True Feelings

"N-Noa!? What's the matter!?"

Noticing the sudden shift in my temperament, Mira leaps from the bed and grabs onto my arm. Her soft touch only serves to push my anger even further.

"All of this is wrong!"

This situation is unfair to me in a lot of ways, so much so that no amount of apology will satisfy me. However, I'm not the only victim. In fact, the series of inconveniences that I had to deal with are nothing compared to the one stuck with me as their guardian. Mira had nowhere to go, so I decided to keep her here with some kind of pity forced upon me by dark magic.

Believe me, I like Mira. She's brought me a lot of emotions that I had never even considered and gave me experiences that I never knew were possible. But those feelings aren't real. Silver said it himself, the charm makes my dreams feel like reality. This is all just one big self-satisfying dream. Me taking care of her? With what power? I'm just being pushed around into thinking that I can fill this role and blissfully believing that I can be her hero. Mira doesn't deserve some kid pretending to be an adult under some false desire.

"Mira deserves somebody that actually cares!"

My fingers have begun tearing the skin of my palms. I direct the anger towards the man responsible for the trance, but I can't blame him alone. Most of that rage stabs into my own heart for letting myself believe that I deserved the bundle of joy that is Mira.

To my surprise, Silver doesn't seem even the slightest bit concerned about my aggression. Rather, his lips curve into a smile. This isn't the showy smile that he's graced us with thus far, it's a smile from the heart. The image of Mark appears in my head. It was a single moment where he looked at his daughter with more pride than he could ever have mustered for himself.

Silver stands up from his seat and looks into my eyes.

"That's where you're mistaken, Noa."

"Huh?"

His footsteps are completely silent as he revolves around the couch towards me.

"The charm only shifts your idea of reality. It can't make you feel things like joy, concern…"

His shadow joins mine against the back wall as he comes to a stop directly in front of me.

"Or love."

My body doesn't move as he points a gloved finger at my chest.

"Those are all emotions that you developed in the short time the two of you were together. They're yours, nobody else could ever claim them, be it with magic or otherwise."

The anger that was welling up inside and threatening my sanity disappears so quickly that I can't even be sure that it was ever there. All that remains is the warmth of Mira beside me. This is the warmth that allowed me to feel this strongly about somebody else's happiness. This is the warmth that completely flipped my life upside down. Part of me still doesn't believe that I earned this feeling.

"A-Are you sure?"

"Certainly! After all, how else would you have broken the charm?"

With his hands behind his back, Silver returns to the chair where we all resume sitting.

"Your strong desire for Mira's well being overpowered the charm's suggestion. Whatever impossibility you were adamant about, it tore down the altered reality and the spell along with it."

"What about the other part of it?"

"Unfortunately, the charm isn't perfect. Removing one leg causes the entire structure to collapse. You can't even reapply the charm on a person once it has been removed."

Magic really is strange. It can do things like completely rewrite the existence of a creature, but can also shatter from a single crack. Even miracles aren't always going to make the impossible happen without some challenge. It would be too easy otherwise.

In the end, the conclusion does feel too simple.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to keep Mira here?"

"Your concerns aren't unfounded. Supporting another person will be a challenge, but I will offer whatever assistance I can provide!"

Silver confidently places his hand over his heart. Him saying it really makes it feel like I have nothing to worry about, even if I have no idea what his assistance entails.

"After all, I agree with you!"

His gaze drifts to the girl sitting quietly next to me.

"This child needs somebody that truly cares for her. In that regard, we could not hope for a better candidate!"

"Haha…if you say so…"

His straightforward praise tickles my brain. I don't think I've ever had this many people relying on and believing in me. It makes me want to throw my entire being into meeting both their expectations as well as my own.

All of the tension has left the room, both from my rage and my uncertainty. With this peaceful atmosphere established, Silver removes his hat and bows slightly towards me.

"Allow me to briefly apologise for placing the charm on you. It's a precaution we take to protect our kind, but I admit that it has its consequences. If we knew of your character beforehand, we could have avoided the stress placed on your shoulders."

"Ah, don't worry about it! It actually helped me out quite a bit with getting used to Mira's presence."

"If so, then I'm glad!"

It wasn't just Mira that the charm was useful for. Having a normal conversation with a girl like Stella feels like an idealistic dream with my grasp on reality back. Then there was all of the physical contact with Ange that makes me want to leap into Mark's lighter flame as atonement.

The other guardian-rabbit pair seems to stick in my mind when they appear.

"So everybody serving as a guardian has the charm placed?"

"Indeed, but not only them."

A group of pigeons pop out of his hat and return it to his head before disappearing behind him.

"Everybody who makes contact with these children is affected by a variant that prevents them from questioning the existence of such children. Considering how they may not follow the norms well at first, this effect makes people less suspicious."

"So that's why things have gone so smoothly…"

We've drawn a lot of attention to ourselves while out in public, but nobody ever seemed more than humoured by our antics. Even Mira yelling about underwear didn't seem to raise any eyebrows.

"Does it ever wear off?"

"For those in passing, not unless they forget about the child or learn of their true nature. For guardians, it's not unusual for it to wear off after several years when their roles have been established."

"Roles? Like Mark seeing Ange as his daughter?"

I realise after asking that I'm not even sure if Silver knows about the orange rabbit. However, that doesn't appear to be an issue as he nods.

"Be it as children, siblings, or simply cooperative associates, humans fit these new relationships into roles like these. Upon observing your interactions, Mira was on pace to become something of a younger sister for you."

"I don't have any siblings, but this does feel like what I'd expect from one."

I turned to see the rabbit that at some point had continued flipping through flash cards.

Ed has told me all the time what it's like having a younger sibling, a girl especially. She actively makes his life more challenging, is shamelessly selfish, and sometimes is outright unreasonable. Yet despite everything, he can't help but take care of her. There is no material benefit to be gained, only his own pride.

"But now that relationship isn't set in stone."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Silver pulls out a pigeon and clasps it into his hands.

"Now you're capable of building whatever relationship you want. You can continue the path to a simple platonic relationship."

"Ah!"

Mira suddenly yelps and holds up an empty card that should have been another piece of study material. On the other side, Silver opens his hands and the pigeon is no more. Instead, one of my flashcards is now facing towards us and reads 'She Walks in Beauty', a poem I barely recognise.

"Or you can aim for something more. The choice is yours."

His suggestion causes my heart to skip a beat as I become even more aware of the girl sitting next to me.