Kira continued mumbling things like they weren't worthy of living, or they should just die if it means other people won't be dying anymore because of them.
She was in a total lost and sure to have suffered mental shock. In a way, her state is almost as worse as Airi. Kishi was just the same as her, yet he chose to just hide things and not make things worse for anyone.
Hearing enough of her nonsense, Neon tried to coax her out of it.
"Kira, sweetie, don't say those things. It's not your fault, no one want's this to happen, it's just that...well, there are things we just can't help but happen. But I assure you, neither James nor your parents passed away without a reason. They all loved you....so much.
With that, she pulled her to her embrace. Feeling her warmth, Kira cried even worse as she wailed loudly. Her crying might sound cute at some point, but it sounded so pitiful to them. Especially to Kishi who never saw her cry this much before, even though the two of them were always together.
Although she forced a smile, the bitter sadness she felt can't be hidden on her face. Kishi was still standing in front of her, noting that, she looked at him and said,
"Kishi darling, come here, I'll give you a hug too"
Kishi's face turned red in an instant. He was obviously shy, but no matter how tempting her offer can be, he politely refused.
"No thanks, I'm good" he avoided her gaze.
As a mother, he knew how sensitive children can be. Although he refused and tried his best to look fine and uninterested, Neon can still see through him.
He said he was fine, but his face was still out of color. Greyish-pale unlike his natural rosy porcelain skin. He can't also hide that his hands were still trembling, and he still looked depressed despite him hiding it. And all this time, he also didn't let go of his twin sister's hand that shows how uneasy he is. Neon can only sigh as he tries to hide everything and not express his grief.
Because of it, Neon forcefully pulled him toward her and embraced all three children at once. It was when she realized how fragile the three of them could be. While spending a lot of time with Airi, she knew well that he is emotionally unstable. The twins, on the other hand, are also fragile in their own way. Likewise, Kira sympathize a lot with others, therefore cries a lot and feel more pain, and is relying on Kishi to comfort her. While Kishi is selfless when it comes to grief and does nothing but help his sister that sometimes, it becomes difficult for him to express himself, feeling that he had to always be strong and be there for her.
"Kishi is such a sweet child. But you know, it's okay to cry every once in a while, you don't have to always hide your weaknesses and act strong around everybody else, it's good to be sad and express grief"
They all decided to stay in the Darkrose city for a while. Sychi didn't stay long as she needs to do a lot of things back at the palace. She wanted to discuss something with the children, but she let it sit for now.
It was already night-time and the children are in bed. They chose to spend the night together in a single room just as they always do when they stay at the Enchanted palace. They kind of gotten used to it, and felt it more comfortable rather than sleeping in different rooms. It also made this easier for Neon to watch over the three of them as they tend to stick together ever since.
Kira was resting her head on Kishi's lap, half asleep. Airi on the other hand was playing chess with Kishi while his hair was being combed by his mother.
"That's check mate" Kishi declared
"Argh! I lost again. You're cheating, aren't you?" Airi accused him
"No, you're just dumb" he said flatly
Pissed, Airi asked for another match. "One more time"
They arranged the pieces again and started playing. Kishi carefreely moved the pieces in each of his turn, while Airi struggled and took his time to think. Neon was happily watching them. Airi was the best player in chess among all the children in E-class, and even some of the adults lost to him in a game. He had never lost to anyone before, except for Kira and Kishi of course.
Kishi picked up the first knight and was about to place it in a different square when a thought came into his mind.
"Airi, the dream you're having, have you figured it out?"
"no, why do you ask?"
Kishi looked at him for a moment before placing down the piece in the board.
"Nothing, I just thought that there's something fishy about it" Kishi replied.
"Fishy?...." I was the first time Airi heard him say that word.
Ignoring Airi's weird look at him, he continued. "The first death had happened, what about the other?" This caught Airi's attention. "oh, and another thing, shouldn't there be two deaths caused by an illness?"
"What are you talking about? That's only your wild guess, do you think it's actually that simple?"
Neon halted her hands movement, curious about their conversation. She didn't take a glance at them but carefully listened. From the sound of it, the children knew more about things they shouldn't have than actually she expected. It seemed so that underestimated them a bit.
Noting her sudden awareness, Kishi decided to brush off the conversation. "Just forget it..."
The two of them played more before they finally decided to go to sleep. As the three of them laid comfily at the bed, Neon carefully fixed the quilt over them. She turned out the lights and left the room with the children sound asleep. They were dealing with things better than what was anticipated. Perhaps the three of them together is good thing after all.
She closed the door with a gentle smile. But her grin faded as she turned around. On her hand was an empty vial, that was previously filled with sleeping medicine.
She was in pain and was dealing with lot of things, but she is more worried about the children. She was delighted that they were coping with everything calmly, but as she watched them the whole day, she had never seen them smile since they arrived there. They were probably hiding their grief and was helping each other that none of them sat on a corner and sulked. But they would probably play all night and couldn't sleep after all that, and as a mother, she wanted to make sure they all get a good rest. And since they were unable to, she decided to add a taste-less mixture into their drink to help them sleep for the night.
Meijin was sitting by the fireplace when she entered. He looked to be in daze, yet she can't blame him. As she sat down in the chair opposite of him, Meijin then finally looked at her.
She sighed, "I can't deal with all this alone, but I do understand how you feel right now"
Meijin remained silent and just apologized. "I'm sorry"
"It's alright. By the way..." she spoke earnestly "...the children seemed to be hiding something. I also found out that they perhaps knew more than that we expected them to"
"What do you expect really? They might be young but they aren't as innocent as most children of their age. And besides, they were all very intelligent after all, I'm not surprised if they found out everything sooner or later."
"I suppose...."
"Though I must say, they kinda remind me of us back then"
"Really...?"
She picked up the tea that was just served to her and took a sip.
"You should talk to them sometimes" She suggested
Meijin didn't get what she meant. "I 'am speaking to them."
"That's not what I meant. What I'm saying is, children can be very sensitive about things sometimes. They just tend to observe behaviors a lot. They may not show it much, and you may try to hide things. But little do you know of what they are going through, what they're feeling, what they think about you. These may seem unimportant, but you'll never appreciate them much if both them and you keep hiding things and not understand each other, as well as you or their lack of expressing themselves." She explained.
"James is gone, now your next. Seriously, how long are you all going to push me to accept them like this?" He sneered.
She felt otherwise. She known Airi a lot, but she hadn't spent that much time with the twins, yet she can already tell what they're actually feeling and realized their fragile selves. They seek love.