p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" I'm starting to realize I'm a very impulsive person. My eyebrow twitched and my stomach growled again, this being the third time this hour. I haven't eaten since yesterday, when Miroku was kind enough to share one of his fishes with me for dinner, on account that I cooked it and served it to him. He was only willing to share after he saw that all my money went to that new kimono, and right now I was kicking myself in the head for the thought ever crossing my mind. Even though I'm not the best in the kitchen, I could count on one hand how many times I've actually had to cook for myself, the dinner turned out pretty decent. And memories of its mediocre taste were now making my mouth water with a hunger of a fat kid who loves cake. Miroku was taking his afternoon nap, so it was just me, standing in the upstairs kitchen staring at empty cupboards full of nothing. Though I wasn't really by myself, my eyes rolled to Kappei, who was sitting on the floor in front of the old couch, a stone in one hand and a rusty sword looking thing in the other. Right beside him was his little sister, Chi-Chi. She was the highlight of today, her pigtails and her missing tooth smile made my heart swell as soon as she walked in after her brother just a few minutes earlier. They were just alike, shy and rude for first impressions, but more shy with her. Basically anytime I spoke or moved she would go hide behind her brother. It was sweet and made me want to pinch her cheeks, his too for taking on that 'protective big brother' role. I took a seat on the chair that was opposite of them, watching Kappei do his gig of running the stone over the sword knife thing he had over and over again. At my action, his sister tried to hide further behind him, which pissed him off, "Go on Chi-Chi! Don't ya see I'm tryin to work here!?". Chi-Chi gave a whine of her own, then proceeded to try and press herself further into his back anyway. I'm not experienced with kids, most of the time in the situations I got myself in I was always the youngest in the group. So I didn't really know what to do or say in this kind of situation. Although I guess talking to a kid isn't that different from talking to a grown up. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm not gonna hurt you, I wanna be your friend!" Maybe that would do it. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chi-Chi briefly stuck her head out from behind her brother to glance at me, and when she saw I was staring back made a beeline to its safety again. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kappei groaned, "Chi-Chi leave me alone!" he turned around and pushed her from behind his back, but as soon as he let go she was already making her way to it. Which led him to push her away again, and causing the routine of push and go push and go to take place between them. As the adult here, should I break this up? I was mesmerized at how they both kept going at it, neither one of them giving in to other. This is the type of resilience I need…/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Call it a coincidence, call it fate, or call it hunger, but after a few minutes of their little battle of wills, all of our stomachs growled at the same time. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Have all eaten lunch yet?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"They both looked up at me with wide eyes. A look I had seen before on myself at one time, the look of reluctant admittance. It was Chi-Chi who spoke up first, "Momma didn't have anything to make…" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kappei turned around and glared at her, "Hush Chi-Chi! Don't go telling our business to the first person who asks! Come on!". From the flush on his cheeks, I could tell he was embarrassed that she had actually spoken it out loud. His aura went from stiff relaxed to all kinds of stressed. I didn't want the tension to build any longer. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Well alright then! How about we go on a little adventure!" I clapped my hands in front of me and smiled down at them, but from his look on his face I could tell Kappei wasn't amused, "Miroku-san said ya can't go into the village today."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I frowned, "Who said I was going to the village?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Then where are ya planning to go get some food?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'll show you", I stood up and made my way back to 'my room', going straight for the big bag of nothing that was laid against the wall. After shuffling in it for a few minutes, I finally found what I needed, and brought it out to show the kids. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kappei eyed the twig knitted bushels in my arms with contempt, "What are we gonna do with baskets?" Obviously expecting something quick to fill his hunger. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I smiled that horrible eye pinching smile, "we're gonna go foraging, you brat". /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He snorted at my name calling and Chi-Chi perked up at the new word, her curiosity giving her the confidence to peek out from behind her brother and ask, "what's poraging?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I don't know Chi-Chi, its some made up word this crazy woman thinks means food or something" my face dropped into a scowl and I shook my head at him. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""No, no I did not just make up this word. It means when you go out into the forest and find your food instead of going to a market and buying it." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"They both looked at each other confused, "but why would you go find it in the woods when you can just go to the market and buy it there?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I sighed and shook my head at them, "when you don't have any money for the market, or your lost and can't find a market near you." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"They met each other's eyes again, "but when would somebody not be by a market…" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"That's it, this is why I don't interact with children, they're annoying as hell. "When I leave you lost in the woods would be a great example of that". My face brighten in that sickly sweet way, the same face that I give Miroku when he's riding my nerves a little too much again, though this time with even extra force. They both flinched at the sparkles that were radiating from pearly whites that were on full display. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Now grab a basket, I'm going to teach you how to find some good food." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"They both grabbed one and we were on our way down the steps, back out the freedom that was the outdoors. As soon as we touched the soil I felt the weight of being confined in that house dissipate from being. I was home. I surveyed our location, the trees were huge, and being right next to a water source meant that our trip would have lots of different types of foods. The wind blew my hair out of the loose bun that hung low on my next while I stood contemplating, hand over my eyes so I could get a better view of our surroundings. I'm thinking mushrooms for lunch today. I took us in the direction that I had seen Miroku come from just this morning, down the dirt path that I knew would take us near the lake. There's probably plenty of rotting things somewhere in there, and that was precisely what we needed. Decay to attract the natural decomposer kings that are mushrooms. Disgusting things that taste delicious./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"'Caw!' I looked up to see my friend flying above us, it came down and settled on a branch that was a little ways ahead of us and perched. I laughed and waved at the huge black bird. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Great! Now she's really gone insane!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"'Caw!' /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I smiled back at Kappei, "see! My friend doesn't think so!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kappei looked off to the side, "No I'm pretty sure he was agreeing…" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ignoring that last bit I set off down the trail again, "Now kids," I sent a pointed looked at Kappei, "we're going to be looking for mushrooms this trip. The best places to look for them are under dead trees, on dead trees, or even around a bunch of leaves." I smiled down at their confused faces, "better yet just follow me around." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The farther we walked into the woods it was as if the trees grew closer together, trying to trap us in their depths. I could hear the waves from the lake straight ahead, so I started looking for the mushrooms in the undergrowth that was covered in dense foliage and moss, acting as if it were the lush carpet to this forest. Then I saw it peeking up from the undergrowth, "Polygonatum!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I smiled at the little bundles of herbs, gently holding the leaves and trying to breathe in their smell to see how fresh they were. I turned back to the kids, "Come look at this!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chi-Chi was the first to my side, face almost in the dirt with how close she was to this new wonder of a plant./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""That just looks like grass…" Kappei crossed his arms at it and gave a face that showed just how underwhelmed he was. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""But it's not, that's the cool things about plants. This is Polygonatum, it's a great herb! Goes good on just about everything." Chi-Chi turned to look at me while I was talking, mystified by the plant. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What do we do now?" She asked in her candied squeaky voice that made my heart melt. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We pick it!" I reached over to the plant and twisted it from its root. Chi-Chi gasped in surprise at the freshly picked bundle in my hands. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Now let's pick some more so we can dry it back at Miroku's place." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chi-Chi small hands tried to twist as mine had, though she didn't have the patience, and instead ended up pulling the whole plant up, roots and all. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Great job Chi-Chi! We can use the roots too!" her face lit up in and beamed in the fall fog that surrounded us, one of innocence and life. Her shyness was all but forgotten now, she was having fun in the dirt./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hey, Izanami! What are these called?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" I turned back to her big brother, who was now at a different patch of herbs and made my way over to him to get a good look at them./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" "Ooo good find! These are called wild onions!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I pulled out my tool from my basket and loosened up the ground around the stalks, then pulled them up. I looked back over to Kappei, who surprisingly looked genuinely interested. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""And that's how you pick them!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I handed him the tool, "Think you can do it?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He smiled back at me, "what this? This is easy!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm glad" my heart swelled again. I think these kids are starting to grow on me. Though we still haven't found mushrooms yet… /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm gonna look more in here, come this way when y'all are done!" They nodded at me, now both too busy to be bothered with what I was saying. I shook my head and felt a warmth spread over me. Going deeper into the woods, I couldn't exactly place if I had ever felt something like this before. A warmth that warms from the inside out, not like what fire does, or even a hot spring. This was a heat that could never get too hot and thawed my soul in a way that set my heart at ease. My soul felt as if it were on fire with something that could only be explained as good. Pure, innocent, unadulterated, goodness of the universe all compacted into this one crushing feeling. At this moment I couldn't even imagine all the evils and damnings that I knew were happening in the world somewhere else. It wouldn't even make sense to me why there was still crime and hurt being committed when there was this feeling in the world. What is this? I stopped my descent of going deeper into the woods and put a hand over on my chest. My heart felt as though it were taking deep breaths, with every beat I could feel it's every pause and throb that it gave. I don't understand this, I wished there was someone I could turn to ask what this means. I wish I had Rei here again. Though that thought didn't send me into that darkness again, instead now it made my heart clench just a little harder than the other times it would contract. I don't what's happening to me, but I know I'm okay. I fisted the hand on my chest, I'm going to be okay. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Something was telling me there would be mushrooms by the shoreline. So my feet took me to where I needed to go, and for a short time, I wasn't stressed. Out here, with these kids, foraging in the woods, I didn't think about my encounter with the Shark guy last night, or who actually had a name, Kisame. Nothing terrible happened per se, all he did was ask me a few questions. It was that look in his eyes, the feeling I got when I stood too close to him. Something about him, in everything he did it was controlled madness. He had a crazy look in his eyes always, but his actions were poised as ever. He was someone that was stable but very unsettled. Not only that but he was huge, I must have not gotten a good range of his size the previous night, but standing next to him alone made me realize just how small I truly am. It made me scared, more scared than I had ever been in my life before. Just by standing next to that man I knew he was capable of something dangerous. Was that true power? I tried to shoo those thoughts away from my mind. I didn't want to think bad thoughts right now, only good. Good as in those children, who had done nothing to deserve their spent eyes, and creased brows./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" I didn't realize how far my feet had taken me, and when I looked up I saw I was near the pier. This must be the place where Miroku fishes. I was still hidden in the trees, but there was something at the end of that pier. I walked closer to the road and saw there was someone indeed sitting at the end of it. Then I saw the red clouds on his cloak and my heart dropped. Tired guy… /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"'CAW!' /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Suddenly my friend was right in my face, flapping his huge wings all around. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hush! You're gonna blow my cover!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It flew to a branch that was above me and squawked in my face again. I frowned up at it and went to see if the tired guy was still sitting on the pier, and to my surprise he was. Just relaxing there, not really doing much of anything, as if taking in the scenery. Like an old person… I couldn't help myself, I stayed behind that tree and watched him watching whatever it was he was so captivated by. In that moment of stillness, hearing the waves hit the shore, listening to the birds sing around us, watching as the wind blew the autumn colored leaves, I understood why he was out here just sitting by himself. It's beautiful… this place is actually beautiful. In between the two most horrible villages I have ever stepped foot in was the most serene landscape I have ever seen. In all the places I've been, in every other new village that I had stepped into, nothing brought me to lull of placidity quite like this. Not the desert nights, nor the snowy hills, not the cold mountain air, nowhere else but this quiet autumn valley with its red, browns and yellows all swirling around the air right before in my eyes. My personal prison, with a warden, watchdog and all, was locked in a place that damn near took my breath away. Coupled with that emotion from earlier, and this now, I felt like I could explode from it all. It was too much, my heart felt like it was going to expand right out of my chest. I don't understand it, I don't know what's going on. I didn't know whether to run away or run to it. Though watching that tired man sitting on the edge of the pier, looking out into water not doing anything but seeing, I felt the lesson in his example. Just feel. Maybe that's what makes a good person. I felt tears border my eyes, maybe this feeling has something to do with the fact that not once today have I thought about finding a quick escape, even though it would be so easy ditch those kids. Maybe this is what's keeping me so calm when I've been panicking about whether I'm a threat to those ninja's, and my conversation with Kisame last night was so frightening that I couldn't even sleep. Maybe I really have gone crazy, I shook my head down at my feet, but at least I know one thing. I will never let anything happen to those children. I haven't even known them for more than a few days but I know I couldn't let them see that side of me. Seeing the worry lines on Kappei's forehead already make my heart the size of a boulder, and Chi-Chi's cautious eyes make me want to shield her from anything that she's already seen. These aren't the first worn kids I've seen, and they won't be the last, but these kids are the first I've actually had the power to either damn them or protect them. I could have left Kappei yesterday, and I could leave them today, not caring what happened to them because at the end of the day I would be fine. If I left right now I wouldn't have to worry about Miroku's hold on me, that weird ninja club, or even those kids themselves. Yet even that thought made me sick to my stomach, and the realization that I could never hurt them as I have done so many before made me heavy. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Izanami!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Izanami where are you?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I smiled at their voices and looked behind me, suddenly that weight didn't feel heavy anymore. /spanspan id="docs-internal-guid-70d094a2-7fff-3c32-8af9-aec9c91ea730"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm not gonna hurt you, I wanna be your friend!" Maybe that would do it. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chi-Chi briefly stuck her head out from behind her brother to glance at me, and when she saw I was staring back made a beeline to its safety again. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kappei groaned, "Chi-Chi leave me alone!" he turned around and pushed her from behind his back, but as soon as he let go she was already making her way to it. Which led him to push her away again, and causing the routine of push and go push and go to take place between them. As the adult here, should I break this up? I was mesmerized at how they both kept going at it, neither one of them giving in to other. This is the type of resilience I need…/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Call it a coincidence, call it fate, or call it hunger, but after a few minutes of their little battle of wills, all of our stomachs growled at the same time. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Have all eaten lunch yet?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"They both looked up at me with wide eyes. A look I had seen before on myself at one time, the look of reluctant admittance. It was Chi-Chi who spoke up first, "Momma didn't have anything to make…" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kappei turned around and glared at her, "Hush Chi-Chi! Don't go telling our business to the first person who asks! Come on!". From the flush on his cheeks, I could tell he was embarrassed that she had actually spoken it out loud. His aura went from stiff relaxed to all kinds of stressed. I didn't want the tension to build any longer. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Well alright then! How about we go on a little adventure!" I clapped my hands in front of me and smiled down at them, but from his look on his face I could tell Kappei wasn't amused, "Miroku-san said ya can't go into the village today."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I frowned, "Who said I was going to the village?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Then where are ya planning to go get some food?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'll show you", I stood up and made my way back to 'my room', going straight for the big bag of nothing that was laid against the wall. After shuffling in it for a few minutes, I finally found what I needed, and brought it out to show the kids. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kappei eyed the twig knitted bushels in my arms with contempt, "What are we gonna do with baskets?" Obviously expecting something quick to fill his hunger. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I smiled that horrible eye pinching smile, "we're gonna go foraging, you brat". /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He snorted at my name calling and Chi-Chi perked up at the new word, her curiosity giving her the confidence to peek out from behind her brother and ask, "what's poraging?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I don't know Chi-Chi, its some made up word this crazy woman thinks means food or something" my face dropped into a scowl and I shook my head at him. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""No, no I did not just make up this word. It means when you go out into the forest and find your food instead of going to a market and buying it." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"They both looked at each other confused, "but why would you go find it in the woods when you can just go to the market and buy it there?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I sighed and shook my head at them, "when you don't have any money for the market, or your lost and can't find a market near you." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"They met each other's eyes again, "but when would somebody not be by a market…" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"That's it, this is why I don't interact with children, they're annoying as hell. "When I leave you lost in the woods would be a great example of that". My face brighten in that sickly sweet way, the same face that I give Miroku when he's riding my nerves a little too much again, though this time with even extra force. They both flinched at the sparkles that were radiating from pearly whites that were on full display. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Now grab a basket, I'm going to teach you how to find some good food." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"They both grabbed one and we were on our way down the steps, back out the freedom that was the outdoors. As soon as we touched the soil I felt the weight of being confined in that house dissipate from being. I was home. I surveyed our location, the trees were huge, and being right next to a water source meant that our trip would have lots of different types of foods. The wind blew my hair out of the loose bun that hung low on my next while I stood contemplating, hand over my eyes so I could get a better view of our surroundings. I'm thinking mushrooms for lunch today. I took us in the direction that I had seen Miroku come from just this morning, down the dirt path that I knew would take us near the lake. There's probably plenty of rotting things somewhere in there, and that was precisely what we needed. Decay to attract the natural decomposer kings that are mushrooms. Disgusting things that taste delicious./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"'Caw!' I looked up to see my friend flying above us, it came down and settled on a branch that was a little ways ahead of us and perched. I laughed and waved at the huge black bird. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Great! Now she's really gone insane!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"'Caw!' /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I smiled back at Kappei, "see! My friend doesn't think so!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Kappei looked off to the side, "No I'm pretty sure he was agreeing…" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ignoring that last bit I set off down the trail again, "Now kids," I sent a pointed looked at Kappei, "we're going to be looking for mushrooms this trip. The best places to look for them are under dead trees, on dead trees, or even around a bunch of leaves." I smiled down at their confused faces, "better yet just follow me around." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The farther we walked into the woods it was as if the trees grew closer together, trying to trap us in their depths. I could hear the waves from the lake straight ahead, so I started looking for the mushrooms in the undergrowth that was covered in dense foliage and moss, acting as if it were the lush carpet to this forest. Then I saw it peeking up from the undergrowth, "Polygonatum!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I smiled at the little bundles of herbs, gently holding the leaves and trying to breathe in their smell to see how fresh they were. I turned back to the kids, "Come look at this!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chi-Chi was the first to my side, face almost in the dirt with how close she was to this new wonder of a plant./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""That just looks like grass…" Kappei crossed his arms at it and gave a face that showed just how underwhelmed he was. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""But it's not, that's the cool things about plants. This is Polygonatum, it's a great herb! Goes good on just about everything." Chi-Chi turned to look at me while I was talking, mystified by the plant. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""What do we do now?" She asked in her candied squeaky voice that made my heart melt. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""We pick it!" I reached over to the plant and twisted it from its root. Chi-Chi gasped in surprise at the freshly picked bundle in my hands. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Now let's pick some more so we can dry it back at Miroku's place." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chi-Chi small hands tried to twist as mine had, though she didn't have the patience, and instead ended up pulling the whole plant up, roots and all. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Great job Chi-Chi! We can use the roots too!" her face lit up in and beamed in the fall fog that surrounded us, one of innocence and life. Her shyness was all but forgotten now, she was having fun in the dirt./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hey, Izanami! What are these called?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" I turned back to her big brother, who was now at a different patch of herbs and made my way over to him to get a good look at them./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" "Ooo good find! These are called wild onions!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I pulled out my tool from my basket and loosened up the ground around the stalks, then pulled them up. I looked back over to Kappei, who surprisingly looked genuinely interested. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""And that's how you pick them!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I handed him the tool, "Think you can do it?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He smiled back at me, "what this? This is easy!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm glad" my heart swelled again. I think these kids are starting to grow on me. Though we still haven't found mushrooms yet… /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm gonna look more in here, come this way when y'all are done!" They nodded at me, now both too busy to be bothered with what I was saying. I shook my head and felt a warmth spread over me. Going deeper into the woods, I couldn't exactly place if I had ever felt something like this before. A warmth that warms from the inside out, not like what fire does, or even a hot spring. This was a heat that could never get too hot and thawed my soul in a way that set my heart at ease. My soul felt as if it were on fire with something that could only be explained as good. Pure, innocent, unadulterated, goodness of the universe all compacted into this one crushing feeling. At this moment I couldn't even imagine all the evils and damnings that I knew were happening in the world somewhere else. It wouldn't even make sense to me why there was still crime and hurt being committed when there was this feeling in the world. What is this? I stopped my descent of going deeper into the woods and put a hand over on my chest. My heart felt as though it were taking deep breaths, with every beat I could feel it's every pause and throb that it gave. I don't understand this, I wished there was someone I could turn to ask what this means. I wish I had Rei here again. Though that thought didn't send me into that darkness again, instead now it made my heart clench just a little harder than the other times it would contract. I don't what's happening to me, but I know I'm okay. I fisted the hand on my chest, I'm going to be okay. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" Something was telling me there would be mushrooms by the shoreline. So my feet took me to where I needed to go, and for a short time, I wasn't stressed. Out here, with these kids, foraging in the woods, I didn't think about my encounter with the Shark guy last night, or who actually had a name, Kisame. Nothing terrible happened per se, all he did was ask me a few questions. It was that look in his eyes, the feeling I got when I stood too close to him. Something about him, in everything he did it was controlled madness. He had a crazy look in his eyes always, but his actions were poised as ever. He was someone that was stable but very unsettled. Not only that but he was huge, I must have not gotten a good range of his size the previous night, but standing next to him alone made me realize just how small I truly am. It made me scared, more scared than I had ever been in my life before. Just by standing next to that man I knew he was capable of something dangerous. Was that true power? I tried to shoo those thoughts away from my mind. I didn't want to think bad thoughts right now, only good. Good as in those children, who had done nothing to deserve their spent eyes, and creased brows./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" I didn't realize how far my feet had taken me, and when I looked up I saw I was near the pier. This must be the place where Miroku fishes. I was still hidden in the trees, but there was something at the end of that pier. I walked closer to the road and saw there was someone indeed sitting at the end of it. Then I saw the red clouds on his cloak and my heart dropped. Tired guy… /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"'CAW!' /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Suddenly my friend was right in my face, flapping his huge wings all around. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hush! You're gonna blow my cover!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It flew to a branch that was above me and squawked in my face again. I frowned up at it and went to see if the tired guy was still sitting on the pier, and to my surprise he was. Just relaxing there, not really doing much of anything, as if taking in the scenery. Like an old person… I couldn't help myself, I stayed behind that tree and watched him watching whatever it was he was so captivated by. In that moment of stillness, hearing the waves hit the shore, listening to the birds sing around us, watching as the wind blew the autumn colored leaves, I understood why he was out here just sitting by himself. It's beautiful… this place is actually beautiful. In between the two most horrible villages I have ever stepped foot in was the most serene landscape I have ever seen. In all the places I've been, in every other new village that I had stepped into, nothing brought me to lull of placidity quite like this. Not the desert nights, nor the snowy hills, not the cold mountain air, nowhere else but this quiet autumn valley with its red, browns and yellows all swirling around the air right before in my eyes. My personal prison, with a warden, watchdog and all, was locked in a place that damn near took my breath away. Coupled with that emotion from earlier, and this now, I felt like I could explode from it all. It was too much, my heart felt like it was going to expand right out of my chest. I don't understand it, I don't know what's going on. I didn't know whether to run away or run to it. Though watching that tired man sitting on the edge of the pier, looking out into water not doing anything but seeing, I felt the lesson in his example. Just feel. Maybe that's what makes a good person. I felt tears border my eyes, maybe this feeling has something to do with the fact that not once today have I thought about finding a quick escape, even though it would be so easy ditch those kids. Maybe this is what's keeping me so calm when I've been panicking about whether I'm a threat to those ninja's, and my conversation with Kisame last night was so frightening that I couldn't even sleep. Maybe I really have gone crazy, I shook my head down at my feet, but at least I know one thing. I will never let anything happen to those children. I haven't even known them for more than a few days but I know I couldn't let them see that side of me. Seeing the worry lines on Kappei's forehead already make my heart the size of a boulder, and Chi-Chi's cautious eyes make me want to shield her from anything that she's already seen. These aren't the first worn kids I've seen, and they won't be the last, but these kids are the first I've actually had the power to either damn them or protect them. I could have left Kappei yesterday, and I could leave them today, not caring what happened to them because at the end of the day I would be fine. If I left right now I wouldn't have to worry about Miroku's hold on me, that weird ninja club, or even those kids themselves. Yet even that thought made me sick to my stomach, and the realization that I could never hurt them as I have done so many before made me heavy. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Izanami!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Izanami where are you?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I smiled at their voices and looked behind me, suddenly that weight didn't feel heavy anymore. /spanspan id="docs-internal-guid-70d094a2-7fff-3c32-8af9-aec9c91ea730"/span/p
