The Walk
by baru-chan

Summary: The Fujita brothers encounter a strange group of people.


"May I take a walk?"

"Hm, yes," Mother said distractedly, focused on clearing the dishes. He glanced at Father; Father nodded without looking up from the newspaper.

"Can I go too?" Tsuyoshi and Tatsuo piped up at the same time. He scowled at them; Tsuyoshi merely grinned at him impertinently. Brat.

"Mm," Mother murmurred before heading towards the kitchen.

"You three." Father's voice made all three brothers pause. "Be back in an hour."

"Yes, Father," Tsutomu called out before heading towards the engawa. He quickly slipped on his sandals before heading towards the gate. "Well, then. Let's go."

"Oi! Wait up!" said Tsuyoshi, awkwardly alternating between jogging and trying to put on his sandals.

"Aw, Yoshi-nii, you're so slow!" Tatsuo laughingly called out as he skipped outside the gate.

"Feh! C'mere, you brat!" Tsuyoshi yelled, finally able to wear his sandals properly. Tatsuo promptly shrieked and tried to hide behind his other brother.

Tsutomu dodged Tatsuo and swatted Tsuyoshi on the head. "Will you two stop acting like children?" he asked, irritated.

"Aniki!" Tsuyoshi yelped.

"But, Tsu-nii, we are children!" Tatsuo peered up at his brother owlishly, ignoring Tsuyoshi.

"Why did I get stuck with you idiots?" Tsutomu muttered, smacking his forehead in disgust. He started walking away from their house.

"Eh? What was that?" said Tsuyoshi indignantly, still rubbing the spot where Tsutomu hit him. His brother's swat had hurt. Nonetheless, he started to follow Tsutomu.

Tsutomu rolled his eyes. "Nothing," he sighed. "Let's go before our hour's up."

"Okay!" Tatsuo's eyes lit up. "Let's go to Fukuzawa-san's stall! I want some sweets!"

"Did you bring any money?"

Tatsuo's good mood deflated. "Well...no," he said, looking at his older brothers expectantly.

Tsuyoshi shook his head adamantly. "No way! I bought you sweets last time!"

"Tsu-niiiiiii," Tatsuo whined, looking at his eldest brother pleadingly.

"No."

"Awwww, why not?"

"Because."

"'Because' what?"

"Just because."

"What do you mean, 'just because'?"

"Just because." Did Tatsuo imagine it, or was there annoyance in Tsutomu's voice? Maybe with a bit more whining and...

"Why not? I wanna eat sweets! Sweets, sweets, sweets, SWEETS!"

"No." There was definitely annoyance there. Now, just a bit more...

"Why not? Whywhywhywhywhywhy - URK! Tsuyoshi!" Tatsuo wailed. He completely forgot about his other brother! "Leggo!"

"If you don't shut your trap, I'm gonna do it for ya!" Tsuyoshi snarled before letting up his grip on the scruff of Tatsuo's neck.

"I am surrounded by idiots," Tsutomu sighed before he was ran into by a blur of yellow and green.

"Eh!" Tsuyoshi and Tatsuo exclaimed at the same time.

Tsutomu tumbled to the ground. "Hey! Watch where you're going, you twerp!" Tsutomu snarled as he pushed a boy away from him.

"Watch where I'm going? Why won't you keep your eyes on the road so that you wouldn't trip on other people, you creepy-eyed freak!" the boy yelled back.

"Maybe if you weren't so scrawny, twerp, I wouldn't have missed you," snorted Tsutomu, dusting himself off as he stood up. He assessed the boy who ran into him. The brat had spiky hair and was wearing a worn yellow gi and green hakama; he looked around Tsuyoshi's age.

"Maybe if you weren't such a bumbling oaf, I wouldn't have run into ya!" the boy retorted.

"Hmph." Tsutomu rolled his eyes. No, he wouldn't respond to whatever the spiky-haired brat threw at him; he wouldn't sink to the street-rat's level. He started to saunter off.

The other Fujita brothers looked at the boy curiously for a moment before following Tsutomu.

"Hey! Where d'ya think you're goin'?" The twerp actually had the nerve to follow them! The brat was either incredibly stupid, or he didn't have anything else to do tonight. Tsutomu thoughts inclined towards the former.

"Away from you."

"Nobody turns his back to Myoujin Yahiko! No-one!"

"Well, maybe except me," Tsutomu drawled, unimpressed. "And my brothers," he added as an afterthought. This kid was delusional. There was no question about it.

"Why, you-"

"YAHIKO!" thundered a voice that bespoke of doom. The twerp twiched nervously.

"Ne, Yahiko-chan, what d'ya think you're doin', picking fights like that, huh?" asked a tall, white-clad man with spiky brown hair and a red bandana on his forehead. Tsuyoshi was strongly reminded of a rooster.

"DON'T CALL ME CHAN!" This Yahiko actually jumped at the man and gnawed at his hair! Tsutomu recoiled in disgust.

Tsutomu was still staring at the scene before a voice interrupted his thoughts. "Good evening; I'm Kamiya Kaoru. I'm sorry if Yahiko bothered you," said a young woman. She bowed apologetically. "He tends to be a bit too proud of himself sometimes."

"Er." Tsutomu blinked. He wasn't used to talking to girls his age, much less girls older than him! "Well, it's no bother," he muttered, looking away. He tried to pretend that he wasn't blushing. "He acts just like my brother Tsuyoshi anyway," Tsutomu added.

"Eh!" squawked Tsuyoshi. "I don't act like that twerp!" He started to jump his older brother before Tatsuo stopped him.

"Ne, stop it, Yoshi-nii! We need to get back home anyways! Right, Tsu-nii?" Tatsuo shot a pleading glance at Tsutomu.

"Yeah, right," Tsutomu muttered, looking down. "Well, keep safe then," he said to Kamiya-san's shoulder before walking past her.

"Keep safe!" she called out to the Fujita brothers before turning to Yahiko.

"Good night!" Tatsuo chirped back and sniggered at the sight of the young woman berating the wayward boy.

"What're you sniggering for?" asked Tsuyoshi annoyedly.

"Just look!"

Tsutomu glanced back and noticed a red-haired man watching him and his brothers. Strange that he didn't notice the man at first; the red hair ought to make the man stand out, at least.

Oh well. They probably wouldn't see those people again, anyway. So why bother wondering about them?

The brothers walked on silently, not uttering a word for a few blocks before the silence was broken by Tatsuo.

"Those people are strange."

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Tsutomu murmurred, flicking off dirt from his gi absent-mindedly.

"Well, Kamiya-san was wearing a gi and hakama. Then the red-haired man that was with them-"

"Red-haired man? What red-haired man?" Tsuyoshi demanded.

"Tsuyoshi, your powers of observation are astounding; a six-year-old's surpasses them."

"Shut up."

"Anyway!" Tatsuo tugged at both his brothers' gi to get their attention. "The red-haired man had a sword with him. Father said that that was illegal! And that boy was strange too, because he was yelling at Tsu-nii one moment and then chewing at that rooster-head's hair the next!"

"You know, Tatsuo, you're getting too smart for a six-year-old," Tsuyoshi drawled.

"Really?"

"Uh-huh! And do you know what they do to geniuses like you?" Tatsuo was hanging on to every word he was saying. "They send them off to America!"

"Eh? Me, go to America? But...but...I'm too young to go away from home!" Tatsuo wailed.

"Tatsuo, stop wailing. You're not going to be carted off to another country. Tsuyoshi, just shut up," said Tsutomu irritatedly.

The Fujita brothers were silent then, the three of them trudging off to the river.

Tatsuo promptly laid down on the ground once they reached their usual spot on the riverside. His brothers followed him at a more sedate pace.

They lay or sat in silence for a while before Tsuyoshi smirked. "Ne, aniki."

"What?"

"Why were you blushing when Kamiya-san talked to you?"

Tsutomu blinked. "Me, blush?" He snorted. "I did no such thing!"

"Sure, sure, whatever you say, brother." Tsuyoshi's smirk grew wider. "But I still saw you blush."

"Did not."

"Did too. And nothing you say will change that fact."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

Tatsuo sat up and yelled at the top of his lungs: "TSU-NII HAS A CRRUUUUUSSSSHH!" He giggled loudly.

Tsutomu bonked him on the head. "Shut up!"

"TSU-NII IS IN LOOOOOOVVVEE!"

"HEY, I said, SHUT UP!"

"Tatsuo, you better hide before aniki decides to skin you alive," advised Tsuyoshi.

Tatsuo's gales of laughter was his only reply before his youngest brother started scampering home.



Glossary:

aniki - older brother
engawa - porch
-nii - short for onii-san, which is another word for older brother