Together

Playing Doctor
Lamia held a bowl of soup and a spoon, trying to feed Ira "C'mon now, say awww" Lamia said, like a mother trying to feed her stubborn son, but Ira did a she said, having no reason to refuse a meal "What'd ya think? Made it this mornin'" Lamia said cheerfully, to which Ira could only give a thumbs up for "I had to kill a pigeon for it, with a rock, poor birdy....ah well, atleast we got some eggs for breakfast" Suddenly, Ira had an uneasy feeling after hearing where she got her...ingredients.

Ira was being taken care of by Lamia for atleast a week, still having a fever and the bite wound still needing to heal "Grandpa! I'm gonna need you to go buy more bandages for Ira" Lamia called out to her grandfather, who sat on his chair, still appearing rather intimidating to Ira.

"Very well, I'll do so after it stops snowing" Kiryu replied, his tone sounding rather rough and deep, as he rested against the chair.

Lamia got down from the bed, walking over to the kitchen, as she used a chair to get up to the sink and wash Ira's bowl "So, Ira, you should be alright soon, so, wanna go outside tommorow and play?" Lamia asked Ira, who silently looked at her, before nodding in reply, causing Lamia to puff her cheeks in irritation "C'mon! Don't give me that! Say something! I feel like I'm talking to a brick, and it ain't fun..." Lamia said to Ira, complainning about his rather silent demeanor.

"S-...sorry..." Ira said, apologizing to Lamia, who smiled in reply.

"There! That's better! But we should do something about your stuttering, and communication! You need to be more communicative! Starting tommorow!" Lamia proudly exclaimed, jumping down the chair.

"Your...coat..." Ira began saying, pointing at Lamia "Is..too big..." Ira said, pointing out the fact that Lamia's white coat was too big for her.

"Oh, this? Well, my dear Ira..." Lamia said, putting her finger on her chin as if trying to look sophisticated "Every scientist, doctor, surgeon and smart person needs their white coat, so I have one I'll grow into" Lamia said, in a rather proud tone.

Ira couldn't tell if he was talking to a child or an adult by this point, as she barely behaved like either.

"Oh, right, Ira..." Lamia quickly walked over to Ira, and got on the bed next to him "When's your birthday?" Lamia asked Ira, actually appearing serious about the matter.

"Birth...day...?" Ira replied, sounding confused, as if hearing an entirely new thing.

"Eh? Ya don't know?" Lamia replied, holding Ira's cheeks and pinching them "How can you not know that?".

"..." Ira couldn't reply to Lamia as she was pinching his cheeks too hard.

"Fine! Your birthday's tommorow!" Lamia said, letting go off of Ira's cheeks "But I gotta know how old ya are..." Lamia held Ira's by his chin, moving it sideways as if carefully examinning him "I'd say your 10. Tommorow you're 11!"

Ira had no real reply towards Lamia, having no idea what she was talking about to begin with, so he simply allowed her to have her fun.

"Grandpa! Buy some cakes when you get to town" Lamia said to Kiryu, who grunted.

"Just don't make a mess like last time...Had enough problems getting the cake off the ceiling" Kiryu said, complainning.

"I won't~" Clearly, she was only saying half-truth.

Happy Birthday
Ira sat in the bathtub, different from where he usually took bathes with his mother, as it was the modern tub, unlike the more outside hot spring-like bathes he grew used to. The lower half of his face was underwater, along with the rest of his body, as he calmly blew bubbles.

"DA-DUN!" Suddenly, Lamia jumped out of the waters, hugging Ira from behind, in such a cheerful manner, catching Ira off guard, causing him to quickly teleport to the corner of the bath tub in panic. Lamia waved her hands to Ira, in an apologetic manner "Sorry! Did I scare ya?" Lamia asked Ira, apologizing for scaring him.

"Yes...." Ira calmly replied, despite his expression saying otherwise "What...are you doing...here?" Ira asked Lamia, who calmly swam next to him, sitting right next to him.

"Grandpa left to town, so I was kinda lonely and bored..." Lamia replied to Ira.

"So...you decided to...jump on me...?" Ira ask in a rather sarcastic tone.

"Oh, you, don't be like that! Be happy you have someone kind enough to give you company!" Lamia said proudly, patting Ira on the shoulder "'Cides, doesn't hurt having a friend on your side, now, does it?".

"...No..." Ira replied, looking at Lamia, as he went back to lowering his mouth into the water and blowing bubbles, before back out "Why are...you nice to me...?" Ira asked Lamia, who looked at him.

"Eh? Why not?" Lamia said in a dumbfounded expression, as if what Ira just asked was already obvious "We're the same age, I think, and we're both kids, I think, so naturally, we should be friends, I think...wait, no" Ira chuckled at Lamia's behavior, having laughed for the first time, to which Lamia noticed, grinning as she looked at him "What'cha laughin' at?" She asked in a rather...intimidating tone.

"N-..nothing..." Ira said, trying to shrug off Lamia, as he turned around, however, Lamia immediately hugged him from behind.

"Ah! I saw you laugh! C'mon! I'm not letting you out 'till I hear you squack!...That last bit made no sense!" Lamia said to Ira, as he teleported to the other side of the tub again, causing Lamia to puff her cheeks "You're no fun~" Lamia said, quickly smiling towards him "C'mon, let's go play outside".

The two wore warm coats before going outside, Ira covering his face with bandages after not doing so for a while. It was cold outside, the snow covering the entire forest.

"Ah~ I love the snow~ Though, if it wasn't so cold it'd wanna burn it, I'd love it more" Lamia said, holding Ira's hand and dragging him along "Now, then, Ira, since you can now walk outside, doesn't mean you can leave, you're still in critical condition, and your shoulder hasn't fully healed yet, so, it's best for you to stay here for...about a month or so" Lamia explained to Ira, who suddenly stopped.

"No..." Ira said in a low tone.

"What?" Lamia asked, barely hearing what Ira said.

"I...need to find...my mother..." Ira said, this time in a much louder tone.

"....Where is she?" Lamia asked Ira, suddenly sounding serious, unlike before.

"Bosco...I think"

"If so, then she might already be gone" Lamia said bluntly "It's been a week, she could be anywhere right now. Bosco is rather far from here too...should take about a week on foot to get there, by then, she'd probably be somewhere else. You sure you still wanna go to look for her there?" Lamia asked Ira, who nodded his head, while looking at the ground.

Lamia sighed, as her grip on Ira's hand tightened "In a week, your arm should feel better, by then, me and grandpa will accompany you, we'll help you find your mother, but if we don't, then don't worry..." Lamia turned around to Ira, as she held him by his cheeks "You can always be a part of our family" Lamia said to Ira, kissing him on the forehead, and grabbing his hand again, beginning to drag him once more.

"Going off topic" Lamia exclaimed in a cheerful tone "Since today's your birthday, gramps should be back with a cake soon, though I didn't know what to get'cha...sorry" Lamia apologized to Ira.

"You gave...me a gift..." Ira said to Lamia, who turned to him with a confused smiling face, as he pointed at his forehead.

"Ah! That's really enough? Hahaha, if that's so I should do that to you every year! Hahahaha!...Man, I'm cheap" Lamia said, sighing "Ah well, happy birthday, Ira" Lamia said to Ira, who, even though his face hidden behind the bandages, smiled back to her.