When Masashi returned to the hotel, it was already past 2 p.m.
He called the airport and found that the earliest flight to Tokyo wasn't until 5 p.m. With time to spare, Masashi decided to go for a walk.
Nepal was a beautiful place, with much of the country untouched by industrial pollution. The greenery of plants and trees was everywhere, and the air was as crystal-clear as glass.
After a short while, Masashi began to feel a bit hungry, realizing that aside from a small meal on the plane, he hadn't eaten anything since yesterday. So, he headed back to a restaurant near the hotel for a meal.
Halfway through his meal, Masashi suddenly felt as if he were being watched. He looked up and saw a young girl, about eight or nine years old, standing a short distance away, staring at him.
The girl had milky-white skin and large, round eyes, wearing a high-quality cashmere dress. She looked like a finely crafted doll.
Although her features resembled those of other Asian people, few Nepalese had such refined facial features, so Masashi's first thought was that she must not be local.
The girl fearlessly walked closer to Masashi.
Amused, Masashi gestured to the dessert on the table, asking if she wanted some.
The girl shook her head. When she finally got close enough, she spoke in English, which surprised Masashi.
"Who...are you?" Her voice was rough, as if she hadn't spoken in a long time.
"Didn't your parents teach you that before asking someone's name, you should introduce yourself first?" Masashi smiled.
The girl shook her head. "I...don't know. They're already dead." Her expression was very serious.
"I'm sorry." Masashi gently patted her head.
She seemed to enjoy the gesture, closing her eyes like a little kitten.
"I have two names, a Chinese one and a Japanese one. You can call me Lei Yin." Saying this name always brought a strange, familiar yet foreign feeling to Masashi.
"Lei…Lei Yin…" the girl murmured, staring at him without blinking.
"I've told you my name, so you should tell me yours now." Masashi found it amusing that this little one wasn't afraid of strangers at all, practically clinging to him.
"-my…they call me Amy."
"Amy? What country are you from?" Although she spoke English, Masashi had the impression that she was Asian, but her Westernized name puzzled him.
The girl didn't answer, just looking at him with a puzzled expression.
"Would you like this?" Masashi pointed to the dessert on the table again.
This time, she didn't refuse.
As she awkwardly ate the dessert in an adorably clumsy way, Masashi sipped his tea and watched.
"Amy, why are you here? Who are you?" Suddenly, a female voice came from the side.
Masashi turned to see a beautiful Eurasian woman glaring at him.
"Are you Amy's guardian?" Masashi gently put down his teacup.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" The woman instantly pulled Amy to her side, eyeing Masashi with hostility.
"I'm just a tourist, and as you can see, I was only treating this little one to some dessert." Masashi disliked dealing with such paranoid people. If she cared about this child so much, she wouldn't let her roam freely.
"Amy, are you okay? Did he do anything strange to you?" The woman ignored Masashi, squatting down to check the girl closely.
Masashi gave a wry smile. She clearly saw him as a predator. Not wanting to argue, he stood up to leave.
But after just a couple of steps, he felt a weight around his leg.
Looking down, he found Amy clinging to his leg like a little koala.
"Lei Yin…don't go. Don't go…" The girl's eyes were pleading.
"Amy, let go!" The woman was both shocked and angry.
Amy ignored her and kept holding onto Masashi's leg.
Watching this quiet girl who hardly spoke, Masashi felt a gentle warmth in his heart. He knelt down, patted her head, and said, "Hey, little one, you're being naughty."
"Lei Yin…don't go." The girl looked at him with a pitiful expression.
The woman was taken aback. She knew Amy had severe autism and never approached anyone besides her father and herself. Even with her, Amy rarely spoke. Her father was so worried that he hired renowned psychologists to help her, but the trauma from an incident in her early childhood was so deep that no progress had been made. She felt helpless about it.
But here was Amy, reluctant to let this boy—who looked like a high schooler—leave. Intrigued, the woman—Ailin, observed Masashi closely.
Unaware of her scrutiny, Masashi focused on calming the girl. After much coaxing, Amy finally let go of his hand, but her eyes remained fixed on him.
"You can reach me by calling this number. Do you know how to make a call?" Masashi handed her a note with his phone number, miming the gesture.
The girl nodded, clutching the note tightly as if afraid it would fly away.
"All right, I really have to go now. Call me if you need anything, okay?"
Amy nodded again, her gaze still fixed on him.
Masashi chuckled, patted her head again, and left the restaurant.
Even after walking some distance from the restaurant, he could still imagine the little girl calling his name.
He took a deep breath and waved down a taxi.
"Where to?" The driver asked in broken English.
"The airport," Masashi replied in Nepalese.
The driver, delighted to hear him speak Nepalese, started asking questions—where he was from, why he spoke Nepalese so well, if he was here for tourism. He enthusiastically pointed out famous landmarks and local customs and even shared tips about hotels, cheap taxi times, and hygienic places to stay. It was as if they were old friends.
Listening to this overly friendly middle-aged man, Masashi had a mixed feeling of amusement and regret. If he'd known this would happen, he wouldn't have responded in Nepalese.
As the driver chatted away, Masashi noticed Amy and the woman exiting the restaurant in his rearview mirror.
From behind, Amy looked dispirited. Meanwhile, the woman was calling a taxi.
Shortly, a taxi pulled up for them.
As Masashi was about to ask the chatty driver to quiet down and start driving, he suddenly heard a woman's scream.
He turned around to see two men emerging from the taxi that the woman had hailed. Amidst the woman's screams, the men grabbed both her and Amy and forced them into the taxi. As she struggled, one man shut the door, and the taxi sped off.
The entire incident happened in under five seconds, with few witnesses, so it didn't attract much attention. But Masashi saw it clearly: this was definitely a kidnapping.
"Follow that taxi!" Masashi shouted to the driver.
"What happened?" The middle-aged driver was still in a daze.
"I said follow that taxi. Now!" Masashi commanded.
The driver was so taken aback by Masashi's intense gaze that he broke out in a cold sweat. Without further hesitation, he started the car and took off in the direction Masashi had indicated.