Chereads / I'm a Phoenix / Chapter 4 - CHAPTER 3.1 | Takanashi Kiara

Chapter 4 - CHAPTER 3.1 | Takanashi Kiara

"Chief, this woman's temperature returned back to normal after 5 minutes of being in here."

"That's impossible, no human could generate that much body heat."

Noises could be heard from my surroundings causing me to wake up.

"Ughh...", I moaned after waking up feeling the pain in my head.

"Chief she's awake, look!", the man on the left said.

The man pointed at me by the time he heard my noise as I woke up, and the other man on the right got closer to me and knelt down.

"Are you feeling okay miss?", the man asked.

"I-... I'm feeling okay..", I answered.

"Are you sure? You're not feeling cold or hurt?"

"Yeah.. I don't feel any pain and I don't feel cold.."

"That's interesting..", the man on the left said.

"Excuse me but, where am I?", I asked.

"You're at our shelter which is close to where we found you.", the man on the right answered.

"I.. I now remember, I fell from a tall cliff and ended up on that big snow pile.."

"You're lucky you didn't get any injuries or wounds from that fall. Or worse, you could've died..", the man on the left said.

"Yeah.. I guess..",  I said.

I looked at my surroundings to see the 'Shelter', it's made out of wood but the wood seemed so clean to call it a Natural Wood.

The 2 men were looking at me as I was scanning my surroundings, after some time they asked my name..

"What's your name, miss?", the man on the right asked.

"My name is.. K-...", I stopped as soon as I remembered that paper.

Was that really my real name? What if it's just a joke from someone I don't know? I mean, it's not like I remember anyone now but.. Still...

Fine, I'll use it. Since I have no other choice.

"Miss? Is there something wrong?", the man on the right asked.

"N-No.. Um... My name is.. Takanashi Kiara..", I answered his question.

"Takanashi? Is that another language?", the man on the left asked.

"Possibly, I don't even know myself..", I answered.

"May I know your names?", I asked the two men for their names.

I don't think I'll be comfortable talking to these men without knowing their names and who they really are. But for now, I'll ask for the names.

"Oh yeah, our apologies.", the man on the right said as he stood up and got himself ready for his introduction.

"My name is Steven." the man on the right said.

"And my name is Mike, nice to meet you Kiara.", the man on the left said.

"Steven.. Mike.. Nice to meet you two, and I'm really grateful that you saved my life.", I thanked them as I bowed my head downwards.

"Nono, there's no need. We just did what we had to do.", Steven said.

"Steven's right, although I'm more curious about your body temperature. Are you sure you're okay?", Mike asked.

"I-I'm fine really, there's nothing to worry about..", I said.

"I see.. Well if there's anything you need or if you're feeling off, just consult to me okay?", Mike said.

"O-Okay.. Thanks.."

Is there something wrong with my body temperature? I don't really think so..?

As I was about to ask about something else, the door behind Mike started to open.

When it opened, a woman can be seen carrying a water bucket.

"Honey, I brought what you asked for..", the woman said as she slowly putted down the water bucket on the floor.

"Whooh.. This was heavy..", the woman sighed out of stress.

"Thanks Claire, you can just put it on the side of the couch.", Steven said.

"Geez, what do you even need this fo—", the woman stopped as she looked at me.

Eh? Did I do something? Am I supposed to say something? What am I supposed to do?

These thoughts ran through my mind as I was doing a staring contest with the woman who is currently staring at me as if thousands of daggers are about to stab me if I even say anything.

"Claire? Is everything okay?", Steven asked as she was getting close to the woman.

"St-Steven? Wh-Who is she?", the woman asked while still staring at me and is currently pointing her hands towards me.

"Oh, her name is Kiara we found her on—"

"EEK!", Mike shrieked.

I would've done the same as Mike did, and that's because..

The woman is currently holding Steven's clothes, while also looking at Steven in the eye but unlike earlier with mine..

Her stare at Steven, is like..

If you don't explain everything to me about this, I'll murder you.

"Uhh..uhh.. This is— You've got the wrong idea Claire!", Steven trying to explain in panic while still stuttering.

"Then tell me what this is all about! Huh??!!", Claire said with fierce and fury, as if she's really going to kill Steven if he's not going to explain something.

"SHE'S A WOMAN WHO FELL FROM A CLIFF AND LANDED ON A PILE OF SNOW THAT'S NEAR US, AND ME AND MIKE FOUND HER LYING COLD SO WE BROUGHT HER HERE!", Steven explained loudly as fast as he could and in panic.

Silence came along after that explanation.

Claire started to look down with darkness still in her face, but by the time she looked up..

"Oh my! You should've explained earlier then!", Claire said with a smile and cheerful aura unlike before.

Steven and Mike both sighed after Claire's fury and immense aura.

What.. Was that?

Is what I thought in my head after witnessing such an event.

"I thought she's one if your girls Steven! Geez, if you explained earlier she wouldn't have to see that ugly side of me right?", Claire said as she was looking at me with cheerful aura and a smile.

"That's.. What I was about to say though..", Steven said.

What even are these people? Are they friends? Couples?

They're too attached to be friends right?

Claire got closer to me and introduced herself while still having the cheerful aura and smile on her face.

"My name is Claire! It's nice to meet you!", Claire said.

"M-My name.. Is Kiara..", I said.

"Nice to meet you Kiara! I'm glad that my husband saved you from the coldness outside. If he left you, you would've died right?", Claire said.

"Y-Yeah.. Thanks to them, I'm safe."

I don't think I'm safe. This woman has a cheerful aura and a smile on her face, and yet her use of words are so weird and it's scaring me..

"If he didn't save you, well.. I would've killed him.", Claire said while slowly looking at Steven with intense aura of murderous intent.

When Steven and Mike saw her face, they immediately gulped as a sign of fear towards her.

As I was looking at them, I saw a hand that's behind the door. A small hand in fact.

Claire noticed that I was looking at that hand.

"Oh, so you noticed?", she asked.

"Yeah..", I said.

"Kitty, come out from there. She's not a stranger, she's a friend.", Claire said as if calling out to that hand.

Seconds later after Claire's call, the hand slowly moved and a head could be seen.

Then the eyes can be seen. It turns out that it's a child hiding behind the door.

"Come on Kitty, she's a friend.", Claire said while trying to pursue the child to come in. But it didn't work.

I stood up and slowly approached to where the child is.

The child tried to hide again, but I continued my approach.

By the time I reached the door, I knelt down and said..

"Hi~, I'm Kiara, what's your name?"

The child didn't answer and continued to hide.

"It's cold out there you know?", I said while trying to pursue the child to come inside.

"It's.. Not cold..", the child replied.

"Is it because of your jacket? Is it protecting you from the cold?", I asked.

"Y-Yes.. It is.."

"Even if you're wearing a jacket, it's still cold you know? Don't worry, I'm a friend just like what Claire said. I won't hurt you or try to hurt anyone here.", I said.

The child slowly showed her head to me, her eyes could be seen right now..

"Are you.. Really a friend?", the child asked.

"Yes. I'm a friend and my name is Kiara. What's your name?", I asked.

"K-Kitty..", she answered.

"Nice to meet you Kitty!", I said while smiling at her.

While still showing that she's shy, she tried to come inside the house. After she did, I smiled at her while still kneeling down.

"See Kitty?, she's a friend!", Mike said.

Kitty looked at Mike and started to smile, she then looked at me and smiled. So I smiled back even more.

"This is so sweet...", Steven said.

"Steven, let's talk about something after dinner okay?", Claire said while having the murderous intent again.

Steven gulped again and agreed to her request.

Claire then asked Steven to take care of the water bucket that she brought, she said that it might be useful later.

"Kitty? Why don't we go to the kitchen so that we can prepare dinner?", Claire asked Kitty.

"Okay..!", Kitty nodded and quickly approached Claire.

She looked back at me, smiled and then waved her hand.

Was she saying hello or byebye?

Whatever it was, I just waved back at her without thinking.

Steven then brought the water bucket to the side of the couch on where I was earlier. After he did, he said something..

"So, is there anything we can do for you Kiara? I mean, you're already here in our shelter. Do you want to eat with us perhaps?", Steven offered.

"I-Is it okay? I mean, I'm just a stranger to you people right?", I said.

"I mean, you're not a stranger anymore since we introduced ourselves.", Steven said.

"Where do you live Kiara?", Mike asked suddenly.

"I...", I said while trying to remember my old memories, but just like what I did earlier. I got nothing..

"I'm sorry, but even I don't know where I live..", I answered Mike's question.

"Really? Do you perhaps don't remember anything?", Mike asked.

"Yeah, I guess that's the case. Even if I try to remember it as hard as I can, I still get nothing..", I explained.

"Is it some kind of amnesia?", Steven asked.

"Amnesia?", I asked back because I don't know what that means.

"Amnesia means memory loss. And that's the case you have right now.", Mike explained.

"I see, that might be right.."

"Then what will you do once the blizzard calms down? Will you go back and travel again?", Steven asked.

"Maybe, but even if I try to travel. I won't get any where, especially without any memories of my past..", I said.

"Hm.. That really is tough huh..", Steven said.

"Steven, why don't we let her stay at our Village?", Mike suddenly proposed something to Steven.

"Mike, rules are rules remember? Even if she's not a stranger to us anymore, she's still a stranger to our Village.", Steven said.

"I know but, we can't just let her roam around aimlessly right? Especially at her condition right now. She needs at least have a helping hand right now.", Mike said.

"Eh? Uh.. It's okay if you don't take me into your Village, I'll be fine. Don't worry.", I said while smiling.

"You aren't going to be fine, especially when you're having amnesia. You'd be dead before you could reach safety, like our shelter.", Mike explained.

Mike's right, I'd be dead if I travel aimlessly. I'm thankful that they found me on that blizzard, if they didn't then the warm temperature that I felt before would've disappeared and by the time I lose my consciousness I'll turn into an Ice Sculpture.

Mike tried to convince Steven to let me enter their Village where I can be safe and warm, but Steven still considered the rules of their Village.

If they break that, then something bad will happen to them.

Suddenly, Claire called us out for dinner.

Even though I'm just a new person to them, they're now treating me dinner. These group of people are too kind..

"Looks like Claire called us, let's continue this conversation once we have a full stomach okay?", Steven said.

"Fine..", Mike replied.

As they walked towards the kitchen where the dinner is prepared, Steven looked at me and asked..

"You're not coming, Kiara?"

"Eh? I'm allowed?", I asked.

"Come on now, just because I said you're not allowed in our Village doesn't mean you're not allowed to eat. Come on, before the food gets cold."

"O-Okay..", I said while approaching the kitchen.

As I was walking, I looked at my side and saw a curtain that's covering a closed window. However, I can see a shadow beyond the curtain and the window.

I stopped at the direction of the kitchen, and slowly changed my direction towards the shadow.

As I was getting closer to it, I prepared my hand to open the curtain.

By the time I was almost reaching it, Mike called out to me from the kitchen.

"Kiaraaa, the food is getting cold!"

"B-Be right there!", I replied while turning my back on the curtain.

By the time I looked back at the curtain, the shadow disappeared.

What was that?

Is what I thought after seeing a mysterious shadow figure that suddenly disappeared.

I continued to turn my back on the curtain, and continued to go towards the kitchen.

By the time I got there, Mike prepared me a seat. When he noticed me, he then got the seat backwards so that I can sit on it.

I sat on the seat and thanked Mike, the table was a rectangular shape. So beside me is Mike, on my and Mike's left is Claire, on my right is Steven. As if they're across to each other like having a date, but with us.

And across me is Kitty, who is currently behaving. Maybe she's still shy because of me.

"Don't worry about Kitty, she's just shy when she sees new faces around her.", Claire explained.

"So then, shall we eat?", Steven proposed.

"Let's pray first.", Claire said.

"Yes, of course.", Steven said.

As a prayer was about to start, they held their hands together around the food.

Mike held his hand out to mine, and I had no choice but to hold it. I also held out to Steven's hand. And I can already feel Claire's glare..

The prayer then started after we all held our hands together around the food.

After the prayer, we started our dinner.