Rudra opened the large metal door and stepped inside, slowly making his way towards the dining hall, hoping there was still some food left. By the time he arrived in the hall, all the different kids were already sitting down and gulfing down the food.
"Hey guys, look!!! The limp is back!!!" A big kid, around 5 feet in height, shouted while pointing at the Rudra, laughing loudly. All the kids stopped what they were doing and stared at Rudra while laughing together. They kept calling him names like trash, useless, good for nothing, useless, and so on.
Rudra said nothing as he slowly moved towards the food counter, which served food. He was already used to it. They were not exactly wrong after all. When he woke up in the hospital, the doctors told him that both his right arm and left leg were completely useless. They had no tendons at all, hence he could not feel them or move them at all.
It was very difficult to get used to it at first, for no one imagined they had to go through life without half of their limbs functioning. But after getting some time to get used to them, he was getting better at living like this, but at least it was better than before, when he kept stumbling and falling down on his face.
He reached the counter and saw that everything was almost finished. All that was some kind of white liquid kinda substance, and he could not make out what it was made up of. It looked very bad, and smelled even worse.
But he did not even bat an eye before taking a plate and spoon and scooping a big scoop of that substance and making his way towards an empty table, since every meal served at the orphanage was like this, if not worse. The other kids, seeing he had no reaction to their jeers, went back to whatever they were doing, as kids tended to have zero attention span.
Just as he sat down at his table, a small blur came out of nowhere and tackled him, hugging his waist. "Rudra-nii, you are back!!" A small, cute girl that appeared out of nowhere was hugging his waist tightly, with stars in her eyes.
"Hey Yuna, how was your day? Did you enjoy it?" Rudra asked with a smile on his face while caressing her head.
"Yeah, I did. It was really fun. First, I played a lot with my new fwiends on swings, then then I took a long nap before we made fun paintings!! It was a blast!! I also made a painting of you! Look!!!" The girl let go of his waist before pulling out a roughly made painting from behind her back.
It was a rough sketch made of crayon, with a stick figure like a guy standing in front of a small girl with a stick in his hand. The painting had a word written 'pawtectawr' in crimson crayon on the top. The girl was absolutely beaming at the person while presenting the work, as if she was waiting for him to praise her for the work well done. Rudra did not disappoint.
"Well done!! This is very pretty!! What scene did you make?" Rudra kept petting her little head while smiling down at her.
"I drew you!! Driving away those bad guys and protecting me!! I even gave you a name, paw-paw-pawtectawr!!!" The girl fumbled a bit before blurting out what sounded like protector. This reminded of him of the first time he met this little girl.
It was his second day in the orphanage when he met this little girl. She was from the same town as him and had lost her parents in the attack, which already made him feel closer to her. He went out to check out the surroundings, and when he came back, she was sitting in a corner and crying. When he asked what happened, she told him some people beat her up and stole all her things, including a locket her father gave her. There were marks everywhere on this doll-like little girl, and it made him furious.
So he went to a nearby tree, picked up a stick and attacked the few old kids who bullied her. He was like an animal attacking everyone and everywhere, but he was no match for so many kids. He was soon held down and beaten within an inch of his life, but he did not give up, for he suffered even worse pain. As soon as they let him loose, even a little, he attacked them again, and again.
When his stick broke, he used his only useful hand, his leg, his hand, and his mouth. He weaponised every part of his body and fought until no one dared to come close to him.
He took all her things back and warned them that if anybody as much as said a single thing to her, he would come for them and would not rest until one of them was dead. Since then, nobody dared to say anything to the little girl. They feared him, called him a mental, and the little girl became untouchable.
They still mocked and jeered at him, but he did not pay any attention to them. He had very different goals. He only wanted to get stronger and fast. He wanted to find his little sister, whom he believed was still alive somewhere in the world and waiting for him.
Coming back to the present, he looked at the little girl who reminded him of his little sister, now standing there and shaking him again and again to break him out of his daydream.
"Rudra-nii, Rudra-nii, tell me the story again. The story of our protector!!"
"Alright, alright, I'll tell you. Let's go back to our rooms first, okay?" Looking at the little girl, he thought maybe the rest of his days would not be so bad here. But life was never kind to him until now.
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"Quiet down little shits! The new people over here just came to see you guys, and they have decided to adopt the little girl Yuna, she will be leaving from here tonight!!"