Chapter 67: Modern Family

It took a while before Rhos could fully comprehend what was happening.

Instead of immediately questioning it, he pulled out one of the chairs and sat beside the little girl. He made sure to leave enough distance between them that he could move if she suddenly decided to attack him again.

After everything that happened between them, he had grown accustomed to treating her like an unpredictable wild animal rather than a child.

For good reason too.

The moment their eyes locked, he expected her to attempt to launch herself across the kitchen area with every intention of removing his face.

However, she barely reacted to him entering the apartment, let alone sitting beside her. Her strange bright blue eyes with pink, starlike patterns were focused solely on Koa, who moved toward the kitchen counter and was preparing something else.

She seemed considerably calmer and in control now.

Rhos didn’t know what to do with that.

He wasn’t good with children.

Actually, saying he wasn’t good with children implied he had accumulated enough experience to discover whether he was good or bad with them in the first place. Rhos couldn’t remember the last time he properly interacted with a child younger than himself.

He had grown up constantly moving through Enclosures, and after entering the Elderwood Biome, his life consisted mostly of fighting to survive, attending the Academy, and working as a Ranger.

At no point during any of that had he ever had a moment with a child.

Was he supposed to talk to her?

Smile?

Pat her head?

Not knowing what to do with himself, he kept stealing glances at her. The little girl, however, didn’t seem to have the slightest bit of interest in him.

Somehow that started to bother him. Why was she being so cold toward him? He saved her life for crying out loud.

A psycho wanted to carve her open and he willingly stepped between them, getting stabbed through the heart in the process. He was so close to death that he required a healing pod, and now the person he nearly died to protect couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge his existence.

’Not that I’m expecting gratitude’

He peeked at her again.

’But some gratitude would be nice’

He wasn’t asking for much. Maybe a smile. A respectful nod. Any show of affection would be good too.

A bowl appeared in front of him and he looked down to see steam rising from a simple mixture of vegetables, grains and broth.

"Eat up"

He did not eat anything in the hospital but he knew that this would taste better than anything they served him.

"Thanks"

Koa picked up the girl’s bowl again, sat opposite them and scooped another spoonful before holding it toward the child’s mouth.

She obediently ate.

Watching them, he started to feel like the strange one here.

For some odd reason, Koa hadn’t asked him a single question concerning his whereabouts or brought up the fact he disappeared after being explicitly told not to leave the apartment.

She did not ask him about the broken window either.

When Rhos looked at it, he saw that someone had covered the opening with a box. It was probably her.

That made him feel slightly guilty.

’I should pay for that too’

The apartment settled into a serene domestic silence. Rhos ate while Koa continued feeding the little girl. Every now and then Koa wiped something from the corner of the child’s mouth before offering her more.

The more he watched them, the more questions began to surface from his mind, particularly on who brought the girl here?

Rhos was certainly glad she was alive. He had gone through far too much trouble getting her back. But somebody definitely brought her here.

Was it Ripley?

His expression became doubtful. That psycho was trying to kill her, and how would she know where Koa lived?

Rhos chewed thoughtfully. Maybe he was giving Ripley far too much credit for everything that had happened after he lost consciousness.

So, he tried to consider someone else. While thinking about it, his eyes unconsciously fell on Koa, who noticed him quickly.

"Is she yours?"

Rhos nearly inhaled his food. He coughed, covered his mouth and stared at her in shock.

"Mine? What does that even mean? Do I look like the kind of guy women would line up to have children with?"

Koa’s hollow pink eyes glanced at him briefly before focusing on the little girl again.

"I suppose not"

"You answered that so quick"

He frowned into his food, touching his face. He wasn’t ugly.

At least, he didn’t think he was ugly. Nobody ever screamed upon seeing his face, and Ripley seemed unusually interested in it.

Although using that crazy girl as a validation for anything was probably a mistake.

Maybe he needed to start taking better care of his appearance.

Koa lifted a spoonful to the girl and asked.

"Does she have a name?"

That question immediately distracted him from her hurtful words. He lowered his hand and thought for a bit.

"Not that I’m aware of. Someone told me she needs to be given one, though"

’Name her as though she were your own offspring’

Neth’s words returned to him. A name. The little girl needed a name.

Rhos had been thinking about it ever since the tiny primordial told him. He just wasn’t able to settle on anything that felt right.

The little girl looked between them, making him wonder whether she understood what they were talking about.

"Sha nari mora kala. Naa resh"

Koa stopped moving when she shook her head and pushed the spoon away with both hands.

"Oh, you’re full already?"

She lifted the bowl and looked inside.

"Look at that. You almost finished everything"

"Ura nai sha morra"

"Yes, I can see that. You don’t have to finish it. I’ll keep the rest"

Rhos’s spoon stopped halfway toward his mouth. For a second, he thought he was seeing things, but were they actually communicating?

"Hold on, Black Crow"

He lowered his spoon.

"Can you understand her?"