Author's note: Here it is, the new, improved (former) chapter 10! Now featuring many more words!

CHAPTER 11 — LAUNDRY

YEAR 193

By the time Sho was nine, he'd started getting embarrassed by Arrow's attention when he was around the other cadets and soldiers.

They'd had several fights about it recently, and most of the time, Arrow knew she was in the wrong and apologized. Arrow wasn't purposely trying to embarrass him; she was just used to treating him like a little kid and old habits die hard.

Arrow started keeping a list of things that Sho told her not to do in public: hold his hand; mess up his hair; wipe dirt off his face (even if she used a handkerchief); call him her buddy or any similar term of endearment; tell stories about him; or socialize with the young cadets when they were not training. Basically, Arrow had to pretend she didn't know him most of the time.

Arrow felt like Sho was ashamed of her now. A year ago, Sho thought she was the greatest: Arrow was his hero. Now she felt like a bother, even if she wasn't actively embarrassing him.

As much as he rebuffed her in public, Sho and Arrow were still best friends. The time between dinner and lights out was their time. It gave them a chance to relax and play together, and it soothed hurt feelings from the day.

If Arrow was reading on her bed, Sho would often bring a book over and lay next to her while he read too. He had homework now, and usually had assigned reading in a textbook. Sometimes they'd ditch the books and just end up talking past Sho's bedtime. Then Arrow would carry him to his bed and toss him onto it. He found it hilarious, until that one time Arrow threw him a little too hard and his head hit the wall. Sho got a lot of frantic apologies and a bruise on the side of his head. That was the end of the bed tossing.

Sho's favorite game was Othello, and he was stupidly good at it. They had a piece of notebook paper in the box where they kept a tally of how many games each of them had won. Arrow would probably never catch up to him, but she didn't stop trying. Arrow was better at checkers, and could beat Sho about half the time.

Sho liked brushing Arrow's hair.

It had started when Sho was five. He was fascinated when he saw Arrow doing her hair and wanted to try it. Arrow brushed his hair for him, so why couldn't he brush her hair for her? Arrow, finding this to be a reasonable argument, handed Sho the hairbrush. Unfortunately for her, Sho had no idea what he was doing and ended up yanking her head back when he ran across a knot. Sho would not be dissuaded, so Arrow spent a few painful evenings teaching him to be gentle with the brush. Once Sho got the hang of it and Arrow stopped worrying about her neck, she showed him how to divide her long bangs into sections and put her hair clips in. Sho thought that was great: Arrow looked "very pretty and cool" when she was wearing her hair clips. If Sho woke up on time and got dressed right away, Arrow put the back of her hair into a bun or a ponytail, and let Sho do her bangs. They were often lopsided, but Arrow didn't care, because Sho had done her hair for her.

Arrow absolutely loved having her hair brushed. Way back when she lived at St. Lilith's Elementary, the girls frequently did each other's hair after bath time. The simple, affectionate attention was just what they needed; it helped them unwind and bond with each other. For Arrow, this feeling remained when Sho brushed her hair, but it was amplified due to who was doing the brushing. She didn't know how to articulate it, so she tried to show it instead.

One night, Sho noticed the lazy, satisfied smile on her face as he was brushing. "Why are you smiling like that, Arrow?"

"Because this is my favorite thing," she murmured contentedly. Arrow glanced back at Sho, and saw that he was mirroring her smile.

"You're silly."

"Mm-hmm." She closed her eyes, sighed, and continued to enjoy the attention.

Sho's brushstrokes became longer and slower. He understood.

Arrow typically paid Sho back with a shoulder rub, which was more enjoyable for someone who had short hair and spent an hour a day swinging around a sword. He didn't say anything, but Arrow recognized that expression: Sho was eating it up.

If Sho had been too harsh with Arrow after she unwittingly embarrassed him, he found that brushing her hair was a good way to make up with her. Sho made sure to tell Arrow that this didn't mean she could embarrass him on purpose. He didn't think she would, but better safe than sorry.

Every once in a while, Arrow would get out the ear pick and clean Sho's ears. She knew it was an important bonding ritual.

The first time she'd done it after he'd moved in, Sho said it felt "wonderful". Afterwards he wanted to play with the earwax, but Arrow wouldn't let him. Then Sho wanted to clean her ears, but after what happened with the hairbrush, Arrow was not about to let Sho stick anything in her ear. Or his own ear, for that matter. Sho was very thoughtful and helpful, so Arrow forbade him from touching the ear pick.

Four years later, Sho still loved getting his ears cleaned, but wasn't as vocal about it. His blissful face as he lay with his head in her lap said it all. When Sho let Arrow put a pick in his ear, it meant he trusted her not to hurt him. Plus, she removed all of the nasty gunk in his ears, and it felt really good. Arrow liked doing it for him. She was taking care of him, and it made him happy.

Sho still wasn't allowed to use the ear pick.

All of these things were so simple, but they meant so much to this boy and his guardian.

Every day, they trained until they were tired and sore.

Every night, they went to church and heard about how terrible this world was, and how it needed to burn.

One was the 3rd pillar, one of the Evangelist's chosen who would bring about the Cataclysm, and the other was his bodyguard, who would help him and make sure he survived until that day.

The time Arrow and Sho spent together in the evenings made this scorched world they lived in much more bearable. After all, it would still be a while before the Cataclysm.

There were one or two "embarrassing" things Arrow did that she would not apologize for.

Arrow would occasionally brag to her friends about Sho's good grades or how well he was doing in training. After one or two slip-ups, Arrow made sure to only mention it around adult soldiers that she knew well.

Sometimes Arrow reminisced with her old roommates about things Sho did when he was little. Sho was annoyed, but as long as Arrow kept it confined to their room, he didn't make too much of a fuss. It's not like Kurenai and Torako and some of their other hallmates weren't there when it had happened anyway. He'd still excuse himself and go to the library or the rec room so he didn't have to be involved in the conversation because they would tease him, albeit affectionately.

Arrow honestly did not want to embarrass him. She remembered some of the things that Sho did and said the first year that they lived together. He was very young, and did it out of ignorance, and sometimes he was even trying to help her. Sho had an excuse, but Arrow felt like she was old enough to know better. She didn't like fighting with Sho about stupid things like this.

"Hey Sho: your face looks kind of red there. Are you okay, buddy?" said Ryu. The other boys snickered.

"Alright, knock it off or I'm making everyone run another five laps," said Arbiter. The boys quieted down right away.

Sho was sitting around pouting. Arrow had said "Good job, buddy," and ruffled his hair right after training ended. Again. She had done it without thinking and immediately apologized, but it was too late: the other cadets had all seen. Now the boys in the locker room were giving him grief about it.

Arbiter came over to him. "Don't sweat it, Sho. These guys are just insanely jealous"—he made sure to say those two words very loudly—"that they don't have someone like Arrow waiting for them after training."

"But she's so embarrassing sometimes."

Arbiter smirked. "Well, I never said she wasn't."

When Sho exited the men's locker room, Arrow was standing in the vestibule. She beckoned him over.

"Come on, Sho. We've got to hurry up and do the laundry so we don't run out of clean clothes again." Arrow wasn't that loud, but she was loud enough that a handful of the other boys overheard, and within thirty seconds, all of them knew what she'd said.

Sho wanted to die.

"Pssh. So not cool, Arrow," said Torako as she passed by.

Evidently some of the women had heard her too. Arrow glanced back and saw that all of them were either shaking their heads, or trying to hide their laughter.

Arrow knew she had screwed up. Again. Big time.

At dinner, Arrow was sitting at a table alone in the mess hall when Torako walked over, holding a tray.

"Yo, where's your little buddy?"

Arrow gestured with her head. "Eating with his friends over there."

"You two fightin' again?"

Arrow frowned, but said nothing.

"I swear, sometimes I can't tell which one of you is the nine-year-old." Torako sighed wearily. "Now quit your sulking and come sit with us." As they walked, Torako glanced at her and said, "Hey, didja ever do your laundry?"

Arrow gave her a dirty look.

This was going to be painful.

After about twenty solid minutes of humiliation, dinner was over and Sho and Arrow walked back to their room.

Sho wouldn't look at her. "I only got asked if I was wearing clean underwear about ten times, thanks to your big mouth."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, they were letting me have it over at my table too," said Arrow, defeated.

Arrow wasn't going to defend herself: this was all her fault. Sho had every right to be mad at her.

"Arrow, how many times have I told you: don't embarrass me in front of everyone!"

"I'm sorry, Sho. I promise I'll do better."

"You always say that, but nothing changes!" Sho went into his room and slid the adjoining door shut with a loud clack. The sound hit Arrow like a slap in the face.

He was right.

Arrow started to tear up. She went to Sho's door and called softly. "Sho? I'm really, really sorry." Arrow's breath hitched. "I... I... don't know what else to say." Despite Arrow's efforts to hide it, it was now painfully obvious that she was crying.

Sho didn't answer.

Arrow retreated to her bed and got underneath the covers, being sure to cover her head too. She felt miserable and she deserved it, so she decided she'd just bury her face in her pillow and cry it out as quietly as she could. Why couldn't she stop making things worse?

A minute later the adjoining door slid open.

"You don't have to cry about it, you big dummy."

Arrow felt a weight on the bed beside her. Sho uncovered her head and started rubbing her shoulders with one hand.

"I'm only doing this to make you feel better."

"Okay."

"Do you feel better?"

Arrow wiped her nose. "A little bit." They sat in silence for a minute. "Sho, I really do want to do better, but half of the time, I don't know if what I'm going to say will embarrass you or not."

Dr. Ochibana had suggested that Arrow try to imagine herself in Sho's place, and ask herself if she would be embarrassed by what her guardian was doing.

There was a problem: Arrow had never had anyone older who could embarrass her in front of her peers. Arrow was raised in a large group of kids. The nuns at St. Lilith's and the teachers at the combat school didn't deal with the kids one-on-one. If Arrow had had a guardian who took care of only her, maybe she'd want them to praise her, pat her on the head, and call her "buddy" in front of the other kids. Arrow just had to guess what Sho wanted and get scolded if she messed up.

Arrow also had a hard time wrapping her mind around how he suddenly didn't want to be treated like a kid. He was nine, and he wasn't acting like this three months ago.

Sho said nothing, and continued rubbing her shoulders.

Nothing Sho said could give Arrow the power to read his mind.

Arrow jumped when Sho suddenly grabbed her shoulders. "I just had an idea!"

The next day at lunchtime, Arrow noticed Haumea standing and talking to Sho. She suspected Haumea was up to something, but didn't immediately go over; sometimes Haumea got more riled up if she saw Arrow.

Then Arrow looked at Sho's hand. His thumb was touching his other four fingers, making a circle.

Arrow walked over and stood next to Sho. "Can I help you, Haumea?"

"Hiya Arrow, I was just checking to make sure my little buddy Sho remembered to put on clean underwear today." Haumea flashed her remarkably white teeth in a not-so-innocent grin.

Haumea had just made two big mistakes. First, she picked on Sho. Second, she called Sho her buddy. Sho was Arrow's buddy. Maybe it was a silly thing to be upset about, but it really got under Arrow's skin.

Arrow wore her best neutral expression as she leaned closer to the younger girl. "Haumea, you've been wearing the same onesie since you were four," she said in a low voice. "I have known you for eight years and have never seen you wear anything different. Do you get a new one every year or does the original one just get more and more stretched out?"

Sho's eyes widened in shock.

Haumea bristled. "Ha ha ha, very funny, Arrow. If you weren't so busy being a wet nurse, maybe you could be a comedian."

Arrow took a deep breath, then let it out. "Just go sit down, Haumea."

Haumea sauntered off to sit next to Charon, who bugged her until she yelled at him.

Thank Sol that no one overheard Arrow's comment to Haumea, or else it would've turned into a scene.

Sho tugged at Arrow's sleeve. "What's a wet nurse?"

She sighed. "I'll tell you later."

At least their plan was working.

It was still another week before the Laundry Incident blew over.

Arrow caught Sho's eye from across the yard. She tapped three fingers on the base of her collarbone. Once she had Sho's attention, she scratched her shoulder.

Sho kept his hand at his side, made a fist, then flashed three fingers.

Arrow put her hand to her side and made a fist, then extended her pinkie, and waved it back and forth slightly.

Sho wrapped up his conversation, and walked over to Arrow.

"Yes, Arrow?" Sho said, clearly irritated.

"Don't give me that. I could always go back to yelling across the yard."

"Fine. What did you want to tell me?"

"We're on cleaning duty in ten minutes."

If anyone was late for cleaning duty, they had to stay for an extra hour.

They started running.

Torako sat across the table from Arrow and Sho at dinner, scrutinizing them.

"Well... I'm glad to see that you two have been gettin' along better lately, but now you weirdos just spend all your time making hand signals at each other. It's weird, and I'm suspicious!" Torako pointed at them for dramatic effect. Torako wasn't upset, but she was definitely burning with curiosity.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Torako." Arrow took a sip of her water.

"Yeah, I think you're imagining things." Sho took a bite of his potatoes. "And pointing is rude."

Arrow did a spit take when Sho said that. She coughed and said, "So is talking with your mouth full, Sho."

"Well you just spit water on the table." Sho tossed a napkin at Arrow. "Clean up your mess."

"Don't throw—"

Torako interrupted their bickering. "Both of you shut up before I slap you."

Arrow and Sho started laughing. Arrow decided that they had teased Torako enough; time for a subject change.

Arrow itched her nose with her pinkie finger.

"Oh! I remembered what I was going to tell you a minute ago, Torako," Sho said. "Ronin told me a story today about this old samurai who used to meditate under a cherry tree..."

Sho talked Torako's ear off for the rest of dinner.

Arrow still slipped up sometimes—and so did Sho—but the code signs that they had come up with prevented a lot of embarrassing situations for both of them. They added more signs as needed, and could soon communicate short messages from a distance by just looking at each other's hands. Many signs were done with their hands at their sides, so it wasn't obvious that they were doing anything.

Arrow and Sho agreed to deny the code's existence. It was something just for them. Their own secret language: one that nobody else could speak or understand. That made it better.

It wasn't long before Haumea struck again.

In one of his few group classes, the teacher called on Sho and he completely missed the answer to an easy question. He was reprimanded in front of everyone for not paying attention. Sho had just joined the class last week, and felt utterly humiliated. When class was over, Sho tried to keep a low profile in the halls as he went to meet with one of his tutors.

Haumea—who was also in that class—ran into him in the hallway, and decided to rub salt in his wound.

"Aww, poor Sho: maybe you're too dumb to be in this class after all."

Sho turned away and tried to avoid Haumea, but she followed him.

"You look like you're gonna cry. Are you gonna cry, Sho?"

Sho turned away again, but Haumea would not leave him alone.

"I bet you're going to go and cry to your big sis like the baby you are." Haumea sneered. "You two are pathetic. I wish that stupid slut would just die."

Sho stopped, and turned to Haumea. "Take it back."

"Hmm?"

"What you said about Arrow." His tone was dangerous. "Take it back. Now."

"Why would I? Your precious Arrow is a stupid slut and I hope she dies." Haumea made sure to clearly enunciate every word of the insult. She finished up with a wicked grin. She'd won.

Haumea's grin disappeared when Sho punched her in the gut, causing her to double over in pain.

Then Haumea drew her hand back and slapped Sho across the face. Hard.

Arrow and Charon sat in Headmaster Juuzawa's office.

This was Arrow's first time being called about Sho. Charon took his usual seat. He spent a lot of time here because of his problem child.

Mr. Juuzawa sighed. "Master Charon, Miss Arrow, I've called you here because Miss Haumea and Master Sho got into a fight."

Arrow was alarmed, but Charon just sighed.

"According to the other students, Miss Haumea provoked Master Sho, who struck the first blow.

"I questioned them individually as well, and from what I can gather, Miss Haumea said something derogatory about Miss Arrow and got into an argument with Master Sho. Then Master Sho punched her, and she slapped him in retaliation."

Mr. Juuzawa turned and called loudly toward the other door. "Come in here, you two."

Two sullen children walked into the office.

Haumea was holding an ice pack on her stomach. Sho had a bloody lip and a handprint-shaped red welt on his face.

When Arrow saw that handprint, she was ready to give one to Haumea. She didn't even care if Sho had hit Haumea first. How dare that brat lay a hand on Sho?

Charon immediately started interrogating Haumea, which visibly annoyed her. Then Haumea started whining and playing up how much her stomach hurt. No one took her theatrics seriously, not even Charon. Haumea did something like this once a week: he knew when she was faking it.

Sho and Arrow remained silent the entire time.

As per the school rules, Sho and Haumea had to apologize and shake hands. The only person in the room who actually felt apologetic was Charon, and even though he knew she deserved it, he was still not pleased that Sho had punched Haumea.

As Arrow and Sho walked to their room to change clothes before training, Arrow glanced over at Sho and said, "I'm curious: just what did Haumea say about me?"

"She said you were stupid and she wished you would die." Sho growled. "She also said you were a slut. I don't know what that means, but if Haumea said it, I thought it was probably a bad word."

"Yes, it is a bad word. It's a really mean name for a woman." Arrow sighed. She didn't feel insulted; Arrow already knew that Haumea hated her guts. Also, Haumea was twelve, and she probably didn't even know what "slut" really meant.

"Well, I can't say I'm mad at you for punching her. I'm just jealous I didn't get to do it." Arrow smiled and nudged him. "And I'm glad you stuck up for me."

"You're my best buddy, Arrow. Buddies have got to have each other's backs." He smiled up at her. "So does that mean you'll ask Mr. Juuzawa to not punish me?"

"No. You still punched Haumea, even if she was being nasty. Even if you don't like her, you have to pretend to get along since we're all on the same side."

Arrow was secretly proud of Sho: hardly anyone stood up to Haumea, and nobody dared to actually lay a hand on her.

Haumea had no such qualms about resorting to violence: Arrow still remembered the feeling of Haumea's teeth in her arm. It took a month for all of the bruises to disappear. The last five years had done nothing to improve her disposition or her maturity.

Haumea was suspended for two weeks, and Sho was to spend three hours of his free time that Sunday cleaning the floors of the school tunnels. He got off easy since it was his first offense, and he had been provoked.

Headmaster Juuzawa forbade Sho and Haumea to talk to or be near one another at school unless they were training.

Then Yona and the church elders heard what had happened, and Haumea and Charon were whisked off to another two weeks of special lessons.

While Sho worked all Sunday afternoon, Arrow brought a folding chair and kept him company. She did not help him at all: both because he was being punished, and because Arrow knew that if she did, she'd be scrubbing the halls next Sunday. Arrow did make sure Sho had bottles of water, and she would talk to him as long as he didn't stop working.

Sho served out his sentence and ended up with blisters on both hands. He couldn't hold his sword properly for days.

Then there was the bruise on Sho's face where Haumea had slapped him. It made Arrow angry every time she saw it. If Arrow had been there when Haumea did it, then she would've smacked that girl in the face so hard that her crown would have broken in half.

All Haumea had to do now was give Arrow an excuse.

When Haumea returned, she was quite obedient, but still crabby. Charon looked worn down. Neither would say anything about the last two weeks.

Haumea's hatred of Arrow and Sho grew.

Arrow knew that Sho was growing up, but it never really hit her until they were walking around town one day. They were about to cross the road when Arrow reached for Sho's hand, but he didn't take hers.

"Arrow, I don't need you to hold my hand anymore. I'm not a baby."

"O-of course." Arrow wasn't worried about Sho doing anything stupid; it was just habit to hold hands while crossing the road.

Arrow felt a mixture of pride and disappointment.

The goal of a parent—or in this case, a guardian—was to raise their child to be independent. Sho not needing her for everything was a sign that Arrow had performed her duties well.

Arrow was proud of Sho, but she also missed the little boy that eagerly grabbed her hand "so she wouldn't get lost".

At dinner that night, Arrow had flashed Sho a new code sign. He was clearly intrigued, but had to wait until they were back in their room to ask Arrow about it.

"What does this sign mean?" He spread his thumb and forefinger apart and rested his chin between them. "Thinking?"

"Nope." Arrow shook her head. "It's really really secret."

"You've got to tell me now."

"I dunno..."

"Come on, tell me!"

"Hmm... okay." Arrow put on her best solemn expression and said, "It means you're my buddy and you're adorable and I want to pinch your cheeks like this." Arrow grabbed his face between her thumb and forefinger. She'd lost her (fake) composure and was grinning foolishly now.

"Arrow..." said Sho, as Arrow affectionately shook his head back and forth.

She let him go. "Hey, you're the one who said no PDA. I've got to have something."

Sho rolled his eyes, but was smiling.

"Well, actually, it has another even more secret meaning."

"What?"

Arrow cupped a hand at the side of her mouth and whispered in his ear. "It means 'I love you'."

Sho blushed, speechless.

Arrow turned away so Sho wouldn't see her awkward, embarrassed smile.

Sho had been her "most precious person in the world" for five years now, but Arrow was still shy about saying so.

She continued. "Anyway, it's the most secret sign."

Arrow pinched his cheeks between her fingers again, and he protested and playfully swatted at her. Then Sho grabbed her face the same way and they were in a deadlock until Sho gave in and Arrow released him.

Another reason that Arrow invented that sign was because she had a hard time saying "I love you". She thought it was easier to show it.

"Love" wasn't exactly a taboo word, but the concept of love was discouraged amongst the White-Clad. They were devils, after all. They didn't need love.

The soldiers were celibate and were not to have romantic attachments. They did not have families either. When someone became a White-Clad soldier, they forsook the life they had before.

It was fine to be friends with fellow soldiers, but everyone knew that they could die at any time. Only the most skilled soldiers lived past thirty. This meant a lot of people didn't want to get close.

Arrow and Sho were friends of course, but she was also raising him. People called Arrow "Sho's big sister", and teased them about it sometimes, but nobody made a big deal out of it.

The only people in a similar situation were Charon and Haumea.

Arrow was sure that Charon loved Haumea. She was his little princess, and had been since she was three or four. He had spoiled her rotten, and that's one reason she acted the way she did. The other reason was because she could read and control minds. If Haumea loved Charon back, she didn't show it.

Dr. Ochibana said it was good that she and Sho were close... actually, Dr. Ochibana was the first one who said that Sho loved her. That meant it was probably okay.

Still, Arrow was cautious and decided it was better to not say "I love you" to Sho if they might be overheard. Plus, her not saying it often made it special when she did say it.

Arrow occasionally gave kisses, but never in public. If Sho was really upset or sad, she'd sometimes give him a kiss on the head or cheek. Nobody taught her to do that; it just felt like a natural thing to do to comfort a child. Or if she went on a dangerous mission, Arrow would give Sho a kiss before she left. Sometimes she got a kiss back, and it made her day.

At nineteen years old, Arrow had six confirmed kills, but all it took to break her was a kiss on the cheek from her little boy.