Chapter 2.5: When They First Met
Yes, you read right. Chapter 2.5! Mindboggling, isn't it? This chapter was originally made for my final summative, but I ended up handing in another story, which will be uploaded later, after I find a final editor for it. But of course, this chapter is only '2.5' and not '3' because it's just a filler chapter explaining chapter 3. Chapter 3 will be uploaded after August 20th! I hope you enjoy this chapter about how Takeru and Mako first met! In my mind anyways xD
The Past
"Ah!"
With a start, 10 year-old Shiba Takeru woke with a start from his restless sleep. Breathing heavily, he wiped his forehead clear of the sweat that had gathered in the cold night air.
It had been five years since the monstrous Gedoushuu had attacked the Shiba Mansion. Though the 17th generation of the Shinkengers had managed to defeat them, the battle had taken a bloody toll upon them. The 17th head of the Shiba family had been killed, while the rest of the Shinkengers had been severely wounded. Among them, Shiraishi Kyoko had been paralyzed from the waist down, and was still in the intensive care unit of the hospital. The mansion itself had been partially burned and had spent ten months being rebuilt into its former glory.
For safety purposes, it had been decided that the real 18th head of the Shiba family would taken in hiding, while Takeru would be set up as the kagemusha or shadow warrior to act as the decoy, should the enemy ever manage to return. Takeru silently mourned the 17th lord, a man that had shown great compassion towards him as though Takeru was his own son.
He shook his head once, and looked over beside his futon to see a small circular tray that one of the kuroko had placed near him. On top of the tray were a small lacquered cup and a jug of water, along with a slightly burned paper airplane and the pentagon shishi origami, the only two things that he owned. He reached over and poured himself a cup of water, nursing the cup within his hands as the shishi origami unfolded itself into its lion form and crawled slowly towards his shoulder.
"Did I wake you up?" he asked softly.
The miniature lion nodded once, and nimbly leaped back over onto the tray. Pacing in a circle once, it folded itself back into its pentagon shape. Takeru watched it as he placed the cup back beside it, and gently lay back onto the soft futon, and stared at the dark ceiling above before he finally fell asleep.
The next morning, Takeru awoke to see a pair of black clothed kuroko scurrying about in his bedroom. One of them laid down another tray with steaming plates of food in front of him, the legs of the tray allowing for Takeru to sit up and pull the breakfast towards him.
Absentmindedly, he took the chopsticks into his hand and watched the kuroko exchange the water jug and cup with a fresh pair.
"Tono." A knock on the door. "Are you awake?"
"Come in," Takeru said through his mouthful of rice.
The door was pulled aside in a fluid motion as Kusakabe Hikoma stepped into the room. The elderly man dropped to a low bow in front of the young lord.
"Sit down," Takeru gestured to the space in front of him, where a kuroko had now placed a soft cushion for Hikoma to sit down on.
Gingerly, Hikoma sat down, and bowed once more, "I apologize for the inconvenience, my lord, but there is an urgent matter that needs to be attended to, and-"
"Jii," Takeru interrupted him, using the respectful title given to elders. "Too long. Give me the short form of what's happening."
"Oh," Hikoma looked mollified, but he recovered quickly. "Basically, one of the former lord's retainer's husband will be coming by today for a social visit. He will be bringing his daughter along, so I will trust you to take care of her while she's here."
Takeru nodded, his face expressionless.
"Any questions," Hikoma prompted.
"Do they know that I'm a kagemusha?" he asked.
Hikoma shook his head, "Only the father knows," he looked Takeru squarely in the eye. "And no matter what happens, don't tell the daughter."
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Takeru replied dryly.
Takeru walked through the deserted halls of the mansion in a purposeful manner, his navy blue hakama flowing behind him. Jii was already waiting for him outside the room.
"Jii," Takeru nodded his notice of Jii's presense, only to have the elder man bar his way into the room. "What is it?"
"Tono," Hikoma cleared his throat. "It seems that there is a delicate situation inside."
Takeru narrowed his eyes, "Meaning?"
"Meaning that you will have to take care of their daughter," Jii opened the door and hurriedly ushered a girl around the same age as Takeru out the door. She didn't look at Takeru but she just fiddled with her small sling bag.
"Takeru-dono, please meet Shiraishi Mako-san. She will be taking over as ShinkenPink for your generation."
It's not my generation, Takeru thought in his mind. Outwardly, he replied with, "I look forward to working with you, Shiraishi-san."
"There's no need to be that formal, Takeru-kun," Mako smiled brightly at the young boy.
"Takeru… kun?" Takeru was surprised at the girl's bluntness.
"Uh huh," Mako nodded. "And you should call me Mako-chan!"
"Wouldn't Mako-san work better for now?" Takeru asked.
"But you're far too formal!" Mako protested.
"Perhaps, it would be best if Mako-chan were to be taken out into the courtyard," Jii intervened before Mako could cause any further harm to Takeru's mental state, for his face was already turning red with anger.
"Sorry," mumbled a blushing Mako, as she picked herself off of the floor. "I didn't mean to do that."
"That's alright," Jii reassured the young girl kindly. "Tono, could you take care of Mako-chan while I talk to her father?"
"But Jii!" protested Takeru. "I was going to train!"
"Now, Tono," Jii cut off Takeru's attempt to argue. "This is time for grown up talk."
"Aren't I the lord?" Takeru asked him. "Shouldn't I be in there listening to the vassal?"
"But you have a duty now," reprimanded Jii. "You should go to the courtyard and get to know Mako-chan. In any case, it is only the vassal's spouse that is going to talk."
Exasperated, Takeru grouchily turned away from them and began to walk away, only to hear no footsteps following him from behind. He turned around to find Mako still rooted beside Jii, "Are you coming or what?" he asked.
Mako nodded her head vigorously, and ran quickly to follow Takeru. After making sure that Mako was past him, Takeru shot a quick glare at Jii and followed her.
Jii turned around and walked back into the meeting room, where Shiraishi Mamoru was quietly waiting in his crisp business suit.
When the door was completely closed, Mamoru sighed, "Forgive our daughter, Hikoma-san. She can be a bit tomboyish."
"I can see that," chuckled Hikoma.
"Kyoko remembers when you first brought him in," Mamoru said tirely. "He had such sharp eyes, like a lion standing its ground in unfamiliar territory."
"He still has those eyes," Mamoru noted. "With a touch of loneliness within them."
"A dangerous combination," Mamoru sighed, barely moving his lips. He fiddled nervously with his handkerchief.
"One that will grow out of him in time," Hikoma said. "I'm sure of it."
"Hopefully one that will grow out before I leave," Mamoru remarked.
"Leave?" Hikoma was surprised. "When are you going back to Hawaii?"
"In about two weeks," Mamoru informed him. "I'll be going back to Hawaii after Mako's tenth birthday."
"So Mako is going to living with her grandmother?"
"Mako is going to be taken care of by her grandmother," Mamoru answered, and then he sighed. "I wish we didn't have to do this… but…"
"I'm sure she'll understand," Hikoma said. "Have you told her yet?"
"Not yet," Mamoru hung his head low, "She doesn't know that I'll be going again."
Takeru caught up to Mako, and passed her. Noting her face, he merely turned away and began to walk further down the brightly lit corridor. Mako followed him, keeping a safe distance away.
Abruptly, Takeru stopped in his tracks, causing Mako to bump into him.
"Ouch," she whimpered.
"Sorry," Takeru said, turning around. "I didn't mean to bump into you."
"It's alright," Mako said, cheerfully. "It was an accident."
"Still," Takeru knocked once on the wall, and instantly a kuroko appeared on. "Can you bring me an ice pack?"
"No, no, no!" Mako blushed, and tried to prevent the kuroko from going to get her an ice pack. "It doesn't hurt that much."
"Still, it does hurt," Takeru walked down the hallway until he reached the doorway leading to outside to the courtyard. "This way," he said as he opened the door.
"Is this the courtyard?" Mako stepped through the doorway, and looked at the surrounding area. "My mom told me about it when I was younger."
The courtyard was a wide open grass area with large dirt island extending from the elevated platform. Three wooden blocks protruding straight from the ground were wearing kendo equipment to serve as dummies. A rack of five shinai was beside the dummies. A fence bared off the courtyard from the field outside.
"It's huge!" Mako jumped off the platform and ran around the courtyard, entranced by the pure simplicity of the entire place, while Takeru just sat down, his feet dangling off the platform. "Do you play here with your friends a lot?"
Takeru gave a start, and slid off of the platform, walking towards the shinai rack.
"Takeru-kun?" Mako looked at him with a questioning look on her face. "Do you play here a lot with your friends?"
Takeru looked at the shinai a while longer, tracing imaginary patterns on the bamboo.
"Takeru-kun," Mako drew closer to him. "Do you have any friends?"
Takeru finally picked up one of the shinai, "I used to," he replied, staring hard at the practice sword. "He was my best friend, but one day he had to go."
"You mean you didn't want to be friends with him anymore?" Mako looked at him in shock.
"No," Takeru turned to face her. "He had to leave one day, but he said that he would return. So I gave him an origami to return to me when he does."
"Origami?" Mako reached into her pocket and took out a pink semi-flat cylinder with the kanji for 'heaven' (天) on it. "Do you mean this?"
She tapped it gently and four flippers extended from the underside, while a head protruded from the top. The turtle-like origami flapped its flippers once and rose up gracefully into the air.
"You have one too?" Takeru gave a small start and pulled out the shishi origami from his kimono pocket. The red pentagon awoke quickly, causing four limbs to unfold, while the small head rose from the side. It nimbly leapt into the air where it started to dance with the other origami.
"Of course I do," Mako responded absentmindedly. "I got it from my mom when she came back from the hospital."
"She said," Mako continued. "That I would take her place as ShinkenPink for the next generation. I'm just hoping that the Gedoushuu don't return though. I want to grow up to be a beautiful housewife."
Takeru placed his shinai within his belt, reached into his pocket and took out his red shodophone. "Do you have one of these?" he asked, flipping the phone into its brush form.
"Yup," Mako pulled hers out of her sling bag, and also changed it into its brush form. 'Obaa-san taught me how to use it."
"And can you do this?' Takeru focused and with a small amount of effort he wrote out 'flame' (炎) in the air above his head. "Stand back," he warned as he flicked the kanji. Fire flew from the characters at a violent speed as it rushed up towards the sky in a vertical column. After three seconds, the fire died down, while Takeru stood beneath it, panting slightly.
"Wow!" Mako was impressed. "I can't do that. The best I can do is this," Mako gripped her shodophone with two hands and wrote 'flower' (花). Three flowers burst into life from the kanji as they landed in Mako's waiting arms. "Here," she picked the most full flower and gave it to Takeru. "For you."
It was Takeru's turn to be impressed as he took the flower from her. He admired it for a few seconds and gave it back to her.
"You don't want it?" she asked him, some hurt creeping into her voice.
"It's not that," Takeru shook his head. "Keep it safe for me while I'm training."
Mako nodded and took the flower from him, holding it close to her chest. She walked over to platform and sat down, allowing her feet to dangle.
"So which origami did you give him?" she asked curiously.
Takeru readied his shinai, raising the tip above a head's width above. "I gave him the ika origami," he replied.
"There's a squid one?" Mako covered her mouth in surprise, causing Takeru to raise an eyebrow at her.
"Why did you do that?" he asked bluntly.
"Do what?"
"You know," Takeru covered his mouth, exaggerating the action. "That."
"Because!" Mako replied indignantly. "I want to be a housewife! And all housewives do that!"
"I see," Takeru swung the shinai hard, hitting the dummy's helmet. "Who told you that?"
"My friend, Sakura-chan. She's really nice, and she's heir to a rich company," Mako rattled on cheerfully, leaving Takeru to listen absentmindedly while practicing his katas. "I don't think that she likes the fact that she's rich though, because she doesn't smile much, but when she does, she's really pretty! A lot of the boys at our school have a crush on her, but she doesn't like any of them. She says they're too childish."
"Hmm," Takeru grunted once in response to show that he was listening.
"And there's Yuuki-san! She's really smart, and she came from Hong Kong so she can speak Chinese too! But sometimes, she mixes up Japanese and Chinese," Mako pouted. "She writes a lot too, and she's learning English too!"
"English?" Takeru stopped his practicing momentarily. "She can speak English?"
"Yeah, and without an accent too!" Mako smiled, "She's teaching herself because she wants to read English books. She's also kinda quiet and calm compared to us. Most of the time, she'll be reading a book while we're playing or something. There's a few guys in our class that like her, and she likes one of them too," Mako blushed while she spoke the last sentence.
Takeru resumed thrashing the dummy with the shinai, and nodded to show that he understood.
"But her little brother," Mako grimaced slightly at the thought. "Jeimusu, he's a bit less fluent in all three languages but he wants to learn more. He's kind of a brat though, because he's always eating junk food and he always laughs at us when we tell him that he should watch it."
"He sounds nice," Takeru muttered over to her, as he hit the dummy in repetition. "How old is he?"
"He's around a year younger than Yuuki," Mako thought for a bit. "So I guess he's around nine years old? Yuuki hits him sometimes to keep him in line, but he is nice when he wants to be, though," she added blushing a bit.
Takeru cocked an eyebrow to look at her reddening face, "Do you like him?" he asked bluntly.
"What?" Mako shook her head violently. "No, I don't like him. He likes someone else in our school."
"He told you this?" Takeru asked incredulously, as though he had never heard of guys telling girls that they had a crush on someone.
'Well, not on purpose," she let out. "I kinda tricked him into telling me."
Mako watched Takeru slash at the wooden dummy, before pulling back three steps and attacking in a one-handed style. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see who tapped her, expecting to see her father. Instead, she saw the same kuroko that Takeru had sent ten minutes ago carrying a tray that was holding an ice pack as well as two large bowls of steaming ramen. The kuroko took the flower out of her hands and placed it onto the tray, pressed the ice pack into her hands, and bowed quickly.
"Thank you, kuroko-san," Mako pressed the ice pack to her forehead and immediately felt its cooling effects.
Having seen the kuroko come by with their lunch, Takeru set down the shinai on the rack and walked over to where Mako was sitting. Carefully taking one of the bowls, he split one of the wooden chopsticks with his teeth. However, he jerked his elbow out too far, and knocked the ceramic bowl off of his lap, causing it to fall onto the wooden balcony. Thousands of egg noodles splashed out while the chicken broth gushed out and began to seep out of the bowl, dripping onto the ground below.
Mako looked worriedly over at the young boy, "Are you alright?" she asked him setting her own bowl aside, taking care to avoid the same accident.
"I'm fine," he mumbled in embarrassment, picking up on the bowl that he had knocked over. He held it out at arm's length, allowing for the last few droplets of the soup to drip out. Sighing, he looked over at the mess that he had created.
"There goes my lunch," he said sadly, surveying the mess. He rose to pick up the mess, but before he could, two kuroko sprang from the house with a dustpan and hurriedly swept it all up, while Takeru could watch helplessly.
This never happened back home, he thought to himself. I used to have to clean up everything by myself.
'Takeru-kun?" Takeru turned around to see Mako staring at him nervously. "If you want," she mumbled. "You could help me eat my lunch? Because it's kinda big and I can't eat this much ramen."
"You sure about this?" Takeru asked wearily, afraid that the girl would change her mind in five seconds, like all the other girls at his old school did. "Aren't you scared of cooties or whatever?"
"Silly boy," Mako giggled. "Girls don't have cooties, and neither do boys."
"Really," Takeru was amused by her thinking, for all the girls that he knew back at his old school were scared of guys and their so-called cooties. "And who said that?"
"Sakura-chan, of course!" Mako exclaimed. "She said that cooties are just a made-up sickness, created by kids that were immature."
"You believe her?"
"Well, I've been hanging around Jeimusu for so long, and I haven't died yet, right?" Mako put her hands on her hips, attempting to seem older than she actually was.
"True," Takeru had to grin, as he sat down beside the girl. Picking up the new pair of chopsticks that the kuroko had laid out, he broke them apart, while Mako took a quiet slurp of the noodles.
"Why don't you slurp noisily, like you're supposed to?" Takeru asked, sucking up the noodles, with a loud noise. "You know, to show that you're enjoying the meal?"
"Cause I want to be a housewife!" replied Mako. "I told you that, and all good housewives don't slurp!"
"Hmm," Takeru took some more noodles out of the bowl. "So tell me about yourself."
"Huh," Mako looked over at Takeru as though she had misheard him.
"I said," Takeru ate the noodles. "Tell me about yourself. You know, like your hobbies and things like that."
"But there's not much else to say," protested Mako. "I want to be a housewife!"
"Really," Takeru raised his eyebrow at her, not believing that being a housewife was all that she was. "I'm sure that there must be more."
"Well," Mako set the bowl between them and placed her chopsticks on top. "I'm like to talk a lot, and play with my friends. I like smiling, see?" she smiled, showing all of her teeth. "I already told you that I want to be a beautiful housewife, so I spend a lot of time looking at recipes and trying them," she smiled at this. "They turn out pretty good!"
"Really," Takeru fished out the noodles from the bowl between them. "And what about your parents?"
"Oh," Mako looked slightly crestfallen at the question. "Okaa-san is alright, I guess. She lives in Hawaii with Otou-san, ever since the battle with Doukoku. I live with Obaa-san now, but it's alright! Otou-san comes back to visit every year… but I haven't seen okaa-san since she left…" small tears began to form.
"Sorry," Takeru bowed slightly towards the girl. "I didn't mean to pry."
Takeru took one last huge gulp of the ramen noodles and slipped off of the balcony.
"You're done eating?" Mako asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Takeru reached out for one of the shinai. "Thanks for sharing with me."
"No problem," Mako was back to her normal cheerful self. "Are you sure you don't want to eat anymore?"
"I'm fine," Takeru replied, before raising the shinai above his head. With a sharp crack, the shinai landed where a human's chest would be.
Mako watched him for five minutes in comfortable silence, slowing eating her noodles. None of the boys at her school were this serious about what they needed to do. Most of them just wanted to play video games and constantly pulled on her hair.
Everyone but Jeimusu, she thought. But with a sister like Yuuki, who could blame him?
Mako drank the soup and placed the bowl back down onto the tray. Takeru heard the small clattering noise as she placed it down and looked over.
"You're done?" he asked her.
Mako nodded once, and jumped off of the balcony, landing lightly on the grass. "I'll spar with you if you want," she offered.
Takeru stared at the girl, "I'd rather not," he mumbled in reply."
"Why?" Mako looked over at him, "Scared you're going to lose to a girl?"
"No," Takeru said under his breath, as though he was telling her his biggest secret. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
Mako smiled sweetly at him, "Don't worry, Takeru-kun," she said, picking up another shinai from the rack. "Obaa-san has been teaching me about being a samurai, remember?"
"But," Takeru protested, but to no avail for Mako was already swinging the bamboo sword at him. Takeru deftly blocked it, but was surprised by the force that the blow had behind it.
A glint in his eyes, Takeru looked at Mako, then at her shinai, and back at Mako.
"Well now," he said, unable to stop grinning. "Seems you can fight."
Mako stuck out her tongue, "Told you so," her raised her shinai again, readying herself for another strike.
"Mako!" her father's voice rang clearly through the house.
"Otou-san?" she asked hesitantly, as if unsure of the word.
"Oh, there you are," her father appeared from inside the mansion. "Mako, it's time to go."
"Okay," reluctantly, she placed the shinai onto the rack.
"Oh," Mamoru finally noticed Takeru, who had been standing there quietly the whole time, taking in the conversation. "Tono-sama," he bowed. "I'm sorry that you had to take care of my daughter. I hope that my daughter wasn't a bother."
"Not at all," Takeru waved the apology away, adopting a formal tone. "I had fun for the first time in a long time," he said while Mako picked up his flower behind his back.
"Sou da," Mamoru smiled warmly at the boy, who smiled awkwardly back. "Oh, where are my manners. I'm Shiraishi Mamoru, the spouse of your father's generation's ShinkenPink."
"Please to meet you," Takeru bowed towards him, and followed Mako back into the house, still holding onto the shinai.
"I had a good time, Takeru-kun," she said as she slipped on her shoes. 'Thanks for taking care of me during my visit."
"It's no problem," Takeru smiled and heard Jii walk in from behind him.
"Anou," Mako hesitated, in an 'house-wife' fashion, which elicited another small twitch of the lips on Takeru. "I was wondering if you could come to my birthday party next week?"
"Takeru gave a small start, but he smiled, "I'd be glad to go," he replied to Jii's approval.
"Really?" Mako's face lit up, "I'll see you next Saturday!" she whispered excitedly, and she followed her father out of the mansion. After taking ten steps out of the house, she realized that she was still holding Takeru's flower. Blushing fiercely, she ran back to the doorway where Takeru was still watching from.
"Here," Mako pressed the flower into his hand. "Don't forget!"
She hugged him quickly, and left him bemused as she ran to catch up to her father.
"Jii," Takeru turned around to look at the older man. "Do we have a vase to place this flower in?"
"We should have one lying around," Jii answered him with knowing eyes. "Shall we place it in your room?"
"Please," Takeru walked past the older man.
"Ah, Tono," Jii stopped him. "Do you know what you'll be getting Mako-chan for her birthday present?"
Takeru turned around, and looked at Jii with a knowing smile. "Of course," he replied, as he walked out to the courtyard, where he sat down and happily relived the past two hours he spent with Mako.
That night, Shiba Takeru slept soundly with the flower watching over him, no thoughts of Gedoushuu seeping into his dreams.
The Next Week
Takeru walked down the street, clutching a flat brown package in his arms. Jii walked beside him, listening to him talk about the incident about the week before, like a grandfather would do.
"And then she ripped the shinai at me!" Takeru told Jii for the thousandth time. "I couldn't believe it!"
Takeru chatted animatedly up to the gates of the large imposing Western-style house. His train of thought suddenly dried up and all of his energy had seemingly been drained.
"Jii," he asked uncertainly. "What am I doing here again?"
Jii sighed and went down to eye level with the boy, "You're here to celebrate Mako-chan's birthday, alright? Have some fun, talk to her guests, relax. You're not here to be formal."
"I know that," Takeru nodded once, and clenched the package, wrinkling it slightly.
"One last thing," Jii looked him sternly in the eyes. "No matter what happens, DO NOT USE YOUR MOJIKARA."
"I know," Takeru sounded a bit annoyed, and turned around to walk up to the door. He pressed the doorbell twice and waited. He heard footsteps' stumbling down the hallway as the door was flung unceremoniously open.
"Takeru-kun!" Mako grasped one of his hands in both of hers, leaving the other hand to carry her present. "You're here! I thought you weren't going to show up!"
"Sorry," he mumbled out in apology. "Am I late?"
"No, no, no," Mako flushed in excitement. "Well, kind of. We were just about to cut the cake."
"That's bad, right?" Takeru looked around to see if Jii was still there, but he was gone, though he saw a glimpse of the old man's kimono fluttering as he turned the corner.
"Yeah," Mako teased him. "In other words, you're halfway through the party."
"Sorry," he mumbled. Takeru pushed the package towards Mako. "For you. Tanjoubi Omedetou."
Mako's eyes lit up as she looked at the package that she was now holding, "Is it…?" she asked him, eyes shining with mixed delight and wonder.
"Make me something from it later, okay?" he answered.
"You didn't!" Mako gleefully hugged Takeru. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Takeru awkwardly responded to the hug this time. "We shouldn't be keeping your guests waiting," Takeru murmured, to which Mako pouted, but she took his hand.
Mako led him through the dimly lit hallway to a room that was filled with balloons, confetti from used streamers, and a large banner that said "Happy Birthday Mako-chan!"
"And here we are!" Mako dragged him over to a seat which, Takeru noted, was a bit more elaborate than the other seats the other guests were sitting on.
"Mako," a girl in a pink denim jacket rolled her head over. "Why were you holding his hand?"
"That's because," Mako blushed scarlet.
"Aww," Takeru looked over to his left and saw a boy who was bit taller than him and sporting a buzzcut. "I wanted that chair, Mako!" he complained, which earned him a quick rap on the head by the girl next to him.
"Idiot," she hissed into his ear. "That chair isn't meant for you, Jeimusu! We decorated that chair afterschool for Mako's special guest!"
Takeru looked across the table and saw Mako avoiding eye contact with him, instead focusing on her conversation with the other girl at the table. Just then, he noticed that the other boy was tapping his arm.
"Hey," he said with a big smile on his face. "I'm Shirogane Jeimusu. This is my older sister, Shirogane Yuuki," he gestured over to the girl who had hit him previously. She waved her hand in greeting. "What's your name?" Jeimusu asked. "I don't think I've seen you before at school."
"I'm Shiba Takeru," he replied evenly, his formal tone contrasting the other boy's lighthearted tone. "I don't go to your school, I'm homeschooled now."
"Really?" Jeimusu showed him a toothy grin. "Is it as fun as they say? I heard you get to sleep in until noon and then do only two hours of work, and play the rest of the day."
Beside him, Yuuki readied her hands again, ready to deliver another hit on the head to her younger brother.
"But then," Jeimusu crossed his arms, turning serious all of a sudden. "It's hard to go through it all without your friends, right?"
Takeru offered him a rueful smile, "True," he said.
"Sorry about my brother, Shiba-kun," Yuuki said. "I don't know why he's always such an idiot."
"I'm not an idiot!" Jeimusu glared at his sister, who coolly ignored it.
"Whatever. So, Shiba-kun, how did you get to know Mako?" Yuuki asked him.
"I just met her last week," Takeru answered.
"Really?" Yuuki shot a quick glance at Mako who was still talking to the other girl.
Presumably Sakura-san, thought Takeru. She seems to match the description that Mako gave me.
Yuuki interrupted his thoughts, "I thought that you would've known her longer, because she kept on telling me and Sakura how great you are."
"I did not!" Mako screamed over from the opposite side of the table. This small intermission allowed for Sakura to introduce herself to Takeru and for Takeru to do likewise.
"Mako tells me you're from a family that owns a big company," Sakura told him.
"Something like that," Takeru acknowledged. Sakura gave him a quizzical look, but refrained from doing anything when Mako's grandmother came in with a large birthday cake bearing candles shaped as the number "10". Mamoru slipped in behind her, and turned off the lights.
Balancing the cake carefully, her grandmother slowly walked over to the table, "Happy Birthday Ma-" but before she could complete her sentence, she tripped on a balloon, sending the cake flying. Thankfully, Mamoru caught her before she hit the ground hard, but all of the children's eyes were fixed on the splattered cake that now lay dead centre on the table, the icing splashed on the children, while the cake sagged, upside-down.
"Oh…" Mako's grandmother's voice quivered, knowing that she had just destroyed her granddaughter's birthday. "I'm so sorry, Mako."
In a brave attempt, Mako smiled, trying to hide her now tearing eyes. "It's okay," she said in a thick voice. "As long as you're not hurt."
Takeru stole a quick look at Mako and saw that tears were now coming down in a steady stream. A determined look grew on his face, as he pulled his shodophone out quietly. He flipped it open, and folded it in half, allowing it to form the brush. He then raised it level with the cake.
"Takeru-kun?" Mako looked up and saw him with his shodophone out. "What are you doing?"
"Screw the rules," he said under his breath, disregarding Jii's previous advice. With fluid motions, he wrote 'fix' (繕) and flicked the character around. The character expanded and covered the entire room, as the cake was slowly pieced back together. The candles righted themselves, and lit up once more, as though their fire had never been interrupted. Mako's eyes widened with delight, while Sakura, Yuuki and Jeimusu gaped at the blatant display of mojikara. Wordlessly, Takeru replaced the phone back into his pocket.
"That was awesome!" Jeimusu exclaimed. "Did you see that?" Jeimusu imitated what Takeru did with extra sound effects. "Did you see that?"
Mako nodded, wiping away the tears, "Thank you, Takeru," she whispered.
Takeru smiled, "You're welcome, Mako."
Hearing this exchange, Yuuki and Sakura exchanged covert looks, both noting the loss of honorifics between the two.
"Thank you, young man," Mamoru clapped Takeru on his shoulders with both hands. "You saved my daughter's birthday and her happiness."
Takeru turned red, embarrassed, "It was really nothing," he mumbled.
"No need to be so modest," Mamoru clapped him on the shoulder again.
"Everyone," Mako's grandmother motioned for all the children to crowd around Mako and her cake. "Time for a quick photo."
"Here," Yuuki pushed Takeru right behind Mako. "Since you saved the cake, you should be behind Mako. You're tall enough anyways."
"Three… Two… One… Mako! You're not smiling!" her grandmother said, lowering the camera.
"I'm trying!" she said, attempting to smile, but to no avail.
Takeru leaned down, and whispered into her ear, "What happened to 'I like smiling?'" he asked.
"I'm trying," she repeated, but tears still fell from her eyes. "I don't know why I'm still crying."
"Here," Takeru reached for the front and pulled up the corners of Mako's mouth, forming a rough smile. "Does this help?"
"No," Mako replied, though the tone of her voice said quite differently.
"One more time!" her grandmother waved her hands around again, nearly hitting Mamoru. "Three… Two… One…"
The camera gave off a huge bright burst of light as it captured the smiling faces of the children for a lifetime…
Present Day
Takeru awoke in the dark guest bedroom. He slowly shifted over to the left and saw that Mako was sleeping beside him. He smiled and brushed a few wispy strands of her hair away from her face.
The couple had been in Hawaii now for around three weeks, having been sightseeing and going places with Mako's parents. During this time, Mako's father had finally approved of their engagement, after Takeru had taken time to take care of Kyoko as if she was his own mother. In return for his devotion, Kyoko had done everything she could to help the two with their wedding planning, as well as telling them about all of the greatest tourist locations. Takeru smiled once more in the darkness, knowing that he would treasure these memories in Hawaii.
Gingerly, he lifted himself from the bed and tiptoed over to one of the suitcases, trying to find a fresh pair of clothes. His hand scrambled around the inside of the suitcase until he hit something flat and hard.
Takeru narrowed his eyes and reached in, pulling out the cookbook that he had given to Mako so many years ago.
101 Easy Recipes for the Child Chef, he read. Smiling, he pulled a chair over to where the window was, allowing him to read under the sun's rays.
Flipping open the book, he looked towards the inside of the hardcover where his ten-year old self had written a small birthday message to the ten-year old Mako,
'Dear Mako-san,
Happy Birthday! It's been only a week by I feel as though I've known you forever! I hope that you enjoy this cookbook that I got you! Continue cooking and learning to be a good housewife! I look forward to protecting this world with you in the future, if the time comes!
Sincerely,
Shiba Takeru, 18th lord of the Shiba Clan'
Grinning at his childish writing and messy handwriting, he flipped the page over and saw with a start that Mako tucked away an old photograph. The photograph had depicted all of the guests of her birthday party around Mako. At the centre of it all was Takeru and Mako. Takeru reminisced as he had let out his playful side, breaking away from the formal lord persona. True, Takeru was pulling on Mako's mouth, forcing her to smile, but as he looked more carefully at the picture, he noticed that her eyes were shining as bright as his.
Hiding the photograph back into the book, he leafed through the book, finding the recipe that he had chosen after Mako had opened her presents.
Mako woke up to find herself alone in the bed. She turned around and saw that Takeru was by the window, looking through a book. He had showered and was now looking less tired then before. Upon closer inspection, she realized that it was the cookbook that Takeru had given her for her tenth birthday.
My first and only present from him, she thought. So far.
Takeru saw her open her eyes, closed the book, and placed it almost reverently on the desk.
"Good morning," he said, climbing back onto the bed with her. "Sleep well?'
"Morning to you too," she replied, a smile on her face as he drew nearer to her. "Slept alright."
"I'm glad," Takeru kissed her on the forehead. "Happy Birthday by the way."
"It's my birthday and all I get is a peck on the forehead?" she asked in mock anger, to which Takeru responded with a kiss on her lips.
"That's more like it," she said when they broke apart. "What were you doing with my cookbook anyways?"
"I just found it in your suitcase," Takeru answered, caressing her face. "You promised to make me something when we were kids, remember?"
"I do," Mako responded. "But you're going to make me cook for you on my birthday?"
"Not today," he replied hastily. "Today, I'm going to buy you your birthday present and take you out for dinner."
"Dinner's not until tonight though," Mako said hesitantly.
"I know," Takeru grinned. "I just thought that you would want to go sightseeing before we head to dinner. I heard about a good place at the airport."
"And then there's a really good jewellery shop nearby the restaurant too," Takeru pulled out a business card and handed it to her.
"Bouken Jewel," he read for her in English. "There's bound to be something memorable there."
So… we see some new faces, and of course some old faces. The new faces are obviously the three guests at Mako's birthday party, Sakura, Yuuki and of course, Jeimusu. Yuuki is based off of Yuuki-neesan (Sadame no Kusari) because she put me in her Shinkenger vs. Dekaranger fanfiction, so I decided to place her in this one. Jeimusu is, obviously, based on a younger version of me. I couldn't help it, I just had to appear in this fanfiction xD. But who is this Sakura hmm? Sounds very close to someone from the 2006 Super Sentai ;D And the 'Screw the Rules' line comes from Crystal Blue Montana's fanfiction: Screw The Rules: A Shinken Next Sequel. So there's a little homage to you and that epic title! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Review please! See you after August 20th with KaoruxGenta and some more surprise pairings! And don't worry Hallwings, I haven't forgotten what you asked me. It's there. It's there. Again, thanks to Lisa and Pearl, along with this FanFiction's final editor, Yuuki-neesan. Seeeee~ we are siblings ;D Oh wait, before I forget, thanks to Chlo-chan (Society of Perception) for doing a quick lookie at this before of circumstances :D cheesecake when you come visit? :D
