It had been five minutes, and Hatsumi managed to drag all of us into the living area of the house. Avery was cleared to break while the other Arachne behind the carving counter took the lead. Callum sat in a chair barely a meter to my side, and Stanis and Chessa were seated on a couch just opposite of myself and Avery. The silence was astonishing compared to the noise in the main guild area we occupied just earlier. We all sat in waiting while Hatsumi and Maria were making tea, and while apparently, the other two opposite of Avery and me were quite talkative of their intent to make a better impression, they were silent with troubled expressions on their faces. Chessa attempted to speak up a few times but each time shrunk back down slightly as if rethinking what she was going to say.
They wouldn’t be like this if they didn’t mean it. Have they all been like this the whole time?
I was shifting uncomfortably, the mood of the situation making me feel tense. As I did so, Avery looked at me and smirked before bringing a hand to my head and patting it. After a few moments of her head pats, I felt myself calm down. I was not forcing it to, yet I could feel my tail shifting freely through the air at this point. Removing her hand, Avery nodded in Chessa’s direction. Looking back to Chessa and Stanis. Stanis was smiling weakly ad Chessa seemed to be smiling as well, yet hers was much brighter.
At their sudden change of demeanor, I smiled back. I felt like I needed to set the mood with my response.
Hopefully, this will make things easier.
I thought to myself.
Chessa and Stanis did not shift expressions. My hopes for their relaxed mood met and exceeded. With this, I decided to speak up, hoping my position as the child reaching out would make me easier to talk to.
“I’m sorry that I was so nervous leading up to this…”
I said apologetically.
“I feel like I may have come in at the wrong time…”
I continued.
“But…I hope that I’m not-“
“-A burden? Kiyomi, never.”
“?”
Stanis suddenly finished my sentence. I was surprised that they would actually speak so soon, granted I was hoping they would.
“We’re sorry…-“
Chessa suddenly began speaking next.
“-We had…a friend…we saw you taking their place.”
Chessa said, looking to the floor with an expression of regret.
Ah…so that’s what it was…no one was telling me.
“I’m sorry…”
I said, suddenly recalling a feeling similar to what Chessa expressed.
“Don’t be! You’re just a child; none of us could expect such a thing from you. If anything, the feelings should be reversed.”
Chessa’s sudden bout of talkativeness threw me off. Compared to the week before, the Elf was fairly silent. I had made a few attempts to speak to her in the following days after our introduction but gave up after the second day when she continued to glare at me with hostility.
Yet this change in mood was more extreme than if someone suddenly urged her to say her thoughts. She was doing so clearly. She was not trying to deceive me; somehow, I could innately feel this.
“I hope you’ll be able to forgive us for being mean to you when Hatsumi introduced you as her child. There was no excuse for that…”
Chessa apologized further.
“Well…we can restart?”
Smiling awkwardly, trying to show my willingness to bury the hatchet. Seeing this, Chessa smiled contently, and Stanis sighed. The sigh marked his reintroduction to the conversation.
“Kiyomi, you are much more reasonable than any child should be. At least for this kind of thing.”
Stanis said so with his eyes closed, stretching after he stopped talking.
Am I that out of the norm? Should I be more emotional?
I recalled the events once more.
I felt a strong sense of emotions at the time…did I hold them in?
“We wanted to try and say we were sorry, Kiyomi. Hatsumi cares for you, so we want to care for you.”
Stanis continued once more.
“Tea is ready!”
As if on cue, Hatsumi yelled from the next room before passing through the doorway and into the living area.
“Sorry this took too long, we had to find the correct leaves, and we ended up mixing some of the samples accidentally and had to figure out which was which, hehe.”
Hatsumi forced out what seemed like a hurried excuse.
“I apologize, Mistress. However, you seem more destined for the more homely of services rather than the refined.”
Maria blurted as she followed Hatsumi closely behind, a tray of clay mugs’ in her hands.
Hatsumi looked as if a small part of herself died inside as she suddenly stared at the far wall.
“The Mistress attempted to brew the tea; however, she brewed the wrong…ahem…blend.”
Maria looked to Callum with a scornful gaze before passing around the mugs.
“What?”
Callum asked as if his character were attacked, to which he was simply ignored.
“That aside-“
Hatsumi patted her cheeks before facing us all again.
“-Would you care to explain to me, Avery, why Kiyomi was parading a Stalker’s head around as if she was some barbarian?”
The long-haired cat-girl looked to the Arachne seated next to me.
She’s not happy…oh, she’s not happy…
I had witnessed that face in only one place before, when she changed my clothes herself after I couldn’t move from training with my sword. Only this time, it didn’t feel mischievous. It felt like she was exerting a feeling of “What do you think you are teaching my child?!” towards Avery.
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“She got her strength back?”
Avery replied weakly, a bead of sweat forming on her forehead as she struggled to hold back a smile. As if she viewed this more as fun than her being scolded or accused.
You are much braver than me right now.
I thought, looking back and forth between the two.
Maybe I can distract Hatsumi? I owe Auntie for killing my boredom...oh god, she’s conditioned me already.
A brief moment after I thought to intervene, I took the opportunity to help Avery and answer a question I already had.
“I got my strength back?”
At my sudden question, Hatsumi looked at me and appeared surprised.
“Wait, you weren’t hiding it yourself?”
She asked, her ears at attention.
My stats were hidden, but that was it. I thought my strength was normal.
At my continued silence, Hatsumi’s expression softened.
“*sigh* Here, we’ll talk over the tea. This will be a good ice breaker.”
Hatsumi took her seat to my opposite side, now placing me between the two demi-humans.
“Kiyomi, we thought you were hiding your strength because you had plenty of reason so far to be distrustful with that kind of information. When we talked that first night, I could tell you were afraid to say your actual level.”
I was tilting my head at Hatsumi’s words.
Then why hide that you knew?
“From what it looks like, you’re regaining your strength as you go. Which is good, but if you don’t know your own strength, that’s kind of…concerning.”
Hatsumi tried to finish her sentence without looking worried.
At least she tries. She doesn’t know I’m not a child in here. Go with it.
“So she wasn’t showing that at all when you were with her?”
Stanis asked.
“No, she had plenty of chances to when I was with her.”
Hatsumi shook her head.
“So that means we’ll have to look over her more closely.”
“I agree.”
The conversation between the two was brief.
“Enough of that though, Kiyomi, for now, this is family time. Stanis and Chessa wanted to make up for how they acted Sunday. We should drink the tea that I-Maria made for us.”
Hatsumi stammered, trying to usher us to the purpose of everyone being here.
“If you no longer have need of me, I will go aid in prepping dinner, Mistress.”
Maria commented to Hatsumi, not waiting for a response as she left immediately.
“I’ll apologize at dinner.”
Hatsumi said under her breath.
“Well, let’s get everyone acquainted for real this time!”
Avery spoke up with a toothy grin, overtaking the room with her sudden spike in energy. Driving away any difficulty at the start of the conversation. For maybe the hundredth time this week, I felt a soft, fluffy tail curl around me in a sheltering manner, and Hatsumi started talking.
----------------------------------------
“Aw, come on, that was a slime was hybridized. You're gonna tell me to be afraid of every low slime now?”
Callum wailed as we were all laughing at a story Stanis had just finished.
The talking over tea picked up pace quickly, and before I knew it, we were at the dining table and enjoying ourselves. It was a welcome sight for me, an image of a family happily dining together. It looked just like that. The bickering that we walked in on when I first arrived was a natural occurrence, and it was one that was strangely comforting. Like it was that of brothers and sisters poking fun at each other. It was nostalgic, a feeling of something that was missing for a long time. I found myself reminiscing about earth again for what felt like the millionth time.
I’m in a way different position, but seeing it feels good all the same. If I looked back to earth…It had been years since I felt something akin to this…
The time leading up to the war was like this, or at least very similar. A memory of my mother, step-father, and sister came to mind. A discussion around the table about how our jobs were going since my sister and I were already fresh adults. Some light prodding between my step-father and me, and the usual warning from my mother from time to time. It disappeared with the war. My step-father and I both were drafted, and my sister evacuated with my mother to a safer area. Two years into the war, I found out they were either all dead or missing. I never found myself wanting for those moments again, but at this point, I am unsure of whether I was just suppressing those thoughts before. But now, I was free to indulge once more.
Moving away from my thoughts, I could feel that I was genuinely smiling. Suddenly, my tail was tugged lightly. I looked down to see Hatsumi’s tail poorly wrapping my own. Looking back up to her, I was greeted by a soft and gentle smile from the long-haired cat.
“You look like you’re enjoying yourself.”
“It…reminds me of a place…”
I replied.
“Home?”
She asked, an ear shifting to the side.
“No memories, remember?”
“Ah, right.”
She responded curtly to her own slip.
“But-…-It feels familiar…it makes me happy.”
I made my thoughts partially known to Hatsumi, who looked at me intently.
This was my home now, I know this, but it all still feels so foreign. But this change, maybe I was better off here?
“So, Kiyomi!”
My thoughts were cut short by Callum’s interruption from across the table.
“You just recovered your strength. You should show us what you can do!”
“Callum, no! She’s eight years old!”
Chessa berated.
“Calm down, and I wasn’t gonna whack her with a wooden sword. That comes later in the year.”
I feel like I heard something detrimental to my health just now.
“Then what would she do?”
Chessa asked, prodding Callum for his idea.
Seeing the two arguing from this new perspective, it was fun. Like they’d grown used to doing a long time ago, it was playful.
“Well, for starters, she could swing that sword she has at a tree or something.”
“Callum, no. I won't have her breaking her things to sate your curiosity.”
Hatsumi spoke up.
“She can use one of mine then; I have a few spares!”
Callum proceeded to slump back with a strange self-satisfactory smile.
“If you’re willing to pay the material cost.”
To which Hatsumi agreed.
Wait, did I just get set up for some kind of display?! I’m eight damnit! What am I supposed to do?
“Aside from that, Callum, we can have her try to show us in the morning, but not now and not tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow we’ll all be spending time with her, and we don’t want her tiring out.”
Hatsumi added.
“Uhm, what exactly am I supposed to do?”
I asked, unsure of what was actually being decided.
“Oh, sweetie, we just need you to show us roughly how far your strength actually can be pushed. That way, you don’t accidentally hurt yourself or others.”
Hatsumi explained, maintaining the calm demeanor that she gave off since we sat down.
“I won't get hurt, will I?”
I found myself asking anxiously.
There it is again, these feelings. What is this?
I was unsure why I was scared now of all times. I guess cause it’s the first time anything is expected of me that I should have intrinsically understood but just don’t.
“Awww, baby, you’ll be fine. I won’t let you get hurt. If something happens, I'll just heal you~.”
Hatsumi cooed, attempting to comfort me; however, her words were also off-putting.
Ahem, heal me? What the hell was going to happen tomorrow?
The next moment, Hatsumi hugged me, pulling me into her chest. From that point, the flow of conversations throughout the evening became much more lax. The stories went from telling amusing events on their adventures to telling me how some of them grew up, how they met, how they had all virtually known each other before they could wield any weapon or magic themselves, and how they found themselves eventually leaving Morus to come to the Damus and were contracted by Lorn. From how they described it, they were fairly known through the two regions. Over the last twelve years, they managed to build their reputation up to what it was now.
“So you guys are super famous?”
I found myself asking for clarity reflexively.
Ah-God, this impulsiveness. This is the damn body! At least I won't have to worry about acting too damn old.
“Hehe, kind of? People just know of us. They aren’t necessarily any huge stories.”
Hatsumi answered, awkwardly scratching her cheek.
Once more, a reminder that I ended up in just the right place at the right time.
“Well, you're super cool to me! You saved me!”
And cue the smile, no wave the tail, wave the tail!
I took the opportunity to suck up to Hatsumi and tried using some of the cuteness that I had “accumulated” in her words and tried directing it. Which seemed to work as I was brought into her chest for a hug once more, and she was saying something like, “Oh Kiyomi, you’re so precious! I won't let anyone take you away!” as well as some other things and coupled in a vague warning at Callum? Needless to say, at least my effort to make her feel appreciated with the response worked…even if it sounded a bit cliche.
Critical success!
----------------------------------------
From then on, the evening began to slow down considerably, and before I knew it, I had woken up with a face full of hair, and I was looking over someone’s shoulder.
“Mmmnnnn, wha?”
I stirred awake.
“Oh, shhhhhh, just go back to sleep, baby.”
“Hat-su-mi?”
I weakly responded, my voice and barely above a whisper, and my eyesight blurred some thanks to my heavy eyelids.
“Go back to sleep baby; you fell asleep after you started play fighting Callum.”
Hatsumi said, shifting my position slightly. She was caring me on her back.
“Hmmm?”
Oh, right. Cocky guy challenged me to a fight? I think I remember.
Memories returning to me, Callum challenged me over trying to get the last of one of the deserts left on the table. It was like a churro? I hadn’t had one in years on earth, so I was willing to fight him for it. But he actually challenged me; it wasn’t too serious; thankfully, it turned into a light slap boxing match. He had moved to his knees, and it was like some dad or older brother trying to teach their kid or sibling to fight. By the end of it, I was losing out to exhaustion, but he gave up and feigned defeat.
He should be more careful; if I were actually Kiyomi, then my ego probably would have inflated from that.
“Oh right…we going to bed?”
I lazily asked.
“Mhmm, I’ll help you change, and we’ll go straight to sleep.”
I yawned soon after her answer, we were already in front of the bedroom, and she opened the door.
Home sweet home~.
I thought to myself.
“Alright, Kiyomi, arms up!”
I raised my arms at Hatsumi’s command, and so began our nightly routine of changing to our house clothes.
After changing, we talked about my lessons with Lorn. She praised me and gave head pats from time to time as we went over the results of my lessons. I appreciated the praise, but it was feeling hollow. As if I was being praised for cheating in some way, regardless, I didn’t fight the praise off.
If I were still a grown man, this would feel demeaning. I guess it's because Hatsumi’s a mother figure?
Hmmm, I will have to cross that bridge… at some point.
Our talking began to die down, and eventually, I was leaning against Hatsumi. As she was showering praise, at some point, she shifted me little by little, and we were nearly cuddling. I could feel myself drifting off to sleep around the time she brought her tail around me, and I felt myself blanketed by its softness.
Why…does...this feel…so…infantilizing?
Soon my thoughts trailed off once more, and I faded off to sleep.
“…cas…lu..as…Lu-cas!”
What?
“Lucas, come on! Lucas, don’t do this, man!”
Ah…this memory…
At some point, I felt myself regaining consciousness. When I died and woke up here, I pointlessly hoped that these nightmares would not return.
Now I just had more.
Before, the dreams looked like Kiyomi’s, I’d only experienced one of my own since reincarnating. It was of my friend…Lucas…and it was repeating right now.
“Lucas, god damnit, hold on, listen, hold on, we have a medevac on its way! They’ll be here soon, just please don’t let go man!”
This was not a moment I wanted to relive, yet for some reason, my own mind saw fit to haunt me with it in vivid clarity.
I was brought back to that moment three years prior. On earth, halfway through the war. And In the middle of some forest clearing, I was trying to stifle the bleeding of my only friend left, begging him not to die even though he was already unconscious.
“Lucas, hold on, I managed to stop the bleeding. Just stay with me!”