~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
Becoming wide awake, a torrent of memories.
Thinking about your sake, a faraway reverie.
Discerning what is fake, please do not let myself be.
-K.
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
Coming back home, they ate breakfast before continuing their training.
Grisia just got out of the outhouse when he was greeted by Tiraga at the entrance of the mansion. She held Aisia and Kairo by their heads, their feet were off the ground, kicking the air as they struggled to remove themselves from her immovable grip.
Alex was right behind them with her hands on her mouth, deathly worried about the two kids who were being handled roughly by her junior. Grisia saw her and gestured that he would take care of this matter.
She received the message and bowed twice before she left.
"These rascals just randomly praised my cooking!" Tiraga told a confused Grisia who was adjusting his trousers, looking up to her from the base of the manor's steps with an unperturbed expression.
She turned to them and said, "Ya mocking me, ah?!!! That I can't get the reaction I want from Grisia, AH?!!"
"No!" Aisia yelled, grunting from having her head held tightly.
Tiraga placed them down, releasing them from her demonic grasp.
She crossed her arms and shouted, "Then why'd ya suddenly spout something like that outta the blue?"
"We were only expressing our gratitude because we realized your food is premium fuel for our training, gah!" Kairo said. He caressed his head as it continued to ache, soothing it and worrying if his skull had finally deformed.
She huffed. "I thought you were pranking me."
"We thought you were going to crush our heads!" Kairo replied.
"Well, I coulda!"
Aisia and Kairo grumbled and continued to massage their heads as Tiraga quietly mumbled incoherent apologies.
"... said... sor..."
They squinted at her.
"I said I'm sorry, alright?!" she sighed. "To make up for it, whaddya want for dinner?"
"Meat!" said Aisia without missing a beat.
"Bowl of meat and rice!" said Kairo.
Seeing that they were both without uncertainty, Tiraga was taken aback.
"Hrrr... Grisia! Can't ya control these brats of yours somehow?" she turned to Grisia, asking for help.
She didn't feel like cooking the bulk-ordered meat today. It wasn't that she couldn't, it was just that she had a different meal planned out for the day.
Grisia shrugged. "It's out of my hands now."
"FINE! Then it's meat for dinner," she conceded.
She then went back to the kitchen, stomping her feet and grumbling about the change of plans.
It was not that massive of a change as she planned to cook meat dishes tomorrow anyway, but it still annoyed her because she rarely caves in, especially considering that she just did to a couple of human whelps.
"What would the demons of yore think of me now...?" she groaned.
The two showed a cheeky grin to each other.
"Worth it," said Aisia.
Now that they had their fill of breakfast thanks to Tiraga, they headed back to their usual spot to resume their training.
Kairo asked Grisia while they were walking off their full stomach, "So, same training as earlier right? Until lunch?"
Grisia replied with a nod. "Until lunch, then I shall let you have your free time for the rest of the day after we eat."
"Really? But I feel like we could still train some more."
"There is no point in training if you're going to overwork yourself. At that point, you're just torturing your body. This is plenty enough, it's still important to let your mind and body rest."
"I suppose I could spend that time reading or talking to the maids..."
"Additionally, that's not the main point of this certain training. I believe that rest and idle time will be much more helpful for your progression."
"Huh..."
When they returned to their training spot, they only now realized the amount of progress they'd made on the boulder. Cracks covered the sides as chunks of it littered the white, grassy area.
They should be able to destroy half of it before lunch at this rate.
From beyond the boulder, they could still see the burnt spot where Kairo unleashed his Inferno: Flame Resurgence.
"Whose turn is it?" Grisia asked. "Well, it doesn't matter. Whoever wants to go first, be my guest."
"If we're continuing from earlier, then it's my turn," Aisia spoke.
"I have no qualms about that," Kairo added.
"Then commence. I shall patch up that burnt spot. I will be back shortly. Kairo, remain here and I will return to you once I'm done," Grisia said, manifesting their weapons before he walked off.
"HA!" they both shouted.
"Flora: Verdant Verdure," Grisia uttered, casually using chakra to heal the dark patch of land anew. He only used the tiniest amount of chakra on a low-level nature chakra technique, yet the greenery that grew on the patch looked as if it had continuously been the season of spring for a decade.
"Welp. I suppose that's like that now. Can't wait for Kairo to burn this down next," he humored himself before walking back to the two studious children who were immersed in training.
The day was silent, save for the clanking of metal on tough stone as Aisia continued to deal damage to the boulder.
Grisia was sitting down on the grass with Kairo beside him, who was standing with his hand outstretched, holding his sword while his ki aura covered his entire body.
Grisia thought that it would be helpful to know more about the two's aspirations as of now. The two of them have experienced a lot since Kairo's arrival in their lives. This also concerned that time when he and Esmeralda eavesdropped on their time together in the library.
"What is your dream?" Grisia blurted out.
"My dream?" Kairo was startled by his sudden question. Grisia had been quiet up until now.
He wondered what could've caused this inquiry.
On the top of his head, he answered, "Mhh... to avenge my village by eradicating the red-robed group?"
"I meant apart from that. If that didn't happen, what would you like to be or achieve?"
Kairo thought about it once again. He mumbled to Grisia, "Merchant? No, it's just a means to an end. Adventurer? No, it doesn't feel like me. Pharmacist? Not that one too. Any job sounds too final, I don't know which profession I should pursue."
Grisia let Kairo keep thinking about it.
Kairo spent a long time silent.
After a while, Grisia saw the color of Kairo's ki aura gradually turn from light blue to that accursed black and red. Though it wasn't spiking viciously nor was it ominous like in the previous times.
This time, the air around Kairo was calm, melancholic.
He stood up and faced Kairo, observing him to see if there was anything he could find out while he was in this trance state.
Kairo started to speak as if Grisia wasn't in front of him, "I know... what I have... to do. I will... save you."
Kairo reached his hand out slowly as if to grab something. Grisia didn't move, he wanted to see what would happen if he let Kairo do as he wished while in this state. He made sure to not disturb Kairo's concentration by moving suddenly or activating his own ki defensively.
He knew that Kairo wasn't himself presently as he was looking through Grisia's chest for no apparent reason.
Finally, Kairo's hand rested on Grisia's shoulder.
Nothing happened.
The air between them started to return to normal as Kairo noticed what was happening. "Oh, Grisia. What are we doing?"
"He was completely unaware of what just transpired? I suppose I should refrain from asking that question again," he told himself in his mind.
"To be honest, you simply blacked out on me while thinking about your dream."
"What, really?!" Kairo looked at himself, his light blue ki aura was still activated, but he didn't remember why he was suddenly in front of Grisia and had his hands on his shoulder.
"We weren't fighting... were we? I didn't go ballistic after thinking about the red-robed group again, right?"
"We weren't fighting, you didn't go crazy. In fact, you were calm and speaking about things that did not make sense. At least to me."
Kairo let out a sigh of relief as he caressed his head. "Maybe my brain got jumbled earlier from Tiraga's grip..."
"Maybe."
"But it's worth it if I get to continue to eat her oh-so-good food!" he grinned widely, jumping up and down in anticipation before returning to his training.
Grisia returned Kairo's optimism with a relieved smile of his own. Even if something peculiar recently happened, Kairo can still be his positive self.
Or rather, gluttonous self. However, Grisia thought that Aisia still beats Kairo when it came to an eating competition.
"I think this is enough. Time to switch."
"HA!" Kairo replied with diligence and force.
Grisia asked the same question to Aisia.
Kairo couldn't hear their conversation as he turned his attention to the boulder, nor did he want to. He was curious about Aisia's goals and aspirations, but he surmised that he would find out about it by himself eventually.
They have all the time in the world to grow closer and know more about each other.
Five hours of alternating between training with the boulder and with Grisia passed. Grisia had no further questions as he rounded them up for the last time today.
"Again, I see that you still haven't figured it out. We shall continue the same training tomorrow. That is all."
"HA!" they replied. Though they wondered what Grisia wanted them to realize by themselves.
Before leaving, Aisia asked, "What about you, pops, what's your dream?"
"My dream..." he muttered, gripping an area under the left side of his chest. "My dream has changed."
The two showed interest, leaning in for a potential story.
Seeing their expressions, Grisia continued, "In the past, I wanted to ruffle Sia's hair."
"But you do that every time anyway!" Aisia cut in.
"Well, I wasn't done yet. I want to mess up her ponytail, but when she's at this height," he gestured at a height that was to his eye level.
In his eyes, there was a dream-like visage of an adult Aisia smiling back at him with a matured look. She glowed warmly, it was like staring at summer itself. It removed the accumulated winter chill from his heart.
"So, it is intentional!" she interjected again. "Whenever you rub my head, you mess up my do..."
"What do you mean your dream has changed? What is it now?" Kairo asked, urging him to continue.
"Now, it's not just Sia. I want to pat the head of the two of you. At this height," he gestured at the same height as previously.
He ended his wish in his thoughts, "But I can only dream."
Once again, Kairo noticed that Grisia placed his hand under the left side of his chest.
"Are you saying we'll be short forever?!" she shouted before puffing her cheeks and crossing her arms.
Grisia simply smiled. He roughly ruffled Aisia's brown hair and Kairo's dark one.
"Ugh! My ponytail!"