fanfic; cultivation; part 8

[acperience]

▶ Part 7

—

To be honest, Tiir doesn’t leave the orphanage area often, aside from work and the necessities. Mingling with the public has never been his idea of fun—or even an activity that he’s comfortable with, for that matter. Lafra (and Ene, as painful as it is to think of her at times) has told him that he should become accustomed to it, but Tiir has never seen much of a point.

Tensing when someone brushes by him, a glare when somebody looks for a little too long, resisting the urge to lash out at a passerby—he much prefers the home he’s always known. He’s by no means shy, and he can put up with it and force politeness for the sake of his job, but if he had a choice in the matter, he wouldn’t be out here, downtown, right now.

“Oh…” Even amidst the chatter of the city, Tiir can hear Minato’s characteristic quiet voice.

—Well, perhaps it wouldn’t be entirely accurate to say that he didn’t have a choice.

“What is it, Minato?” Tiir asks, as both he and Guriko turn to look. Minato points to a shop near them, stuffed animals neatly lined up in its window.

“… Lafra bought me something from there,” Minato says.

“Eh? Is that why you’ve been walking around with that teddy bear lately?” Tiir asks. Neither Minato nor Guriko own much, he knows, not having been at the orphanage for very long—not to mention the question of how permanent their stay is. Minato still has relatives (as bitter as Tiir is towards them), and though Tiir knows that Guriko doesn’t hold onto hope, that couple, with the girl with pink hair, has been visiting her frequently.

At the question, Minato nods.

“That was kind of him,” Tiir says, smiling. They take another step forward before Guriko stops.

“Look at that, Minato, Tiir-nii!”

“Ah…?” Tiir looks in the direction that she’s pointing, hazarding a guess as to what caught her attention—though truth be told, the small, neon pink building is the only one that stands out. “That’s an ice cream shop. It certainly looks odd, doesn’t it?”

“That’s an ice cream shop?” Guriko says, blinking, before looking away. Apparently, the horizon—blocked by traffic and more buildings—is incredibly fascinating.

Tiir watches her for a moment, before he smiles.

“Do you want some ice cream, Guriko?”

Guriko shifts the weight between her feet for a few moments, staring down at the ground. “If it’s okay with Tiir-nii…”

“Of course it is,” Tiir replies, before turning to Minato. “What about you, Minato? Do you want some as well?”

“… Okay.”

Though Guriko’s expression remains calm, Tiir can see the hidden excitement behind it. His smile brightens a tad.

“All right. This way, then.” He leads them to the crosswalk, where they stop—or at least, he and Minato do. Guriko, apparently oblivious to the red light, continues to walk.

For the briefest of moments, Tiir pictures everything that could go wrong, before instincts kick in and he shouts, “Guriko, stop!”

Without hesitating, he grabs her arm and pulls her back onto the sidewalk, her back pressed against his chest as he holds her, while a car drives by. Only loosening his grip once he affirms that she’s safe, Tiir tries to calm his beating heart, letting out a breath of relief.

“… Tiir-nii? You can let go of Guriko now.”

Snapping back to reality, Tiir does just that, as Guriko steps forward to free herself from his embrace. Though even Minato looks a tad shaken, Guriko merely looks back at them with a passive expression, like she hadn’t just put herself in danger.

Tiir, however, can’t be as calm as her.

“You have to be careful,” Tiir tells her, his voice tighter than usual. “Don’t ever do that again, all right?”

“Guriko won’t,” Guriko says, now looking slightly uneasy underneath Tiir’s gaze. Smiling weakly, Tiir reaches out to ruffle her hair as the sign to walk flashes on.

“Let’s go.”

—

Guriko orders chocolate while Minato orders vanilla—and as for Tiir, he opts not to order anything. Seeing Guriko and Minato enjoy their ice cream is enough of a treat for him, so to speak.

Fortunately, the owner of the shop doesn’t mind them lounging around, even after having bought their ice cream, as Guriko flits from merchandise to merchandise. Like a kid in a candy store—which, all things considered, is an appropriate comparison here. She’d asked Tiir if she could have all the flavours. Tiir had to apologize and explain that no, she couldn’t, due to health and monetary concerns.

To be honest, he’s not surprised to hear that it’s the first time she’s had ice cream.

—And again, he has to wonder why there seem to be so many reasons to hate the world.

Yet there’s still no bitterness in Guriko’s expression—a fact that Tiir can barely comprehend, other than accepting the idea that Guriko is simply a far kinder person than he is. Minato as well.

It’s probably better that way, Tiir thinks, even if Guriko is still sometimes wary and Minato has partially given up.

Once Minato and Guriko are done, with Guriko wiping her hands with a tissue paper, the three move to leave the store. Just as Tiir’s about to open the door, however, another man beats him to it from the other side. Tiir takes a step back to let him in, as Guriko and Minato move to the side. Tiir stiffens as the man enters, glancing at the two children, but pays it no heed—it’s always reflexes acting up.

That is, until he hears the man mutter, “Freak.”

Minato is as normal in appearance as can be, aside from his peculiar blankness, and Tiir knows that, for once, he’s not the one being insulted here.

Without hesitation, he whirls around on his heel and grabs the man by the neck, smirking mirthlessly.

“The hell—”

“Care to repeat that?” Tiir asks, his tone light but the threat still clearly present. He has no doubt that his own eyes are red now, like Guriko’s. Sure enough, the man confirms it for him, apparently undaunted by the teenager near-strangling him.

“Freaks.”

Tiir’s grip tightens—and he knows he might get into trouble for this, but he doesn’t care—and he’s about to reply, when someone else does instead.

“… Don’t call them that.”

For a moment, Tiir almost doesn’t recognize the voice. Eyes wide, he lets go of the man and turns to the source, only to see Minato, standing up straight with his mouth pressed into a line and the ever present tiredness gone from his eyes.

It’s the coldest Tiir has ever seen him.

“They’re not freaks.”

Though his voice is still quiet, there’s an underlying firmness in it now. Any trace of the unassuming boy that Tiir has always known is gone now. And though this man has never known Minato, perhaps even he’s aware that something has happened, for he now looks uneasy.

Recovering from his surprise, Tiir smirks once again, kicking the man out of the way as he moves to leave the store.

“Hey—!”

“My apologies,” Tiir says pleasantly. “But you were in our way.”

—

“You didn’t have to do that, Tiir-nii,” Guriko tells him as they head back to the orphanage. “Guriko is used to it.”

Tiir merely smiles sadly at her. He’s heard that one before.

—Really, she’s too kind.

“That doesn’t mean that you should have to put up with it.”

“Guriko was surprised, though,” Guriko says, looking at Minato now. “Guriko didn’t know Minato could talk like that. It was impressive.”

Minato stares ahead as they walk, his expression unchanging.

“I just thought…” he says, his voice trailing off. “… I just thought that it wasn’t right.”

“And it was a very brave thing to do.” Tiir pats Minato’s head, smiling. “I hope you’ll continue to think that way, Minato.”

He’s past caring about ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, but if it means that Minato will never turn into the kind of person that Tiir despises, he’ll take it. Though he’s never minded Minato’s quietness, if there’s one thing he can’t stand (among the many, many things he can’t stand), it’s not standing up for others.

Quietness is one thing. Staying quiet even when one shouldn’t is another.

“Uh-huh!” Guriko chimes in. “And if anyone insults Minato, Guriko will gouge out their eyes!”

Tiir laughs lightly. “I think standing up for them is enough, Guriko.”

“But you kicked him, Tiir-nii!”

“Perhaps you shouldn’t quite follow my example in everything I do,” Tiir tells her, smiling wryly. “The same goes for you, Minato. Don’t go around kicking people.”

Minato nods with all the seriousness a six-year-old can muster.

—

In the end, Guriko doesn’t get the chance to defend Minato.

Perhaps it should’ve been expected. No doubt Minato was waiting for it, at least.

However, it’s still a surprise to Tiir when Lafra enters his room and tells him:

“Tiir... Did you hear? Guriko’s getting adopted.”

—

▶ Part 9