"You're really bad!" Daisy said after her laughter subsided. "Even though they're like that, they're my loyal customers. Stop making fun of their voices!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Vir had to suppress his spasming stomach. "I just didn't expect..."
Then Aira came out of the bathroom with her wet hair slicked back, and it looked neater than before.
Vir was quite amazed to find that the little girl had a very sweet and cute face.
"Wow!" Daisy also praised Aira. "I can't believe your eyes are so beautiful, Aira."
Aira, who realized that she seemed to have been caught off guard, looked down, and said, "Th-Thank you." I hope Daisy doesn't realize this, she wished to herself.
"Hey, you don't have to be shy," Daisy said. "Sit down. The food is almost cold."
Aira then sat on her previous seat, to Vir's left.
"Come on, let's have breakfast," Daisy said.
At least, this was the first meal for Aira that was, let's say, a little more civilized in recent years – including last night. As well as Vir himself.
"How does it taste?" Daisy asked the nine-year-old girl.
Aira smiled shyly and nodded. "It's delicious, this food is really very tasty."
"Aah, you're so cute!" Daisy added another piece of toast for Aira. "Eat a lot."
Vir grinned. "Man..." he muttered. "I'm the one who's always praising you and you don't even give me an extra piece of bread. Poor me."
"Hey!" Daisy glared at Vir. "What are you, huh? A little kid?"
Vir sneered with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Crazy!" Daisy giggled. "All right, all right," she said as she took another slice of toast, and placed it on Vir's plate. "This is for you."
"Thank you, sweetie!"
"Seriously, Vir?" Daisy glared again. "You seduced me in front of Aira? You crazy old fart!"
They giggled some more in the midst of their pleasant breakfast. Aira was mostly silent or occasionally teased Vir for acting like a child, which was hilarious.
"Hey," Vir said to Daisy, "Can I borrow your crossbow? You still have that thing, right?"
"Yeah," Daisy shrugged her shoulders. "It's in the shed, you can take it. It's been a long time since I last used it. I think the crossbow will need a little attention before you use it."
"No problem," Vir agreed.
Aira furrowed her brow, looked at Vir, and said nervously, "Are you leaving?"
Vir looked into the nine-year-old girl's eyes. "Why do you even ask?"
"I'm going to pack up my things right now." Aira hurriedly finished her breakfast.
"Hey!" Daisy reached out and touched Aira's hand. "Eat slowly or you might choke. That's not good, you hear me?"
"But—"
"What were you thinking, hmm?" Vir chuckled, then took a sip of his hot tea.
"You said you were leaving," Aira replied. "Do you mean to leave me here?"
"Gosh!" The man shook his head. "I'm going out just to help Her Majesty the Queen," he said, pointing at Daisy. "To gather food stocks. Do you understand?"
"Stupid!" Daisy giggled in response to Vir. "So, you think of me as the queen, huh?"
"Come on now!" Vir pointed at Aira with two hands. "There are minors here. You said it yourself, remember?"
"Oh, shit!" Daisy smiled at Aira and winked at her.
These two are really silly! Aira thought.
"You just stay here," Vir said to the little girl.
"I don't want to!" But then Aira got nervous and gulped when her gaze met Daisy's. "I mean, I... I should always be with you!"
Vir frowned while Daisy laughed softly.
"You're a crazy little brat!" Vir said to Aira. "Anyway, I'm only going out for a short while. I'll be back here in the afternoon at the latest."
"Aira, listen to me," Daisy said then. "Although I would be very happy if you chose to stay here with me—"
"But I..." Aira looked down.
"I know," Daisy replied. She let out a deeper breath. "I don't like to force anyone," she said. "Especially, to a child. No, that's not going to happen. Vir's just out looking for something, he's done that for me many times."
"Did you hear that?" Vir glanced at Aira.
"Promise?" Aira glanced at Daisy and then at Vir.
"You are so weird!" Vir snorted. "How will my life be if you're always following me around?"
"Hey!" Daisy glared at Vir. "You stupid man!"
"What?" Vir replied with a frown.
"Come on!" said Daisy. "She's a kid, dude. Oh, you rude, insensitive man!"
Vir sighed heavily. "Whatever!" He then got up after finishing his drink. "I'd better leave now for that forest in the southeast. The longer I argue with you guys, the longer those fish will probably hide."
"So you really want to find those extinct fish?" Daisy laughed silently. "You need a very high degree of luck, dude, I'm telling you!"
Vir grinned and pointed at Daisy as he walked out of the kitchen. It was as if he was saying: You'll see! And you need to get ready to keep your promise to me from last night!
Daisy shook her head and smiled widely. "Oh, please!"
Aira looked even more nervous and worried; she was about to catch up with Vir, but Daisy held her back gently, like a mother to her daughter. Or in Daisy and Aira's case, it was like a sister to a younger sibling.
Yeah, Daisy was too young, even her face and appearance were like a 17-year-old girl's.
"It's okay." Daisy smiled at Aira. "Trust me, he just wanted to find some food for me. You know, he does that every time he comes here—well, to tease me."
"You don't mind at all?"
Daisy nodded. "Well, it's not so bad. Besides, sometimes I think he's too kind and considerate of me. I mean, apart from him hitting on me at every opportunity. You must understand his nature, right?"
"Yes, more or less."
"Don't you think he's kind of cute?"
Aira choked at that, then turned her face away. "It's just about fishing and you've praised her to the skies. What the hell was that?"
Daisy laughed softly and it sounded very melodious. She felt that there was a resemblance between Aira and Vir, even though they were not related by blood, and not from the same family. Well, they looked like twins brother and sister.
"No, no," Daisy said, "It's not just about that fish that's been so hard to find. I mean, yeah... rabbits, deer, or any other animal he can find in the southeast forest."
"But I heard—"
"Just forget it!" Daisy said as she set the plate on the empty table, as well as the cup Vir had been using. "He won't be able to find those fish. That species hasn't been seen for a long time. People say that the species is extinct, all that's left are myths about the fish now."
"Myths?"
"Uh-Huh!" Daisy shrugged her shoulders. She realized that a child was as small as Aira was not yet fit to hear something vulgar. So she changed the subject. "By the way, you can help me here in my little shop. What do you think?"
"But I..."
Daisy smiled back at the nine-year-old girl looking down. Of course, she could foresee this, Aira had never done—say, worked in one shop or another before.
"Hey!" Daisy approached Aira, touched her shoulder, and bent down slightly to look directly at her face. "Think of it as a learning experience for you. You know, you're going to be a grown-up, independent girl someday. And you need to have a skill or two to be able to sustain your kids' lives. Yeah, we can't always rely on men!"
"My kids?" Aira widened her eyes and gulped. "I don't..."
The nine-year-old girl's expression made Daisy unable to contain her laughter. She looks cute and funny at the same time, she thought.
"Never mind," she said, rubbing Aira's head. "Come on, now help me clean up the kitchen before my other customers show up."
Aira smiled and nodded, then helped Daisy clear the kitchen table, sweep the floor, and even assisted Daisy with washing the dishes they had just used for breakfast.