Author's Note: This is my Genbu Kaiden fan fiction, and this is based on the first five volume of Genbu Kaiden since I only have read the first five volumes when I had this idea, although I have heard of what happened in volume six and the thing about who Urumiya is. This is like my Fushigi Yugi fan fiction, this is a Hikitsu (my favourite character) pairing with an OC. She is actually Urumiya, so please disregard, ignore, who the real Urumiya is. (for those who have read my previous stories, it's like how Yuri is the priestess of Seiryuu, but not Yui inanyway).

Hikitsu really remind me of Hotohori, they both seem so sad, lonely and tragic., and they are both drawn so beautifully. But anyway, please enjoy!

My OC is called Setsuka. Setsuka is one of my favourite Japanese name and it is actually the name of Sakurazuka Seishiro's mother, just in case there are those who doesn't know, they are characters from Clamp's X and in a way, Tokyo Babylon. I just find her name so pretty after I discovered the kanji. However, this Setsuka's name is not identical to Sakurazuka Setsuka's. That Setsuka's name is雪華, it kind of means snow glory, but the Setsuka in this fan fiction is actually written as雪花, which means snow flower. This is because Setsu means snow, while ka can mean both glory and flower, and a lot of other stuff.

Note: I will be calling Hikitsu Emutato in the story until he accepts his role as a celestial warrior, and that would not happen until sometime later. And the same thing with Setsuka.

As always, if you like it in anyway then please leave me a review and I will be really motivated. I actually wrote this chapter quite some time ago but I somehow just kept on not putting it up.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, this is all the creation of the very amazing and talented Watase-sensei.

"The legend is beginning to unfold

The real me unfurls

Distant echoes of "I love you"

…lead me to you

Awakening spirits

…begin to shine to another world."

(For the sake of my beloved) 1

The young boy bowed to the tribal leader respectfully before he allowed himself to take the hand of the little girl that he had been waiting for. He was always the one that waited as a mother naturally took longer in grooming a girl.

But the carefully tied ribbons would be lost or loose by the end of each day, and her hair would have to be brushed and plaited once more. She was always running or playing in a much too active way.

A way that was perceived as boyish.

"Emutato!" she greeted him happily as she left the embrace of her doting grandfather. "Did I make you wait again?"2

"A proper man should wait for the lady, he should not be waited on by her." Her grandfather said thoughtlessly. "So Setsuka…"

At this the eight year old girl quickly turned to face him without letting go of her companion's hand, a defiant light in her eyes. "But I don't want to be a lady! A lady can't do what I want to do."

"What you are doing." her grandfather corrected with an indulgent smile.

While the woman of the nomadic tribes had much more freedom then their contemporaries in Hokkan, there were few who could do what Setsuka did. She had done whatever Emutato did- participating in the activities of weaponry that were usually almost always reserved for men.3

"But I want to do it with Emutato." She had insisted, refusing to release her hold from the one who was her best friend even then. "Why can't I do it because I am a girl?"

Of course she succeeded, as her grandfather and father were too lenient towards her. But then she was the cherished granddaughter of the tribal leader, and there were no siblings that might have diverted her parent's attention and love.

"I am as good as Emutato and maybe even better!" her indignant protest forced her grandfather to break away from his reveries.

"I am older then you." Emutato finally spoke, making a face at her. Like many children, he regarded a few months as a rather significant number.

"I won yesterday at shooting, my arrow was closer…"

"But the day before, at fencing…"

"Are you two not going to play outside today?" the tribe leader interrupted them.

At this the two children giggled and nodded as they exchanged a quick glance. The two of them then ran to the entrance, still holding onto each other's hand.

The Kan tribe was a rather small tribe due to their nomadic way of living, so there were naturally few people per age group. Birthing was not common, while infancy was highly dangerous, and even adults faced daily threats from being attacked by their non-human neighbours.

Emutato and Setsuka were the only ones in the Kan tribe that were eight, all the other children were at least separated from them by a gap of five years. Therefore, it was really not surprising that the two of them became so close.

She was the tribal leader's granddaughter, but such status mattered little in their small community. It would not cause much difficulty even if it did, as Emutato's father was regarded as the leader's foster son.

The two young children were even almost betrothed when they were both still in their mothers' womb, and it would have been regarded as a good engagement.4

They had barely run a few steps when Setsuka forced them to stop, as the ribbon at the end of her plaits had been caught with the numerous poles that set up their homes once again.

"Setsuka's hair always does this." Emutato complained, releasing his hand from her's in order to try and untie the ribbon.

"It is not my hair, but the ribbon!" she protested indignantly.

Taking her other plait she began to stare at the still neatly tied ribbon. She still could not understand why her mother would spend so much time in plaiting her hair and then carefully tying it with ribbons, when Emutato's mother would only brush his hair.

It was clear that these ribbons were something only girls and women would use, but she already found them to be rather pretty, and she quite liked having her mother brushing and braiding her hair for her.

"Finished." Emutato told her softly, having managed to untangle the ribbon without untying her hair, as she was usually too impatient.

There were some boys who would tease him for doing this, but he truly didn't care. He was happy as long as he was with Setsuka, who was always beside him.

Smiling, he took her hand once again, and the two of them resumed their running, eager for what the day would bring.

Like most of the children in their tribe, and those who were once children, they were fond of playing in the wilderness some distance away from the invisible boundaries of their tribe.

Perhaps it was mainly due to the fact that it was separated from the world of the adults- those who taught them rules.

The truth was rather crushing: there was always a carefully hidden adult who would carefully keep a watch over the children.

Having arrived at their destination, Setsuka and Emutato headed to their secret stop: a tiny lair that was barely visible due to the thick layer of snows on top of the small bit that rose above the surface.

Emutato quickly knelt in front of the secret lair and stretched his hands out.

"Yuki!" he whispered gently, "We are here, and we brought you food today!!!"5

The man who was on duty happened to be looking at them, which allowed him to see who, or rather what, Yuki was.

He almost released the arrow from his bow when he saw a little wolf club crawling out of the cave to lick Emutato's hand before the young boy laughed and picked him up, holding it as if it was a puppy.

He spent some time pondering on whether he should inform their parents, but decide against it when he saw Emutato handing the wolf cub to Setsuka, who greeted the girl in an equally affectionate manner by licking her face.

The wolf cub seemed to genuinely love these two children, and the same could probably be said for them. It would simply be too cruel if he parted them from their pet…no, their friend. He could still remember how much he had love his brother's horse- which he would secretly ride until the day he was caught and punished by never allowing to ride it again. To this day he was still rather bitter about this.

For now, he would only watch and observe. It he was proven to be right then he would keep this secret. Beside, this would not be the first time that someone of the tribe was accompanied by wolves.

Meanwhile, Emutato and Setsuka were happy enough playing with their other friend- whom they found during a game of snow fight. Since the wolf was hurt they had helped him, and the cub became their friend.

Emutato had been the one to bind his wounds, so he had named the wolf. He would not know, until more then a decade later, that it was this simple action that prevented him from going completely mad as it gave him a companion.

"You will be Yuki, it is like Setsuka's name."

"I wish Yuki can return home with us." Emutato said again, patting the wolf cub.

"But people usually don't like wolves." Setsuka pointed out. "Grandpapa says that wolves are dangerous. That they sometimes bite people."

"I know that. But Yuki must be so lonely when we are gone. When you are not there, papa and mama are, and if they are not there, Aira would be. But when we are gone, Yuki is alone.

"I think it will be very scary…to be by your self."

"But I will always be there with you, Emutato." She declared out. "I'll always protect you!"

"And I'll protect you too, whenever you want me to." He replied back.

At this she grinned and flung her two arms around him impulsively.

"This is why you are my best friend, because only you understand."

They were only eight years old, but they already developed a bond that refused to be severed even after years of separation, as well as numerous attempts of forcing them apart.

But Setsuka was suddenly forced to turn away from him due to the hard ball of snow that suddenly struck her. Far away from them, the children's guardian sighed at the fact that there would be a fight very soon. A fight he could not interfere in as it took place in a world where he no longer belonged.

"Who did this?" Setsuka demanded while beside her, Emutato quickly shoved Yuki back into his home.

The identity of their attacker was really not a surprise, as this was not the first time such a thing happened. As he boldly picked up another ball of snow, Setsuka released the word she had eagerly wanted to try after hearing someone getting slapped for saying it.

"Bastard!" she spat out.

Another ball of snow hit her again, only that it hit her full in the face this time. But she only smiled, knowing that this would make him even more annoyed.

"Little Emutato playing with little Setsuka like a little girl." The much older boy sneered out at the boy and girl all their relatives seemed to be so fond of.

As usual, Emutato ignored him. This was partly due to his more passive nature, as well as his rather strong convention in regard to the rule of respecting one's elder.6

"Both of us can shoot better then you." Setsuka pointed out rather haughtily, although she knew that their excellent performance at archery yesterday was not a reflection of their normal standard.

"You…you are only allowed to do that because grandfather is the leader fight now!" her cousin screamed back, his masculine pride immediately caused the wound to re-open. "When I become the leader of the tribe I will never let stupid girls…"

"I think…" Emutato quickly begin, already knowing what would soon happen.

"Bastard!" she screamed out a second time, even as she punched the cousin she hated the most. "I hate you!"

More then anything, she loathed being reminded that she was only allowed to break tradition due to her grandfather's position. Even though she was better then many of the boys, she knew that she would never even have the chance of proving her self if it wasn't for her grandfather. And even if she somehow had the chance, she would still not be taught for the simple reason that she was a girl.

"I'll make girls only make clothes and…" her cousin continued maliciously, knowing that he found the right spot to hit, as out of all the chores performed by the women of the tribe, weaving and sewing was what she hated the most.7

"I hate you! I hate you!" Setsuka repeated again, now biting him and even digging her nails in.

Beside her, Emutato let out another sigh. Having their time together wasted by the fights between Setsuka and her cousin was becoming more then a little common now. He simply couldn't understand why she was always unwilling to simply ignore her cousin like him.

She would win, of course, she always won before. But what was the point when the victory would only last for a few days? Soon enough he would recover and feel obliged to have another fight with her in the hope of winning.

As Emutato had predicted, Setsuka did emerge as the victor. But her carefully plaited hair had unwound during the fight, and at one stage her cousin even tore off a large chunk of her hair. Her clothes were wet due to the snows that were thrown at her, while many part of her skin were scratched and bleeding.

Most of all, one of her leg was in a rather odd angle.

She was not crying as she refused to cry at petit things, but he could tell that the snow was making her wounds even more painful.

"Setsuka can be so silly sometimes." He said softly, completely ignoring the loser of the fight- who was naturally in more pain, although his injuries were all of a very temporary nature.

"It is more silly to let him continue." She retorted back angrily, only to wince again due to the wound.

"But you didn't stop him," he reasoned logically before he turned around and crouched down. "I can carry you on my back…if you don't mind."

He wasn't sure whether her pride would allow her to be piggy-backed by someone other then an elder, but her wounds seemed to be pretty bad if they actually might make her cry. A few minutes later, he felt her leaning on him, her arms around his neck.

"Am I heavy?" Setsuka asked when Emutato began to walk, noticing that he was walking slower then usual.

"Heavier then Yuki, and heavier then Aira." He admitted. "Mama let me hold Aira sometimes and she is lighter."8

"You are so strange, Emutato. All my cousins fight with their siblings and each other. You, however, really love Aira."

"How can I not love Aira?' he asked back, truly confused. "She is my little sister!"

"But that is the whole point! All my cousins don't like their siblings and I heard papa saying to mama that he and his brothers used to fight until years later, when he grew up. This is why," she said slowly, "I don't think that we are like siblings, despite what some people say."

Like many children, they regarded siblings as a relationship that would only stop being sour when one reached adulthood, with a few exceptions- such as Emutato himself. They would see their peers fighting physically and verbally with their sibling, unlike the rather loving relationship of their parents and relatives.

But it seemed that being someone's sibling was always less intimate then being someone's spouse. Setsuka's mother obviously loved her brothers, but she was clearly happier when she was with her husband.

Younger as they were, they already decided to never let anyone else come between them.

"I don't think we are like siblings though." Emutato decided.

"So instead of being my brother you will just always be Emutato. That is better." Setsuka agreed, before she sniffed slightly. "My leg hurts so much!"

"That is why papa tells me to not fight."

"He started it!"

"You punched back. I don't understand you…you get into fights so easily."

He knew her well enough to be able to recognize the silence as the result of thinking of a right answer for him, not because she took offence in his words. She was a very expressive person who did not understand why she should try to exercise the little control she had over her emotions in the first place.

It was not as if she was a disobedient child at all, in fact, she was quite the opposite. Her parents and grandfather, the ones who were mainly responsible for her upbringing, rarely found her disobeying them. Though she might immediately frown at the prospect of doing a certain chore, she would do it without any extra complaint.

"I don't like it…I hate it when people forbid me to do things that I want to do because I am a girl." She finally said. "I hate people like my cousins, because they think less of me as I am a girl. I also don't like him because he makes me feel that I am…inferior."9

"Inferior? What does that mean?"

"I heard papa using that word the other day and I think that it means being lower, not as good. I don't understand why I have to be inferior because I am a girl. For a long time I kept on wondering why you are regarded as strange for playing with me, and holding my hand. And why my cousins don't let me play with them, although I can run faster and even hit harder then them.

"Then I understood…it is because I am a girl. Perhaps that is why," she finally said, "I get into fights with my cousins, especially him, so often. I hate the way he treats me as inferior because I am a girl. That is why I seem bad tempered, as my cousins always make me so angry by thinking they are better then me because I am a girl!"

"Does punching them help?"

"It makes me feel better." She said bluntly. "And it shows that a girl can beat them up!"

"Setsuka…I know that you are a girl but to me, you will always just be Setsuka. You are my companion for everything and I don't think that is strange because you are Setsuka. I don't mind holding your hand either." He added quite shyly.

She was obviously pleased at his words as she began to giggle, although it didn't prevent her from asking him to explain it a bit more, as well as saying that he was the strange one.

Because he had carried her, it took them much longer to get back. To their great surprise, they were met by the village healer, Setsuka's eldest uncle, even before they were half way near the village.

"Uncle, what are you…" Setsuka didn't even have time to finish her sentence before her uncle grabbed her from Emutato and dumped the rather empty basket to the young boy.

"I was just picking some…herbs. Then I saw you two and it is clear that Setsuka must be injured since she is being carried."10

"My leg hurt."

"Setsuka got into a fight with your son." Emutato explained, raising his free hand in order to clasp Setsuka's stretched one.

"Again? This is the second time this week."

"Third time!" Setsuka corrected, a bit proudly.

"And he started it every time." Emutato added.

It was not until years later when the two of them understood why their parents seemed to be waiting for them. This naturally made them wonder whether things might have been different if they had been aware about the true status of their privacy from adults on that fateful day.

Setsuka lived in the tent of the tribal leader, a strange thing since he was her mother's father. But as her father was foreign, they could not practice the norm of having the wife move into the tent of the husband.11

The tent was only different by being larger then all the others, as tribal meetings took place there. There was no extra display of status as the nomadic tribes were filled with proud people who could only focus on survival in the way of life style that they clung onto.

The tribal leader was sitting beside the hearth with his only daughter Manake right next to him, tending to their dinner with the help of one of her sisters-in-law. There was a clear resemblance between mother and daughter, but she lacked the fierce energy that Setsuka possessed- Manake was very gentle and soft speaking.12

She was also extremely fragile, being tormented with a disease that robbed her of most of her strength.

A few steps away was Hekyune, Setsuka's father and the tribal leader's only son-in-law. He was dressed in the native costume of the tribe with his hair bound in the simple way like most men in Hokkan, but the context of the half opened book in his hand along with his accent betrayed his original back ground: he was from Konan.

Etodo was also there with both his wife and little daughter, knowing that his son would be coming here first. This tent was almost like his second home, as the tribal leader had looked after him for many years when his parents died, when none of his kin would acknowledge him due to a family conflict about his parents' marriage.

Lastly, Setsuka's cousin was sitting in the corner, sulking and ignoring his mother's attempt of wiping his face.

Frustrated, she went to sit beside her sister-in-law instead.

"Manake, this is ridiculous!" she began angrily, "This is the forth time your daughter did this to my son in this one week."13

"A very spirited child." The tribal leader said absently. "Very much like her late grandmother."

He naturally doted on this child as she was his only granddaughter- as well as being borne from his only daughter- whom he clearly loved deeply. Most of all, the little girl reminded him greatly of his dead wife whom he had played with since she was born. Like Setsuka, she had long straight hair in that rare shade of dark red, and she would always manage to mess it up by the end of the day as well.

She had wanted to do what the boys did too, but was forced to spend all these times weaving instead.

"I can not loose another child!" his eldest daughter-in-law screamed out.

A bit melodramatic, but she had already witnessed two of her sons dying on the same day due to an attack by monsters only a few years ago.14

"Most children fight, it is normal." Etodo said quickly, hoping to pacify her. He then turned to Manake, changing the subject. "No offence intended, neesan, but how can Setsuka be your daughter? You are the embodiment of gentleness and your husband is quite like you as well."15

"Perhaps I raised her to be what I would like to be." Manake said softly. "If I could then I would run as she could, and I would like to be free as she is."

"Free?" her father asked softly. "Manake, I always…"

"My sickness is my chain, something that is not your fault at all, papa." She interrupted her father with a relatively gentle smile considering that her voice was now rather bitter. "I grew up spending almost all of my waking hours beside this hearth as I was never strong enough to go outside.

"The reason I seem so gentle is because I lack the power to do the opposite. On the rare occasions of someone pulling my hair when I was a child, I would do nothing other then ignoring them as that was all I could do. If I could run after them or slap them then I would do so. But of course, most of the time I am treated as if I am newly born foal, fragile and incapable of doing anything myself.

"That is why I want my daughter to run freely and even act wildly, because I can never be like that myself." She finished sadly.

Without saying anything her husband pulled her into a tight embrace. He had understood her better then anyone else- and that was why she finally agreed to marry. Like all her suitors and relatives he had wanted to look after her, but the difference was that he had been motivated by love alone.

"I do not want to look after you because you need someone to do so due to this sickness, but because I simply love you." He had told her this when he begged her to allow him to love her, after she turned away from him, leaving the flowers of snow in his hand. "I would still desire to protect you even if you are not sick…even if you are stronger then me. I want to do this because I love you."

He had not mentioned her sickness until she did, so different from the others who believed that doing so would win her heart. They didn't understand that what she longed for was to be loved, not to be looked after.16

"Protect me and look after me because you love me, not because I am sick." She whispered as she finally accepted the banquet, giving him permission to woo her.

But her beautiful daughter was different, different from the woman she was, and still different from the woman she might have been like if this disease had not chose to torment her.

She refused to have her daughter becoming anyone other then Setsuka herself.

"What am I suppose to do then?" she said dryly, she never liked her eldest sister-in-law much as the older woman would act as if she was the leader's wife when her father was still in great health. "Chain her to one of the poles of the tent? Or…"

The possible fight was diverted due to the entrance of Emutato and Setsuka with the village healer.

"Nii-chan, her leg…" Manake began worriedly, immediately focusing on her precious daughter.

"Only a dislocation." He reassured her as he laid the little girl onto the rug at the centre of the tent, about to begin his job. "There is no need to go to the nearby city." 17

"It would heal without any consequences?" she pressed on.

She only began to chide her daughter when her brother gave her a reassuring nod. "Setsuka, you shouldn't be fighting in such a dangerous way."

"I am sorry for making mama worried." The little girl apologised sincerely.

"If you break your leg and your uncle is unable to fix it, you might be crippled forever- unable to use your legs properly anymore, because we might not be able to reach the doctors in the cities on time." She explained. "You would not like that at all."

"And you must not play outside or even run until I say that your leg is completely healed." Her uncle added. "If you don't do that then your let will be damaged forever."

He was not exaggerating as there had been such incidents before. Even though the man did not lose the use of that leg, he ended up being permanently crippled- only able to walk very slowly.

"I'll be good." Setsuka whispered, her face revealing great horror at the prospect of permanent invalidism. "I'll stay inside the tent and I'll even help mama to weave."

At this Manake finally laughed, the tension she had since she heard of her daughter's injury was finally gone.

"You do not have to do, Setsuka. You are not being punished." She said with a smile, recollecting how her daughter once stabbed her with her needle due to her inability of concentrating on such a task. "Your father has been thinking about teaching you to read and write a bit more and…"

"I'll start tomorrow then!" Setsuka said eagerly. In the days of snow storms, her father's precious books easily became her favourite toy. The large pictures that she could understand had caused her to be interested enough in order to learn about the tiny pictures that filled up most of the book.

"But can Emutato come as well?" she asked, her face suddenly changing to one of great concern."

"Of course." Hekyune promised her happily.

One of his goals was to teach the nearly completely illiterate tribe how to read and write, but it had not been easy. The Kan tribe rarely dealt with any one from the city, and their main trading partners was the Ha tribe, who were almost exactly like them.18

Though they greatly valued him for his ability of reading and writing, they were not particular eager to acquire these skills them self. That was why he was very happy at any opportunity of teaching one more person.

"Emutato, are you injured in any way?" Etodo asked, suddenly recollecting that his own son might have been involved in the fight as well, even if he was such a gentle natured child.

"I wasn't fighting." Emutato answered very simply.

"You watched Setsuka fight and didn't help her at all?" his father repeated, a bit shocked.

"She doesn't want me to." His son replied back in that still matter of fact tone.

"You watched her getting injured?" his mother asked in disbelieve. "What if Aira was there?"

"Then I will punch anyone that dares to harm her!" he stated firmly. "Mama, Aira is little and cannot look after herself, so I will look after her. But Setsuka can, and she likes and wants to look after her self so if I help her, she will be angry. It is as if I think that she needs me to help her when she doesn't."

Setsuka was a strange child because she longed to break all convention, but Emutato was unusual as well, as he could understand what only adults could even though he was very young.

"Well…I am done here." The village healer declared out as he handed his patient back to her father. "It is best for Setsuka to rest now."

"But first…" Manake said sternly as she pointed to the boy who was still sulking in the corner.

"Mama, I am not sorry at all, so I refuse to apologise." Setsuka stated firmly.

"He will apologise to you." Her uncle said reasonably. "So don't you think that you should apologise, at least for having hit him so hard? Two of his teeth got knocked off due to you."

"Really?"

"Setsuka!!!" Hekyune reproached her sharply, a bit upset at how her face suddenly lit up.

"I will apologise then." The little girl told her parents with an angelical smile.

In the end, not without great difficulty, the adults finally managed to extract an apology from both children, as well as the promise that they would not fight when they were left alone in the sleeping part of the tent.

"Do you really think that your daughter can stay confined in the tent for a whole month?" the village leader asked his only sister with a fond smile.

"She will be able to." Manake answered without any hesitation. "First of all she is truly terrified at never being able to run again and secondly, Emutato will be keeping her company."

"Seeing him sitting beside her and holding little Aira really make them appear as a newly wed couple with their first child." Emutato's mother laughed out. "Oh I really do believe that such a day would be happening very soon."

"I have no objection at all if they do wish to marry. In fact, I will be very happy. Emutato is a very good boy and his temperament will balance with Setsuka's in an ideal way. I will almost say that she needs to marry someone like him. However," at this Hekyune's eyes darkened. "I simply refuse to let them be forced into a marriage, or feel that the other is obliged to marry them because of an engagement that was made for them, not by them."

The two children had been born with only a few months' gap, so both women had watched the growth of their infant within their womb at about the same time.

Etodo then suggested for the two to be born children to be engaged if they did end up as different sexes. This practice was not unusual or even uncommon between two very close friends or kin. And Etodo truly think of Manake as his elder sister.

Most of the betrothed couple did end up in a happy enough marriage, Setsuka's grandfather was one of them. As for those who did not wish to marry the one they were meant to, they would be allowed to annul their engagement if their parents' eager persuasions failed.19

That was why Emutato's parents had been deeply shocked at the vehement refusal.

"I will never hurt my child in such a way!"

Etodo was naturally offended, and Hekyune had to quickly explain that he had been engaged to the daughter of one of his father's associate when they were both in their mother's wombs. This engagement caused him severe difficulty when he decided to marry Manake, as his future 'bride' actually wanted to marry him, and was supported by both their parents.

He might not have been disowned if he had not been engaged to that girl, as his parents might have been able to see his actions as being foolish instead of as a betrayal. He seemed to have caused his father to miss a prestigious connection and alliance due to his 'bride' anger.

But he had no regrets at all.

He reached out his hand towards his wife- who grasps it lovingly. He loved her the moment he saw her, and he had never stopped feeling that way towards her. Though he missed his families in Konan greatly, he was happy as long as she was there, and her family hand accepted him with open arms. He could easily love her father as his own.

Then there was their daughter, her mere presence was a miracle, like his wife. He could never regret his choice because it brought the two of them to him. 20

1 I will be using an extract of a song from Fushigi Yugi in the beginning of a chapter- kind of a way to pay tribute to the absolutely amazing character and general songs I guess.

2 I've seen a lot of versions for his name but I think Emutato is the proper spelling. I actually got a katakana chart and matched it with his name on the character card, and this should be his whole name: Chien Emutato (last name first )

3 This is what I feel myself, I think it is due to the idea that woman in a lower rural society have more power as they do a lot of the work alongside man, unlike woman in the upper class.

4 This refers to a Chinese way of engagement. Two pregnant women might decide (most likely due to their husbands and/or kin) to let their child be engaged if they are a boy and a girl. I'll be explaining this later on during the story too.

5 Yuki means snow.

6 This is a really strong convention, and as far as I am concerned, some Chinese family still practices this. I guess my family kind of does. If your older sibling treats you like shit, you don't snap back at them, if you want to complain, you do it to your parents, not to the older sibling.

7 I must mention, her cousin is not evil or anything. He is just a very unsecured and jealous boy.

8 In this version Aira will be eight years younger then him, so she was only recently born right now. So when the rest met her, she would be about 14, which I think might be her actual age.

9 The way she paused at this word and his reaction to it is to serve as a reminder that they are just two young children.

10 What happened is that someone told him that Setsuka was injured, so he quickly pretended to be on an errand in order to meet up with her, while everyone else was already waiting,

11 I presume that the Kan tribe is like the majority- patriarchal, so the wife would go and live with her husband's kin. Although I did remember seeing something about how there are matriarchal tribes among the numerous ethnic minority of China.

12 I read a bit about the mogolian tribe for this story and the sitting arrangement is actually pretty complicated. The men and women are supposed to sit on particular sides due to their gender and position. But I don't think Watase-sensei made her two tribes like that.

13 This is not a mistake in typing, or an inconsistency. This is to show that in a way parents still can't manage to be in the world of the children completely, even if they do manage to spy on them. The real amount of fights is three times.

14 The same monsters that killed Tomite's father. I can't find out their names right now so…

15 These two must be relatively close if he is actually calling her 'sister' without adding her name in front.

16 I think she feels that others want to look after her as she knows them since they were little, and as children they naturally treated her differently. So she thinks that their changing attitude is due to them growing up and realized that she need to be looked after. I think basically…she thinks they are just taking pitying her. And as mentioned, most men propose with the promise of looking after her, whereas Hekyune just start his proposal by telling her that he loves her.

17 Presuming that their tribe is quite isolated, and so the very serious incidents will probably have to go to the doctors in the city since their knowledge will be a bit limited. Note: Manake had to go to the city sometimes due to her sickness.

18 I'm presuming that the tribe will be mainly illiterate because they are very isolated and illiteracy. Make sense with the way they live.

19 I am not really sure about this, but I like to think that this can happen.

Author's Note: So this is, the very first chapter! I hope someone enjoyed reading it and please leave a review!!!

By the way I keep on mentioning that they are holding each other's hand because I want to get the point of how they are really close through.