"Here are three cabbage soup and three cabbage noodles with dumplings. Enjoy!" The old stall owner said after placing the bowls in front of the three.
"Thank you, Old Man Roku!" Kaya and Umi said at the same time, with the former being louder. Then they turned to Guan and said the same. "Thanks, Guan!"
"No problem, eat up then we will come back to your house after." Guan said, then shifting his eyes towards the dishes.
For its price, Guan could definitely say that this smells really good. If it's really as good as its smell, he could confidently say that this will be one of the stalls that he will go to if he passes by any chance. And it looks like Kaya and Umi are really close to this old man named Roku by how they greet each other when coming here.
Very soon, they dug in and as expected, it's really good. He could even hear Kaya devouring it in the background as he eats calmly.
Then as he was eating, there was suddenly an audible bang of the bowl on the table. Guan looked to his left and found Kaya looking at him with a shy smile and some food debris on the side of her lips. There's an obvious intent in her gaze but she was just embarrassed to say it.
"Please make another cabbage noodle for Kaya, old man," Guan said audibly.
Roku was quick to respond with a laugh. "Another one, coming up!"
"Yes! Thank you, Guan!" Kaya cheered.
After that, she just waited there, humming a song she likely formed just there. Guan is starting to get bothered by the thing on her lips so he stretched out his hand and scooped up the noodle on Kaya's lips.
Surprised by what he did, Kaya's face turned crimson and she lowered her head without saying anything. Umi on the other hand, frowned but did not say anything as well.
They just continued eating there without talking about anything outside the food. It's an inappropriate time after all since it's supposed to be a treat by Guan and it would ruin the mood. After all, what story can they tell other than being trapped with their abusive aunt and uncle? Guan too didn't bother to have a serious conversation with them since they seem to enjoy the food too much like it's the first time they've eaten for a week, which to be fair, they look like they are not being fed well.
They were soon done eating and Guan paid exactly 100 coppers for it. The old man seems to have given him a discount after learning that he's treating the two. But overall, the quality of the food was right for that price.
With that, they came back to the house and as the distance lessened, Guan could feel that the joy Kaya and Umi had earlier vanished as if it hadn't been there in the first place.
"Do you two want to leave this house now?" Guan asked seriously.
"Yes…" Kaya quickly said.
"Then how about this, pack everything up including your brother's belongings then we will wait for him," Guan suggested, getting the two to glance at each other.
They both nodded at the same time and looked back at him. "We will do it."
"Good, you two do that and I'll guard the room where your aunt is sleeping just in case," Guan lied with a smile. "Tell me where her room is so we can start."
"Thank you again, Guan! Aunt is sleeping in the room at the end of the house."
Quickly, they entered the house. The twins enter the first room where they are supposed to sleep while he heads to the very last room of this stone house. The moment he entered inside, he could immediately hear loud snoring from the bed.
It was coming from a fat middle-aged woman with sharp brows currently sleeping on a dented bed. It looks like it wanted to give up but held strong. She looks exactly as Guan is expecting her to be. As supposed, he should thank her and her husband for what they did to the three, since they basically made everything easy for him.
And so he decided to give her a reward.
Moving closer to the window, Guan grabbed each end of it and gripped it hard. Pouring his Qi through his hand, the stone walls started to move, and slowly, the window was mostly sealed. He left a few small holes in there so air can enter inside but it will block most of her voice if she decides to scream for help. The wall of this house is pretty solid and thick so it will take anyone that's a non-bender a long time to free her.
Then he moved towards the door and exited the room, after that, he did the same thing to the door making the room sealed from every corner. He wanted to do more but he can't waste too much time here.
He then walked to the other room and saw that the twin was almost done with packing their belongings. It was wrapped in a cloth bag and they don't seem to have many clothes because of how small it was. Then Kaya suddenly dug the ground underneath the bed and it revealed a scroll which she then put into her bag.
If Guan guessed it right, that's an Earthbending scroll that allows Hiro to learn Earthbending. It now makes more sense.
Sensing his gaze, Kaya looked inside the bag and back at him with realization. "This is a scroll that my father left us. For some reason, Hiro suddenly started training after finding this scroll and then weeks later, he suddenly could move the earth like the city guards."
"Hiro said that we shouldn't open it so we didn't," Kaya said, blushing as she took it out. "I can let you take a look…"
–
He's too handsome! Kaya couldn't bring herself to look at Guan's eyes directly. It's an instinct she suddenly had ever since they met today, and it became more and more intense every time he did something for her, such as touching her lips. That moment felt like she would explode because of how much blood rushed into her face.
Even this time, her mouth suddenly said things without much thought from her. The moment she saw his interest in the scroll, her mind immediately gave in, it forgot that she wouldn't even try opening this herself before, it forgot that Hiro didn't even allow his sisters to open it, let alone a stranger, it immediately forgot how valuable this was to their family. She just instinctively thought that it's a way to get closer to Guan. She doesn't know why. Is it love at first sight? Likely. Can she control it? No.
"Sure, let me take a look for a second." He walked towards her with steady steps, his presence gave off a brotherly vibe, much similar to her older brother, but there's much more to it.
Her hand instinctively moved closer to the center of the scroll as Guan went for it, trying to make their hands touch, but to her disappointment, he grabbed the end of the scroll. He then stretched it open and started reading. His eyes moved fast, and not even five seconds later, he closed the scroll and gave it back to her.
"So that was it…" Guan mumbled, a little disappointment visible in his expression.
"Is something wrong?" Kaya quickly asked, worried. "Did you find anything inside?"
He lowered his gaze back at her, and instantly, she was looking at her bag again, fixing stuff inside that's not even messy. She could randomly get serious and not back down on eye contact, but when they're this close, it's impossible.
"It's an Earthbending scroll, meant to teach the basics of Earthbending. If I could guess, it's from the Omashu army based on the drawing and the logo inside."
"So that's why!"
That's why Hiro suddenly can move and shape the ground after this scroll, why he barred them from opening it. It's not because it's dangerous or anything like that, it's to protect them from Uncle and Aunt. Because the moment they saw him shape the ground, they immediately got him a dangerous job, which she didn't know until now.
"Can I ask you two where did you get this scroll?" There's an obvious seriousness in Guan's face as he asked.
"I honestly don't know, Hiro suddenly had it…" Kaya anxiously answered, thinking that the scroll must be something illegal to have for normal people like them.
"Hiro got it from our father's backpack after he died, he just didn't open it and instead buried it under his bed," Umi paused. "That's until Aunt and Uncle started beating us three whatever they wanted… I guess that explains everything."
"So father must be someone who can shape the earth as well…"
"We don't see him use that skill, or remember seeing it, but he's part of the city guards, so it's likely. Though there's a chance that he's not since he has a spear weapon."
City guards have two categories based on what she knows: anyone holding a weapon is a non-bender, and those without one are Earthbenders like the ones that are guarding the entrances.
"We should get going now, we still have to wait for your brother so we can all go to our home, your new home…" Guan said.
"Okay, I'm ready!" Kaya excitedly stood up.
"Yeah." Umi mumbled.
-+-
Consider joining my Patreon if you want to support me and read a chapter ahead of my works.
P-treon.com/Ainzor