While walking with the 2 kids towards the restaurant, I had tried to spike up a conversation or ask simple questions like what their names are and stuff like that, but understandably so, they didn't want to talk. The little sister held both my and her brother's hand as we walked, and both of them kept looking at their surroundings, clearly worried and on guard. It made sense… It really did. But it simply wasn't something that was supposed to happen. Maybe, just maybe, had I been faster at succeeding in enhancing my body, I could've spared them some trauma, even if just a little, but it didn't go that way.
Complaining about it too much wasn't going to change anything though, and in the end all 3 of us did make it out of there without a single scratch in a way or another, so it could've been a lot worse. Of course, I had no doubts that Maia was going to arrive, or rather, I had no doubts that Luna would find Maia in time, so either way I really had no worries, but that was selfish of me. While I had the leisure of simply buying time, they were afraid for their lives, which was something I should've realized sooner.
When arriving at the restaurant, I peeked inside to see if I could find either Luna or Maia there, but that didn't seem to be the case. At the very least, I saw Layra at a counter, so all 3 of us went inside and walked towards her. After noticing us, she quickly approached as well, with a slightly worried expression.
"I see… so this is what it was all about."
I looked at the kids once before turning back to her.
"I'll take it that Maia has told you?"
"Maia had been teaching me mana communication lately, so yeah, she did tell me to prepare some food a while ago, but didn't tell me what for."
Mana communication, huh? I guess Maia hasn't just been goofing around.
"Well, either way, as you can see… I'd appreciate it if you could feed them something. Maia healed us, but their stomachs are still empty haha."
"Of course, as I said I already had it prepared, but what about you?"
I let go of the girl's hand, and turned towards both the kids, telling them something first.
"This lady will make sure to fill up your bellies. Their food is really good, you know?"
Their expressions were understandably troubled, and doubtful, but I didn't mind. I kept my smile on, hoping that they'd understand I meant no harm.
"I'll be outside the restaurant waiting for someone, then I'll also come back inside, alright? Can you two please go with her and eat until I come back?"
The people in the restaurant who had already been glaring at me, were now scroffing in disgust, probably unable to accept that an Ashford could be kind in any way shape or form, but I ignored them. After all, many dogs bark, but most of them are too scared to actually bite. That aside, the kids were now looking at me and Layra in turns, clearly considering it, but they were still not convinced about something. What was it though? I doubt they distrusted Layra or me after what happened, after all they didn't look uncomfortable in any way, rather than that, it seemed like there was something bothering them… wait- could it be?
"…are you by any chance worried about the cost of the food?"
Bingo…
The older brother was the one to give it off first. He was looking in my eyes before I said that, but the moment I had hit the nail on the tail, he was unable to look at me, quickly turning his gaze anywhere else, other than my eyes. What a pure hearted kid.
"You don't have to worry about that."
It wasn't me however who gave them the reassurance they needed. Layra had spoken before me, which had caught their attention instantly.
"The meal is already paid for. We can't let some kids starve after all, can we?"
I turned around, and she had a gentle smile on her face. I don't know her that well yet, but at least I can tell one thing. Layra was a good person.
"…are you sure?"
His voice was so tiny that I could barely hear him honestly, but it was a good thing that he talked at all.
"Of course. So how about you two come with me to the staff's break room where you can eat in peace, while Cael goes to wait for his crush outside?"
That's right, that's right. Thank you Layra for your magnificent assist- hold on a fucking second?!
"H-huh?! W-w-what are you talking about?!"
"Hm? Isn't that true though? You're going outside to wait for Luna, no?"
"No-! I-I mean yeah… but it's not like that!"
"Is that so? That's what it looked like to all of us earlier, isn't that right?"
She then turned towards the kitchen door, and a few cooks and other servers nearby all started agreeing with her, filling the room up with all of their observations.
"He was blushing when Maia left him alone with Luna earlier after all."
"Y-you guys saw that?!"
"I mean, the restaurant has glass walls on the outside, you know?"
You have to be fucking kidding me… I turned around, and yeah, it clearly took me way too fucking long to tell, they were right.
"Ah…"
Saying I was blushing would've been an understatement at that point. I could feel my whole face going red, and a few tears of embarrassment going down on my cheek like a little girl who's crush at school rejected her or something like that.
"You don't have to cry, Cael…"
"I'm not… crying!"
"It's totally normal for a boy your age to have a crush on a beautiful girl like Luna. You don't have to be embarrassed about it. Love at first sight is a thing, you know?"
All of her other colleagues all nodded in agreement to her statement, and even the kids were watching with extreme engagement in the conversation. Heck, even the people glaring at me previously were now chuckling…
"…I'm done with this! I'm going out to wait for Maia!"
But that was the limit to how much embarrassment I could take. To try and save up any image for myself if there even was any left, I stormed out, while I could hear them chuckle in the back as I did so.
After getting out, I laid back against the wall next to the left side of the door, which fortunately wasn't made of glass, and sat down, with my knees up and my face in them for some reason. I have absolutely no idea why I did that, or why it felt that good at the moment, so I'm not going to answer if anyone asks. Either way, to my absolute horror, not even 20 seconds after I had gotten on the ground, I heard something, or rather; someone.
"…What are you doing, Cael?"
Her voice was flat, painfully flat. And when I lifted my head, and saw her expression I almost started tearing up. Somehow, her expression was even flatter than her fucking tone.
"Why did you even have to come back the moment I had an instant of vulnerability? Aren't you a bit too cruel?"
"…why's your "instant of vulnerability" on the ground outside the restaurant to begin with?"
I quickly got up, clinging to her and pointing towards the restaurant with my left hand's index finger.
"Can you even blame me?! They started teasing me so badly that not even I could act like I didn't care…"
She sighed. She fucking sighed. What kind of sister are you anyways?? Your little brother is relying on you for comfort and you're letting out a sigh in my face?! Fuck you Maia!
"And? What were they saying?"
I quickly let go of her though, as the question which I should've expected (but didn't) arrived. Now then, how am I going to say this without being embarrassed?… alright, I'll stop being that dramatic and just say it.
"…they were saying that I fell in love with Luna at first sight, and that I have a crush on her…"
Though that of course did not mean i'd say it proudly, or loudly. In fact, I didn't even know if Maia heard it, but thankfully or not, considering her annoyed expression, it was fairly obvious that she did.
"And your way of coping was to sit down and curl up in front of the restaurant on a busy street?"
"Look, it felt good alright? You should try it sometime, as a matter of fact I recommend it! But that's besides the point, is it not?!"
"Alright, alright. Calm down, calm down. I get it."
"Took you long enough."
However, in the midst of the crowd passing by behind Maia, people going in all directions, and almost filling up the street entirely, there was a single thing that had caught my attention. Long, wavy blonde hair, and blue eyes, wearing a dress, and coming towards us. I had probably only dozed off for about a solid 5 seconds give or take, but that was clearly enough for Maia to realize what I was looking at without turning around or asking. Instead, she simply walked to my side, put one hand on my shoulder and spoke in the same tone you'd use when saying goodbye to a fellow soldier on the battlefield.
"Well, good luck. I assume Layra already took the kids inside the staff break room, so I'll go there as well. Luna knows where it is, so you two can come inside together… after what's about to come. You have my condolences, my sweet little brother."
With the side of my eye, I glanced at her leaving, and I swear I saw a few teardrops coming down on her face… but I saw that wrong, right? Right?! But no matter how much I tried to convince myself that I hadn't seen what I just saw, the moment I had turned back to facing forward at her, I had finally noticed what Maia was talking about. Her expression was so terrifying that even the people who she was passing by were making space for her to walk the moment they looked at her.
Ah…I'm fucked.
Her lips were curled up in a smile, and her eyes were closed like those anime characters that somehow go on with their daily life activities with their eyes seemingly always closed (like a certain someone who's zanpakuto extends in length.) and still somehow "seeing", which made it plain obvious that she was anything but happy. The distance between us was being cut so fast in fact that I hadn't even realized that in the 3 seconds since I turned my eyes back to her, she was now only around 15 meters away from me.
Alright, there was no escape for me. Instead of trying to run away or anything foolish like that, I simply dry gulped down, and prepared myself mentally for whatever was to come. I was expecting her to get close, but I most definitely did not imagine she'd get THIS close though…
"Y-yo, L-luna…"
Without replying, she somehow grabbed me by my shirt, and dragged me closer to her face. How was that possible considering the fact that my shirt was fucking heavy? God only knows. After bringing me closer, she opened her eyes, and stopped smiling.
"Choose your next words carefully."
Yeahhh, I was done for. For that matter, I wasn't even talking physically at that point anymore. First being seen on the ground and caught by Maia, and now everyone passing by was looking at me being threatened by my supposed love at first sight crush… my reputation couldn't get worse. But that aside, I'd say that I had a bigger problem than that at hand, so in the mere moments I had, I carefully chose my next words.
"…I'm sorry."
"For?"
"For being reckless…"
On top of already having pulled me closer, she then also stepped on my foot, which was something that I'm sure Sakuta would've loved, but unfortunately for me, not only was she not wearing a bunny girl costume, but it also really hurt…
"And?"
"I-I promise to be more careful…!"
She wasn't buying it one bit. But honestly, that really was the best I could give her, since to begin with it's not like I did it out of pleasure and it's something I can just promise to stop doing. I don't even know why I felt so terrible about the thought of not interfering. It was as if I had to go there. It felt as if that if I didn't try to save them, it would've been something that would've kept me up at night, so I really had no choice at the moment. I didn't even think about it, it just happened. Thankfully however, her expression had softened after my reply. And after a fairly long sigh, she let go of me.
"As long as you know that what you did was something only an idiot would do, then that's that. In the end, it did play out well, so I don't have any further reason to scold you."
"Yes mam…"
After that, she went back to her usual smile, as she walked past me to the restaurant's door.
"Let's go, they're waiting for us, no?"
Thank you God… I survived.
"Alright."
With my survival being affirmed, we went inside and straight to the staff's break room, where we found Maia, Layra and the 2 kids now eating.