15. Learning more, knowing less?

Two days later, Early in the morning I, Ascimos, was in my room dressed in a black suit with a black tie checking myself out on the mirror, Subaru was in the bathroom still showering

[Author: sorry Incase you are mad about any inconsistencies,I just keep remembering things I should have added that aren't there in their household,thanks for your understanding]

The door to the bathroom in our room was locked but I could still hear Subaru humming a song while showering.

I looked at my cloth if everything was in order and also at my bizarre hair which colour happened to be blue but with some parts of it being red,like the hair in front of my fore head. Remember when I said that this world had bizzare hair styles and eye colors?, well,I was no exception with my hair color being mostly blue with some strands or part of it red and my eye colour which was blue,my complexion was no different from that of my past life,or at least very close to it which is a lightly tanned skin,I am the only member of the family with this type of skin tone but when I asked my aunt and mom,they both said that I inherited my complexion from my grandfather,and also the color of his hair(blue) was mostly prominent in mine. I was very happy when I heard I had one or two things in common with my grandpa, even though I had only seen him once, that was,when I was born. As for Subaru he too is also different in his own unique way having grey hair and grey eyes and he was white in complexion according to his mom he got that from his father, although we were different in many things we always saw ourselves as brothers even though we were just cousins.

"Alright I am good to go big bro"

I said still looking at image of myself displayed on the mirror after an hour effort of arranging and rearranging,

"Subaru,you done yet?"

I called out to him while knocking on the bathroom door

"yeah,I am"

Subaru said coming out of the bathroom wet and half naked with his upper body exposed and his Lower half covered with a towel and in his hand was also with another towel which he was using to dry his hair

"any problem?"

he asked looking at me still drying his hair

"yeah there is"

I said looking up inorder to look at him in the eyes,

"you spent too much time in the bathroom,are you a girl or something? do you seriously want Uncle Withward to leave us?"

I said scolding him

"relax, it's not like Uncle Withward is seriously gonna leave without us"

he said dropping the towel in his hand back into the hanger

"I know,but still..."

I said hitting my foot on the ground to enforce my point while frowning😠

"don't worry,If uncle Withward was ready,he would have called us by now"

Subaru said while dressing up in front of me, wearing his white suit with a black tie

"yeah,you've got a point"

I said with his words instantly venting out my anger and I submitted to his logic,or rather point

"by the way,where is Uncle Withward anyway?"

Subaru asked looking puzzled while checking the mirror to make sure he wore his cloth properly.

"I don't know,maybe he's dressing up"

I said thinking back to yesterday evening,

Subaru and I were in the dining hall

about to eat our dinner when we were visited by our moms who surprised us by coming early when usually we would have been sleeping by the time of their return and only see them early in the morning, when they're about to leave once we woke up,so when we asked them why they're so early, and they answered our question by saying and I quote

(Ascimos micmicking Aunt Rachel's voice:)

" things have recently been quiet in the country,and nothing serious has taken place..... yet, guess it's the silence before the storm logic,so we want to use this as an opportunity to spend more time with you specifically Subaru since he would be leaving for the Imperial Academy in a few days time"

when I heard that I turned to look at Subaru who at that time was all red🥰.

According to Subaru 'the imperial Academy' was the name. During dinner we were having lots of fun when my aunt, Subaru's mom struck up a serious discussion,she said me and Subaru would be going out the following day with Uncle Withward and when we asked her why she replied by raising up her index finger and said

"it's a surprise".

So here we are now trying to get ready so we can go find out what this surprise really is, right now our moms are in their rooms taking a well deserved nap,well we can't blame them they really need their energy to be able to carry out their work efficiently,and I'm sure that's why they asked Uncle Withward to take us with him because they wanted no disturbances.

*knock,knock*

a knock came from our door,

"yes who is it?"

Subaru answered still looking at the the mirror trying to comb his hair

"oh Master Subaru...."

Aunt Layla wanted to continue but Subaru cut her short of her sentence with a disappointed look on his face he said

"how many times must I tell you, it's Subaru,no need to add the 'master' part"

he said now turning to look at the door

"okay, Subaru is Ascimos there?"

Aunt Layla asked with a tone that couldn't really express any emotions

"yeah,he is"

he asked walking to the door then upon opening it he said

"anything the problem?"

"No not really, it's just that,Sir Withward said you guys should come downstairs,we are already late "

she said looking at me like as if I was the one delaying the journey and wait,what does she mean by we?, but before I could ask her Subaru with innocent puppy eyes said

"I tried to tell Ascimos the exact same thing,but he didn't listen to me"

"liar!!!"

I tried to call him out,but...

"Ascimos that's no way to talk to a family member now tell him sorry...."

aunt Layla said seeming to have been fooled by Subaru's lie but...

"is what I would have said if I didn't know better and besides, Ascimos and I are on good terms"

she said winking at me and immediately left our door front

"what was that about?"

Subaru said to himself while closing the door but he was visited by a kick to the knee

"ouch..... what was that for?"

he asked holding his knee tightly while wailing in pain hopping

"sigh,are you seriously asking that question?"

I said giving him a 'i am disappointed at you look'

"if it's about that little stunt,okay,I'm sorry, do you forgive me?"

he said immediately turning his frown to a smile

"ugh,okay,I've heard"

I said waving my hand dismissively

"but next time you do that I won't be hitting your leg,but something much more painful and precious"

i said looking at his lower half and smiling maliciously

"what could be more painful than this"

Subaru said still holding his knee thinking upon my sentence, but realization struck him fast immediately he saw the spot I was looking at,

"don't you dare"

he said protecting the spot with his hands

"it depends on whether you will pull that stunt again"

I said looking away from him

"okay , trust me,I won't"

he said and stopped holding the spot

"okay,now let's go meet Uncle Withward"

I said opening the door and leaving the room

Subaru's POV:

"one would think that he would want to play such pranks and get closer to me since I would soon be leaving but no,he's even scaring me to the extent that leaving might become a comfortable option, sigh😔"

I lamented my situation in sorrow to myself

"Subaru come ,we can't keep Uncle Withward waiting"

Ascimos came back showing only his head and beckoning on me to come

"okay, I'll be right there"

I said and left the room.

Meanwhile:

"ugh,where could this kids be?"

Uncle Withward said checking his pocket watch

"didn't you call them"

he asked looking at Aunt Layla who was by this time perpetually glued to him and sometimes secretly rubbing her cheeks with his arm but he didn't mind,as soon as Uncle Withward asked her the question she immediately stood upright and said

"of course I did,or don't you trust me?"

she asked looking at him while smiling

"I trust you,but it's just that...Ha, nevermind, please let's get into the carriage shall we?"

Uncle Withward said rubbing his head

"are we seriously leaving without them?"

Aunt Layla asked bending her head to the side seeming perplexed

but her question was only visited by Uncle Withward entering the carriage,stretching his hand towards her and said

"shall we?"

her face immediately became red and she took his hand and entered into the carriage

"no ,I can't leave them even if I wanted to,I am their attendant after all...."

he said whispering to her ear and replying her question

"you're really serious about your work,huh Sir Withward?"

she asked looking through the window of the carriage at the clouds while smiling,

|.... Aunt Layla's thought: for a second I thought you wanted to take me out on a romantic trip for only me and you....|

,then she continued

"me and my sister can't really say our resolve is as strong as yours though"

"I won't really say that because I see the efforts you guys put in,and I can say of a certainty that it isn't small,so don't beat yourself up"

he said touching her on the shoulder then smiled showing his 32 set of glistening teeth

"thanks"

Aunt Layla said

"don't mention"

he replied and immediately went to the front of the carriage where the ropes for guiding the horses were

"hey Sir Withward?"

Aunt Layla called out to him

"yes?"

he replied

"I know you are all serious about this your attendant thing but it's good to take a breather once in a while"

she said looking at his back because she was to sit inside the carriage while sir Withward was to manipulate the horses

"so, what does that mean?"

he asked her ,even though she couldn't see his face see knew he was confused

"I mean let's give them a little scare them"

she said and came closer to him whispering into his ear

"oh,you may be right that may be able to bring them out"

and like that Uncle Withward struck the horse and the carriage began to move but before they could get far they were visited by a loud call and Aunt Layla immediately turned back to see Subaru and Ascimos running after them and shouting Uncle Withward's name

"sigh, there goes our prank"

Aunt Layla said looking at Ascimos and Subaru and giving a disappointed look

Ascimos POV:

"ugh,why did this have to happen?"

I said waving my hand to the carriage that both Aunt Layla and Uncle Withward had boarded while running towards them

I turned back to look at Subaru who was also running with all his might

"hate to say I told you so ,so I ain't gonna say it even though I already have"

I said and turned back to look at the carriage,I wonder what would make Uncle Withward want to leave without us, probably Aunt Layla's bas influence on him.

Uncle Withward stopped the carriage for us so we were able to catch up with the carriage and we took our seats.

"I was afraid you guys won't make it"

Aunt Layla said with innocent puppy eyes🥺

I was patting Subaru on his back because at this point he was breathing quite heavily even though the distance we ran wasn't that long

"why wouldn't we?"

I answered Aunt Layla's sentence with a question because I felt that if I was to say anything beyond that I would cross the boundary of playing and downright insulting her which is the last thing I would ever want to do with someone close to me, even if I may do it unconsciously

"and by the way ,Please why are you here?"

Subaru was able to successfully compose himself enough to ask that question

"yeah,why are you really here?"

I repeated the question giving Aunt Layla a sassy look and drawing the pronunciation of the 'here'

"well,you see..."

Aunt Layla was about to give an explanation when Uncle Withward took over

"your mom's decided that she should follow us,her skills may be required"

he said not turning back ,so I couldn't see his expression but I am sure he wasn't giving one at the moment

"sigh,I wish I had known if not I'd..."

before I could finish my sentence I was stopped short by the frightening stare of Aunt Layla

"you'd what Ascimos?"

she asked staring at me with the intent to kill

"I would have packed up some refreshment for you, cause you may feel parched during the journey"

I said immediately changing my sentence for fear of being murdered,

|....sigh,I wonder how Uncle Withward can keep up with Aunt Layla and Lia when they both obviously may be Yanderes, I'm pretty sure they're the main reasons why other female don't approach him,we both know the only reason she must have agreed to this is to spend some time with Uncle Withward....|

"oh,no need to worry ,I've already eaten breakfast and most importantly have been hydrated,it won't be problem to last for the whole journey without food and water"

she said smiling

"Oh, that's nice"

I said trying to quickly get out of the conversation

"it's about time we go, Subaru,are you feeling better now?"

Uncle Withward asked fixing his glasses and turning back to look at Subaru who at this point has gotten back some of his strength

"yeah, let's go"

Subaru said looking better now

"Alright"

uncle Withward replied and then he said 'hiya' signaling the horse 🐎 to move but as soon as it was about to we saw a hand holding the door to the carriage

"oh,madam,what are you doing here? you should be sleeping"

uncle Withward said looking to the door

"oh,I know, I just wanted to see you guys off, where's Subaru?"

the person who held the door was none other than Subaru's mother aunt Rachel

"I'm here mom"

he replied

I kept on looking from side to side in search of my mom,I thought she may had come,I don't really know if aunt Rachel was able to see through me but immediately she saw me she said

"little sis,is still asleep,"

she said rubbing her eyes , right now she was in her night gown ,so one can assume she just came out from the bed, that's to show how much of an importance her son is to her,not that I am jealous or something but...

I kept on looking between Subaru and Rachel thinking how good it must be to have a mom like her

|...Subaru's Pov: what's she doing here? I can see all through her fake smile, probably has an evil plan in the back of her head, something that may taunt me, that's probably why we're on this trip to begin with.....|

"hello mother"

I said erasing all those side thoughts in my head forming smile

I may behave like as if I don't like her presence but she's my mom and I love her with all my heart,

"oh Subaru,there you are"

she said turning to look at me, I was lying on my knee so that's why she may not have seen me but it's probably because of her having sleepy eyes

"yes mom what is it? please can you make it quick we have already wasted alot of time as it is"

I said honestly speaking what I thought but for some reason I was pinched really hard by Ascimos,I was barely able to hold my groan

"don't be like that ,I just came to give you a present"

she said smiling

"and what could that be?"

I asked looking curious,it may be a birthday present

it's too early for my birthday, it's about two months time but by that time I would have already be in the academy and I can't come back until about 6 months, so maybe she thought that since she won't be able to celebrate with me then,she decided to give me the present early?

I was deep in thoughts when my mother slowly came to me and kissed me on my fore head

"huh?"

I said surprised,

I heard a bit of a chuckle from Ascimos

"that's the present,be a good boy to both Uncle Withward and Aunt Layla,you too Ascimos"

she said raising her index finger

"okay"

we both said

"oh and before I forget this is for you Ascimos"

she then went closer to Ascimos and kissed him on the head

"your mom said I should give that to you from her"

He immediately turned red,wow,he enjoys it? I asked myself

"once again thank you Withward and Layla for this"

she said looking at both of them smiling

"no problem ma'am, it's our jobs as attendants"

uncle Withward replied smiling

"indeed"

while Aunt Layla said agreeing to his sentence

"I know,but you two are more than attendants,you two are family"

she said and left us walking straight back inside the mansion

"your mom sure does have a way with words"

Uncle Withward said not turning to look at me

"I know right?"

I replied

"alright we have wasted enough time already, let's go"

he then motioned the horse to move

I then turned back to look at the door of the mansion thinking of my mom

"it's moments like this that makes me think that I am the bad one, not that she's actually done anything bad to me but still..."

I said then look front

"sigh, there's no need thinking about it too much, besides,the more I see the less I know

Ascimos POV:

I wonder why aunt Rachel and mom have red hair and blue eyes rather than red hair and eyes according to their hair color like everyone else

"a mystery for another day,I guess"

I said to myself thinking no one heard when

"what?"

Subaru asked

"oh it's nothing"

I replied