Reiner looked down at me with clear concern in his eyes before he nodded his head once at me to state his consent. I had no idea what he was going on about, but I was so thrilled that he had agreed to go in to see the children with me.
“Let’s go!” I cried out gleefully as I grabbed his much larger hand in both of mine and began pulling me towards the classroom door.
Reiner still seemed hesitant, but he did let me drag him through the classroom door and into the art classroom. The atmosphere inside was full of chatting and laughter as the children went about painting on their canvas while also chatting and playing with each other. The children seemed to be having so much fun and how they smiled told me that they were genuinely very happy. I had to say that I didn’t remember having any good times like this with my friends in school. I didn’t really have friends…
“What are you painting here? Is this a bird?” I asked after crouching down to get a closer look at one of the canvasses.
The dark hair girl turned to me and smiled as she nodded. I found myself smiling back naturally. Everything all seemed well and good before I realized that her eyes had shifted from my face to elsewhere and then her expression transformed into one of shock. I gave her a confused look before I turned around to follow her line of sight.
“He’s so big…” she muttered softly.
To my surprised, I found the little girl staring up at Reiner who was standing behind me. Well, she’s not wrong. He is indeed big and compared to how small and short she is, he must look like a giant to her if she’s looking at him from down there.
Is she scared? She’s scared of him, right?
My body froze in place when I realized that this might be what Reiner had been worrying about. Did something similar happen to him before when he visited? What should I do now?
Soon enough, I felt the eyes of the other children on us, or more specifically on Reiner as the attention of the children in the classroom shifted to the very tall and large man standing in the room. He really does stand out, I guess.
Reiner looked down at the children who were staring up at him with cold and passive eyes while I started to worry about the direction where this was heading.
“Umm…he’s…” I began explaining before things got more awkward before trailing.
What am I supposed to say in a situation like this? Something like ‘he’s big but he’s actually a very nice guy’?
More children started gathering around us as they looked up at Reiner as if they have never seen someone like him before. While I was hesitating about what to do, Reiner crouched down before he sighed in resignation.
“Do you…want to play?” Reine asked before he smiled a little at the children.
I was stunned at Reiner’s words and the children seemed to share my surprise. Suddenly, the tense atmosphere shifted into one of pure excitement.
“Yes!”
“Me too!”
“Let’s Play!”
“Mister…please carry me!”
“Me too! Me too!”
All the children started shouting all at once as they jumped up and down and wave their hands in the air to get Reiner’s attention.
“You’re supposed to be studying art, though…so let’s not play for too long or your teacher is going to get mad, ok?” Reiner said, sounding worried and tired before he bent down and picked up a small girl with ease.
The girl giggled and waved her arms when she was suddenly lifted into the air while I stared at her and then at Reiner in astonishment. Seeing that the girl got carried upwards, the other children shouted louder for them to get a turn. The whole place quickly resembled a playground more than an art classroom. I watched with a mix of confusion and amazement as Reiner put the little girl down and lifted a small boy up into the air while the other kids hugged his legs.
The scene in front of me feel warm and comforting. I wasn’t sure if Reiner was having fun with the children or not, but he was definitely doing a good job to entertain and manage them. I looked at the children’s smiling and laughing faces before I shifted my gaze to focus on Reiner. Something about the scene made me feel suddenly very emotion as feelings that I couldn’t quite identify tugged at my heartstrings.
I was too lost in thought and absorbed by what I was seeing that I didn’t realize that Celine came to stand quite close to me until she suddenly spoke up.
“Haha! It’s like this when King comes around too. Maybe the kids think that he’s King or someone similar. King likes to play with the children just like that too. It’s a shame that he can’t visit more often but then I know that he’s a very busy man,” Celine told me with a smile laugh.
“I see. It’s surprising…” I mumbled, not quite knowing what else to say.
Now that I think about it, King is probably as tall as Reiner, and they do share some remarkable resemblance to each other. I could tell that Reiner was King’ son even at first glance. It was remarkable how strong some genes are.
“Everyone! Enough please. This is not the way to treat our guests. Please stop playing and return to class!” the teacher decided to interrupt.
The children were clearly disappointed that their special playtime was over, but they were disciplined enough to step away from Reiner. Slowly, the children headed back to their art canvases, and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. That surely was chaotic.
“Are you…ok?” I asked as I took his hand in mine and stared up at Reiner’s face.
He gave me a look that said, ‘do I look like I’m ok?’
–To be continued…