"Grace, are you in there?"
Marcille said as she knocked on the wooden door three more times. The first time she did so nobody answered. Even with her heightened sense, Yuzuriha couldn't hear a thing on the other side, just the floral scent entering her nostrils.
They waited a few more seconds before she tilted her head.
"Uhm, is she not in today?"
Marcille gave her a tired sigh.
"Probably not. When she has one of her long nights, this sort of thing tends to happen. Come on, let's go inside. She told us we could just go in in times like this"
Yuzuriha didn't know any of that, but nodded her head, nonetheless. Then, without hesitation, Marcille gently pushed the door open.
As they entered, a soft sudden breeze slipped past them, carrying with it a wave of sensations that hit her all at once.
"Ah?"
She let out a surprised yelp, though not loud enough to draw attention from her doting older sister. If she was loud, she might have begun to panic or put her to sleep again.
It didn't hurt when she did it, but it was still unsettling how she could do that with just her fingers. It was almost surreal.
'Get a grip, I live in a world full of magic now. I should be used to these kinds of things, unless I want myself to stand out'
Yuzuriha slapped herself on the cheek with both hands, putting her focus back on the apartment.
Her hyper senses smelled the tang of ink on worn book covers, the rustling of pages turning somewhere, the hiss of steam from a boiling kettle and finally the carriage wheels creaking in the streets below.
'The window must be open'
Despite sensing all of these sensations at once, she didn't feel overwhelmed by them. In fact, they actually helped her to get a mental image of what the place might look like.
"What a mess"
Marcille's amused voice snapped Yuzuriha out of her concentration. This was accompanied by her reaching out and grabbing her hand.
"Careful, step forward. There's a basket full of yarn right by the door and a stack of books, I think"
As Marcille led her through the cluttered path of the apartment, Yuzuriha felt her shoes brush against the edge of something soft and unstable. Passing it, she was thankful that she didn't knock over whatever that was.
A second after, the scent of old parchment and wild herbs clung to everything but it wasn't as great as that floral scent. It had cloaked the entire place.
'There's no doubt by the time we leave here, we'll reek of it. Ah, well that doesn't matter. What matters is what we are doing here?'
Yuzuriha knew for a fact that everyone in the Drapes family was going somewhere when she was getting ready in the morning. Leo and Willow had to go to school, whereas Marcille had to go to work.
That left her then, since she wasn't going to school then what were they doing in the apartment of their neighbor from across the hall?
As soon as she thought of that question, the answer became evident. Not because of past memories, but just common sense.
The only reason Marcille was leaving her with an untidy woman was because…
'She's leaving me with a babysitter!'
At that moment, Yuzuriha felt conflicted. By counting her physical appearance and disability, a babysitter is an appropriate option. But her 30 year old mentality waved against it.
She was a grown woman who didn't need a babysitter to watch over her. She was once the CEO of a multi million yen corporation. She was pretty capable by herself!
'Keyword being 'was', ahww'
Yuzuriha pouted at the realization. She didn't really have much of a choice of her own anymore, especially not in a new world where she had little to no information on.
She gave in to obedience as Marcille began to speak.
"Aunt Grace won't be back for a while. She probably found something new to fixate on in the library again"
Yuzuriha sank carefully onto the cushions of a couch Marcille led her to. Her fingers traced the texture of the worn fabric and scattered throw pillows.
"Yor, if you get hungry, there's bread in the kitchen, the middle shelf. And you can mix that with jam, the one in the ceramic jar. Oh, if Leo comes by, tell him not to cook until supper. I left that note last time and he ignored it. I'm hoping if it's coming from you, he'll listen
If he does ignore you too, I left some duck meat inside the icebox. You can tell him to get creative with it"
Yuzuriha nodded, unsure as to how a blind little girl was supposed to make food for herself in this strange house, but she nodded still…
"Got it. Bread and jam. Duck meat for dinner, uh…supper"
With that, Marcille gave her hand a squeeze before letting go.
"Well close enough. I'll be back later. If you want to go to the bathroom. Careful not to trip over anything, please. And tell Grace I said hi for me—"
"—What's the rush? You can tell her that yourself"
The voice that came from behind Marcille was so low, smooth and sudden that it even caught Yuzuriha off guard. What it said didn't sound like a threat, but its unexpectedness made the air tighten like a drawn bowstring.
Like a predator constantly in a state to pounce, Marcille's body coiled with instinct. Without warning, there was a wide arc gap in the dense floral scent that cloaked the apartment like mist.
Through that alone, Yuzuriha could imagine that she must have lunged a slicing attack with blistering speed. The strike had cleaved the air with a whistle but there was no point of impact…in other words, it hit nothing.
The strike passed cleanly through the space without resistance.
"Wow…"
She couldn't tell if that was a kick or punch but before she could revel in how amazing that was, Marcille had already stepped in front of her. She could feel her body blocking the path between the mysterious voice and the blind girl behind her.
"Yor, stay behind me"
Marcille's tone sounded serious, even the air felt charged, however…
…the voice returned, but this time it was high pitched, with a lifting playfulness that broke the tension like a snapped string.
"Marci, Marci, calm down! You're going to break my teacups again!"
It was the voice of a woman, as in who it belonged to, Yuzuriha didn't need to confirm it.
"...Grace?"
A sharp clatter came from the far side of the room which was followed by the shuffle of hurried footsteps, then a loud clink as something metallic hit the floor.
"Oh, Stars, that was the lid to the experimental formula. Marci, do you remember that thing I told you about? The new potion my husband's working on? Its function is supposed to nullify all acoustics—sounds, I mean. He's been experimenting with a compound that coats surfaces and scrambles the acoustic feedback, but apparently it's too glitchy right now. It even blocked my voice in the hallway. I think that's why you didn't hear me coming in"
She took a breath then closed it with.
"That said. Good morning you two!"