Learning

Hito put a cup of instant ramen on the table and pushed it toward their mysterious yet needed-some-serious help guest.

He didn't actually want to give her instant ramen, he prefers to give her real food, as he considers instant ramen as junk food.

But she needed at least to fill her stomach, he'll worry about getting her real food later, as he pushes the ramen at their guest.

She stared at it blankly, not knowing what to do with it.

The Tadano siblings were looking into each other's eyes, communicating.

'Why isn't she doing anything?' Hito

'You idiot! She's a foreigner, maybe she doesn't know how to use chopsticks?' Hitomi wiggled her eyebrows.

Hito suddenly gained a look of understanding.

If anyone is curious, what the Tadano siblings did was communicate spiritually, it doesn't have to do with their eyes, trust me only siblings would understand each other.

"Sorry, I didn't realize that you don't know how to use chopsticks, I'll be right back I'll get a fork." After that, he went to the kitchen and came back with a fork in hand.

"Here, use this." Hito pushed the fork toward the blonde girl.

However, the result was still the same; she just stared at him blankly.

Now both of the Tadano siblings were lost, they didn't know what to do, however, suddenly their blonde guest spoke.

"$@#&+$$?" 

Hito couldn't understand what language she just spoke. It sounds like chinese but there was something mixed along with it.

Hitomi also didn't understand what their blonde guest said, as she also wasn't familiar with the language that came out of their blonde guest's mouth.

The blonde girl realized that they couldn't understand her, so she decided to make a gesture.

She pointed at the instant cup ramen and then pointed her finger at her mouth.

Almost immediately, Hito realized what she meant to say, it was probably something like this.

'Is this food that I can eat?'

Hito then nodded at her. "Yes, you can eat it."

And after that, she used the fork and started eating the ramen slowly.

The Tadano siblings were watching her finish the cup, only to see her cry.

And instantly both of them panicked, their first instinct was to comfort her, but it was instantly shot down as they realized the biggest obstacle between them and their mysterious blonde guest.

Language barrier.

How could they comfort her if she couldn't understand what they said? While they could do something physically, they were hesitant as their blonde guest might see it the wrong way.

Hito and Hitomi could only watch her cry for a few minutes, however in those few minutes, Hito noticed something, their blonde guest was repeating the word 'Aether'

It wasn't hard for him to guess that it was a person's name, someone important to this girl in front of him.

Hitomi then nudged his shoulder and said. "Onii-chan I don't think we could question her, in the first place we don't have the same language, what's the point of asking neither of us under each other?"

Hito nodded in understanding, however, he won't give up on helping her, it wasn't his responsibility but it was his desire to help her, not when she had the dead look in her eyes, he wanted to replace those despaired pair of eyes, he wanted to see them shine brightly.

Thinking of that, Hito couldn't help but feel embarrassed, he thought. 'Did I really just imagine something so cheesy?'

But still…he truly wanted them to shine.

—

It's been a few hours since Hito brought the mysterious girl into their house, and within those hours, he and his sister got to know her name.

Lumine.

Thankfully, Lumine was cooperative despite the language barrier, at least they could understand each other due to gestures.

Though there wasn't much progress in understanding Lumine's problem, or how to help her.

Which was frustrating to him, but he can't do anything about it, if only there was a way for them to communicate properly.

But clearly, it's impossible for now, it's not like he'll gain magic and understand every language available.

That would certainly be convenient.

Not long after, night came and his parents came home.

"We're home children."

"Hito-chan did you buy what I asked you for?" Mom and Dad went inside the house and arrived in the living room.

And both adults didn't expect to see an extra person aside from their children, both of them were stunned at the appearance of Lumine.

Hito could understand his parents' reaction, as Lumine's appearance was otherworldly and divine, it wasn't an exaggeration.

Both of his parents were silently staring at Lumine's beautiful appearance, a few moments later the silence was broken by mom.

"Hito-chan, Hitomi-chan…who is your guest? A friend perhaps?" Mom asked unsurely.

Hito couldn't help but smile bitterly at his mother's hesitation.

Mom! At least have some faith in your son having a friend!

"Mom, this is Lumine and she…needed help," Hito replied.

Both of his parents looked at each before looking at him seriously. "Explain."

After that, he started explaining what he knew about Lumine, as she was still a mystery to him.

He explained mostly his theory about Lumine, about her getting lost and not having a place to stay.

Thankfully his parents were open-minded people, they agreed to let Lumine stay as long as he takes care of her.

Which is basically making him an unofficial nanny, but he doesn't take offense as it wasn't a bad title.

—

-Lumine-

She wasn't sure what happened after today, everything was a blur to her, as the separation of her twin brother was still fresh inside her mind.

"Aether…where are you brother?" Tears started falling out of her eyes.

Here she was in a stranger's house, laying in their bed. They were nice people, especially that boy. A part of her was glad that it was that boy who found her while she was at her lowest because at that moment, she didn't really care about what was going to happen to her.

She lost her twin brother, her purpose…because of that unknown god she lost everything.

Without her 'wings' she could no longer travel, without her twin brother she was at loss.

She was stuck in this dimension, and she didn't have any idea what to do.

Lumine could only imagine what the future holds for her.

—

It's been a whole day since he found Lumine, and today he decided to teach her Japanese.

She was cooperative, which he was thankful for, he started showing her some picture books with basic Japanese.

At the moment, he felt like teaching a kindergarten who is obedient to him.

A few hours later, Hito was astonished at Lumine's learning capability, he only needed to say it once and she remembers them clearly.

Right now, Lumine is capable of understanding kindergarten-level Japanese.

While it's not a big deal, progressing to a kindergarten-level Japanese with zero knowledge of Japanese within a few hours is amazing.

Hito never thought he'd meet someone who has an eidetic memory, he thought it was just a myth, but he was proven to be wrong.

"Me..good?" Lumine spoke in awkward Japanese.

"Yeah, you did good, actually you're doing a great job!" Hito replied with a smile on his face.

Seeing the smile on his face, made her feel happy even for a bit, there was a ghost smile hanging on her face.

Too bad, Hito didn't notice it as her smile disappeared as soon as it appeared.

—

3 days after he met Lumine, her Japanese was tremendously improving now that she was at the elementary level, she could now read by herself and improve without him guiding her.

Lumine could now communicate properly with anyone in Japanese, though her accent is still awkward, but it was understandable.

Within those 3 days, Hito became familiar with Lumine alongside his family, and they started to get used to her presence in the house.

Although she wasn't expressive, it didn't stop the Tadano family from communicating with her.

Slowly, but surely they could tell that Lumine is starting to open up to them, especially Hito, he had the closest relationship with Lumine.

Since he sticks with her whether he had time and since he didn't have anything to do, he spends his time teaching Lumine.

In just a few days of spending time with her, he somehow managed to understand the surface of her personality, even though she doesn't express them.

He knew one thing for sure, Lumine was a kind and caring person, also protective of the things she deemed important to her.

Her personality is just as beautiful as she looks.

It was hard not to feel self-conscious around her, and within the past few days, it would be one big fat lie, to say that he didn't develop a crush on her.

He did, she stole his heart like nothing, damn it, not even his previous crush made him feel like this, though he didn't really want to be reminded of it because of his dark past.

His Chūnibyō phase was embarrassing.

"Hito-san?" Lumine's soft voice made him snap back from reality.

"O-oh yeah? What is it?" Hito shuttered.

"Mind telling me what this is?" Lumine pointed at a middle school level mathematics.

"Right, that's square root and…" Hito started explaining about it.

Hito doesn't know what the future holds, but for now, he'll enjoy his time with Lumine, because from the bottom of his heart he knew that her time with him is limited, as she would eventually leave them.

—

Yikes, what depressing thoughts to have Hito-kun! It is normal to be insecure but at least have confidence!

It's the key.