#batosayo

What else was he supposed to say? He couldn’t imagine there was anything wrong with what he had said. Wasn’t it natural to respond to his grandfather as he had?

But then, perhaps that was simply natural for him now? Kinzo had seemed in a bad mood from the moment he walked through the dining room door, and his temper was far fouler than Battler recalled from his youth. He had chewed up and spit out Battler’s dad, aunts, and uncle each in turn, and made the full-grown adults flinch and dodge his gaze like frightened, chastened school children. And yes, while the patriarch was relatively less cutting with his grandchildren, he was still gruff as he berated Jessica for her grades and speech pattern and frowned darkly as George confirmed his successes in school- Only to have Eva jump in to sing her son’s praises. Kinzo said nothing, but it was clear that he didn’t like the implication that his grandson required his mother’s support to make a simply good impression.

After all of that, Battler naturally expected some manner of rebuke. The order of events was obvious enough- The head was running down the table, turning a critical eye on each family member in turn, and the red-haired branch member grandson came right behind George.

And yet, his grandfather threw him for a loop twice over. First, he left Battler pleasantly surprised, even quietly relieved as he caught his eye and said, “So, you finally decided to come back” with an observing sort of ease. Perhaps Battler should have expected it, the storm beneath the calm, but the contrast to the expression Kinzo had had moments before misled the young man, and he laughed and grinned in answer.

“Yeah, it’s been strange, seeing everything that’s changed since I was last here. But I’m glad I got to come see everyone again. Despite everything, You’re really the same family I remember.”

He had said it all so lightly, carefree, but there was a warmth behind the words- For the fun aunts and uncle he had reunited with, and the old cousin playmates he had finally reunited with. And he had meant the words with good will, so, even if the one he spoke to was his severe grandfather, he hadn’t anticipated anything worse than a disapproving huff, or perhaps a shift in subject to his grades.

What he had not expected was for Kinzo to keep staring at him, as if convinced Battler was certainly not done speaking… And just when Battler felt a small twinge of unbalance, confused by the silence that dragged on, his grandfather erupted with that question.

-was, that all he had to say?

…it was, at least as far as he was concerned. Because, what else was there to say? Battler could never imagine Kinzo wanted him to openly shower him in assurances that he had missed his grandfather, or relief that he looked healthy, so what?

“W-well…” He floundered, hoping for some hint of what he was expected to say, but instead Battler’s confusion only seemed to enrage Kinzo further, and he rose to his feet.

“You come to pay respect to this family for the first time in half a decade, and that’s all you have to say to me?!”

“F… Father, I am sure that Battler-” the stumbling try at intervention, coming from Krauss, was quickly smacked down near-literally.

“Stay out of this!”

Kinzo didn’t bother to look directly enough to land a proper blow on his son, but the hand that hit Krauss’s chest sent him back into his chair with a grunt that made them all jolt, their faces all covered with as much confusion as dread.

Or, at least Battler so thought, but his mind was whirling too much to really mind George’s efforts to hiss at him.

“Battler-kun, you shouldn’t-”

“W-what else is there to say?” It was his honest thought, but his cousin and others flinched under the question, and Battler could see the rage boiling again in the old man’s blue eyes, prompting him to rush on with a blind, skeptical “If you’re asking if I missed all of you, then-”

“Do you think I care about that, or your false assurances?!” The scream wasn’t loud, but the gravel beneath stayed the protest in Battler’s throat long enough for Kinzo to go on, pointing a sharp finger towards him. “Do you think I want to hear something as sentimental as that from a grandson like you, who turned his back on this family without even a shred of shame?!”

Battler, went stiff.

That was the only word for it. Even if he had already been tense from confusion and helpless alarm, in that moment, something visibly and internally hardened within him.

Oh…

That was the only way to characterize that sudden shift of perspective, the harsh awareness that this lecture wasn’t for coming back in the wrong way, but for leaving and staying away in the first place.

And now, truly, Battler had nothing to say.

And even if he did, he couldn’t. Even with Kinzo yelling right at him, in all of his wrath and glory, Battler was painfully aware of the other eyes in the room all trained on him… Ange’s eyes.

He couldn’t explain himself, or defend himself, as long as she was there to hear- No matter how angry it made him.

But, what he heard, above the ringing in his ears-

“-belittling us all, not simply failing to pay your respects, but abandoning your very name! Clearly you have no sense of honor or respect for the Ushiromiya family if you can do that without hesitating, and then come back so shamelessly!”

“That’s not it,” Battler said, trying to keep calm, not blow on the flames, but there was no denying the tunnel vision to his own growing anger, as he saw but refused to see his family trying to stall him with look and gesture without words. “I have nothing against the family, but what else was I supposed to do? Act like nothing had changed?!”

“You think that weak defense excuses you?!” Kinzo slammed his fist down on the table, knocking over glasses and shaking plates as he grit his teeth towards his grandson. “You should have done nothing- A son has no right to judge his parent in the first place! And even if you did, it does not matter! If the best you could think of, weak and unimaginative as you are, was abandoning your name and shaming your whole family to punish your father, then you are as foolish and selfish as he is!!”

-it wasn’t that anything shattered.

No, everything went very still…

Though not literally. Around him people were cringing, Rudolf was bending his head like he was in pain, the smaller girls were quietly cowering – Ange crying – and family members from all ends of the table were trying and failing to gather the courage to cut in, and Kinzo- Kinzo hadn’t stopped. But his remarks on honor, and pride, and insult were as Greek to Battler. Even when the word disown flowed through the air, and Rudolf bolted from his seat with a cry of “F-Father, it is not-” Battler minded none of it.

He rose from his chair too, but only to turn his back… And make for the door.

“B-Battler-” Jessica tried and failed to catch his sleeve, but her efforts drew all eyes to the retreating back.

“-where are you going? You think you can just walk away from me?!” Kinzo screamed, but Battler didn’t even look back- Didn’t look at any of them.

He just threw open the door and walked away.

“-nii-chan… Onii-chan!!”

“Ange-chan!”

It was unbelievable. More than a dozen adults surrounding her, and still the little, sobbing girl managed to bolt out of her chair, right by the rising grown-ups, and get out of the door before any of them could grab her.

Kyrie moved as if to run after her, but a yell from Kinzo cracked over her back. “Enough!! No one else is leaving this room without my permission! I will not have anyone else going to him after that!”

“B-but-” Kyrie stumbled, clearly straining to not simply snap back at that irrational demand.

They were all drawn as tight as a bowstring, stuck staring at each other, what had just happened and where the two red-haired branch children had gone screaming through their minds.

-she would never be exactly certain where she had pulled the courage from, but-

“If… If you please, master-” Shannon couldn’t even look at him as she dared. She just stared at her own feet, caught in a deep bow as she dared speak to the head directly, before the whole family, in such a situation. “If I could have your permission to leave, I would go make certain that Ange-sama is safe. It started to rain just before dinner, and if she went outside…”

“S-Shannon-” It was Madam, and yet for once Shannon could not swear if she was rebuking her, or simply taken aback.

And for once Shannon could really did not care what the answer might be.

“…do as you like.”

Despite her own nerve, Shannon jolted up at the words, locking eyes for one, shocked moment, with a Kinzo who stared, still raging, still terrifying, yet- Introspective, rather than lashing out.

-she didn’t waste a breath to consider it. She just turned and ran out of the door.

“-Ange-sama!! …Ange-sama!!”

“What was he thinking, calling Battler out like that in front of everyone?!”

Shannon didn’t respond, didn’t even look up at the witch’s outcry.

It was not the first Beatrice had made, by any means. She had been yelling and carrying on since the fight between the head and the long missing grandson broke out, and had not ceased for a moment as Shannon sought release from the dining room, collected an umbrella, and ran out into the mist calling Ange’s name.

There was simply no time to answer. She had to save her breath for running- For focusing on finding that little girl.

But she could still hear her clearly.

“And what was Battler thinking actually yelling back?! That idiot- He should have known it wouldn’t end well! And… And, even if, you can’t let Kinzo walk all over you if you want to get anywhere with him… It’s not like, he was wrong…”  

The servant girl stalled a step on the garden path, caught by the strained pain that had stifled the witch’s voice.

…no-

Shannon shook her head, lowered her hand from where it had been pressed to her chest, and rushed forward.

She had no time for that. She had a duty to fulfill, and every moment wasted increased the distance between her and her goal.

She could leave what happened back in the dining room, and the mixed feelings that prompted, all to the witch.

“Ange-sama!! Ange-sama!! …Ange-sama!!”

“—!!”

…it, might have been her imagination, or the wind or the rain playing games with her. But it was enough like a hiccup or a gasp that she caught herself, pivoting around on the spot to try and spot the source.

In the end, it was no surprise she had not spotted her… the girl was practically swallowed by the bushes around her, all taller than her tiny frame.

“Ange-sama…” Shannon could have literally sighed her relief, but there was no time for it before the tiny Ushiromiya dropped her hands from her eyes and rushed at her, fingers clutching at the servant’s skirt.

“Please! Battler-nii-chan… Help me find him!” The rain was falling over her, weighing down her hair and sticking to her skin, but still it was clear that most of what ran down her cheeks were tears. “Please!”

“-please, calm down, Ange-sama,” Shannon tried, tentatively trying to touch the girl’s shoulder, but the vigorous shaking of her head just threw it right back off.

“No, you don’t know! He ran outside, but he isn’t in that house- I checked! I can’t find him!”

…not in the guest house?

That, stalled her focus effectively enough, and Shannon’s gaze turned uncertainly up on the path that led to the visitor’s abode…

Only to drop again at a follow-up tug at her skirt.

“Please… Will you help me find him?!”

Those big, teary eyes begged her, and what flimsy hesitance Shannon could even manage to cobble together in her heart fell instantly to pieces.

Was it going against what she said to the head? Was it potentially a fool’s errand? Was it likely to get her into trouble?

“Who cares about all of that?!” Beatrice glowered determinedly down at her, and though Shannon did not look up to observe her there, floating in the rain, she could still see her there, with her heart’s eye, and it was as though they had locked gazes. “Are you going to turn your back and ignore this girl’s wish? Turn your back on him?! I will not stand for it!”

No… That simply would not do.

“-of course, Ange-sama.” The assurance calmed the girl enough that she actually looked at Shannon for the first time, and the clear shift in focus encouraged the maid enough to properly smile. “I know this island well- I’ll help you find all of the likely places he would be hiding, alright?”

“Y-yes…”

And with that, the servant offered her hand, and the two walked off together, down a new path.

The walk was not long in the end, as Shannon knew better than to head towards the guest house now, and in two of the other directions lay nothing but the main house again, and the path back to the empty pier. Both were unlikely, and all that left was the treed area about the storehouse, the forest off to the other side of the house, and the rose garden itself.

The chapel floated through Shannon’s mind as they walked, both too focused on searching to bother with conversation, but that place was locked. That could not be… Unless Battler didn’t know that, and he turned back after finding himself bolted out…

The sudden squeeze of Ange’s hand was all the hint Shannon got before she let go and bolted, dashing down the path they had been on, towards-

“Onii-chan!”

Indeed, even stalled a few yards away, Shannon could see him- Rising from the stone table beneath the gazebo just fast enough to catch the little girl who launched herself into his arms.

He, came… Here…

It had to mean nothing. It had to be a coincidence- A result born from the cover the gazebo provided. Not, the history that place signified… For them…

“Was he, drawn here for some reason?”

Shannon didn’t know how to answer the witch… And she left Beatrice there alone, standing in the rain, as she moved closer to the two siblings-

“Onii-chan! Onii-chan!”

“Hey, hey-” There was nothing of that dinner’s answer in Battler’s voice as he scooped the girl up in his arms and supported her in as she clung close… But there was a fond confusion as she kept sobbing. “It’s okay, it’s okay… Was it that scary, hearing Granddad and I yell? Sorry, Ange-chan, I didn’t mean to scare you-”

“It’s not that!” The girl jerked back, making Battler stumble to keep his balance, but she just kept on, staring up at him with desperate, watery eyes. “I thought you disappeared! You were fighting, and then you left- That’s what Mom always said happened with Dad! –will that happen now?! Are you going to leave again?!”

Shannon… Heard nothing. Not the rain. Not the wind. Not the witch.

Everything, the very world itself, had gone completely mute and still to make room for the presence of that little girl and her cries… And Battler’s reply.

She couldn’t even hear her own heartbeat, or the way her breath caught as she stared… Painfully grateful and resentful that the siblings were angled just right for her to see, Battler’s expression, as it was struck with shock, and slowly bleed into something soft, and sad, and… and…

“What are you saying?” He repositioned the girl higher in his grip, so he could grin at her from eye-level. “Of course I’m not going to leave.”

Shannon’s breath hitched in her throat, caught around a word as her eyes, went warm. One word-

“Really?” Ange rubbed at her own face before blinking back at her brother. “You mean it? You just got back, and-”

“Yeah, I left because I was mad then, too.” Battler bend down to set Ange back on her own feet, but stayed kneeling long enough to hold her shoulders as he gently corrected her. “But that was way different, Ange-chan. Much bigger than a simple fight… We’re mad, but families- Sometimes they just fight.”

That wasn’t it. Shannon knew- It was true that the Ushiromiya could have some cold, ugly fights, and then move forward like nothing had ever happened.

But, this was Kinzo… And Shannon wasn’t aware she was gripping her umbrella handle so hard until her knuckles were outright screaming- And even then she did nothing about it.

How… How could Battler speak so certainly of not leaving, when… after…

“-Shannon-chan?”

“-eh?” She jolted, dizzy with the sudden outward focus, and the hyperawareness of Battler and Ange both looking over at her. “Ah, er…”

“What are you doing there?”

“She helped me find you.”

“Did she? I see… Thanks, Shannon-chan!”

“I-It was nothing, I assure you.” The simple, rapid fire exchange made the color rise in the girl’s cheeks, even as she could only internally marvel at how light both brother and sister’s manner grew, the moment they noticed her there. All tears and brotherly warmth replaced with calm and friendly curiosity. “I was afraid Ange-sama would catch cold, running out in the rain.”

“Ah… And it looks like you still managed to go swimming, huh?” Battler was clearly caught in the rain himself, but where he was a little soggy, Ange was drenched, and her little body had made a clear wet spot on Battler’s shirt and vest where he had hugged her.

That didn’t stop him from picking her right back up again, though, or playfully tousling hair too heavy to move right. “We should get you to the guest house so you can change- Shannon-chan?”

“Y-yes?” It was too much in its way, how suddenly Battler would focus on her like that, a question in his eyes.

“I know you need to go back, but- Would you and that umbrella of yours stick with us at least as far as the guest house?”

It was a natural enough request, and yet Shannon stumbled for the right words to reply- And the off-kilter feeling in her only teetered further when she answered, and the hesitance fled Battler’s eyes.

“…of course.”

“Gouda-san’s meal was indeed delicious,” George agreed, relaxing into one of the parlor chairs with a far milder echo of his younger cousin’s claim. “He must have gone to great effort to prepare it for us.”

“Heh, it probably wasn’t that hard,” Jessica dismissed, her grin and following praise softening a claim that might well have come off as flippant otherwise. “He pulls off feats like that all of the time- He just turned it up a notch for the sake of the conference.”

“Seriously?” Battler asked in half-amazement, half-disinterest, the vague tone beneath the question prompting no real answer. And Jessica must have understood that, for she allowed the conversation to trail off, leaving a comfortable silence to sprout up between the three that was filled only by the sound effects of some cartoon show and the laughter of the youngest two cousins.

In a sense, it was a quiet moment all three needed. They were sincerely complimenting the skill of the chef, but the topic was more a place of refuge for them, rather than a real topic of interest. It was just far easier to focus on that, than what was said over lunch.

It wasn’t like anything bad really happened. No one had been fighting- The worse that had been shared were a few thinly veiled snipes between the adults, and even those had been spare and quickly overwhelmed by the majority and their well-meaning intent to have a happy reunion. The siblings had shared news with one another, the in-laws had traded their opinions of the meal served, everyone had cooed over how cute Maria and Ange were getting, Battler had been ribbed left and right about his height and grades and if he had any special someone yet… Really, if anyone outside the group had been listening in, they would have observed nothing more than the conversations typical of any normal family get-together!

But, there had been one outsider to the group- A doctor, who had been introduced to Battler as a ‘Dr. Nanjo’.

And the reason he was there…

“Will we get to see you here on the island the whole weekend, Dr. Nanjo?”

“I… believe so, Ushiromiya-san.”

“Dr. Nanjo has been good enough to stay with us often, Eva-san. Especially this last month or so- Father says he greatly enjoys his company.”

The smile faded from Battler’s face as he considered to that echo, and he slowly opened his eyes, just to stare up at the ceiling.

“…hey, Jessica.” He dropped his voice for the sake of the girls, watching television on the other side of the parlor, but there was no denying that the somber edge that marked his mumblings due to his quiet tones. “The old man- He’s not doing well, is he?”

Jessica took a quick checking glance towards the kids, and after seeing neither had noticed the question, she answered- Deflating somewhat as she leaned her back against the arm of the sofa. “No, I don’t think so… No one’s willing to ever admit anything, but he’s been holing himself up in that study of his more and more often this year. I see him maybe once every seven days, if that, and that doctor friend of his really has been around a lot. He’s nice, don’t get me wrong, but… It feels like he’s haunting the place, just waiting- Like some grim reaper or something.”

“…could Grandfather be avoiding us, to hide his symptoms? Or that he is too sick to handle even a meal with us without tiring?”

Jessica shrugged at George’s hesitant question, not even turning to face them. “Who knows… He’s as lively and stern as ever when I see him. It could just be Grandfather being Grandfather.”

Maybe so, but there was no denying their parents feared the worst. They might have played at ease during lunch, in front of them, but all three cousins knew exactly why they had shooed the kids off as soon as dessert was cleared, shutting themselves away in the dining room.

There was only one topic those adults would likely work so hard to keep from their ears.

“…aaah, come on!” Battler threw himself to his feet with an impatient spring, bringing all eyes in the room towards him and his determined frown. “What are we lazing around here for?! We’ve got a whole island here, don’t we? Why don’t we go exploring or something?!”

“Explore?” Ange echoed, words lilting on a clear interest, only for Maria to override her with a dragging tease of a warning.

“Uuu- Not the forest, we can’t go in there. That’s the witch’s wood.”

“-eh?” Battler peered curiously down at the girl, squatting before the television. The witch’s- Where had she picked that up? The- phrase sounded pretty familiar when he thought about it, but that wonder was all but buried beneath an uneasy pang that hit him, seeing the delighted grin Maria had said that with.

What was she…

“-I was thinking we could go to beach.” Battler turned about at Jessica’s interjection, successfully distracted by the hesitance in his cousin’s voice, if not the suggestion. She snuck a look towards the door as she spoke, as if expecting someone to appear. “But we have to wait here first. After we got kicked out of the dining room, I asked Kumasawa-san to tell her to come meet us here.”

“-her who?”

But neither of them answered him. When he looked to George, he found the older man looking to the window, smiling to himself in an odd, relieved manner, and before Battler could ask or turn the question on Jessica again, there was a knock at the door.

“Excuse me…”

“Ah,” Jessica cried, bouncing away from the sofa edge to make for the door as George sharply rose, and Battler and the kids could only look on, perplexed. “It’s fine, come on in!”

…it was a girl.

A pretty, dark-haired little servant girl opened the door, eyes shyly caught on the carpet as she shuffled in and made a little bow. “I hope I’m not disturbing you…”

“Ah, there you are! I was afraid they kept you caught in the kitchen again.” Jessica rushed over and moved fully behind the girl, pressing her encouragingly forward into the room. The girl looked less than thrilled about it beneath her demures, but Battler could barely register that, caught as he was in an unblinking daze. He stared, mind straining under roaring thoughts that just would not connect, trying to figure out why he recognized-

“We were all waiting for you!”

“I- I hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”

“Not at all, not at all. You know everybody, of course– Though, you haven’t seen Battler in a while, huh?” The blush that seemed permanently stained on the girl’s cheeks spread a little farther as Jessica not only drew their joint attention to the servant, but called out Battler in particular to interact with her. “Hey, you remember Shannon, don’t you Battler?”

And finally it clicked.

“-Shannon-chan!!” he cried, the surprised relief of revelation in his smile. “I’ll be, is that really you?! No way… Didn’t you turn out pretty?!”

“T-that’s kind of you to say, Battler-sama. It’s good to see you again.”

Battler was more than ready to dismiss the stumbling niceties, curiosity about this unexpected familiar face leaving him anxious to sweep them away in favor of more familiar chatter- But Shannon’s shy smile bypassed him before he could even manage it, focusing on the other man in the room with a warm, steadier smile. “And you, George-sama…”

“Likewise, of course,” George offered the girl a soft grin, as if to reassure her, and indeed Shannon seemed to calm under his gaze, as if she had found some anchor against her own nerves within his smile.

It was curious thing that made Battler pause, intrigued but still thrown off by the exchange, and in that stutter something tugged on his pant leg.

He looked down to find Ange there, frowning up at him. “You know?”

“-ah, of course I know her!” Battler scooped the girl up in his arms, bringing her on eye-level with everyone else. “This is Shannon-chan, she was working here the last time I visited, too- I never would have guessed you’d still be here!”

“Battler!” Jessica smacked at his arms with a sharp glare, making him jump and glower back at her.

What?! He’d meant he was impressed! Not many people would stick with a single job that long, would they? Especially if they started that young!

Before he could begin to doubt his own wording, though, Shannon dipped her head, a faint smile at her lips. “Yes, the family has been good enough to keep me in their service for a long time.”

“Good for us, you mean,” Jessica emphasized, her expression brightening as she turned her focus on her. “I for one am relieved you’re still here, Shannon.”

“Don’t go saying it like that, Jessica-chan… We’re all glad to have Shannon-chan here with us.”

The shy flush that had popped up on the girl’s face when Jessica spoke went deep red at George’s soft input, and while Shannon looked pleased with the compliments, Battler couldn’t shake the feeling that he had goofed up somewhere. It knocked him off balance, and he rushed into a question with an awkwardly smiling, stumbling haste. “We were just talking about going to the beach, you want to join us?”

“Ah… Thank you, but my break isn’t very long- I have to go clean the second floor in half an hour.”

“Ah, that so…”

Too bad, but before he could really come back from the necessary refusal, Jessica jumped in with a quick, “That’s why I brought this!” She held out a deck of cards she must have had in her coat pocket, grinning widely. “I knew you wouldn’t have a long time, but you can stick around long enough to play a game with us, right? I promised Maria-chan I’d show her how to play Daihinmin.”

“Uu- Needy! Needy!” Maria cried as she finally got up from before the television, overhearing the name of the game.

“W-well,” Shannon stumbled, grinning down at Maria as she popped up at her side. “I’m afraid I’ve never played that, myself.”

“Don’t worry, it’s fairly simple,” George assured, motioning invitingly to the end table with an easy confidence Battler wasn’t used to seeing on him. “I could teach you in a few minutes, and we would still have enough time for a game.”

“-then I’d be happy to join, George-sama,” Shannon answered, looking simply delighted with the idea as she followed his lead to the table.

Battler moved to follow them, but Jessica caught his arm.

“Not yet- We can tell Maria how to play over by the television.” “Huh? But why-” Battler cut off short when Jessica tugged again, not away but down to where she could put her hand to his ear and whisper, out of hearing of the curious-eyed Ange, still in his arms.

“Because, they haven’t had a chance to talk to each other yet! We should leave them alone for a bit.”

“Eeh?!” Battler jolted back, but thankfully didn’t burst out loud enough that George or Shannon looked up… from where they were sitting together, leaning close to talk as they smiled at one another. Catching himself, he hissed back, “Are, those two an item?!”

“Heh, sort of,” Jessica crossed her arms, smiling over at the pair with the satisfaction of someone pleased with their work. “They haven’t said so yet, but they’re both obviously into each other, and they’ve stopped outright denying it when I suggest it to them separately. They just need more time and space to feel it out together, you’ll see.”

“No way…” Battler never would have guessed! …and given he was just seconds from making some rather pointed compliments to the girl he remembered with such fuzzy but fond recollection, he felt grateful to Jessica for warning him before he went and embarrassed himself too horribly.

“-what are you talking about?” Ange asked, frowning up at the two like they were trying to hide something from her. –which was technically true, but Jessica just gave off a quick, sharp laugh with a wave.

“Nothing, Ange-chan! –hey, you want to learn to play the game along with Maria-chan?”

“Uu- Play with Maria-chan, Ange!”

“-cards?”

“-yeah,” Battler answered, knocking himself out of his lingering daze enough to set the girl down on her own feet, grinning at her. “Daihinmin’s fun, Ange-chan. You’ll like it!”

His little sister didn’t look quite convinced, but she willingly watched as Jessica started pulling out the cards and explaining the rules… Freeing Battler enough to change peering over his shoulder again… To catch George chuckling at something as he pat Shannon on the head, prompting a new blush from the girl.

George-aniki and Shannon-chan, huh? He chuckled to himself, a quiet, subdued emotion he couldn’t quite place flowing through him as he turned his back on them again, focusing on the girls. Good for them…

“-are we really certain Grandfather is coming?”

“Enough, Jessica. We must be patient.”

“You’re not wrong, though- Granddad’s sure taking his time with this one.”

Shannon watched as Battler leaned in enough to whisper that, earning back a quiet agreement from Jessica.

She could see their profiles as they spoke, but neither turned to look at her. They had both smiled at her when they entered, and looked for excuses at first to look her way and mutely include her in the family proceedings… But it had been twenty minutes since the family sat down to await the arrival of the Head for dinner.

In that time, they had forgotten her.

Shannon stared into that reality with blank eyes- Coming to life with a soft smile only when George or Maria looked to her from across the table and their cousins’ head. George- He had seemed strangely tense when she first met him in the parlor, with his cousins. No one else had seemed to notice, but she had… But he had calmed since, his smiles growing more real during their precious chance to speak alone over the card game. It was the gentle, warm man she knew so well that looked at her from across the table, and she treasured every look. Every glance was like an anchor of light to her, there in that silent, tense room.

A distraction, from her…

She slowly turned her gaze slightly, giving in to the impulse to look at her- At the woman with long, golden hair, and the stylish outfit, who stood just beside Shannon.

Beatrice…

The witch- She had been there, beside her, all afternoon. Every moment Shannon was in the parlor, every second since the family filed into the dining room, Beatrice had been there, too.

She hadn’t said anything- Not once. She never interrupted Shannon’s work or distracted her from the people around her.

She was just… There… Staring…

Not at Shannon- But Battler.

She looked at him like she was drowning, the usual sharp, determined manner of the witch completely snuffed out with a single look at that young man, leaving behind a woman broken, and stifled.

I’m so sorry… Shannon wanted to help her, but it was her fault, and she wasn’t even really willing to do the one thing that would relieve the witch.

‘If, by the time Battler comes back, these sprouts have yet to wither, and you wish for it, I’ll return these sprouts to you.’ …that’s what you said, wasn’t it?

Clearly, the sprouts of love still lived, within Beatrice’s chest… But Shannon had no room for them anymore in her own- She had already planted new seeds there, and they were just beginning to spring up, grow into some far more wonderful than she could have ever hoped for. She couldn’t dig them up, to replant what Beatrice sheltered for her.

And, even if, she were free to take them… Battler had not come back…

Not for her.

He doesn’t remember. She was certain of that. She hadn’t asked, and Battler certainly knew her, that much was true… But he had not said anything- Had only implied his own ignorance.  

‘I never would have guessed you’d still be here!’

Never would have guessed… If you were so certain that I was no longer a servant here, then why didn’t you come back for me?

The answer was simple… He had forgotten. Or, her fears had been right, and he had never meant it as a promise to begin with. She had invented the promise and the trial with her own hands.

She did not know… And really, it did not matter. Not for herself anymore.

But… the witch…

“…he really, came back…”

Shannon clenched her teeth, fighting the urge to reply to the witch no one else could see. But she still thought the question.

-had that been said out of joy… Or sorrow…?

“Pardon me.” All eyes turned to the door to find Genji there, bowing in the entrance way. “He has arrived. I present to you, the master of Rokkenjima, Lord Kinzo Ushiromiya.”

Those who had not already risen in anticipation jumped to their feet as the familiar, imposing figure of the lord filled the doorway.

“F-Father,” Krauss started, thrown suddenly out of his conversation with Rudolf by the patriarch’s appearance. “We’re so glad you could join us-”

“Save your veiled complaints,” Kinzo cut in with a passing impatience, his eyes already busy surveying the rest of the people at the table- The faces of his own family, shocked and fearful and relieved all at once. “So, you all came this year.”

“O-Of course we did, Father,” Eva answered for them all, putting on a smile more brave than true as she stood up. “We have all been looking forward to it- To seeing you.”

“I admit we were a touch anxious,” Rudolf admitted with would-be nonchalance as he tugged at his tie. “-when you didn’t show up for lunch today.”

“Yes, I’m so glad to see you look well,” Rosa agreed, slowly easing into a smile that cracked like a plate slammed to the ground as soon as Kinzo answered her.

“Well? HAhahaha- I am perfectly fine! You think I am so frail that I was avoiding you because of my health?! Fools!!”

“-it is only natural, isn’t it, Kinzo-san, for family to worry for one another?”

The politely hesitant, yet firm counter from the doctor sitting on the far side of the table drew a quiet, considering noise from the master, and he moved without further word for the first seat.

As he sat, his eyes slid up again and, seemingly at random, found Shannon.

The gaze of the master was stern enough in passing, but she was used to that much. It was the way it hung pointedly beyond a moment that made the servant girl look down at her shoes.

He did that sometimes… Had been, off and on, for months. Just, stared at her, like she was out of place somehow. Or, perhaps, that she was in the wrong place?

She didn’t know what to make of it, but it made her nervous.

As such, she blocked out much of the conversation, only staying honed in enough to catch her name, should it be mentioned, or a call for more water.

Instead she listened to Beatrice, still standing beside her. Still staring at Battler.

“…I do not understand him. Why does he remember you, but not his promise? Why did he greet you so warmly, but never come back- Never write? Did you ever matter to him… Or did you not?”

It does not matter, Shannon wanted to say- But she could not. That would be too cruel. It might harden her own heart as she needed to, but it would hurt the witch- Belittle the feelings Shannon had left to her- Feelings she had called too precious to give up, once upon a time.

Yes… What did that say, that she even now considered that pain and love too precious to simply forget, and yet she was not willing to accept them?

“-and that is all you have to say?!”

The sudden yell tossed Shannon back into the reality before her- The family having dinner before her. A dinner that had stalled, because-

Kinzo was standing, face lit with rage as he stared at-

Battler.