Next chapter of Feathered Mask is here! If this chapter isn't very interesting, I apologize profusely. It's just that I'm pretty tired and not really able to come up with anything very original right now… *brain dead* Shichi-go-san is a festival in Japan where they celebrate children who are seven, five, and three years old.
"You look so cute!" My mother gushed, holding me at arm's length.
"Mama…" Tugging at my kimono, I whined and fidgeted. Even though it was kind of cool that I could now wear an actual obi instead of a cord, that didn't mean I had to like it. My mother had tied the obi too tightly.
"Don't tug at your clothes, Karasu-chan; you might wrinkle them."
"But the obi's tied so tightly!"
"I'll fix it later, Karasu-chan. Just wait a little bit, okay?" Smiling, my mother took another picture of me.
"Don't take so many pictures, Junsui-chan! We have to save some film for later. Would you like Daddy to give you a piggyback ride, Karasu-chan?" Bending down, my father held out his arms.
"Yes, please!"
"Hold tight, then!" My bag of chitoseame, stamped with a design of cranes and turtles, swung as my father heaved me onto his back.
"Wow, you're getting heavy!"
"Nesshin-kun, be careful! Don't wrinkle Karasu-chan's clothes!"
"I won't, don't worry!"
"Dad, don't be so loud! You're embarrassing me!" Shinju groaned.
"Shinju, it's Shichi-Go-San! Your sister is seven years old! We have to celebrate!" I stuck my tongue out at my fourteen year-old sister, who responded by wrinkling her nose.
"We're almost home, Karasu-chan. I'll fix your obi; we're having some friends come over for dinner! Be on your best behavior, you two!" My mother admonished as we walked home in the vanishing daylight.
"Is Kakashi-san coming?"
"Why do you keep asking about Kakashi-san, Karasu?"
"He's my friend!"
"Don't fight, Karasu and Shinju. Yes, Kakashi-san is coming."
"Yay!" My squeal of enthusiasm echoed through the streets.
"Don't bounce, Karasu-chan, or else I might drop you. Okay, we're home! Let Mama fix your obi, and then we have to get ready for dinner!" Kneeling down, my father let me off his back and unlocked the door.
After fixing my belt, my mother began to place the dishes on the table while I followed her, eyes wide.
"Someone's here," my sister called out.
"Hold on! Let me get the camera!" My mother grabbed the device and ran to the door with me trailing at her heels.
Opening the door, my sister found herself face to face with a silvered hair teenager.
"Oh! Hello, Kakashi-san!" My sister's face seemed redder than usual as she bowed. Kakashi returned her greeting courteously, his silver hair falling in his face.
"Hey, Karasu-chan!" He smiled when he straightened.
"Kakashi-san!" Squealing, I ran towards the doorstep and bowed before tackling his legs.
"Pause for a second! That's an absolutely adorable picture!" The camera clicked.
"So how's it like wearing an obi?" Kakashi ruffled my bangs lightly.
"Mama tied it too tight, so I didn't like it. But she fixed it now, so it's okay!" I beamed.
"Karasu-chan, let Kakashi-san go so he can change his shoes. Play with him later." I obligingly stepped aside and let him place his shoes in the getabako before bouncing up and down again.
"Can you give me a piggyback ride? Please, please, please?"
"Karasu-chan! Stop bothering Kakashi-san!" My sister snapped, her face flustered. Widening my eyes, I shrunk against Kakashi's leg.
"No, really, it's alright." Bending down, Kakashi carefully hooked his arms around my legs and let me wrap my arms around his neck.
"Can I stand up now?"
"Yeah! Thank you!"
"That's another great picture! Smile!"
***
"Kakashi, I'm going to buy the mackerel now! Your wet clothes are hanging in the backyard on a clothesline. If I haven't returned by the time you get out, make yourself at home!" I knocked on the bathroom door, raising my voice over the sound of running water.
"Alright, then, see you later!" he hollered back. I ran out the door, heading for the fish market.
When I returned, Kakashi was browsing through a photo album, his damp locks plastered to his face.
"I forgot all about some of these pictures," he commented.
"Take your time. I'm planning to eat the tuna as sashimi; can I do the same thing with your mackerel?" Placing the fish in the sink, I took out a kitchen knife from a drawer.
"Sure. Hey, look at this picture!" Kakashi, padding into the kitchen, shoved a picture in front of me.
My seven year old face beamed at me from Kakashi's shoulder, in sharp contrast with my sister's surly face in the background. My kimono, once a brilliant scarlet, had faded into a dull maroon over the years. However, the radiance of our faces still shone as bright as it had nineteen years ago.
"I barely remember this. Wasn't this your Shichi-go-san? I believe your sister kept flirting with me."
"Yeah, it was." Blinking hard at the mention of my family, I turned back to cutting the fish. Kakashi stood quietly, his eye studying my face.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to mention it."
"It's alright," I said softly.
"How many years ago was it? Five?"
"Six." The ground rumbling beneath my feet as I desperately tried to reach my parents' home, rubble crashing left and right, shrill screams piercing through the dusty air; it was all seared in my mind.
"When the hospital contacted me… when they told me that my family was a-among the casualties…" I swallowed, my throat tight. The sound of my knife hitting the cutting board echoed in the silence.
"It was a natural disaster. There's nothing you could have done."
"Don't say that! If I had been able to reach them in time, they might still be alive today!" I spun, glaring, with fists clenched. Kakashi took a step back, eye widening at my outburst. After a few seconds, I dropped my gaze and turned back to the sink.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't take it out on you." I apologized, picking up the knife.
"It's okay. I'll put the picture back." Patting my shoulder, he retreated to the living room, leaving me with a fish that blurred in and out of focus.
***
"Lunch is ready," I called, arranging the dishes on the kitchen table. I set two plates on the table, a fluffy mound of rice steaming on each one.
"It smells really good." Entering the room, Kakashi knelt on the cushion I offered.
"I'm really sorry about earlier," I set a water glass before him and bowed.
"Don't worry about it." He wrapped my hand in his and squeezed gently. Stomach fluttering, I nodded and took a seat opposite him.
"Itadakimasu."
"Itadakimasu… please don't tell me you're going to do what I think you're going to do." Kakashi pointed at me with a chopstick, eye widening.
"Yes, I am. Wasabi suicide runs!" Grinning, I scooped out a small portion of the green paste onto my plate.
"Don't you remember what happened last time?"
"That's what's so fun about them. I wish I could have seen your face."
"It's not funny! It burned so badly!"
"Well, I didn't tell you to use so much wasabi; for the great Copy Ninja, you sure have bad judgment with food."
"If I remember correctly, you were the one egging me on."
"Doesn't matter. Are you in or out?" I mixed the wasabi with shoyu in a saucer, eyeing him mischievously.
"In. You're going first though."
"Fine." I selected a few slices of maguro sashimi (my favorite!) and put them on my plate. Dipping one in the sauce, I glanced at Kakashi before devouring the whole thing in one bite. Kakashi leaned forward expectantly, his eye gleaming.
The chopsticks clattered on my plate as a burning seared through my head. I clamped my eyes shut, resisting the urge to bury my face in my hands and rock back and forth. Tears seeped out from my closed lids, dampening my cheeks.
"So… how was it?" Chuckling, Kakashi handed me my water glass as the burn faded.
"Not bad. Your turn." I turned my back to him, taking a swallow.
His chopsticks bounced off the table onto the floor; I took that as a signal to turn around. The Copy Ninja was curled up on the floor, his hands gripping his silver locks, whimpering softly.
"Eat the rice. It helps." I advised, handing him his glass.
"How much did you put in there?" He managed to choke out after gulping down the entire glass of water. I showed him the wasabi bowl.
"How do you handle that?"
"I don't know… maybe it's your problem and not mine." I refilled his glass and handed it back to him. Picking up my chopsticks, I took some eggplant and sashimi before turning around.
"You can eat now." I heard the swish of fabric and the clatter of chopsticks as Kakashi helped himself to eggplant.
"Mm… this is really good," he exclaimed around a mouthful of food.
"Thanks. Help yourself; there's plenty more if you want it." We spent the next couple minutes in agreeable silence.
"I'm going to turn around now to get more food." I waited thirty seconds after my warning before turning around. The dish of eggplant caught my eye immediately.
"How much did you eat, Kakashi?" He shrugged, his dish stained with sauce. Gaping, I refilled my plate and turned back around.
"It was good," he explained, his voice muffled.
"Don't eat so fast, you idiot!"
"But it was so good."
"Then I'll make some for you to take home! But don't gulp all that food down so fast. What do you eat at home?"
"Um… rice, instant ramen, microwaveable food…"
"Any vegetables or meat at all?"
"Yeah, yeah… I'm in ANBU, Karasu. I know these things."
"You sure don't look like it." Munching noises countered my retort. Rolling my eyes, I finished up my platter of food.
"Done." Kakashi announced minutes later.
"If you can pick some eggplants from the back while I wash dishes, it would help me very much." Apparently Kakashi's appetite had been worked up considerably during our spar. Picking up the empty plates, I placed them in the sink and began to scrub with a sponge.
"Need any help with that?"
"No, it's fine. Just pick the eggplants you want me to cook for you." Thanking me, he trudged out of the kitchen.
"Do you know which ones are ripe?" I called. His footsteps stopped.
"Um… the ones that are the most purple?"
"Not exactly. Just hang around for a couple minutes until I am finished. Go browse through my library or something." Muttering under my breath, I rinsed the plates with hot water. A door creaked open as he obeyed my command.
After drying the plates, I grabbed a bucket from under the sink and quietly slipped open the library door to find the Copy Ninja, sprawled on the floor, engrossed in a thick leather photo album.
"Who are these two?"
"They're my neighbor's children, Tsuki and Hisui." I squatted next to him, setting the bucket on the floor.
"Do you get along with them?"
"Quite well, as you can probably see in the picture." An energetic Tsuki was trying to drag his sister off my shoulders.
"Funny. I seem to recall you giving the evil eye to all little children, making them run away screaming."
"These two are different." I traced my fingers around the children's likenesses, mouth curled. "You should meet them sometime."
"It's the apocalypse, the end of the world; Kuro Karasu is recommending me to meet with two little children." Feigning horror, Kakashi flipped the page and studied a picture of An'ya.
"Seriously, Kakashi, those two would really like to hang out with you sometimes." Tsuki had pestered me numerous times to convince "my cool spiky haired friend" to come along.
"Really?"
"Yeah, they'd like to see one of the elites." Smiling at the thought of Kakashi playing with hyperactive toddlers, I glanced at the silver haired man.
"Should I be flattered or frightened?" Kakashi turned the page, and frantically tried to turn another as a picture of my mother cropped up.
"No, don't bother." He glanced sideways at me, his hand stopped by my grip on his wrist.
"I really don't know why I was so emotional earlier. I thought I'd learned to deal with it." Biting my lip, I loosened my grasp and traced my mother's smiling face.
"Speaking from personal experience, no one ever really learns to 'deal with it'." I shrugged at his quiet observation.
"For example, my mother died when I was very little. My father… killed himself when I was a small child. Over the years, I began to deal with their deaths. Many other people helped me to get on with my life; my teacher, my friends, my students. But even though I've learned to hide it, it still hurts, in here." Kakashi tapped his chest. I sat against the wall, closing my eyes, and nodded slightly.
"You knew them for about twenty years. You spent about three quarters of your life with them. You can't get over that kind of thing in six years. I only knew my parents for about five years. I'm already thirty-one years old, and it's still painful."
"Kakashi? You should be a psychologist."
"And inflict mental trauma on all my patients? Sounds tempting, but I like being a ninja better." Laughing softly, Kakashi flipped another page.
"And, Kakashi?"
"Mm?"
"Thanks."
Thanks for reading… sorry if it's not very entertaining. My brain is absolutely worn out… hopefully inspiration will hit me soon.
Terms:
Maguro- Tuna
Aji- Mackerel
Obi- cloth belt worn with kimono
Chitoseame- Red and white candy given to children in the Shichi-Go-San festival
Itadakimasu- "Excuse me"; Said before eating a meal
Shoyu- A type of soy sauce