The theme for this thing is Egao to Kimi ni, or, when translated, "To the Smiling You," by Suzuko Mimori. The original version for Washio Sumi is A Hero or the shorter piano version done by YouTuber Hiumann works just fine. Because it's such a nice song, and I couldn't resist. -/- Even with the Yuki Yuna franchise being flawed like all heck with the ableism present in its magical girl system, the music and voice acting is still great.

Anywho.

The other song I'm going to mention here is actually My Neighbor Totoro's Path of the Wind by Joe Hisashi, since Lang and Os both apparently see it as Tomoko's theme. I'm surprised I totally missed that, but it works with all the classical orchestra cues! Hehe. ^_^

Copyright stuff. I don't own anyone except Tomoko. Kei and Miyako belongs to Lang and Otoha to Beta.

Canonically takes place after Chapter 7, and this chapter has since been revised to match Os's version, found in the next chapter. — Vy

"To-To, you feeling better?"

Kuroha-san again. I was lucky. I really was. I wanted to hug them so much, if not for the fact that we had just finished what could be the biggest Group Hug out of all Group Hugs, and it was all out of thoughts of killing a Resident Snake.

What had the world come to. What had it come to, indeed.

Leo and Josh would probably be proud. I think.

Hisako simply shrugged when I leveled a questioning mental stare in her direction. Ninja world isn't the best world, dear. Just take what you can get.

…Fair enough.

I wiped at my eyes as much as I could, trying not to sniffle. Crying for the entire day was not on my agenda. "Y-Yeah, better. A bit shaken, but better. You?"

A soft and reassuring dinosaur roar was my answer.

A giggle left my lips. How cute. At this point, I couldn't think of a time where I would get tired of hearing replies like that. It was better than the ninja silence, so woo! "Of course, Osie. Of course."

I didn't have to look up to know Kei was smirking. "'Osie,' huh?" Kei said softly, the smirk already seeping into her voice. "That was fast. Though, Tomo?"

"Hm?"

"Don't you think you're forgetting something?"

I wiped at my face a bit more with my hands to get rid of any remaining tear trails before trying to keep a level frown in Kei's direction, because the warm fuzzies had already gone somewhere. "Forgetting what? We just talked about our latest Conspiracy Plot of killing a Creepy Slimy Snake Man, Kei, what else is there for us to do?"

"It's not really something for us, but more you, Tomo," Kei said with a small shrug of her shoulders, pointing at the hanging clock behind her with a thumb. "The Snake Man was way too distracting."

"Um," I said instead to fill in the silence, and over Otoha's confused mumbling, I glanced at the clock. The seconds-hand was moving as usual, so what was the problem—

Wait.

Hisako nearly fell out of her chair and onto the library floor. You have training today, don't you, Tomoko-chan? And it's…

"It's after one in the afternoon…" was the slow response leaving my lips, and the hot coals were already flooding my face as butterflies started emerging from unseen chrysali in my stomach. "OH GOD!"

MIYAKO'S GOING TO KILL US!

It didn't take long for the adrenaline to start coming in, and wearing a skirt was definitely not in this afternoon's schedule. My cheeks were burning, but I needed to change, like now. Combat skirts were not a thing in Narutoverse, and I was not going to start making it a thing! Even if it was tempting! Mama would kill me first, all for ruining good clothes. "K-Kei, why didn't you say it sooner?!"

Her only response was a quiet and perplexed, "I meant to say it earlier?" Emphasized with a raised pointer finger.

"THAT DOESN'T HELP!"

"To-To?" Otoha said in a strained voice. I couldn't blame them for the reaction, since I ended up jumping to my feet before running over to my closet, narrowly avoiding accidentally kicking them. It took all I had to not slam the door open, instead putting in the least amount of force my emotions could allow while glancing over every single drawer and hanger I had in the area, because skirts could not become a thing in kenjutsu practice. Practice that I forgot about entirely. Frig.

Aaaand without even being a sensor or looking behind me, my gut already knew that Kuroha-san was totally caught off guard. Aaaaaah, I needed to be better about this shit. Scheduling and sleeping late was one thing for Vy, a new life should've meant improvement! But nooooo, emotions had to be something else. Gosh darn it.

I probably could have worded it nicer, but what left my mouth instead was a rushed, "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, Kuroha-san, think you could look away with Kei while I change? I need to run over to meet Miyako-bachan for afternoon training with Hayate, and I still can't believe I'm the doofus who got too emotional over an overpowered, useless snake and totally forgot about it in all that shit!" Because my closet was big and I still needed to find a good pair of sweatpants. I couldn't even help letting out the loud and pitiful, "Baaaaah!"

Otoha's only response was a quieter and painful "Baaaaah" in return.

"And that's why I meant to say it sooner if not for the Orochimaru issue…" Kei trailed off. Probably because I unintentionally let out a loud and mortified hiss. Cat-like, too. Aaaaah. Closet, closet, give me glass slippers and then I'd be off, so cooperate!

Tomoko-chan, breathe. Remember to breathe. Cinderella references aren't going to help you calm down.

Aren't you terrified too, Hisako? This is Miyako-bachan we're talking about!

Who, last I checked, has never seen you late until now. And it's only been… Hisako raised her left hand to count off fingers. Well, an hour, so it shouldn't be too bad! First time's for everything!

Welp.

Sure, the advice was nice, but bleh. The smile she was giving me didn't help anything. It only made the butterflies in my stomach mutate into loud and angry vultures, hungry for my anxious entrails. I was lucky that Miyako-bachan wasn't as hard on me like some other people, but still. Anxiety did not help anything.

Um, Hisako, it's still an hour. And it's MIYAKO-BACHAN.

…Point. Hope she won't be angry?

In my haste, I ended up grabbing the nearest pair of pants I could find, being baggy blue shorts before pausing. Oooookay, this specific pair wasn't in my best interest, considering the flecks of dirt covering the pockets from my last Gai-related training session, and considering my nearby…full laundry basket, um. So…

My gaze fell down to my bottom half, my hand tugging at the hem of my shirt. "Er, Kei? Silly question, but is Miyako-bachan okay with skirts? Because I forgot to do laundry."

There was a pause as a hand made hard contact with a forehead behind me. It was obvious who it was. "Tomo, we have training gi. You could just go as you are right now." She paused before adding, "Or I could just piggyback you back home?"

Uh. That was nice, but the stomach butterflies could beg to differ. Heavily. I did my best to swivel my head back to meet her questioning stare without rolling my eyes. "If not for the fact that I worry about throwing up over your shoulder, sure! Anyone have a magic cure for motion sickness?"

Otoha flapped their hands from what looked like distress. Oh no, I was horrible because I was affecting them too. "Well, there's always ginger."

"My point exactly, Kuroha-san. My point exactly." I smoothed out my blouse, dusted off the back of my skirt, and glanced over my closet again before grabbing the nearest pair of clean exercise socks. Why, oh why, did I forget to do laundry today? Oh right. Snake man. Sucked ass. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate you two very much," Kei and Otoha glanced at each other and shared a chuckle at that, "but I don't want to get bile on you two! I set myself up for this, so I have to reap my mistake! Even if it means facing Miyako-bachan's wrath!"

Maybe the fist pump was a bit much. Still, it was a good way of getting myself in the spirits to face the future, and once I grabbed a spare hair band for exercise, it was turning back and fully facing them. My best friends. There was one thing left. "So, uh. Well, you two can still follow me?"

Kei grinned widely before getting up from her seat cushion. "I still have to head back and look after Hayate, so that's a given, Tomo."

On the other hand, Kuroha-san blinked before letting out what sounded like a combo of their usual happy dinosaur trill and something more nervous. Huh? "I'm coming too!" The remark was said rather loudly too, so I couldn't help but jump.

…What just happened? Hisako filled in for me.

Kei gave Otoha a confused glance. "Uh, you okay?"

"Um, yeah? Just fine." Otoha gave us both a thumbs-up when it became obvious we were staring in their direction. It seemed alright, but Hisako's quirked eyebrow was more than enough to express my concern. After the snake man, I had more than enough of an excuse to be fussy.

Staaaaaare.

"Uh." Otoha waved us off with their hands, shaking their head all the while. "I'm fine, To-To, Kei-Kei. Really. I promise."

I closed my eyes, doing my best to not clench my jaw. Teasing and prodding wouldn't get us anywhere, and the clock was ticking. Way too ominously. Gosh darn it. Miyako-bachan wouldn't let me hear the end of it at this rate. "Well, the tables are turned now. But time is precious. Talk later, run now?"

Otoha nodded just as Kei snapped her fingers. "Yep. Still up for a piggyback, Tomo?"

Um. The answer was obvious. "Please, Kei. No."

"It was an idea."

"Again, no. Let me handle your mom's anger, please?"

"You sure about this, Tomo?"

My hand was already resting on the doorknob when the question was posed. I took in a breath to steady myself. Running had become easier, considering I wasn't sweating this time, buuuuuut. "...50% sure."

Behind my right shoulder, Otoha interrupted with a quiet and vibrating, "Why 50%, To-To?"

Because she's Izumi Curtis in a yukata and longer hair?

Instead of saying that, I blurted out a high-pitched squeak of, "Because Kei's mom is a badass swordswoman and a wonderful teacher, but she's still scary?"

Kei's stare was already starting to burn holes into the back of my head. I couldn't tell if it was worry or suspicion or both, considering how her stare was still unreadable sometimes. It almost felt like I could burst into flames alone from her stare. Aaaaah. "Tomo, I can handle Mom for you. You don't have to worry."

Sweet idea…buuuut.

I turned back to shake my head, feeling the familiar heat flood my cheeks, this time of shame. "Kei, I'm an hour late. Even if I had emotional issues," she gave me a raised eyebrow at this, but I continued, "that doesn't change the fact that I'm late by more than an hour!" It took almost everything I had to not pace back and forth and keep my grip on the door handle. "I promised Miyako-bachan, and I missed it. I-I'm a bit scared, but I have to deal with it."

Otoha and Kei's stares in my head, from what I could see past my bangs anyways, spoke volumes of their disbelief. "To-To…" Another soft dinosaur trill graced my ears as soon as a hand reached over to squeeze my free left one, and I turned my head to meet Kuroha-san's brown eyes. "It's okay. Kei-Kei wouldn't lie. We got your back."

"Besides, Tomo," Kei said softly, poking the back of my head with a finger, "Mom's been fond of you for years. I don't think she's going to explode on you."

"…I hope?"

Otoha pitched in a strangled noise. Aaah. Kei was giving that same unimpressed look again, accentuated with another poke to my head. Yep. She wasn't buying it either. "Tomo. Just relax."

I gulped, nodded, and turned back to the door. It didn't take much to open it, but once the visage of a lavender yukata registered in the new space, I was already freezing.

She was standing right behind the door.

"Hello, Tomoko-chan," Miyako-bachan said coolly, hands hidden away in her yukata sleeves. From what I could see of her face, she was completely stoic, giving away nothing as her gaze was level with mine. "I see Kei-chan is with you."

Tomoko-chan, breathe. Breathe.

Of course my Nobody would notice that my lungs stopped taking in air first.

"Um," I said instead, because a lump had surfaced in my throat and I could vaguely make out some noises behind me that I knew wasn't from Kei. Panic was already bubbling up in my gut like a volcano. Aaaaaaah. What was I supposed to say in the face of that? My mouth moved without thinking as I ducked my head."Yeah. Um, Miyako-bachan, I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry! I met up with Kei and another friend—"

"Tomoko-chan."

"We were talking for a long while, andIkindagottooemotionalandlosttrackoftime, soI'msosososorry—"

"Tomoko-chan." A hand landed on top of my head, stopping the ramble right in its tracks. I tried not to flinch, closing my mouth in time to look up. Miyako-bachan only smiled serenely. "I am not angry."

"…Oh?" was the rather intelligent answer from me.

"Surprised, but not angry," she added in the same quiet voice, brushing a stray strand of hair back before glancing past me. "From the situation, I am assuming you and Kei-chan have made a new friend in your unexpected absence?"

"Yep!" Kei answered for me, rather proudly too. She had wrapped an arm around the now apparently frozen Otoha in the time it took for me to ramble like a dolt. "This is Kuroki Otoha, Mom! Our friend, fellow ninja and bookworm. Otoha, Mom. Mom, Otoha!"

"A-Also known as Kuroha-san?" I added sheepishly. "To me, anyways…" My voice cracked again.

If Miyako-bachan was surprised, she didn't give off the impression of it. Instead, she lifted her hand from my head to smile broadly in Otoha's direction. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Otoha-kun. Would you like to come in?"

"...!" Was the best approximation of Kuroha-san's reaction, jaw clenched before putting up the biggest and happiest crooked smile as acknowledgement. From the looks of it, it seemed like Otoha had lost all sense of words. Instead of a response, they nodded while letting out a loud siren noise.

Whoa, Hisako said.

I glanced at Kei in question, but she simply shrugged and squeezed Kuroha-san's shoulders all the while, almost as if to steady her. Kuroha-san was still staring in Miyako-bachan's direction with wide eyes and that same crooked smile.

Meanwhile, Miyako-bachan glanced between the three of us with that same smile. She wasn't fazed, I'm guessing? "How about the three of you come in? I can prepare tea and some snacks." She turned back around with a dainty step into the Gekkō household, and paused. "Tomoko-chan, be sure to talk to Wataru about training gi, alright? We will start as soon as you are ready."

Hisako let out a small sigh. Of course. …Yep, knew she wasn't going to let us out of this.

I still couldn't stop myself from smiling because Miyako-bachan wasn't angry. Thank the gods. Or Buddha. Or whoever. Because good luck was good luck. "O-Okay!" Maybe it was the stress. Or the fading heat of my cheeks. Still. I don't even know where the name came from before it was already coming out of my mouth. "Thank you, Miyako-shishō!"

I could already feel Kei and Otoha's surprised stares boring into my back. Aaaaaah, what the fuck did I just say. Sure, Miyako-bachan was pretty, awesome, and really well-off for a woman in Konoha, and I just respect her, okay?! Aaaaah.

Miyako-bachan visibly paused her walking pace back in the house. "Shishō?" Without wasting a single second, she turned her head to face me again, long black ponytail brushing her neck all the while, a smaller smile on her face. "Tomoko-chan, you do not have to call me shishō."

Oh gosh. "B-But you teach me a lot of things, Miyako-bachan, so you're shishō to me too!"

Miyako-bachan's smile broadened. "Oh, Tomoko-chan, come in and take off your sandals already. You will catch a cold if you stand out in the wind all day."

More embarrassed heat. Aaaaah. I was so cheesy. My feet were already sweating. "Okay! I-I'm coming!"

Kei simply chuckled softly behind me. Otoha was still silent.

"Strike-one! Block! Backstep! Tomoko-chan, you are faltering! Keep a steady breath!"

"Hah! Hah!" The snap of a shinai in the air. "R-Roger that, Miyako-shishō!"

"Block again!"

"Hah!"

"Backstep! Backstep! Backstep! Strike-two! I did not hear a snap of the shinai, Tomoko-chan! Swing harder!"

"H-Hai, Miyako-shishō!"

"You can do it, Tomo-nee!"

Otoha was still staring out towards Miyako with wide eyes and a big smile as Kei drank some of her green tea. In fact, they were rocking back and forth, muttering a happy, "Mama Gekkō, Mama Gekkō, Mama Gekkō" all the while. Tomo was doing fine based on chakra alone, even with her iffy endurance, so it was time to focus on the other person in the vicinity. Miyako could take care of Hayate. Kei reached over to poke Otoha's shoulder. "Something the matter, Otoha?"

The enby startled before turning to her with a sheepish smile. They waved their hand in the air as discreetly as she could, shaking her head to the previous question. "'M good, Kei-Kei," was the happy response, and Kei nodded. Semiverbal. Alright then. "Really really happy." Otoha then paused, turning their head back to look at the training session still going on between Miyako and Tomoko.

A moment of silence, aside from the snapping of shinai, Hayate's cheering, and Miyako's barked instructions, passed between the two.

"Otoha?" Kei whispered.

Otoha turned back to her with a big, shaky grin, swaying to the side on their seat cushion to bump shoulders. "You have good mom, Kei-Kei."

Kei grinned back. Otoha was really happy. "I'm glad you like her."

A few tears leaked out of Otoha's brown eyes, and Kei waited for them to wipe the tears away with their sleeve. A single second, and then: "Can I come here more often?"

"No one is saying no, Otoha," Kei replies, the grin already making her cheeks hurt from how big it was on her face. "It's always nice to have company."

Otoha's smile broadened as they nodded hard again, a quiet content noise coming out of their throat. "Thank you, Lang-Lang," was the happy reply. Otoha went on to bump Kei with their elbow while continuing to sway side to side.

"No problem, Otoha," Kei turned back to look at the training session, holding back a small snicker. "No problem."

"Tomoko-chan, your stance is too loose! Tighten your muscles!"

"H-Hai, Miyako-shishō!"

"Strike again!"

"HAH!"

Even with the hard swipe of Tomoko's shinai in the air, Kei didn't miss the small and happy dinosaur trill nearby. It was peaceful. Just as it should be.