

The boy shook his hands in front of her face to get her attention. He pointed to the British flag, that he understood English well. One more try! He opened his mouth, but still nothing. It was like he was mute. Petal looked at him, analyzing the poor guy, biting on her thumbnail. 

Something clicked in her head. A lightbulb lit up. "Do you maybe suffer from Selective muteness by some means?!" That boy never heard of anything like that. From where could he even? From the age of six, he lived on the streets. He had to believe her. 

The boy's stomach growled suddenly. Petal just jumped up and disappeared, leaving him sitting stunned and alone. He thought that scared her away. It would be for the best, he thought... Head lowered to the cold ground. Feeling lost, he sighed. At least one more meeting with her. He was grateful for that short-lived company and humanity. 

A bag appeared in front of his eyes. Soon, Petal, grinning, emerged from behind. "Hungry much?!"