Will Always Be There

Ch. I

A small girl sighed as she walked down the road, looking at the few coins in one hand. "All that cleaning and gathering and I didn't get much for it" she grumbled and then let out a breath, "well at least I managed to get some food for me and Dororo" she sighed as she looked at the two dango sticks she bought. Her smiled then saddened. "These people really are stingy"

(Name) was a 16 year old girl who worked odd jobs in almost any place in the small village she and her little brother stayed at. They lost their parents at a young age and (name) being the oldest took it upon herself to take care of her little sibling.
This day, she managed to get a family to pay her upfront to clean their little home and gather some herbs from the shrubs across the river. She had just finished cleaning and gathering the herbs when she decided to get some dango for her and her little brother, before going to drop off the plants. Unfortunately, she could only buy two with the little money they gave her.

Her bare feet walked over to where she knew her little sibling was. Dororo had ran by and told her about what he was up to. Of course she didn't approve, but he was gonna do it anyway and she was busy at the time. From across the river she could see her little brother sitting on a tattered mat with some stuff he stole, trying to get people to buy them.

"Come, take a look at these quality goods, straight from the capital!" He announced and picked up a red kimono, "this is real silk that has been worn by a wealthy princess. Come miss, feel it! And this is a sale jug from the Yamata No Orochi legend. All one-of-a-kind quality items. I'll give you a bargain. I'll even throw in these dried fish. First come, first serve!"

(Name) chuckled. She had to admit, he was good. She expression changed into that of worry when she saw 5 big men come up to Dororo. 'I knew I should've tried to talk him out of it' (name) thought as she watched the scene unfold. 'And he's too cocky for his own good!' She creamed internally as she saw him smirk and act tough. She was about to cross the bridge when she saw him throw the jug at the biggest guy and run for it.

"Dororo!!" (Name) started running down the path across the river, along with Dororo and the men. "Damn it!" She yelled as she tried to keep up, "for a little guy you sure are fast!" She yelled angrily, not looking where she was going. Because of this, she bumped into a kid who was starring at the scene and started falling down along with him. Before they could fall down into the river, someone had grabbed both of them and yanked them back up quickly and just continued to walked away.

"Thank you, mister" the boy called out as (name) was still catching her breath from the sudden shock

"Don't just stand there, say thank you" the mother had said as she forced her son to bow.

The realization came back to (name) and she quickly bowed to the mother, "I am so sorry! I hope he's alright!"

"Yes, he's fine" the mother replied, "and you miss? You fell as well"

(Name) chuckled, "nothing to worry about"

"Is there a festival today, mama?" The boy asked

"Of course not. We just had one not long ago"

The boy then pointed to the man who saved them, "but he had a mask on"

(Name) looked lost for a second, before she remember she had a brother in danger. She gasped out loud and jumped to her feet. "Dororo!" She started looking around frantically but she lost sight of the little boy and the five men. "Oh no!" She started running down the path again, hoping she could see a glimpse of Dororo and ended up bumping into the man in front of her. "Sorry about that!" She yelled as she quickly bowed and continued running.

~~~~~~~~~~~

(Name) gasped for breathe. She finally found Dororo one the other side of the river, washing his hands. She growled and ran across the broke bridge, trying not to pay attention to how some boards broke behind her, and how loud it creaked under her.
She was about to yell at him when she saw him being mean to a puppy.