The Falling Star: Part 1

Chapter 3: Andromeda

    After a few days, Hiroto had learned a couple of new things about the girl he had been keeping. The first thing was that she could definitely understand him, as he no longer had to make hand gestures or elaborate on what he was saying to make her figure out what he meant. The second was that, for whatever reason, she would not allow herself to be away from him for too long. Hiroto chalked it up to her being in an unfamiliar environment, and he was the only one who had helped her in that time. But for all she knew, he could have been some kind of villain holding her against her will...though the thought clearly didn't occur to her. The girl had a strange implicit trust in him, the kind that he had thought only existed in stories. How could a girl at her age be so naive? Everything about her was a mystery to him. However, he just couldn't bring himself to kick her out, or be rid of her. It was he who decided to take her in the first place, after all. When he woke up in his bed, the first thing that came to his mind was the fact that he had managed to fall asleep at all. The second was the location of the mystery girl, and upon a short search he found that she was still asleep, laying on the couch with a blanket over her and a pillow under her head. She looked just as peaceful in sleep as she did when she was awake, if not more so. Hiroto got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, brushing his teeth before walking back into the living room. Still she was asleep, it seemed she was a bit of a heavy sleeper. Hiroto lit a cigarette and walked over to the window, opening it slightly to let the smoke out. He stared out the window into the streets, where he would occasionally see someone pass by. It was funny to him, everyone was blissfully unaware of the enigma that was currently resting on his couch, and in a way he still was as well. He sighed, exhaling some smoke as he dwelled on his situation further. The time would come when he would have to decide what to do with her, and it might be easier to make that decision sooner rather than later. Hiroto flicked some ash off of his cigarette and turned around, leaning his back against the wall. He widened his eyes slightly when he saw the girl standing there, apparently having woken up and walked over to him.

"You're awfully quiet." He pointed out, taking another drag.

It made sense, considering her light frame and the fact that she couldn't speak, but all the same, it was a bit unnerving. The girl waved her hand in front of her face, trying to swat away the smoke that Hiroto was creating.

"Sorry." He said simply, turning back to the window and standing closer to it.

Neither of them made a sound for a time, and the silence danced through the air with the dust, floating in the sunlight that shone through the open window. Hiroto grit his teeth, getting another sinking feeling deep within him. But the girl came into his view, looking out of the window with a blank expression. He looked over at her, wondering exactly what it was she might be thinking. Did she perhaps find his world to be ugly, in comparison to where she came from? Or maybe the world in the sky was even worse, and to her it was paradise to have fallen down. The look on her face betrayed nothing, leaving him wondering if either guess was right, or neither of them.

"Are you hungry?" Hiroto asked, "Want something to eat?"

Slowly the girl looked over at him, the sunlight covering half of her face. And slowly she shook her head, before her eyes went to the floor.

"Yeah, me neither." He said, walking over to the couch and sitting down.

The girl kept her eyes down as she walked over as well, but stopped when something caught her eye. Her foot brushed against a record that had been sitting on the floor, and she picked it up. Hiroto kept his eyes on the turned off television, watching her in the reflection as she examined it. The girl brushed her fingers along the edges of the casing, rotating it until the record itself slid out the bottom. She perked up slightly as it fell to the floor, dropping the casing and kneeling down to pick up the record. As she remained in a kneeling position, she stared intently at the record, holding it firmly in front of her.