The screams were wandering around their ears, their grips were tight on their swords. They took a deep breath, then suddenly, another scream of that person they heard, and without thinking for a second, they ran in that direction, following the scream. Then they arrived, and they saw a girl around 17–18 years old, wearing an old plain long dress covered in blood, and she was wearing a thick cloth headwear that covered her hair and a thick facewear that covered her face. Her shoulder cloth was a little bit tied up, and blood was coming from that. She was crying, falling on the ground, and the monsters—and they saw a monster in front of her—were walking towards her. Ming, Rin, and Luca tightened their grip on their swords again. Then, as the monster was about to attack the girl, Rin and Ming quickly ran towards her, and then—
"Slashed! Slashed!"
Rin cut that monster's head, and at the same moment, Ming cut the monster into two parts. The blood of that monster fell on the girl and over Ming and Rin's faces. They turned towards the girl, but all they could see were her fearful eyes. Her eyes were dark brown and shone in the sun, and she was looking at them with fear. Luca quickly stepped forward and helped her stand up.
"Are you okay?" Rin asked with a firm voice, but not rude. The girl nodded with fear. Then Ming said, "We should go back to that place where we were, so we can talk to her clearly." Rin and Luca nodded. Luca helped the girl walk and follow Rin and Ming. When they arrived, Luca guided her towards the place where they had been sitting before.
Then Ming and Rin sat in front of the girl. Ming took the water bottle from his bag and handed it to her. She hesitantly took it and drank water from the bottle. She was too scared, tired, and thirsty that she drank all the water, but no one said anything. They just watched. What caught their attention and made them curious was that she did not take off her face veil while drinking. She drank water from under the veil. After drinking, she handed the water bottle back to Ming. Ming quietly took it back. The girl slowly started to calm down. Then Rin asked, "Who are you? What's your name?" Ming and Rin waited for a response. Luca, standing next to the girl, also waited. The girl responded hesitantly, "My—my—my name is Deiba Takami."
Rin and Ming nodded. "Okay, you have a pretty name," Luca said to comfort her. Deiba moved her head as thanks. Then Rin intervened, "So Deiba, how old are you? What is your age?" Deiba turned her face towards Rin as he asked and replied, "I—I—I am 17 years old, sir." Then Ming asked, "How did you end up here?" Again, Rin intervened, "And why did you hide your face? Why are you wearing a head veil and a face veil?" Luca also asked, "Yeah, are you a priest or something, that you are wearing a veil?" Ming nodded, clearly curious. They all were curious about it.
Then the girl, Deiba, shook her head and answered, "No, I'm not a priest. Actually, I'm from a small village. In our village, girls from ages 15 to 40 hide their faces. It's our culture. We only show our faces to our family, close ones, or someone we trust. We hide our faces because everyone in our village is very beautiful, and mostly people fall for our villagers. That's also why we hide our faces." Rin, Ming, and Luca raised their brows. Rin couldn't help but comment, "What a weird reason." He sighed and said, "Anyway, we can't judge anyone's culture."
Then Ming asked again, "And how did you end up here?" The girl Deiba replied, "Actually, I came here, to this town, Tokyo, with my family two months ago because my dad found a job here, and also got a small house where we live. Everything was fine, good, until one day…" She stopped for a minute before continuing. "One day, suddenly people started turning into these things—even my mother and younger sister. But my dad and I did not turn into such beings. But my mother and sister, who had already turned into these creatures, attacked us. Dad tried to keep me safe, but he got stuck among them. He asked me to run… and I ran. All I heard was his painful scream."
As Deiba finished her story, she was silently crying, then continued, "I kept running and hiding and arrived here in this forest, but today I barely survived. I am alive because of you all, thanks to you all."
Rin, Luca, and Ming nodded. Luca felt pity for her and bad for her. Ming's and Rin's expressions did not say anything, but now they felt protective towards her, like they were her brothers, like she was their sister.
"You are injured, you need treatment," Rin said, pointing towards her wounded shoulder. Ming and Luca agreed and glanced at her shoulder. Rin stepped forward with the first aid kit from his bag, but Deiba looked uncomfortable. Rin, Ming, and Luca noticed that. Rin turned to Ming and Luca. They understood what he was trying to do. They turned their faces away and closed their eyes.
Then Rin crouched down in front of her and said, "Don't worry, Deiba. I will keep my eyes closed." Deiba nodded hesitantly. Rin closed his eyes, reached his hand towards her wounded shoulder, removed a bit of her cloth to treat the wound, applied ointment, and put a bandage on her shoulder. During that, Deiba also helped him reach for the bandage and ointment because his eyes were closed. Then he put her shoulder cloth back in place and opened his eyes. "It's done."
Ming and Luca opened their eyes and turned towards them. Deiba said softly, "Thanks." Rin shook his head, "It's okay." Then Luca said, "You must be hungry." Deiba nodded hesitantly. Rin got up, reached into his bag, took a piece of bread, and gave it to her. She took it and started eating from under her veil.
Ming was just watching. He also felt protective toward her, but he also wondered—is it okay to trust a stranger?
A new person, a new responsibility. They didn't know what it would bring next. All they knew was that they had to protect her and themselves, for those who were waiting at headquarters for them to return.
End of Chapter 23