"Good morning every... one?"
It was the next day, and Suzannia woke up earlier so that she could see her "angel," but as she greeted everyone else, something caught her in a surprise.
"Oh... Good morning, Suzannia..." Zanphia returned the greetings, her tone nowhere close to being rejuvenated.
"Umm..." Suzannia looked at Zanphia, Zenover, and Naytia, finding something strange about them. "Did you guys not sleep? A nightmare?"
She was genuinely concerned, not knowing the reason behind this.
"They each got about two hours of sleep." Jogrin explained to Suzannia.
"Jogrin!!" Suzannia leapt at Jogrin when she saw him appearing from her side.
"Huh?! How would you know? Did you spy on us?" Zanphia took a few steps back, hiding behind Zenover.
"'Emotional perception' lets me sense another person's consciousness too."
"My privacy... is no more..."
"I'm sure you can change your mind about the vote you cast yesterday. It should be valid, right Kapel?"
"Yes, it is as Jogrin said."
"Wait wait wait! I didn't mean it like that! I'll just get used to it!"
"Get used to it? It's your privacy we're talking about... And I'm certain that it's not normal to try and get used to having your privacy breached at all times..."
"I still go to school, so not 'at all times!'"
"That's not really the issue here..."
Jogrin sent his gaze at Zenover, prompting him to give his opinion. Startled, Zenover averted his gaze as he looked all over the place. From his emotions, Jogrin deduced that Zenover wasn't particularly against it, despite his awkward behavior.
"Then what about Naytia? Does she stay in the house all the time?" Ignoring Zenover for now, Jogrin asked.
"I have a part-time job which I go to three times a week."
"And the problem about your privacy?"
Was this all because of the influence of the Proxer right after he'd gone through the events of "Telestrophe?" Proxer himself once told Jogrin that the reason behind Naytia's sudden change in attitude when listening to Jogrin speak about his past, was none other than to share the burden with him. After seeing Proxer break down from witnessing "telestrophe" and its aftermath, she swore to always do that for him.
Perhaps it was the same for Zanphia and Zenover too. So the reason Jogrin was able to stay here was because of their consideration for Proxer. A heartwarming reason, to be sure, but they might also want to think more from their own perspective.
Alas, unless they changed their mind, Jogrin would be living under the same roof as them. Jogrin was worried. It wasn't like he'd deliberately try to harm them, but accidents would always occur in the least expected time. Well, that was why accidents were called accidents.
A part of Jogrin wanted to continue to live here. He swore to protect this family of kind people, since he believed they didn't deserve to come across any harm. Staying close to them would be the most effective. However, it was also because he wished no harm would befall them that the other part of him didn't want to get close to them.
He stayed away from people back on the Darkian planet, not because of the persecution of the Skeletal type, but he also didn't want the others to suffer the same fate as his mother.
Still, despite always changing between different secluded locations, that girl would always find him. And his current feelings were the same as when he was with her.
It was an internal conflict Jogrin had, but he never planned to tell anyone about it, since this was an adversity only for himself... But what if he consulted others? A thought popped up in Jogrin's mind. He'd eschewing doing so, even toward his father who showed him kindness all the time, despite having his significant half taken from him.
'I've caused enough chaos for them, so I can't possibly trouble them even more than that.' He abstained from any consultation, just like he had in the past.
"Well. It's not like you actually read minds or know what we're doing with that power of yours right? As long as none of us does anything that will cause our emotions to change drastically, it should be fine... I think." Naytia elaborated her reasoning to Jogrin after thinking about how she should answer for a while, but honestly, it kind of felt forced.
These three Maladins were of the same. They would go the extra mile for the sake of Proxer. They were all good people.
"... I guess three kids are enough..." Naytia whispered to herself.
Perhaps she should've just talked to herself about that in her mind, because the moment she whispered that, the faces of Zanphia and Zenover became flushed as they looked aside.
"Naytia, I think you should keep this kind of talk to Proxer and yourself..." Kapel put his palm on his forehead as he told Naytia.
"Huh?! I spoke that out?! Oh no!" To Naytia's consternation, she was heard clearly, so she hid her face behind her hands, escaping from reality.
Having to baby this couple must've quite the tough work. Jogrin thought to himself as he looked at Kapale who seemed to be fed up with this already.
"Hmm?" Suzannia tilted her head at Naytia's remark and tugged at Jogrin's clothes made from his "fabrication" ability. "Jogrin. What does Mama mean by that?"
"When she said 'anything that will cause our emotions to change drastically,' it must've reminded her about the act of repro-"
"Stop stop stop stop!!! I'm dying of embarrassment so please forgive me already!!!" Naytia hollered at Jogrin to stop him from speaking any further. He tried to cover Jogrin's mouth as tears welled up in her eyes.
"I'm not angry though..."
"What is it?? I want to know!!" Suzannia didn't seem to want to give up on pursuing the answer due to her curiosity.
"Um, Suzannia... This is something you'll learn about when you grow up, so..." Zenover finally spoke up after all this time, and he did so to talk Suzannia out of trying to find the answer. He sheepishly glanced at Jogrin, as if wanting to tell him something.
"Well, I guess Suzannia is too young for that now." Interpreting Zenover's intention with the help of "emotional perception," Jogrin followed up with these words. He then looked to Kapel.
"Yes, please be a good girl and be patient, Suzannia." Kapel added, his palm still in the same position.
"No fair!!" Suzannia tugged at Jogrin more strongly as she used her baby-doll eyes attack.
While it definitely would've worked on Proxer, maybe even Kapel to some extent, Jogrin was immune to it. Copying the two father figures, Jogrin patted Suzannia on the head to soothe her. Having no prior babysitting experience, that was the best he could do.
The atmosphere was awkward enough to make anyone feel like they just put something really really sour into their mouth. Even Kapel, as capable as he was, couldn't find a way to deal with this situation caused by Naytia's blurting out.
As Jogrin continued to pat Suzannia who seemed to be enjoying it, Proxer came down the stairs, with a face that was even more haggard than Naytia, Zanphia and Zenover. He let out a long yawn.
"What's with the gathering here? What's going on?"
As he wobbled towards them, he raised his queries. The other three who had bags under their eyes fled the scene. In that instance, they seemed to be full of vitality, in contrast to their appearance.
"Did I... do something wrong...?" Proxer gazed at Jogrin and Kapel with downcast eyes. The two of them shook their heads in response.
"Um, Mr. Tyron, can you tell-"
"I have no idea what just happened. I didn't exist just now."
"Huh?"