Just as I arrived at the room, I was greeted like that, there were no dishes on the table yet, so I couldn't help but think that they were waiting for me to join them for quite some time now .
Also my mother tone when she was telling me to sit down was that of someone who was irritated, seeing that there was no need to provoke her anymore, I did as she told me two and took a seat in the place beside her .
Seeing the two people's in front of me expressions, I understood that they too seem surprised by what was going on here similar to me, as for what they thought exactly about this was unclear to me, but I couldn't help but use the magic that I had recently acquired from my mother and asked Tatsuya mentally about his thoughts, saying :
* So did she force you guys to do this ? .
He was surprised at first as I noted that his eyes widened slightly at my words, but then he looked at me and said :
Good morning, I hope you had a good rest .
I understood what he was trying to do and was about to respond, but then a reprimanding voice sounded from beside me, it was my mother's sulking and with a tint of playfulness voice, she was saying :
You should have first greeted the people who had been waiting for you, before you took a seat, but I guess we will need to work on you learning some manners on later time .
She was reprimanding me for lacking table manners, well those weren't subjects that I was familiar with, but I still tried to appease to her and stood up again and said :
" Good morning, mother, Miyuki-san, Tatsuya-san, happy now .
Good morning to you Ryuu-san .
Well that came quite late, but it's better late than never, I guess Good Morning to you as well then .
Tatsuya only simply nodded at me and that was the answer he wanted to give me, he didn't want for my mother to know of this exchange in information, that was why he created a situation where he can give me the answer without raising any suspicions .
I sat down on my seat again and no one talked to one another or said anything for that matter, the room doors were suddenly opened and breakfast dishes began to be put in front of us on the table one after another, there was quite the variety of food in front of me .
The table took a whole 10 minutes to be set and filled with mouthwatering dishes, I soon calmed down myself not to earn another berating from her, after the food table was all set, the maids that were responsible for setting the table kept looking at me from time to time, that what made him take so long in setting the table .
But after a cough from the head maid in the house, all those women were scared to do anything like that again and focused more on doing their jobs, but most of them were still stealing glances at me, not wanting them to be berated because of me, I ignored those glances and focused on the table that was being set .
After the 10 minutes passed, the maids left the room and I wanted to go ahead and eat, but just as I held the spoon, I saw my mother looking at me with a squinted eyes and understood that I had already earned yet another berating from her .
I retained the hand that went for the spoon just now back and looked at her, she only gave me a cold stare then crossed her hands together and said :
Thanks for the food .
Seeing her like this, I couldn't help but look at the two siblings in front of me and gesturing with my eyes as if wondering what was going on here, but it seemed that I wasn't the only person her actions shock, Tatsuya was able to keep his composure as always, but Miyuki for a few seconds and until here brother seemed to have reminded her of where she was, she too did the exact same thing as my mother .
Tatsuya followed right after and I was the only one who wasn't praying like they did, so I not wanting to be left out, also blessed my food and just a few seconds after that, I began to hear a faint chuckles escaping from the the mouth of my mother, I couldn't help but raise my head and look at her and I saw her setting there smiling as she said :
You should have seen the expressions on the faces of all you three, they were quite funny .
Not following what exactly was she doing or trying to say, I couldn't help but looke confusingly at her, she seeing my filled with confusion face, she said :
You don't need to worry about manners and these kinds of things for now, you will be taught about them properly, I was just messing with you, you can go ahead and start with your meal, but don't be as hurry and loud as you were yesterday, after all there are ladies here .
Hearing her say this, I couldn't help but want to find a place to hide, I was so embarrassed at her mentioning this that I wanted to get up and leave immediately, looking at the person who caused me to be so embarrassed, I saw him looking elsewhere as if this wasn't his fault .
Damn that emotionless face of his, turning my head to Miyuki, I saw her looking at my mother with an expression that of shock, she was in so much shock and was widening her eyes at the words she just say, this was the only reason that I could think of .
Is something wrong Miyuki-san ? .
Huh, hmmm, no, there's nothing, sorry for spacing out .
The girl should have anticipated that when she stared at the abyss, the abyss would be staring back at her as well, that was what came to my mind, seeing the interaction between the two and how frightened was Miyuki at my mom's question .
I couldn't help but shook my head inwardly and wonder about how much were those two guys traumatized from my mother and what could possibly might she have done, aside from what I have been able to realize that is .
Why are you all not eating, have you lost your appetite .
Hearing her say this, was as if a signal was given to our brains to start eating, or else something real ugly might happen, so we all began to eat the food on our plates in silent, but she was right about losing my appetite .
After taking a few spoons of the food in front of me, I felt like I already had enough and put down my spoon, the reason was because she was staring at me like a hawk and she wasn't even eating, she sat there watching me with a playful smile on her face .
I tried to look at the two guys in front of me for help or for someone to at least distract her a little from me, but the two were deliberately ignoring me as if telling me that it was my problem and only I need to deal with it .
One was looking like he was focusing on the food in front of him and the girl who I had thought I befriended her, was shifting her eyes from one item on the table to another .
I messaged the brother and he seemed to have found a way already to block me from being able to do that, the girl on the other hand wasn't able to block me, but she acted surprised at me doing this, then completely ignored my calls for help .
Seeing that I was really on my own, I decided to take matters into my own hands and stopped eating and turned my head and met her gaze, she wasn't even a little bit surprised at this, all she did was saying :
Is something wrong with the food, yesterday you was able to at least eat dozen times what you ate, is it not to your liking, tell me what you would like to eat and I will make them prepare it for you directly, or were my words earlier the reason to why you lost your appetite, I apologize if that was the case .
I looked at her more intently and wondered whether will it be okay, if I were to go berserk right here and now, but in the end I shook my head in response to her and calmed myself down first before saying :
" I'm already full, so there is no need for that, it seemed that the food I ate yesterday had not being properly digested, so eating this sum was more than enough .
Is that so, then if that's the case, would you like for me to call someone to pour some tea for you ? .
" There is no need for you to do this, I can do it myself .
Well, my appetite for today's breakfast is small as well, so could you pour me a cup with you .
I felt a little bit weird at her acting like this, but I still nodded at her and poured her a cup, then poured myself one as well, it didn't really matter to me that much, but I kept having a bad feeling about this .
After handing her the cup, I took mine and sat at the other end of the table, there wasn't much a reason behind my actions, I just didn't want to be seen as a bother, by the guys that were still eating, but it seemed that my hunch was indeed spot on .
She waited until I took the very first sip of my cup of tea, at that moment she said :
I had a question that kept gnawing at my mind yesterday and since we all are here, I thought of asking it, who was stronger between You and Tatsuya-san, Ryuu-kun ? .
Hearing the sudden question after taking a sip of the two almost made me spat all of it out of my mouth, but I was still able to keep enough composure to swallow it all at once and turn to face her completely bewildered at what she was actually asking .
I wasn't the only words who reacted to these words, the two guys that were having a less than good time had completely stopped eating now and even put their spoons and forks on the table, they turned their gazes to me first in a complete sync and then they joined me in staring at the person who asked the question .
The atmosphere in the room become quite weird, I couldn't help but wonder if that was her intention from the start, to make all the people here very uncomfortable, but discarding this thought from my mind and seeing that no one seemed to be taking the initiative to say anything, I said :
" Can I ask what made you keen on knowing the answer to this question ? .
She sat there swirling the cup of tea in her hand around for a few seconds, after hearing my question she finally stopped and then she said :
There was really no particular reason, maybe call it a mother's instinct, but more than that would be the words you had said yesterday about being confidant that Pledge won't have any effect on you, even though it worked fine on Tatsuya-san, I'm already aware that he can be able to break free if he wanted to, but still, I couldn't help but wonder about who was stronger between the two of you, that was all .
After hearing her words, I couldn't help but sigh while thinking that this just sounded indeed too much like her, I was surprised at this thought and had to remind myself that I had only met her for no more than a day, not even a full day had passed since I met her .
But after hearing her answer, I couldn't help but size Tatsuya up and down, his sister seeing me doing this shuddered a little, but I raised my hand and gestured to her that everything was good and gave her a slight smile, that weirdly and easily enough was able to make her calm down a little .
After this part passed, I already had an answer for her, but I was recalling what had happened yesterday and how her words now sounded like he got released from whatever shackles that were on him after my timely appearance .
I was sizing him up and down and he was doing the exact same thing, neither of us were using our superpowers to crack the other's secrets, maybe out of respect to one another .
I at least know my reason for that was because I wasn't taking this seriously at all, as for him I don't know what he was thinking, but one thing was clear to me, he wasn't happy about this kind of development or maybe this kind of question being asked .
I decided to keep my mouth shut and if he were to follow my steps, I very much believe that she would finally let this matter go, at least I hoped, but even though Tatsuya seemed to have understood my intention and cooperated with me, she didn't play by the rules and still insisted on having an answer to the ridiculous question that she had just asked, she said :
Sooo, who do you think is going to win between the two if they were to fight Miyuki-san ? .
All of a sudden the timid and quite traumatized girl was pushed into the fry, the girl wasn't ready for that and the moment she was asked, she said :
I believe onii-sama will wi.... .
She paused as she was about to finish the sentence, but then took a glance at me who called Fluffy to my side as a joke, at least I thought that it would be funny, but her not familiar with my sense of humor thought that I might really do something to the rabbit, she gulped at my action and seemed to have become quite fond of that rabbit .
I couldn't help but think about sending one to Major General Saeki and see what her reaction would be, but which animal should I choose, maybe I will give her something that looked like her in my mind .
As I was thinking like that, Miyuki stopped looking at me and then at my mother, the latter had quite an amused expression on her face witnessing all this happening and she seemed actually genuinely amused, the girl was then able to regain her composure and then she said :
I believe onii-sama would win, if Ryuu-san didn't take this seriously, but if he were to, from what my brother told me, I actually believe that it will end in a tie .
IS THAT SO, THEN HOW ABOUT A MOCK BATTLE TO DECIDE THE WINNER ? .