"Wow!"
We decided to temporarily take in Niya in our home, and on the first morning she arrived we were greeted by the loud voice of a woman, something that had never been heard of when we were living with just the two men.
…Why am I hearing a woman's voice? Is it Lina?
My sleepy brain wasn't working properly for a moment, but I remembered what happened yesterday - that's right, yesterday while I was running, I had rescued a girl who couldn't speak at Shrine. So the voice I heard wasn't Lina's, but the girl I rescued, Niya's.
"...It wasn't a dream."
Reminded once again that what happened yesterday was real, I tried to get out of bed, but found it even harder than usual to get up. I'm not a morning person, but today I felt heavier than usual.
"Wow!"
While I was lolling around in bed, I heard Niya's voice again from the first floor.
"What is this..."
To be honest, I wanted to pretend I didn't hear and just sleep a little longer, but that wasn't possible. Even though I was feeling a bit annoyed, I somehow managed to get up from the bed and go down to the first floor where Niya was screaming.
When I arrived at the living room, I found Niya there, with a slightly messy sleep pattern and an anxious look on her face. The moment she saw me, her anxious expression changed into an innocent, childlike smile.
"I!"
Saying that, she ran over to me and hugged me.
"Whoa!"
The force was stronger than I had imagined and I nearly lost my balance, but I managed to hold on.
"Hey! Hey!"
Niya has a childlike mannerism, but she is the same height as Lina. On the contrary, she is so beautiful that she can confidently say, "If I walked down the street, everyone would turn their heads to look at me." To be honest, it would be hard for me, a teenager, to remain cool when a woman like that hugged me.
While I was wondering what to do, grandpa woke up.
"Good morning...what are you doing?"
"Niya was screaming, so I came to check on her and she suddenly hugged me..."
Grandpa looks at Niya, still clinging to me, and smiles gently.
"Maybe he was worried because he woke up and no one was there?"
Now that you mention it, it certainly makes sense. Before she found me earlier, Niya had the look of a lost child searching for its parents.
Thinking about it like that, I suddenly felt sorry for having made Niya feel uneasy, and I wondered if I should say at least a word of apology, even if it wouldn't get through to her...
"Guuu"
A familiar sound echoed in the space occupied by me, Grandpa, and Niya. It was the same sound I had heard yesterday: Niya's stomach.
"Hahaha! Niya, are you hungry? Ok, let's go prepare breakfast then."
Hearing Niya's silent declaration of hunger, Grandpa headed to the kitchen and the situation unfolded exactly the same as last night, waiting until Niya and I were ready to eat.
That's right, now would be a good opportunity to tell Niya my name.
I immediately spoke to Niya, who was still clinging to me.
"Okay? While you're here, your name is Niya ."
Niya listens to what I'm saying with interest, but doesn't seem to understand.
--How can I explain this to Niya in a way that she can understand?
Make your brain work at full speed when you wake up.
When she refers to herself, she says "I." So, how about starting by replacing "I" with "Niya"?
I have no idea if this is the right way to do it. I'm sure there's a better way, but I can't think of one right now.
Let's give it a try.
"It's not 'I', it's Niya."
Just like last night, when I pronounce "Niya," I point at her. She looks at me, trying to understand what I mean.
"Y-yes!"
I repeated it to her, letter by letter, over and over again, but I never heard the word "Niya" come out of her mouth.
I guess it's not going to work that well that many times...
Just as I was thinking about whether I should give up on getting Niya to say her name here and now, she spoke.
"Huh... what?"
I didn't mishear; although her pronunciation was choppy, she was definitely imitating me and saying "Niya".
"That's right, Niya! That's your name!"
Seeing me reply with a smile,Niya's own expression is also drawn to a smile.
"Come on! Come on!"
"Not bad! Niya!"
"Ne-ee-ya!"
"It's not 'Nee', it's 'Ni'! Niya!"
Again, the pronunciation is separated into individual letters, followed by Niya.
"Y-yes!"
"Nice job! Keep it up and now it's time for a smooth 'Niya'!"
"Ni-ya!"
"Okay! That's all for today!"
After hearing Niya's confident introduction, I gave up on hoping for anything more at this point, and then she pointed at me.
"I!"
Do you know me by my name?
"I'm not 'I'. I'm Cherry."
I pointed at myself and tell her my name.
"Che-rry?"
Oops! This time it worked on the first try!
Again I pointed to myself.
"Yes! Cherry!"
"Cherry!"
"Good job, Niya!"
Perhaps she could sense my happiness, because Niya pointed at me, smiled, and called my name several times.
"Cherry! Cherry!"
Just as I was feeling satisfied with the results, which were better than I had expected, grandpa came to call us after finishing preparing breakfast.
"Breakfast is ready, looks like she's having a lot of fun."
When I told Grandpa how Niya had memorized both my name and her in such a short time, he looked interested.
"Hmm... I've been thinking this since yesterday, but Niya is a very clever girl."
It's no wonder that grandpa was impressed. Honestly, it's amazing how Niya's intelligence has allowed her to soak up everything we've said in such a short amount of time.
Aside from language, I also had the opportunity to see how intelligent Niya is. When the three of us were having breakfast, Niya was eating with a spoon and fork just like the night before, but compared to last night's dinner, her movements when bringing food to her mouth were much better. She must be absorbing the manners of our daily lives with surprising speed.
While being surprised at Niya's adaptability, I began getting ready to go to school.