Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Bustling Night

Fang and Kumiho stare at the intruding white-haired girl, their pinkies still interlocked, Fang quickly breaking away from Kumiho and making sure to hide his left arm from her.

“We were just, uhmm... Playing a game.” He awkwardly smiles at Sune with his hands interlocked into a ball in front of his chest.

Sune tries to ignore the boy’s poor excuse, but still ends up making an odd face before gagging, “blegh... now what’s the truth Kumiho?”

Kumiho grabs Fang’s left wrist and points to his bandages, “I just made him promise me that every time he gets hurt like this he’ll tell me instead of trying to hide it.”

Sune's face falls, “What happened!” She rushes over worriedly.

"He cut himself in the kitchen." Kumiho speaks calmly, her lips slightly twitching.

"You should be careful! Does it hurt anywhere?!" She peppers him questions for a long time until Kumiho finally breaks her away from him.

"Don't worry Sune. I already properly took care of it, he's okay."

"You should be more careful..." Sune stares at Fang's bandaged arm somberly.

“Yeah...” He goes to scratch his wrist but after a death glare from Kumiho and a sad look from Sune he fights the urge off.

Sune spends the rest of the night grilling Fang and Hollie over what they did with Hrafn, but both kids manage to avoid her questions until they all go to bed.

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Kumiho wakes up before the rest and makes breakfast for everyone, the three drunks who black out drunk every night included. The group of seven all have their morning feast peacefully, and as always, the drunks try and offer the children alcohol that Kumiho quickly shuts down. The day continuing to be uneventful as they go to class and then work at the tavern.

While cleaning up the kitchen, Kumiho is interrupted by a small boy with grey hair wearing a brown leather jacket and brown pants running into the kitchen with a happy grin on his face, “Kumiho! Come quick!” With those short words the boy turns around and runs off.

Kumiho follows the boy out the kitchen and is greeted by a surprising scene: A black-haired man with glistening blue eyes and a black tuxedo is dancing with his right arm over another man’s shoulders and his other hand holding a large wooden mug of foaming liquid. Sitting at a nearly empty table watching the blue-eyed fool is a bright blonde-haired young woman with similar blue eyes in a long draping red dress. A web of gold chains weave through her long wavy blonde hair, an intricate gold pendant with a glowing blue gem in the center hangs from her neck. A small white-haired girl with two snow white fox ears poking out of her hair talks with the blonde stranger. The snow-white fox wears a simple black tee with a white skirt and glossy black shoes.

The red-haired girl walks over to the equally confused looking black-haired girl in a small leather apron over her simple black shirt and long pants, “I see Oswin is back... And having fun. But who's the lady with Sune?” She points to the two women.

Hollie glances at the other girl, “She came in with Oswin and went right to speaking with Sune. Or maybe Sune started it, I’m not sure.”

Kumiho nods her head and just watches the scene for a moment, Fang having joined the fray and happily singing and dancing with the other men and Sune animatedly talking with the blonde woman who has an ever-present cordial smile on her face. She walks over to the two talking women, the blonde lady warmly smiling at Kumiho once she gets close.

“Is this one of your friends sweetie~?”

“She is!” Sune bounds towards Kumiho and wraps her right arm around the other girl’s neck, Kumiho hunching over because of Sune’s smaller stature. “This is Kumiho! And Kumiho, this is Aelfsciene!”

“Hello little Kumiho~” Her voice soft and sweet.

“Uh—Hello...” She speaks distantly.

“Me and Sune here were having a great talk, why don't you join?”

“Yeah Kumi! Come talk with us!” Sune removes her arm from Kumiho’s neck and bounces to her seat next to Aelfsciene. Kumiho silently walks over to the empty seat next to Aelfsciene and sits down.

“Now what were we talking about again sweetie?”

“Oh! It was... Uh—it was about highborns and their powers.”

“Ahh I remember now~ as I was saying: Gleamers can as you might guess gleam things with their eyes normal people can’t. And elves can feel things with their senses normal people can’t. And they do this through smell, taste, hearing, or just an odd feeling at the back of their mind.”

“Mhm, Hrafn already told us all that, I need help with how to use my powers though.” Sune stares at the beautiful woman intensely.

“Hmm~. How to explain it... Oh~, Kumiho dear, can you explain how you focus on your senses to Sune~?” Her question causes Kumiho to flinch and stare at her in confusion for a long moment.

“How did you...” Kumiho stops her question early, “I just can? I don’t really know how to explain it, I just turn off all my other senses and focus exclusively on that one sense.” She struggles with her words for a long time.

“And how do you turn off those senses?”

“Well, for the eyes it’s as simple as closing them and the nose is just as simple, you stop breathing through it. Ears are trickier, but at first we are taught to just cover our ears with our hands since you can’t really turn your hearing off. Then they usually have you meditate with your eyes closed, slowly breathing through just your mouth, while covering your ears with your hands. And after meditating for a while you can begin to individually focus on a specific sense while suppressing the others, as you’ve done it hundreds of times already. Hence why it is so hard to explain how to do it, it became natural to me at some point.”

“How very informative Kumiho~" The woman happily clasps her hands together while sweetly smiling at Sune, "Now Sune, do you have an idea on what you need to do now?"

“I think... Kumi, can you show me your meditation in action later?”

Kumiho nods her head in affirmation, “Sure.”

“Now I'd love to talk more but it seems that old clown is just about done with his nonsense.” She rests her chin on her palm while watching Oswin yell the last words of the song.

“And that's what, the fisherman sowed!” The entire tavern engulfed in raucous laughter and cheering at the end of the song. Oswin pushing past the jovial men with Fang in tow, stopping right before the blue-eyed woman, Hollie appearing like a ghost at Kumiho's side.

“I see you've already been aquatinting yourself with the girls.”

“We had quite a nice talk too~. Although Hollie just got here.” The black-haired girl flinches at her name being said, staring at the golden-haired woman in confusion.

Oswin softly chuckles to himself seeing the strange looks the children give to Aelfsciene, “You get used to it.” He gives Hollie a grin, “Anyways, I'm sorry for my continued leave of absence, but they took the other kids farther than I thought they would. So, how has everyone been?” His cordial smile grabs the attention of the small group.

“...” The children are at a loss for words, so Aelfsciene takes the chance to help the kids out, “Why don't you tell him about your little jobs~?”

All eyes wander to Kumiho, “It was technically Fang’s idea.” All eyes begin looking at the confused Fang.

“But she's the one who wanted to get a job first!” He points an accusatory finger at the deadpan Kumiho, the eyes wandering once again.

“And he's the one who said to ask if we could work at the tavern.” The eyes move again.

“B-But it was still you who first had the idea to get a job! All I did was give her an idea.”

The eyes change targets again, but this time to the soft speaking Hollie, “Uhm, if I may…” She slightly cowers at the stares but continues, "Wasn't it Fang who asked Edith if we could work for her?”

“Yes it was actually.” Kumiho supports.

Fang’s face is red as the eyes once again peer down on him, “Uh well—fine! I'll tell them what we did!” Kumiho and Hollie fist bump each other. “All we did was ask the tavern owner, Edith, if we could work for her: Me and Hollie are waiters with the other two waitresses, Kumiho replaced Edith as the cook, and Sune sets up the plates and drinks.”

“But why? I mean, why did you think to get jobs anyways?” Oswin softly questions.

“Kumiho said she wanted to make money for you because paying for all our things must be expensive.”

“Aww~ the little ones do really care for you~" Aelfsciene playfully teases Oswin, simply laughing softly when his eyes fall on her.

“Well I'm happy to hear you’d do that, but it really isn't too much of a bother, money isn't a big issue for me, really.”

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“It's too late now though.” Sune’s voice is heard by the small group.

“Too late for what?” The blue-eyed man inquires.

“Too late to quit, I quite like it here and it would be a shame if we quit now.”

“Oh, well you don't have to quit if you don't want to.”

“Wait I d-” Fang is quickly silenced by Sune’s hand covering his mouth, the girl pulling him into the seat next to her. Their whispered argument heard by none as the conversation continues on without them.

“Oh yeah, how did the training with my friend go, Hollie?”

“Oh uhm… He’s strict but helpful. He just… watched us the whole time. Sometimes telling us what we're doing wrong, but usually just… watching…” She sounds rather creeped out by Prosecutor but also thankful for his help, an odd mix of emotions and tones in her words.

“Yeah that sounds about right. He prefers you to learn by yourself, only helping out when you're really struggling. But when he chooses to help, you can't deny it's useful.”

“Has he helped you learn…?” She asks quietly.

“Yes actually. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. He’s a little strange and so is the other one but I’d trust them with my life.” Hollie lightly nods with a contemplative look. “Anyways, Fang!” His yell stops the small argument between Fang and Sune.

“Yes?”

He smiles warmly, “How was your time with my feathery friends?”

“I-I failed the test…” He avoids eye contact with Oswin and stares towards the floor.

Just as Oswin is about to say something Hollie cuts in with an uncharacteristically resolute voice, “I failed too, it doesn't matter whether you passed or failed Fang.”

The young boy looks at her with a dazed expression, “But I failed… it was so easy and yet I couldn't do it, I just never have the courage to do anything…”

“No. That's not true Fang and you know it too.” Sune clasps the grey haired boy’s hands with her own, “Would a coward ever say no to an unimaginable monster? Would a coward ever make fun of and mock a being they barely even understand?” Her dull pink eyes begin to radiantly glow like two pink stars that stare into Fang’s own green eyes.

“But that was different…” He attempts to look away but something compels him to continue to stare into the two glowing stars.

“How?” Her simple question in that soft voice of hers sounds like thunder in Fang’s ears and throws him into a daze. Pink wisps circle the two and all meet within their clasped hands.

“I don't know…” His response cold and lifeless, his eyes beginning to glaze over.

As Sune is about to speak again a small hand rests on her shoulder, a soothing and melodic voice entering her ears, “I know you're trying to help but you shouldn't force people to answer questions.”

The pink stars begin to dull and dissipate into the air, the wisps flowing back into every part of her body. Glowing pink streaks shining under her skin and through her clothes like glowing veins and then it all stops at once, her body returning to normal. Her black T-shirt lightly sticking to her skin from sweat, her soft panting barely audible in the loud tavern.

“I’m sorry… I didn't even realize I was doing it.” Her voice filled with genuine remorse.

“Ozzy dear.” Her voice scarily icy, “Why haven't you gotten a teacher for her? Her elf blood seems very strong, probably a pureblood. And we both know what kind of volatility that can lead to, and from what I can tell, you've done nothing to help her control it.” Her chilling anger evident with each word, she sticks the sharp nail of her index finger into Oswin’s chest as he brings his hands up in surrender.

“I don't know any elves, and you know most highborns don't particularly like me, so it's kind of hard to help her.” He pleads with the angry woman but barely sates her anger.

She pulls her finger away from his chest, “So, what is your plan in regards to teaching her? Because this...” She waves in the general direction of the gloomy Sune and dazed Fang, "...can't continue."

“I'm going to bring them to the school my brother works at.”

“And you do know that commoners aren't allowed there?”

“Yes, but any child of a highborn can go. And this includes adopted ones.”

Kumiho's eyes light up in shock, “You're going to adopt us?”

He softly laughs upon noticing the young girl’s suppressed excitement, “Yes I am, I just have to wait on ‘Hrafn’ to forge the documents for me because I don't really exist at the moment.”

As the excitement of the night dwindles, more and more people begin leaving until it’s just the same three drunks as always who are completely blacked out in their chairs and the group of six. The waitresses placing small blankets on the three drunks before bidding goodbye and leaving, Edith and the brunette at the desk named Rose leave next.

“Well, it was nice getting to know all you cute little ones and finally catching up with Oswin after a few decades, but alas I must go back to that dreary place now. If any of you ever visit the capital, make sure to show the guards these and they’ll bring you right to me, no questions asked.” The beautiful woman hands each child a small silver chain with a small silver rectangle hanging from it, an unfurled peacock with glistening pink feathers residing in the hanging rectangle. The woman gives one last wave to the group before sauntering out the door, her red dress reflecting the moonlight in a beautiful cascade of colors before her vestige completely disappears into the darkness.

"What's going to happen next?” Sune asks thoughtfully.

“I was going to show you around the house I bought for you, but it is a little too late so let's sleep here for now.” The man grins and rubs the young girl’s snow-white hair.

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The next morning is a joyous time where everyone wakes up very early whether by choice or the force of Fang’s pillow, Sune remaining the victim of said force.

Oswin chuckles at Sune’s quiet bickering with Fang, “Now now Fang. You should learn to treat ladies nicer than this.”

“But it's her fault for always oversleeping!” He accuses the young girl.

“You can just shake me awake! I'm woken up by being attacked!”

“But that's no fun!”

“Being hit by a pillow isn't fun either!”

Their bickering continues on for the rest of the morning, but stops when Oswin tells them it's time to leave. They pass Leah’s small store, going farther than the familiar wooden school and leave out the main entrance of the town. Rolling hills of bright green meadows that seem to stretch on for forever, small hamlets and fields of crops dotted throughout the green hills. After barely a few minutes of walking down the slim dirt road through the green meadow they begin walking down an overgrown path that forks along the main road. The tall green grass encroaching onto the uneven path of loose dirt. The path leads into a large two story wooden house, a small square of packed down dirt surrounded by a flimsy wooden fence resides off to the side of the house. A small wooden shack with rotted walls placed a small distance from the overgrown path, tall grass growing against its brown walls. The children look on at the building in curious excitement, Sune and Fang racing towards the building after Fang yells a childish taunt, “Last one there is a rotten egg!”

“Hey that's not fair! You had a head start!” Her white dress flutters in the wind while chasing after the boy in the leather jacket.

Once the two kids reach the house they find the door locked and begin yelling at Oswin and the rest to speed it up. Oswin pulls out a worn metal key and opens the creaking door of the house. On the left is a small living room with a fireplace and a couple leather chairs along with a wooden rocking chair. On their right is an open doorway to a dining room that connects to a kitchen. The dining room being just one simple square table along with 6 chairs and the kitchen has a few counters, a cabinet, hanging pots and pans, and a small metal box with blackened grates as the roof of the silver box. A small stairway that leads up to the second floor begins a few steps in front of the main entrance, separating the dining area from the living room.

“There's five bedrooms upstairs, so you can choose whichever one you like. Oh, and take your stuff.” Oswin pulls out the grey cube with glowing purple cracks and twists the top, fishing within the floating orb for a moment he pulls out a few bags of varying sizes that each child quickly grabs before running upstairs. After a minor argument between Sune and Fang, each child enters their respective room.

The room Kumiho enters is a simple four walled room with two windows on opposite corners of the farthest wall. A small bed and desk being the only objects within the room, the door to a closet lying in the right wall. Kumiho unpacks all her belongings, which is really just the clothes she bought with Sune. She enters the cramped closet with folded clothes in hand and places them neatly on the wooden shelves. After getting unpacked she sits on her bed for a long time, calmly thinking to herself until the increasing noise outside her door becomes too much for her to ignore and she opens the door to see what the commotion is all about.

A delicious aroma enters her nose as soon as she leaves the room and she follows it down the stairs and into the small kitchen. The chaotic scene of the kitchen causes the young girl to unconsciously smile: Oswin hums a soft tune while flipping sizzling slices of steak, a warm fire blazing within the metal box; Sune and Fang are covered in white powder as Sune mixes something within a small bowl and Fang continues to try and fail to pick out an egg shell out of the egg white within his small bowl that holds a single egg yolk; Hollie peacefully applies dressing to a green salad. Everyone so immersed into their individual tasks and talking to each other that they don't even notice Kumiho's intrusion.

The red haired girl walks behind Fang and speaks in a soft tone, “You can pick it out with another shell.” She breaks off a piece of the egg shell lying on the counter and uses it to spoon out the pieces stuck in the egg white.

“That doesn't even make sense…” His distraught voice causes Kumiho to softly chuckle and he looks up in shock.

“Hey Kumi~” Sune’s cheerful voice rings through the kitchen.

“Hello, what is going on down here?” She quietly questions

“Oh, uhm…” Sune and Fang both avoid Kumiho’s curious gaze with rosy cheeks.

“They wanted to make food for you because you're the only one who usually cooks food, and they asked me to help.” The black-haired man grins while still tending to the steak with his wooden tongs.

“That means no helping!” Sune shoos the red-haired girl away.

After a chaotic time of more than thirty minutes of cooking disasters and successes they place five plates of food on the table. Each plate holding a piece of grilled steak, scrambled eggs, a round yellow pastry, and a side of salad.

“What do you think of it?” The three other kits watch on in expectation at Kumiho's first bite. She quietly pokes a piece of scrambled eggs with her fork and then pokes a piece of salad as well with the fork and eats both items at once.

“Not bad.” Fang quietly jumps into the air and makes a face at Sune, Hollie lets out a long breath. She tries out the steak next, her face a little shocked as she bites into the tender meat, “It tastes just like how mom always made it…” Kumiho’s somber voice temporarily dulling the mood, but she puts on a small smile and speaks in a soft voice, “I mean it’s great, I was just shocked at how similar it tasted.”

The man replaces his frown with a smile and fist bumps the small black-haired girl who helped him season the steak. Sune tries to improve the mood, “Why don't you try the cake next?” Her eyes brighten in anticipation.

“How sweet is it…?” Kumiho asks cautiously.

“The inside is filled with delicious syrup!” The snow white fox cheerfully chirps.

Kumiho nearly gags and covers her mouth, “Okay…” She cuts into the pastry with her fork, the syrup flowing out of the center of the small cake. Her fork picks up a small quarter of the syrup dripping cake, her hand trembling as she cautiously plops the pastry into her mouth. Her face scrunching as she braces for impact. But as she chews on the soft pastry, her face softens, “It's... not bad…?” She says in a confused tone.

While Kumiho is still dazed by the pastry, the whole table erupts into cheers. Oswin double high fiving each child as they celebrate, Kumiho left even more confused.

“Alright now that our fun has been had I have a big announcement to make.” The children look towards the blue-eyed man, “In about three months time, a school will open up that all of you are already enrolled in because of some string pulling. But that also means you'll have to make sure your Imperial is usable, so you'll actually be able to learn there.”

The children's minds are filled with fantastical images of pearly white gates and a giant glistening castle that they will continue to talk about amongst themselves while eagerly awaiting what this fancy school will actually look like.