It turns out that Luna knew quite a lot of shortcuts. In fact, we took so many, that the trip which should've been around an hour and a half or so, ended up only being 40 minutes more or less on foot. I honestly had no idea so many alleys and stairs existed in this area, let alone actually know their placement… It's a good thing overall that she came to pick us up, that's for sure.
"So which one do you think I should wear, Luna?"
If you're wondering what the gremlin was talking about, then it's pretty simple to explain.
"Hmm, I guess the 2nd option? He's most likely going to be in the backyard when we're back in a little, so it's better to wear something a little warmer, like you're doing now."
On our way, about 80% of its total time was spent by Nala bombarding Luna with ideas for outfits she'd wear, before meeting him. Honestly, dressing up to meet your new brother? That seems a little unnecessary to me personally. He's going to be seeing her in all kinds of states from now on after all.
I get that normally a good first impression goes a long way, but I'm not so sure if dressing up to meet someone that may see you with a snotty nose and teary eyes the next day if you catch a cold overnight, is exactly a valuable choice of your time. But well, it's Nala, so it makes sense coming from her at least anyway.
For the record, the 2nd option Luna chose out of like 8 or something that were listed, was a pretty simple but clean combo. Long pants, an overcoat and also some gloves. It does give off pretty wintery vibes in my head at least, but well, it is winter… so that also makes sense.
"I see… yeah, you're right! Thank you, Luna!"
"You're welcome. We'll try to keep him in the backyard for a while too if you want. That way you can take your time dressing up, and it won't be wasted by us going back inside in the meanwhile."
"Really?? That would be amazing!"
"Haha, alright then, it's set."
"Yeah!"
Do we really have to…? I don't want to be that guy, but it is still a little chilly outside, you know?
But the glance I took at Luna, not really putting much effort into hiding my inner thoughts off my face, resulted in a fairly scary and easy to decode glare from her.
"Play along."
I heard it in my head as if she said it via mana communication, even though she didn't. It was that clear. So while a chill ran down my spine, and we finally approached our home's main gates, I remained quiet for my own sake.
"Oh? Look, Nala. It seems like she's been waiting for you."
Iris was at the front door, which was around 50-70 meters away from the gates, more or less.
"Ah! Iris! I'm hooooomeeee!!"
But those were rookie numbers for our gremlin. If I had to take a rough guess, I'd say that she reached and hugged Iris in around 8.30 seconds, since shouting her arrival announcement. Was she always this fast? I don't really have any idea since the kid barely does anything other than Nala stuff, but hey, the more you know I guess.
"Welcome back, Nala. Have you decided on what to wear already?"
Oho? As expected of Iris. Already assuming she'd want to get changed before seeing him.
Those 2 really do go well along to be fair. Nala doesn't seem to mind Iris' strong foot either, and is actually fairly obedient when it comes to her. Either way, it's pretty safe to say that both of the maids are generally just perfect nannies for our twins, honestly.
"Yep! I already decided, so let's go quickly!"
But putting that aside, just as Nala grabbed Iris' hand and tried to walk off with her, we had also closed in the distance, and Luna asked the important question.
"Are they still in the backyard?"
That was probably why Iris hadn't followed Nala's instinctive leadership lead, thankfully. It seems like the gremlin didn't even consider the possibility of them not being outside anymore yet, for that matter. She was also visibly curious about the answer, as she stopped trying to forcefully make her walk by pulling her arm, and watched.
"Yes, they are. They actually haven't been out for long, so it should still be a while until they'd probably go inside."
"The back is pretty huge after all."
"They should be in the western garden, since that one has a bigger tea table."
"Alright, thanks Iris. You can go help her dress up then come towards us as well."
"Understood. Let's go, Nala."
"Alright! See you in a bit, Cael, Luna!"
We waved at her briefly, then began walking towards our destination.
"Are bigger tea tables better?"
"I wonder… I guess it depends on your social status?"
"Why're they showing it to him during winter anyway though?"
"You'd want a full tour of your new home too, no?"
"I didn't really ask for one when we moved here though."
"Well- actually, you do have a point…"
"Right?"
"But in his case, I guess there technically is a reason for it."
"A reason for being interested in a big tea table?"
"A reason for being interested in a big tea table."
"What is it?"
"He has a terrible sweet tooth. I'm assuming that Maia thought he'd rather eat his sweets at a big table with some pretty flowers, don't you think?"
"Hmm… that does seem reasonable."
"Right?"
And as we arrived in the backyard, we began taking the pathway towards the western garden. For the record, while it wasn't the case for the whole area, the flowers at least had an invisible heat barrier surrounding them. Their purpose was of course to keep them alive all year round, like a greenhouse. Though I do think not having it over the whole property is a little questionable as a choice…
Maybe I should ask Maia about it sometime. Well, winter is ending soon too now, so maybe it's not really necessary anymore. But either way, a little further ahead on our pathway, we saw it pretty clearly now. A white marbled tea table, with a ceiling held by a few pillars, surrounded by flowers.
Inside, there were 4 people currently, sitting and eating something. I'm assuming those are some kind of pastries? I'm not really sure though, we were still a little too far away to tell. Maia was the first one to notice us, also.
The closer we got however, something weird happened. It was kinda like an aftertaste? No, that wouldn't really make sense. But also did it? I'm not sure. It was bitter however. At the same time, my body began to tingle, in a fairly weird way.
What's going on? This weird sensation…
But while Maia got up from her seat, and forced him to stand up as well, I glanced at Luna who seemed completely fine. It seems like it was really just me feeling this way. I honestly didn't know if I should say something about it or not…
It should be fine, right?
I'd rather not ruin this whole thing just because I'm feeling slightly weird after all. Me and him hadn't even made eye contact yet for that matter, so backing out now would've been a little too shameless. But…
Thump.
My heart suddenly grew heavy, as our distance shrunk even further. We must've been only around 30 meters away from each other now, if I had to make an estimate.
My heartbeat…
Thump.
A cold sweat then spread through my whole spine, in an instant.
Thump.
And soon enough, my body stopped, frozen in place.
I-I can't… I can't breathe…!
My heartbeat felt heavy. My lungs felt as if they were being crushed.
What's going on? What is this pressure?
Thump.
I looked at my left, where Luna should've been.
Maybe Luna can help me—?!
But there was… nothing.
I instinctively turned my head towards my right, only to find the same result. Blank, nothingness. Everything had gone white.
I tried to look behind me as well, as a desperate attempt at grasping sight of something, anything. But to no result.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Yet…
Thump.
I somehow knew.
That if I turned around…
And looked forward…
I see now…
I'm not the only one, after all.
Our eyes met.
Hahaha…you should've said something sooner, if you also felt it, you son of a bitch.
I was happy.
So happy that I couldn't help but laugh in my own head. Was I even sane anymore? Or rather, was I sane at any point in time? I wonder. After all, nothing had made me question it like I am now.
Honestly, this is getting really annoying by now.
My knees bent forward.
These constant weird feelings that I can't identify…
I opened my right hand.
And I can't ask anyone for help. Hell, I don't even know if this is really myself sometimes.
And a ray of my own mana, formed in it.
Why am I feeling this way? Of course, I don't know.
And in no time, i had shaped it into a sword.
But of course I don't. No one gives me answers, even if I ask.
Wait, actually, who did I even ask until now?
When have I even asked anyone…?
Oh, right. Yeah, the Goddess.
I did ask her… but she promised she'd eventually tell me everything.
But why do I feel like I'm missing something?
Like I'm somehow contradicting myself…
As if I had actually gotten quite a lot of answers?
Well, it doesn't matter now.
My eyes widened.
Yet…
My lips curled upwards.
Can you tell me why? Probably not.
After all…
It seems like you're in the same boat as me, aren't you…
Cifer?!
His stance, his grip, and even his trajectory. They were identical to mine. I could tell at first glance.
In fact, that wasn't all.
Before we charged at each other, dashing forward simultaneously, I saw it crystal clear. I couldn't rip my eyes off of him after all.
This bastard was copying even my technique.
But it didn't seem to be mana-no, it definitely wasn't.
In his hand, there was a blade he made out of lightning magic, at the same pace and way as mine.
"Haha…hahahahahah!! You fucking copycat, how the hell did you manage that?!"
"Hahahahahahah…..wouldn't you like to know that, you piece of shit?!"
We got closer.
We were both smiling.
We were both having fun.
I'm sure that neither one of us knew why we were doing it.
But we were.
Our blades were only 3 meters away from each other, in just a fraction of a second.
They'd soon clash.
I don't know how he managed to copy me so flawlessly, honestly. But it didn't matter.
If there's one thing I'm absolutely confident about, it's my swordsmanship.
As soon as our swords clash…
The victory…
"Is Min——…"
H-huh? What happened… Why am I not moving anymore?
I looked at him, but he was the exact same. What the hell is going on? We were so close to clashing. I was so close to winning-
"Woah there, you two. Going straight to each other's throat before you even greet? Well, that's definitely a reaction at least."
"Tell me about it. To think Cael would sprint from my side so quickly, and with that stupid grin on his face…"
And that's when I came back to my senses. Behind Cifer, stood Maia. She was holding him by his collar.
I then looked behind me as well, only to find Luna doing the exact same thing.
It seems like we were stopped right before our blades actually met, by those two.
"You little shits…"
Oh…Fuck.
My eyes widened… but in fear this time, as our parents had also gotten up now. Cifer had also looked behind him, only to see dad walking towards us, looking visibly pissed, while mom was next to him with a wry smile on her face.
"D-dad, this is not-"
"Shut up, you rascal. And both of you, how long are you going to stay like that?"
"'Ah.'"
We still hadn't dropped neither our stances, nor our blades.
"You're not enemies, you're brothers now. Quit trying to cut each other's head off."
"Now, now, dear… I'm sure they didn't mean to."
"Isolde… you're usually the strict one, you know? Scold your sons a little for jumping at each other before they even said a word."
"Even if I do though, by the looks on their face… it seems like they're also pretty confused."
She scratched the back of her head, while both of us were released by Luna and Maia, and we straightened up. Looking at us, dad sighed, then spoke again.
"Alright. Let's just leave it at 2 brothers awakening their instincts of competing with each other, or something like that. Come sit, all of you."
They turned around and walked towards the tea table first, then we followed shyly. I actually had no idea what to even say now… my memory is also a little hazy about the whole thing for that matter, it felt as if in an instant I just found myself in the middle of it.
But regardless, that didn't seem to matter. Our parents and Cifer sat across from me, Maia and Luna, but as you can imagine, only 2 people were staring at the table itself, instead of each other.
"Oi. I get that the table is pretty and all, but don't you have something else to do, instead of staring at it?"
"W-well…"
"I…"
It was a rare sight to see dad actually acting like a parent, so I had no idea how to even handle it properly. But seeing as we both clearly felt the pressure of his words, and gaze, it was undeniable. Do dads have some kind of hidden aura or something? Why're they so scary when serious?!
"Go. On."
"…I'm sorry for charging at you."
"Yeah… me too…"
"And?"
"M-my name is Cael Ashford… Nice to meet you."
"I'm- I'm Cifer… I guess I'm also an Ashford now. Nice to meet you too…"
This is so awkward…
But this was also…
"Everyone, everyone!! I'm here!! I changed!! Look, look, what do you guys think?!!"
The happiest I've ever been to hear the gremlin's voice! She ran towards us at top speed, waving her arm in the air with an intoxicatingly cute smile on her face. The mood instantly lightened up, as if her presence had magically melted all the ice around us.
Nala! My dear younger sister, I've never been more glad to see you until now!
And as soon as she arrived, before anyone could even say anything, she ran straight to his side. She enthusiastically stood in front of him for a second, grabbed his hands, then spoke.
"So you're our new brother?! You're so pretty!! My name is Nala! Nice to meet you!"
"Ah, uhm.. my name is Cifer-"
"What kind of clothes do you like?! Can I make some for you?? You'd look great in blue, because your eyes are also blue!"
"Oh, y-yeah, sur-"
"Iris said you have a sweet tooth! What's that?? Is your tooth sweet??"
"I-it means I like sweets a lot…"
"Me too, me too!! What's your favorite??!"
And as Nala saved the day with her usual behavior, and Cifer got completely overwhelmed by it, the rest of the evening, and night went pretty smoothly. I'm fairly sure that he liked meeting Rune the most out of us, if I had to take a guess. They also sat next to each other at dinner, and even spoke a little, although both just as embarrassed.
We didn't really get much time alone to talk, but I think we both felt as if we probably just shouldn't bring it up directly either. Neither of us seems to really remember much after all. But regardless, I'd say that overall, although Nala did carry the result to a higher rating, his arrival in the Ashford family… was successful, after all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Maia's Pov)
"I just checked, both of them are asleep."
It was around close to 11 or so. I made sure that Cael and Cifer were sleeping, before returning to the table and sitting next to Mio. As usual, we'd just have some tea together while discussing what needs to be discussed.
"I'm glad they managed to sleep without issues at least."
"They both had a long day after all. Cael with Nala, and Cifer with moving the whole day and all."
"Speaking of Cael and Nala, what do we do about our bet now? Mio did end up taking them home herself."
"It can't be helped, can it? If I hadn't, it would've taken at least an extra 2 hours for them to arrive on their own."
"I mean, you're not wrong…"
"Well, it doesn't really matter that much at the end of the day."
"I agree, honestly. It was mostly just a fun little thing to do, as far we are concerned. We can't really get a day off just because of a bet after all."
"Are you sure? Since I work at night I'm pretty much completely free during the day. I wouldn't mind doing some of your work, even if you didn't win the bet."
"Don't be stupid, Mio. What kind of parent would let their kid do their work?"
"Still-"
"And for that matter, I'm pretty sure that in spite of everything that happened today, you still ended up winning the bet, you know?"
"Now that mom mentions it, that is the case, isn't it? Did you also consider having to bring them home on your own when you bet on a time?"
"I guess? But still, I myself don't really need the day off to begin with, so even knowing I'd win, I planned on just helping you guys with your work anyway- ouch! What the-"
"Shut up already… stop being so stubborn, you annoying little sister of mine."
"You didn't need to flick my forehead though…"
"And you don't need to do something as stupid as ignoring the rules of the bet, and helping us with our work, even though you won."
"That's right, Mio. We'd never allow you to do something like that."
"You may be the strongest and the commander, and all that… but it doesn't really matter to us. As your parents, to us you're just our kid."
"We couldn't care less about how capable you are of managing that, so don't even bother arguing against it."
"…fine. Then none of us gets a day off."
"Though that does bring a little pain to my heart, that's for the best. Both me and Isolde have a lot of work to do after all."
"I'm just as busy as always personally, so it's not like I can't manage either way. I'm fine with it."
Mio sighed, then took a sip of her cup, before speaking.
"Alright then. But putting that aside, I believe there's something else we should be discussing instead."
Though it wasn't too prominent, the mood did stiffen a little. However, we did need to get this straight out.
"I've heard about it from you guys before, but it's not like I ever saw them together in our first life, or at least, well, not until the end of it."
"Yeah, it's not really that surprising to us, honestly."
"Cael and Cifer liked to compete with each other and spar pretty often as kids after all. Until their separation at least."
"We haven't really talked about them too much since… you know how things are between you 3 and all, but we all expected something along those lines."
"So you 3 knew this would probably happen, but acted as if you didn't, huh?"
"When you put it that way, it doesn't sound as good as we thought."
"It's alright. I get why you're all cautious about it. I guess just telling you that me and him sorted our issues isn't enough to ease you."
"…"
"…"
"It's not like we don't believe you, Mio. But even so, we just think that we shouldn't bring him up that much, unless it's necessary."
"And you guys were telling me to not be stupid just a few moments ago, haha."
"That's-"
"He's officially an Ashford now, isn't he? What happened in our first life, stays in our first life. To begin with, now he doesn't even have the same last name anymore. His very identity is different now. He's not the same man anymore, and you guys know that by now."
"Still… aren't you uncomfortable? Even if he's a different person now, if we were to talk about what he was like in our first life, before you met him then…"
"You'd be talking about my killer's childhood, huh?"
I frowned, as I looked down at my cup, unable to look at her for the time being.
"I get that you guys may think I'm still uncomfortable around the topic, but I'm really fine. Even back then, it technically wasn't "his fault", right? The fact that he killed me doesn't matter anymore. Right now, he's simply Cael's best friend and brother."
No one could say a word. We knew that we had to just listen.
"When we first met him together, I allowed him to sense me as myself, no? Though he did put on a pretty good mask, it was actually pretty obvious to me at least. Just how uncomfortable he was by my presence, that is. But despite that, he still just focused on your words, Maia."
"Isn't that enough proof? His memories are sealed, but he's clearly still guilty. If anything, the one you should be worried about isn't the strongest, but the pretender, who can't even be honest out loud most of the time."
"I've forgiven him so long ago that it's honestly not even worth bringing up again. He and I have met before in a reincarnation cycle after all, as I mentioned before. Instead of being wary of my feelings, focus on Cael. He needs it more than I do."
"We made sure to have him come into our family this time around, so what's the point of avoiding talking about his past? He's now my brother in law, you know? So don't worry about me that much, everyone."
"Hearing about his past also means hearing about Cael's childhood, no? How could I say that I love him, if I can't stand hearing about his childhood, just because my killer happened to be in it?"
I took a deep breath, then sighed in relief, and determination.
"That's not how that works, you know?"
"According to who?"
"…alright then. We won't avoid the topic of their childhood anymore. If you're curious about it, then we'll tell you as much as we can."
I glanced at our parents, who shared an understanding smile between each other, then at us.
"His family in our first life actually lived in the house next to ours, so they've known each other since they were babies."
"The same goes for "her" by the way. She also lived really close to us, so the 3 of them pretty much grew up together."
"Yeah, Cael did tell me a little about them in our first life, so I do know that they're all childhood friends, but he never really went into a lot of details."
"There's a lot to talk about after all. Though the reason he couldn't tell you back then was probably different."
"But regardless, it seems like we'll have a long chat tonight, so prepare yourself if you're not ready."
"Who do you think you're talking to? I'm always ready to hear stories about Cael. Especially if they're about his childhood! We were both adults when we met, so I don't really know anything about it, with him not mentioning it much either…"
"That does make sense, haha. Where should we even start?"
"Maybe from their first meeting?"
"Ah, I remember that too. It was a few days after Cael was born, right?"
"Weren't you 4 at the time? How do you even remember that?"
"Don't underestimate my memory, Mio. I gained consciousness at the ripe age of 3 and a half after all!"
"Is that so…"
"It was a pretty funny sight to be fair though, so I think you're going to like this one too, little one."
"Hm? Was it that funny?"
"You see, me and his mother were sitting next to each other, each holding our boys. They were only a few days old, so we didn't really expect much to happen, thus we held them pretty close to each other, since they looked cute together."
"But then, to everyone's surprise…"
"Cael had grabbed and pulled onto Cifer's hair, while Cifer was doing the same for Cael's ear. Those two had been going at each other from the very first time they ever met."
"…pfft… hahahahha.. I-is that so… I-i isee! I guess it does make sense that they'd react like that now…"
I was taken aback by it. Mio had found it a lot funnier than I thought.
"Do you get how stupid you guys sounded earlier now? There's no way you'd be able to avoid talking about their childhood when these 2… have been acting like brothers from the very beginning."
I guess she was right after all, wasn't she? Perhaps it really was completely futile. Mio and Cifer's history may be complicated, him being the one that killed her in our first life, but it shouldn't define how they interact this time around. In all honesty, I didn't even realize he was uncomfortable when me and Mio met him together either, which proves that in the end, Mio had been the more focused and lucid one, all along.
We spent around 4 hours or so talking about our childhood afterwards. Once in a while of course, I also popped up in some stories, and so did the twins. Mio hadn't shown any signs of being uncomfortable throughout the whole thing either. Granted, I don't really have a way to tell whether she's pretending or not though… but still, I'll just trust in her, and hope that that's not the case.