Chapter Text
“Father, ya reckon this here’s a good idea?” Kyouka speaks with seeds of doubt blossoming from the buds on her tongue. “A babysitter seems unnecessary. The servants are more than capable of balancin’ housework duties whilst also keepin’ an extra eye out for Zanka. Ain’t like he does much to need a babysitter in the first place."
“If I may throw my two cents in, I gotta side with Onee-sama with this one to some extent.” Goka slides into the conversation. “Puttin’ our trust in some mystery individual feels like it could lead to some risky scenarios poppin’ up, don’tcha think? Not many people get the opportunity to set foot in our estate. I do not like the idea of a stranger bein’ in close proximity with our weakest link.”
Kyouka nods in agreement. “Zanka's far too young to fight back if trouble comes knockin’ with whoever we entrust him with. He still sleeps with a small lantern lit up by his futon; I ain’t too confident with this arrangement.”
The older figure turns to face them, face tight knit, scanning over them with a look of deep thought.
“I understand where yer both comin’ from, but we can’t fully depend on the current set of staff, seein’ as how their duties and schedule would get all outta whack if we piled takin’ care of Zanka all day on top of their already full plates. It’s best if we dedicate just one person to take care of the kid so we won’t have to do all sorts of mental gymnastics to come up with a rotational schedule with the maids.” He explains.
“This here babysitter is just a temporary fix since you both will be occupied for two weeks or more, dependin’ on how well ya’ll do. We ran a background check, the babysitter has some experience with handlin’ little ones, guy came from an orphanage and such. Seemed relatively harmless during the interview process. We chose the best candidate out of the 20 people who applied.” The older man kneels in front of them, sliding over a folder.
“Rest assured that Zanka’s in…decent hands.”
≻─── ⋆✩⋆ ───≺
“Nee-sama…is that really the guy?” Goka stares at the guy who was standing in front of their estate through a window with his eyes bulging out of his eye socket.
She walks over to him, massaging the aching feeling near her neck and spine.
“Can’t be that bad—is he usin’ an umbrella in clear weather?” Kyouka pushes Goka aside, taking a look at the stranger herself. “That’s about as useful as a trash can in no man’s land.”
“I don’t wanna distrust Father’s judgement, but will this really be a good idea?” He’s hesitant to open the door. “He seems like the type to start trouble when the teacher ain’t lookin’ over the students.”
“You know the rules; whatever Father says goes. He might not seem responsible, but he could easily prove us wrong, and I do hope that he does. I don’t look forward to becomin’ a family of 4.” Kyouka shudders at the thought of Zanka getting taken away and shipped off to no one knows where.
That kid really can’t be a help to himself, so she hopes that whatever divine spirit there is will lend them some help and shield their weakest link from any harm that comes his way.
They were raised to depend on no one but themselves. The fact that she’s banking on something she can’t prove the existence of to ward off danger from Zanka should speak for itself.
“Be a dear and get the door before some guards mistake him as a thief scoutin’ out our estate; we don’t need them scarin’ off more people.” Kyouka rests a hand on his shoulder, motioning with her other hand to let the guy in.
“I reckon you greet him, you’re the eldest after all. Don’tcha have to set a good example for us?” Goka takes a step back and shooes her hand away.
“Are you talkin’ back?” Her eyebrows tightened, and she scrunched her face into an intimidating gaze.
Goka might be growing taller than her, though that doesn’t mean that she can’t stare him down.
“No, it’s called havin’ a conversation.” Goka gulps. “If you deal with the guy, I’ll do the dishes for a week.”
“That would be a temptin’ offer if Father didn’t rid us of chores for the next few weeks. The reason why we need this guy in the first place is that the staff will be replacin’ us with our chores.” Kyouka reminds him, which earns her a loud groan from the younger boy.
“Unless you want to give Zanka some sugar that is…I reckon he’s gotten rather lonely from not being able to cling to us at all since last week, he’ll be happy to see you wakin’ him up—”
“On a second thought, I’ll take my chances with that stranger out there.”
≻─── ⋆✩⋆ ───≺
Enjin’s dead broke.
He’s never suffered such financial loss.
Granted, he never had the money in the first place to even reach the negatives.
But hey, he’s a new boy now. One with a name, and an empty stomach.
He desperately needs a job before he drops to the floor and starts clutching his stomach in hunger.
He might also need that money to search for him.
Ever since arriving in Kamuatari, he’s been working odd jobs that include moving boxes, mopping floors at restaurants whose names he can’t pronounce, and other miscellaneous jobs that people ignore like a trash storm because the people here deem themselves higher than a busboy.
He’s landed himself in the land of the snobs, much to his dismay. At least the jobs pay higher than average.
The town’s people here get a decent living just based on how things work differently than in other towns. The hellguard runs this place like the damn navy, must be why everyone around here looks like they’re always on the brink of constipation.
That aside, he’s gotten bored with clearing tables at restaurants for the off chance that the cook for the day had a heart to spare him a free meal, only to then tell him to fuck off to the streets when nighttime rolled around.
So when he heard word of a prestigious family looking for an in-house babysitter to take care of some spoiled brat for a couple of weeks in exchange for some decent cash, meals, clean water to bathe in and even a bed, Enjin jumped through hoops to seem qualified for the job and somehow managed to convince that scary old guy—who he guessed was the head of the family—and even himself that he was completely capable of taking care of a three year old.
As comfy as the dirt ground was in Kamuatari compared to the trashed land he used to sleep on before arriving here, he could really use a bed before his spine humanizes itself and jumps Enjin for the things he’s made them sleep on.
He might hate children and their grubby hands that grasp random objects to gobble down on, but this is what the job that pays the most right now is; how was he going to deny such a nice-paying job?
Here he stands in front of what he feels like is a castle in the clouds, under a damn tree, waiting for anyone to open the door. Honestly, he could marvel at the architecture of this place for days on end; it almost made him forget that the world they live in was a living dump.
He isn’t even bothered by the order to arrive early and having to walk here at the ass crack of dawn when it’s still chilly, and the sun is still snoozing off. He feels like a gambler who just bet his entire life savings away, only to win and walk away with money that could be passed down to the next generation of his own flesh and blood.
Eventually, he sees a boy around his age opening the door, and so he closes his umbrella to make his way over to him.
The dude had a not-so-friendly scowl on his face, you’d think someone took a fat dump in his morning coffee.
“Hey! You brother of the kid that I gotta look over?” Enjin tilts his head.
The boy looks a bit younger than him if Enjin had to take a guess at when he popped out.
He sticks his hand out with a cheeky grin. “I’m Enjin, pleased to work with ya!”
“...Goka. I’m Goka Nijiku. Ya must be that babysitter. We’ll be putting our trust in ya.”
Enjin blinks. “Uh—Could you repeat that? I don’t think I caught the rest at the end there.”
Goka squints at him like he was trying to read an expiration date that was written in small letters while blending into the packaging.
“Forget it, I’m Goka Nijiku. The rest was mere pleasantries.”
They shake hands.
Goka quickly retreats his hand and wipes it on his clothes. “Where’s your luggage? I’ll show you to the guestroom, then you’ll meet Zanka.”
Ah, Zanka, that was the kid’s name? Honestly, Enjin passed out after the interview. It all felt like a dream that was too good to be true. He could barely recall a thing.
“I don’t have much stuff, it’s all here, don’t worry ‘bout it.” He pats the bag resting by his side.
Goka gives him a look of befuzzlement before shifting back to that cold stone face. Enjin swears he’s seen that look on that old man too. Shivers!
“We’ll supply you with a change of clothes, please take a shower before interacting with our youngest—” Goka bites his tongue, realizing how rude that might have come off as. “W-We don’t know where you’ve been, and we don’t want him catching anything…weak immune system…kid stuff.”
Enjin brushes it off; he wasn’t expecting him to be all smiles and rainbows. This was the type of behaviour he’d thought he’d be dealing with, so he’s mentally prepared himself well.
“Lead the way.”
≻─── ⋆✩⋆ ───≺
“We’re dealin’ with a total random,” Goka says, exasperated.
Kyouka quirks an eyebrow. “Just how bad we talkin’ here?”
She combs through Zanka’s shoulder-length hair, getting him ready for the day.
“He doesn’t speak a lick of Japanese, bless his heart.” Goka plops down to the floor, seeming stressed out of his mind.
“Yikes, what does he speak?”
“Like…English? He don’t look like he come from around here either.”
“Father hired someone who can’t even speak our tongue?” Kyouka suddenly regrets not taking Goka’s earlier concerns seriously.
“Heard me right. Probably knows some basic words, I don’t think Father would hire someone who don’t know nothin’ ‘bout the language…I mean, hopefully that is.”
“What was he thinkin’ hirin’ someone from outside of town? How bad were the other applicants? Gosh…” She scratches her head.
“Nee-san, we done?” A young voice suddenly speaks.
Kyouka looks down and nods. “You’re free to go, go do whatever it is to make yourself presentable to the babysitter.”
Zanka shimmies out of her lap and stumbles over his feet—still sleepy—to head to a small book rack filled with books their Father lent to him, in hopes that he learns a thing or two from its contents.
“Somethin’ is gonna go wrong, you hear me?”
“Don’t be pessimistic, there are…reasons for this arrangement.” Kyouka sighs, rubbing her nose bridge. “In any case, we’ll hear about it if the guy does end up being as useful as a fisher in farmland.”
Kyouka stands up, dusting her hands on her clothes. “We should tend to our own problems instead of wastin’ more time here. Hurry along now, we’re runnin’ late on our schedule.”
She walks off, expecting Goka to follow her.
The second oldest of the Nijiku lineage spares a glance at his youngest with a sigh.
Zanka was flipping through a book, looking intensely at the words.
“One sec,” Goka yells out to Kyouka.
He goes over to Zanka, peering over him before scooping him up in his arms. “You.”
The kid stares back at him with his large, blue, dazzling eyes. He’s hiding a toothy smile with a pout, though Goka can see right through it. Recently, he’s been copying their facial movements for no particular reason.
Goka relaxes the muscles on his face, and he watches in real time as Zanka copies it.
He frowns.
‘Kids are odd creatures,’ Goka thinks.
Zanka quickly follows with a frown of his own. Which makes Goka frown more, and here comes Zanka following after him again!
“Quit that.” Goka places him down.
“Don’t be ugly. Kyouka and I won’t be there to monitor you both. Be on your best behaviour, ya hear me? You’re still leavin’ an impression on our family, gotta start ownin’ up to the Nijiku name.” Goka repeats the line that has been hammered into his head ever since he was born.
The kid merely nodded, looking up at him expectantly.
“I’mma head out, he should be here soon. T-Take care or whatever…” He turns with a huff, trying to ignore the kid who suddenly runs up to him, hugging his leg.
A pair of grubby hands tugs at his pinky. His shoulder slumps in annoyance, and he tries to pry it away, though to no avail.
“What now?”
Zanka takes Goka’s hand, placing the larger palm on top of his neatly combed hair. His eyes sparkle expectantly. (Who the hell taught him that trick? And why is it working?!)
“Seriously?” Goka groans. “I’m not gonna mess up your hair, Kyouka will kill me—”
Zanka’s lips curved downward in disappointment, and the shine in his eyes threatened to fizzle out and reincarnate itself into shiny tears.
Fuck!
“...Ugh, you’re so darn childish.” Goka ruffles Zanka’s hair, careful not to ruin Kyouka’s handiwork.
He grins widely and breaks into a fit of giggles, leaning into the touch.
“Can I head out now? Kyouka’s waiting for me in the courtyard by now.” Goka pulls his hand away.
Zanka nods his head, giving Goka’s leg one final squeeze. “Bye-bye…”
Goka returns the hug, not willingly, of course, very begrudgingly.
≻─── ⋆✩⋆ ───≺
To say Enjin was in awe would be an understatement.
He walks through the halls of the estate, cracking his head at every detail lining the walls. The dude from earlier gave him general directions as to where to go, so he’s been wandering around for a good couple of minutes just admiring the vibes of this place.
Eventually, Enjin finds the door to what he assumes to be the kid's bedroom. The outside was a bit different from the other rooms he encountered; above the shoji hung a small wind chime, probably to alert people if the kid escaped his bedroom.
He knocks on the wood a couple of times, leaning his ear against the Shoji.
There are noises of paper sheets being flipped.
Was this it?
“Excuse me.” Enjin tries.
Should he open the door? Or does he wait for the kid to do it instead? Was this even the correct room? What if the man who interviewed him was actually the one behind this door, and what if he jumps Enjin for walking in unannounced and seeing classified Hellguard information? Not that Enjin knows what these guys do when retired.
He barely knows what the Hellguard even does. They seem quite useless at certain times.
A shuffling noise takes Enjin out of his mind. He instinctively takes a few steps back.
The shoji slowly slides open, revealing…no one?
He scans the bedroom, and it definitely looks like a child owned it.
Just as Enjin was going to suspect this place of being haunted and a scam, his attention shifts to a strand of light, dusty blonde hair similar to the shade of Goka’s hair peeking out of the corner of his eye.
“...Hi.” A soft voice speaks up hesitantly.
Enjin looks down.
There it was, a small kid who looked around the age they told him he was going to be—3 years old if he remembered correctly—hiding behind the door like an intimidated cat. The kid had the same hair colour as Goka, with one difference being that the kid had some dark brown strands that reached her shoulders.
Weird.
Enjin doesn’t remember hearing anything about a little girl when he got the job descriptions.
“Hey kid—”
“Eek!” The kids jump as she sees Enjin stick his head into the room.
Whoosh—Smack!
“Hold on—ack!—holy shi—” Enjin falls to the ground, clutching his neck.
Did she just attempt to close the door on him?!
“Yo kid, that was not nice!” He coughs, and he rolls over to lie on his back.
The child stares at Enjin—who’s writhing all over the floor—choosing to take small, careful steps towards him.
Zanka plops herself to the floor, blinking her large pupils at Enjin, who’s staring back in disbelief.
“...Hi.” She says again.
“Your line was sorry,” Enjin grumbles.
He was reminded once more as to why he hates children.
Zanka seems quite unbothered by the attempted murder, and instead, she taps her tiny index finger against Enjin’s cheeks. Shoulders jerking up in…surprise?
“Hi,” Zanka repeats once more.
“Yes, Hi,” Enjin replies, getting poked on the other side of his face.
“...” The kid goes silent, her hand lands on Enjin’s hair, and she palms it, looking amazed.
“Uhm.”
They both stay silent, Enjin not knowing what to say, and Zanka’s busy tangling her fingers in Enjin’s hair.
Right okay…
‘Let’s start simple.’ Enjin thinks.
An introduction…yeah, that should work.
“I take it that you’re Zanka?”
Those blue eyes pierce through Enjin’s own eyes once more.
…
No response.
This was going nowhere.
“Hi.”
Enjin’s going to slam his head against a wall.
“Yes, Hi kid. I’m Enjin. What’s your name?” Enjin asks, shooing her hand away and sitting up.
“...You sound like a guy.” She replies.
No correlation at all!
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” He scratches his head.
“That you sound like a guy.”
“Yeah, because I am one?”
“Oh.” Her eyes widen, and suddenly she points at his hair. “But your hair is long.”
“Guys can have long hair—Geez, it ain’t even that long!”
“Hm.” She squints at him. “Okay. Is it real?”
“Are you calling my hair a wig?!”
“...Hi.”
Enjin’s eye twitches.
Zanka looks up at him, one of her eyes winks at him, then it shuts and opens repeatedly—was she making fun of him?!
“Listen here, kid, we gotta get along. I need that paycheck.” Enjin bends over to her eye level, placing his hands on her shoulder.
She giggles and grabs his hair again.
“Youch—what’s the deal, huh, brat?!” Enjin grits his teeth, trying to pry the kid off of him.
This was going to be a long week.
He settles her down on his lap after a good few minutes of her refusing to let go, probably thinking that this was a game.
“Great, my hair’s a mess, thanks a bunch.” Enjin runs his fingers through his hair, already wanting to clock out.
Zanka abruptly stands up, running off to the corner of the room.
“What are you up to now?” Enjin follows her, taking a seat next to a basket she was looking through.
She takes out some sort of hairbrush.
Aww, did she want to fix his hair? Maybe kids weren’t that bad—
≻─── ⋆✩⋆ ───≺
“...I’m sorry for the ruckus that our youngest caused.” Kyouka Nijiku—the eldest of the clan, who just introduced herself to him—says sincerely. She bites down hard on the insides of her cheeks, trying not to seem amused by the whole situation.
She had heard him shout when Zanka decided to attack him and came over to check if either of them had been harmed.
“Well, you know how kids are.” Enjin laughs nervously, smoothing out his hair with his fingers. “It’s fine, I’m not too concerned or anything.
As much as he dislikes getting a hair comb stuck in his hair, he still needs that money, so he’s trying his best to play off the situation.
“Zanka’s got a bit of an interest in hair, for lack of a better word.” Kyouka pats her younger sister’s hair, who was sitting in her lap. “Most of the guys here usually have their hair chopped above the ear—protocol for all male Hellguard member trainees—so he must’ve gotten excited over seeing grown-out hair.”
“Oh, I see, that makes sense—wait, he?” Enjin blurts out, slapping a hand over his mouth.
Kyouka doesn’t seem surprised at his question, just nodding and continuing to pat Zanka’s head. “Mhm. We get that a lot.”
“Ah…I didn’t mean for that to slip.” He rubs the back of his neck.
“No offense taken. I understand the confusion, as I’ve stated, we get that a lot.” She sighs. “We try cutting his hair shorter to lessen any mix-ups, though he doesn’t seem happy whenever we do so. This was our compromise, and yet it seems like the confusion is still there.”
“Well, if that’s what keeps him happy, then what’s the harm?” Enjin shrugs. “Well, thanks for getting that thing outta my hair, I can handle things from here, I think.”
He opens his arms to signal to Zanka to come over to him, but the kid doesn’t budge, preferring to cling to his older sister. “...Or not.”
“Zanka.” Kyouka pulls him off of her.
The kid frowns and clearly doesn’t want to be let go.
“You done promised to be good, ya hear me? Come on now, I’ve got to finish trainin’ Goka before the devil starts to beat his wife. Can already see the clouds darkenin’, the training grounds will be wet if we keep pissin’ in the wind like this.”
Enjin nods along, pretending to understand whatever she was saying.
“Yeah, type shi—” He bites down his tongue.
“Stick by your sister’s words.” A last-minute switch was made in order for him to keep his job.
Zanka ducks his head, letting Kyouka hand him over to Enjin.
“I’ll mosey on over later on if I’ve got free time, okay?”
Whatever it is that she’s saying causes Zanka’s face to brighten up, and he nods eagerly.
“I’ll be heading out. If he causes more trouble, feel free to flag down one of the staff members.”
“Will do.” Enjin hands her a thumbs-up.
The door slides open and shuts without any extra words exchanged between the two.
He turns to the kid who’s already back to staring at his hair.
Enjin wonders if he should shave his hair clean just for the sake of his own sanity.
“Hi.” Zanka reaches up to poke Enjin’s face yet again. “So it’s real?”
Enjin lets out a loud and drawn-out groan. “Yes, it’s real.”
You’d think he told the kid that he was Santa Claus himself with the way his face beamed.
“You wanna touch it or something?”
Zanka nods frantically.
Was it normal for children to be so fixated on hair? He wonders if the kid goes crazy over certain hairstyles or just hair below the ears in general.
“...Fine, but don’t tug on it, ‘mkay?”
Just like that, his eyes get solar retinopathy from the smile Zanka shoots in his direction.
≻─── ⋆✩⋆ ───≺
Someone wanted to play with him.
There was someone who wasn’t going to shoo him away!
The Enjin fellow, his siblings warned him of, was quite a lovely guy, contrary to his older brother’s frantic rambling that Zanka didn’t fully understand, since he wasn’t paying much attention to whatever came out of his mouth.
He let him play with his hair; he was the best! Kyouka rarely allowed him to play with hers ever since he got older. He knows that he’s probably going to get his ears talked off by pestering another person about it, so he’s going to make the best of things before his new friend decides that he’s too old to be doing this!
Zanka giggles, clinging to Enjin’s hand as they walk to the kitchen.
Enjin doesn’t know much about their house, so he takes it upon himself to guide them to the kitchen. Time had flown by fast when they were playing, and soon enough, snack time rolled around. Enjin must be hungry after all that, so it’s his duty to help him!
“Don’t be ugly. Kyouka and I won’t be there to monitor you both. Be on your best behaviour, ya hear me? You’re still leavin’ an impression on our family, gotta start ownin’ up to the Nijiku name.
Zanka scurries over, practically dragging Enjin behind him.
He can’t help but pat himself on the shoulder to be helping someone in need! Even though they were just grabbing snacks in the kitchen.
“Yo, chill out, lil’ dude!”
Zanka pouts. He isn’t little anymore. They told him so!
In retaliation, he releases Enjin’s hand, takes a deep breath, and speeds over to the kitchen. If Enjin was still going to look down on him, then there’s only one thing to do.
Put him in his place!
“Holy crap—don’t run off without me, hello?!”
He hears him yell as he leaves Enjin in the dust. His training with Kyouka had paid off since he was the first to arrive in the kitchen; now, all he had to do was wait for Enjin and see if he had the skills to measure up to the standards.
≻─── ⋆✩⋆ ───≺
“Hi.” Zanka smiles softly at him, looking up at him as if he didn’t do anything wrong.
“Never—hah…Never do that again, dude.” Enjin pants, grabbing the counter after having to chase down the kid. “I didn’t sign up for cardio!”
Zanka runs circles around Enjin with soft giggles. “You passed!”
“Passed out? Yeah, that’s what’s going to happen if you keep scaring me with random crap, kid. Geez…”
Did this 3-year-old just make him do a pacer test just because he told him to slow down? Fuck, he really did underestimate this job. Children are really nuisances. He’s going to have to chop his nuts off to avoid dealing with this in the future.
Zanka holds his hands up, motioning to Enjin to pick him up and seat him on one of the barstools. Enjin does so, taking a seat next to Zanka and passing him a plate of fruit that the staff had left out for him.
“But you did well.” The kid starts eyeing the plate.
“Give me a warning next time before you pull a stunt like that.” Enjin nabs an orange off his plate, plopping it onto his mouth. It’s rare to have access to fresh fruit; who was he to deny this opportunity?
“Warnings?” Zanka asks whilst nibbling on an apple slice. “That would be cheating.”
“Just what are you talking about? Also, finish your food before you speak, I don’t wanna get booted for letting you choke.”
Zanka finishes the remaining slice of the apple before speaking. “Tests are best when…when they’re unexpected because they uh…they’re supposed to…”
Enjin watches as the kid frowns, thinking hard about the words he was supposed to say. He takes this time to grab a few grapes off their vines.
“Mhm, yeah, you’ve got this, dude. Take your time.” He munches on the fruit.
“Tests are always best when they’re unexpected… because when real danger—uhm—come…comes to us, we never know when they come—We never know when danger comes knocking so unexpected tests are best to ee…evael…evaluate our abilities!” Zanka gets it after a few tries.
“So you and your siblings chase each other around the house as we did earlier, I’m guessing?”
“I think? Yes?” Zanka seems confused himself. “But not here! It doesn’t have…have steaks…?”
“I think you mean stakes, buddy.”
Zanka nods. “Mhm, that.”
He finishes the rest of his apple slices.
“They’re usually done outside! I think it’s fun. I like having to find Nee-san! Feels like hide and seek.”
…
“So they’re like superpowers?” Zanka tilts his head.
“No, far from it. It’s more like a crutch, though the co-dependents can’t see it for what it is. It’s plain pathetic if ya ask me.” Kyouka let go of his hand once they reached...somewhere.
Zanka doesn’t register their surroundings; he knows that they’re still in Kamuatari, but that was about it. He wants to ask about what they were doing in an unfamiliar environment, but he doesn’t want to rudely interrupt Kyouka’s speech with a silly question.
“Givers come in varying abilities, though one thing that stays consistent about them is that their anima gives them a boost in physical abilities. So, to keep ‘em in line, we must match ‘em head on to prove that overdependence on an object will only be their downfall.”
“So…givers are bad people?”
“Wrong again.” Kyouka reprimands. “They’re unstable people that can’t go on without the object they obsess over. Givers go 'round actin' like they're big shots, lookin' down their noses at us regular folk just 'cause we ain't got flashy tricks. We gotta put 'em in their place, right down here on our level, and drag 'em out of whatever delusion they're lost in. As Father said, the greatest threat of all is humans, especially if they wield the abilities givers have.”
“I don’t get it.”
“You will one day, hopefully. Bless your heart.” She shakes her head. “One thing ‘bout this job is we gotta chase ‘em down if they try to pull a fast one on us and run away from the law. Today, you’ll learn just exactly that. How to hunt someone down even in an unfamiliar area.”
Kyouka makes some distance between them.
“Catch me.”
She turns around and books it.
…
Enjin chokes on the grapes he was chowing down on. “Wait, hold on—ain’t you 3 years old?”
“Mhm, stamy—stamina…stamina training starts at…” He opens his palms.
He puts down the fingers on his left hand one by one. “One…two…three…four…five! Starts at five! Nee-san told me that I needed to start earlier, though, I dunno why.”
Enjin thinks this sounds highly illegal and stares at the kid in bewilderment. “Zanka, I think it’s time for a nap.”
“But I’m not tired!” He whines.
“Well, I am, come on now.” Enjin takes the empty plate and leaves it in the sink. “Say, you ever built a pillow fort?”
“What’s that?” Zanka stumbles on his feet as he jumps down from the barstool.
“Something someone your age should be doing instead of whatever it is your family practices, now come on!” He scoops Zanka up in a hug, twirling Zanka around a few times, who giggles at the action, before settling him on his back. “Hold on tightly, kid.”
“Wah! Hey, put me down!” Zanka panics at being suddenly placed in a really high place.
“What, never had a piggyback ride either?”
“A pig what?” He grabs a hold of Enjin’s hair because, of course, he does.
“Damn, that’s sad as fuck—wait, no. Don’t say that by the way. Hell, don’t mention this conversation to anyone, while we’re at it.” Enjin secures Zanka better on his shoulders and holds his legs. “I’mma teach you some better things, okay? We’re going to have the time of our lives, trust me on this lil’ man!”