"Grandma!"
Upon entering the house, a small child excitedly ran up to Lyra and gave her a hug. I assumed she was the five-year-old Maya that I'd been told about.
"Hello, dear," Lyra said, patting her on the head. "Did you miss me?"
"Yeah…" her voice trailed off. She had already noticed me walking in.
There was still time to leave. I could run away and never come back. All I had to do was turn around and dash out of here. Problem solved.
That is…if I actually had the courage necessary to perform such an action.
Curses.
With no other choice in the matter, I anxiously gulped and then delicately waved my hand. "Hi, little girl."
Maya looked at me, and then back at Lyra. She raised her arm and pointed in my direction. "Grandma, who's that?"
Lyra thinly smiled. "His name is Adriel. He'll be staying with us for a while." She pushed the girl towards me. "Go on, tell him your name."
She appeared just as uncomfortable as I was.
"H-Hello. I'm Maya."
I didn't want to be here, but at the same time, it would've been shameful if I wasn't even able to get a little girl like her to warm up to me. She was supposed to be the easiest to deal with in a situation like this one, after all. The older siblings would probably understand the risk of inviting a random homeless man to stay with them, but this child before me likely had no clue at all as to what was going on.
With that in mind, I took a page out of Lyra's book and extended my arm out to pat Maya on the head.
"STOP!"
A high-pitched cry halted my movement and prevented me from reaching her. Startled, everyone directed their eyes to the little boy who made it.
Ah, this must be Marius, the eight-year-old.
"Is something the matter?" asked Lyra.
The boy walked over to me and, all of a sudden, smacked my hand out of the way.
"Don't touch Maya, you stranger."
Little brat…
My chances of getting them to like me had gone down the drain. I could already tell that this overprotective big brother and I had absolutely no compatibility. I bet he'd feel that his status was being threatened if I were to get his younger sister to grow fond of me.
"Marius! That's not nice!" Lyra said.
"But Grandma, he was trying to touch her! I don't know who he even is!"
"You didn't hear me before? His name is Adriel, and he'll be staying with us for a while. I want you to show him nothing but respect."
At the very least, I was grateful to the old hag for trying to help me.
Marius groaned. "Fine," he said, going on to scowl at me. "But I've got my eye on you."
Unfortunately for him, I wouldn't be entertaining his petty self-imposed grudge. I instead knelt to get on the same eye level as Maya, and then pulled out a rubber band that had been conveniently nested in my pocket.
"Wanna see something cool?"
She grinned and nodded. It seemed that her troglodyte of a brother was a bit interested as well.
"Keep your eye on the rubber band," I instructed as I lightly swung my hand from side to side. "One…two…three!"
At the third second, I swiftly jolted my hand upward and then steadily brought it back down, allowing them to see the result of my little trick. The rubber band had disappeared. My sleight of hand was a spectacle that never failed to amaze everyone who watched.
And yet, judging by their reactions, these two children weren't amazed at all.
Curses.
I obviously didn't actually have magical powers that made the object vanish into thin air. All I did was make it fall into the sleeve of my jacket when I moved my hand upward. But even so, shouldn't that have been enough to surprise two naive little kids?
"You're acting like we're toddlers or something," said Marius.
"What do you mean?" I replied, trying to play it off as a true magic trick.
Maya giggled and went on to grab my arm. She held it up and shook it for a moment. It reminded me of how children would persistently shake piñatas until they got every last piece of candy out. I found it to be…sort of cute.
Although I got to see such a charming sight, it wasn't long before a small, flimsy item fell out of my sleeve and onto the floor, practically ripping my title of magician away. All I had now was sheer humiliation and a new, deeply dehumanizing label: fraud.
"Well, you caught me," I said with a guilty smile.
Maya picked up the rubber band and stretched it with both of her index fingers. She then aimed it at my face.
"Hey, you'd better not—Ow!"
Before I could even finish my sentence, she'd launched the rubber band, causing it to fly towards me and hit me on the cheek. It was like she was punishing me for being such a lousy magician.
"Good one, Maya!" exclaimed Marius.
Both of them had begun to laugh at my pain and misery. I guess I was just that much of a joke to them.
To ensure that I wouldn't be attacked once again, I located the rubber band and took possession of it. While doing so, I felt a sudden tap on my cheek, at the same spot that the rubber band had made contact with. It was from Maya.
"Does it hurt?" she asked.
I couldn't believe it. She was concerned for me. Maybe my magic trick failing to amaze her was a blessing in disguise.
"No, I'm fine," I said as I smiled and patted her on the head. The girl was finally warming up to me.
"Don't let him touch you! He's dangerous!" Marius asserted, quickly pulling his sister away. "Let's go!"
He was so jealous that he felt the need to abruptly grab her and walk off. And to my surprise, she didn't offer any resistance. All she did was wave her hand at me and speak with a soft grin.
"Bye-bye."
I returned her smile and waved back. "Bye."
It was more than evident that her brother didn't like what had just transpired. He'd given me quite the dirty look while leaving.
Marius is going to be tough to deal with, but at least Maya and I are starting to get along. That's something.
Their relationship wasn't so difficult to understand, and I could somewhat empathize with both parties. It was clear that the older brother often overstepped his boundaries, while the younger sister made room for him to do so in order to prevent friction. A mediator was probably needed when the older brother went too far, though. I honestly pitied whoever had to become it.
There's still one more sibling left for me to meet. I wonder what she's like.
As I sat there, someone walked over to me and began to talk.
"Hey, you're pretty good with kids."
A woman's voice. I gazed up to get a view of her.
Speak of the devil!
"Erin, right? I was just thinking about you," is what immediately exited my mouth. What a disturbing thing to say, and yet so fitting for someone like me.
"Huh? Isn't that a little creepy?"
Excellent. There was a chance to explain myself.
"No, no, I didn't mean it like that. Lyra told me that you're her oldest granddaughter, so I was just wondering about what type of person you are."
"Oh. Well, it's pretty creepy to have a homeless man staying with us anyway. My grandmother told me all about you."
So I'm creepy regardless…
"What'd she say?"
"That you're going to help with her stall, and that you'll be living with us. But just so you know, I'm completely against it. I tried to convince her that it was a bad idea, too. Having someone like you in our home will keep all of us on edge. And you don't even have a job, so you're practically a leech to us. The worst part is that there's nothing I can do about it. My grandmother's lost it. She won't budge. Don't you dare think this means that you're free to do whatever you want, though. I'll be keeping an eye on you."
Harsh. She probably despised me even more than Marius did. And as much as I didn't want to admit it, her words held some weight.
If I don't want to be here, why can't I just leave?
Taking my leave now would've been different from doing it when I first walked in. I ruled it out before because I was opposed to causing a scene and looking like an absolute wimp. However, after meeting Erin, it was clear that I was vehemently unwanted in this household. That meant leaving now would've been more of a favor and less of an act of cowardice in the eyes of these people, as I would be ridding them of the nuisance that was me.
A perfect opening. I could finally say goodbye to the mess I'd gotten myself into.
I was on the verge of making up my mind and taking off, but it felt as if there was something preventing my heart from becoming fully resolute—an iota that refused to conform to the status quo of my almost-ironclad spirit.
That's when my mind became contaminated with a sudden remembrance.
"It's not like I'd take in any random stranger. It's just because I wouldn't feel right leaving someone like you behind."
Lyra's words on the way here…they'd resonated with me.
She was a coarse old woman, and whatever she had offered me so far was rather unpleasant and laden with drawbacks. I may have been better off if I never ran into her in the first place.
That's why I found it strange.
Damn it. Stupid old hag.
Erin observed as I stood up, cleared my throat, and corrected my posture. My eyes were directed towards hers.
"My name is Adriel," I pronounced, nodding solemnly. "I understand that I'm nothing more than a burden to all of you, but unfortunately, I have nowhere else to stay. So please bear with me and allow me to live here for the time being. I'll do my best to avoid causing stress for you all."
I found it strange that I was not able to convince myself to simply walk out.
It wasn't like I was trying to be virtuous. I didn't even know if staying here was the right thing to do. But what I did know was that, in spite of how half-baked it was, Lyra had shown me kindness. I couldn't merely throw it away for the sake of my own comfort. A deed like that would be akin to betrayal. She made an effort to help someone like me, so I was required to reciprocate.
Just as she didn't abandon me, I wouldn't abandon her.
That was my decision, so I'd given a little speech to Erin as the first step to being validated and approved of. It may have been a bit much, though. She had snorted at it, responding with, "You have the face of a womanizer."
A womanizer? Could that be a compliment?
She left before I could ask, but womanizers had to be handsome, right? Did that mean she was indirectly calling me handsome?
Well, I didn't doubt it. Compliments like those were common for a man of my caliber.
Clink! Clank!
I suddenly heard the sounds of what seemed to be pots and pans coming from the kitchen. Upon walking over, I caught Lyra fiddling around with them.
"Hello, Adriel," she said.
"Are you going to cook?"
"Yes. I'm going to make something for you to eat."
Uh oh. Based on how bad her fried salmon was, she probably wasn't the best of cooks. Still, I was hungry and also too tired to make my own food, so I decided to let her do it.
"How are things going with those three?" she asked as she placed a pan on the stove.
"I think they're starting to like me."
"That's good. You're not a very likable person, so it might take a little longer than usual for them to fully warm up to you."
There it was. I'd seen that insult coming from a mile away.
"Sure, but they inherited your grouchiness as well, so I'm not completely at fault."
A superb comeback, if I do say so myself.
Moving past the banter, there was something I wanted to tell her. I had to take a deep breath and swallow my pride in order to muster up the necessary courage.
"…Thank you, by the way."
I averted my gaze and spoke it in a low voice. It was better than nothing at all.
A minute or so passed, and there was only silence. I couldn't tell if she heard me or not. The witch simply continued to brew her concoction.
Oh well. I didn't mind. It wasn't like me to timidly thank her, anyway.
Maybe there was another way to convey my gratitude.