There, right in the middle of the road, under the nose of all the people who had looked out or at least turned in the direction of the scream, the young girl lay on the ground, weeping, surrounded by a group of what appeared to be her peers.

“C’mon now… be a good girl” said one of them “We’re going to have a great time you know… we just want to play…”

“Yes yes... hehe… listen to Giacomo…
c’mon woman… take off those clothes and let us dream a little” continued another one

“Words aren’t fucking needed here…
this time I’ll go first” blurted out a third one, who, with a presumptuous and arrogant attitude, began to tear off the girl’s robe with a wild force, on the chest side, so as to slowly reveal her breast

“N-no… I-I beg of you… please… stop…” she pleaded while tossing and turning around despite being holden down hands and feet by the other four of the group

“Oh c’mon… it’ll be quick…
As always…”

Skrr – The dress was completely gone.
The girl now lay there.
Stark naked.
In public.
In the middle of the road.
Surround by man possessed by Eros and carnal desires.

The rascal who had just finished tearing off the last piece of clothing then started to touch her, all while licking his chops: he started from the neck, then, almost drawing a line, passed by her breasts… and felt her up

- “Hmm…”
The poor girl didn’t manage to hold it back –

he then continued over hips, slowly aiming to the groin area.
When his hand was almost on the verge of touching something extremely sensitive, someone grabbed the assailant’s arm and immediately lifted it off the the girl’s body.

“Rule 5: rape is severely punished by law” Seiji said as he tightly gripped the wrist he had just grabbed

“WHO THE FUCK ARE U?!” shouted the attacker

“Your worst nightmare” replied Seiji who, as soon as he finished talking, twisted the hooligan’s arm in the opposite direction

CRACK

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” screamed again its owner

The arm fell dangling.
The shoulder to which was attached began to take on a purplish hue.

“SON OF A BITCH…” groaned the man
“GUYS GET HIM!”

The remaining four then threw themselves at Seiji, two on each side in a diamond formation, with him in the centre.
The were all too sure that the rookie who had dared to challenge them would not live to see another day, but would be beaten to a pulp and regret having stood between them and their game of pleasure.
Their confidence shattered at the sight of Seiji’s gaze, though.
Two fierce, almost roaring, bloodthirsty eyes, as if they were trying to hold down their own body, before it could commit a carnage.
It was no longer the calm and composed Seiji, no… the one standing before them was a fiery beast, capable of emanating such a sense of oppression that it almost physically crushed anyone looking.

“Ah… I think I’m done for” thought the five at that moment

The only thing that the young girl managed to see from behind Seiji’s back resembled a sharp movement, followed by a gust of wind that swept the hooligans away and threw them against the surrounding buildings.

A huge cloud of dust had risen there where Seiji had been standing until just now, surrounding him.

“Come… rule 10 states that it’s best to go to the police” Seiji then said as he emerged from the cloud of dust, turning to the girl who was sitting on the ground completely naked

“Hm…” she replied

“Ah… er… you might want to wear this…” the young man resumed as he averted his gaze, blushing, as if having felt guilty for daring to lay his eyes on the maiden’s magnificent naked body.

He then offered her some kind of light jacket that he wore tied around to his waist.

“Uhm… thank you…”

The girl wore the garment almost perfunctorily, she actually didn’t even bother to try covering something except for her shoulders, hair and part of her waist.

“What’s your name?” asked Seiji

She looked at him in astonishment: she couldn’t even remember how many years it was since she had been asked such a simple question. Her eyes were of a wonderful emerald green, a little red from the tears.
On the left side of her mouth, a beauty mark.

“S-Shiomi… Kaneda Shiomi…”

“Nice to meet you Kaneda-san, my name is Mibuto Seiji, adventurer…” he said before interrupting himself. His eyes were stolen away by something unusual: the girl’s pointy ears
“…and human” he resumed

“Ah…” said the girl as soon as she noticed that Seiji was observing her ears, dropping the jacket she had slung over her shoulders, and sitting on her knees, curled up like a hedgehog, as if to protect herself from something
“P-please don’t hurt me… I-I’m a fairy but I don’t despise humans! I was raised by your kind after all” the maiden whimpered
“It’s all these stupid ears’ fault, I look human in every way, m-maybe a bit shorter it’s true, but the only thing that it’s clearly different are these damn ears… please… don’t hurt me”

Because she was now hunched over on herself, Seiji noticed on the right side of the girl’s back, near her pelvis, a symbol engraved on skin: two arms folded in a ‘L’ shape with their hands open, merged together, on the joint that would normally connect them to the shoulders, so as to form a ‘U’.

“I have never seen that symbol… she really is a fairy…” thought Seiji
“I mean no harm, don’t worry…
…
… if nothing else, look...” he then said, trying to reassure her as he pointed to the five rascals laying on the building walls’ rubbles upon which the had landed on
“I just chased those guys off, did I not?”

“R-really?
Y-you promise?” asked Shiomi hesitantly

“I promise”

While they were talking, the entire village had already gathered around them; some had even come out of their houses especially to witness what was happening first hand.
Everyone had something to say about it, it seemed: some despised Seiji for meddling; others criticised the group of five, saying that they have to choose carefully the place where to rape someone; some were in despair or jumping out of joy at the sight of the damaged buildings, that maybe happened to be of the so much hated neighbours’…
… In short… you name it.

“Come now, we’re going to the police” Seiji exclaimed, annoyed by the crowd

“I-It’s fine… nothing will change anyway…”

“But rule 10 states that it’s best to go to the police, come on… I’m here with you”

“N-no really… I-It’s fin-KYAA”
Shiomi didn’t even have time to finish her sentence off that Seiji was already princess-carrying her.

The girl blushed up to the tips of her long ears and, while covering her face with one hand, pointed the way to the adventurer with the other.

After having left Shiomi in the building that worked as the police station, Seiji was returning back to the inn so that he could get ready to spend the night, when suddenly a strong wind began to blow undaunted, so hard that it almost lifted the boy off the ground.

A huge tornado, which seemed to have appeared out of thin air, was menacing the village.
The previously clear sky had darkened in a heartbeat.
The clouds were traveling with frightening speed, propelled by the currents generated by the catastrophic event.

The young adventure blanched at the sight of the impending danger.

“HEY BOY!”

He turned around; calling him was the woman he saw reprimanding Shiomi that evening

“HURRY HURRY, COME TAKE COVER IN HERE!”

Seiji immediately rushed inside, passing through the door which the woman was struggling to held open.

SBAKRA-KOOM

Lightning flashed as the door slammed shut.
Thunder, rain, lightning and ominous hissing suddenly filled the room.

“Phew… just in time…” the woman said

“Thank you so much ma’am” said Seiji

“Ah don’t worry, you’re human too after all… and not a fairy like her” she replied indignantly and unscrupulously
“Come on now, don’t just stand there… take a seat” she continued then offering him a chair to rest on

“By fairy… you mean Kaneda-san…
…don’t you?” asked Seiji after sitting down

“Tsk… unfortunately those things have names too…”
“…”
“Now please do tell me boy… have you ever heard of changeling?”

“Changeling?” he replied, lost in the face of that seemingly absurd question.
He had never heard of a such a term in his whole life.

“Yes… changeling…” said the woman again as she bent her face to stare at the floor.
Her expression had visibly changed.
“You know…
… the… changeling is a practice that fairies occasionally perform…”

“A practice you say?”

“Yes…
it’s performed onto new-born babies…” the woman continued and then paused for a second, took a deep breath, as if she had to muster all the courage in her body, and then said
“The changeling is a practice whereby fairies exchange one of their new-borns with a human child”

KRA-KOOM

A thunder lightened up the room for an instant, as if to illuminate the woman’s face on the verge of tears

“My husband and I had a daughter…
… Shiomi…
… Kaneda Shiomi…
… she was born 2 weeks earlier than her due time…” Seiji caught a glimpse of a smile on the woman’s scarred face
“… as if thriving to know the world…
… during her pregnancy, that little one did nothing but kick, day and night, 24 hours a day… even when I had to go to the bathroom!... she was a brat even before she was born…”

KRA-KOOM

The expression on the woman’s face changed again, almost as if the sound of the thunder brought her back to reality

“The first time I took her in my arms, I promised myself that I would protect her forever… that tiny, frail and docile body, those little arms, those small, pinkish, sweet-smelling legs which were supposed to run around this house’s floor…” she stopped again
“…”
“… …”
“I liked her ears the most…
…fluffy, rounded ears, warm to the touch and so frail that they seemed to be made of velvet, sometimes I almost worried about having to touch them when I had to wean her…
… but then… one night…
… my dear Shiomi had pointy ears”

KRA-KOOM

A thunder once again lit the woman’s face, her eyes, no longer staring at the floor, were wide open, bloodshot and pointed at Seiji, who was sitting at the table in front of her

“”My dear Shiomi is sick!” I thought, “I must take her to the village chief!” I added…
… so I immediately rushed over to him in order to submit my little girl to his wise expertise… but… as soon as I touched her, I knew right away…
…
…she…
…she…
…that…
…that…
…THING… wasn’t my dear Shiomi…
…her warmth, her tender cheeks, her little arms and tiny legs, everything, EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING WAS NOT MY DEAR SHIOMI, THAT THING WAS NOT MY DEAR SHIOMI…” the woman’s breath became increasingly laboured “The village chief immediately thought of a changeling case, and he was right… oh if he was right… that THING had the fairies’ symbol on its body… it had THOSE DAMNED POINTY EARS,
IT WAS NOT MY DEAR SHIOMI”
“”Maybe one day they’ll bring her back”
everybody in the village was saying at the time, and so… I…
… took care of her, yes… I admit it… I raised that monster… hoping that the fairies who were perhaps watching over how I was raising their little munchkin would have treated my baby just as sweetly…
… and so… that thing took its first steps…
… burned down a house…
…lost its first tooth…
…went to the bathroom alone for the first time…
…flooded the village… long story short… YEARS went by… I mean,
TEN YEARS went by…” she stopped again, first making a broad smile, almost out of the contours of her face, and then resumed in a calm and placid manner
“Then one day an adventurer came to the village…
… he heard me by chance, as I was calling that thing for dinner… so he approached me, scrutinised me carefully and then asked
“Madam, does this Shiomi you spoke about happen to be a fairy?”” she laughed
“AHAHHAHAHA… AHAHHA… I’ll never forget that question, the plates fell from my hands, I grabbed him and then went on my knees while saying
“YES… YES… HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS… PLEASE TELL ME… HAVE YOU SEEN MY CHILD? DO YOU KNOW HOW I CAN HAVE HER BACK?” …
… what a fool I was back then…
…the adventurer looked at me… on his face an expression of pity, as if he felt sorry for that poor woman that he had stumbled upon and was now laying at his feet….
…
… …
… my dear Shiomi was dead…” the woman wept and laughed at the same time
“He told me he had found a grave during one of his travels, it read:
“Kaneda Shiomi, 10 months old, changeling-child”
…”

KRA-KOOM

“AHAHAHAHAHAH… AHAHAHAHAH… CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? EH? CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I RAISED THAT CRAP FOR 16 LONG YEARS OF MY LIFE HOPING THAT MY DEAR SHIOMI WAS STILL ALIVE ONLY TO KNOW THAT SHE WAS ALREADY DEATH AFTER JUST 1 MONTH SINCE WE WERE SEPARATE AND I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW! THEY LEFT HERE THERE, ROTTING SOMEWHERE AFTER STEALING HER FROM ME! THEY TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY FROM HER, THEY DIDN’T ALLOW THOSE KICKING LEGS TO CHASE THE WORLD, THEY DIDN’T ALLOW THOSE TENDER EARS TO KNOW NEW SOUNDS, THEY DIDN’T ALLOW THOSE SWEET HANDS TO DISCOVER NEW SENSATIONS, THEY TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY FROM MY DEAR LITTLE SHIOMI WHO WAS SO EAGER TO KNOW THE WORLD THAT SHE WAS BORN 2 WEEKS EARLY… EVERYTHING… EVERYTHING… THEY ROBBED HER OF A FUTURE…”
“…” she paused for a moment and took a breath
“…So I did the same…
…first thing first I took her clothes…
…then a bed to rest upon…
…then food…
…then water…
…then freedom…
…then…
…her virginity… EVERYTHING AND SLOWLY… IT HAS TO SUFFER, THAT THING HAS TO SOFFER FOR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO MY DEAR SHIOMI… IT HAS TO SUFFER SLOWLY AND PAINFUL- COUGH COUGH…”

The woman poured herself a glass of water in order to recover from her sudden cough and, once she had calmed down, resumed with a hoarse voice

“But it’s not enough… I mean… she’s alive”

Seiji, who had been petrified by those words full of hatred, knew right away what the woman was about to say. He was on the verge of saying something when yet another familiar scream echoed through the air.

KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Seiji turned to the window: the entire village seemed to have gathered in the square; the tornado had apparently passed by while the two were conversing.

He turned his face back to the woman.

She was there.
She was staring him with a huge smile printed on her lips, going from cheek to cheek; her eyes dull, devoured by the darkness that was residing in her hearth for years.

Seiji’s face grew dim.
He stood up.

“I thank you for giving me shelter …”

He said with rule 35 in mind, which stated that one should always express gratitude towards one’s benefactor, even for the smallest of things.

Then he took his adventured backpack and with lightning-speed quickly opened the door, rushing towards the square.
The girl’s screams were the only thing he could hear during the 4 seconds it took him, with his mighty speed, to cover the distance.

Upon arriving on place, he could not wrap his head around how much the human race could be capable of such atrocities.