"It's been quite a long time since she's been gone." Maken pulling down his shirt over his tremendous wounds to the back. "Yeah what is she doing? We're ready over here." Swipe replied. Nyx laces her sandals absently, lost in memory. "You saw, girl. So I have no choice, I'll kill you here. Orez raised his sword, but something makes him stop. "Are you that happy to die, girl?" Orez looked at her strangely, Nyx had a frozen, helpless smile looking confused. "Huh? What? This? Ha ha. What?" The bandage man considers her for a moment, then sheathes his sword. "Girl! Get me some food and some bandages. Do it and I'll let you live."

A little later, in the storeroom. Orez has removed the old, dirty bandages and replaced them with fresh ones. Nyx watches him from the other side of a stack of bundles. "That's better. I can move now." "Um sir? Orez looks at her, and she's hiding behind the bundles. "I'm not so old you have to call me sir. Well, maybe you can't tell like this. My name is Nekam Orez." "Um. Mr. Orez?" "Yeah?" "You killed a policeman, so are you a bad guy?" "The government is the real bad guy. The used me and then tried to burn me to death." "So you're a good guy then!" She sounded joyfully. "No I'm a fiend from Hell." Nyx is suddenly cowering on the far side of the building. "Don't run away. I said I wouldn't kill you. I like it here. As long as you don't talk, no one's going to find me here. I'll stay here a while." He leans back. Nyx thinking, "He really is a bad guy, but he's really, really strong."

The next day. The two brothers are talking as Nyx carries a bundle of to where she must put it. "Did you hear the news?" Younger brother questioned the older brother. "Yeah, about the escaped rebel. The cops just came to tell dad. They say the three cops that went after him have been missing for the last three days." "Also they combed the woods and they still couldn't find him." Younger replied. Nyx thinking, "They won't find him. I buried the body deep in the woods. And Mr. Orez hasn't set foot outside the barn." The older brother yelled, "Hey Nyx!" She dropped the bag. "Ye-yes?" "You spent the night outside three nights again. Did you see anything or hear anything? If you did you'd better tell us." Grabbing the front of her shirt, "If you hide anything, I'll find out. This is a chance to show off my skills. I'll kill the rebel!" He brought his sword down cutting the bundle in half. "There you go again. You can't just wave that thing around without thinking like that." "Oh, give it a rest. What're we going to do about the rice?" "Guess we have no choice." Younger brother raised his voice. "Nyx! You ruined another bag!" "What?" Nyx looked at them. "What! How many of those do you think we have, you brat! You can't even do a simple job right! I'm not letting get away with it this time!" The father pulling up the screen door screaming at her.

That night in the storeroom. "Hm. I see. So they're devils too. Why are you always smiling if they kick you around like that?" Orez looked at her. Nyx smiled, "Huh? What? Huh? Ha ha. yeah. I guess it's a little weird. I didn't used to do it. When I first came here, when they picked on me or treated me like I was in their way, I'd get mad or cry. But the more I got mad, the more I cried, they'd just tell me to shut up or hit me. But if I was patient and kept smiling, they'd give up and go away, and I wouldn't get hurt any more. No matter how much it hurt, no matter how bad, if I just kept smiling." "So as you kept showing them a fake smile, without realizing it yourself, you started dealing with scary or painful things by smiling?" "Well, they can't help it. It's like they say. I'm not his real son, so." "No. It doesn't matter where you're born. It's because you're weak. In this world, the flesh of the weak is the food of the strong. The strong live, the weak die. No matter how hard you smile, you can't run from the truth. Here." Oerz holds out his wakizashi (shorter version of a samurai sword.) "I'm giving this to you. In payment for letting me stay here."

Inside. "Has anyone seen those bandages?" The mother was pondering about them. Older brother talking back, "What? I wouldn't know." "That's strange. Where could they be. There's rice missing from the kitchen too. I thought that little thief Nyx probably took it, but why would she take bandages?" Younger brother chuckled, "Dad beat her up pretty bad today. I bet he took those too ha." "Even so, they're all gone. She couldn't have used up five rolls." The oldest spoke, "Hey, Dad. that government rebel. They said he was burned all over, didn't they?" "Yeah, they. That little bitch!" Inside the barn. "My burns are throbbing. There'll be a storm tonight. Outside, Nyx holds the sheathed wakizashi in her shaking hands. She thought, "After all, in this world the flesh of the weak is the food of the strong. The strong live, the weak."