The Short Demon King

Chapter 6

"What are you two doing?" Maya asked as she took her shoes off. I didn't understand why humans needed to cover their feet before going outside.

Kevin got up as he explained, "I was teaching Jaye a bit about how we describe time." He helped Maya get this clunky-looking thing off her back. "Geez, your backpack's super heavy today. What did you put in here?"

I stood up by this point too, feeling awkward as the only person just sitting around. After steadying myself, I joined them by the front door.

When I got there Maya explained, "I got a new science project today that I need to finish at home. And why are you teaching him basic time? Did he grow up living under a rock?"

She was actually pretty close. It would be more accurate to say I grew up living in a rock, since various mountains and caves completely covered the Demonic Realm. Different rocks and stones made up almost every building, even the fanciest castles. I personally spent most of my time underground or in caves when avoiding Dark.

Kevin tried to defend me though, "His family just taught him a different way to tell time, that's all."

I inspected the backpack Maya brought home. It was super big on its own, but she said there were more objects inside it. Curious how to access the inside, I started gently tugging on it.

As I did so, I heard Kevin whisper to Maya, thinking I couldn't hear them. "I'm worried he hit his head and lost his memory. He's forgotten a lot of this sort of basic stuff and doesn't even remember where he lives."

"Seriously?" she whispered back. "Why haven't you taken him to a hospital yet?"

Kevin paused, making sure I was distracted. I actually was keeping myself preoccupied, having finally figured out how to unzip Maya's backpack. Neither of them tried to stop me as I began taking random things out of it, curious what each one did.

Feeling certain I couldn't hear them, he continued, "It could've been trauma related. He was super against going to the hospital, even acting a bit aggressive."

"And you still brought him here? He totally could've attacked us!" She struggled to keep her voice low.

"Well, he didn't! Plus, I'm sure you would've done the same if you'd seen that look in his eyes. It looked just like hers did. I was worried he'd- well it looked like he would've- I just didn't know what else to do in that kind of situation... I had to save him, Maya."

"Do you really think... he seems fine now though."

"But he didn't earlier."

She didn't reply and I could feel their gazes on my back, but refused to turn around knowing they would both be filled with pity. I started fidgeting with a pointed piece of wood, twirling it between my fingers. 

"Hey, be careful! I don't want you dropping all my pencils doing that!" Maya shouted, running beside me to snatch the pencil from my hand.

I grumbled, "Seriously? I was starting to have fun with it."

Maya looked like she had more to yell at me, but instead turned to stare at her brother. He raised his eyebrows and she let out a sigh in response, sounding defeated.

Grabbing the rest of her stuff that I took out of the backpack, she declared, "I'm going to go finish this," and went into her room.

"So I should hide before 3:40 PM so I don't offend her with my very existence?" I joked, choosing to ignore their conversation. I didn't want them knowing I had an acute sense of hearing anyway.

"I'm sorry about that. Hopefully she starts to warm up to you soon," he said, clearly expecting their conversation to change how she interacted with me.