Chapter 5: Home is where the food is

“I’m telling you, Sage, Ku Fei is a great person and she makes good food.” Negi commented while chewing on a burger. Shortly after his bite, he replaced the burger in his hands with a controller.

Sage rolled her eyes. “Oh yes. The girl you have met like ten years go is soooo great. To bad this is the second time you met her. Now you have to spill all your secrets out on her.”

Negi smacked his sister. “You know it’s not like that.”

The twins have long reached their cabin in the woods. They decided not to worry about what happened in class and relax for the rest of the day. Sage was resting on the couch, half of her laying on her brother’s legs, while Negi was playing a game on the PlayCube. Halfway on their trip, they decided to buy random entertainment items and the boy was adamant to have one.

He knocked her head with the controller. “Don’t we have homeroom to teach today?”

Sage pinched his side. “No. It’s Wednesday. Homeroom is Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Why are you like this? You were a great student when we were younger.”

He scoffed. “Sorry, I stopped caring.”

She pouted, “You care about Ku Fei.”

He shook his head, getting to arguments with Sage was like running circles. “Forget it. I’m too emotionally exhausted to deal with you today.”

She scratched her cheek. “Do you think Mana will be a problem?”

The other redhead shrugged. “As long as I don’t complete the conditions of the curse, I’ll be fine.”

“You know she could cure you. All voodoo witchcraft and stuff.” She commented, her hands shaking in his face.

He swatted her hands, still focused on the game rather than the conversation. “That would be great. However, she hates us. Also, if she shoots you, it’s because of what you said now. And respect all magic, you fool.” She snorted, her dislike towards Mana hasn’t subsided at all after all the years.

Negi was about to start lecturing Sage on the importance of respecting foreign magic when they heard a voice. “Hello? Am I in the right place?”

Sage stood up from his lap and jogged towards the door. She pushed all thoughts about Mana and her distaste towards central magic aside. She opened the door with a smile and welcomed Ku Fei. “Hi, Ku-Ku. Welcome to our home. Come in, we have much to talk about.” She wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulders and led her into the house.

The two foreigners made small talk as they walked to the bedroom. As soon as Ku saw Negi sitting on the couch she rushed to hug him.

He tossed his controller to Sage and caught the distraught blond. “Whoa! What happened, Ku?” He asked in her native language.

She nuzzled his chest, sighing. “You are my love. I have longed for this day.”

He patted her head while chuckling. Sage plopped down next to the affectionate couple, drawled. “Ya don’t have to be so polite Ku. You can chill and stop sounding like a formal prick.”

Negi smacked his redhead companion then turned his attention back to the female in his lap. “I’m guessing you have questions.”

Ku left his lap and took a seat next to him, touching his arm during the process. “Hmm. Yes.” She pulled out a card from her sock. “When I think of you, can summon a tiger from the card. What kind of magic is it?”

He took the card from her hand and observed it. It had the image of Ku sitting on a tiger looking at the holder with a predatory gaze. There were symbols surrounding the image in a, spreading out to three Latin words. It read ‘Paulo Tigris Auri’ and is translated to ‘Little Gold Tiger’ in English.

He glanced at her sandy blonde hair then handed back to her. “Yep. It’s my modified western magic. Basically that's a pactio card. A physical and magic manifestation of our bond where you can use some of my magic as a base to amplify your own. You have one of my three cards.”

Her heart fluttered as she held the card like it was a precious pearl. She stared at it for a few moments before turning to her husband. “Do others have your card?”

In response to that, Sage flashed three shiny cards in her face. The redhead smirked, “Read it and weep. I have the whole collection.”

Negi smacked her again. “My eldest sister has all three cards, my second oldest sister has two of them and my second youngest sister has one but it is a strange one. Zazie, I believe you have met her, have two and most of my other sisters have one.”

Ku blinked then yelped, “Sisters!? I thought you had one?”

He shrugged, took the controller from Sage and relaxed on the couch. “I have like seven of them that I keep in touch with. Our oldest sister, Kenya, adopts a lot of orphans. Sage and my cousin Nekane are my only blood relatives.”

The martial artist noticed how his eyes quivered when he talked about his oldest sister but she decided not to mention it.

She patted his leg then stood up abruptly, causing the twins to look at her strangely. She announced, “I’m going to pork baozi, dimsum and peking duck. I know that you must have the ingredients.”

They looked at each other before Sage rushed out of the room screaming, “I’m going to get them!” She stopped for a moment and pointed at her twin. “You better not touch a single dumpling while I’m gone.”

He smirked, “No promises.” She screeched at him.

The rest of the night was filled with merry cheers and laughter. Even though the twins rejoiced over the amazing food that didn't taste like month old ramen noodles, Ku couldn’t help but feel there was something they were hiding behind those smiles. It always has a ting of worry and something she couldn't identify.