fanfic; cultivation; part 7

[acperience]

▶ Part 6

—

In all hindsight, it probably shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Guriko and Minato begin a second operation. Less stalking involved, fortunately, though no less involving “the mystery of Tiir-nii”, as Guriko dubbed it.

All things considered, while curious about the letter, Minato doesn’t mind leaving the matter to rest. Guriko, however, is determined to figure things out, with her energy making up for Minato’s lack of it. Consequently, he’s content to let her take charge in things, and in return, she’s all too happy to do so—Minato’s fairly certain she would’ve even if he’d wanted to.

Until the day that urge comes, though, he’s happy to stand there as she ponders.

“Minato, do you know what we need to do?” Guriko asks him in a tone that she already knows the answer. He shakes his head.

“We need to learn how Tiir came to this orphanage,” Guriko declares. Grief flickers across her face for a moment, before she smiles in that slight way she typically does. Despite her energy, Minato has rarely ever seen a truly cheerful expression on her face.

He understands by now that it’s best to avoid certain subjects with her—the topic of coming to the orphanage being one of them. He’s not exactly in a hurry to talk about his own situation either, for that matter.

“Why?” Minato asks.

“Because,” Guriko says, “we might find a clue as to who sent that letter, therefore concluding part of the mystery of Tiir-nii.”

“?” Minato’s expression says.

Guriko gives him a look. At least, that’s what Minato thinks it’s supposed to be.

“Although there is a possibility that letter was written from a past acquaintance that Tiir-nii is no longer in contact with, that letter was likely written by a relative. And if it’s a relative of Tiir-nii, then they may be the one who left him here,” Guriko explains. “If that’s the case, then it’s no wonder that Tiir-nii was not especially pleased to receive that birthday greeting.”

“!” Minato’s expression says.

And with that out of the way, the two begin Operation: Learn about Tiir-nii’s Past.

—

“Tiir?” Lafra asks, blinking. He shares a glance with Pueka. “Why are you asking about him?”

“Curiosity killed the cat,” Guriko tells him, before pausing. “… No, that’s not the right way to use that, is it? Um… Guriko would like to inform Lafra that—that the cat died for a very noble cause! And that is why we would like to know.”

Apparently ignoring the blank stares that everyone in the room is giving her, Guriko stands tall, in all her thirteen-year-old glory.

After a few moments, Lafra smiles.

“Well, when you put it like that…” he says. “You wanted to know about how he came here, right?”

“Correct.” Guriko nods.

Lafra’s smile takes on an apologetic notch. “Sorry, Guriko, but I don’t know.”

Guriko blinks.

“… But Lafra is Tiir-nii’s best friend,” Guriko says. Lafra shrugs, looking sheepish.

“He’s been here for longer than me and he’s never mentioned anything from before he came to the orphanage. I don’t know anything. I’m sorry.”

Pueka nods. “It’s the same for me as well. It’s hard to find someone who’s been here for longer than him and still here. Have you asked a worker?”

“Yes,” Minato says, speaking for the first time since he and Guriko approached the two. Guriko nods.

“They wouldn’t tell us anything.”

“I thought as much,” Lafra says, appearing contemplative. “What about Walter?”

“Blondie?” Guriko looks skeptical.

“I don’t know if he’s been here for as long as Tiir, but I’m pretty sure he’s been here for longer than Pueka and me, at least,” Lafra tells her. “He might have an idea.”

“Guriko supposes that if that’s our only option…” Guriko replies, still looking doubtful, before a question appears on her face, and she asks—

“How long has Tiir-nii been here, anyway?”

“How long…?” Lafra repeats, looking up. “Let’s see… since he was five, I think? At least, that’s what he told me. So about twelve years?”

At that, Minato remembers—the unspoken birthday. No doubt Lafra knows about it, but in the end, Tiir still didn’t mention it to Minato or Guriko. Minato isn’t entirely sure why, but for whatever reason, he actually feels a bit sad about it.

It really would’ve been nice to celebrate it, he thinks—or at least for Tiir to have told them.

“That’s a long time,” Guriko notes. “Guriko is surprised that people weren’t tripping over themselves to adopt him. He’s very nice.”

Lafra laughs lightly at that. “He is, once you know him. But I guess people had their reasons.”

And maybe, Minato thinks, Tiir did too.

(“I don’t need an ‘official’ family.”)

“Those people are stupid, then,” Guriko says eloquently. Lafra manages a wry smile at that.

“Well, he was fairly different back then,” he says. “Ene—ah, that’s the girl who passed away—she did a lot in changing him. Before, he’d do all kinds of things…”

“Things?” he asks. Lafra and Pueka share another glance, before Pueka turns to him, reaching out with one hand to ruffle his hair.

“Well, we shouldn’t be talking behind his back,” she says, before looking at Guriko. “But it was nothing as cute as stealing spoons.”

Guriko turns pink at that and looks away, muttering something under her breath. Pueka merely smiles and ruffles her already messy hair as well.

“If Tiir wants you to know, he’ll tell you when he’s ready,” she says softly. Guriko nods in reply, but Minato can tell by the look on her face that that isn’t enough for her.

The operation continues, it seems.

—

“What do you want?” Walter asks, his usual frown written all over his face. Guriko, undaunted, points a finger at him.

“Blondie! We demand answers from you!”

“I’m not obliged to answer anything for you,” Walter retorts, before turning to walk away. Apparently, Guriko will have none of that, for the moment he does, she pounces on his back.

“Gah—!”

Impressively, Walter manages to keep his balance, but as a result, he now has one (1) Guriko, holding onto his shoulders. Fortunately for him, he isn’t tall enough—or she isn’t short enough—for her to be dangling, sparing him from having to hold up her full weight.

“Get off!”

“Not until you agree to answer our questions.”

“Get off.”

“… Please,” Minato adds, figuring that maybe he should help. Walter turns to look at him, and for a moment, he thinks he can see Walter’s resolve faltering.

Maybe. It could just be wishful thinking.

“Come on, Blondie!” Guriko, with one hand, starts tugging on his hair. Walter lets out a pained—and angry—cry, reaching back to stop her.

“Ah…” Minato starts to wonder if perhaps she’s going a bit too far, when Walter finally relents.

“Fine. Just stop that.”

In an instant, Guriko hops off his back, looking as innocent as anything.

“You’ve been here for a long time, right?” she asks. Walter, glaring at her, nods.

“Longer than Tiir-nii?” she asks, a hopeful note in her voice.

“No,” Walter says flatly, not appearing to care. Guriko’s shoulders droop, before she gives Walter a glare of her own.

“Geez… useless Blondie.”

Walter’s eye twitches.

“What?”

“Use-less Blon-die!”

Not exactly wanting an argument to break out, Minato hesitantly steps forward, recalling Lafra and Pueka’s words.

“… Did Tiir cause trouble? When he was young?” he asks. Though perhaps neither Lafra nor Pueka put it so explicitly, it’s the only reasonable conclusion.

And as kind as Minato knows Tiir can be, he has seen Tiir be cruel as well. He isn’t sure if Guriko has realized as well, but he thinks that she must have an idea as well—there’s a dangerous aura that lurks in his eyes sometimes.

Thus, he can’t say he’s all that surprised to hear that Tiir might have been a ‘problem child’. A part of him, though, thinks that that might’ve been a good thing. Preferable to his own attitude, at least.

(“He’s too well-behaved.”)

—Is it better to be a problem child than to not cause problems at all? Minato doesn’t know.

“At times,” Walter answers, still looking positively uninterested in the topic. Guriko, however, does not.

“What did he do?” she asks. Her expression is curious—she’s not afraid, Minato thinks. She’s not afraid to learn what her Tiir-nii might’ve been like, once upon a time. She’s kind. Minato’s a little sorry that she’ll probably end up leaving, just like everyone else.

—And it’s strange, because he thought he was already used to this.

Maybe Tiir and Guriko aren’t the only ones who have changed in this place.

“He broke things. Attacked people. Hid away from the workers. Things like that,” Walter replies. “Is that all you wanted to ask?”

(“It’s good for hide-and-seek.”)

It’s funny, the things you don’t think about until they become relevant.

—How long did Tiir look before he found that place?

And yet, even though he hasn’t smiled in a very long time, Minato can’t help but do so now. It’s only a slight turn of the lips, and given how focused they are on each other, Walter and Guriko don’t even notice—but it’s a smile, nonetheless.

He smiles, because even though he knows that there isn’t a point in getting attached, it still makes him happy, to think that Tiir was willing to show him his hiding spot.

“You’re still dumb,” Guriko informs Walter. “But yes, we’re done here. You can go back to being a grumpy loner now, Grumpy.”

Walter’s eyes narrow, but he says nothing as he turns on his heel and stalks off. Guriko watches his back, a slight glare on her face, before she turns to Minato, her expression blank.

“Well, what now?”

Minato thinks. “… Tiir will be coming back from work soon.”

“And we still don’t know how he came to the orphanage,” Guriko says, frowning. “Operation Learn about Tiir-nii’s Past was a failure, Minato. We’re putting it on hold for later.”

Minato nods as Guriko continues.

“Well, that just means we have to spend some time with him to make up for it. Let’s go wait for him.”

Minato doesn’t quite follow that logic, but he has no complaints about it. Just as it doesn’t seem to daunt Guriko, the fact that he just spent the past while invading Tiir’s privacy doesn’t even occur to him.

He’s always happy to spend time with Guriko and Tiir, after all.

—And even though he knows it’s futile, somewhere in the back of his mind, he wonders if this is what it’s like to have a family again.

—

▶ Part 8