fanfic; cultivation; part 3

[acperience]

▶ Part 2

—

Eventually, dinner comes along. After putting away the checker set (“Always clean up after yourself—understand, Minato?” he tells the boy, who nods), Tiir heads over to the dining room, Minato trailing right behind him.

Walter walks by them without a second glance.

“He... llo,” Minato says, but Walter is already long gone by the time he finishes. There’s a reason no one questions why Tiir isn’t exactly fond of Walter and, as far as Tiir knows, why Walter gets along with very few.

—Though all things considered, perhaps Tiir isn’t one to talk.

He places a hand on Minato’s head reassuringly, just in case he’s hurt by Walter’s rejection. True enough, Minato seems to have drooped a bit, though—a minor change in posture that Tiir might not have noticed had he not spent the day with him.

He can’t understand why Minato even tries.

There’s a slight shift underneath his hand. Tiir looks down just in time to see Minato yawn.

“Are you tired?” he asks. Minato nods, to which Tiir strokes his head.

“Go to sleep after dinner, all right? In the meantime…” Tiir halts, as does Minato, who looks at him questioningly. Tiir merely smiles in return, before bending down and scooping Minato up with both arms.

“Ah…”

“Here, I’ll carry you there,” Tiir says, as he resumes walking. Minato looks at him with a mildly uncertain expression, before it fades back to its usual blankness.

“… Thank you.”

It’s a simple phrase, and one that Tiir has heard a thousand times before—but somehow, hearing it from Minato brightens his smile.

—

Along the way, Tiir spots a mass of black hair heading up the stairs—cautiously, as if she were trying to creep away. In all likelihood, she probably is.

“… Guriko,” Minato says to Tiir, who nods.

“That she is,” he affirms, before calling out. “Guriko? Where are you going? It’s dinnertime.”

Guriko stops like a deer caught in headlights, before slowly turning around.

“Guriko… this Guriko forgot something in her room.”

Tiir tilts his head to one side.

“Can’t it wait until afterwards?” he asks, before pressing further. “I’m sure the others would really like to eat with you.”

Guriko looks away. “… If that’s the case, then Guriko supposes she can wait.”

Tiir offers her a smile as she heads back down the stairs, prompting a small smile from her. Once she reaches the base, he continues walking, with her following beside him.

Minato, it seems, has begun to doze off in Tiir’s arms. While Tiir would’ve been content to let him sleep any other time, now is hardly an appropriate time.

“Minato,” he says, smiling softly. The boy opens his eyes groggily.

“… Tiir.”

“Sorry,” Tiir says, “but you need to eat dinner first. Then you can asleep.”

Minato nods. Tiir glances at Guriko, before looking back at him.

“Guriko, this is Minato. He arrived just a few days ago, so he’s new to the orphanage, just like you,” Tiir says, ignoring the nagging thought in the back of his head.

—Bright red eyes.

“… It’s nice to meet you,” Guriko mutters. While that might’ve been impolite, coming from anyone else, Tiir doubts that her attitude has anything to do rudeness—just as he doubts that she forgot anything.

“Minato, this is Guriko. You remember her, right? The girl with the spoons?” He shifts his gaze to Minato, who nods.

“… It’s nice to meet you,” he says in his usual softness.

… It’s almost amusing, in a way, the similarities between two opposites—the boy who barely speaks and the girl who made quite possibly the most dramatic introduction Tiir’s ever seen.

He smiles.

Perhaps Minato and Guriko can find a friend here—in each other.

—

Walter is already seated by the time Tiir, Minato, and Guriko reach the dining room, as are Lafra and Pueka, who sit to his left. Though perhaps ‘friends’ might not be the most accurate way of describing their relationship with Walter, they’re of the select few who can tolerate his anti-social behaviour. Certainly, Walter’s stony attitude isn’t stopping Lafra, in all his easygoingness, from trying to strike up a conversation with him.

Tiir sits across from them, two seats from the end of the table. Minato slips into the chair to his left, while Guriko moves for his right. However, as she pulls back the chair, Tiir holds out a hand to stop her.

“Ah, Guriko…” he says, smiling lightly. “Would you mind sitting beside Minato?”

She glances down at her would-be spot. Where a plate would normally be served lies a small, clear vase, and in that, a light violet flower.

A statice. Tiir would know, considering he chose it himself.

—For remembrance.

(”You were the greatest friend I could have asked for.”)

“Why is this here?” Guriko asks. Tiir’s smile doesn’t falter, though his feelings must be shining through, for just as he’s about to speak, Lafra answers in his stead.

“It’s… for someone,” he says, his voice somber. “A friend of ours, who passed away three years ago. That was her seat.”

—Tiir remembers, because as painful as the memories are, he doesn’t want to forget.

Understanding dawns on Guriko’s face, as without another word, she moves to the chair beside Minato and plops down on it.

The rest of dinner passes peacefully, with Tiir making sure to add extras to Minato’s plate—the boy is skinny enough as it is. Tiir’s also pleased to note that although she avoided chatting with anyone else, Guriko at least talked with him and Minato.

Lafra, likewise, informs him as they do the dishes that he actually managed to have something resembling a conversation with Walter. Tiir is suitably impressed.

—

“Guriko was here before, you know,” Guriko says as they walk down the halls. After dinner, she elected to accompany Tiir back to Minato’s room. Tiir’s carrying Minato again, albeit this time on his back. Judging by the occasional nod he feels, he can tell that Minato’s trying not to fall asleep, with limited success.

At Guriko’s words, though—ah. He’d had a feeling.

“Was it about ten years ago?” he asks. Guriko turns to him, eyes wide.

“Yes. How did Tiir know?”

“I met you back then, actually,” Tiir answers, thinking back to the time. “You were only about two or three, I think, so I’m not surprised that you don’t remember.”

He wouldn’t have either, had it not been for the toddler’s eyes. Red—the same shade his own eyes would occasionally become.

This child was someone who was like him, he’d realized back then. That alone had made her memorable, even though she’d been shortly adopted afterwards.

And yet here she is again. Tiir has always believed in fate.

“Oh.” Guriko falls silent after that—perhaps thinking of her foster family? For her to be here again means one thing: something happened. Tiir knows better than to question it, and allows the silence to remain until Guriko breaks it again.

“Tiir?”

“Yes?”

“Did you know her?” she asks. Tiir falters for a moment, before regaining his composure. It’s clear whom Guriko is referring to.

“The girl who passed away, you mean? Yes, I did.”

Pale violet hair and eyes, like the flower he picked. If she were alive, she likely would’ve been amused by his unsubtle choice, but it was her who told him in the first place—that he isn’t exactly one for subtleties anyway.

“Her name was Ene,” Tiir continues. “She was a good friend of mine.”

The best.

“… Do you miss her?” Guriko asks. Tiir pauses for a moment—he can tell that Minato is now wide awake on his back—before he smiles sadly.

“All the time.”

—

If Tiir isn’t the one fighting, it’s fairly easy to guess who is. He’s hardly the only one with aggressive tendencies, after all—or a grudge against Walter.

It’s normally a repeat incident, with a predictable start and an equally predictable end. This time, however—

“Don’t pick on Walter—or I’ll gouge out your eye!” While unperturbed by the sounds of fighting, Guriko’s voice is certainly something that raises Tiir’s attention, as he pauses.

“Wha—I’m not picking on him!” That voice confirms Tiir’s earlier suspicions. Though he doesn’t know the boy personally, he recognizes it as the one belonging to Senel, who is remarkable in that he’s even less fond of Walter than Tiir is.

Smiling wryly and shaking his head, he heads over to the source and is unsurprised by the scene he finds: Senel and Walter roughed up, with Guriko standing in front of Walter with her arms spread apart, as if to shield him from Senel—who, for his part, is gaping at her. Walter, on the other hand, looks annoyed at Guriko’s ‘help’.

Tiir can’t help but laugh, catching the attention of all three parties. Guriko’s the first to react.

“Tiir-nii?” she says, calling him by the nickname she developed for him on the night he told her about Ene. Whether out of pity or something else, he doesn’t know, but he’s merely glad that it seems to have acted as a gateway. Despite her blunt and initially withdrawn attitude, she’s fit in with the rest of the orphanage just fine. Even Walter hasn’t escaped interacting with her—rather, his attempts to push her away only seem to make her more determined to befriend him.

It’s cute, in a sense, though Tiir never fails to be baffled by why both newcomers seem to be infatuated with Walter, of all people.

“Get out of the way,” Walter demands.

… Especially considering his lovely personality.

Tiir tugs at Guriko’s arm.

“Come now, Guriko,” he says cheerfully as he pulls her away. “Let the idiots have their fight.”

Both ‘idiots’ shoot him a glare as he drags Guriko away, though that’s all they do. Just as Tiir is known for picking fights, he’s also known for winning them.

As for Tiir, he simply smiles all too brightly and waves back.

—

“They despise each other,” he tells her, Minato sitting on his lap. The boy had found them shortly after, joining in on the discuss-Walter session, prompted by Guriko’s questions.

“Why…?” Minato asks, contributing to the discussion. Tiir laughs.

“They’re fighting over a girl,” he answers. “You might’ve seen her around. Her name’s Shirley. She’s Senel’s sister, though Walter just about worships her.”

“Does Walter have a crush on her?” Guriko asks in perfect seriousness. Tiir lets out another laugh, well aware that Walter would probably be rather angry with him right now, and failing to care.

“Who knows?”

“… Does she like Walter?” Minato asks. Tiir pauses for a moment, surprised that the question would come from Minato, of all people, considering his quietness. Then he smiles—both at the question and at the fact that Minato seems to be opening up—before he replies.

“Not as much as she seems like to Senel, unfortunately for him.”

“… Oh. That’s sad.” Minato again. Guriko nods.

“Then maybe we should help this Shirley discover the good qualities in Walter so that she may come to like him as well.”

Tiir almost retorts “What good qualities?” but manages to hold back for Minato and Guriko’s sakes.

“I don’t think Walter will appreciate that very much.”

“Walter never appreciates anything,” Guriko says easily. “It’s okay.”

Minato nods, echoing Guriko. “… It’s okay.”

“… If you say so,” Tiir says doubtfully—though if there’s anyone who can get Walter to like them, he has no doubt that it’s these two.

Against his chest, he can feel Minato begin to doze off.

—

It’s in the middle of the night when Tiir leaves his room to go the washroom. He makes sure to be quiet as he exits, so as not to disturb his three roommates. Or, rather, he couldn’t care less about Lir, whom he genuinely hates compared to his dislike for Walter, or Sion, who is just another person to him—but he’s fond of his third roommate, Ryner, despite the other boy’s tendency to ignore him.

Ryner’s eyes are like his, and that’s all he needs to know.

Tiir’s equally silent as he walks down the hall with minimal effort—he’s always been light on his feet, something that Lafra has joked about. Something about how girls everywhere must envy his ability to stay as skinny as a stick no matter how much he eats.

Apparently, though, he’s not the only phantom out that night. Just as he’s about to turn the corner, another figure—far smaller than his own—walks around him, causing Tiir to give a start.

“Minato?”

—

▶ Part 4