Why Cry Over Him Anymore?

A brief, deathly silence.

"You're the one born from an affair! o(≧口≦)o! I... I was telling you what's in my heart (crying), and if you don't want to listen, then just let Hana Ye deal with it herself! It's always been like that anyway! What are you saying... what are you saying?! Waaa... you're the one who's (choking up)..."

She cried so hard she couldn't go on.

But at that very moment, a large hand settled on her head and gently ruffled her hair.

Hana Ye froze, tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes.

"Doesn't that mean you should be even stronger?"

"So what if everyone in the world dislikes us? It's not like we have to prove anything to anyone to keep living. Even if nobody likes us, as long as we still like ourselves, that's enough!"

When she raised her head, she saw the gentle expression on his face.

"Besides, there aren't that many things in the world we absolutely have to chase after. If you can't change something, then don't. Just save your tears for the people who care about you. Isn't that enough?"

He stood there.

Ruffling her hair.

In her daze, it felt just like that night, when he had sat beside her and gently told her.

"There are different kinds of tears, too."

It seemed that even a long, long time afterward, whenever she recalled this scene and the words he had spoken to her then, they would remain with her, impossible to forget.

"Because if someone isn't worth your tears..."

"Then why cry over him anymore?"

After all, the tears in a person's heart were precious.

A long while passed.

Lin En sat on the table with her, glanced sideways at her, and reached out to wipe the tears from her lashes.

"All right! Stop crying!"

"Sure, you're a little useless, but you're not annoying! Is there really nobody besides your dad who likes you? What about your sister? Your aunt? Do they all hate you too? Take me, for example. Even a Great Demon like me doesn't hate you, so what the mother[beep-] are you crying for?"

"..."

"..."

Hana Ye broke down. o(≧口≦)o "Don't just randomly start swearing when you're comforting someone!! Do you have any idea how much that ruins the mood?! Why don't you have any manners at all?!"

"Anyway!"

Lin En closed his eyes and ruffled her hair.

"If you can't change things, then make yourself better, or marry someone badass, like me. That way, even if something upsetting really does happen again..."

He slapped her on the back.

"You'll have someone badass up front taking the hit, right?"

A few minutes later.

Lin En led her out the door with a (*￣︶￣) expression.

How could someone so boisterous be so starved for affection?

She wasn't ugly, either.

With a daughter like this, even if you didn't like her, you'd still get a pretty good deal out of the bride price when she married.

Looking at it that way, though, it made sense that she'd followed him and clung to him. After all, he was tall and sturdy, handsome and strong, and loving, too. What little girl would willingly let go of a husband like that?

╮(╯▽╰)╭

Sigh.

There was really nothing he could do. He, Lin En, wasn't into little girls, but they just liked him that much. What was he supposed to-

"Thank you."

He suddenly heard that tiny, quiet voice beside him.

Lin En paused and turned to look at her.

"What are you thanking me for?"

Hana Ye lowered her head even farther, her little hand tightening around two of his fingers.

"Because nobody ever bandaged Hana Ye's wounds before, and nobody ever said things like that to Hana Ye... o-of course, it's not like I was looking for comfort or anything. I just... just thought..."

"Even if you're a monster, you must be a really good monster..."

After all, who would care about what a coward had to say...

Lin En: "..."

A monster?

Wasn't I human?

Hana Ye raised her head to sneak a glance at him, then immediately turned away again. She pressed her lips together and said quietly:

"So... so... if you really want Hana Ye to be your wife or something... then actually... actually, it isn't..."

Lin En immediately shot her a glance.

"Oh? Won yourself over?"

Hana Ye froze. Her cheeks instantly flushed red, and steam rose from her head. She panicked, then exclaimed, o(≧口≦)o:

"N-no, I didn't! I was just... just saying a few words of thanks... don't go twisting what people mean! I was only... only..."

As she spoke, her voice grew quiet again.

Before Lin En could say anything, she quickly shook her head and said with a (＞﹏＜) expression:

"Um... anyway, it's just... if you don't mind having Hana Ye, Hana Ye can fulfill a wife's duties too!! Even if I'm only a wife held as collateral! I can still do housework and things! I'll work really hard! Um... of course, I also hope you can protect Hana Ye while you're at it!"

Lin En rubbed his chin.

"I see."

Hana Ye looked up at him nervously.

Lin En closed his eyes and said:

"All right. You have my word."

"Huh? Really?!"

"Of course!"

After all, she'd only been a wife held as collateral before. Now that she was offering to do the job herself, why not? She was free, after all. →_→

As for protecting her? That was no trouble. What idiot would dare mess with his wife?

[Ding! Hana Ye's affection for you +30!]

Hana Ye immediately widened her eyes and looked up.

"Th-then does that mean you won't hit Hana Ye anymore?"

Getting knocked on the head really hurt.

Lin En said with a ╮(╯▽╰)╭ expression:

"When have I ever hit you? Do you think I'm the kind of man who abuses his wife? What a joke!"

[Ding! Hana Ye's affection for you +40]

A few minutes later.

Holding two of his fingers, Hana Ye walked out onto the street with him and looked up curiously.

"What are we going to do now? Are we going home?"

Lin En gazed down the distant street with a smile and said:

"Home, my ass. We're not done yet. Didn't you hear earlier? That woman had an accomplice. Someone else dumped my body. Besides, since I'm already here, wouldn't it be ridiculous if I couldn't get my [origin substance] back? Why else do you think I'm still hanging around?"

"To surf?"

Lin En glanced across the street.

Then he hoisted her up, crossed the road, and strode over to the roadside trash can she had used as a hiding place.

Clearly, he had noticed the thing she had propped up quite some time ago.

The opening of the trash can pointed straight at the house.

Underneath it.

Was a little stand.

Lin En examined it closely, looking into the pitch-black opening.

"So what is this thing? It's not just a trash can?"

Lin En had noticed this spot early on.

She had spent several minutes furtively fiddling with it outside. If she hadn't made a noise, that woman would never have spotted her.

Hana Ye stared wide-eyed and said:

"N-no, of course not. This is a Portable Cannon I borrowed from a classmate... because Hana Ye could fit inside it perfectly, Hana Ye made a few little modifications... it's not a real trash can..."

A cannon?

This world had things like that too?

Lin En asked dubiously:

"So you spent all that time fiddling with it because you wanted to blast her?"

Hana Ye rubbed her little hands together with an (ó﹏ò｡) expression.

"Mhm."

She had originally intended to fire two shots in succession, but who could have guessed that the second shell would fall on the ground? Otherwise, it would definitely have made some enormous fireworks.

Lin En stuck his head inside and looked all around.

"But this doesn't make any scientific sense! Are you sure this thing can actually fire?!"

Hana Ye pointed to the button at the back and walked over with an (ŎдŎ;) expression.

"O-of course it can. Hana Ye already set it up. You just have to press here... it's just... that scary woman spotted me as soon as I came out, so I didn't have time..."

"If... if you don't believe me, listen..."

She reached out her little hand and pressed it.

BOOM-

An enormous blast rang out.

A little mushroom cloud immediately rose over Shakira's house.

Hana Ye covered her ears and crouched behind the cannon with an (〃＞皿＜) expression.

"Well? Isn't it powerful? Hana Ye used this to blow up the school before... but Grandpa Dean wouldn't let me play with it afterward, so I had to give it to another classmate who studies machinery. Hana Ye might not have any origin substance, but she's very talented at this!"

"..."

She crouched there for quite a while without hearing a word from Lin En.

Hana Ye froze.

"Lin En, why did you suddenly stop talking?"

She turned her head and instinctively looked toward the front.

Right in front of the muzzle, Lin En stood stiffly with both hands braced on either side of it. Black smoke billowed from his neck as though he were a headless mannequin. His entire head had disappeared.

A brief silence.

"Waaaaah (ΩДΩ)! Lin En!! Lin En!! Wh-where's your head?"

Crack-

Lin En's ten fingers sank into the cannon.

"What do you think?"

Half a minute later.

Smack, smack, smack-

Smack, smack, smack-

"Waaaaah! Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! Hana Ye didn't see you stick your head inside! Hana Ye didn't do it on purpose!! It definitely wasn't on purpose!"

˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅

"Didn't you just say you wouldn't hit Hana Ye anymore?! Didn't you say you weren't the kind of man who abuses his wife?!"

If anyone had passed by at that moment, they would have seen a headless monster holding a screaming little girl across his lap, a shoe sole in his other hand, raining a flurry of blows down on her backside.

Lin En said with an (艹皿艹) expression:

"I changed my mind!!"