If I could have taken a vacuum and sucked all the color out of Kazuma’s face, that’d actually be the result of the look he was giving father right now.

He put his glass down, and I could see his hands were shaking slightly.

This isn’t going to end well, a small, annoying voice said in my mind.
“I understand that you want me to come with you,” Kazuma started, taking a deep, calming breath, “But I can’t just leave Haine here as if she is of no object.”

My father didn’t even turn to acknowledge me.

Insult me! Spurn me, scorn me, hit me! Just don’t ignore me! I thought fiercely, trying to bore holes into the side of my father’s head with my not – so – terrorizing glare.

“If you are worried about financial things, I can have that sorted out; but you shouldn’t be weighed down by Haine,” he said, uttering my name as if I were Lord Voldemort or something along the lines of that.

“Why do you think I’m weighed down by her?” Kazuma asked, his voice quiet now.

Oh, things are definitely not going to end well.