Two Pairs' Encounter

No good.

"...Y-You lost it, big brother?! H-How did that happen?!"

"I-I'm not sure...maybe I just put that coin somewhere..."

I rummaged in my clothes' pockets again to check if I mistakenly misplaced the coin while we're walking earlier. One pocket, two pockets, three...

"...Big brother, jump! The coin might fall off one of your pockets if you do it!" Aoi suggested.

"G-Good idea!"

Following her advice, I jumped like crazy in front of everyone.

Luckily the inn has no customers by the time we entered, so it feels less embarrassing for me to do this, but...

"N-No good." I shook my head in despair.

Meanwhile Saku and Saki, looked at each other for a moment then walked closer towards me.

Saku spoke. "Um...it may be just a baseless accusation but, do you...really have any money?"

"E-Eh?! W-We have m-money! I-It's just that...we lost it somewhere..."

"Oh, you lost it...?" Saku raised his eyebrows.

"Right...b-but--"

Saki suddenly interrupted me in my words.

"Or maybe, you planned to eat in our inn without paying anything, is that it?"

For some reason when she said that, her face showed a light smile...though her eyes are showing sharp indignation towards me and Aoi.

"I actually thought of you guys as good people when you entered here...it turns out, I was wrong all along." Saki spoke in a monotonous tone.

"W-Wrong! We don't have any intentions to do something like that in the first place! It's true that we lost the only money that we had! We're not trying to fool you guys...--"

"Shut up, shut up! We don't want to hear your explanations! Go away or else I'll call the authorities!" Saki shouted.

"But it's true that...--"

"I said go away!!!!!"

Before I could say another word, Saki released a furious fast kick aimed at my crotch.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

"Gefuuuuhhhh--!!!!"

"...Big brother--!!!!"

My soul almost flew out of my body when she cracked the nuts. Her strike knocked my feet off the ground for a few inches, then suddenly...

"Hm?" Saki noticed something fell off from my pants.

It dropped on the ground with a 'clink', rolled for a few seconds and stopped right under Saki's feet. When she picked it up, her expression suddenly changed.

"A coin?--Ah, Brother Ren! I-I'm sorryyyyyyyyy!!!!!!"

I whose crotch has been crushed by her kick, helplessly curled on the ground while trying not to faint right on the spot because of the pain.

"...Big brother...--You! what have you done to my big brother?!" Aoi looked at Saki with eyes full of hatred.

"I-I'm sorry!" Saki replied in panic. "I just thought that you guys are planning to fool us by not paying for the food that's why I unconsciously kicked him..."

Aoi gritted her teeth in rage. "You..."

"I-It's okay...Aoi..."

Before something bad could happen, I stopped Aoi.

"W-What she's doing was reasonable...they're owning a business so it's natural for her to react like that..."

Aoi helped me stand up as I struggle to keep my balance. After confirming that most of the pain subsided I turned my gaze towards the brother.

"T-Told you...we're not those kinds of people..."

Saku, who averted his gaze when her sister kicked me, slowly nodded. "I-I see. Then I guess it's already settled."

He took the gold coin from Saki's hand then went towards the counter and returned after a few seconds.

"Change. Six silver coins."

Aoi, still feeling angry because of what happened to me, hurriedly accepted the change without saying anything.

"Sorry too for what happened. We're leaving now." I lightly waved my hand towards them as I lead Aoi out of the inn.

"W-Wait! T-There's something I want to ask to you guys!" Saku spoke.

I turned around and replied. "What?"

"Um...I was just here wondering...do you guys have any place to stay?"

"As of now, we haven't found one yet."

"T-Then--do you guys want to stay here even for just a few days?"

"Hah?!"

"I-I mean, I want to apologize for what happened between us! Really, it's a shame for us to treat our customers like that, and we won't forgive ourselves if we let them leave feeling wrongly accused...T-That's why, we'll let you stay here in the Sandy Fish for a week, free of charge!" Saku explained while bowing his head.

"U-Uhh..."

In my confusion I unconsciously stared at Aoi to check her reaction about Saku's offer. Her face...because of the incident she kept on glaring at them with killing intent slowly building up from within her.

"What do you guys think?" Saku looked at us while feeling embarrassed.

"Brother Ren..."

Meanwhile little Saki looked down to the ground as she gripped her apron tightly while biting her lip.

"Um...allow us to discuss this matter between us siblings." I spoke to them.

After bringing Aoi to a corner of the inn, I asked her if she would like to stay here or not.

"...Although I'm mad because they accused us wrongly, I think taking up on their offer is the most logical thing that we could do for now."

"So it's a yes then?"

"...Nn." Aoi nodded, though her lips curled in dissatisfaction.

"Yosh." I turned around and faced Saku and Saki. "We'll accept your offer."

"Ah, thank you very much!" Saku became overjoyed with our decision. "Our first encounter might not be that good, but Saki and I hopes that we could still get along with each other."

"Ah." I only nodded at him.

---------------

"Brother Ren, Aoi--this will be your room." Saki said as she handed to me the keys.

"Thanks."

As I'm about to open the door, Saki tugged my shirt lightly from behind. In surprise I looked at her over my shoulder and asked, "W-What is it...?"

Saki, still having a regretful expression, spoke. "Um...Brother Ren...sorry for kicking you earlier..."

"It's okay, it's okay! Of course it was painful, but I'm all fine now."

"But still, treating a customer like that is..."

I gently patted her head before she could say any word.

"Don't mind it. I'm not blaming you or anything for acting like that so, please cheer up."

When I removed my hand from her head, Saki looked at me as her eyes regained their sparkle.

"Y-Yes!"

"...Tch."

Meanwhile, did I just hear Aoi click her tongue just now?

"Oh! Before I forgot, your bath will be prepared once you've finally settled down in your room. See ya later!" Saki said as she ran back downstairs.

"Um, okay..." I only muttered as I start opening the door.

"...Tch."

I glared at the little girl standing beside me. "What's with your attitude just now, Aoi?"

"...Nothing." She replied before entering the room Saki provided for us.

Looking around, the room interior's design is well...simple.

A medium-sized bed placed perpendicularly from the door is the first thing I saw, covered in white sheets that seems to be just got washed recently before we went here that reflected the light coming form the window that's also facing the door. Facing the bed is a small closet with a mirror placed in front, and a small table beside it. There's also two chairs placed at the corner of the room that matches the structure of the table.

Other than the ones I've stated...there are no decorations or additional elements found in this room. It's just a plain room, to sum it up.

'Well, we're staying here for free, so who are we to become picky?' I thought to myself.

Since we're not carrying anything all this time, we only rested on the bed for a few minutes before someone knocked on the door.

"Brother Ren, bath's ready." Saki said with a light smile.

"Is that so? Aoi, you go to bath first."

...(from Aoi bath)

"...B-But big brother, aren't we supposed to go to bath together as always?"

"Now that we're staying in an inn I don't think we could still do that just like when we are in the desert." I told her.

"...But--"

"No buts! You're all sweaty from today's journey like...*sniff* *sniff* Sheeesh, what's with that smell? If that's not a scent coming from a little girl then whose scent it might be? A sweaty old man?!"

"...O-Old--?!" Aoi, in great shock, hurriedly sniffed her own clothes.

"So go take a bath now, understood?"

"...Y-Yes, big brother!" Aoi said as she ran downstairs, leaving Saki and I behind.

"Good grief. She really wanted to go with her inside the bathroom, huh..."

Just to be clear, by 'taking a bath together' means that I'm the one who's washing her body because other than the purpose of killing anything she likes, her hands are absolutely useless to the point that she couldn't even take a bath herself.

"A-Ah, so Aoi's that much of a klutz?" Saki said after I explained things to her.

"Yeah, that's why is it okay if you were to help Aoi in this ordeal of hers? Maybe even teach her too while you're in it?"

"Interesting..." Saki paused for a moment. "Understood, leave Aoi's bath to me, Brother Ren!" She replied in high spirits.

"Really? Thanks."

After that she excused herself before following Aoi in the bathroom.

Now that I'm all alone in this room, I decided to take a nap for a while. That said, I really missed lying down on something soft after my body got accustomed to lying down on the desert sand that gets so cold at night.

Ah, such softness...

A few minutes later, Aoi came back into the room with Saki following her behind, her blue hair completely covered in a white towel just like with her small body.

"Brother Ren, Aoi's clothes was so dirty that we already sent it to the laundry."

"Eh? But she doesn't have any spare clothes with her, you see?"

"No problem with that, Brother Ren!" Saki puffed her chest while handing over some clothes that are neatly folded on her hands. "We have the same body size, so I'll just lend her some of my old clothes!"

"Thank you very much, Saki."

"Fufufu~ Even though we had a rough start I'm glad that we could still get along well!" Saki said before returning back to work.

After receiving the clothes, I beckoned Aoi to sit on the bed while facing the mirror so that I could dry her hair now.

"...Big brother...are you okay with how these people treat us?" Aoi asked with her voice tinged with suspicion.

"Huh? What's with that sudden question..."

"...It's just that first impressions towards strangers are a big deal for humans, right? With how a person's attitude towards someone depends on how they first met, do you think it's still alright for us to stay with them?" Aoi said in a faint voice.

Hearing that, I can't help but to chuckle. "If first impressions really matter that much, do you think I would still be here, drying your hair?"

"...Big brother..."

"They say that 'first impressions last' but that's not absolute. Humans, in order to survive, needs to adapt to their surroundings--and to the other people around him as well. If everyone just got stuck on believing that each of their first encounters will dictate the personality of the other party as a whole, would the world still be a peaceful place as it is now? You see, Aoi...we might not have some good encounters with everyone but, both sides could still get along well, right? I don't think the people we met so far have bad intentions so rest easy now."

After drying her hair and styling it into her usual fluffy twintails, I let Aoi choose among the clothes Saki prepared for her the one she would wear for today. 'This one', she said, picking up a small one-piece sleeveless white dress that is strikingly similar to the one she originally wears.

"...Simple is the best." She declared with a smile.

"I think so too." I said before telling her that it's my turn to take a bath now.

"...Take your time then, big brother!"

---------------

Just like what Saki did, her brother also prepared some clothes for me since I don't have any spares.

"How pitiful it is for you guys to cross the desert without any supplies, eh?" He spoke with a sad expression on his face.

Right now, us two pairs of siblings talked while facing each other on the table, a good opportunity for everyone to know each other well. It's already afternoon and there are no customers since today's a weekend, so everyone's free to just laze around.

"Y-Yeah. I think that's a stupid idea to begin with. We could only eat fruits from the shrubs in the oases, and could only drink and bathe there...I thought we're going to die there because of the insane heat." I said to them as I tell our experiences prior to coming here in Plate Town, while trying to leave some details like our encounter with desert worms and Aoi's identity as a death goddess.

"But still, only a very few people have survived on that desert! If you managed to come here somewhat unscathed...you must be very, very lucky then!" Saku exclaimed.

"Hehe...you think so?" I smiled bitterly at him.

Lucky? What the hell is this guy saying?

Well luck aside, I think that we made it out of the desert only because of sheer willpower. Lucky or not, I will be dead if ever my desire to live succumbed to the troubles we've faced.

"Maybe, it's because I have a very lucky charm with me all this time." I spoke while looking at Aoi whose cheeks starting to become burning red due to embarrassment.

"I also have a lucky charm with me right now, so I can relate on what you feel."

Saku and I then shook hands firmly upon realizing that we have the same principles in mind.

It feels refreshing to know that even in a stranger's place, I could still find my brethren.

After that, our conversation topics head towards our little sisters.

"I admit, I feel somewhat jealous when Saki calls our male customers as 'brothers'. Although it helps us get more customers, it still hurts my pride as a real brother, you know?!" Saku pounded his fist on the table as he grumbled.

"Big bro, you're exaggerating!" Saki retorted from beside him.

"Saki's right. They might be called 'brothers', but think of it only as a way for your business to earn more profit." I also spoke from the side, trying to comfort him.

Saku replied with teary eyes. "Sorry, I just...don't know what will happen if someone were to take you away from me...*sob*"

"Stop exaggerating things!!!"

Feeling irritated, Saki released a strike his head with her fist, causing Saku to fall from his seat and lie down on the ground while somewhat unconscious. Her attack left all of us--including Saku, petrified.

"Ah, sorry about that--Big bro would not stop once he started talking about me. It's...really embarrassing on my part, you see..." Saki explained while helping her brother back to his seat.

"D-Don't worry about it. It just proves how much Saku loves you, that he's having fun telling to other people how precious you are to him."

To be honest, I'm a bit unsure if I also have that courage to tell the world that my own little sister is also precious despite her real nature.

Also, is he okay? I think I heard a faint *crack* just now.

"Big bro is also precious to me, that's why I won't get tired of his annoying personality no matter what." She muttered sweetly as she patted her brother's forehead.

Meanwhile, I felt Aoi tugging my clothes for a while now.

'What is it, Aoi?' I whispered at her.

'...'

Without saying any word she only kept on tugging on my clothes but her faint, somewhat embarrassed smile is enough for me to understand what she's wanting to say.

I also had the same doubts as Saku, but knowing Aoi that's close to impossible--or so she wants to convey. More like, she's the one who is doubtful than as I am.

About an hour later, a man entered the inn. A potential customer.

"Big bro, wake up already! We have a customer!"

"H-Huh?!--Ah, I'll go back to the kitchen now!!!" Saku sprang up from his seat in panic after being woken up by her sister.

Meanwhile, Aoi and I decided to watch the two of them while working together.

"...Big brother, there's more coming..."

"Y-You're right..."

After the man came, several people also entered in groups and filled all vacant tables in a flash.

I think, Sandy Fish is more like a tavern than an inn.

"A-Amazing...this seemingly quiet place became rowdy in an instant." I remarked.

"...So many disgusting people..." Aoi let out a sigh.

"But still, isn't this amount of people too much for only two people to attend to everyone's orders?"

Aoi pointed her finger towards the two siblings. "...About that, big brother..."

As she points out, Saku and Saki already finished about half of the customer's orders.

"S-So quick..."

With Saki in the frontlines quickly taking everyone's orders while still maintaining her cheerfulness and calm composure, she already finished jotting down the orders in a pad of paper, which she then gave to Saku. The brother who governs the kitchen has already done making the menu beforehand, thus the only thing he did was to put the menu on the plate--all while making sure that even in a rush no blunders were made, and each dish looks as presentable as they should be.

*ding* *ding* *ding*

Three times the bell has rung--and it's time for Saki to shine once more. With platters on one hand and mugs of beer on the other, Saki gracefully placed the orders to each table, with a sweet smile from the cute girl added as a service.

"Here you go, my cute brother~ Grilled tripe, and beer as a reward to all of today's hard work. Enjoy~"

After finishing all the orders in one go, Saki seated in our table, while lightly panting due to exhaustion.

"Good work, Saki." I smiled at her.

"Hehe~ Even though it's been like this almost everyday, it's still a bit too much for a girl like me." Saki replied.

"Then that's make the two of you even more amazing!"

Saki's cheeks blushed. "Brother Ren...it's so embarrassing, you know..."

"Are you amazed by our performance, Ren and Aoi?" Saku spoke from the side as he went out of the kitchen.

"I say, your teamwork is really something."

Saku laughed. "Now that it's just Saki and I who's running this inn, it's our responsibility to maintain the liveliness of this place just as it was before."

I see, so that's what makes them even more amazing...wait--

"Heh? By the way, where are your pa--"

"Beer for six people, please!" A man shouted to them, ordering beer for his friends..

"Ah, coming!" Saki rushed towards the beer barrels on the kitchen.

The atmosphere between us changed in an instant.

"Let's leave those talk for later, okay?" Saku said as he also went back to work.

I only nodded at him, as I decided not to bother them for a while.

-------------

Aoi and I retired to our room by nightfall. With that influx of customers, us taking up some table space for so long would be disrespectful for the customers who wants to dine here.

"...Saku and Saki...I think they're good people." Aoi spoke while playing 'lucky nine' with me.

"Eh? You're right, but...why all of a sudden?"

"...I don't know. Maybe I just got my interest piqued after seeing them work together."

Strange. It's my first time to hear Aoi evaluate someone other than me like that.

I let out a slight grin. "Are you amazed with their teamwork too?"

"...H-Huh? What are you saying, big brother? They only managed to handle the situation well but other than that there's nothing spectacular with them!" She said before placing her two cards face up in front of her. Total value eight.

I showed to her my cards. "Nine. I win."

"...Ehh?!"

"Although you're saying that...you can't deny that in your mind you're comparing them to us."

When I glanced at her, I could see her lips curling as she looked at me with dismay.

"...It's...not what you think, big brother."

She said while taking away the cards and placed it on the table.

"...I'm just thinking that we could learn a thing or two from them, big brother. That's all."

Hearing that, I beckoned her to come closer to me. She immediately followed and leaped towards my chest, causing me to fall on my back against the soft bed.

"Do you really want to break my ribs?!" I yelled at her.

"...Ahehehe~ Sorry, big brother..."

"Anyways, it seems that you're already okay with them, Aoi. Should we start deepening our friendship with them from now on?"

"...I don't mind at all, big brother. Haaaaahhh..." She replied while busily rubbing her cheeks on my chest.

I think that's good, considering that Aoi has this natural hatred for humans. Once she finally learned how to make friends with other people, I guess her perspectives will start to change.

"Then tomorrow, we will go sightseeing around the town with Saku and Saki, should they are available. What do you think?"

"...Nn. That's good!"

With our schedule for tomorrow all set, we decided to sleep afterwards, with Aoi still tightly clinging on my body like a tarsier. It's a bit uncomfortable for me because my movements are restricted, but in order not to disturb my cute little (death) goddess, I just let her be.

'In a way, this situation is a lot better than I expected,' I thought to myself.

Having a comfortable place to live in even for just a short time, eating something decent again after a very long time, and meeting new friends--if only these were to last longer than a week.

I pondered on those as my exhaustion slowly brings me to sleep.