No joke, this is literally my favorite movie. Ever. OwO I just had to write this. Make the whopping thirteen stories on here an unbelievable fourteen. For real though, that's ridiculous. Why are there only 13 stories on here?
Nanashi sat up from the scratchy straw matting he had been laying under. The pain of his wounds shot through him like wild fire, taking over his senses and flooding him with nausea. His vision went dark and hazy for a second from the quick movement of his sudden arising. His head ached with a dull throbbing and he rubbed at his face to try ridding himself of the dizziness. When his sight returned he squinted at the brightness of the mid-day sun light streaming in through the cracks and wholes splintered out of the walls and sealing. He was in a small, ricked room that smelled of dirt and the algae of a murky pond. Not really an unpleasant smell, but it made the air thick with it's scent. The room reminded him of the place they had rented from that old man in the village, only more rundown, like it hadn't been in use for years.
He attempted to ignore the pain and stand from his spot in the pile of hay he had previously been laying in, only to find his side flaring in agony. Nanashi grabbed tightly at his side, body tensing at the hurt. Dark, piercing eyes looked over the messy wrapping of bandages around his lower torso. The whiteness of the gaws stained pink from the injury he was reopening with his groggy movement. His little boss had tried to bandage him. How adorable.
Where was that temporal child? Nanashi looked around, finding nothing to prove the younger's presence other than the smaller straw mat laying next to him. Nanashi's things were there. His katana, his money, everything was there. But the kid was nowhere to be seen. Then the fresh smell of stewing vegetables wafted in through the walls, telling him that he wasn't alone after all.
"Kotaro..." Nanashi choked. His voice came out like nails grinding on stone. Throat soar, and mouth dry, he tried again a little louder. "Kotaro..!"
The sound of a metal pot clanging to the ground was closely fallowed by the door being thrown open and the hurried entering of the child he had been calling for. Kotaro skid to his knees next to the samurai, Tobimaru trotting in after him.
"You're awake!" The kid shouted, throwing his arms around Nanashi's neck. The hug was brief, not lasting more than three seconds before he pulled away to look Nanashi over. "Are you feeling okay? Does your wound hurt? Do you need anything?" Nanashi would have laughed at the kid's worried firing of questions if he wasn't sure it would result in a banshee like screech.
"Not bad." The samurai lied. "Could you get me some water, though? I can't really move that easy." Kotaro nodded determinedly before almost tripping to his feet, running across the room to fill up his little hallowed gourd with the water that filled a wooden bucket. Then he ran back, slowing down a little so he wouldn't race into his injured friend. Kotaro held out the water jug for the other to take, which Nanashi accepted appreciatively. He swallowed the water down gluttonously, each drink of the cool liquid extinguishing the burning in his throat.
Kotaro and his dog watched as their guardian gulped down the water, like he hadn't had any for days. When he was done he handed the hallow gourd back to Kotaro with a thankful smile. The child set it aside for later. Nanashi looked around the small shack they were in, again, and spoke up to relinquish his curiosity.
"Where are we?" He asked, voice not as scratchy as it was before.
"We found this abandoned room on the fields of the village." The boy explained as he pet the back of his dog's neck. "I thought it was a good place for us to stay until your side heals. You passed out on the way to the village we were heading to. We took you to a medicine man and he treated your injury as best he could. He told me that, when you wake up, to tell you that you need to keep still so the wound doesn't reopen." Nanashi nodded in acceptance of the information. He crinkled his nose at the smell coming in through the walls and coughed at the smoke.
"I think your food is burning."
"Ah!" Kotaro yelled. He jumped up from his spot and ran outside to check on the food. Tobimaru took his place, nuzzling his head against Nanashi's arm. He could hear the child outside trying to salvage what was left of the food. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Nanashi chuckled at the kid's efforts.
Not five minutes later Kotaro returned inside with two bowls of stewed vegetables and fish. After closing the door with his foot he placed one of them down for the dog. He handed the other over to the samurai then sat, petting the dog that licked up the soup happily.
"You're not eating?" Nanashi asked after swallowing a spoon full. It was delicious despite the fish being a little burnt.
"There wasn't enough for all of us. Plus we only have two bowls." The child reasoned, shrugging his shoulders and looking away. Nanashi sighed and leaned over so he could fully sit up without the support of the lose hay pile behind him. Scooping up a spoon full of stew, he held it out for Kotaro to take. "What are you doing?" He asked, eyeing down the spoon with an arched brow.
"You have to eat. You're a growing boy." Nanashi pointed out.
"It's fine. I ate this morning so I don't really need it."
"Kotaro." He said in that threatening way that an older brother would. The child growled in surrender and leaned forward to eat off of the spoon offered to him. He blushed indignantly at the embarrassment of being fed like a baby. Nanashi laughed.
"You shouldn't do that." The man said, gesturing to Kotaro's fierce scowl as he held out another spoonful for him. "Your face will get stuck that way."
"I can feed myself, you know." Kotaro pouted.
"I know." He said as he stuck the spoon in the younger's mouth. Kotaro swallowed it down with a grunt. Nanashi ate a few bites and they continued this process until the bowl was empty.
...
Later in the night, after the sun had long set, the samurai shot up from the hay in a cold sweat. His startled, panting breaths formed into a hiss once the pain from his side intensified at his sudden movement. He calmed himself down a little and examined his wound to make sure it hadn't reopened.
"Nightmares again?" A small, tired voice asked from beside him. Nanashi looked down at the child that pushed himself from the hay pile to sit upright.
"Why is it you always seem to be awake when this happens?"
"You woke me up with your noise." Kotaro yawned, rubbing at his eyes. "What was it about?" He asked, wondering what could be bad enough to frighten his guardian.
"A hundred Kotaro's running around like wild animals. The world has it bad enough with just one of you, the thought of more is just terrifying." Nanashi joked.
"That's not very nice..." Kotaro drawled, too tired to argue with the samurai. Nanashi smiled warmly as he watched the child curl back up beside him, ready to go back to sleep. "Mmm... You're just stupid..." He sighed as his brown eyes fell closed. The man listened as the child's breath evened out, signaling he had fallen asleep. He laid back into the hay and let every thought he could think run through his head. He thought of the other day when Kotaro was almost sacrificed. He thought of how things would have turned out if he hadn't gone after him. He thought of the moment he began walking away from the temple, leaving the child behind. He remembered the night Kotaro learned about his hair color, and how accepting he was about it. Then his thoughts finally rested on the last time he had that nightmare, and the remedy Kotaro had told him about. "It helps to curl up with something you love...and think good thoughts. That's what I always do..." Nanashi let the advice sink in as he mulled it over in his head. 'Something I love?' He thought to himself.
He glanced over at the child and dog laying asleep at his side. Kotaro mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over to face the samurai, arms folding up in front of him comfortably. Nanashi gave a skeptical half smile at the idea. 'Well, it's worth a try.' He moved to lay on his side, careful not to irritate his injury as he settled down closer to the slumbering boy and canine. He rested one of his arms under his head to keep comfortable and let the other drape casually over the two beside him. It was true he had grown to love them over the time they'd spent together. They were like a family. A small, awkward one, but a family non the less.
Kotaro shifted into the warmth of Nanashi's torso, subconsciously seeking heat in the chilly winter night. Snuggling into the man's chest he hummed a sigh of content. Nanashi chuckled. 'Curl up with something you love, huh?' He thought as his eyes drifted closed. 'Yeah. I think this could work.' The rest of the night he dreamed of nothing but playing with a child and his dog on the shore of an ocean. That nightmare wouldn't be bothering him again for a very long while.