Gravebound : The Pact Of Names

Yuki reached the door he knew led to the daughter's room. He knocked three times with his knuckles before receiving a response.

"Who is it?" came the voice of a slightly frustrated girl from the other side of the door—definitely not the same voice he heard when he died.

"Mary told me to introduce myself to you. I'm going to be staying here for the time being." Trying to sound as sincere as possible—a challenge for the usually sarcastic Yuki—he informed the girl of the situation.

"You can come in then, I guess." The girl sounded even more frustrated than before. Her fiery hair certainly matched her personality. Why was she so annoyed, though?

Yuki opened the door just wide enough to step inside, then quietly closed it behind him.

He glanced around. The room was small but livable, lit by a few candles scattered across shelves and drawers. They really didn't have electricity in this world—something Yuki would have to get used to. Walking over to the desk in the corner, he pulled out a chair and dragged it in front of where the girl sat on the bed. He turned the chair around so the back faced her and sat down with his arms resting on the backrest.

"Soooo, what's your name?" Hoping to break the silence, Yuki asked a simple question.

"My name is Rin Emberveil." She paused, as if unsure of what to say next. Despite her frustration, she seemed a bit shy. "What's yours?"

"I would've thought you heard when I was talking to Mary earlier, but my name is Yuki Kurobane." He looked into her eyes, curious about her reaction. As expected, she seemed slightly flustered. "Do you have issues talking to people you've never met?"

Frustrated, Rin turned her head to the left—clearly trying to hide the fact that Yuki was right, but in doing so, she confirmed it. "N-no," she mumbled through gritted teeth.

Yuki chuckled softly. This girl was definitely lacking in social skills.

"So, how old are you, anyway? Also, you're going to have to get used to talking to me, since apparently I'm going to be living here for a while."

"I'm 17," Rin replied, as if trying to end the conversation—until she fully processed what he had just said, even though it was the second time. Her expression turned startled. "W-what? Huh? Why?"

"Well, that's a simple answer. I'm homeless. And I'm pretty sure I already told you I was going to be living here." Yuki paused to consider his next words. "Also, I'm 19. And if you don't mind me asking, why were you so frustrated earlier?"

Rin looked around the room as if searching for an excuse to stay silent, but eventually let out a small sigh and gave in.

"Well, seeing as I don't have anyone else to say it to, I guess I'll tell you." She sighed again before continuing. "My mother broke one of my old swords, and I'm mad at her because of it."

"Swords?" Yuki completely forgot the rest of what she said after hearing that. "Why do you have swords?"

"Did my mother not tell you? I'm a knight in this village!" Rin's voice dropped slightly. "Although I'm not very strong…" Then it rose again. "But that's not the point! She broke one of my possessions!" Rin looked away defiantly.

"Well, did she apologize for it? You shouldn't be so rude to her. She probably didn't mean to break it." Yuki placed a hand on Rin's shoulder in an attempt to console her. "And you seem to have multiple swords, so is it really worth being mad at your mother over one of them? You only have one mother."

Feeling slightly defeated and realizing she may have overreacted, Rin slowly responded. "Well… I mean, she apologized. And it wasn't even my favorite sword…" She finally loosened up, no longer looking frustrated. "I guess you're right. I shouldn't have been so upset about it. I'm gonna apologize to her."

"Good choice." Yuki stood up from the chair and left the room, with Rin following closely behind. They made their way from the hallway to the kitchen with Rin's help, as Yuki still didn't know where anything was. Upon entering, they saw Mary preparing dinner. Yuki silently hoped it wouldn't be some sort of alien concoction.

The kitchen had a fire in the center, undoubtedly for cooking, a water bowl likely for washing vegetables and hands, a shelf with what looked like cooking knives hanging from it, and cupboards lining the walls—probably full of food and ingredients. One thing that struck Yuki was the lack of fridges. He'd have to get used to that in this new world.

Rin finally spoke. "U-uh, Mother, I'm… I'm sorry for being frustrated with you. I was being unreasonable." She glanced at Yuki, who gave her a soft smile, before looking back at her mother, who seemed slightly surprised but smiled too.

"It's okay, my dear. I know how much your swords mean to you, and I should've been more careful around them." Mary looked at Yuki, who smiled softly—contradictory to his otherwise tired appearance. "Come give your mother a hug."

Rin slowly walked toward her mother and embraced her, feeling her warmth.

"You too, Yuki." Mary shot him a slightly stern glance.

"No, I'm okay. This is a moment between you two, anyway," Yuki said, scrambling for an excuse.

"We both know you had a role to play here, so come here and join in!" Mary said with a slightly raised voice.

"Fine." Yuki reluctantly walked over and joined the hug, wrapping his arms around both Rin and Mary while positioning himself next to Rin. Mary wrapped one arm around him as well. Unbeknownst to Mary and Yuki, Rin was slightly blushing—she wasn't used to being hugged by someone she had just met.

After about 30 seconds, they released the hug. Mary spoke up.

"Who's ready for dinner, then?"