Chapter nineteen
After one rough and tough bathing session:
"So this is all of us," Karak said as he gathered all the kids in a line in the pool. The bottom of the pool was only three feet down so all the kids could stand with ease. Karak started at the end of the line.
"This girl is Kannaya. She is our cousin and is pretty stubborn, but she loves people."
Hoh. Her cat ears and tail are black just like her hair and eyes. Kinda reminds me of one of my assimilated memories that had these ninja people who had onyx eyes and hair and communicated merrily with talking cats!
"Hey! Why'd you have to go ahead and tell her that I'm stubborn." She said, shaking him back and forth
"She was gonna find out eventually anyway. Could you please let me go so I can continue?"
She released him and gave him the side-eye as she turned away.
"The next one is Kagu. He is also one of my cousins, but we were raised together so he is more like a brother to me than anything. You may not be able to tell because he is taller than me, but I'm actually older than him by a year."
Kagu waved at me and lightly punched Karak in the shoulder. Kagu and Karak looked the same in everything but their demi-human parts. Kagu had a lion's tail and ears. Oh, he also had like half a head more hair than Karak that seemed almost as wild as my own.
"It's a pleasure to meet you! And thanks for helping me with washing my hair. It's a hassle when I do it solo so I really do appreciate it."
Karak walked to the next person and patted them on the head.
"This little one is Kalinna. She was an orphan so our dad adopted her when she was a year old. I would call her the smartest out of the others but that is just my opinion."
Kannan slowly jumped through the water behind Kalinna and wrapped her arms around Kalinna's shoulders. Kalinna, shrunk a bit but otherwise stayed silent, casting her gaze down into the water.
Waaaa she is just the most adorable! She has long gray bunny ears and that poofy tail that just screams 'CUDDLE ME'
Kannan spoke up.
"She's also really shy, but don't let that stop you from getting to know her, okay?"
Karak nodded and moved in between the next two, gesturing to them with his hands
"These two are Kavin and Kashin."
Hoh. They have a silver back full of fur and their tails and ears are kinda small… Reminds me of this one creature I've seen in my assimilated memories called… What was it again? It's some type of badger… Ah, whatever.
"We're twins! We do everything together! And well… We think you're pretty cute too!"
Everyone looked over at the two of them in a mix of disbelief and shock. Their honey badger like tails
With closed eyes, I laughed and gave them a thumbs up
I think I understood what they said and honestly? Props to them for being this forward and recognizing that I'm actually adorable!
"Thanks!" I shouted. I wanted to say more but since my beastman was lacking I decided to just leave it at that.
Karak rubbed the back of his neck and continued to speak.
"Well yeah. Um… They're from this place called the Expanse waaaay out to the west and only came this far because they were on a journey to get some medicine for their pater."
My eyes lit up at the mention of the Expanse. It was the first place I could remember after all. I'm definitely gonna talk with them more later. I read up about it but I'll finally get the chance to ask someone who's actually from there! It's just exciting to think about!
"They'd probably be continuing their journey, but I invited them to stay at our house after I met them, and well… Yeah."
Karak's face got heavy as the words left his mouth. He must be thinking about whatever happened that caused him and the rest of them to be taken…
Kavin and Kashin both slapped him on the back, nearly causing him to fall beneath the water's surface. The two then spoke
"Don't even think of blaming yourself! You had no way of knowing that those Fhakk would do such a thing."
Karak gripped his chest and wheezed, allowing himself to float on the surface of the water.
"You two *cough* Can you hold back a little bit at least?"
They both shook their head in tandem before turning to look at the last person.
"Introduce yourself since Karak couldn't handle our friendship!"
Finally this kid. I thought he was adorable because he had waist-long silver hair and a striped silver tail, but he gave me hell when I washed his tail! It was so bad that Kagu and Karak had to hold him still while I did it.
The kid looked at the radiant twins and rolled his eyes before looking at me.
"I'm Kaxis."
…
That's it? Guess he isn't much of a talker. I do think it's a bit weird that they all have the same black irises but I think that is just a result of their Demi-human heritage.
"Well that's all of us, what about you? What's your name?" asked Kannan. She was fiddling with her toes whilst floating on the water's surface
"Suzuka Tennyo!" I shouted out, placing my hand flat on my chest with a bombastic grin on my face. I was really proud of my name after all. It was strong and beautiful and I was happy to share it.
The twins held their hands to their chins and nodded while everyone else nodded or some other confirmation gesture.
An unknown voice called out from behind me. Startled, I looked over my shoulder and saw a behemoth of a man standing a yard away from me.
"It's a pleasure to meet you."
It's that person I saw in the distance earlier! But how did he get behind me? I didn't feel his presence at all.
"I'm the father of these children, Mirak."
Behind him stood Grandma and another person that I didn't recognize. She had bandages over her eyes and chest.
Grandma walked up and patted me on my head in between my horns, reaching into her shirt with the other. She pulled out a set of her signature clothing for each of the kids one by one, setting them on the ground.
"Seems like you've done good and well Su. I can't even smell them anymore! Once everyone is done you all can put these on."
The kids looked at the large clothes then back at grandma in confusion.
She smiled and explained. Pointing at me.
"They're special you see? They adjust to the wearers' size perfectly so they'll fit all of you perfectly."
Kannaya walked to the edge of the pool and pointed at Grandma, specifically her bosom.
"Then why does it look like the buttons on your shirt are fighting their hardest to keep together?"
The question caught grandma off guard completely. She stood up and turned to her side, folding her arms.
"That's none of your concern little girl," she said curtly
Oh Grandma you're actually blushing…!
"Get dressed and come by the tent when you're done."
Three adults walked away to the tent after that.
I almost thought I heard laughter coming from them as they got further away.
Kannaya got out of the water and picked up the clothes, preparing to put them on while still wet.
"Wait," I said. I stood up and held my hands together and conjured flowing hot air in front of me. It's the least I could think of since I did not bring any towels.
"Use. This. Help. Dry. Off."
Kannaya looked at me funny for a moment before putting her hand into the air. The water droplets on her skin flew downward, leaving her dryer than before. Her face lit up with wonder and happiness as she saw this. She jumped in right afterward and dried herself.
"This is amazing! How did you do that?" She asked as she got really close to me.
I took a few steps back while still maintaining the spell and responding.
"Mana."
"Mana! YOU CAN USE MANA! THAT'S AMAZING!" She shouted out.
Was it really? I thought that anyone could do it as long as they had proper training...
The rest of the kids showed their own respective responses of awe given their personalities and came out of the water as well.
"You're a genius Suzuka! It takes most people until they're at least fifteen or older to be able to use spells like this, and without chanting at that!" Shouted Kannan as she got behind Kannaya.
I'm not partial to praise but this does feel nice. I can see why people get taken by it. After Kannaya dried off, she stepped out and got dressed out of sight while Kannan hopped into the current. Everyone else followed behind her in no particular order.
I laughed a bit as I watched the boys wrestle over who would go before the others while Kaxis just slyly fit himself in. Kannan and Kannaya came in and broke them up with a few well-placed bonks.
The whole sight gave me a warm feeling inside. The awe that their faces showed was something precious, but even more than that, they had this sense of closeness that was really lovely to see. It was the first time that I had met people that were like me, in the sense that they were not rocks, but also kids my age.
I hope I can be friends with them.