Author's note: I changed Examiner's name from "Kiyoko" to "Naomi", as the latter fits better in my opinion. Thank you for the feedback, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Throughout the car ride, Ren sat comfortably against the backrest of the passenger-side seat; his head turned over his shoulder slightly, so as to watch the breathtaking scenery through the rolled-up side window. And though he was attentive to Naomi each time she would make short conversation with him, his focus was primarily on the diversity of trees that gently swayed in the wind.
Mesmerized by how each pine tree and evergreen began to blur in with each other the longer he stared in their direction, Ren didn't snap out of his trance-like fixation until he began noticing the slow transition of disparity in flora alongside the road. Rather than seeing a seemingly never ending dense forest outside of the car window, there were brick and mortar buildings beginning to pop up with small brick-laid parking lots and fields of tamed grass bordering the lots of the various businesses.
'Huh… Coming into town from this way certainly has a different vibe to it. With how many trees there are to-and-from Vivi's place, I forgot that all of this was a part of it,' Ren thought to himself, while having to remind himself that he wasn't in the big city anymore; where there were only a sparse amount trees that, and all of them isolated within a dirty concrete jungle that had long since built over the very ground that their ancestors once ruled in numbers.
From the corner of her keen eye, Naomi caught a glimpse of Ren's contemplative expression before flicking her eyes back toward the dull-red road ahead of her. "Now what's got the cogs in your head turning like that, kid? You look pretty deep in thought," Naomi mused with a flat expression on her face, while slowly easing off of the gas pedal as she drove further into town.
"Well, it's just… There's a clear dichotomy between mother nature and urban life; where I'm from, the closest thing you'd get to seeing a forest is visiting some run-down park," Ren explained, while taking time with deliberately selecting his words. "Compared to how it was when I first left the train station, all of this just feels… Isolated."
"Isolated, eh? I suppose you're right, geographically and analytically speaking anyway; Crescent Bay and the "outside world" really do seem like two separate entities; our closest city is hundreds of kilometers away from us, and our population is pretty small," Naomi mused with a slightly prideful attitude in her voice, before beginning to smile confidently. "But because we're all we have out here, we've all become close to one another in at least one or more capacity; it's what makes us so neighborly, and supportive of one another…"
"… You could be surrounded by a crowd of thousands while walking through the streets of any large city, Ren, and even with all those people breathing down your neck and suffocating your personal space, I guarantee you that you'd still feel isolated," Naomi rhetorically said with empathy in her deep voice, while stopping at an intersection along the brick-laid road.
And while the lawyer was using the hand-crank on the inside of her door to roll down her window, Ren sat in his seat; brooding over the example that Naomi used, and lamenting over it as she waved for a horse-drawn carriage on her left side to cross the intersection first. 'Feeling alone, even when you're surrounded by a crowd… Isolation is a state of mind; isn't that what you're trying to tell me? That must be so, because I've seen plenty of people within those aforementioned crowds that are anything but isolated; their loved ones by their side, or perhaps even they carry themselves differently because they have someone to go home to… I haven't had that in decades, and I have only myself to blame for that… I know that already,' Ren argued with Naomi's example with cynicism in his thoughts, all while remaining stoic on the outside as he continued to distract himself with sightseeing.
"... Guess you're right," Ren finally muttered out in a low voice; letting out a soft sigh; his eyes focused on all the curious locals who were smiling and waving at them as Naomi drove by with her arm out of the window to return the friendly gesture to them. Closing his eyelids to rest his eyes, Ren let out an elongated sigh as he continued to dwell on their conversation; wondering if he had it within him to connect to others within the rural community.
Unlike the car ride from his sister's property to the edge of town, it time it took getting from the intersection to their destination had passed quicker than what Ren had been anticipating. "Hey kid, wake up! We're here," Naomi practically shouted with some spite in her voice, as she reached over and shook the wide-eyed man by his shoulder.
With every muscle in his body tensed, Ren looked from side-to-side with his heart pounding inside his chest; it wasn't until he looked over at Naomi as she retracted her arm away from him did he notice that the SUV had been parked. Giving the amused lawyer a side eye glare, Ren groaned quietly to himself; muttering to her, "I wasn't even asleep," as he undid his seatbelt.
"Sure, that's what they all say. Come on, let's see who else is having a bite to eat here; I'll introduce you to them," Naomi said with an authoritative voice; being the first one out the car and having time to stretch her legs.
Using the side mirror on the passenger door, Ren used his fingers to comb his messy hair the best he could; wanting to make a good impression on whoever the lawyer was going to inevitably force him to talk to. "Okay, sure… That's fine," Ren said with a voice that sounded uninterested, even though it wasn't at all intentional.
"Okay, sure," Naomi repeated back at him with a mildly annoyed look in her gray eyes; instinctively throwing back his words at him, and waiting for Ren to make his way past the front of her black SUV before walking ahead of him. Much like the rest of the town, the exterior of the tavern was painted white, and had rope around the pillars of the front that were keeping the awning held above the main entryway; the establishment having an overall nautical theme to it on the outside.
With Naomi holding the door for him, Ren's perception of the tavern was immediately changed upon taking his first glance inside of the building. Across from the entrance to the tavern was a wooden long bar counter that had red-cushioned bar stools along its front; a mature woman with graying blond hair sat across the counter where a portly man with a chef's hat and black-mustache stood staring back at her with an slightly anxious look in his eyes.
Attending the cash register at the bar was a young woman with short hair that was tied into a ponytail with bangs swept to the right-side of her forehead; a long tussle of hair falling past her cheek and reaching all the way to her shoulder. Just like the portly man who was speaking to the only woman at the bar, the cashier was wearing a mostly black uniform from what Ren could see, and both were wearing white-aprons.
'She looks nervous like him too, but… No one's causing an issue, as far I can tell… Wonder if that's just their demeanor… I wonder why that is,' Ren thought to himself, as he followed behind Naomi as she made her way over to the cash register to speak with the young woman.
"Afternoon Karrah, how's business going for you and your father?" Naomi asked with her voice still being low, yet warm while speaking to the woman who was younger than her by at least a decade.
Looking back at the confidence written all over the lawyer's face with her brown eyes, Karrah laughed awkwardly with an uneasy smile on her face as she nervously played with her fingers. "O-Oh, ummm…! It's g-good, Ms. Yoshimura; today's a little slow, but that's okay…" Karrah trailed off quietly with her smile wavering a bit, as she gave Ren a quick and timid glance before immediately looking back toward Naomi's direction. "Is… I-Is that Vivine's brother? I heard he was moving in today…"
'... I'm standing right here. You could have just asked me that directly,' Ren thought to himself; finding it slightly off-putting that someone who was socially awkward and nervous as she was could somehow hold a job that required one to speak directly to customers.
Unphased by Karrah's mannerisms, Naomi continued to smile warmly at the cashier as she replied, "Yeppers, that's him alright; looks a lot like her, doesn't he?"
Nodding her head with a glimmer of amusement crossing her face, Karrah's eyes momentarily darted back toward Ren's direction to get a better look at him before once again looking back at the woman who she felt more comfortable speaking to. "Y-Yeah, he does, huh…? It's probably the hair; Ms. Ashta had gray hair like that too… Before she started to dye it light-brown, that is..."
"And the pasty-white skin too; this kid looks like he hasn't seen the sun in years," Naomi said teasingly with a chuckle escaping her throat; giving Ren a playful jab with her elbow.
Rolling his eyes at the two women, Ren let out an annoyed sigh as he shrugged his shoulders. 'I mean… You wouldn't be wrong; I worked inside an office for twelve hours a day, and Arcadia usually had overcast weather most days,' Ren justified himself, while not vocalizing any of that to either women.
Unlike Naomi however, Karrah seemed mortified at the jab, and immediately began backtracking as her nervous expression intensified into a look of fear. "Mr. Ashta! I-I wasn't trying to offend you! P-Please, I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" The cashier apologized frantically, as she finally addressed Ren directly while staring him with her widened eyes; beads of sweat beginning to quickly form on her slightly-tanned face, as her breathing quickened.
Although he had just met her, Ren got the impression that she was a bit of a nervous wreck, and judging by the side-eye glare Naomi was silently giving him, he could tell that it was up to him to calm Karrah's nerves down. "No offense taken, Miss…?" Ren trailed off slowly, before giving the cashier a moment to get a hold of herself.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Karren let out a nervous sigh as she forcibly made herself smile back at Ren; her eyebrows still curled upward to convey just how uncomfortable she was feeling. "Uh, umm… Z-Zeppoli! My last name's Zeppoli— Karrah Zeppoli," Karrah finally spat out awkwardly, after thinking long and hard in order to articulate her last name to the young man; giving him a moment where he sincerely thought she had actually forgotten her last name for a second.
"Ren Ashta; it's fine to meet you," Ren said with a slight smile forming on his pale lips, as he extended his arm over the counter to offer up his hand to her.
Upon seeing the black ink writing on Ren's hands, Karrah narrowed her eyelids slightly as she silently read to herself what Naomi had written. Realizing what it was and that Ren wasn't trying to show her his address, Karrah caught on soon enough and promptly wiped her palm on her pant leg before shaking Ren's hand. "S-Sorry…! My palms get clammy sometimes…" She muttered quietly with an embarrassed tone in her voice.
'…I can tell,' Ren thought to himself, as he did his best to visibly remain unphased by the fact he could feel beads of Karrah's sweat soaking into his skin, despite the woman having wiped her hand. "Mine do too; must be that coastal weather you've got here," Ren mused calmly.
Even though part of her knew that Ren had only added that anecdote to make her feel less self conscious of her sweaty self, Karrah still appreciated the sentiment behind it and thus was able to slightly ease her guard as she took in a deep breath. "Y-Yeah… Yeah, must be, huh?" She mused quietly; taking a moment to fidget with her two maroon hair clips beside where her bangs were swept across her forehead, before clearing her throat as she picked up the notepad and pen from beside the cash register. "So, uh… W-What can I get you two?"
Taking a wide stance with her legs while crossing her sleeved arms over chest, Naomi flashed an approving look down at Ren before raising her chin up to get a better look at the chalkboard-menu that was posted behind and above where Karrah was nervously standing. "Let's see, let's see… I think I'm going to have the sashimi salad with a diet cola please… Oh! And I'll have that for here, please," Naomi said in a clear and concise voice; giving Karrah plenty of time to nearly write her order. "What about you kid? What are you getting for lunch?"
Having just seen the price that each daily entree was going for, Ren couldn't help but to channel his inner Karrah by beginning to sweat nervously. 'Three silver-pieces for spaghetti and NO meatballs?! Five copper-pieces for a drink?! This tavern's prices are highway robbery! I've never spent more than a silver-piece for a meal back when I was in Arcadia, and even then the silver-piece would cover the cost of a drink!' Ren vented to himself, all while sliding one hand into his side pocket to subtly loosen the strings of his coin-purse; blindly using his fingertips to count the pitiful amount of coin he had to his name. 'Twelve copper… I've got twelve copper-pieces to my name… That should cover the cost of… No, nevermind; I can't afford a loaf of bread here.'
"Kid, there's like… Five choices to choose from; pick one already," Naomi scolded with an annoyed look in her eye; her frown returning, as Karrah simply stood behind the counter feeling uncomfortable with the tension between the two.
Feeling terrible, Ren took a deep breath and avoided looking Karrah in her brown eyes as he quietly said, "I'll just… I'll just have a cup of water please."
Almost immediately, Ren heard Naomi groan under her breath, as she closed her legs closer together. "I swear to God, kid, you're going to get on my nerves again…" Naomi muttered passive aggressively, as she gently grabbed the young man's shoulder from behind before pulling him back a couple steps, allowing her to cut in front of him, so as to have the cashier's full attention. "Sorry about that Karrah, don't listen to him; what he MEANT to say was that he'd like to order a plate of honey-glazed salmon with twice-baked potatoes, and a bottle of ice-cold ale please."
Having been reading off of the blackboard-menu while Karrah had been taking down the lawyer's order, Ren's heart sunk deeper into his chest with each additional charge that was placed on his tab. 'That's going to cost me six-silver pieces, and nine copper-pieces altogether…! I can't even cover a fraction of that… How am I going to…?!' Ren's thoughts trailed off, and was left thoroughly confused as he watched Naomi take a gold-piece out of her coin purse before handing it over to Karrah.
"Keep the change, sweetheart," Naomi said warmly with kindness in her deep voice; smiling sincerely at the pleasantly-surprised expression that was on the cashier's face, as she timidly deposited the gold piece into her register's till.
"T-This is…! I…! T-Thank you, Ms. Yoshimura, thank you!" Karrah replied enthusiastically with only a twinge of timidness still in her unconfident voice. Tearing off the page she had written on from her notepad, Karrah took a moment to grab what looked to Ren to be a wooden cane from behind the counter; using it to support her left side, as she hastily limped toward the man in the chef's hat, who met her more than half-way after the blond woman at the gestured toward the cashier.
Turning his head to look over his shoulder at the frowning lawyer, Ren was still processing what had just happened as he slowly turned around to face her. "… Ms. Yoshimura, may I ask why you paid for me?"
"I'd prefer it if you didn't. Now go take a seat by Ms. Yoriko; you can make up some of your debt by introducing yourself to her and Guido," Naomi instructed; gesturing toward the mature blond woman sitting by the bar with a large opened-up haori-coat, who was looking back at her with an approving smirk on her red-matte lips.
Giving the aforementioned blond woman an over-the-shoulder glance, Ren couldn't help but to feel anxious after seeing Naomi walking away from him once he turned his head back forward. "Ms. Yoshimura…?! Where… W-Where are you going?"
Stopping dead in her tracks and pausing for a moment, Naomi turned slowly around to give Ren an annoyed glare before sassily pointing her thumb back over her shoulder toward the nearby sign in the corner of the tavern that read 'restrooms'. "Did you want 'mommy' to hold your hand while she takes you to the bathroom with her?! Or can my 'brave little-man' be a big boy, and go handle regular social interactions on his own?!" Naomi asked sarcastically, signaling to Ren that she was beginning to reach her limit with how much she had been babysitting him.
Giving the lawyer an amused look, Ren felt his cheeks redden as he felt humiliated where he stood. 'Thank God there's hardly anyone else here… What a troublesome woman,' Ren thought to himself, before begrudgingly replying to the irritated woman, "I'll be fine."
"I knew you had it in you, kid," Naomi said half-heartedly under her breath, before quickly turning around to march her way over toward the corner of the tavern; disappearing into the hallway where the restroom sign was posted outside of.
"Ugh… Whatever…" Ren muttered while shaking his head to himself, as he turned around before beginning to approach the barstool beside the older gal that Naomi had told him to go sit at. Seeing the mature woman swerving her stool toward him, it was then that Ren noticed two very apparent things about the curvaceous woman who was calling him over by patting the red-velvet cushion of the barstool beside her with her free hand: the first thing that he noticed was that she had on a gray kimono-blouse that revealed more of her plump cleavage that he had been expecting to see, and the second thing the young man noticed almost immediately about her was that she was intoxicated.
"Vivine's little brother… *Blech, guhh… Y-You must be him, right?" The mature woman finished inquiring after letting out a loud burp, as she did her best to focus her hazy brown-eyes on the young man as he reluctantly took a seat right beside her.
"Y… Yes ma'am. My name is Ren Ashta… I take it that you knew who my sister was?" Ren questioned with an uneasy smile on his face; making sure to keep his eyes looking away from the intoxicated woman's largely visible breasts, as she drunkenly wrapped an arm over his shoulder before pulling him closer to her.
"Kid! EVERYONE in this damn town knows who your sister was; she's a goddamn hero, is what she is!" She practically screamed obnoxiously into his right ear-drum; causing Ren to wince and squirm underneath her surprisingly unbreakable grip. "She was the town psychiatrist, ya see… She really helped me through some really crappy times, kid; I'll tell you that much! Reeeeaaalll stand-up kind of woman— once in a lifetime, I tell ya!" She boasted proudly in regards to his sister; grabbing the half-full glass of red wine from the bar counter, before raising it up in the air. "This is to ya, baby girls! We miss ya down here!" She shouted out with a teary voice; getting emotional and choked up, while Karrah raised the nearest empty glass she had behind the counter to join the drunken woman's toast to Ren's sister.
Being pulled in closer to the blond woman's body, as though he were her teddy bear, Ren's cheek once again began to become redden as he felt her the tops of her plump breasts pressing up against his face, with how hold she was holding him as she downed the entire rest of the glass in less than a second. 'She's sweaty too…! Why does everyone here sweat so goddamn much?!' Ren thought to himself in discomfort; tensing up and holding his breath, after having accidentally inhaled a whiff of the drunken woman's body odor. 'Oh dear god…'
"It's…! I-It's nice to hear you speak so highly of her, Ms. Yoriko…! T-Thank you…" Ren managed to articulate while breathing through his mouth.
Only after his hair and skin and soaked up most of the blond vixen's boob-sweat did she finally ease her grip around him; not letting him go entirely, but just enough so that could hang onto him through a sideways hug, while the two of them sit hip-to-hip. "Ms. Yoriko…? Pffftt! Look kid, we're not abiding by any superficial business rules of etiquette here, so drop the formalities while I'm off the clock, will ya?!" The blond woman quipped half-jokingly with a hardy laugh escaping from her wide-open smile, as she reached up to rustle Ren's head full of voluptuous-gray hair before finally letting him go with a playful push; nearly shoving him off of the stool by accident.
"Ms. Yoriko, Ms. Yoriko; no… No kid, I'd actually prefer it if you would just address me by my first name instead: May… May Yoriko," the blond woman said smoothly in a low voice that sounded sultry, as she began refilling her empty glass with the last of her bottle of red, winking at Ren from the corner of her eye, before practically shoving the glass of wine into his chest.
"Take a drink for me, Ren; drinking alone isn't as glamorous as I'm making it out to be… Besides, what you've got in your hands there is a century-old vintage merlot, all the way from Cerulean: 'Sangue Di Stelle'! Ya know, the good fru-fru crap," May said in a down-to-Earth manner, after revealing some of her more elegant side to Ren, when she was able to correctly prunicate the foreign wine.
Doing his best to imitate what he had seen from movies, Ren looked down from May's excitable brown-eyes to take a look at the blood-red contents within the glass he was holding from the bottom. Swishing the wine around in an attempt to see the fabled 'legs' he had heard so much about, Ren brought the rim of the glass up to his face to take a whiff of its aroma; nearly coughing after being hit with its abrasive. Biting back his urge to gag, Ren smiled gratefully at May as he brought the rim of the glass down to his lips.
'It sure stinks like it's been fermenting for a hundred years… Maybe it'll taste better than it smells,' Ren thought hopefully while bracing himself, as he gazed down past the tip of his nose to watch as the torrent of expensive wine came rushing down into his opened mouth. Almost immediately after the bitter taste of the alcohol hit the back of his throat like a tsunami, Ren slammed the emptied wine glass on the bar counter hard enough to almost chip it, before immediately going wide-eyed as he stumbled off of the bar.
Hearing May immediately bursting into a hysterical fit of laughter as she watched the scene unfold right in front of her, Ren started to audibly wretch as he clamped his palms over his mouth and nose; his eyes stinging with tears. Leaning forward as he felt the bitter wine shooting up into his nasal cavity, Ren fought back the urge to spit it all out as he forced himself to gulp down every last drop of what might as well have been a white-elephant gift to him.
Trying to get a grip on his bearings, Ren was doing his best to regulate his breathing as he stood up straight; turning around and away from May, who was still crying tears of laughter as she silently wheezed to herself. Noticing the terrified look on Karrah's face— as she stood behind the counter with one hand on the handset of her rotary phone, while her other hand was presumably one spin-of-the-dial away from calling an ambulance for him— Ren felt more humiliated than ever as he awkwardly gave her a thumbs-up; silently reassuring her that everything was alright, just as her father poked his head out from the metallic door to the kitchen from behind the bar-counter as well.
"Hey-a?! Is-a everything alright out-a there?! I-a thought I heard-a someone choking," the mustached man asked with a concerned and heavily accented-voice, as he glanced momentarily at Ren before turning to look towards his daughter. "Bambini, isn't that-a Vivi's fratellino? He's not-a the one choking now, is he?"
Just like her father, Karrah glanced quickly at Ren before looking back at her father with a smile as she slowly put the handset back on top of the rotary phone. "Ummm… N-No papa; mon riesce a sopportare l'alcol," Karrah said in her second-language, sounding just as articulate as she did when she was speaking 'common' to Ren and Naomi.
Seemingly understanding her perfectly— and as well as the reason as to why she didn't want Ren to know what she had just said— Guido gave his daughter his own variation of a reassuring smile, before turning his head back toward the young man. "Don't be-a embarrassed, Mr. Ashta! I'm-a not-a big drinker myself, and only a handful of-a people here can-a stomach the hard stuff that-a May drinks!"
Wiping the tears of amusement from her eyes with one finger, May's fair-skin complexion on her face had gone completely crimson by the time she had managed to catch her breath enough to wheeze out a comeback. "It's…! F-From your own damn country, ya damn old Meatball…! How can you hate it…?!" The mature blond woman managed to gasp out, before having to resort to taking labored breaths, just to keep herself from passing out from how oxygen deprived her gut-busting fit of laughter had left her.
"It's-a not that I hate it persay, it's just-a I for one am not-a the sort of-a paisano to-a drink it! I-a prefer to-a cook with that-a sort of wine; much-a more potential for-a flavors that-a way, May!" Guido replied back to the dry-cackling blonde; giving Ren the impression that the two were close, as he seemed to take no offense to being called a 'damn old meatball'. "Anyway… Imma gonna get you-a couple glasses of my-a handcrafted ginger-ale instead of that ale you ordered, Mr. Ashta! Trust-a me, you're-a gonna need it!"
Unable to help himself, Ren stood there stunned for a moment as he looked not only back at the chef, but at the other two women at the bar counter with him as well; from the way May was doing her best to invite him back over to sit with her, to the way that Karrah was using her cane to help herself bring a cup of ice-cold water to him, Ren was at a loss for words as his mind tried to process the sheer amount of hospitality that he was being given. 'Why are they being so nice to me? This doesn't make any sense to me… It's hard to imagine that any of them could feel sorry for someone like me: I don't deserve their kindness…'
'… Then again, maybe they all feel obligated to? Maybe they love my sister more than they dislike me for being such a terrible sibling to her? That has to be the reason why… Why else would they ever want to include me into their community? Like I'm supposed to be one of them?' Ren wondered cynically to himself; getting lost in his own self-loathing thoughts. It wasn't until he felt someone physically lifting him up off of the floorboards did Ren's mind snap back into reality.
Picking Ren up effortlessly with both hands tenderly holding him up by his waist from behind, May's breasts were pressing up against the back of his head as she carried him over to the barstool. "It's alright, it's alright," the mature blond woman cooed in her sultry voice; lulling him out of his negative thoughts, as she carefully sat him down where he had been seated.
Feeling May retracting herself from behind him to take her own seat back beside him, it wasn't long until he felt the mature woman's strong arm drape once again behind his shoulder; this time far more relaxing, yet still comforting as she proceeded to massage his bicep as Karrah placed the glass if iced-water she had brought to him on top of a cork-coaster. "I'm… I'm going to bring you all some pretzels to snack on. Just… J-Just give me a holler if you need anything else, okay Mr. Ashta?" Karrah said with as much confidence as she could muster; clearly still uncomfortable with social interactions as she had been when he first saw her, but clearly trying hard to break out of her shell.
Feeling May's strong fingers tighten around his bicep to grab his attention, Ren glanced up at the fair-skinned woman's smirking face; silently exchanging knowing nods with her, before turning his head back to smile softly at the cashier. "There's… No need for such formalities, Karrah… 'Ren' will do just fine," he said in his stoic and calm usual demeanor; earning himself another squeeze on the arm from May, from how she approved of what he had just said.
Seemingly in one what was unsaid between the two, Karrah's lips curled into a genuine look of cheeriness as she and May glanced quickly at one another. "Uh… S-Sure thing, R-Ren! I'll…! I-I'll be right back!" Karrah announced anxiously, after having run out of things she could think of to say; turning around from the bar-counter, and using her cane to help her make her way through the metal door into the kitchen.
Although affection felt like a foreign concept to him, Ren soon found himself not minding having May's arm resting over his shoulders, and as a matter of fact began taking a silent liking to it by the time Naomi came back from the restroom. Plopping her bottom down on the stool to his left, the lawyer with the raven-black hair scooted herself closer to the counter as she turned her body toward the blond woman to begin talking to her.
Not doing much talking himself, Ren simply sat in between the two older adults while taking a sip of his water; being sure to be the one to first thank Karrah when she came back out of the kitchen with a large bowl of complimentary mini-pretzels tucked underneath her free arm. 'I want to believe that they're all so hospitable, because of what you said about people in this rural town, Ms. Yoshimura: about how all of your closeness is brought on by a sense of belonging, and from how reliant all of you are on each other's well-being… But none of this feels like I deserve it; it's not mine to have…'
'… What these people must see when they look at me is Vivi, not necessarily the anti-social person who's right in front of their faces. But then again, who am I to take that away from them? Their affinity is for Vivi, not for me; and that's just fine. After all, this isn't about me; none of this is. The sooner I come to terms with that, the more smoothly things will be going forward from here,' Ren thought bittersweetly to himself; hardening his resolve, while still feeling cathartic in the face of such camaraderie and kindness. 'I have a debt that must be repaid… I'll see to it that it does… Even if it kills me.'
Character References:
Ren Ashta = Goblin Slayer.
Naomi Yoshimura = Examiner.
Vivine Ashta = Goblin Slayer's Older Sister.
Karrah Zeppoli = OC, based off of Kobeni Higashiyama (Chainsaw Man).
Guido Zeppoli = OC, based offof Peppino Spaghetti (Pizza Tower).
May Yoriko = OC, based off of Tsunade (Naruto).