The World We Live In

Ch 12: Snack

Soon after Kyo and Mrs. Mouton officially made me the ear fairy, I took Azriel's kindness upon making me an ear fairy wooden plaque on my house. It was embarrassing, but I took pride in it. He only asked for one night and right after I woke up in the morning, I already saw a beautiful wooden plaque hang on my front door.

Now I had the plaque on, I decided to pull and push some stuff on my guest area so it would be a bit cozy for the people who want to share their stories.

A good arrangement ruled here.

I was sweeping the floor when I heard a stiff knocking on the door. No, I never expected to get my first guest on my first day of being an ear fairy.

I opened the door and I saw Kyo standing with his businessman-like posture.

"Good morning," he greeted me.

"Good morning, Kyo..." I returned his greeting. "It's still rather early, don't you think?"

"Oh... I'm sorry!" he apologized immediately. "I thought the ear fairy is open 24 hours..."

I nodded cheerfully. What are the odds of having my leader as my first guest?

"Yes, we are! Please welcome!"

Kyo followed me to the 'fairy room' --one part of the room that I used to be the consolation room. I brought some snacks and tea after I heard that Kyo preferred tea that morning.

"Well, how may I help you?"

Kyo didn't answer me instantly. His eyes were glued to the snacks I offered --some biscuits and crackers.

"... Can I have some of that?" Kyo hesitated.

"Oh, sure," I pushed the plates closer to Kyo. "I served this for you as we talk."

"I... never see one of this before..." Kyo slowly ate the snacks as if he was judging every bit of taste the snacks had.

I tilted my head at his response.

"I guess it's a common snack you can find anywhere, Kyo..." I collaborated. "It's not too expensive but I like them."

Kyo didn't respond. He was busy judging the snacks.

"... Is it not to your liking?" I hesitated.

"I'm never a fan of snacks truthfully..." he claimed while munching. "This tastes great."

I grinned widely.

"Thank you. I'm so happy to say that!" I expressed my gratitude, yet Kyo only nodded. A simple nod with no words.

Oh dear, I hope he isn't feeling awkward because I didn't even want to engage in the conversation he didn't want to talk in.

We spent some minutes together snacking. As I saw that Kyo was enjoying himself with the snack, I pulled out a big stash of my snack.

"Taadaaa! My treasure snack!" I bragged about my snack to him.

Kyo smiled a bit. Oh, I guess he was still a human who could smile.

"I did remember that you didn't bring that many bags here when you moved," uttered Kyo. "But you had some space to bring that snack."

"Tsk tsk, it's called priority, Kyo..." I clucked proudly with my fingers moving. "I still didn't know how much money I could gain right? So of course, I need to bring the necessities."

Again, Kyo glued his eyes on the snacks, but now to the big stash I dragged.

"It's as big as Olivier..." Kyo muttered. "Is that expensive?"

Oh? Is he interested in the snacks? I felt enthusiastic so suddenly.

"Well, the smaller package is more expensive if you want to buy it in bulk..." I explained.

Kyo nodded as if he understood what I meant. No chat happened after that, so I utilized the opportunity to open the big stash and let him taste it.

"It's also great..." he complimented.

"Thank you," I smiled at his genuine compliment. "You seem to like snacks, Kyo. Do you want me to pack some snacks for you? I have my bento box I don't use."

He didn't refuse or accept my offer but instead, he seemed to be drawn in a deep thought.

"It must be hard to have me as your leader, right?"

I felt speechless with Kyo's sudden question.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's like there's so many things I need to learn to completely blend in with the team..." Kyo muttered. "I don't even know these snacks even if they're around."

I remembered my first impression of Kyo being stiff and almost inapproachable since he didn't talk much and dressed neatly. It wasn't a good impression, I knew. But little did I know that after all this time, Kyo endured the pain of him being an 'alien' for one year and tried to become a better version of himself.

I had the utmost respect for him.

"I only know you for one week and I don't think I have a hard time with you being my leader," I expressed my feelings. "You're stiff but it's not like you stop on learning."

Kyo didn't respond again. We took the time to snack, again.

"I have this one girl I like..."

I stopped my munching to hear him better.

"She's like the brightest star that I've ever met in my life..."

"... But since she's a star, then it's quite hard to approach her..."

I tilted my head in confusion.

"Do you make any mistakes?

"I don't think so, Luna..." he firmly answered. "Our relationship is more like a job...."

"... It's like... I want to know her better..."

"... But our worlds are different. I don't even know the snacks that the girls usually eat..."

I didn't understand what he meant by his world was different. And... just what in his world did he eat that he didn't eat the snacks we earthlings usually ate?

"Have you tried to ask something she likes?" I tried an alternative.

"I did," he replied. "She mentioned some brands that I'm not familiar with so... we couldn't keep up with the conversation..."

Kyo seemed very troubled with his love story. Before he felt even miserable, I dragged my steps to the kitchen, took a plastic bag, and returned.

"Here, give this to her and ask if she likes it," I said while putting the snacks into the bag. "It's called Sneaky Potato if she ever asked."

"Okay...." Kyo's responded with shock. "So, I should just eat this with her?"

"Yes," I smiled. "You enjoyed this snack, so try on that first. You can't ask others to reveal themselves if you don't reveal yourself first."

"Okay...?" Kyo seemed to be lost. "I should go now..?"

"Yes, yes, yes!! Go now!" I pushed his back to the front door. "Or else the snacks would get stale."

Kyo nodded and bowed ... then ran as fast as he could. It wasn't really mesmerizing though, because his running was very slow.

Yes, very.

I followed Kyo with my eyes and wondered... just in what world he lived in actually?