20. Kids

"Attendance!" I declared, sitting on the chair with my arms crossed. In front of me were four children, lined up side by side and acting all military.

"Sae, Here!" the girl saluted, responding sportively.

"Sui, Present." the second girl saluted too, but with a much less spirited voice than the previous.

"Lambo-san is here!" the third child imitated the two older girls, saluting and responding loudly.

"I-pin, yes!" came the fourth voice.

"I shall now declare the mission for today!" I declared, standing up majestically, my voice booming. "And that is... Grocery shopping!"

"Yes, yes," called a hungover Dad from the couch, "I'm glad you're all having fun, but you should hurry on before the rush hour arrives."

"By orders of the Grand Marshall, we shall set out!" I declared.

"Sir, yes, sir!" they replied in English.

-----

"零哥, 我要那個!" (Rei-nii, I want that!) I-pin tugged at my pant sleeve, pointing at the direction of the ice cream vendor. "零哥!" (Rei-nii!)

"Hm? What is it, I-pin?" I crouched down, "Oh, you want that?"

I reached into my pocket. Well, I had plenty of cash left over. I guess an ice cream or two won't hurt. "你知道该怎么问吗?" I spoke in Chinese, (Do you know how to ask?).

I-pin nodded, accepting the money gratefully, said a "谢谢" in thanks and scurried off towards the vendor.

I knew the Chinese language, mainly due to Drew's influence. It seems like it was her mother tongue in her past life.  Speaking Chinese as Ninomiya Rei almost felt refreshing.

As for why I'm in this predicament, Reborn found out I could speak I-pin's language and sent me off on a babysitting job. Well, I had to take care of Sae and Sui anyways. It's just two more young children around.

"Rei-chan, I procured Butter!" Sae announced.

"I got milk and cheese." Sui said.

Placing it in the cart, I praised Sae and Sui for a good job well done and sent them off on the next ingredient to procure.

"I got grape candy!" Lambo laughed. "And chocolate!"

...Grape candy wasn't in the list. I sighed. But at least he grabbed the correct item too. I sent him off on potato chip duty.

"萝卜!" (Carrots!) called I-pin.

"Oh, thanks, I-pin." I pet her on the head. I-pin was so diligent. So, so diligent. She's such a good girl oh my god-

-----

"棉花糖!" (cotton candy) I-pin called out as we were heading home, pointing at the stall.

This caught the attention of the other children, who were instantly fascinated by the fluffy sweet.

"Oh, Rei-chan, me too!" Sae said, one of her hand carrying a shopping bag, the other hand on Sui's.

"Rei-chan, Please?" Sui looked up at me with puppy eyes.

"Lambo-san too!" the cow child said, "Lambo-san volunteers to buy it!" he said.

You volunteer, but I'm paying, right? I didn't ask. I chuckle. Guess there's no saying no to them anymore. I hand them what I felt was sufficient cash and waited for them with the shopping bags as they ran off to the stall.

I sigh, putting the bags into the trolley. Taking care of children was fun, but definitely tiring! At least I didn't have to move about as much to get groceries...

And when I'd turn back towards the stall- the children were nowhere to be seen.

Huh?

They're not at the cotton candy vendor. Not to the left- not to the right. Not in that flower shop right beside either. Left. Right. No signs of the four.

"I lost the kids!" I yelled into the phone, "I mean, one second they're there and the next second they're gone! And what's worse, the rush hour is coming! There's too many people around for me to go look for them without getting lost myself! Help!"

...

"Uh, first of all, calm down, Rei. I'll be there in a sec."

-----

"I'm so sorry, Sawada Mama!" I bowed over and over again in apology, "I promised to take care of the kids, too!"

Nana chuckled, "Oh, it's alright!" she assured me, "I know they're a handful. And in these moments, it's important not to panic."

The one I had dialed in the spur of the moment happened to be Takeshi, who called up Tsuna and Gokudera for help. And thus, Nana heard the news by grapevine and here she is.

"It's probably the stupid cow's fault, anyways." Gokudera groaned, "What a pain."

"Well, I'm sure Rei's worried about Sae and Sui, so let's hurry up and find them. With this many of us, we'll find them in a jiffy!" Takeshi assured.

"So we're splitting up?" Tsuna asked. "What about the grocery bags?"

"Then, Tsuna, Rei and I will take them." In came Reborn, "Right?"

-----

"Sorry about this, Rei-san." Tsuna spoke up hesitantly, three shopping bags in his hands, "You probably want to search for your sisters, but-"

It's my fault... what if they were kidnapped or- I mean, Lambo gets into this mess all the time! I'm sure I-pin can handle self-defense, so they should've been fine! Sae and Sui wouldn't just run off without my permission-

"Rei," Reborn spoke up from my head.

I snapped myself out of it. What am I doing, making the main characters worried about me? I brought a smile to my face, lifting up the shopping bags in my hands and chuckled. "We bought a little too much, didn't we? I'm sorry you had to help me out, Tsuna-kun!"

He looked skeptic.

"Well then, we better hurry!" I pumped a fist, "Sae and Sui are probably lost, and they probably don't recognize Gokudera either! I'll needa be there." I was grinning, desperately giving out a 'I'm totally fine' sign, and hoping they'd get the message.

Reborn didn't look happy. Tsuna didn't look convinced.

And so, I boosted my steps. "C'mon, Tsuna-kun!" I call, laughing, "race you to my house!"

-----

"Dad?" I call into the house, pushing the door open with my back, kicking off my shoes, "Dad, you home?" I call louder.

"Welcome back?" came a groggy voice from the couch.

He looked disheveled, still half in a suit and his now shoulder-length hair was all over the place, the hair tie having fallen apart in his sleep. He looked tired, and was yawning as well.

"Dad, help sort out the groceries. I gotta run back out. The girls are gone." I told him, placing the bags on the table and instructing him.

"Uh, sorry for the intrusion..." Tsuna whispered, walking in hesitantly and placing the bags down as well. He was trying not to make a presence.

"Oh, a new friend?" Dad asked, seeing Tsuna, "And Reborn-kun is here too." he noted.

...

"Wait, the girls are gone??" he freaked out.

"You're slow!" I snapped at him. "Anyway, leave them to me and help me settle the groceries! Dad, I declare that today, you're on dinner duty!" I pointed at him. "That's all."

"Wait, and all of a sudden I'm in charge of dinner?"

"Don't burn the house down half asleep!" I warn, taking Tsuna's hand and pulling him towards the entrance, leaving. "I'm off!"

-----

Tsuna chuckled.

I look over, confused. "What's so funny, Tsuna-kun?" I asked.

"Eh- well," Tsuna smiled at me, "It's just- I guess- Rei-san has a side of him that we don't usually see, too." he said. "It's a little unexpected."

We were running back towards the shopping street. That little exchange was incredibly brief, and I didn't answer further. I eyed Tsuna skeptically, but he did not catch my gaze.

His eyes were locked forward- in those determined, resolved eyes I remember seeing in my childhood.

-----

AN: and here is where I decided an explanation is needed about Drew's origins! As you have read, Drew's mother tongue is Chinese... But her name is not very Asian, hm?

Drew is of mixed blood. Her father's line was European, but her mother was Asian. When they had their first child, they moved to China and raised their children there. Thus, Drew's first language was Chinese.

But her parents are traveling magicians. They traveled around Asia a lot, and thus if they stayed long they had to pick up languages along the way. Thus, Drew's second language was English.

But when Eve was of age, the couple traveled back to Europe to continue their Circus Troupe. They took care of their children until Zen was of age, and left them in France to pursue their own ways.

So Drew knew many languages. Chinese, English, Indonesian perhaps- I wonder if she even knows Tagalog. But another language she definitely knows is French, because she spent her teens in France. Her brothers conversed to her in Chinese, English or French.

Drew never really picked up Japanese. She was a fan of anime, but there's only so much she can learn. Well, weaboo much?

But Rei is 100% Japanese. He picked up Japanese as a first language, and he's planning on picking up Italian in the future.