Years flew by. Megumi and Sango became best friends. They trained together everyday, pushing them selves to the limit. When they turned 12 years old they were told to select one weapon of choice then a second one for protection. Their teacher showed them to the room. Sango choose a boomerang that was almost as big as her. For her second she picked twin blades that she would hide on her wrists covered with fabric to appear as arm bands. Megumi decided to pick a long sword as her weapon of choice and then a blade attached to a chain as her safety weapon.
That was a year ago, now they were learning tricks. After her lesson one day, Megumi decided to go into the forest to practice a bit more. She walked out of the guarded gates of her village and into the forest. She continued to walk until she was deep into it. She found a very large tree in front of her. She unsheathed her sword and pointed it at the tree. She charged it and began to slash away at its bark. Bits and pieces fell to the ground.
She raised the sword and swung her arm to slash it once more. A strong arm wrapped around hers making her unable to hit the tree. Megumi quickly turned around. A boy looked back at her. His body was glowing with radiance. He had shoulder length black hair and silver eyes that were locked on her.
"What are you trying to pull?"
"Why do you hurt the tree?"
"I am practicing with my sword."
"Why do you use a tree for practice?"
Megumi thought for a second. "I don't know. It was there and I thought it was good at the time."
The boy walked over to the tree and placed his hand over the cut marks.
"I am sorry I won't do it again."
The boy looked back at her and smiled.
"The tree will heal. It's ok."
Megumi watched him carefully. "He is beautiful." She said to herself.
"Do you live around here?" He asked her sweetly.
She pointed toward her village. "I live in a village on the outside of the forest, how about you?"
"I live in the middle of the forest."
Megumi's eyes widened. "What's it like?"
"It's great. That is why I love the forest so much."
Megumi looked down at her sword then put it back into her sheath.
"Nice sword."
"Thanks." Megumi blushed.
"Would you like to go to my favorite place in the forest?"
"Yeah."
He smiled. "Follow me." He turned his body around and began to walk deeper into the forest. Megumi looked behind her and then ran to catch up with him.
They walked for about 10 minutes before coming upon a small lake. The dimming sunlight left traces of itself upon the water as it stood completely still. Megumi walked toward the edge and looked into the crystal water. The boy stripped his shirt off and walked over to the shallow end. Megumi watched him. He walked out towards the middle and bent over sticking his hands into the water.
"Do you like fish?"
"Yes I love fish."
"Great I will catch us some."
"You can catch them with your hands?"
"Yup."
Suddenly he grabbed at something and pulled a good size fish out of the water. "Can you get me a stick?"
"Sure."
Megumi quickly looked for a stick. After a few seconds of looking she found a rather large stick on the ground. "Will this work?"
"Perfect."
Megumi removed her clothes and stepped into the water only wearing her fighting outfit minus the protective pads and mask. She walked over toward him and noticed how deep the water was. It went halfway between her knees and pelvic region. She looked at him and then handed him the stick.
"You know you could have just thrown it to me."
"Oh." Megumi blushed.
"It's alright you can hold this one while I catch another." He took the stick and thrusted it in the fish's mouth and made it come out the back end. He then handed it to Megumi. She looked at him then at the fish. She held the stick tightly ad watched what he did.
"Don't move, you'll scare the fish."
She remained perfectly still.
A few minutes passed, followed by a few more. Megumi decided to start a conversation.
"So what is your name?"
The boy looked at her. "My name is Kousuke."
"My name is Megumi."
"That's a real pretty name."
She blushed once more. "Thank you. I like your name too."
A large fish swam between her legs. She remembered that she had to stand perfectly still. Megumi nudged him in the ribs and then pointed at the fish. He bent down and let his fingertips touch the water. Slowly he slipped them below the surface. The fish swam around over to him and his fingers wrapped around its scaly body. He then pulled it out of the water and the fish twisted and turned as it tried to escape his grasp. Its mouth opened and closed as it tried to breath in its new atmosphere.
"Did you happen to bring another stick with you?"
Megumi shook her head. "Sorry."
"That's alright. We don't need any more fish. Let's go back." He then began to walk back to shore. Megumi quickly followed.
*~*~*~*
Megumi held onto the fishes as Kousuke built a fire. Night was creeping closer. Megumi looked at the sky. Stars were beginning to appear.
"The stars are beautiful tonight."
His silver eyes rose to the sky. "Oh yes, they do." He then looked down and lit the piece of wood on fire. Megumi watched the wood crack and burn.
Temperature fell as quickly as the sun did. Megumi's outfit was still a bit damp so she wore her other clothes over it to try to keep herself warm. It didn't work as well as she thought. She rubbed her hands on her upper arms trying to return warmth to them.
"Are you cold Megumi?"
"Yes." Megumi placed her hands near the fire.
"Here come sit with me. If we stay close to each other we can keep warm."
"Alright." Megumi got up and sat next to him. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. Megumi looked at him and smiled. Kousuke then leaned over and kissed her.
*~*~*~*
Toshio and Yaeko waited for hours for their daughter to return home. Toshio paced back and forth as Yaeko served rice into three bowls.
"She was supposed to be home three hours ago."
"Calm down, knowing her she will be home soon."
"But why didn't she tell us she wasn't going to come straight home? What if she went into the forest again? What if she was attacked by demons?"
Cries of a baby were heard from the next room. "Quiet down Toshio! You woke the baby. She is a good girl. I know she will come home."
Toshio stormed into the other room without saying another word to comfort his son.
*~*~*~*
Megumi pulled back form the kiss and looked into his eyes. "I think the fish are done." She pulled one out of the fire and held it in front of his face. He took it from her.
"Thanks." He picked up hers and held it in front of her face.
"Thank you." She grabbed it and smiled.
They began to eat. Then Kousuke turned his head toward Megumi. "Aren't you supposed to be home soon? Your parents would be worried."
Megumi thought to herself and freaked out. She quickly ate her fish, kissed Kousuke on the cheek, then ran home.