Hunter x Hime: Chapter 38
The Troops
...
"Sorry, I took longer than expected."
After hearing her love fortune from the old fortune teller, Shinatobe walked back outside to meet up with Himeko who she expected to make a remark about how she took so long to come outside. However Himeko's attention was fixed on something going on in front of her, leading Shinatobe to check what's going on. Men and boys were all heading in the same direction, heads lowered and all hopes given up on returning home alive.
Scanning through the crowd, the girls noticed men from all ages. There were men in their early fifties and some even in their early teens. They all left home, having to represent their families in the war. At one point, Himeko's eyes met those of a young boy who seemed like he was her age, maybe even younger than her. All he could do was give her a faint smile and keep walking, knowing that there was no one in this country to help them. Himeko gulped thinking about all the possible things that boy could go through in the war. Dying without living his life to it's fullest; not just him but there were other children sent out too. What the shogun and bafuku were thinking, sending them into war and just throwing away their young lives, that's what she wondered. They had the whole military in their palm and were able to move them around like pieces on the chessboard, but for what purpose? To protect the country. But what they were doing right now seemed far from it.
Now that she had to stay for Shinatobe's and her brother's sake, she wanted to do something about it but she knew she couldn't. She didn't have the authority, neither did she have the power to do it. All she could do was watch. She felt helpless. She felt weak.
"We should get going too…"
Himeko walked off, expecting Shinatobe to follow close behind her. Himeko was almost too quiet, it made Shinatobe feel uneasy. From the moment she met Himeko, Himeko had been upbeat, occasionally insulting Shinatobe and praising herself, but the tense air got to her now. Fortune teller aside, Himeko knew that she won't die in the war. She knew Nen; an ability that was rare in Yeddo at that time. Only Geniuses like Shinatobe were able to develop it without guidance. But that didn't mean that she wanted to fight in the war, and see these people around her die. She knew that she wouldn't be able to protect everyone fighting in the war either, a single troop consisted of thousands of soldiers. Although she couldn't save all the innocent people that were sent out to war, she wanted to at least protect Shinatobe.
Unlike Himeko, Shinatobe believed in the fortune teller's words. She guaranteed that both Himeko and Shinatobe were to return safely, and whether it's because of her naive nature, or her believe in such superstitions, she felt confident about their return. She wanted to tell Himeko to cheer up and think positively, but she chose not to. She knew Himeko didn't believe in anything the fortune teller had told them and just because of that, she chose to respect her beliefs and keep quiet.
"Only God knows who that child is…"
As the sun started to set, more and more people started to gather up at the meeting spot. Shinatobe and Himeko were the only women there, which didn't surprise Himeko. The only reason why they were there was because people knew of Shinatobe's nen ability. She scanned through the crowd, meeting her eyes with the government officer she met earlier on the day, who just gave her a smug smile. He knew that they would both appear even after the fuss they made earlier. After noticing Himeko's clenched fist, Shinatobe looked over and met the eyes of the government officer too.
"Don't bother looking that way," Himeko informed her. "He just wants to see us riled up."
"Mmh." Shinatobe nodded, before she broke off eye contact and looked over somewhere else. The crowd was waiting for a signal from the higher ups, but until then they remained still.
"Aneue!" Suddenly, Shinatobe heard the voice of a young boy running up to her before she turned around and was greeted with a hug. It was a much younger boy, maybe a few years older than Himeko with short black hair, and hazel eyes.
"Shinichi…" Shinatobe stared at the boy in disbelief. She took a moment to look the boy up and down, making sure he wasn't hurt before she embraced him. "Shinichi, you're not hurt!"
Himeko watched the siblings reunite and shed tears in front of her, feeling both ecstatic but also a little envious. She had waited so long to meet her own brother the same way, reunited by a big hug, her brother making sure that she isn't hurt and comforting her, telling her that everything would be alright now that he's here. She dreamt big, but when she last saw her brother in her hometown, it seemed like Hakuryuu didn't even acknowledge his little sister's presence. Maybe he didn't want to see her as much as she wanted to see him, or maybe she just grew and changed so much over the years that he didn't recognise her.
"This is Himeko," Shinatobe introduced, bringing Himeko a little forward after she noticed that she had increased the distance between them.
"Good day, I'm Shinichi." He bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too," Himeko bowed back.
"Himeko is going into the war with me, and she started to teach me how to fight."
"That's amazing, if you have been chosen to fight then you must be really strong although you're so small."
"Now, now, it's rude to judge people by their appearances. Himeko might look small, but might be the strongest person I've ever seen."
"You haven't even seen that many people, aneue!" Shinichi pointed out.
"Ah!"
"Did you seriously just realise that?"
The longer she stood there, the more Himeko started to feel like a third wheel. She was truly happy for them to have finally met up again, but she noticed that Shinatobe seemed a lot happier now than she was since morning.
"I'm going to look around the place a little," Himeko gave the siblings a faint smile, before she was about to walk off. Before she could do so, Shinatobe firmly grabbed hold of her shoulder.
"You're going to get yourself lost in this crowd!" She said. "Stay here, it's nearly seven o'clock."
Himeko turned back around, facing the siblings before Shinatobe released her grip. She listened to the siblings catch up with each other. Apparently, Shinichi was taken away for nearly one and a half weeks after Shinatobe refused to get involved in the war. She was blackmailed using her brother and in the end, she had no choice but to attend. They didn't torture him or anything and provided him with meals as they knew that Shinatobe would join the war for him.
Once it was seven o'clock, a couple of men wearing expensive looking armours lined up at the front.
"You should get going Shinichi, stay safe while I'm gone."
"You too. Take care, aneue and come back safely." Shinichi smiled, before turning to Himeko. "You too Himeko, come back safely and please take care of my good for nothing sister."
"Sure, I'll do that!" Himeko smiled back.
Things calmed down, and the men at the front of the crowd started to call out names, separating the men into their respective troops. One by one, each man left and lined up behind their troop leader. However, as time passed and the size of the crowd decreased, Himeko and Shinatobe were still not called. Some even wondered why two women were amongst the men in the first place.
"Shinatobe, you're in Miyamoto-dono's troop."
Shinatobe gave Himeko a worried look, before she slowly made her way to her troop. In the end, Himeko was left all by herself and saw the government officer from earlier speak to one of the troop leaders.
"Little girl, you are joining Ito-dono's troop."
The fact that Shinatobe was alone in her troop worried her a little, nonetheless Himeko made her way towards her troop hearing a couple of whispers on the way there.
"Ito-dono and Miyamoto-dono's troops usually take the front line." One of the men told his neighbour. "Wouldn't it be reckless sending a woman and a child to the front lines?"
"It doesn't matter," his neighbour replied. "At least it's not us. Our troops are far away from the front line."
Hearing this, she couldn't help but feel angry. All this time, Himeko sympathised with them, and pitied them for being sent out to war but now she's heard it with her own ears. They didn't care about her wellbeing, just their own. Whether she died in battle didn't matter to them, all they wanted was to return home safely.
Ito still seemed sceptical of Himeko's abilities. He knew of Shinatobe's abilities as she was known by many in the village, but no one knew about Himeko's abilities. Not only that, she was also just a child. He wasn't the only one though. Ito's and Miyamoto's troop consisted of the strongest men in the village, so the fact that they were stuck with girls confused them. Some even felt offended to be stuck in the same troop as Himeko.
"We'll be moving out now," Ito announced. His troops started marching off one by one, in a single file while the other troops remained behind waiting for their turn. Once the man in front of her started to march off, Himeko knew that it was finally time for her to leave too. She spared Shinatobe who was a couple of meters away a glance before she followed the men in her troop.
…
"These are your uniforms. You'll be expected to wear these and take care of your own. You will have to wash your own and make sure it doesn't get damaged during battles." Ito explained once they got to their base. "You will also be given swords to fight with. If you do not know how to use one, then learn!"
A man came and passed out the uniforms, and once he got to Himeko he purposely ignored her and walked past.
"I'm standing here too!" Himeko pointed out, to which the man just turned around and snickered.
"Sorry, I didn't see you there." He said before he passed her a uniform that was obviously too big for her. "Watch out, someone might step on you if you don't pay attention to where you are going."
Himeko didn't pay any attention to him. "Don't bother with them, they aren't worth your time." she kept telling herself. She looked around and noticed that most men started changing although she was still inside with them, refusing to acknowledge her presence there. They didn't seem to care, but she certainly did. She managed to find a way out of the tent and looked around. There were many other tents around, all belonging to their troops, but she was looking for one tent in particular. She had to have a word with their troop leader; Ito.
"Excuse me, I'm coming in." She said before she entered the slightly smaller tent.
Ito looked up from the table set up, "Yes, can I help you?"
"The uniform is too big for me, and I also need a place to change as the tents are all occupied with men."
Ito set his glass of water aside and sighed in annoyance, "This is why I didn't want a girl to join my troop. All they do is complain about everything." He muttered quietly, but loud enough for Himeko to hear.
"I'm not asking for much, you were the ones that recruited me so you'll have to provide me with the necessary things."
"Little girl, I have better things to do than deal with your problems." He said. "They should have made uniforms for boys your age so go and ask for them. And if you can't change inside the tents, then go and change outside behind the bushes. It's dark so no one will see."
Himeko scoffed at his response. "Behind the bushes? Is that all the respect you have for your subordinates?" Ito did not respond to her question, so Himeko decided to leave. "By the way, the name is Himeko. I would at least expect you to address me properly."
There wasn't much left for her to do. All she did was go up to one of the men that was sorting out the uniforms and ask for a smaller one. She couldn't do much about the tent situation either. She walked quite a far distance away from their base and started to change behind the bushes after making sure that no one was around. Then she returned back to the tent she was assigned to.
"These are your swords, don't lose them!"
Himeko was handed two katanas, and she unsheathed them to see whether they were undamaged. Seeing how focused she was, some of the men around her just mocked her once again.
"Does she even know how to hold a sword."
"Isn't that a bit too heavy for you?"
"Maybe you should just go home and leave the fighting to us."
These were all words thrown at her, but she chose to ignore them all. Instead, she picked up her swords and walked out of the tent. She had all her equipment, so she was no longer required to stay inside. All they were going to do was eat and then sleep, so Himeko got her food and walked far away from the base for some peace and quiet. Since both Ito's and Miyamoto's troops took the front line, Miyamoto's base wasn't too far from Ito's. It didn't take Himeko long to walk there as she knew that Shinatobe was probably stuck in the same situation as her.
Just as she expected, Shinatobe sat alone in the newcomers tent while everyone else was eating. Himeko quietly made her way inside, earning stares from the troop members inside and sat next to her.
"Why aren't you eating?" Himeko asked.
Shinatobe pointed at one of the younger men lying down on the other side of the tent. "We were short on food, so I gave it to him. He seemed quite pale and missing one meal wouldn't hurt."
Himeko handed over her bowl. "Have half of it and I'll have the other half. You're not in the position to do charity here, especially not after we are treated like complete outcasts."
"But aren't you just doing the same thing?" Shinatobe questioned.
Himeko raised her voice a little, "Just take it!"
Shinatobe smiled and accepted the bowl. "Why aren't you in your tent?"
"Why? Want me to go back?"
"No, not at all."
"I can't stand sharing a tent with those pigs, so I came outside. I'm spending the night outside anyway."
Shinatobe passed the half empty bowl back to Himeko, "You should eat the rest."
Himeko ate in silence, looking around Shinatobe's tent. The men all seemed pretty confident with themselves and fell asleep as soon as they finished eating. She didn't expect any more from them anyway, and her tent would probably look the same right now.
"Can I ask you something Himeko?"
"What is it?"
"Where exactly are you from?"
"I told you before, you won't know where it is even if I told you."
"Why did you come to Yeddo then?"
"I'd like to know that myself."
"Maybe, you are a messenger God sent down to me."
Himeko turned her head around and looked at Shinatobe in disbelief, "And you are in your twenties?"
"That's right, I'm nearly twenty two."
"Couldn't tell, you still talk like a five year old."
"That's not true, I act my age!" She protested.
Himeko set her empty bowl aside and stood back up, "That's nice. I'm going out for a walk."
"You are leaving already?" Shinatobe asked. "Aren't you going to stay a little longer?"
"No, I'd rather get some fresh air before sleeping."
"Well, in that case don't stay out too late."
Himeko reassured Shinatobe with a nod before she headed outside. She didn't want to head back to her own troop's base, so she headed towards an empty spot in the distance near the woods.
"I can't slack off with training," she thought to herself. To be honest, Himeko never really saw a point in the endless training she did. She didn't know why she trained so desperately. Before she Hunter exams, she was satisfied with her own strength and didn't feel the need to become stronger than she already was. She didn't see the point in fighting either, which is why she tried to avoid getting into physical fights wherever she went. She only fought if she was required to do so.
But the Hunter exams are long gone. It's been nearly a year to be exact. As guilty as it makes her feel, she initially stuck with Gon and the others so she could get hold of a license more easily. After all, working in a group increases the odds of passing but before she realised, she became quite close to them despite her initial opinions of each one of them. Along with that, she felt that she had somehow become a lot more dependant on people now. She saw how strong and talented they all were; Gon snatching Hisoka's batch during the Hunter's exam; Killua opening the third Testing gate with ease while she could only open the second one despite all that intense training; Kurapika singlehandedly beating one of the Phantom Troupe members. In her life she had only felt inferior to her brother, but now that she's met so many other amazing people, she couldn't help but feel weak watching them grow stronger.
"Knowing Gon and Killua, they are probably training their Hatsu. Leorio must have started training too since his entrance exams are over. I just hope Kurapika is doing fine..." she found herself staring at the grass swaying in the wind. "I've got no time to be worrying about Kurapika, I need to get a move on!"
After finding a good spot, she settled down to start training. With a war going on, she doesn't have the luxury to ask for time to train so it was up to her to sacrifice sleeping time to do so.
"I'll start practicing my Ten first followed by Ren. I couldn't use my technique over a certain number of times earlier because my Ren was still too weak. Maybe an hour or two should be good enough, then I'll continue training my Hatsu."
For the first time in her life, Himeko decided to follow Toshiro's training method. They say that you'll only want something when you can't have it. Right now, all she wanted was a teacher to help her train. Whether it was bad tempered Toshiro, overly attached Haruko or sadistic Natsume, she didn't care.
Starting off with meditation, she trained her Ten ensuring that none of her Nen was leaking away from her body. After meditating for around half an hour, she intensified her aura so it doubled. Once she stabilised her Ren, she kept going, doubling it again and once again until she reached her limit.
Eventually she stopped practicing her basics and moved on to Hatsu to continue where she left off earlier on the day. She started off by creating the circular disks before she found a spot to throw them. She watched the disk hit some trees, cutting them in half before curving away. She tried changing the angle, and made yet another one before throwing it in the same direction. Each time, she made a new disk and threw it at a different angle, watching it cut the trees that came in its way in half and curving away.
At one point, she noticed that she started to feel exhausted, "I threw thirteen so far, but it still doesn't feel like enough." She could feel the warm sweat drip down her cheeck from her forehead, eventually reaching her chin. It was hot and she felt refreshed whenever the breeze hit her sweaty face, cooling her down. "I should try it one more time. At least another time before I take a break!"
She brought her right leg back to support her body before she created another disk and threw it. This time, the disk took much longer to make as she was almost at her limit. As per usual, she watched the disk head towards the woods and wipe away all the trees coming in its way before it curved at an angle and this time, headed back towards her. Taken back by it, she panicked not knowing what to do. However, the more the disk spun, the bigger it became and out of instinct she counteracted the disk with her wind blast destroying the disk.
She took a moment to stare into space while panting, "I did it..." Her lips curved upwards and she used some of her remaining energy to jump up and down to celebrate. "I did it! Now I just have to keep practicing."
Although it took her around two hours to practice, she felt like it was worth it. She finally got somewhere after a days worth of training and out of dumb luck, she also figured out a way to counteract the disk.
"I hope I can get back home soon. If I knew how I got here, I'll be able to get back but I don't even know that," she sighed sitting back down on the grass.
"Himeko, what are you still doing here? It's really late." Himeko looked back up, hearing Shinatobe's voice coming her way. She looked around at the fallen trees in the distance, "Did you train all this time?"
"Yeah, I don't want to fall behind with training."
Shinatobe sat down on the grass beside Himeko, "Is it rude for me to ask why you are so set on becoming stronger?"
"It's not rude at all," Himeko answered. "In fact, sometimes I don't know myself. I tend to ask myself why I keep training although I know I'm stronger than the average person, but then I look at my friends back home and just continue to train. I don't have a legit reason, and you could call me a sore loser but I hate losing. The reason why I want to become stronger is because I don't want to be weaker than everyone else."
"Isn't there anyone you want to protect?"
"Sadly, all the people I want to protect are stronger than me. I have to protect myself first in that case."
"That's not true, the fortune teller told us otherwise" Shinatobe interrupted. "She said that the two of us will come back alive from the war and that you will return safely to where you came from."
Hearing this, Himeko bit her lip. "Unfortunately, miracles don't just fall from the sky. I despise anyone who thinks that way, I can't help but feel angered by it." Shinatobe swallowed her words back. "All my life, I've worked so hard only to be compared to someone much more capable than me. I worked so hard, yet I still feel like a nobody and you expect something good to happen just by us sitting down and waiting for it to happen?"
"Honestly, that's not what I mea-"
"I worked hard fulfilling my clan's expectations, but in the end I just lost my clan. I gave my best, running away from the research lab I was held at, only to be classed as an incomplete test subject. I worked hard, finding a new job every time I got kicked out of my old work place, only to be kicked out again. When I attended the Hunter exam, I worked hard to pass every single round but now I realised that if I took the exam alone back then, I wouldn't have even passed the first round." Without herself even realising, Himeko started to say everything that was in her mind at that moment, even if some things weren't meant to be said. There were a couple of words Shinatobe did not understand as they were too advanced for her time, yet she could feel the frustration and sadness Himeko was feeling. "I just want some peace and quiet for once."
"I'm sorry Himeko, I didn't know that's how you felt."
"I honestly feel like I got no where in my life in the past twelve years," Himeko started to shed tears out of frustration, not knowing how else to express everything that was on her mind at that moment. "I tell myself to run forward and not look back, but in the end I just keep running on the same spot."
"But you are giving it your all," Shinatobe cut in. "Even now, you've been out for two hours training while everyone else is asleep. You clearly work harder than everyone else here."
"I don't think that's good enough though. Whenever I try to reach for something, it just slips right through my fingers."
"Then just try to catch it with both hands next time," Shinatobe suggested. Himeko raised a brow at her statement, to which Shinatobe just demonstrated by trying to catch a mosquito circling around her with both her hands. However, when opened her hands to see it wasn't there. It was still circling around her and Shinatobe was clumsily trying to catch it again and again, "Catching something with both hands is harder than I thought."
Just watching her, Himeko started to chuckle quietly turning her head away. "You know, I haven't really told anyone about all this. I don't have any female friends, and sometimes I keep it to myself since I don't want to ruin the mood."
"You should talk to your friends, that's why they are there in the first place," Shinatobe pointed out, still trying to catch the mosquito.
"You think so?"
"Yes, they'll be disappointed if they find out that you aren't being sharing your problems with them."
"I guess you are right," Himeko smiled. "You can be quite smart sometimes, old hag!"
"I told you to call me aneue, not old hag!"
Although it was amusing to watch, Himeko started to grow annoyed with Shinatobe trying to catch the mosquito (and failing miserably each and every time). "Can you stop doing that, it's annoying me know."
"I never realised how hard it is to catch something, although you're using two hands." Shinatobe thought out loud. "That aside, what are you trying to catch?"
"You mean who," Himeko corrected her. "My older brother. We were both separated after our clan was murdered."
"I'm sorry."
"That doesn't really make me feel any better, but I guess moping around isn't going to help either."
"That aside, I'm really annoyed at the fact that we have to share tents with those uncivilised men. I couldn't even close my eyes for a second before someone's snoring woke me up."
"You're right, I held my anger in the whole day." Himeko agreed. "Maybe I should show them their place tomorrow. How dare they talk to me in that manner." But then she had another thought which made her smirk at the sound of it, "Having a tent to myself doesn't sound too bad after all."
"Himeko," Shinatobe shook the younger girl by the shoulder, "Is everything alright?"
"Yes, I just thought that having a whole tent to myself doesn't sound like a bad idea," she smiled. "Besides, someone has to teach those men some discipline."
Once they were fully absorbed in their small talk, Himeko completely forgot about her earlier worries for a while. But then, she suddenly sensed a couple of people heading their way from the woods.
"Himeko!" Shinatobe whispered over, once she sensed them too.
"Yeah, there are around five of them." Himeko informed her. "They are heading towards us." The girls remained quiet, waiting for the five people to appear out of the woods, anticipating who it might be. "Stay back Shinatobe!"
"Alright!"
Shinatobe remained behind Himeko whose eyes were fixed on the path leading from the woods. Once the five individuals came into view, Himeko took a good look at them. They were all fairly lean men in their twenties. All five had similar features, so there was no doubt that they were all related in some way. But once they were close enough, Himeko and Shinatobe could get a closer look. Under the moonlight, they could make out their distinct features. All of them had black hair, and deep blue eyes.
"Himeko, their eye colour is exactly the same as yours." Shinatobe whispered over to her.
"Mmh," she nodded slightly, "I noticed that."
Once the men were standing face to face with the pair, the tallest started to speak. "Were you the ones that caused all that ruckus?" He was referring to the trees Himeko had cut down during her training.
Shinatobe was about to open her mouth to answer, but Himeko stopped her. "Before that, I would like to know who were are giving an answer to."
"I beg your pardon."
"I asked for your name."
The man looked at his comrades, not being able to believe that a little girl was starting to interrogate him. He then turned back to her, "I am Hideaki Inoue, first son of the current head of the Inoue clan."
"Oh boy, how did I know..."
Omake - Life with Boys Part 2 - First Period Drama
Mornings at the dojos have the same pattern. You wake up, clean or cook, eat and then train. Usually everyone minds their own business unless someone gets into a fight over who woke up last or something along those lines. Hearing her alarm clock chime, Himeko unwillingly opened her eyes and decided to get up. However, unlike other days today felt a bit different. She felt a lot more sluggish than other days although she got a good nights sleep. After finally shutting off her alarm clock, she got up and started to put her futon away when she noticed something on the white sheets she didn't remember being there before.
It was a red stain. A blood stain.
That's when she remembered, "Oh yeah, I just remembered that I'm a girl..."
Instead of folding the sheets, she threw them in the corner ready to be washed and took a new set of clothes to the toilet to change into before thinking of a way to deal with her new problem. But being in the mountains isolated from civilisation with only men around was an issue. She needed help.
Not knowing what to do, she went to seek help from the person who would be the calmest in this situation, but also the person who wouldn't give a fuck. Yes, the first person she went to was Toshiro.
"Toshi, can I ask you for a favour?"
"No."
"Can you go to town and buy me something?"
"No."
"I got my periods for the first time today."
"No, go away."
"Please."
"No."
"If you don't buy me pads then there's going to be blood everywhere!"
"Don't care. Go ask Natsu, he was going to go to town anyway."
Himeko narrowed her eyes at Toshiro, "If I trusted those two I wouldn't have come here..." With no other choice, Himeko went to Natsume who was just about to leave. "Natsu, do me a favour. Can you buy me sanitary pads?"
"Sure, leave it to me!" He smiled giving her a thumbs up.
With him gone for a few hours, Himeko somehow managed to keep her flow under control and decided not to leave her room for the day. When Natsume returned, he visited her room to hand her the sanitary pads he bought. Although Himeko finally smiled in relief once she saw him coming into the room, her expression dropped once she took a look inside the bag.
"Natsu..."
"Yeah, what's up?"
"These are diapers, not pads..."
Haruko soon rushed over to the scene when he heard Himeko shouting and screaming at Natsume from her room.
"What's going on?!" He questioned.
"I started my periods," she answered him in between shouting at Natsume.
Haruko gasped, "Oh no, are you okay? Did you eat? Do you need warm milk? Shall I set you a warm bath? Do you need a hot water bottle? An extra blanket? Chocolate? Ice cream? I'll buy it for you!"
"Just a packet of sanitary pads would be good enough for now," Himeko answered calmly.
"Sanitary pads? Give me an hour and I'll be back!"
After his older brotherly senses tingled in, he stormed out and made his way to the nearest store which was a few kilometres away from the dojo. Exactly one hour later, he returned while Himeko and Natsume waited with anticipation. Why Natsume was waiting with her? He wanted to see whether Haruko could actually do a better job than him since he doubted it.
"I'm back!" Haruko dashed inside her room with n number of shopping bags. Just like one of those magicians you see on TV, he pulled out things from the shopping bags and he just kept going and going with no end. A hot water bottle, back warmer, heated blanket, extra pillows, bubble bath, Himeko's favourite strawberry milk, chocolate, cookies and cream ice cream and the list could just go on. Himeko sat there as her eyes widened with every item he took out while Natsume just sat there with a smug smile on his face.
After around five minutes, he neatly put the plastic bags aside and gave Himeko a wide smile, "There!"
"... that's all nice but I needed pads..."
"... oh yeah..."
Haruko forgot the pads too, making Natsume burst out into uncontrollable laughter as he predicted the outcome. But, Himeko who was not impressed at all just crashed back onto the three new pillows.
"Forget it, I'll just bleed to death!" Just when she decided to turn around and sleep, something hit her head. She turned around and looked at it. She couldn't believe her eyes. "Eureka! Can we all just take a moment to praise the Lord for throwing down a pack of pads for me?"
"Actually, Toshi just threw them in and walked off," Natsume bursted her little celebration.
Moral of the story - Himeko, go and buy your own damn sanitary pads!
A/n - Another chapter for y'all :) Himeko was so down during the whole chapter, it felt weird writing her like that. (The omake should have made up for it though)
Now that I'm writing more and more about Shinatobe, I feel like she could be Gon's ancestor. I mean, they both have that simplemindedness in common xD
I keep writing chapters and the War still hasn't started OTL
Well, since I don't have much to say I'll move onto the Reviews:
Queechi - You know, Koullua sounds like something Kikiyo would name her child. Next thing, another one pops out of no where and she calls him/her Koullua xD
And Natsume won't punch you in your face unless you're training together. But if you are training together, then he'll just be after your head, forget just simply punching you.
Abi - I revised and still turned up at your door for help. Shows how much I suck at stats xD But you begged me to help you with chem so we are even!
Thanks for answering the questions, peasant. Natsume is not for sale btw, although I could picture Toshiro trying to get rid of him. You can try checking ebay once in a while in that case.
Haine - Glad you loved it ^^
TangoAUnicorn - Shinatobe's love might appear in the next chapter (if I managed to plan the chapters out right that is). It's fun writing Himeko interacting with Kiilua, mainly because they just fight a lot. They fight over anything so yeah, I just like writing arguments (I'm weird, sorry). In Kurapika's case, she goes through a total dilemma and overthinks stuff and takes extreme measures, for example using an online dating advice site that didn't turn out to be that helpful xD Actually, both cases are fun to write, it's just not fun to write her moping around (like in this chapter). Also, don't worry. We can both be chatterboxes together.
The term dodo-head, I think I heard it on TV at some point. I think it was when my little cousin came over and watched a show on the Disney channel or Nickelodeon. Either that or just I imagined things and made it up myself which to be honest could be very likely since we are talking about me in this case. I do a lot of weird things without me knowing xD
SlightlyYandereMelissa - I like the name Lou... maybe I'll use it in the future. Reminds me of that guy from Black butler (I think he was called Lau). Also, thank you for checking out my drawings. I'm thinking of redrawing two of them since I have all the time in the world now until September.
Also, if you are wondering, I finished my exams on Monday and I have no school. But I'm suffering from Post Exam Disorder (No it's not a real thing. I made that up). Sometimes I chill and watch TV and I just shoot up and think I have to revise but then I realise that exams are over. Yeah... exams have messed me up. Especially since everyone in my family was caught up with exams and when that happens the whole house seems Haunted. Speaking of haunted, I was revising in my room the other day when I heard scratching noises from the walls (and there is no room on the other side). Okay, lemme shut my mouth before I end up rambling xD