Chapter 130: Shingetsu's "Smile" (Bonus Chapter)
Kobeni Higashiyama was currently still attending her original school. Chiya planned to handle the withdrawal and transfer procedures once the international transfer was complete and a new destination was decided.
As dinner time approached, Shingetsu, Reze, and the other Hybrids all gathered at Chiya's place. Fortunately, his living room was spacious enough to accommodate everyone.
Suddenly, Denji poked her head out from the bedroom doorway and quietly beckoned Chiya over. Chiya caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and walked over, wondering what she wanted.
As soon as Chiya entered, Denji closed the door and whispered, "That Shingetsu person... does she have some kind of problem with me and Kobeni-sister?"
"Really? I think it's fine. She's just like that—taciturn and aloof. But the main issue is the language barrier," Chiya explained. "She only speaks Russian, while you only speak Japanese. That makes it impossible for you to communicate with her."
"Oh! So that's it! I just assumed she could speak Japanese," Denji said, realization dawning on her.
She had seen Sister Reze and the other older guys speaking Japanese, so she subconsciously assumed Shingetsu could too. She had overlooked the fact that, aside from Shingetsu, the others were all trained secret agents.
"No wonder she ignored us when Kobeni-sister and I tried talking to her. I thought she had a grudge against us," Denji remarked.
"I don't think that's it... probably..." Chiya didn't have a lot of confidence saying Shingetsu had zero issues with them. After all, Shingetsu's jealousy was legendary. "Tell you what, I'll find a way for you all to communicate normally soon."
"How?" Denji asked.
"Simple—make sure you all speak the same language."
However, Chiya didn't plan on making Shingetsu learn Japanese or forcing Denji and Kobeni to learn Russian; that would make it feel like he was playing favorites. To avoid that headache, he planned to have Shingetsu, Denji, and Kobeni all learn a new language together—either Chinese or English. Personally, he leaned toward Chinese.
This would also serve as preparation for settling in a new country, ensuring Denji and Kobeni wouldn't be unable to communicate with locals. As for Pochita, he probably didn't need it; devils seemed to have an innate talent for human languages.
"Once I've decided on our next destination, we'll see whether you'll learn Chinese, English, or something else," Chiya explained briefly. Regardless of the choice, he had plenty of "language teachers" on hand—Reze and the other agents certainly knew major languages like Chinese and English.
"Oh, okay." Denji thought for a moment. "I think I'm more interested in Chinese. I've learned a lot of Kanji with Kobeni-sister. I wonder if Chinese is hard?"
"In terms of difficulty... if you're interested, it's fine. You can always learn if you're diligent." Chiya didn't want to break the cruel reality to Denji: Chinese was incredibly difficult, certainly much harder than English.
"Okay! I'm going back to playing games with Pochita then—AH! Pochita! You took two of my lives while I was gone!"
When Chiya returned to the living room, Shingetsu, sitting on the sofa, asked curiously, "What did your 'sister' say to you just now?"
"We were talking about you." Chiya didn't bother hiding it from her.
Shingetsu couldn't help but press further. "About me? What about me?"
"The gist of it was that you're too aloof. She thought you had a grudge against them," Chiya said.
"..."
Shingetsu fell silent. While she did have some slight "opinions" regarding Denji and Kobeni, Chiya's influence on her had grown enough that she wouldn't go out of her way to snub people over such minor things. The truth was simply that she didn't understand a word they said, and she didn't want to waste her breath on meaningless explanations that the other party wouldn't understand anyway.
"It's fine now, though. I've explained it to her," Chiya continued. "That being said, even if you don't talk back, just giving them a smile would help a lot. But I've almost never seen you smile—not even a little bit."
"Smile...?"
Shingetsu's eyes shifted slightly. "I don't think I know how..."
She truly didn't know how to smile, and she felt it didn't suit her at all.
"You don't?"
Chiya immediately modeled a smile for Shingetsu and told her to watch him. "This is a smile. Just try to imitate it and you'll get it."
"Fine, I'll try."
Though reluctant, Shingetsu didn't want Denji and Kobeni to misunderstand her further. She attempted to force a "smile" based on the expression on Chiya's face.
Whether it was because it was too forced or simply didn't suit her features, the resulting expression was far from friendly—it was actually quite terrifying. It was hard to describe, but if one had to put it into words, it looked like a gloomy, sinister smirk.
"...Never mind. It seems asking you to smile is a bit too much."
Chiya instantly abandoned the idea of teaching Shingetsu to smile. If she flashed a "smile" like that in front of Denji and Kobeni, it would only deepen the misunderstanding.
Shingetsu immediately reverted to her original expression. Her usual expressionless, icy look was much more pleasant than that "smile" had been.
"If Miss Shingetsu wants to get along with Little Kobeni and Denji-chan, I can help you out~"
Reze suddenly leaned in. She had overheard the conversation and understood the situation immediately.
"No need," Shingetsu declined in a cold tone. Her pride wouldn't allow her to seek help from Reze.
"Eh? And here I was being so kind as to offer help," Reze said, shrugging helplessly.
"I appreciate the sentiment, but that's as far as it goes," Shingetsu said flatly.
"Alternatively, you could try using some simple English to communicate with Denji and the others. Kobeni should at least be able to understand that," Chiya suggested.
Kobeni was a top student, after all. While her spoken English might not be great, she should have no problem understanding basic phrases. However, Chiya had no idea that Shingetsu had been abducted by the mafia at a young age and had spent her entire childhood fighting for survival. She had never had the chance to go to school and was, for all intents and purposes, completely illiterate.
Forget English—even in her native Russian, she could only speak and was unable to recognize most written words.
"I don't know English either. I don't know anything besides Russian."
There wasn't a hint of embarrassment on Shingetsu's face; her tone sounded perfectly matter-of-fact.
AN-
I think that's enough for today.
I've uploaded a new fanfic on my account.Its called Percy Jackson:The Names of Leo Valdez.Would be really grateful if you can give it a shot.Only 3 chapters but I'll upload more today. 🥲
Enjoyyyyyy!