During times of war, funerals in the Senju clan were dealt with quickly.
Since everybody was expecting casualties after the battle with the Uchiha, the funeral was held the day after the return of the shinobi. The whole clan was in attendance, and the funeral was more solemn than usual since the clan's second in command and strongest fighter had been one of the casualties.
For the first time ever, Yume was in attendance too. The Senju clan head, Senju Butsuma, had made sure that she would get to be in the front row, during the official ceremony. On that day, the Senju clan also had the surprise of seeing her face, without the interference of loose strands of hair. She stood proudly, held head high, expression unreadable and eyes solely fixated on the smiling portrait of her father in the middle of the stage.
Yet anyone who bothered looking at her face could see how puffy her eyes were.
After Butsuma had given her the news, she had ran back to her room, locked the door and cried until the next morning, not getting even an ounce of sleep. Around dawn, she heard a soft knocking on her door, but she stubbornly chose not to answer.
After multiple tries, two soft voices kept calling out to her. She recognized them as her Aunt Maki and Kimiko-sama, Senju Butsuma's wife.
After the two women managed to make her come-out of the room, they forced her to take a few bites of food, to prepare for the long day, and helped her dress in the mourning clothes they had prepared for her.
Kimiko knew that with her father gone, Yume had no close relative who would think of such things for her, so she prepared the clothes herself, and stopped by Maki's house on her way, to bring at least one friendly family member with her.
Kimiko knew that her actions would be later twisted and made into a slap in the face of Elder Hanako, by the womenfolk of the clan at tea time, but she didn't bother with it. She had known Hideki since their childhood days, and got to know him more after she married his best friend. Frankly, she had been as horrified as the others when he had brought back Uchiha Akari with him to the clan, and with a child no less, but her reaction was less extreme than others.
She pitied the child most of all. After all, Senju Yume had done nothing wrong, and yet she would have to pay for her parents' sins for the rest of her life. When her own sons had started befriending the girl more, she felt a little bit of trepidation, but she mostly felt relief and pride. Relief because, as the clan head's wife, she always felt guilty about doing nothing to help the little girl. It was her duty to look after such matters in the clan, and yet she had done nothing so far. And pride because her sons were showing their strength of character from such an early age. Especially Hashirama. His rebelliousness and free spirit gave her headaches every day, but she was always proud of how he would never follow the herd like a sheep, and always acted according to his own moral compass and sense of justice. Truly a leader in the making, and her biggest contribution to the clan.
So, following his example for a change, she had decided that's she would be more involved in the upbringing of Senju Yume, now that she was an orphan who relied on the clan. Kimiko knew that Yume's paternal family would give the little girl a hard a time in the future, and she had firmly decided that she would stop them in their tracks as much as she could. It was her duty, and she knew that her husband would be relieved if she relieved him of the stress of looking after Yume too. Butsuma might not be a demonstrative man, but he had a great sense of loyalty and he would forever keep Hideki on his mind.
After the official ceremony was over, all the families got to have one last private moment near the graves of the deceased before workers would come to cover them with dirt.
Next to Hideki's grave, Hanako, Mei, Maki and their children all stood on one side crying and grieving. Yume stood on the opposite side, fixated on the Senju crest on the casket, tears silently making their way down her cheeks.
Hanako and her daughters might not be aware of that fact, but a lot of their clan members were heavily criticizing them. When you looked their way, the most striking thing was the sorry figure of a six years old pitiful little girl standing alone next to her only parent's grave, while the rest of her supposed family huddled together away from her, like if she was contagious or something. No matter how you looked at it, this family was plain cruel and heartless.
Instead of cherishing the only child left by Hideki, they were breaking his heart one last time by casting her to the side. Some of the women folk had even heard that no one had bothered to check on the girl after the news of Hideki's death. If Kimiko-sama hadn't personally gone to bring her mourning clothes and bring her to the funeral, the little girl would have probably missed her own father's funeral. No one deserved that, not even a half Uchiha.
Mei dabbed her tears once again, and made a show of grieving for her brother. She was truly sad that Hideki was gone, after all her heart wasn't made of stone, but now was not the time for sentimentalism. Right at the moment, the council of Elders and advisors were probably opening the wills left by the deceased shinobi and deciding on how to handle their matters.
Over his long and glorious career, she knew for a fact that her brother had left behind him quite the sizeable inheritance, divided into money and properties. A contact of hers in the clan's treasury had also informed her that a couple of years ago when Uchiha Akari had died, her brother had made a large deposit and registered some deeds, surely what the Uchiha bitch had acquired over her own career and left for her daughter.
Knowing Hideki, Mei was sure that her brother had left her and her sister a small pension, and divided that larger part of the rest of his assets between his mother and daughter. She knew that nobody would be able to pry Hanako's part from her hands, but whoever got custody of Yume would be in control of her finances, and she badly needed the money now. With Hideki gone and with how useless her own husband was, she would need all the finances she could get her hands on to keep her standing in the family and in the clan. Marrying into one of the most prestigious lineages of their clan came with its burdens and she needed to think about her future and that of her children.
She was already sure that she would get custody of her niece. She could argue in front of the elders that her mother was too old to raise such a young child, and Maki was too spineless to offer any resistance.
As for Yume herself, Mei knew that the child was destined to start training in a few weeks' time. Her only obligation would be to keep the child well fed, warm and clothed, and ship her off to battle as soon as possible. As long as she did that, no one would be able to say that she mistreated the child or didn't care for her.
Satisfied with her plan, she raised her head to look at the girl standing opposite of them and said: "Yume-chan, after the day is over, go back and pack your belongings. I will come and pick you up. You will be living with us from now on."
From Mei side, a girl about Yume's age, in pigtails and mourning clothes complained: "Why would she come live with us? There's no place for her, and even if there was, an Uchiha can't live with us! All my friends would stop coming over, and our cousins would make fun of us!"
Maki was taken aback by her sister's declaration, as they hadn't discussed the matter yet. That morning, when Kimiko-sama had come to fetch her, she had expressed her desire that Maki take the girl in. Maki also knew that despite her small family's humbleness compared to Mei's, she was the best choice for Yume. Her husband and his family wouldn't mind, as long as Yume had an income to rely on, and she genuinely cared for her niece, something that neither her mother nor sister did.
She was thinking that it would be easy to get custody with Kimiko-sama's help and since the two other women would consider themselves lucky to have dodged that burden.
Now listening to her other niece's nasty words, she tried to scold her and start a discussion over the matter: "Yuri-chan, you shouldn't say such things. Yume is your cousin, you should apologize to her. As for the matter of taking Yume home, I was thinking that.."
Mei glared at her sister: "Please refrain from trying to discipline my children. I don't force my opinion on yours, so keep away from mine. And let's not discuss Yume's matter now, we're still at the funeral, may I remind you."
Maki choked on dry air, but she dropped the subject at her older sister's glare. She knew that she was no match when it came to arguing with Mei, that's why she made up her mind to look for Kimiko-sama later, to get her support officially. She owed it to her brother to try her hardest for his daughter.
From the other side of Mei came the snort of the nine years old Yuji, her eldest son, and he said loudly enough for a few people to hear: " Look at that, already causing problems in the family, and it's your first day. You truly drag some nasty curse with you. Frankly, I think that you should go back to your home now. The presence of an Uchiha here only adds to the pain of those who are burying family because of your clan."
Yume finally raised her head to look at him, eyes wide with anger. During the whole exchange, she had paid no mind to all of them, stuck in her own little bubble of sadness, but she had heard Yuji loud and clear. And she decided that he had gone too far. She was saying goodbye to her father, the person she loved the most, he had no right to try and kick her out like that.
A primal animalistic desire started growing in her, and she felt as if her anger was guiding her chakra towards her eyes. She didn't know how she was doing it or what exactly she was going to do, but her subconscious was guiding her, and assuring her that they were about to hurt the bastard badly. That way, no one would dare mess with her again.
She felt her right hand starting to move on its own, yet before she could do anything, a brown and black blur flashed from her right side and went to pounce on Yuji.
All those in attendance were shocked, as Senju Hashirama, run past them and jumped on an unsuspecting and still smug Senju Yuji, giving him a punch that threw him on the ground. Before anyone could react, Hashirama straddled the other boy, and started raining punches on him left and right.
Yume's hand was still suspended midair, when a pale hand grabbed it and lowered it down, she turned around to look at the person holding her hand, and was met with the serious face of Tobirama. He squeezed her hand and said in a low voice that only she would hear: "Whatever it is you are planning to do, please don't do it. You will get in trouble, if anyone other than me notices the change."
She gulped hard and finally gave him a nod, eyes full of tears.
He didn't let go of her hand and both turned to look at Hashirama who was still in action, beating the hell out of Yuji.
For the first time ever, Tobirama wasn't planning on stopping his brother. Ever since they had received the news of Hideki-sensei's death, he knew that his older brother was grieving almost as hard as Yume. After all, Hashirama had been Hideki's student for more than two years, and the two had really deep bond. On the morning of the funeral, both had wanted to look for Yume, but they had been stopped by their both their parents. As the heir and the spare, they had duties to attend to on such a formal day, mainly being by their father's side all the time to learn from him. Their mother assured them that she would handle the matters of Senju Yume, and they got to stay next to her during the funeral, but they had to go attend the council's meeting with their father after that.
After Elder Fujio, the eldest and most respected member of their clan, had read the contents of the will left by Hideki sensei, he had just silently ended the meeting, and motioned for Butsuma to follow him somewhere. The brothers had taken it as their cue to leave and rushed out looking for Yume.
Who knew that as soon as they had gotten closer to where she was, they would hear the end of such a disgusting exchange. Tobirama knew that his brother was already on edge, and that he felt immensely responsible for his sensei's daughter now that she was an orphan. Hearing her be bullied like that while her father's funeral hadn't even been finished was the straw that brock the camel's back, and so he attacked the boy who spoke without thinking.
Tobirama was enraged too, and that's why he let his brother be, feeling that his response was the most satisfying, but he was preoccupied by something else. He had always had an innate talent as a sensor, and he had clearly felt the change in Yume after the boy had spoken. He didn't know what it was exactly, but all his senses kept screaming danger at him.
He just knew that he had to stop Yume before someone got seriously hurt.
By now, Mei had snapped out of her daze and was trying to stop Hashirama while screaming: " Hashirama-sama, what are you doing? Stop, stop. You're hurting him. You can't just beat people up without a reason, just because you are the clan head's son. Butsuma-sama wouldn't take kindly to his heir behaving like a tyrant. Please stop, stop."
Mei was desperate. She had two daughters and Yuji was her only son, which meant that he would be the pillar she relied on in the future. She, like her mother before her, preferred her male off-spring more, loved him more and had spoiled him more, hoping that he would turn out to be as good a son as Hideki was before him. Yet now, the apple of her eye was being beating in such a humiliating fashion, and in front of the whole clan. But she could do nothing to help him
She was a woman who had never trained in her life, trying her hardest to keep up with the delicate and fragile image men liked in this day and age. On the other hand, Hashirama, even without his kekkei genkai, was a shinobi who trained constantly, even at only nine years old.
No matter how much she tried to hold his fist to stop him from landing another hit, he barely noticed and kept doing his job of reorganizing Yuji's face. The boy by this point had lost at least two teeth and was covered in blood.
Yet as soon as she finished her scolding, Butsuma's voice came from behind Tobirama and Yume: "And I take even less kindly to those who bully defenseless orphaned girls."
Everyone stopped moving and turned around to look at their clan head, including Hashirama.
Butsuma wasn't alone too. On his right side, stood Elder Fujio. The rest of the council was a couple of steps behind them too.
Butsuma turned to glare at his oldest son, who returned the glare, unafraid of the consequences of his actions. Internally he sighed heavily. Hashirama was getting more and more difficult to handle, and disciplining that child was giving him a severe headache. Especially at moments like this when he kind of agreed with what he was doing. Yet as clan head, he couldn't show bias or disregard the rules.
Finally he said loud enough for all to hear: "Hashirama get away from that boy right now! As both of you are shinobi, your direct commanding officers will be made aware of your behavior, and both of you will be punished accordingly."
Mei was about to protest, but a glare shut her up, and he continued: "Somebody come take him to the infirmary. And you Mei-san, please stay, we have a matter to inform you off."
A couple of teenage shinobi came to pick up the unconscious Yuji, while Hashirama went to stand next to Yume, silently, but anger still radiating of him.
Hanako knew that things were about to go bad for her and her daughter. Elder Fujio's presence could only mean that the clan had decided something, and that she would probably not like it.
She had also heard everything that had been said and she didn't care about it. Her most beloved child was gone, all because of those wretched Uchiha. And despite how much she loved him, she wanted nothing to do with his child. That why she had said nothing when Mei spoke up. Mei was the daughter who thought like her the most, so Hanako had guessed what her reasoning was probably. And frankly she didn't care. The only thing she cared about from this moment on was to receive the sizeable pension her son left her, and use it to live the rest of her life as an honorable elder of the Senju clan, and a loved mother and grandmother.
As long as no one touched what was hers, Mei and Maki could fight it out between themselves.
Yet now the situation was serious. Smiling, she turned to look at Elder Fujio and said: "Elder Fujio, I have allowed you to witness a joke. This is all because I failed to discipline my family. I will make sure to settle this matter in doors, and no longer bother the clan with it."
Elder Fujio returned the smile, and said in a light tone: "No need to be so flustered, Hanako-san. I'm actually glad that this matter had been brought up here, in front of the clan, because it concerns us all. After all, our dear Yume-chan is a Rinnegan wielder; her existence affects the whole clan."
Hanako gulped, her smile turning strained as she asked: "I'm not sure what Elder Fujio is getting at."
Elder Fujio started stroking his beard as he explained: "First things first. As all of you know, the council gathered today to examine the wills of our fallen children and find ways to execute them. As he had been my student once upon a time, I asked to personally oversee Hideki-kun's will. In it, he stated that he leaves the entirety of his earthly possessions to his daughter and only her. And by that I mean every single thing. The money, the three shops, and the deeds to a few lands and houses. All of it would be left under the supervision of one of the clan's financial officers until Yume-chan reaches the age of eighteen. Of course, a sizeable sum will be given each month to Yume's guardian to provide for all her needs. But even then, if you ask me, our dear Yume-chan will still have one of the largest dowries the clan has ever seen when she gets married."
He was probably the only one who smiled at his lame attempt at humor. Facing him, the reactions of the womenfolk were different.
Mei and Hanako both paled. Never in their wildest dreams would they have thought that Hideki would leave them nothing. He loved them so much, and had always provided for them, even after his sisters got married. And now he was leaving everything to his bastard of a child?
Yuri from next to her mother had just witnessed her brother get beating up, because of Yume, and now she was hearing that her weird cousin would have a lot of money and a big dowry. She was too young to fully understand what a dowry is, but she knew that it was important for a girl in their clan, and she had seen one when a cousin of hers was getting married. A lot of pretty fabrics and shiny jewelry. And now that little bitch had a big one according to Elder Fujio, while she herself had heard her mom and dad complain about how hard it would be to get a good dowry for her. Truly inadmissible.
The only ones who weren't worried about the money were Maki and her daughter Yuki. Yuki, Yuri, and Yume were born in the same year, but Yuki had inherited her mother's personality, and was at the moment hiding behind her, overwhelmed by the crowd and not understanding a word of what was said. Maki was just happy and relieved that her brother had firmly insured his daughter's future, at least financially. She wasn't worried about the money because she wasn't at all reliant on her brother.
When it was her time to get married, her brother had asked her what type of husband she wanted. Flustered and embarrassed by the question, she had only replied that he knew best, and that he should help her find someone good. And Hideki had delivered. He found her one of his subordinates, who was hardworking, of good lineage and not more noble than them. He wasn't too fortunate, and her everyday life wasn't as glamorous as Mei's, but she was really happy in her simple life.
Her husband was a proud man who had refused to take money and help in his career from Hideki, like Mei 's husband did, and she had supported him in his efforts to make them independent and stable, even on a modest income. Hideki had accepted their decision, even if he had continued showering her and his niece and nephew with gifts every occasion he could.
And after Elder Fujio had spoken up, she was glad of her choices in life thus far. She wasn't stupid and had finally understood why Mei was so eager to get her hands on the newly orphaned Yume. But with how Hideki had locked everything behind him, life was about to get really difficult for her mother and sister. Both women led really lavish lives, and now they couldn't afford their lifestyles.
Hanako and Mei were thinking the exact same thing that Maki was thinking at the moment.
Hanako's smile faltered no matter how hard she tried to keep it up, and she stuttered: "But…But..I'm his mother. Surely there must be a mistake.. Hideki would never leave me like this."
Elder Fujio only smiled harder: "About that, well, he wrote something in his will. Hideki-kun said that his sisters are married now, and can fully be supported by their own husbands. As for you, he wrote that he is sure that his intelligent mother would have saved up quite a bit of money over the years, and that you still have your clan sanctioned pension. All in all, it wouldn't make sense to carve out the finances of an orphaned child when it wasn't at all needed. As her loving grandmother, he was sure that you would understand, and only wish the best for his beloved Yume-chan."
All the clan members present laughed internally at his words. This was truly a will in accordance with Hideki's temperament. One last gigantic Fuck-you to the people who hurt him the most.
Butsuma also was laughing internally. His best friend was truly something else, even in death. He was sure that Elder Fujio was only doing this publicly because Hideki had asked him too in his will. And he also understood Hideki's plan. Not only did he protect his daughter's interest against greedy relatives, he also raised her profile in the clan. Without a backer, money was now Yume's biggest ally. As clan head, he knew what missions Hideki went on over the years, and thus had a rough estimate of his friend's wealth. With his profile, a lot of daimyos, nobles and rich merchants requested him personally to ensure that the mission would be a success, so the pay and sometimes bonuses that came with it were always sizeable. And surely Uchiha Akari would have left something consequential behind too.
Basically Hideki had just declared to the whole clan that his daughter was the richest girl in the compound. One look around and he could already tell that quite a bit of people were rethinking their views on her, especially parents with boys around the same age. It never hurt to plan ahead.
Truth be told, even he was a little bit tempted. That much money could be good for both his family's treasury and the clan's. And he still had three sons, two of which Yume seemed to really like. Who knew what could happen in the future? And any grandkids she could give him would be at least 3 quarters Senju, with the potential to awaken the Rinnegan. Not a bad outcome at all.
Shaking his head from such thoughts, he went back to reality. Now was not the time for this. Now the most important thing is to help grant Hideki's last wishes. His wife had stopped him earlier and recommended he give custody of the child to her youngest aunt Maki. According to her she was a bit of a push over, but she was a good person
While Hanako's head was spinning under the shock, Mei was thinking rapidly about how to get the elders and the clan head to grant her Yume's custody, she would figure the rest out later.
Yet before she could say anything, Elder Fujio dropped another bomb on them: "Now that that matter is concluded, I think we should decide on Yume-chan's custody. As I said before, Yume's existence has an effect on all of us. As such, I do not think it wise to leave her upbringing to a bunch of women with no training whatsoever. It's nothing against you personally, but I do not think you capable of raising her to her true potential. I would have taken her in myself, but my wife and I are too old, and we might drop dead any second now, we need a more permanent solution. So I personally think that it should be our esteemed clan head who raises her. He was after all like a brother to Hideki-kun."
Huh?
Butsuma's mouth almost dropped open from the shock. Elder Fujio hadn't discussed this with him when they were on their way. What the hell is he thinking? Is this a part of Hideki's will? Either way, both these men knew that he had a hard time keeping up with his own kids, why would they drop another one on him?
All eyes were on him, and he was thinking hard about a way to refuse gently, when an elder spoke up from behind him: "I think it's a great idea. It's for the best. With the Rinnegans under the supervision of the main house, we would all feel a lot more at ease. "
Another elder added: "And Butsuma-sama and his wife have raised four outstanding children. I'm sure they are the best choice for the child."
All the other elders kept giving their approval, while Senju Butsuma discreetly glared at them. He knew that those old croons were only looking out for themselves. If Elder Hanako got her hand on the money and the power of the Rinnegans, her power in the council would grow exponentially and it might disturb the delicate system they had going on. Whereas if they dumped Yume on him, nothing would change, as he would still be subject to their pressure and an even bigger target for criticism if need be.
He turned his head and met the look Elder Fujio was giving him. Elder Fujio had been for a while his and Hideki's sensei. He respected him a great deal and he knew that the men saw the both of them in the same light he saw his kids who had sadly died in battle before.
If Elder Fujio thought that he should become Yume's guardian, then maybe the idea had some merit. Silently cursing, he put on a smile and said with finality: "If the honorable elders have made up their minds, then I have no objection. From this day on, I will take on the responsibility of being Senju Yume's guardian, until she becomes of age."
Now he just needed to find a way to tell his wife about the new kid in their house. Kimiko had always secretly wanted a daughter, so maybe she would like the surprise and not bite his head off.
Elder Fujio smiled broadly, taking a general look around: "Well then it is settled. I can go back to enjoying retirement now." His eyes fixated on Yume and he gave her a warm smile before saying in a lower voice: "Well child, it looks like you still haven't run out of guardian angels. Grow up fast, because who the hell knows when I could finally drop dead."
And with that, he swaggered out of the graveyard.
Butsuma sighed. Whenever Elder Fujio got involved in something, he always made a scene like this and left him with the consequences to handle. His eyes landed on Yume, whose eyes were wide and who still had a death grip on Tobirama's hand. He gave her a nod and said: "Child, when you are done with your goodbyes, go back home and start packing your belongings. I will send someone to help you later in the afternoon and bring you back to my house. We will figure out the rest later."
After that, his hand shot forward and gripped Hashirama's collar. The boy was still so shocked by what had just happened in front of them that he didn't offer any resistance when his father started dragging him with him: "And you, young man, I need to have serious discussion with you about this temper of yours."
Slowly after Butsuma left, the crowd started dispersing.
Hanako was weak in the knees, and almost dropped to the ground, if it wasn't for Maki's support. Mei's eyes were wide with anger, as they landed on the six years old girl, but she said nothing when faced with the glare of the boy beside her.
Remembering her son who was still in the infirmary, she harrumphed and started rushing towards him, followed by her two daughters.
Maki saw her sister leaving and knew they had to follow her. Sighing she started gently dragging her unaware mother with her. This wasn't the outcome she had hoped for, but she couldn't contradict the decision of Elder Fujio and Butsuma-sama. Still, maybe staying away from their family was the best thing that could happen to this girl after the tragedy, and Kimiko-sama wouldn't stop her from visiting her niece once in a while.
As for Yume who was in the center of all of this, and who hadn't been consulted even once, she stood totally at a loss, not having understood what had transpired, her only comfort being the friend who was still holding her hand.
Once no one was near them, she could finally ask him: "What just happened?"
To say the truth, Tobirama himself hadn't understood everything. As a very mature child, he understood that some sort of clan politics had just happened in front of them, and that the victim of all of them was Yume, but he couldn't understand them all. So he went with the simplest answer he could think of: "Well, it looks like you're going to come live with us from now on."
Yume nodded pensively at that, and then went back into staring at her father's casket. She hadn't processed everything yet, but she knew that her Papa had done something to take care of her, and that brought on fresh set of tears.
Tobirama stayed with her for the rest of the morning. He knew that his presence next to their father wasn't as essential as Hashirama's, so he chose to act willfully for once in his life and stay besides his friend.
After grabbing a bite at the small buffet his mother was overseeing, he dragged a still in shock Yume back to her house, and urged her to start packing. He stayed in the living room to give her some privacy while she went through her girl's only stuff, going through the books and scrolls sensei had left behind. He was also thinking heavily about that feeling he had when Yume was about to attack her cousin. Had she figured out a way to use the powers of the Rinnegans?
At any rate, he would keep this to himself for now, and ask her about it when it was more appropriate.
In her room, Yume just sat on the floor doing nothing. She knew that Tobirama had asked her to do something; she just couldn't remember what exactly. She just felt numb now. She would never see her Papa again, never hear his laugh or stupid jokes and teasing. She would never feel safe in his arms again, or feel that happiness that came whenever he came back home from a mission.
She just wanted one last moment with her Papa again.
Suddenly, she remembered something. Papa might be gone, but his big dog friend Baji might still be there. It wouldn't hurt to try. If the dog accepted to stay with her, she would feel less lonely and a lot closer to her Papa.
Remembering the hand signs that her father had done, she ignored his warning, thinking that nothing bad could happen from such a simple jutsu, and executed them anyway.
As her hand slammed to the ground, she started feeling the ground slip from underneath her, and she was suddenly falling.
In the living room, Tobirama was going through the books when his senses caught something different.
He rushed to the room and yanked the door open, only to be met with the sight of an empty room.
His eyes went wide. He had been monitoring Yume's chakra constantly, and yet he had just suddenly lost track of it. She was there one second and disappeared in the other.
This was bad. Really, really bad.
AN:Hello there! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. So, a guest asked about the update schedule for this story, and I have to say that I don't really have one. I update as I write. I hope that over this summer, I can post about two chapters a week, depending on how busy I get. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. Thank you for reading!
Stay safe and healthy!