I really need to change the summary of this story, but I'm so shit at summaries, I haven't thought of anything else yet.
Chapter 5
Love is…
Moonlight pierced through that singular window, the only noise coming from anywhere was the soft whisper of the wind and the buzzing of bugs, but that was only from the outside. Inside–however– was a different story. The rustling of sheets could be heard.
Two beds on opposite sides of the room, on one bed was Adam, his breathing low and calm, sleeping peacefully. On the other bed was Kane, who tossed and turned in his bed, attempting to fall asleep.
He couldn't.
Deciding that it would be a waste of time just tossing and turning, he sat up off his bed and looked towards the window, keeping his mind preoccupied.
He took a step off the bed, but then his foot touched something, he stared down to remember that he had laid the sheathed katana right next to the bed.
That was truly a bad idea, he could have slipped on it.
He picked up the sword and unsheathed it, the small glare of moonlight through the window reflected off the clean surface.
"A name…"
Aria's words from earlier echoed again in his mind, it was up to him to give this sword a name. He didn't know exactly how the fundamentals of this world's magecraft worked, but he assumed that giving this sword a name would be beneficial to his and the sword's growth...
There is power in names Afterall.
Or so they say.
He ran his finger across the flat part of the blade, it felt so smooth across his skin.
The design of the katana seemed familiar… so maybe it wouldn't hurt if he gave the sword a familiar name?
"Yamato." He ran his hand across the blade ever so softly as to not cut himself.
"I'll name you Yamato—?!"
As soon as that name left his mouth, he felt the sword cut into his palm. He was not a superstitious person, but the fact that he got cut after giving the sword a name felt like bad luck to him. It wasn't a shallow cut, if anything it looked more like a paper cut.
He licked the wound and then held it against his shirt, trying to stop any blood from pouring out, luckily not much had appeared from the cut.
"Fine then." He sighed. Once again, he wasn't necessarily superstitious, but that just felt like a bad sign. "I'll choose a better name some other time."
He removed his hand from the shirt to observe the wound, but this time something was off about it.
Despite the small cut, he had assumed that at least just a small drop of blood would leak, but now there was nothing. In fact, the small cut had already healed completely, not even leaving a scar behind.
"Huh… Neat." Was all he could say. He still had so much more to learn about this new life.
A body with unnatural healing? That shouldn't have been too farfetched for him.
What next does this world have to offer? Mythological heroes that can be summoned as (what amounts to) magical familiars in the modern day?
Pfft, that would be stupid.
…right?
He shook his head, ignoring all of the redundant and unnecessary thoughts. With his mind slightly clearer, he hopped back into his bed and wrapped the blankets around him.
This time sleep came to him much easier.
Kane was the first one to awaken the next morning, the sun barely rising from the horizon. Orange light tinted the single window in the room.
He got up with a yawn and stretched his arms.
Adam was still asleep, keeping that in mind Kane got up and walked to the door silently, as to not wake his little brother.
He opened the door and gently closed it behind him. He released a breath that he didn't know he was holding in and turned around. He walked towards and down the stairs to the first floor. He assumed Aria was awake, but he could not find her on the first floor, and he didn't want to open her room door just in case she was actually asleep.
He turned on the kitchen lights and scavenged through the cabinets for breakfast, he wasn't looking for anything in particular, merely just looking for something to eat.
He opened a door next to the fridge, a pantry full of random food items and cans. On the top shelf of the pantry, he saw a box of cereal, but considering it was at the very top he wouldn't be able to reach.
He grumbled to himself, lamenting this body of a child that he currently finds himself living in.
He looked around, looking for something that can help him reach, his eyes reached the table and an idea formed in his head. He walked over and grabbed a chair, dragging it across the floor and placing it right in front of the pantry.
He stood on top of the chair and leaned upwards; his fingers just barely able to touch the small box of cereal.
He swiped at it, hoping that if he tilted it at an angle, he would be able to grab it easier. The small box twisted as he continued to try and grab it.
After thirty seconds half of the box was hanging off the shelf, he pulled on the box hoping to grab it.
"Woah–!"
The box fell on his head.
He was luckily able to keep his balance and catch the box before it knocked both him and the chair over onto the ground.
He finally decided to get a good look at the box of cereal.
It was honey nut Cheerios.
"Well… I guess that's good enough."
As he prepared to get off the chair, something in the pantry caught his eye. Pancake batter. It's been a long while since he had pancakes, even in his past life.
It's been even longer since he himself made pancakes, and the last time he did it didn't turn out too well– he made two pancakes before he completely ruined the third and last one. He remembered the huge mess he made, and he remembered almost just completely giving up on cleaning it, if it weren't for his mom walking in at the last minute he probably would have walked off to go sulk.
He shook his head, letting the memories of his past life slowly fade to the back of his mind, and he focused on his current predicament. He looked at the cereal and then back to the pancake batter, contemplating his next action.
Fortunately for him, his stomach answered for him. A low growl rumbled from inside him.
He sighed, "Might as well."
He placed the cereal on the counter a few feet away from him and then moved back to the pantry, grabbing onto the pancake batter.
"Now then… where is…"
He looked for a bowl, a pan, and some butter. Once he got all of his tools ready, he moved the chair closer to the oven and stove, just so that he could see what he was actually doing.
He turned the oven on and laid the pan on the spot, getting it to warm up first so the pancakes could heat up quickly.
He poured the batter into a bowl and moved towards the fridge.
He didn't want to admit it, but his old life spoiled him a bit.
The fridge here did not have a built-in ice or water dispenser.
"Crap."
He looked around for a substitute and was almost about to just use the sink until he saw a bottle of water that lay untouched on the table.
"This will do."
Now he finally had everything. He grabbed a fork and poured a cup of water into the batter. He stirred once he felt he had a good amount. Getting the batter to absorb the water.
He waited thirty seconds before he grabbed a knife, carving out a piece of the butter and letting it melt onto the pan. Just so that the batter wouldn't stick to the pan.
He moved the butter around the pan to cover the whole thing, then he poured the batter onto the pan until the entire middle of it was covered. He stopped pouring when the batter got close to the edges of the pan, just so that he could have room to flip the pancake.
Once he placed the bowl down, he looked at the batter and then down towards himself.
He was still standing on the chair.
"This just feels silly." He said to no one in particular. Although it's not like anyone was actually awake except for him at that moment.
"I hope I don't screw this up." He prayed. He did not want to make a terrible mess, Aria most likely would not enjoy that.
Actually, Aria would probably wonder how he was able to make pancakes, he didn't know about other kids but he assumed this boy probably didn't make his own meals. So to Aria this would have been the first time he made anything.
He really should have thought of that before he started cooking.
In response to his own thoughts, he shrugged. "I've already started, might as well finish."
He looked around for a spatula to flip the pancake over. "They're easy to make, so maybe I could just use that as an excuse."
He grabbed the tool and placed it under the pancake, the part that was touching the hot surface fully solidified. He moved the spatula completely under the pancake, and as quick and efficiently as he could he flipped the pancake over.
"Fuck."
And a bit of the batter still flew out onto him.
"I'll never get good with flipping this shit."
Minutes later, Aria woke to a decent smell. Her eyes blinked, reorienting her vision. The sunlight was already halfway through the horizon and piercing straight through the window.
She got up, her night attire consisting of long and baggy sweater and sweatpants. She tilted her head to the sides, cracking her neck, and then she moved her arm, getting movement into the joints in her arms.
Someone's in the kitchen.
Someone was surely in their kitchen; she could smell pancakes from her room. She got up and walked towards the door. She opened it and closed it on her way out. She slowly walked to the living room to see what was happening, and she truly did not expect what she saw.
Kane stood behind the table with a bunch of pancake batter littered over his shirt, and in front of him plates of decently made pancakes. Two pancakes stacked together on each plate and on the far left was a bottle of syrup.
"Kane."
He looked to be muttering something under his breath, so he did not see her when she entered the living room.
"H-huh? Oh! Ari- I mean, Mom, uh…" He hesitated, before he gave a hesitant smile. "Good morning… I um– I made pancakes."
"I see that." She walked towards him. She saw him flinch ever-so-slightly as she walked closer. Something in her did not enjoy seeing that reaction.
She sat on the seat across from him and grabbed the plate on the far left. They were a decent size, not too thin or too thick, and it also smelled nice. Only then did she realize that he also put silverware next to the plates.
"You've never made anything before, why the sudden change?" She asked as she reached for the syrup, opening it and pouring it onto her pancakes.
"I um…" He hesitated for a second. She grabbed the fork and cut into the food. Cutting a piece and preparing to eat it.
"I don't know, I just felt like having pancakes…" He said, his voice oddly quiet.
She took a bite. It's not like he made the batter himself, he merely just poured water into a bowl to make this.
But for a first try (Or at least that's what she thinks), it wasn't bad. A sense of pride swelled up in her.
"It's not bad. Did you put butter on them?"
His eyes widened for a split second, before a small and slightly proud smile began to form on his face.
Something in her wanted to see that smile forever. Is this what they call maternal instinct? She squashed that question as soon as it appeared.
"I placed the butter on the pan, it's one less step than just placing the butter after making the pancakes."
"Hm.." She took another bite. "Smart."
Awkward silence filled the kitchen, and to distract himself from it Kane decided to dig into his own pancakes. Pouring syrup and then cutting off a piece.
"You did good." She complimented him.
All of his movements stopped for just a second before he continued on with his eating.
"Thank you." He responded.
She saw that he attempted to hide his own smile by chewing on his food. She herself had to hide her own smile.
Suddenly there was a loud and fast pattern of steps coming from upstairs and then following down the stairs. Adam ran down and stopped at the living room. He looked around only for a second before his eyes caught both Kane and Aria eating at the table.
He ran and jumped up to Aria, stopping right next to her and giving her a tight hug.
A small blue 'window' popped up in front of her after a wave of his finger.
"(Good morning!)"
This time Aria could not fight off the smile from her face. She rubbed the head of her youngest son, greeting him.
Adam released Aria and was about to move to the other side of the table to hug Kane until he saw what they were eating.
"(Pancakes?!)"
"Your big brother made them." Aria told Adam. He, in turn, dramatically turned towards Kane and gave him a curious look, before scrunching his eyes, giving a suspicious gaze.
"(I don't believe you)"
"I was surprised as well." Aria spoke up. "But he did."
Kane grabbed the last plate and silverware before putting it in front of the seat next to him. "I made some for all of us."
Adam moved to the seat next to his big brother, but before he took in the pancakes, he saw the dirty state of his older brother. He leaned forward and picked up a piece of the batter on his brother's shirt with his finger.
He looked at Kane with a surprised face.
"Told you." Almost as if knowing what Adam was going to say, Kane spoke with a smug grin.
Adam didn't respond, instead focusing entirely on the pancakes.
"Here." Kane handed his younger brother the bottle of syrup.
"(Thank you!)"
Adam dug in quicker than both Aria and Kane. He hummed in satisfaction before giving a thumbs up.
Kane and Aria only smiled at his antics.
This time the silence wasn't so awkward. They finished their meals within twenty minutes, and Aria decided to be the one to put away the dishes off the table.
She placed them neatly into the sink and walked back to the table, where both Adam and Kane sat back with a pleased expression.
"Today is going to be a little different."
That got both of the boy's attention. They sat up straight at the same time, staring at her curiously.
"We will be going into the town just for some groceries, I planned to have Daybit watch over you, but he is currently having..." She paused slightly, thinking of a way of describing the young man's current predicament without bringing concern to it. "Meetings with his parents."
"There's a town?" Kane slipped. "Oh– uh– I mean,"
His embarrassed stutters caused Aria to almost smile. Luckily stopping his constant attempts to explain his lack of knowledge on something he probably should have known, Aria told him, "I wouldn't be surprised if you forgot, since you haven't been there yet. There's nothing truly special about the town. However, I thought. . ."
She hesitated for a second before finishing her sentence. "I thought it would be good for you two to get some fresh air, somewhere that isn't near this house."
There was a split second of silence, just for the two boys before something from before finally settled into Kane's mind.
"What happened to Daybit?" His question was out of curiosity, but there was a tinge of concern in his voice.
Her face didn't show emotion to the question, her gaze showed indifference, however what Kane and Adam didn't see was her hiding her annoyance.
She shook her head, waving off Kane's slight concern. "It is not my story to tell, once you get to understand him then he'll tell you."
She changed the subject right after.
"So we'll hold off on your training for later in the day. Are you two alright with that?"
Adam didn't mind either way, so he turned his head toward his older brother—letting him decide. Kane side-eyed his younger brother, before shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head.
"Good, now then." She stood up from her seat, walking away from the table to her room. "Both of you go clean up, we'll go afterwards."
The two boys nodded, both of them hopped off their seats and quickly walked upstairs. Aria watched them both go with an undecipherable gaze. Whatever emotions that went through her eyes were quickly quashed. She exhaled, finally moving towards her room.
Perhaps this is just something they all needed.
It was dangerous for her to form attachments to her own children, that was the fate she put upon them and herself. However, she could not bring it in herself to neglect them, so she'll cherish this short time she has with them.
She was the one who placed them upon that path and she's now the one who's most suffering for it.
Unbeknownst to her, that won't be for long.
She had reached her bedroom door and all thoughts about her own regret were quickly cleared as soon as she entered her room.
Kane stopped in the middle of the sidewalk; an almost familiar view encompassed his vision. Surprisingly the walk from their house to the town wasn't that long; only fifteen minutes at the most, if it weren't for the trees covering their path then it would have taken five minutes on a bicycle.
It wasn't the path nor the town that brought a sense of familiarity to him. No, rather, it was the view of the houses that brought memories of his old life.
The town had a suburban feeling to it, one that he remembered fondly while growing up (in his past life).
A small hum broke him out of his thoughts, he looked to the side to see Adam giving him a concerned glance. He shook his head, attempting to wave off any of his younger brother's concerns. It worked slightly, as Adam still gave him a hesitant glance before walking forward, catching up with Aria who was still walking.
Their attire consisted of black sweatpants and a black shirt. He looked towards Aria–no, his mother–who had her black armor and sweater on, the same attire she wore every day prior.
Kane quickened his footsteps, catching up to the other two. He clutched his hand, almost expecting to be holding something. He wasn't, he only had the sword for a couple of days, but it already felt like it belonged in his hands. Aria had suggested that they leave it behind as it would no doubt attract too much attention.
Not like we already aren't attracting a lot of attention. He huffed to himself. He saw a few people staring through their living room windows. He couldn't blame them though; they definitely didn't look like normal people.
A beautiful woman that a man of faith would no doubt mistake for an angel. Two young boys with bright white hair and colorful eyes.
They continued walking forward towards a place that Kane did not know about yet. He continued looking at the familiar architecture of the houses. A sense of nostalgia kept filling his mind and his emotions.
A minute later they arrived at a large crossroad, one that split into four different parts. Kane looked towards each road, hoping to see anything in the distance; he didn't see much aside from a few hills and more houses down the left street.
Seeing his curious face and perhaps wanting to break the long silence, Aria spoke.
"This town is split into four districts." She pointed towards the left street. "Down that path are more houses as well as an elementary and High school, despite that being the 'academic district' the community college is down near the city." She moved her hand to point straight forward.
"Up there is the city that holds every store and entertainment in this town, the "shopping district" if you will."
Lastly, she pointed towards the right street. "This path is simply just a shortcut that leads directly to the community college, it covers enough land to be considered its own district."
She looked down both streets before gesturing towards the two boys.
"We'll be going straight towards the city."
They crossed the street without any problems. It was at this moment that something finally crossed Kane's mind.
"What day is today?" He muttered, although he mostly asked that question to himself because he remembered the broadcast just a couple of days ago.
However, he already forgot what day it was. It wasn't really relevant nor important at the moment, but he has only seen two cars pass them during their walk currently.
"It's only Saturday at eleven in the morning." Aria answered. "Everyone is most likely just waking up and all of those working a nine to five already made it to their jobs an hour ago."
At the mention of jobs Kane almost released a sigh. His laziness still remained so the thought of working a nine to five brought chills to him.
They continued walking for a few more minutes, although he wasn't keeping track, he assumed it has been at least five minutes since they left the "housing district" or so Aria called it.
Other than Aria talking about random trivia every other minute they continued to walk in silence. It has been more than twenty minutes since they left the house at this point and only now did, he finally sees buildings in the distance.
Surprisingly tall buildings. Aria called it a city, but he didn't actually expect skyscrapers. THey weren't that tall to be fair, he was merely exaggerating, but they were definitely tall.
He assumed that the tall buildings, which were at the very edge of the city,were office buildings, or maybe they were part of the college?
As they entered the shopping district, he noticed something about the architecture. The brick buildings– the buildings that had locally owned stores– were closest, and all of the modern looking buildings were near the edge of the city, he could only assume the modern buildings covered in glass windows were near the entrance of the city from the outside.
He looked towards the buildings, small locally owned stores covering many of the streets that split across the district. It felt like a mixture of urban and suburban living.
As they turned the corner, he found a very familiar red sign, one that stood above a large and wide building.
"Target?"
Really? He thought. Well perhaps he really shouldn't be surprised that a retail building that large would be here somewhere.
It really was an impressive mix of city and suburban living. Did a place like this exist in his past life?
The closest he could think of was a suburban area he lived in during the first six years of his life, but that was only because they were an hour away from the city of Los Angeles.
…An hour if there was no traffic, normally it would take them almost two hours just to reach the outskirts of the city.
They stopped at a four-way intersection, the streetlight a bright green. Aria pushed the button on the pole.
Kane observed the vehicles as they passed by, any doubt that may have lingered in his mind about this not being earth were completely gone.
This was definitely still Earth. To be completely honest he doesn't know if he had been sent into another world, perhaps he's still on the same Earth, but only time traveled? Based on how he felt while passing the housing district and the few blocks of stores he assumed that the current year couldn't be any more than 2010 and any less than 1990.
Though that was only based on nostalgia that he felt, if anything he could actually be in 2035.
Perhaps he should have studied cars more…
A ding echoed and he focused on what was happening in front of him. The streetlight went from green to red and an icon of a stick figure walking appeared on a light on the other side of the road.
They crossed the road quickly as the light counted down from thirty.
It took a few more minutes for them to walk through the parking lot, it was surprisingly large. Not as large as a mall parking lot but it was definitely a decent size.
As they made it to the entrance Kane stopped right next to the large red balls that stood at the edge of the sidewalk right next to the street.
Large red letters read out "Target" with a red symbol next to it. A dot surrounded by a red circle. A target, if you will.
Perhaps he shouldn't have worried about "other worlds" if this world is exactly the same as his last.
Well… besides magecraft, he was pretty sure that magecraft didn't exist in his old world…
Or maybe it did? Mages were secretive after all, and in a world dominated by technology they had to have dwindled out by the 2010s.
Apparently, he stood outside thinking to himself for too long. Aria had already grabbed a cart and was walking through the entrance.
"Kane!" she called out behind her.
He shook his head and tried to take a step forward, but before he could move towards her something in the air changed.
It was hard to describe the feeling, but it made him stop. It didn't cause anything like his breath freezing or him gasping out loud, but it was definitely a strange feeling.
He quickly looked around as the feeling got even stronger. It was then that the feeling began to increase tenfold.
His sight got blurry by the second and his breath started growing erratic.
It felt that if he turned around then he would see something that shouldn't be there.
He turned around anyway, so fast that he almost cracked his neck. He stomped his foot into the ground just to keep himself steady.
And behind him…
Was nothing out of the ordinary. Just a parking lot filled with cars. He continued to look around for a few more seconds just to make sure he wasn't imagining things. Everyone else walked by minding their own business, there were a few curious stares but that was mostly just because of his white hair. Was it only him that felt the strange feeling?
And as fast as that strange feeling came, it disappeared. It was hard to describe what just happened and he couldn't really put it in words.
But if he had to describe it…
It felt like something that shouldn't be there had just appeared there.
Little did he know that was the exact description of an illusion.
"Kane!" Aria called out to him again, her voice louder.
He nearly jumped at the sound of her voice, completely forgetting that she was there.
"Uh-h S-sorry!" He stammered, quickly turning back around and quickly jogging towards the entrance, where both Adam and Aria stood in front of a red shopping cart.
"You okay?" She asked, her voice filled with concern, but there was something else there.
"Y-yeah I think…" He looked up to her as he tried to convince himself that he was one hundred percent sound. He looked into her eyes and took a step backwards.
There was concern there, but her gaze glared forward near the spot that he had stopped at. If looks could kill then everyone there would have been caught in the crossfire. A few people felt a shiver travel down their backs, causing them to look behind themselves, however there was nothing except other ordinary people.
"Ari– Mom." She looked at him for a split second to acknowledge that she could hear him. "Did you…"
Did you feel that?
His question went unspoken; however, she did not nod or shake her head, but with how she's acting there is no doubt that she had felt something similar to what he felt.
Or perhaps she knew that feeling?
After observing the area for a moment more she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She exhaled through her nose and opened her eyes, her expression returning to normal.
"Let's go, I suppose we might as well make it quick."
She definitely felt what he felt.
Kane and Adam looked towards each other, before the youngest shrugged and followed after her.
Kane sighed, following a second after.
They entered the bread aisle, their cart already half full of regular snacks and a few items of other food.
Things like cereal, more pancake mix, and bags of potato chips, nothing really out of the ordinary.
It was an ordinary shopping trip all things considered, however as they grabbed a bag of bread Adam attempted to use his little captions.
He waved his finger, a motion that appeared to spawn the floating squares. However, before he could create one Aria placed a hand on his head.
"Not here." She said, she took a second to take in his cute pout, "Don't show your magecraft in public, I thought Daybit told you that."
He did, and apparently Adam remembered that he did because his cheeks slightly flushed even while he was still pouting.
Speaking of which…
"How does he do that?" Kane asked.
Aria side-eyed him, before she spoke. "That's what I also wish to know, I only assumed you carried the traits of our crest within your blood, but it appears Adam had inherited them as well… Daybit had some theories but there is still something else to it."
She fully looked at Adam. "Which is why it's important that you remember your training with Daybit. Right, Adam?"
He gave a hesitant smile and nod.
"Ah! Astrid-Senpai!" An accented voice called out, causing the three to turn around. They saw a young Japanese woman, her hair a shiny brown and her eyes were a light orange.
Astrid? She's talking about Aria? Kane thought.
"Miss Fujimaru." Aria greeted her with a nod.
A pout appeared on the young woman's face and a huff left her mouth. "Mou, didn't I tell you that you could drop the miss? You're my senpai, afterall."
Mou? That strange noise left the japanese woman's mouth like an anime character.
Ah… Am I really in an anime? Another existential crisis filled the young boy's mind.
Aria released an amused sigh. "If only you drop the senpai and call me Aria."
With an exaggerated motion, the woman tilted her hips to the side and held her hand to her chin, in a thinking pose. She didn't keep the pose up for long as she shook her head a second after.
"No can do, you're my respected senpai so I can't drop any formalities." She spoke with conviction.
Well… she was definitely speaking very informal for one talking about formalities.
It was then that something she said earlier needed to be brought up. Kane leaned towards his younger brother and whispered something that plagued his mind. The woman– with her family name or given name being Fujimaru– referred to Aria as Astrid. There was definitely a leap between the two names, one large enough for the names to not be nicknames of the other (he ignored the fact that Bill was a common nickname for William), so that only meant one thing.
"Is Astrid our last name?" Kane whispered.
Adam had a questionable look on his face. He looked up as if trying to remember something, and then looked towards his older brother, nodding slowly.
That face he gave Kane was definitely one that said, "don't you already know this?"
Once again, Kane ignored that gaze from his younger brother and moved into his thoughts.
Aria Astrid.
Adam Astrid.
Kane Astrid.
Their full names–minus their middle names.
For some reason just knowing that fact felt like a small weight had been lifted off of his mind. He didn't know why but he felt surprisingly lighter, but at the same time why was this the first time he heard of it? Daybit never mentioned it, and Aria herself always referred to herself as just Aria. He never saw any mentions of a family name anywhere in the house.
Well, he's only been in this body for a few days so it's understandable that he doesn't know everything yet. So in order to keep that weight off of his mind he stopped thinking about it.
Or at least, he tried to.
"Oh, and are these the cuties you always mention?" The conversation between the two women stopped as the Japanese woman moved her gaze to the two young boys. She kneeled down so they were at eye level, although with how she kneeled Kane was now taller, but at least she was near eye level with Adam.
"Hello!" She waved enthusiastically and with a bright smile on her face.
Before either of the brothers could greet her back, she pointed a slender finger towards Kane. "Kane, the older brother," she moved her hand towards Adam, "and Adam, the younger brother. Am I right?"
The two brothers slowly nodded, Adam curiously looking at the new face while Kane took in her accent.
She moved to place her hands upon their heads, lightly ruffling their hair.
"You two are just adorable. You know, I think you're about the same age as my little Ritsu."
Both of the boys flushed, they're reactions to her compliment differed. Adam smiled bashfully while Kane looked away with his arms crossed.
Even when he was younger in his previous life, he was not someone that received many compliments, so he normally hid his emotions whenever he actually was complimented.
However, she did not stop ruffling their hair, in fact she started to gently caress it. "Wow, what shampoo do you get for them? Their hair is so soft," She muttered.
Aria didn't bother to reply to the question, only giving an amused huff in response. "Speaking of which, How's Ritsuka?" Aria asked, attempting to change the subject.
She definitely did not forget what shampoo she got for her children, nope, she completely remembers.
The woman, Fujimaru–other name unknown– looked up with a gleeful smile.
"Little Ritsu?" She repeated, clarifying the question. "Oh, she's just the greatest little thing, she's been excited about every little thing ever since we moved to America, it's cute seeing how wide her eyes were at DisneyLand."
She scoffed, not at anyone else but at herself. "I should have taken a picture of that. Damn it."
"Where is she?" Aria asked, looking around for the young girl named Ritsuka.
"Ah, she's with her papa in the McDonalds across the street. She was hungry and starting to get a little fussy about it, so we decided that one of us should do the groceries while the other gets her lunch."
"Hm, I see." Aria said with her hand to her chin and with a nod.
Finally, the Japanese woman stood up, taking her hands off of the two boys, she stretched her arms before moving over to her own cart. "Well, I gotta finish these groceries." She said, starting to walk away with a smile and a wave. "We should hang out again sometime, Astrid-sen– no, I mean, Aria-senpai! I would love to see Ritsu interact with other friends her age."
Aria only responded with a smile and a nod. The three watched as the vibrant young woman walked away with a pep in her step.
"Who was that?" Kane asked. Although it was a question that just slipped out, as he instinctively and quickly brought a hand up to his mouth. It was not something that he wasn't supposed to say, it was just a question.
I need to stop this habit of blurting out the first thing in my mind. He thought.
"A friend, I helped her find her husband a decent job during my stay in Japan." She looked at her cart and then to her list.
"We're already halfway done with our own list; we'll be leaving here soon as well." She told them, moving back to her cart.
"Can I see the list?" Kane asked, Aria raised an eyebrow, before handing him the list.
"I can go grab some fruits; it isn't very far from here." He suggested, attempting to help lift some of the load off of her, as well as to quicken their time here.
It's also something that seemed to stay with him in this life as well. He just wanted to leave because he was starting to get bored already.
I would have expected Target to be something different in a new life with magic. He thought to himself with a mental sigh. Guess retailers would always be the same, shouldn't have expected much a decade in the past.
While he was lamenting the concept of errands Aria observed him carefully. The fruits and produce are right across the aisle, it wasn't very far, and Aria still had to grab something from the pasta aisle, which is farther.
And there's also something else that she has not forgotten. That strange incident that happened at the entrance. However, ever since then nothing similar has happened again.
Eventually she relented, "Alright, we'll be looking for soup just two aisles down, go to us when you're finished."
She decided that it would be better if they finished quicker so they could leave faster.
Kane nodded, holding onto the list as he quickly walked away. Aria turned and walked the other way. Adam attempted to go with him, but Aria grabbed the youngest by the shoulder before he could even go anywhere.
He pouted, giving her a certain look that most people would not be able to reject. Wide adorable puppy eyes looked up at her. Though she didn't falter, she closed her eyes and shook her head.
Eventually Adam relented, still pouting as he crossed his arms and followed right after her.
Nothing out of place should happen, not in this regular place.
Kane grabbed a couple of apples, placing it in the bag that he grabbed first. In both of his arms he held a bag, one filled with bananas, apples, and a couple of avocados.
Don't know what we need avocados for, but I guess I'm not complaining. He had thought when he grabbed the item.
In the other hand was a bag solely full of tangerines, he assumed that either the previous Kane (the one that he stole this body from, by no fault of his own) or Adam like these small oranges. Though he liked tangerines in his past life as well, so once again he really isn't complaining.
With everything that he could get from this area in his hands, he nodded to himself, and he prepared to walk towards where Aria said she would be, however something stopped him.
That feeling from earlier, at the entrance of the Target, was back again. He quickly looked around, trying to see if there was a source for it or if he was just going insane.
No one was reacting weird, so maybe he was just going insane. He almost began to think that, but finally something caught his eye.
Near the entrance of the Target, a single figure stood out from the rest. A pale teenager, Kane assumed he was a highschooler, but there was something about this kid that stood out from everyone else.
His long curly white hair that resembles someone who frequented heavy metal concerts, pure black pants and a long white shirt, both covered with images of skulls, cartoony and semi-realistic.
And that person was staring directly at him with a weird smile on his face.
Kane looked around the weird stranger, but everyone else paid no attention to him, not as if his appearance was normal, but as if he wasn't even there in their vision.
For some reason, it looked as though the weird looking boy was beckoning to him, asking to come closer, even though he was just standing there and staring.
Kane knew too many horror stories to know exactly where that would lead him. So, with all the confidence he could muster, he turned around and held up his left hand, flipping off the figure as he quickly walked away.
For a split second he thought he heard laughter.
"Ma!" he said quickly as he approached her and Adam. She turned to him, and found him lightly panting, almost as if he ran from across the entire store.
Though before she could ask anything, he spoke. "It returned, that feeling from earlier came back."
To her, it felt like the world around them went silent, and a thousand different explanations ran through her mind.
No one should have figured me out.
The Sem Void family wouldn't have sold me out, they owe me too much.
Animusphere has no idea where I went, to him I've completely gone off the map.
Such thoughts ran through her mind, but they all still lead to one single conclusion, something that she could not deny now.
A mage has found them, one definitely not associated with Daybit or his family.
She took a deep breath, attempting to clear her thoughts. On the outside she looked completely indifferent and stoic, on the inside she was planning on ways to bring out the mage.
"We'll deal with it later." She said, walking to him and lightly grabbed the bags out of his hands. "Thank you."
"Deal with it? What even is it?" Kane asked, his mind still trying to wrap itself around that strange feeling. He could not explain it at the current moment but that didn't change the fact that it was there, and it was definitely watching him.
However, she shook her head. "I meant to say, I'll deal with it, you two just try not to worry about it."
Adam had no clue what was going on, so he had tilted his head with a curious look.
"But–" Kane attempted to say something but she cut him off.
"We're done here anyways, let's just go check out."
Kane opened his mouth, but nothing came. He wanted to say something but what could he say? What could he do? Aria was the expert in these things, he was still completely new to this world. While Aria most likely already knew what it was.
He didn't know that she had already figured out a way to deal with it. Eventually he sighed, relenting to her. There wasn't anything he could do anyways, not as he is now.
The time it took for them to walk to the self-checkout and to scan all their items took only a few minutes, which included the time it took to bag the items. The three walked out of the exit, they had only been there for almost one hour.
It was at this time that something had come to Adam's mind. While Aria was thinking about dealing with the person stalking them and Kane worrying about the person stalking him, Adam was the only one with a clear mind.
He grabbed onto his older brother's shoulder and shook.
"Huh? What is it?" Kane was snapped out of his funk and looked toward his younger brother. He pointed to the cart, the items in the cart with a curious look. Kane followed his hand and then looked back at his younger brother.
"What?"
Annoyed that he could not just use magecraft. Adam shook the cart and then pointed at the parking lot.
It took a second for what he was trying to say to settle into Kane's mind, but when he finally noticed he widened his eyes.
"Um… Ma?"
"Yes?" Just like Kane was, she was snapped out of her own funk.
"How are we going to bring the groceries back?"
Her mind did a complete reset.
The three stood in complete silence, with the two boys staring up at their mother. Aria had been so focused on everything else that she forgot about a way to quickly bring the groceries back to the house.
While she had been focused on the stalking mage situation in her mind, she had no excuse for not being prepared when they left the house.
There were sixteen bags. If the boys held five bags while she held the rest then they could just walk home, but while Kane could probably hold three or four bags she doubted Adam could hold much.
And she didn't want to be any more noticeable than she already was, so she couldn't just steal the cart. That would create too much of a hassle if people noticed.
She was just about to suggest just carrying most of the bags while the boys held one or two, but before she could, the sound of a car driving up to them stopped her.
The car itself didn't make her stop; it was the person rolling down the window. A young Japanese man, most likely in his late twenties or perhaps even thirty, but in the passenger seat next to him was a familiar young woman with bright orange eyes.
"Hope to see you again, Aria-senpai!"
An idea formed in her mind, but for a split second her pride as a person wouldn't have allowed her to speak up, but this was a friend of hers, it wouldn't hurt to help out someone, right?
"Kiyo!" She yelled out the woman's given name, waving to her. The man slowed down the car, seemingly listening to something that Fujimaru was telling him.
Well, Kiyo now. Her name was Kiyo Fujimaru, or at least Kane assumed so.
The car slowed down, driving up to the curb– to get out of the way of other cars.
Aria walked up to them, beckoning to the two young boys to follow her.
Aria walked up to the driver's window and peaked inside.
There she saw Kiyo Fujimaru with bright and wide orange eyes, almost shining at her.
"You used my first name! Finally!"
"Don't get used to it." Aria suddenly blurted out.
She quickly changed the conversation before Kiyo could tease her anymore, she knew how much that woman loved to tease people.
"We don't have a car, could you perhaps…"
Aria hesitated to ask anything else, she knew that she just gave the young woman more ammo. Her pride almost completely shattered.
"We need a ride home." She said simply.
"You didn't bring a car?" The man finally spoke. Surprisingly (to Kane), although looking more Japanese than the woman, he spoke in perfect english, one that didn't have an accent unlike his wife.
A snort could be heard, and Kiyo had physically turned away, bringing a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter.
Aria regretted asking.
The man tapped his wife on the shoulder, and she attempted to stop laughing by coughing.
It didn't work. The man decided to answer for her.
"I don't believe we have enough room…" He stopped speaking to turn around, their car was a large one though not exactly a truck.
He turned back to Aria. "If you can carry most of your groceries then I believe you could fit."
Aria nodded, accepting that outcome.
"I– ah, I got it." Kiyo had finally stopped giggling to herself. She opened her door and walked to the back of the car, opening the truck. There was the sound of grocery bags moving and something else moving. She stepped back to close the trunk and moved to open the side door.
As she opened the door, someone else appeared in their vision. Sitting in a chair made for young kids in cars was a young girl. She curiously looked at them, her orange eyes were as bright as her mother and her red hair was equally as bright.
Kane looked at her for a second before eventually ignoring it. "I can sit in the back." He finally spoke out. There was no reason for it, in fact he and Adam could sit in the middle seats while Aria sat in the seat in the trunk, but the car reminded him too much of his mother's car from his previous life.
He had already forgotten the name and he didn't even bother looking at the name of this car, but this car even had the same silver color.
Kiyo pressed a button and pulled on the chair, bringing it forward. For their age they probably needed a car seat, but at this point it didn't really matter because hopefully this was a one-time thing.
Well, Aria hoped so.
There was one seat in the truck that was brought up, and Kane hopped into the car to get into that seat. When he buckled his seatbelt, he felt a few of the grocery bags placed next to him, six in total, and then four of them placed onto his laps and hands.
"Is it too much?" Kiyo asked with concern clearly on her face. "We could just make Aria sit back there." That was the original intent, but Kane shook his head.
"It's fine." It reminded him too much of his old life, that nostalgia brought a weird sense of euphoria that he didn't want to let go.
It's like that feeling you get when you visit a house that you grew up with but haven't been to in a while. Like a grandparent's or cousin's house.
"Alright, if you insist."
She pushed the seats back into place, and his vision was blocked by the back seats that were brought up. Or well, middle seats now. He pushed some of the groceries to the side, although he kept his hold on them to not mix them up with the Fujimaru's groceries.
Adam got in next, proceeding to sit in the middle closest to the girl with bright red hair, and Aria followed after him, those two held three bags each.
He seemed to attempt not to look at something. Rather he was attempting not to stare at the girl next to him for longer than he needed to. He was slightly embarrassed, and he didn't want to be too rude.
Certainly humble for a five-year-old.
Aria's door closed, and a few seconds later Kiyo sat in the passenger seat and closed her door. Aria and Adam quickly buckled their seats.
"Is everyone alright?" Adam nodded, while Aria looked forward, attempting not to make eye contact with Kiyo.
"Thank you." She spoke.
Kiyo gave a bright smile. "It's no problem! It's the least we could do for you anyways."
Though one person didn't respond to her. "Kane! Are you alright back there?"
She saw a small hand appear from behind the back seats, giving her a thumbs up.
"I'm good!" She heard his voice a second later. This time, she didn't hide her giggle.
The man turned his blinker on and placed the car on drive.
They drove away two seconds later.
They've been on the road for five minutes, traffic seemed to appear within just an hour. That really was something that seems to plague Californian cities.
"You can drop us off at the entrance to the housing district." Aria told Kiyo.
"Are you sure? We could…" Kiyo looked towards Aria through the mirror.
Aria shook her head. "No, it's alright, I'll handle it from there."
Kiyo turned towards her husband, who kept his face staring directly towards the road, but he turned his eyes towards her for a split second.
"Alright, if you say so." Kiyo spoke hesitantly. Her kindness would have offered them to drive them all the way to Aria's house, but Kiyo knew Aria was always stubborn about the smallest and weirdest things.
The radio played the latest tunes, and surprisingly it was on the local rock station. Kane could hear Linkin Park slightly coming from the radio, although it was definitely turned down.
He didn't mind this though.
Adam looked out the window on Aria's side, however he was brought out of whatever thoughts he had when he felt something touch his head. He turned around to the young girl, she pointed at his head.
"H–" she attempted to speak. "H-hair." She spoke. She pronounced it as "hai" with an added "are" to the end.
Adam lightly grabbed his hair and only lightly pulled, just to see if he understood what she was asking.
She pointed at his hair and did a grabbing motion.
She wanted to touch his hair. Adam understood that, although his own shy nature kept him from responding, so he looked to Aria.
She gave a small smile and nod.
So he turned his head toward the young girl and tilted his head to her.
Her mouth tilted upwards into a bright smile, she released a noise to show her happiness. She gently glided her hand through his hair, it's texture no different from anyone else's but it's color mesmerized her.
But hair is still hair, it's going to have a softer texture when it's cleaner.
"Nan."
She giggled as she gently rubbed his head, feeling his hair slide through her fingers. Adam closed his eyes and frowned, attempting to hide his own embarrassment.
Say what you will, that was still a girl his age that was essentially petting his head like a dog.
It took everything in him not to just jump away when he started to hear the mother giggle. He looked up to see a flip phone pointed directly at them.
Though he wasn't all too familiar with phones, he still had a bad feeling when he heard a click coming from it.
"We're here."
Adam moved his head away from the young girl that was still playing with his hair. He heard a disappointed noise from her.
The car stopped right after passing the entrance to the Housing district, the same one they left from earlier.
Because of traffic, what would have just been a five minute drive turned into ten minutes, though no one (except the man driving) really complained about it. Aria opened the door, and grabbed onto all the grocers in her and Adam's hands as she stepped out.
As Adam got out, Kiyo got out of the car. "I got it!" she said.
She pressed on the button on the side of the seat and pulled, the back of the seat folding forward.
Kane sat in the back, his body covered by groceries except for his head. Kiyo helped move the groceries off of him so he could get out. He crawled over the folded seat and out of the car. Stretching his arms and cracking his neck.
He couldn't deny that the car ride was oddly nostalgic, but he doesn't mind. To be truthful, he enjoyed it.
Even in a world with magic hiding in a society underneath the norm, some things were still the same. That single fact brought some peace to his mind.
Kiyo grabbed onto their groceries, bringing them out and handing them to them. Kane held what he could, his body only allowed for him to hold five bags, while Aria held everything else.
"Thank you for this, Miss Fujimar-" Aria tried to thank her, but the woman swung herself around to look at Aria.
The glare on her face rivaled that of Aria's own glare, the mage almost took a step back.
Although Aria knew why Kiyo reacted like that, she no doubt won't stop until she gets what she wants. Knowing this, Aria relented to the younger woman.
"Alright, fine." She muttered. "Thank you for this, Kiyo."
The glare on the Japanese woman's face switched to a bright expression within an instant.
"Of course! It's not a problem, if you need anything else you could always call us, Aria-senpai!"
Drop the senpai. Aria wanted to say, but at this point she knew that Kiyo wouldn't give that up. So she did not say anything.
"And I hope to see you two sometime again soon." Kiyo said in earnest as she looked towards the two younger boys, rubbing their heads. She was going to close the car door but a noise stopped her.
"Ah!" The young girl grabbed her mothers attention. Kiyo looked at her and saw the young girl staring in a direction that wasn't in her eyes. So with a smile the mother moved out of the way.
"Bye Bye!" The young girl waved, directly at Adam.
Adam's eyes widened, and his face grew red. He made to look away but he felt his older brother jab him with his shoulder.
It seemed even Kane knew what was happening, that smug smirk on his face said it all.
Adam looked toward the young girl with light orange eyes and bright red hair, and as earnestly as he could without showing his embarrassment, he waved at her.
Kiyo closed the door shortly after and walked to the passenger seat, she closed the door after taking her seat.
The man rolled down his window. He looked at Aria.
"Kiyo is right, if you need anything we would be glad to answer."
Aria nodded with a small smile. "I'll keep that in mind." They drove off shortly after.
"Let's go." Aria said, walking back to the forest that they left the house from.
The walk to the entrance of the forest took five minutes, nothing out of the ordinary happened then, it almost made them forget about what happened at Target just twenty minutes prior.
Kane certainly forgot.
However, Aria didn't.
There stood a brick path that led halfway through the forest, pointing towards their house. The other half of the path was dirt.
At the entrance to the path at the treeline is a concrete sidewalk, separating man from nature.
"You two go one ahead." Aria spoke. She stopped right there on the sidewalk.
The two curiously looked back at her, Kane wanted to ask why but before he could ask he finally remembered.
Assuming Aria was going to do something about the incidents from earlier and not wanting Adam to experience it, he quickly moved next to his younger brother and pushed forward.
"Let's go, Adam." Adam did not say anything but he hesitantly followed after his brother nonetheless, only sparing a concerned glance back to their mother as they made their way deeper into the trees.
There, in between the morning and afternoon, Aria stood alone.
Well, to the naked eye she stood alone.
"I know you're out there." She spoke loudly. Her voice caused the branches of the trees to tremble.
"Enough hiding, I already know you're there."
"Ah, if I'd have known a mage was here I would have been more careful."
From the left, a figure began to walk towards her. A young man with long curly white hair, white shirt and black pants. He seemed to be obsessed with the skull motif, as Aria observed him closely…
She saw a skull pattern at the ends of his hair.
"My bad, I should have been more careful. I wouldn't have bothered you if I knew you were there."
Aria did not question why that person was there in the first place or even who that person was. No, in fact she didn't even care.
This person's mere presence was threatening the safety of everything she'd been working for, she felt that within her mind.
Perhaps if she had actually questioned the person then things would have turned out differently.
But the outcome was already decided in her head.
From underneath and above the skull obsessed boy a blue aura began to glow. Within a single second, within a single moment. A large sword formed above his head and shot downwards.
"?!" The boy gasped as the sword completely cleaved him in half, however he wasn't given any room to say anything else.
A bright yet translucent fire spread across his body.
"Ghhg?! WHY?!" He screamed. His body began to burn faster than normal, that was because the fire was burning faster than normal.
There was nothing left of the boy with a skull motif, not even a burn mark in the concrete.
It was as though he never appeared there, but someone definitely did die that day.
Or rather, Aria believed she had truly killed someone that day.
She walked into the forest, not even sparing a glance behind her.
Aria walked to the door of her home, but before she could knock or even ring the doorbell the door opened.
Kane and Adam stood there with concern clearly on their faces.
"Are you alright?" Kane quickly asked. Adam nodded along with him.
Aria took note of the fact that the sword was already in Kane's hand.
She couldn't help but smile.
"I just had to confirm something, I dealt with it quickly." She answered. Walking into the house she closed the door behind her with her foot.
They were definitely curious but before they could ask anything more she said to them, "Help me put away the groceries, we'll start your training right after."
The two boys looked at eachother, before Kane eventually gave up first, Aria did something that didn't concern them, though he had a theory it had to do with the incidents at Target from earlier.
So he quickly walked up to her, Adam following right behind him.
"Are we doing anything new today?" He asked.
Aria shook her head as she placed her bags onto the table. "No, not yet. For today we're going to be doing the same as yesterday."
"Alright."
(A/N)
Recently finished "Witch on the Holy Night" and I'm in love with Aoko Aozaki.
.
.
.
That has nothing to do with this story, I just needed to get that off my chest. And I need to get my face into her chest fr fr–
Ahem.
Anyways,
I see the reviews (thank you for them btw, they really do help with giving me inspiration to continue writing) and although I'm not going to give anything away yet I will say you are extremely warm. So warm that your palms are right in the fire.
I want to say that a lot of my words in the A/N should be taken with a small spoonful of salt. I tend to change my mind on a whim at the very last minute, that's slightly why this chapter took so long to get out.
Also because I was finished with my first semester of college so I wasn't on my Adderall as much.
However! I will say that we are halfway through Kane's backstory. I intend for this little arc to end within 15 chapters but it might also be a little less than that (no more than fifteen and no less than 10). That's all I'll say for now, I hope you enjoyed this little filler chapter, more info about the story will be in the next chapter.
Thanks for spending time out of your life to read this piece of mediocrity, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated.
Also go read "Witch on the Holy Night". If you have the money for it, go buy it and play it. You're missing out on peak fiction!
Much love,
An idiot on the internet.
An Afterward
Snowfield was not anything special as cities go. A large urban city that held a population of eight hundred thousand people, it was an average metropolis– to the normal people.
To those that know, it used to be home to a few groups of indigenous people before the 21st century. Which seemed to be the case for plenty of cities in Western America, however this city was overshadowed by its neighboring city just south to it, Las Vegas.
However the locals would tell you that Snowfield was special in its own right, considering this city to be a combination of both the natural and the artificial.
Though that story won't be important until much later, for now all that matters was one small hotel room.
Within that hotel that stood near the middle of the city there was a room, nothing was special about the room but it was the residents of the room that were important.
There were two people, one on the bed and one in the living room. The body laying on the bed was a beautiful and mature young woman with an hour shape figure, her attire looked very familiar though.
White shirt and long black jeans, at the end of her long white hair there was a skull-shaped pattern.
The person was a young boy, perhaps about fifteen years old, in the living room sat on the couch, the T.V showed the country-wide news while the radio was blasting music. Loud banging of drums and the quick strumming of guitars produced in tandem with each other, creating a form of music that the person on the couch very much enjoyed.
The singer himself was not a singer by any conventional means, no, rather, he was growling.
Yet the person on the couch seemed to enjoy himself despite the weird music. Though you can't fault a boy for enjoying music can you?
His short hair waved as he bobbed his head. In his hands were a pair of glasses, ones that would normally frame dark colored eyes. His eyes were weirdly pointed, resembling something of a mythical creature rather than a human.
But he was completely human, physically that is.
Born human but raised by the inhuman.
Soon, the other person in the house woke up. The woman with a skull-motif nearly jumped out of her bed when her eyes snapped open.
She looked around, before she groaned to herself.
"Can you turn that shit off?" She yelled.
"When you finally admit that it's true music!" The young boy yelled back, still bobbing his head.
The woman got up and walked out of the room, she held her hand to her head almost as if she was holding in a migraine. She walked over to the radio and unplugged it.
"Hey! It was just getting to the good part!" The boy stopped bobbing his head and looked at the older woman.
"I'll never understand your interest in that band." She spoke.
"I don't understand how you don't like that band." He responded to her, placing his glasses back on his face. "Seriously, Cannibal Corpse, I thought that would be right up your alley."
The woman scoffed. "I don't deal with fakes, if they're going to label themselves as Cannibals I better expect them to be arrested for such within the next few years."
The boy sighed. "I guess I shouldn't expect a hypocrite to be reasonable."
"You're one to talk."
"Why are you here anyway?" He asked with a frown, changing the topic. "No, actually, what happened this time?"
He referred to the fact that she was in this feminine body instead of her previous body, one that the boy himself suggested.
"To be honest I don't know." She spoke truthfully, "I found a magus family that seemed to be blending in with normal people, so I decided to follow them. The woman was able to sniff me out, and I tried to make conversation, but she killed me without even speaking."
"Trying to blend in? Why?"
"No idea." The woman shrugged. "They were at a Target truly just buying groceries."
The boy took that in, but while he was only slightly curious about this "magus family" something else caught his attention.
"Why were you at a Target?"
"I wanted it to be a surprise but I suppose I might as well," The woman sighed, "I found a place that was actually selling the latest Cannibal Corpse album, I wanted it to be a gift but that seems to be ruined now."
"Really? A gift? Why?" The boy knew the woman well enough, she wouldn't go to such lengths for someone unless she wanted something.
"Don't tell me you forgot?" She asked. "It's the anniversary!"
He was truly confused now. From what he remembered there wasn't any holiday today, and he never celebrated his birthday.
"Anniversary for what?"
The woman gave an annoyed sigh. "Ugh, how could you not remember? Five years ago."
He took a second to think about what happened five years ago on this day, but there was only one thing that came to mind, though he didn't say it out loud because he truly thought it wasn't important.
However, the woman was still annoyed so she gave up on trying to be subtle. "Five years ago you killed your mother." She said simply, "and three years ago I found you."
"That's why you were looking for a gift?" Don't get him wrong he would not have complained if he got that new album, but he still didn't see a reason for why he would have been given it in the first place. He didn't see those two events as anything that should have an anniversary.
Especially since she hasn't done any anniversary before.
"Ugh, fine, be that way, I wanted to do something from the goodness of my heart but I guess my actions aren't appreciated around here." She spoke with a huff and a pout, though the youngman knew she wasn't being serious at all.
"The 'goodness of your heart' would leave a whole town dead, don't give me your bullshit Prelati."
Prelati gave him a mock glare. "Hmph, don't act like you're any different, Beryl."