As they walked along the narrow paths of the Sand district, the wind picking up grains of sand that clung to their clothes, Kairo kept Yuki's hand firmly in his. His mind still buzzed with the strange words she had spoken earlier about him being her guide but he pushed the thoughts away, keeping his focus on the surroundings.
Suddenly, a swift movement broke the uneasy silence.
Before Kairo could react, a group of ragged men emerged from behind the dunes, their faces partially covered with cloth, their eyes filled with malice.
In an instant, one of them grabbed Yuki by the arm, yanking her away from Kairo.
"Hey!" Kairo growled, his voice a dangerous low.
Yuki didn't scream — she didn't even flinch. She stood there calmly, her hands at her sides, despite the bandit's rough grip on her.
One of the men pulled down the cloth covering his face, revealing a cruel smirk. "Well, if it isn't the blind girl... Yuki, wasn't it?"
Yuki tilted her head slightly at the familiar voice. "So, it's you all again," she said softly, recognizing them immediately. "My childhood bullies."
Kairo's eyes flared with icy fury.
The leader of the bandits chuckled darkly. "Still as bold as ever, huh? Even though you're just a helpless, worthless girl?"
Another one sneered, "And look at you, clinging to some man like a shield. What, you finally found someone to protect your pathetic life?"
Kairo's knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists. "Say that again."
But before the situation could explode, Yuki spoke again, her voice gentle but firm. "If you have a problem, I can help you."
The bandits blinked in surprise. "What?"
Yuki repeated herself. "There must be something bothering you — something deeper. If there's something wrong, tell me. I'll listen."
The leader scowled. "This isn't about us. It's about you. We just want to—"
"—refresh our minds by making you suffer," Yuki finished for him.
Her calmness seemed to unnerve them. Even Kairo, seething with anger, watched her with a mix of confusion and admiration.
One of the bandits shoved Yuki's shoulder. "Enough of this!"
Without thinking, Kairo moved like a blur. His fist slammed into the bandit's face with a sickening crack, sending him flying back into the sand.
The others stared, wide-eyed.
Kairo's voice was like a growl of thunder. "How dare you enjoy bullying someone who can't even see you?"
Another bandit charged at him, but Kairo spun and struck him in the stomach, sending him crumpling to the ground.
The last one stumbled back. "Who the hell are you?"
Kairo's blue eyes burned like ice. "I'm the man who will drown every last piece of land you stand on if you touch her again."
The bandits now looked at him not as a mere companion to Yuki but as a terrifying force they never anticipated.
But before Kairo could finish them off, Yuki gently touched his arm. "Kairo... stop."
He froze, his hand still raised.
The leader of the bandits, nursing a bleeding lip, suddenly looked more desperate than angry. Kairo noticed it — that flicker of fear — but also something else.
Yuki stepped forward, still holding Kairo's arm as if grounding him. "Tell me... what's really bothering you?"
There was a long silence.
Finally, the leader muttered, "Our families..."
Kairo narrowed his eyes. "What about them?"
"Our families have nothing," the bandit continued. "The Sand tribe prioritizes those who follow their strict rules — who marry on time, who obey traditions — but those who rebel, those who fail to meet their expectations... we're left with nothing."
Yuki's face softened. "So... you've been cast aside too?"
The leader gritted his teeth. "That doesn't mean we're like you."
Yuki ignored the jab. "Then why hurt someone like me, when you know how it feels?"
The bandit faltered, his expression shifting between anger and shame.
Kairo, still fuming, added coldly, "You're pathetic. You turn your pain into violence — bullying someone like her because you're too weak to face the real problem."
The bandit growled, "You don't understand—"
"I understand more than you think," Kairo snapped. "But you're too much of a coward to fix it."
Yuki, still calm despite the tension, spoke softly. "There's still a way to make things better — without hurting others."
The bandits didn't respond. Their glares softened into bitter silence.
Kairo, still furious, muttered under his breath, "You're lucky she's here. If it were up to me..."
But Yuki gently tugged his arm again, silently pleading for peace.
Kairo didn't move — but he didn't strike again.
And for the first time, the bullies who once tormented Yuki stood quietly, facing not just the man who could crush them but the blind girl who, despite everything, still believed in the goodness of their hearts.
The storm within Kairo didn't settle — but somewhere, deep inside, a small part of him wondered why Yuki's soft words always seemed louder than his rage.
The wind howled softly across the dunes, carrying the weight of the uneasy silence that followed. The bandits, once so eager to torment Yuki, now stood frozen — not by fear of Kairo's strength, but by something far more unsettling.
Regret.
Kairo's fists remained clenched at his sides, his sharp blue eyes still glaring at the men. Every part of him screamed to finish what he'd started — to punish them for laying even a finger on Yuki. But then there she was, her delicate hand still gripping his arm, her presence like a fragile thread keeping him tethered to something other than violence.
Yuki finally broke the silence. "You said your families have been cast aside," she said softly. "I know what that feels like... to be abandoned, to be unwanted. But hurting me won't fix that."
The leader of the bandits, still holding his bleeding lip, looked away. "What do you know?" he muttered bitterly. "You've always been the special case. People talk about you. The poor blind girl. The girl with the tragic fate." His voice was dripping with envy.
Yuki's gentle smile didn't falter. "Yes... they spoke of me. But did any of them ever help me?"
Silence.
Kairo's jaw tightened. He didn't want to hear any more of this. These people weren't worth Yuki's kindness. But she kept speaking, her words a quiet storm.
"People pitied me, but none of them ever held my hand when I stumbled. No one ever guided me when I was lost. They spoke, but they never acted."
One of the younger bandits, barely older than Yuki, lowered his head. "We just... we didn't think you'd understand."
Yuki's voice softened even more. "But I do."
Kairo scoffed. "And what? You expect them to change just because you said a few kind words?"
Yuki's hand gave the faintest squeeze on Kairo's arm. "I'm not expecting anything," she said quietly. "But I'm offering them a choice."
Kairo's lips parted — not to speak, but because something about those words hit him harder than he expected.
The leader of the bandits sneered again, though his voice shook just a little. "And what choice is that?"
Yuki tilted her head slightly toward Kairo. "Come with us."
Kairo's heart stopped for a beat.
"What?" The leader's voice cracked.
Kairo's icy gaze snapped to Yuki. "Are you insane?"
Yuki didn't flinch at his words. "You want a way to prove you're more than just 'castaways'? Then come with us."
Kairo's mind spun. "Yuki, you don't know what you're—"
"I know exactly what I'm saying," she interrupted softly. "Kairo... you said you're journeying through the Sand district to see if my people truly have kindness in their hearts."
Kairo's jaw locked.
She turned back to the bandits. "If you come with us, you'll have a chance to show him... and yourselves... that you can be more than this."
The leader's face was a mess of emotions — anger, disbelief, fear, and something Kairo recognized all too well.
Hope.
Kairo's voice, cold and sharp, broke the stillness. "You think I'm going to parade a bunch of thugs through the Sand district like some charity project?"
Yuki faced him, her sightless eyes somehow meeting his as though she could truly see him. "I think you want to see for yourself if they can change."
Kairo opened his mouth to argue, but the words didn't come.
Because deep down... he did want to see.
Not because he believed in the bandits.
But because a part of him still didn't believe in the kindness Yuki spoke of — and he needed to prove her wrong.
The leader of the bandits, still hesitant, muttered, "And if we refuse?"
Kairo's voice was a blade. "Then I drown this village the moment you take another step toward her."
Yuki didn't protest the threat — she just waited.
After a long silence, the leader finally spat blood onto the sand and growled, "Fine."
The others looked at him in shock, but slowly, reluctantly, they nodded too.
Kairo couldn't believe it.
The blind girl just convinced a group of violent thugs to join them.
As they began walking again, Kairo kept his hand on Yuki's shoulder, his mind racing.
This wasn't what he planned.