Ignoring the little girl for now, Madel headed into the bar and checked around for potential threats first. It was already nearing the end of the lunch crowd and so there were only a few customers sitting by the bar top. She assessed everyone there as she came to the conclusion that it should most likely be safe. Heading out, she realized the little girl was still standing absentmindedly by the door. In the end, she didn't pay anymore attention to her as Madel went ahead to open the door for Sato.
Sato who rarely came out for anything, was as pale as paper. Working constantly in the building had truly turned him into the looks of a weak pale prince. With his tie slightly loosen and suit off, Sato was every female teen's dream crush. Over the years, Sato's facial features had matured quickly and turned him from the innocent young man into a charming prince.
The young man squinted his eyes slightly as he walked under the hot sun. As he arrived near the Ramen Bar, he and Madel quickly noticed that there was a staff that was working in the ramen bar, trying to chase away a little girl. Sato asked rhetorically, "What's going on?"
"The little girl had been standing outside the bar for some time and so now, they must be trying to chase her away." Madel explained with what she got out of the situation.
"I see. She must be hungry." Although Sato rarely interacted with others, he still had a sore spot for children. Even after his incident and his mountain of work, he would still make it a habit to visit the Sunflower Orphanage every quarter of a year. Approaching the employee, Sato spoke out, "Stop right there. The little girl is with me."
The little girl turned her head to look at Sato. There was a slight air of apprehensiveness surrounding the little girl. Sato could see that she herself wasn't very comfortable with such an offer. He quickly tried to remedy it. "Come in to the restaurant. I will buy you a meal. You do not have to sit with me if you do not want to."
Seeing how Sato had a reassuring smile, the little girl nodded her head absentmindedly. The employee also apologized as he brought the trio into the ramen bar. As promised, Sato did not force the girl to sit with them. She chose to sit in the table beside them. She would take quick peaks at Sato and whenever Sato and her eye's met, the young man would smile sweetly at her.
Sato helped to order the most famous ramen bowl for the three of them. When it arrived, Sato could see the sparkle in the little girl's eyes as she was wowed by the ramen. Not standing on ceremony, the girl dug into her meal. Wolfing it down, it looked like she was truly hungry and it wasn't a lie. Though, what Sato did not understand was why a young girl of age five to six was out on the streets by herself. Where were her parents?
The young man decided that he should ask her after the meal. It would be a better time then anyways. When the girl was done with the meal, there was a smile of satisfaction on her face. It was very cute for Sato the onlooker. He was glad that he could make a young one happy.
"Hey, now that you ate the food, could you help big brother answer some questions?" Sato spoke across the table in a soothing voice.
The little girl hesitated at Sato's words, but eventually nodded her head in agreement.
"Are you lost from your parents?"
"N..No." The little girl stuttered when answering.
"How come you are out by yourself? It is very dangerous, you know." Sato probed further, but was met with silence. However, he could see that something was up with the way the girl was acting. One of her hand was grasping her other arm tightly. It was like she was afraid.
"Did you run away from home?" Sato guessed, to which the girl turned to look up in surprise. It was as he had suspected. The little girl had indeed ran out of home. From the way she was dressed, the girl did not have time to change and had no choice, but to wear her pajamas and slippers.
"Can you tell me why did you run from home?" The girl was still apprehensive as Sato tried to pry deeper. He tried his best to reassure her. "I may be able to help you out, you know? Big brother helped to buy you ramen, correct?"
With that, the little girl was more convinced by Sato. She looked down at her feet that hung in the air while she was seated. She spoke slowly in an afraid manner, "I scared of mommy and daddy."
"You are scared? How come?"
"Mommy and daddy would hit me when angry." As she said that, Her left hand was still tightly grasping onto her right arm that was covered by her long sleeve.
Sato noticed this. He asked nicely, "Can big brother take a look at your arm?"
The little girl nodded. Sato came over to sit in the space between Madel and the girl. With a gentle motion, he pushed up the sleeve. Sato's face revealed an expression of shock. All across the little girl's right arm were many spots of blue and black. Anyone could see that she had been involved in physical abuse. Sato asked with a pained face, "Is there anywhere else on your body that is pain?"
The girl nodded as she pointed at her legs too.
"Could you let big brother see your legs?" The girl pulled up her long pants obediently as it revealed more bruises. There were even scabbed wounds on parts of her leg. This made the young man extremely furious. There weren't many times in life where Sato felt like this. Now, seeing how a helpless little girl was beaten till such a stage, it made Sato want to help her out even more.
"Could you tell big brother your name?"
"Le..Leah."