"Mom-! Help-"
"C'mon you adorable thing!"
I do not feel bad for her. I took a few steps away from Allisa and her grandmother. Her grandmother was squeezing her so hard it looked like her eyes were going to pop out. Her arm was outstretched whilst aiming towards Melinda.
"Mom, I think Allisa can't breathe." Melinda said whilst holding a fist to her mouth.
"She can breathe! Let me see my granddaughter okay?!"
I do not envy you. I thought whilst watching Melissa squeeze Allisa even tighter. Yup, I'm very lucky she didn't take notice of me.
James whispered an 'oh thank god' under his breath. Was he-Oh no.
Melissa snapped her head towards me, her arms still holding Allisa. "Who's this?" Did I just jinx it!
I felt someone grab my hand, and Melinda spoke. "This is Yukina, remember I told you about her?"
"Yukina.. She's very pretty."
"..."
She really had to point out my appearance. Frankly, it's rather embarrassing being complimented on my appearance. My face was starting to warm up.
"I know right? We don't even need to put-"
"Yukina, how old are you?"
"Fourteen…?" I responded with a tilt of my head. I couldn't continue when the door opened again.
"Ah~ Good morning." A calm voice of an old man froze us all. From what I assume, this is Derek. Like Melissa, he was an older individual.
He had a small stubbly beard, sunken and wrinkled eyes. His piercing brown eyes swept across us; unlike his eyes his hair was a pure white.
His hands were tight behind his back.
"Hm? Oh he's here?" Derek said whilst squinting at James. This caused James to stand up straight.
And they don't have a good relationship… I should've realized that- Wah!
"C'mere Yukina!"
"Wh-!" I felt all my insides turn into jello as soon as Melissa latched onto me. "What- Help-!"
Why is she so strong?! And-! My bones creaked under the pressure of this woman's strength.
"I think we can find the most suitable partner for this girl!" Melissa exclaimed whilst her grip loosened. She had the biggest damn granny smile on her face. "Honey! Talk to my sis-!"
"I'm not interested!" I yelled whilst attempting to wriggle my arms out. "I don't need a partne-"
"Aww, even cuter~ Mel, where did you find a daughter like this?"
"G-Get- Get off me!"
"Ask James, he was on a mission and brought her back."
".."
I get it, I look… above average to people but ugh! I could feel my face turn into a tomato.
"James- Ah!"
Somehow I managed to wriggle one arm out and started to push on her face. I know, it's rude. But, c'mon!!
"Dear, who's this?"
"Oh! This is Little Allisa, you know our granddaughter!" Melissa stood right next to Allisa and held her arms out like she was presenting a prize. "Isn't she a cutie? She looks like Mel when she was a child!"
"She does…" Derek mumbled before turning his head towards me. "And young woman is?"
"Yukina, we adopted her." Melinda explained whilst standing in front of me. "I know we… took her in without-"
"Hm…"
"Dear, I think if you contact the head we can-"
No! Fuck no! I already knew what was going to come outside of her mouth. "I'm not interested in having a hus- A partner!"
Despite my protests Melissa would not listen! Half way through I just held my head and tried to ignore it. She saw this, laughed and was amused— Hell she ordered Derek to contact the head.
Eventually she wrapped her arms around a terrified Allisa.
"James, we'll talk later." I overheard Derek proclaim, then a hefty slap caused James's shoulder to go forward.
"A-Alright…"
*******
Geez… Melinda is really like her… I purposely distanced myself from Melissa and Derek. The latter's energy was so high for a fifty-eight year old woman. Whilst her husband seemed like the calm type. Yes, that's right. She's fifty-eight with the energy of a twenty year old! Are all catkins like this?
They stayed close to each other when they let us in their manor. They remind me of those two… I eyed the back of James and Melinda.
"Hm? What's wrong?" I asked Alissa who was holding onto my arm; did Melissa really terrify her that much…?
"She's scary…" Allisa mumbled, her body shrunk even further when Melissa twirled her head around.
At least she isn't trying to get you in a relationship immediately. I thought to myself before going silent. I could feel her body vibrate against my arm.
Who would've thought Melinda had a catkin mom? Is interracial marriage common?
I remember Shen telling me that the Gabri household was very welcoming of different races, guess that is enough proof…
Setting those thoughts away, this manor was much cleaner inside. There were at least three times more maids and; six welcomed us, but I could hear footsteps from elsewhere.
The walls were a golden brown, lights hung at the sides of the front door; above I could see chandeliers. Huh.
As we made it half way across this hallway, there was one door ahead of us; to our left was another door to a kitchen and across that was a painting.
At first glance it looked too good to be a painting; the details were surreal to look at. Though in all fairness, I don't doubt a camera being developed in this world by now.
Derek sat in the center, his arms were folded behind the heads of Melissa and Melinda. A huge smile was on his face, he was much younger than he was now.
There were speckles of grey hair, only forehead wrinkles. It was noticeable compared to his dark brown hair.
Whilst Melissa had golden blonde hair. Her skin was smooth, devoid of wrinkles; her lips were devoid of unhappiness, merely keeping a small smile.
Alas, Melinda had a gigantic grin. The cheek that rubbed against her fathers was compressed and that eye closed. She really is the older version of Allisa.
One shocker was the difference in clothing in the paintings to now; Melinda in the painting had a light yellow cardigan and a skirt on; Melissa had a blue blouse and black pants on. Whilst Derek had a black sleeveless shirt on, they showcased a mass amount of muscles.
On the bottom right landed a signature of two individuals.
Hold on, is that English? Was the person who drew this a reincarnator?!
Fei Lirong, Lucian Lirong.
… Just right of their signatures were two chibis of two foxkins; one with one brown eye, and a black eye. The other had two ocean blue eyes.
"Yukina! Get your butt ov- WAH!"
"Watch your mouth! Lady Yukina, we're all waiting for you!"
"G-Got it…"
Zephy finally shoved Steph's head down; there was a deep frown on the former's face. They really are wild…
Zephy held the door open to the room in front of us. Inside was another hallway, it really felt spacious.
"Yukina…"
"Hm?"
"Can you keep her away?" Allisa asked whilst clutching onto my arm tighter. "She's- she's scary."
I looked down at her, tilting my head. "Yes, don't worry, okay?"
"Thank you…"
Honestly thought this girl would enjoy the attention. No, maybe too much of it was terrifying.
"We're supposed to meet them… and we already ate." I muttered as I kept my eyes straight. "What are-"
"Mom said we're going to have a family meeting…" Allisa interrupted me. "Grandma and grandpa wants to meet me and you."
"I can see that…"
"I'm scared…"
"What about?"
"The way dad's acting…" Allisa pointed at James. I could smell the fear and anxiety radiating off his body. "He's never really scared…"
Oh he's plenty scared usually…Bet you didn't see him when he heard a squirrel on that one mission! Of course, I wouldn't tell her that. James would probably kill me if I did.
"Just in this room, come along." Melissa said to all of us with a smile. "Zephy, Steph and Vershun, you can come inside."
"Eh-? Are you-"
"Miss?"
"We can't, we're hir-"
"Come on you three." Derek turned his head towards them with a bigger smile than Melissa. "You'll be taking care of my daughter and her family. Join us."
"A-alright…"
"Yes sir."
"... Yes my lord."
After they stepped in, Derek ushered the rest of us. Another usual sight for a home welcomed us.
Couches, more paintings… the works.
A few doors, my brain drew a blank, not knowing where they went. But besides that, we all sat down on the couches that were set around a gigantic table.
Various tea cups were set around the table; each had a steaming liquid inside— particularly a green tea that tickled my nostrils.
"So, how did you all get back here?" Melissa was the first to speak after some time. Her voice was full of curiosity, hell, she even ignored the freshly made tea. "When you came to see us Mel, you seemed rather exhausted."
"We traveled here…" Melinda stated as she separated her lips from her cup. They quivered for a moment, then she continued. "We had to, like I said. Untergrant was destroyed, we lost our home there; it took us nearly a year to get here."
"Why didn't you stay in the towns on your way here?" Derek brought up as he sat back. "Mel, I know you didn't like being here due to your duties."
Melinda let out a sigh and set her cup down on the table with a clink. "Dad, let's talk about that later. You wanted to meet your grandkids, right?"
"..."
She's got a point- No wait. She's throwing us under the bus!
Even Derek agreed and let his head fall. His body stiffened before he continued. "So… uhm… Allisa, honey, how old are you?"
"Mm… Fourt- fourteen…"
"Do you know how to read and write?"
"Mhm…"
"Mel mel? Why is this cutie so scared?"
Since Untergrant. Despite how good of a parent Melinda has been, same with James… Allisa's been like this with new people since Untergrant.
Right now she's holding onto James's arm. She was avoiding eye contact with her grandma and grandpa.
"She… she went through a lot…"
"..."
Awkward silence stayed in the air for a minute. What we went through wasn't said, Melissa and Derek just nodded and turned their attention elsewhere.
Schooling? Allisa managed to pass her questions, only having issues with division— Seems like mathematics here doesn't go that high, eh?
Geometry, trigonometry, etc, they weren't a thing here. Just simple vocabulary, and mathematics were good enough for the average folk and somehow nobles.
Allisa's fear seemed to calm down when they talked to her… Her hands and voice were less shaky, and she clung to James less.
Heck… even a smile started to form as she spoke about herself. It was warming to see, and Allisa got ecstatic when she heard she didn't need to go to school. That was like any child. Trust me, I agree. I had to go to school all my life back on earth!
"Hm…"
"Little Allisa, what do you want to be in the future?" Melissa asked. She leaned forward like she was really curious.
"I want to be an adventurer… like dad…"
"..."
"Allisa, honey…"
"James what the heck did you put into her mind?!"