Bound to Earth

33: Surprise

Valentino had startled Mirai so much, she wrapped a piece of my illusion around herself, disappearing. Her little hands had gripped the base of my shirt as she tucked herself behind me.

When she first had wrapped an illusion around herself, sprouting fangs and horns, I'd thought I'd done it. It'd taken me 30 minutes to talk her through how to pull the illusion back. I'd never seen someone who could mirror powers, but we hadn't been able to test it with others yet.

I grabbed the heated plate and a bottle of ketchup. "Do you remember how to pull the magic back?"

"Yes." Slowly her body appeared, her tiny head barely popping out from behind me. She spoke to me, her Japanese quiet and panicked. "You didn't tell me we'd have guests today. Do they speak Japanese?"

"No." I started drawing the outline of a body on the eggs with the ketchup. "You're going to have to speak English."

She grunted, peeking out from behind me to look at them. "I almost freaking failed English last year. Are they your mates?"

"Yes. Your English is fine." I spoke in English, drawing knives aimed at the dead body.

"No. It's not." She whispered angrily to me, sinking to the ground, out of view. "You could've told me they didn't know Japanese, and we could've practice. Now they won't like me because I don't even speak their fucking language."

I glared at her. "Watch your tongue, child."

Alistar stepped up to the counter, Mirai too focused on complaining to notice, and scared the shit out of her by speaking in Japanese. "Hi. What's your name?"

She jumped with a small yelp, her fist swinging towards him. I grabbed her by the wrist stopping her from landing the punch to Alistar's ribs. "What do you think you're doing?"

She froze and tried wrangling her hand out of my grasp, completely embarrassed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to punch him."

Alistar looked at me. "It's fine. I startled her."

I rolled my eyes, keeping my grip on her hand. "No. Mirai, look at your fist." I set the ketchup down tapping her fist. "I keep telling you, when you punch, your thumb goes on the outside." I readjusted her hand. "Anywhere else and you'll break it."

She continued to struggle against me, not getting anywhere. "Okay, okay. I get it."

"No you don't." I growled. "You're still swinging with your elbow flopping out. Keep it tight and under you. What the hell are you thinking, aiming for his ribs? He's three times your size. The ribs will do more damage to you."

"I'll aim a knife at his throat next time, okay?" She sighed in defeat, knowing I'd let her go when I wanted to. "Can you let me go now?"

I let go of her wrist, switching back to English. "The throat wouldn't have worked, he's too tall. Try his inner thigh, or achilles tendon. If you can remove a kneecap, that might work for you better."

She scrambled to tuck herself behind me again, her backpack still plastered to her back. "Or cut off the extra appendage. I know." Alistar's eyes widened, being the only one to understand her. "You said they didn't speak Japanese."

"He's fae. The fae have the gift of tongues." I picked up her plate, grabbing a spoon. "Where do you want to sit?"

"Wherever you're sitting." She pressed herself against me, still whispering in Japanese.

It surprised me, how nervous she was. Maybe I'd expected too much, considering our first interaction. But I wouldn't coddle her, at least not too much.

She paused, seeing that I was making my way to the coffee table. I paused too, glancing back at her. "Are you coming?"