-Vol 5: A New Life-

-Hurtful Words-

Consoling a hysteric Ellie didn’t consume much energy. She had boundless confidence on him since the beginning, and when he spoke words like ‘I am here’ or ‘Nothing will happen again’ she instantly calmed down after crying her eyes out. Then under Kenshin’s urge, she pulled Axel, and they both disappeared upstairs, leaving behind Kenshin and Mrs. Yui.

She was avoiding his eye contact even now and silently wiping away all the broken parts on the floor. Kenshin walked to the other side and started using Opposites to return the place the way it was before. Since the AoE of his skill was small, he had to move around a lot to completely finish even a small area of the shop. After finishing there, he would walk to another place and start everything all over again.

On the corner, Mrs. Yui, who was watching Kenshin’s actions sneakily had her eyes widened, and jaws dropped to the floor. Despite watching this miraculous skill at work twice already, she still couldn’t wipe that wonder in her heart. It was like watching a movie going backward; the broken floors, plates and even the grime stuck to the floor, everything was going back the way they were before in slow motion.

Plates were repaired automatically and returned to the shelf they were in, glasses’ cracks miraculously vanished and the glaze they had returned to how they were this morning after she cleaned them. Standing to the side, she just watched silently as the magic unfolded.

Half an hour later, Kenshin finished returning the whole shop the way it was before and exhaled a breath of relief. He had even resorted to drinking a minor mana potion to recharge his magic to their fullest capacity when they decreased below the acceptable level. The broken shop that previously looked like it endured an animal stampede returned to how it was in the morning, elegant and presentable.

“Heu! Now it's over finally!” Kenshin exclaimed while looking at the shop, trying to find if there were any places he had missed. Finding none, he then looked at the owner of the shop; she was smiling at him, although it wasn’t fake, it did conceal something.

“How did this happen?” wiping his hands away in his shirt, he pulled a nearby chair and sat down. His eyes were drawn to the bandaged forehead, from the shallowness of the gauge, he could tell that the wound wasn’t that deep. Just some light scratch.

“Hmm! No! Nothing. You shouldn’t mind this small stuff. Good work by the way. Let me make you a cup of tea. Did you need pastry or something?” shaking her head, she changed the topic.

Kenshin narrowed his eyes while looking at the jumpy woman who did her best to avoid him. The way she acted and the scale of destruction, it didn’t look like it was the work a jealous rival or some punks making mischief. They were aware of the biggest punk in the locality so they wouldn’t dare to make things difficult for themselves.

If its neither of the two, then who and why? What did this single woman do wrong?

Although Mrs. Yui was a kind woman, oozing with righteousness, she would still never go out of her way to mess with someone she shouldn’t have. As a mother, she was afraid that something will happen to her daughter, so she would always keep that helpful heart concealed. Work of an enemy was out, then who…?

While thinking of such, not a single idea came to his mind.

“Here. Your tea.” Mrs. Yui appeared with a cup in her hands and placed on the table lightly. Then she turned around, intending to walk away.

“Wait!” Kenshin’s tone was much deeper than usual. He was, although very angry, tried to maintain a nonchalant disposition.

“What?” she turned around to looked at him.

“all this!! Why?”

Hearing his question, Mrs. Yui stared at him for a few seconds, then her eyes flickered as if to conceal something and turned around the table Kenshin was sitting; pulled another chair for herself.

With narrowed eyes, Kenshin closely watched her actions.

Sitting on the pulled chair, she folded her hands, keeping a leg over the other, and keep staring at him. The skinny jeans she wore accented her legs, even more, making Kenshin, who stared at it by mistake, absentminded. Although he treated her as a big sister, it didn’t stop him from admiring her beauty in secret. The lady was really beautiful and maintained her body well with all the works she did.

She also hits the nearest gym every now and then to maintain her figure.

Seeing that his mind was going down the wrong path, he inwardly winced. Discreetly shaking his head, he got rid of all the dirty thoughts and focussed again.

Either she didn’t see it, or she tactfully ignored it, nonetheless, he was thankful that she didn’t say anything about his accidental checking out there.

“Before I tell you, I want to ask something.” She started. Her tone was oddly grave and serious as if she was talking to a stranger.

“What?”

“Why are you so keen on helping me?”

“What do you mean?” Kenshin asked with furrowed brows, he really didn’t understand what the question meant.

“I mean what I asked, why are you so willing to help me? What is it for you?” her tone gave Kenshin a sense of forbearance. His heart started to palpitate, and he felt helpless. After increasing his INT and WIS, he had developed a version of sixth sense. It would always warn him of dangers ahead, saving his life many times. But, recently he found this ability didn’t only extend to battle. It also activates in his daily lives.

Whenever a situation occurs that have some potential to hurt him, his sixth sense would activate, reminding of the dangers ahead. And right now, when he heard her question, he felt the same sense of foreboding.

“I…” opening and closing his mouth, trying to find some words, but nothing came. In fact, he never seriously thought of her relationship with her. If he says that he treated her as his elder sister, they were a little distant to be so…if he says that they were only owner and tenant, they were too close to be purely that.

Thinking of all the things he shared with her, all the time they interacted, all the help she provided, it was clear that she was a family to him and his sister. But the distance he subconsciously maintained from her…it was an indication that he never treated her as his family…at least fully.

That realization hit him harder than Lyda’s snake summons. It hurt him the worst way possible, and he was unable to finish what he was saying. His eyes slowly widened, and his mouth gaped like a fish.

Seeing this, Mrs. Yui smiled. Tucking away a strand of hair falling on her face, behind her ears, she stood up. Turning around, she walked away.

But her cold voice still came unhindered;

“You should mind your own business. There is no need for you to stick your head where it doesn’t belong. We are just the owner and tenant, we shouldn’t overstep our bounds. Okay?” her voice as well as the implications behind, everything tells that it wasn’t normal, but who could make heart understand?

Kenshin really felt hurt at her words. Its as if, a lot of fire ants gnawing away his heart while it was still beating.