I squatted in front of her as her eyes slowly opened again. She looked around for a moment, completely unaware of my presence, until her eyes landed on me, causing her to immediately back away from me.

I frowned but considering that my current look, consisting of my tattered clothing, dirt covered skin and unshaven face made me look a little bit unfriendly, was the cause of her reaction towards me.

As her brother came to greet her with a joyful expression her hugged him and cradled him in a protective position, all the while watching my movements with a fearful and angered look. She was certainly not happy to see me.

Not that it mattered to me. I didn't help her to receive gratitude, but out of my own willingness and capability to help her. I looked back at her for a while longer as her brother was trying to explain everything that has happened since she fell unconscious. I nodded my satisfaction at her recovery and stood up preparing to head to the east to resume my search for knowledge.

"Wait.... Pwese."

I stopped for a moment and looked back at the younger brother who had called out for me.

"Don't go"

I raised an eyebrow at his request while his sister cupped his face and whispered to him, still continuously glancing back at me.

"No, sis. He's not a bad man. He helped us."

The brother tried to appeal to his sister but to no avail. She was much too wary of me to listen to her brother.

When my eyes met her, I knew. So I closed my eyes and began to leave. 

The younger brother pleaded for me to not go, but I continued to walk away. After just a brief look in her cold eyes, I saw that she would not accept me the same way her brother had and would do what she must to protect her and her brother from me. So I took my leave even as I heard him beg me not to leave him and his sister.

It was when I was a little ways away that I heard the tiny footsteps of the little boy chase after me that I turned around in time for him to run into me crying.

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"Pwese. Don't leave," he cried into me.

Surprised, I didn't know what to say. During my time aiding him and his sister back to health, I had tried to treat them with kindness, but as I was not well versed in how to act a certain way, I mimicked how She, my first love, acted when she was treating others. However, I did not know that my behavior would provoke such a response from him. That was when I heard his sister call out to him so I looked up from him and saw his sister running towards us only to stop with a surprised look on her face, much like my own.

She looked back and forth from me to her brother, trying to decide on what to do next when her brother thought this highly of someone she didn't trust until eventually, she yield and came towards me and said in a quiet voice.

"Please listen to my brother's request."

I simply stood there dumbfounded, unsure what to do or how to react. Then I realized that I could not heed their request, after all, I needed to travel east and could not stay with them. I grabbed the young boy by the shoulders and kneeled down to look at him and shook my head.

"I'm sorry, but I need to travel east. I cannot stay with you."

He simply stood there with new tears falling from his already red eyes. His sister looked at him with a pained expression on her face and looked at me just as I was standing up.

"Th...then take us with you..." she said.

"Are you sure? Wouldn't your mother or father worry?"

As soon as I mentioned that her face darkened and she said.

"We don't have any."

I looked at her with a puzzled look.

If she doesn't have a caretaker, then how has she been getting food for the both of ...

That's when I realized why she was so lenient when it came to her brother's opinion despite her own and how they had acquired food. It was because of her. She took on the role of a parent for her brother and because they only had each other she wanted to give her brother a happy life in spite of their current situation. She was the one who gave up her happiness and was forced to grow up for her brother.

I looked at them a while longer as I contemplated whether or not bringing them along would be the correct choice in such a situation. I went back and forth within my mind, getting no headway on the dilemma until I grew tired of it and just went with what I felt was the right choice.

"Very well."

I turned and began to walk off but I didn't hear their footsteps behind me, so I turned around to look at them and was met with their comically confused expressions and smiled.

"Well? Are you coming?"

"Huh...ah... Yeah, yes. We're coming."

Watching them both come towards me I couldn't help but feel happy that there were people who depended on me, but I also felt a sense of discomfort. I worried over whether or not my choice was the correct one.

And even now, I still do not know.