“Bedlam and the rest of the shadow demon clan are still trying to get
acquainted with the new territory. They’re so used to hiding away from
everyone that they’re still getting used to the idea that they’re all
welcome as they are,” Crystal replied, curiously watching the Repairman.

“Falcon and Crystal are basically my guardians now. I live with them. They’ve both been really great,” Shinko giggled.

“Heh…I’m
glad to hear that. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if me and Falcon could
handle having a kid like you around…but you’ve been awesome too,”
Crystal noted with a smile.

Shinko smiled back as Crystal started to get closer to see what the Repairman is doing.

“So uh… where is it, anyways? I didn’t see or hear anything crack…” Crystal told the Repairman.

“Huh…”

He hadn’t really thought of Shinko to be the type to need guardians. Well, she was a kid again, but still...

As he kept digging for some kind of glue (where was it?), he shook himself out of that thought and smiled.

“Aw, that sounds pretty nice!”

Finally, he pulled out a large bottle of mucilage and turned back to the group.

“Here it i…oh,” he said, before shifting gears. “Heh, sorry.”

The Repairman gestured vaguely around where Crystal had been.

“Yeah, they’re over around there,” he said. Realizing what he just heard, he looked at Crystal quizzically.

“…Wait, you don’t see it?” he asked. “…Maybe give it a second…?”