"Hey, do you think she's awake?"
"She has to be awake! Maria went into the room earlier, so she has to be!"
"Well... I still don't think it's right to intrude..."
Outside the room right now, there's three unfamiliar voices talking about something. The voices are high pitched like the voice of children, so I think they're some of the orphans who live here. That said, why are they talking outside of the room? Do they have some business with me?
"Why not? This is your room, and not hers."
"That's right! What are you so hesitant for? There's nothing to be afraid of!"
"B-but... It's not really..."
It sounds like the two boys are trying to convince the girl about something? It's probably related to me?
As I sit up on the side of the bed, the door opens in the middle of their conversation, and their eyes meet with mine. The boy, who opened the door, keeps the door open, as the other boy marches into the room, with the girl trying to hide behind him. They walk up to me and stop in front of me.
"So, are you the person who's taken Mina's room away from her?"
"It's n-not like that, Lance!"
So, the dramatic boy's name is Lance, and the shy girl's name is Mina. What does he mean by that, exactly? I don't understand what he's saying.
"Lance, you're... Just let me do the talking."
The calm boy, or at least he doesn't really show his emotions, stops Lance from continuing with his question. He takes a step forward, facing me, puts one hand on his chest and bows slightly, before he starts speaking.
"How are you feeling now? Any better?"
I... What? What is this about all of a sudden? This boy is being really polite to me for some reason, even though this is our first time meeting.
"Yes, I'm fine now. Thanks for asking... Um..."
"Oh, pardon me. My name is Sebas."
...This feels weird. I'm not used to this kind of atmosphere! Why is he being so formal? Should I try to get him to stop?
"You're behaviour is kind of... weird, to me."
"Ah, I'm sorry. This is just a habit of mine. Don't worry about it. Anyway, we should introduce ourselves properly."
That's an unexpected reaction from him. He immediately dropped his formal behaviour, as if it was just some sort of act.
"I'm Sebas. I'm eight years old, and I'm human."
"I'm Lance! Eight years old as well! As you can see, I'm human too!"
"I'm... Mina. Eight years old. I'm a cat beastkin..."
Oh! Now that she's mentioned it, she has cat-like ears and a tail, with brown fur. This is the first time I've seen anything that resembles a cat... Ah, I should introduce myself now.
"I'm Mimin. Eight years old. I'm... not sure what beastkin I am, exactly. But Maria says that I look like some sort of fox beastkin."
I probably shouldn't reveal to anyone that information now, especially since I'm already hiding it from Maria. It's also probably better to hide it from children in general, just in case.
"Back to that question I asked you earlier, are-"
"-And like I said, Lance, stay quiet and let me do the talking."
"Wait, what? You didn't tell me to be quiet earlier!"
"It was implied. Now just shut up."
This is... Sebas is acting completely different from before! Isn't this too big of a change? I'm more comfortable with this atmosphere, so I'm not going to complain.
"Ah... Don't worry! They're usually... like this."
"I... I see..."
As the two boys move away from us and continue to argue for a bit, I watch from the side with Mina as she tries to convince me that everything is fine. I kind of sympathize with Mina, a little bit.
----------
"So, what was he talking about earlier? Something about me taking the room?"
I point my finger at Lance and asked Mina and Sebas. They know each other well, so they can probably understand him.
Well, I heard something about this room being Mina's, but I don't think that's the full story. I have been unconscious for three days, according to Maria, so I'm assuming that I've been using this room for three days.
From their conversations earlier, it sounds like this room isn't actually Mina's yet. She tried to deny it whenever they said this is her room. Also, this bed looks too big to be meant for only one person.
"Ah... Actually... Daius and Selena said that... someone new is going to be joining us, so... um... they cleared out a spare room... for me to use, together with... the newcomer."
"Daius and Selena? Newcomer?"
That's two more names that I haven't heard before. And newcomer? Is that... Is that referring to me?
"Daius and Selena are two of the people who run this orphanage. There's five people who run this orphanage, by the way. The other three people are Maria, Sen, and Arnold. You probably already know them."
"Eh!? Thanks for the explanation, Sebas..."
Maria didn't say anything about that, did she? She just said something about the people running this orphanage being really kind people...
"And as for... the newcomer... that's you, right? Mimin?"
"Mina... Yeah, I guess so... I am considered an orphan now, aren't I..."
For a moment, everyone remains quiet after I say that. Sebas and Mina look troubled, and Lance leans against the wall.
"I didn't know. I'm sorry for your loss."
"I... I d-didn't think that y-you're actually the one... I'm sorry for asking!"
"..."
"I'm... It's fine."
Sebas and Mina apologized, and Lance looked at me silently, with sympathy. The silence continues for a few minutes, before the mood slowly returns to normal.
"Can I talk now?"
"...Learn to read the mood, will you!"
The two boys start to argue again, but this time, it feels like it's some sort of entertainment. Mina and I watch from the side again, as Mina is at a loss for words, to convince me that this is normal. I started to smile without noticing it, and Mina looks at me, and she shows me a smile as well.