Chapter 4: Company

"Hoh, my God! You live here alone??" Mima almost shouted.

"I know right. It could fit 6 people in to live permanently," Bella replied. Opening the door into the house. "Explore all you want, I'll be taking care of stuff in my room and feeding the animals. And your room is the second door to the right upstairs." And then Bella disappears upstairs.

Without any legal papers and identity, she couldn't get a bank account or card, so she keeps all her cash in a safe in her room with an 8-digit code(safety first). Then she checks on her emails for new orders. For big ones, she already has scheduled for on weekdays, but it's a Saturday, so nothing. She takes Sundays free. Fortunately, the mints were the only ones today. So she could spend her time to get Mima used to her new home. The biggest downside is that she has to wear the hood inside the house too if she's outside her room. But that's nothing major.

Meanwhile, Mima went upstairs after Bella and went to the door she mentioned. She went in to see a room complete with a desk, wardrobe, bookshelf and bathroom. It was bigger than her old room. Wow, I didn't know she meant two master bedrooms when she said that the house has two bedrooms... She looks inside the wardrobe to see some clothes. And most can fit her! She hears Bella's door open and decides to surprise her with changing into one of these clothes. She showers and combs her hair while looking around for some good clothes to surprise with... "What the... hell yeah!" Perfect.

Bella was setting up a game of Call of Duty Black Ops III when she hears the sound of flowing water upstairs. Heh, a clean child. Great! Bella starts playing for a dozen minutes before she hears footsteps going down the stairs. She looked to see a girl with blond hair and gleaming black eyes in a Red-white kimono. What the f-, "Hey, Mima! Which side of the planet did you get that from?" Bella joked.

"Your wardrobe," Mima answered in sync.

"Heh, where'd you get that natural bob-cut from?" Bella asked, giving Mima's head a noogie.

"H-hey!" Mima yelled before stumbling back a few steps.

Bella quit the online game and set up an offline split-screen game for them both. "Come on, grab a remote."

Mima's eyes light up as she goes to the TV cabinet to see 3 more PS4 remotes. She grabs one and goes sit on the other side of the sofa. "Wait... tell me the controls."

Bella took a few minutes to explain all the controls, the specialists, some time to set up a soldier. "You seem to know some stuff about this."

"I play Black Ops 2 on PC," Mima answered.

"Damn, another gamer girl in the house."

"You got it."

They had two hours of fun. The first hour being offline, which Mima's better at because she is already used to playing split-screen, and the second hour going online, which Bella is better at because she has more experience with the strats of the game.

"I beat ya tho when we did a 1v1," Mima sneered.

"That's because I haven't got used to split-screen! And you can't lie that I got better when playing online," Bella scowled.

"You'll never beat me!" Mima bluffs while knowing that it's true Bella will be better than her.

"Your bluffs will never fool me, shrine maiden of hell," Bella said before going to another fit which Mima joined in too. Guess the company put Bella in a good mood today.

Mima then perked up and looked at Bella with an uncomfortable look. Bella asked, "What's wrong?"

"I'm hungry."

"If you're hungry just say it! Don't give me that look! You scared me!" Bella pouted under the hood.

Mima put on a guilty face before switching to an embarrassed expression when her stomach grumbles as loud as a long burp.

"Heh, don't worry. Let's have an early dinner, shall we? I'll cook something while you go explore outside."

"Ok then..." Mima said as she went outside to go to the greenhouse through the backyard. She saw that there were actually 4 greenhouses, two for tomatoes, two for mints. OMG she has a lot of stuff for one person to work on. She goes in into one and feels the familiar warm air you only get from greenhouses. These are very healthy tomatoes, let's take a look at the mints. She goes out to get to the next one. Is this where the other town gets the premium mints? Neat!

Mima then went to the barn to see that Bella has cows, pigs, and some chickens. Guess this is where she gets all those dozens of eggs in the fridge. Nothing special was in the barn or farm. Typical places. The most impressive thing is the number of greenhouses. She then checks out the front yard to see people building something on plotted land next to the house. The hell they doin'? Shouldn't interfere though.

But when she approached the front door, she realized how the windows are mirrors. Wait, weren't those normal windows inside? She was about to open the door when it opened from the other side, shocking her as she stumbled to the ground. In the other side, a familiar dark-hooded figure came out. "Did something scare you, shrine maiden?" Bella taunted.

Mima saw the basket and mat on one of Bella's hand and asked, "We're doing a picnic?"

"Afternoon picnic, to be exact. Come on, I know the perfect spot."

Mima shrugged and followed Bella into a clearing in the corner where there is a forest on one side, the river on another side, and just pure grasslands with some farms on another side.

"How the hell did you get an area like this???" Mima asked surprised.

"I inherited it from my father," Bella said. It took a minute for her to set up the picnic before she said, "Come on, sis. Sit down here before the food goes cold like you."

"I know you like jokes, but that is not an acceptable level. And when have I got cold inside or outside?" Mima scowled.

"True, true."

"What are we having this afternoon?" Mima asked.

"Stereotypical type of picnic food."

"Heh, what do you mean?"

"Haven't you watched enough cartoons or movies with a picnic in them?" Bella questioned back while pulling out a plate of sandwiches. Mima did a facepalm and Bella giggled.

Mima sat down next to Bella and took a bite out of a sandwich before asking, "How do you change your windows into mirrors?"

"Ahhh, you finally noticed. I don't actually change anything. It's called a one-way mirror. It's like those in movies when interrogating people where the glass is a mirror on one side, and it's transparent on the other. Don't ask how it works, I don't know either." Bella explained.

"And that plot of land people are working on?"

"Ohh, that. I sell my products through online agreements out of this town or sales agents. I only get the profit of my work. I'm building a new store because I saw the opportunity of business when people have to drive almost half an hour to get anything. So I won't depend on outside sales anymore and I'm helping the people here by providing a walking-distance store for food. Rise, flour, milk, meat, potatoes, and others I can sell." Bella continued.

Mima thought, She sounds a bit young to do these stuff. Wait, now that I think about it, she might be older because I don't know her looks yet. Now I wonder... "Wait, I just realized you've been so nice to me, I forgot to ask you your name."

"Bella, and don't worry. I know it's not easy to lose both parents and you tend to forget about reality," Bella said in an empathetic voice. Mima noticed and though, Have Bella lost her parents too? We have some stuff in similar... Mima was about to ask but Bella read her thoughts and cut it off, "That's a story for another day."

"Well then, Bella, what should I call you by?"

"Whatever you're most comfortable with."

"Aunt Bella it is!" Mima giggled. Bella froze for a moment but approved. "How old are you Aunt Bella?

"Luckily to you, the quote 'never ask a lady their age' does not apply to me, but I'll need your age first, shrine maiden." Bella sneered.

"I'm 14, and my birthday is on the 17th of October. How about you, formidable anonymous witch?" Mima sneered back.

"I'm 18. Birthday on the 6th of February."

What the hell?? Did she even come from earth? Most people do business like this when they're in their late 30s or something! Mima thought.

Bella noticed Mima's troubled expression and asked, "What's wrong?"

"The fact that most people who do business like this are at least twice your age."

"Guess living alone toughened me up eh?"

"By the way, why do you keep yourself hidden behind that cloth?" Mima finally asked.

"Because I look... different." Bella sighed.

"But you can trust me, right? I'll be living with you for some time anyway and I'll find out."

"I do trust you, but I'm not ready yet. Please, allow me my privacy." Bella ended the conversation. They were halfway through their early dinner when Bella tapped Mima's head.

"What is it, aunty?" Mima asked. Bella pointed to the grassland sides to see the sun almost touching the horizon. They watched the sunset in peace. When the sun was bisected by the horizon, Mima leaned onto Bella and caught Bella by surprise. But after a few seconds, she snapped back and draped her left hand on Mima's shoulder while finishing the last of the bacon sandwich.