The sky is turning darker by each moment. We should have been at home at this time if it were not for me forgetting the fact that our food stock at home is dangerously low by now. It was Naruto that reminded me, which is quite refreshing, considering the fact that I was the one who usually takes care of our groceries. We were lucky that the market is still filled with vendors selling their wares.
"Can we get Instant Ramen?"
The words from my sister grab my attention, pulling me out from my current activity of inspecting the tomatoes piled up in front of me.
"Nee-san, you just ate ramen less than an hour ago. Now you want to eat it again?"
"Because they taste delicious! I wish we could eat them every other day!"
And there she goes, I swear she must be cursed by her name to end up having a big crave for that dish. I decide to ignore Naruto in her dreamland and return my gaze to the pile of tomatoes in front of me. It has been my mission to make Naruto at least interested in more healthy food. My success so far is quite satisfying. She now has another dish that she can enjoy without protesting to me before eating it. Red bean soup is what we have been eating for the last few months. Whether it was breakfast, lunch, or dinner, a pot full of red bean soup has graced our dining table for most of the time.
Which makes me quite sick, to be honest.
I don't know if it was my upbringing prior to this one that made me have quite a demanding appetite or something else. But this is for the better. Not only I can make her satisfied with the food we have, I can also save up some money from buying the same ingredient in bulk from the vendor. It's not like I am comfortable with having to rely on someone for our financial needs, even if it was from someone who genuinely cares about us.
"Just hurry up kid, I want to close the shop now."
The seller's voice reaches my ears when I am still looking at the wares being displayed. What he said is quite strange. I know for a fact that the market should have been open for at least another hour from now. I know that because I used to visit here to buy some milk at a later time than now.
"I thought this is not the time you usually close the shop?"
"Not for this time, son."
An old man came to us while carrying a huge wooden box. It was empty of anything inside of it. From his appearance I guess he is an older relative of the seller in front of me, his father if I may guess.
"Apparently there's a freak accident or something, the Shinobi were telling us to close the shop earlier for the day." said the older man while turning at us.
"Oh! Was it enemy spies entering the village? Or maybe an invasion from another village?"
The old man's explanation seems to pull Naruto from her lala land. I couldn't decide if it was adorable or disturbing that the thought of violence occurring in the village seems to pique her enthusiasm.
It might be just me overthinking it. She most likely just thinks that it would be cool to square up against an enemy shinobi and test her capability.
The thought of that makes my stomach upset. I blame this village for teaching children to be killers from an early age. The thought that someday my dear sister would stain her hands with blood for the sake of this village makes my head dizzy.
My sweet sister who has always been full of positivity. Who only wants to have the people in this village to acknowledge us as someone worth respect. The sister I had been growing up with for the last ten years. To think that despite all my persuasion she still aims to become a Hokage in the future, it honestly scares me.
What have I done to deserve this? Is this the punishment God gave me for what I have done?
It's so unfair, I have done nothing to warrant this! Can I really be judged for doing something like that? To make me born in this world where violence became a normal occurrence every single day? Where I could get trampled by those who are much more powerful than me, just because they can!?
I feel my heart rate getting higher. The beat in my chest is painfully loud in my ears. I can feel the tears flowing from both of my eyes pouring out. The dizziness I feel in my head seems to multiply by a few times.
Will this lead me to the same ending as my previous life?
"...a-kun! Ma-kun! MA-KUN!"
A slap on my cheek brings me back to the present. The first thing I noticed was my sister's worried face. Her normally cheerful face is now painted with a concerned expression. And I now realise the tears on my cheek, alongside the sting that is quite painful. Judging from her red palm, I can assume it was her that has slapped me.
"Ma-kun, are you okay?"
I wiped out the tears in my eyes before answering her question.
"Yeah, I am fine now, thank you nee-san."
Her expression shows that she doesn't believe me. I try to assure her by smiling at her. Seeing that she is not as worried by now, I deem it as a success.
"Are you really fine? Can you tell me what is bothering you?"
I held the cringe from showing on my face. Ignoring the fact that I can not tell her about how much the thought of her-no, us becoming killers for hire. I am not comfortable talking about it with other people, even if it is my sister.
"Yeah, of course! I was just thinking about our current funds."
Good, now she doesn't look like she would fuss me over. Instead, I can see she has become quite puzzled by my response.
"But I thought we were fine? Even if we spent all of our money we can just ask for more from Grandpa, right?"
That again, I blame that old man for spoiling Naruto and me in the past. Now she has a skewed view on money because of him. If I don't know better, I would accuse him of intentionally doing so in hope to entice my sister to become a Hokage in the future.
I decided to show my annoyance by putting my hand on top of her head, and I then gripped it hard.
"Awawawawaw! Stop it stupid Ma-kun!"
"This is your punishment for saying something dumb again nee-san."
I can only do so for a few seconds before my hand becomes sore from doing it. Say what you will about her, but her head is very hard. I think she would survive if there's an earthquake and our roof falls on top of her head.
Pulling my hand away from her, I returned my attention back to the tomatoes in front of me. Before I can pick the ones in my sight so that the shopkeeper can close the shop quickly. A cough caught my attention.
"Here, son. Bring them home and make sure to have plenty of rest."
A bunch of bags full of various vegetables are put on my hands. I trace whose hands it is and I find a smile from the old man. The younger man behind him just smiled and nodded his head.
"Just take it kid, consider it a bonus for always coming here to buy my wares."
I want to refuse the gifts, if only for my pride. But I decided to nod and take the gifts instead. After all, with this I can put the money to buy these things into our savings.
"Thank you, we appreciate it."
''No problem, son. Now off you go, I want to close the shop as quickly as possible."
I let out another nod to the old man and the shopkeeper. I turn to Naruto and give her one of the bags to carry. She receives it without protest, and proceeds to take a look at it.
"What are you doing?"
"I am checking if there's Instant Ramen inside."
'Of course there are none.'
I shake my head hearing her response. Taking one of her hands, I pull her along to walk with me. She seemed startled at first, but then wordlessly began to follow me.
"So, are there any of them?"
Naruto pouts and turns her face away. I guess that I was right. I never bought Instant ramen after all. All I bought from them have always been vegetables and fruits. There is no reason for them to put a bunch of Instant ramen inside.
Seeing her crestfallen expression, I decided to comfort her.
"Cheer up, nee-san. We still have that red bean soup left from lunch. I will heat it up for you when we go home if you want."
"Really? Can I have all of them?"
I only nod at her to confirm her wish. I think I still have some seaweed in the pantry. Onigiri for dinner sounds good enough for me, compared with the red bean soup that I am secretly quite fed up with.
"Yay!"
XXXXX
The way home is quiet. Compared with the previous nights, the amount of people wandering the streets are way less. It may have been caused by the incident mentioned by the old man before.
I decided to banish the thought from my head while still walking alongside my sister. She seems to be quite cheerful in her steps. She hums a melody that I find quite pleasant. Moments like this remind me that despite looking like a boy, with her short hair and her overall appearance looking like typical boys, she is still a little girl at heart. She has her own reason to choose looking like this.
It may be for her own comfort, or most likely related with her behaviour when she looks at the girls in our class. Whatever it is I will support her decision, after all isn't that a little brother's duty?
My musing broke when she stopped her humming. She ran ahead of me, which made me smile looking at it. Reaching the front door of our apartment she turned back to me.
"Ma-kun, hurry! The itch is getting worse!"
Her words reminded me of her complaints earlier. I quickly pull out a key from my pocket and turn the door open. The moment the door opened, she ran past me inside. I followed her with haste while carrying the grocery bags, including what she carried before she dropped it on the floor.
I make my way to the kitchen and put down the bags. Looking around I searched for a towel, which I found on top of a washing machine. On my way to the bathroom I heard her making a noise.
"Ma-kun! hurry!"
"I am coming, nee-san!"
I quicken my steps and proceed to enter the bathroom. I found her inside of the bathtub trying futilely to reach her back. I walk to her while putting the towel on the rack near the door. I grab the sponge from her hand and pull it away.
"Don't move too much nee-san."
"Hurry!"
I grab her shoulder with one hand, while the other one scrubs her back hard. The moment she feels the sponge harshly sliding on her back she squirm wildly. I couldn't stand my ground and instead got tossed in the bathtub.
*SPLASH*
"Ahahahahahaha!"
"Naruuuu!"
Now my clothes are soaked with bathtub water. And the culprit is laughing hysterically on the opposite end of the bathtub. I began to put all the pieces. She told me that her body was itching back when we were on our way back from Ichiraku. But despite that, she was never complaining about it again when I decided to stop by the market, until we were back on our way home that is.
"No one is safe from my prank, Menma! Not even you!"
Feeling my patience break, I decide to tackle her and begin to scrub her body with the soap without mercy.
"A-Ahahahahaha! I-I am sorry Ma-kun! I was just joking, please show mercy! Ahahahahaha!"
"I have no mercy left, nee-san. Not even for you."
"S-stop it! A-Ahahahahaha!"
That goes on until I feel completely satisfied.
XXX
"Haaaah, nothing can beat warm water in the cold of the night. Am I right, nee-san?"
"Ma-kun, you meanie~"
We decided to stay in the bathtub after all the shenanigan prior to this. I lay on my back against the bathtub. Naruto is doing the same on my side. The bathtub's size is quite big, which made it possible for us to fit comfortably inside of it. I was scrubbing my arms when my sister startled me by touching my hair.
"Uwaaa, your hair is so smooth Ma-kun. I now know why the girls like to touch it so much."
I continue scrubbing my arms with the sponge from before while smelling the scent of the soap in the water. After I was done, I turned to her and started to wash her this time.
"I can wash myself, Ma-kun. S-stop it!"
I ignore her protest and instead focus on what I am doing. She went quiet after the next few seconds. By the time I am satisfied, I turn my hands to her head, specifically her hair.
"Your hair is also smooth, nee-chan. I bet the other girls will love to touch it if they ever feel it for even once."
"Mmmmm they can't seem to stay as straight as yours, though. My hair always likes to spike up on its own."
She seems to be comfortable while I am massaging her head and washing it alongside the hair.
"Is it weird, Ma-kun? For me to not looks like the other girls, I don't know about flowers like most of them, when they talk about what dress they bought I can't find anything to enter into their talk, and when they fuss over Sasuke I can't see what they like about him. And also the fact that I..."
"Likes the girls?"
I cut into her frantic rambling while putting my chin on top of her head, with my arms circling around her body. She seems to stiffen and then shudders while leaning against me.
"...yes. Am I a freak like what those people called me?"
Her words are stabbing hard against my chest. I know that she has her own issue, but for it to affect her this much… I can't let her down like this.
"No! you are not a freak! You are a child that any parents would be proud to have! You are my sister who has proven how many times that you are a gift for this world! You are my sister and I would not let you think you are that low to earn 'Freak' as a name!"
I tighten my arms around her body. But it seems that she still has something disturbing her mind.
"B-but, we are different. Can't you see these on my cheeks!? They look like a fox's whiskers! What if I was really the fox that destroyed the village, the one who killed all of those people. The one who killed our-no, your parents!? only for me to turn into this mockery of a twin of yours!?"
I discard all words formed at the tip of my tongues. Instead I envelope her body on top of me. I can hear her sobbing on my shoulders. Even though I want to assure her, to comfort her at her moment of weakness in front of me, I can't. All the words I can think of can't do much. For I am not completely sure of them myself.
There are many mysteries surrounding our births. We were only told that our parents were killed on the day the fox was rampaging the village ten years ago. Their names, faces, jobs, we know nothing about them. And coupled with the fact that there are still some clear differences between us despite being twins, with her whiskers-like mark on her cheek is the biggest one among them. I can't count how many times the other kids called her the incarnation of the fox when we were still living in the orphanage prior ended up here.
Remembering our life so far makes me more determined to pursue this career to become a Shinobi alongside Naruto. I can not stand idly by waiting for fortune to come to us. In this bloody world, I need to grow to be powerful so that we would not be at the mercy of others. But despite saying that, I can't shake this uncomfortable feeling within my heart. Can I really do it? Me, who has proven himself to be such a coward before? What is the guarantee that I would not break beneath the pressure again?
I think about all of my dilemmas in my head, while my hands are still busy lightly stroking at my sister's back.
"Zzzzzz"
A soft snore on my shoulders pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked at my shoulder and found the person on top of it to be asleep. I guess she must be tired from all of this. To be fair the emotional outburst she just had is the biggest I had ever witnessed for the last few years. I can not Imagine all of the mental burdens she carries within herself all this time. Which makes me quite ashamed to call myself her little brother.
I proceed to drain the bathtub water and then grab the towels I previously brought inside the bathroom. Unfurling one of the towels, I lightly dry her body before putting the towel to cover her. After doing the same to myself, I grab her now toweled body and carry her bridal style.
I make sure to take my time and not to be in a hurry to bring her to the bed. The last thing I want is to wake her up from her sleep. Opening the door, I enter the room and proceed to put her down on the bed. I changed the towel for her favorite frog themed sleepwear. Doing it while making sure not to wake her up proves to be quite a challenge. After a few minutes I was done with her, which means it is my time now.
The breeze of the night strangely enough feels energizing to me. I always feel energized when it is night time. At first I found it strange for that to be the case. I have heard of such a few stories back when I was not here yet. My maid used to tell me a story of a man that turns into a wolf when it is in the full moon. But that isn't exactly the case for me. I only feel my stamina filled from the moon's light. I didn't feel any urges to turn into a wolf or anything like that. Besides, the thought of turning into a wolf feels wrong to me, as if it feels disgusting just to think about.
Shaking my head, I join Naruto on top of the bed. I pull the blankets on top of our body until I deem it comfortable enough. I snuggle closer to my sister and hug her tightly. It has always been a pleasure of mine to get as close as possible with her when it is time for us to sleep. I always found her presence to be warm, and it is the only way I found to make all the energy from the moon disappear so that I can sleep normally.
Thinking about her makes me promise to myself. I will always be by her side. Through sickness and health, for better or worse, till you can proudly stand without fear of falling down, I pledge myself to you, dear sister of mine.
And with a last kiss on top of her head, I let myself join her in the dreamland.
