Mind Reader - β

Chapter 10 - The Power of Silence

"Responsibility? What does a brat like you know about responsibility?"

Even though I was terrified, I shouldn't let him gain any more momentum.

"I only know what you taught me. One should always take responsibility for one's action."

"You little..."

I wanted to run away right this instant. However, it wasn't so bad when thinking about it. He was scary but that was nothing in comparison to the people in my class. Or so I tried to self-hypnotize myself with.

The most important part was to look confident and never break eye contact. I crossed my arms on my chest and stayed silent. My message my clear. I was right and he was wrong.

("Heh. Look at him, trying to look good in front of the girl. So young.")

For some reason, he lost his anger and even smiled a little.

'How long has it been since he smiled at me?'

("Guess I didn't completely fail his education. He barely looks like a man like this.")

'What?! Was this what he had been expecting of me for so many years? Argh! So much suffering just for this? Why didn't he just tell me? Why couldn't I get this mind-reading power earlier? I wouldn't have needed to endure so much pain!'

His grin didn't last long. His face went back to normal soon after and he uttered.

"Fine. Five days. No more."

My mood made a full 180 degrees shift.

'I did it! I can't believe it but I did it! I won an argument with my father for the first time in my life! What a day!'

I turned around to rejoice with Aginaci but we were interrupted by the loud noise of my sister slamming her door open with a bang.

"Are you serious, Dad? Yes! Hey, your name is Aginaci? What's your relationship with my brother? What happened at school? Come chat with me!"

Just like a tornado, she took Aginaci to her room and closed the door with another bang. No one was able to react to the event, not even Aginaci herself. My father and I looked at each other with a weird look before he turned back to the TV as if nothing had happened.

Since my sister would never let me in her room, I had no other choice but to go to mine.

'Good luck, Aginaci.'

I laid down on my bed and finally relaxed. One good thing done. Five days weren't a lot but it was better than nothing. In the meanwhile, we could think of another solution. Plus, if my family liked her, she might be able to stay longer.

Ten minutes later, my mother called everyone for dinner. We all gathered at the table, Aginaci included. My father was sitting at one end of the table and my mother was at the other end. One could think that my father had the dominant position in the family but that wasn't the case. My parents were equal and each specialized in different things. My mother liked cooking so she handled meals for the family. On the other hand, she hated shopping for groceries so my father would do it. And the same was true for tasks around the house. But the most important factor was my mother's character. She was usually mild but became terrifying when upset. That was why we all were careful not to anger her if possible, including my father.

Today's dinner was doner kebab. My mother's cooking variety was amazing and she even prepared this sort of food from time to time. Aginaci was seated next to me and was looking at the bread, meat, mixed salad, and sauce with both an expectant and hesitant look.

("Is that meat? Are they rich enough to afford this? Or is this normal here? And such a nice-looking bread. It smells so good.")

She was almost salivating at the view. She hadn't eaten anything all day long, after all. I made eye contact with her and showed her how to prepare her doner. I took one of the pieces of bread and put some meat, salad, and sauce on it. I then rolled it and closed the extremities. She looked at what I was doing but hesitated some more. When I smiled at her encouragingly, she finally went for it. She imitated me clumsily until she had her doner in hand.

I took a bite of mine and she did the same. It tasted as good as always. The bread was warm and soft, the meat was spiced perfectly while the mixed salad and sauce enhanced the global taste. My mother was such a great cook. When I glanced at Aginaci, her eyes were opened wide, drops of tears running down her cheeks.

("This is... food? This is... This is... I don't know. It's just... otherworldly. How can food taste like this?")

I couldn't blame her. She had only eaten meat a few times in her life. Plus, it wasn't anything comparable to this. It was just hard meat that needed to be cut into small pieces and would be added in tiny quantities into large stews. The rest of the time, she was happy when she could eat some hard bread. During the worse periods, she even had to starve many days in a row.

Unfortunately, my little sister only saw her crying next to me.

"Hey, Wren! Why did you make her cry? What's wrong with you?!"

"I didn't do anything! She's just happy to eat because she didn't eat anything all day. Right?"

Aginaci went out of her reverie and rescued me by acquiescing. I sighed in relief, happy to finally have an ally in this place. My little sister wasn't so jolly with this development and resumed eating with a slight pout.

For normal meals, my mother and sister would chat during the whole thing. However, they had a new target today. My mother was the first to open the conversation.

"You're Aginaci, right? So, what happened at school?"

Because the story came from me, she would have a hard time answering these sorts of questions. As expected, she sent me a look that asked for help. I had no choice but to intervene.

"It's a bit painful for her to talk about it so I'll do it."

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