So, people are Upset about what they're meant to be upset about, which is exciting. I'm glad people have opinions on my fic so far as well, actually! Thanks, everyone who PMed me and reviewed about how to get to the anime, though I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to have the patience for watching the anime and then working on this fic. Because I'm inevitably just going to be using my phone to do both which would be tiring. We'll see, though.
In this chapter and in the last, you might have noticed that I switch how I refer to Nana, between "her Mama" and "Nana", and this is meant to indicate a perspective focus, as well as between "Nami" and "her daughter" and similar instances.
As a tiny side note, I started writing this fic with a mental image for Tsunami in mind, and that's the image of Red Riding Hood's alternative art from SINoALICE. She's not going to just be a carbon-copy of Tsuna but as a girl, I have an idea of how I'm describing her or will describe her. Of course, that doesn't really matter because mental imaging but I wanted to say something.
Later in this chapter, I introduce OCs. They're going to be very obvious, but I don't want to spoil anything. I was really hesitant about adding them at all, but they're necessary for Nana's character development and kind of Nami's own. That said, I took a wild swing at names and might have accidentally copied them from some other fic but I genuinely can't think of anything else, and I'm fairly certain it's only the name that I snagged? The characters themselves are meant to be my own ideas of them.
I've got a vague understanding of japanese culture and honorifics, and if anyone reading this sees me making mistakes, please let me know? Especially with the honorifics, as I don't want to be stupid or repetative with them, but I'm trying to be at least semi-realistic with this...
Heads up, all the "her mama" stuff will seem repetitive. It's meant to. Nami is very possessive of Nana now, because she's basically 6 with no socialization outside of her mom, with a host of mental illnesses besides. That will clear up with time but for now please bear with it.
A small, waif-like body sits curled up at the base of a tree near the edge of a park. There are children some distance away, playing games, and amber eyes watch them dully through an absolute mess of light brown colored hair that obscures most of her face. The girl is still, breathing quietly as she observed the children who appear to be her age. There doesn't appear to be more than ten children, but they are all clustering together, and the group is loud enough to hold at least triple the amount it does.
She hasn't moved in the last half hour, watching and waiting for… something. She isn't sure what, exactly, she is waiting for, but she hadn't even known she was waiting until she asked herself what she was doing, still sitting at the park, and discovered she actually had a purpose to her presence. She kind of wants to go and play with the other kids, but cannot find the motivation to do so. Ever since her abrupt return to awareness around a year ago, she had trouble working up enough emotional investment to do anything beyond breathe. Everything had become a chore, and she would spend hours sprawled out on her bedroom floor, staring at her ceiling unblinkingly if she was not given a task or occupied with something.
She knows her Mama is worried about her, but ever since that visit from the man she's supposed to call "Papa", everything has been awful. It was incredibly similar to how that girl had been, before, when she had been so depressed that she dissociated for hours or days at a time. She knows, logically, that she needs to make a schedule and follow it strictly. To set goals and have a reward/punishment system for succeeding and failing in everyday tasks so that she will accomplish them. But it all just seems incredibly pointless whenever she tries to do so, and she becomes tired and helplessly angry at herself, a gaping hole in her chest throbbing distantly when she tries to do anything. She is treading dangerous ground, she knows, because the entire reason she had died was because she could no longer see the purpose of living-
She's not going to think about that. She's Sawada Tsunami, not whoever she'd been before, she just needs to straighten up her emotions and figure out what she's going to do- Amber eyes narrow slightly, the previously half-lidded eyes getting even thinner as the only sign of the flare of anger that she had just experienced. She continues to watch the children playing games like tag and kick-the-can, switching the games and melting them together in half baked attempts to make their play more exciting, and she feels a hint of longing that she squashes ruthlessly.
Kids are naive and fleeting, thoughtlessly and unknowingly cruel and not worth her time. Besides, the thought of getting up and going over there to play such lively games fills her with dread- her coordination hasn't ever really been good, and it's worse lately, so going to play such lively and fun games would probably only get her to hurt herself, and then get her bullied.
A boy enters the park, unaccompanied by an adult. He looks to be around her age, but tall, and holding a sports equipment bag. He looks fairly reluctant to be at the park in the first place, looking haggard and sad. Watching him visibly hesitate at the sight of the other children, who hadn't noticed his arrival, she blinks when he sees her and makes his way over to her.
"Hi there," he says in a quietly cheerful manner. She stares at him quietly, not bothering to move her head to look up at him and only doing to with her eyes. He is still sad and haggard, holding his sports bag with a white knuckled grip, but he is trying to be happy and excitable despite his distress. He does not seem bothered by her silence. "Why are you sitting all alone?"
She still does not answer and he finally seems to notice her asocial behavior, floundering slightly. He chuckles a little helplessly before reaching his freehand up to press his palm against the back of his neck, smiling in a way that seems painful.
"I'm Yamamoto Takeshi, what's your name?"
"Sawada Tsunami," she offers after a second or two of deliberation, her voice monotone despite its natural bright childishness. The name is hers, now, not that she really feels any true connection to it, but she's going to fix that. She's Sawada Tsunami.
"Can I call you Tsuna-chan?" He asks, though he doesn't sound as though he expects to be denied, and his doing so is only a formality.
"No, I'm Nami-chan," she does not make a fuss about the familiarity that a nickname implies, though she does correct that assumption that she will go along with being called Tsuna. Because she won't. "Takeshi-kun," she tacks on when he just continues to watch her expectantly.
He seems to momentarily shut down, his face still locked in place but the light behind his eyes dying out, and she can recognize that expression. That is the expression of someone who expects to be held to a social standard and doesn't quite know what to do about it. Takeshi is probably not really up to socialization today, but is aware enough to know that it's expected of him.
"You can just sit down, if you want," she offers after several seconds pass where that painful expression remains plastered to his frozen face. "And stop smiling, it looks painful, and you shouldn't hurt yourself for other people's benefit." That looks like it went over his head, but the smile drops and he drops his bag, sitting down next to her and leaning against the tree, his legs splayed out in front of him, in contrast to hers that curl close to her chest.
She doesn't say anything, content to sit in silence, feeling happier that she is not alone despite not actually socializing. The boy eventually scoots closer to her, peering at her curiously.
"Why are you sitting alone?" He repeats his earlier question. She does not answer him, and he returns to silence, turning his attention to the other kids. They remain, sitting close and quiet, until the sun starts to set, and she stands slowly, making sure not to overbalance or get too loose-limbed. Takeshi scrambles to his feet next to her, staring at her as though wounded, which she doesn't understand. The children have long since gone home, and it is time for them to do the same.
"I'm going home now," she says after a moment, feeling as though she can't leave yet.
"...Okay," Takeshi agrees after a second, continuing to stare.
"... See you tomorrow?" She eventually tacks on. His face relaxes slightly and his face, previously blank, brightens into a small but sincere smile.
"Sure!" He cheers, and she turns to leave. She doesn't look back, but he yells goodbye when she is at the street and out of the corner of her eye when she turns she can see that he is staring after her.
They meet up at the park several more times, and she gets comfortable in his presence. She still does not talk all that much, as she usually isn't sure what she would talk about, but she does not appear to ignore him so much. He relaxes around her as well, no longer attempting to adhere to social etiquette around her when it is obvious that she does not expect it from him, which he seems to appreciate.
He eventually starts to chatter at her, talking incessantly about his life, and about observations he makes on a daily basis about other children, which are usually startlingly logical and accurate. He apparently goes to something like a daycare/preschool in the mornings until around noon, after which he comes to the park. He does not say as much explicitly, but he hints that when she met him, his father had forced him to go to the park. He does not mention his mother and she does not ask.
"Why do you always sit by yourself?" He asks eventually, on one of more quiet days. She shrugs.
"I don't want to play," she says after a minute. "And they don't want to sit with me."
Watching from where she's sitting at the tree in the park, waiting for Takeshi, Nami feels like everything inside of her is cold and heavy, the bones in her fingers and sternum starting to ache with a cold that doesn't make sense as she watches her friend arrive.
Takeshi is snagged by the wrist by one of the children always at the park, and she can distantly hear the children telling him to stay away from "that freaky girl", and watches as he is pulled along unresistingly towards the mass of children. He glances back to her, but he doesn't wave or call out to her, doesn't resist.
Watching his back as he begins to play some sort of kick-the-can and tag hybrid game, Nami kind of wants to cry, feeling terribly robbed, abandoned and cold.
I see. It doesn't really surprise her, but she'd been allowing herself to hope that she could maybe have a friend. She should have known better.
Instead of remaining in place like she ought to, Nami pushes herself into a stand slowly, one hand braced against the tree, and she turns on heel, leaving behind the little lunch box she'd brought with her on the ground as she walks out of the park by herself, head hanging low and eyes nearly completely closed with her exhaustion and sadness.
When she gets home, heading inside, she can hear her Mama somewhere in the house, talking to someone. She can't hear anyone replying, so Nami assumes that her Mama is on the phone, and so she makes her way through the house in her direction.
Before, that girl she'd used to be hadn't had good parents. There'd been a dead father and an abusive mother and a distant, angry sister. Once she'd woken up as Tsunami, Nami hadn't known what she was supposed to do with Sawada Nana, a devoted mother overflowing with love, and Nana had seemed to know that something was wrong with her. She'd been very understanding as Nami had struggled through waking up with the memories of some strange girl, feeling like something irreplaceable had been taken from her, and subconsciously that something terrible had happened.
Sometimes she would have nightmares about whatever had happened, but when she woke up, she could never remember it. Only incomprehensible images of fire, her father and a hand approaching her face. She didn't know what her mind was trying to tell her, but when she woke up, the terror was undeniable.
The nightmares had actually helped her bond with Nana- her Mama. With her fear and confusion, Nana had always been willing to humor her when she'd run to places to try and feel safe, or when Nami had been unable to resist the urge to cling onto her mother in this life.
Sawada Nana was a very loving woman, and an excellent mother. She also gave very good hugs.
Nami had warmed up to the woman incredibly quickly, adopting her in a sense, and she'd been a pillar of support ever since.
"Mama? Tadaima," Nami calls out as she enters the kitchen, finding her Mama sitting at the dining room table, talking on a mobile phone and writing in a notebook with a black pen with a serious and thoughtful expression. Nana looks up to meet Nami's eyes with her own, giving her daughter a worried look but a loving smile.
"I'll call you back," Nana murmured into the phone before hanging up, closing her notebook and then pushing her chair back, turning her body to face her daughter. "Okaeri, Nami-chan. You're home early, did something happen?"
Nami trots closer to her Mama, approaching and extending her hands out for her Mama. Nana grabs them obligingly in her own gently, waiting for Nami to explain.
"Takeshi made other friends," Nami admits after awhile of looking at their intertwined hands, speaking softly. Somewhere in her heart, she wants to cry, but she can't bring herself to make the effort to get that upset at the moment. "He didn't want to sit with me today."
"And you didn't want to join in on the other kids' games?"
"No," she replies, feeling helpless. "I can't play with them." Her Mama doesn't push her to explain her firm but vague denial, instead squeezing her hands a little more and giving Nami a soft look.
"You didn't think that he would go to sit with you after he'd played?" Her Mama presses gently.
"... I don't know, but… He was my friend," she emphasizes, unable to properly explain why his going off with the other children without even actually greeting her had hurt so badly. Because it did- it really did hurt that he'd gone away from her without any hesitation. She feels abandoned, which isn't rational at all, and which she can't explain. Because she hadn't even known Takeshi for all that long.
"Ah, Nami-chan," Nana leans down a little to better look her daughter in the eyes. "Do you want a hug, musume?" Nami hesitates, feeling a little unsure about that much contact right now, but as Nana continues to calmly watch her, not focusing on her eyes but only her face, not expectant or pressuring, Nami feels a little weakness in her chest and nods, eyes stinging as she shuffles forward and lifts her hands, still within her Mama's own, to go near her shoulders before wiggling her hands free and wrapping her arms around her Mama's waist.
Her Mama's arms wrap around her torso solidly, spreading warmth through the cold that's constantly in her chest and bones, making her feel immediately lethargic and content as Nana's nose brushes against her temple and the corner of her eye, her torso bowing over so she can wrap more fully around her daughter.
"Thank you, Mama," Nami mumbles into her mother's stomach, feeling helplessly grateful, and her Mama hums a little before Nami feels a soft smile against the side of her face.
"I don't mind, Nami-chan," her Mama's voice is low and soft, and Nami's eyes prickle with tears she only barely stops by closing her eyes. "Love you, musume." Nami can't bring herself to reply, but she wraps her arms around the woman a little tighter before wiggling away, eyes fluttering a little as she pushes back the tears behind her eyes that she's not going to allow escape. Looking up at her Mama and then turns her attention to the chair next to her Mama, climbing up (with a little help from the woman) before leaning against the table, looking curiously at the closed notebooks on the table.
"What's this?" She questions, patting at the notebook that her Mama hurriedly slides away from her, along with the strange mobile phone Nami doesn't actually remember seeing before in the house anywhere.
"Mama's just doing some research with her friends," Nana explains to her daughter carefully. "Something happened, and I'm looking into it as best as I can."
"Something?" Nami asks carefully. Her mother looks at her carefully for awhile, quietly, and Nami goes completely still, feeling the weight of tension in the air that she doesn't completely understand, but she knows that this is important.
Just like she used to know things, before everything went cold and strange, and she woke up with a mind she only partly understood.
"Nami-chan," her mother finally answers, tucking her chair back close to the table, pulling everything in front of her again and looking at Nami with the most serious gaze that she's seen on her mother in her life. "This," she taps the notebook, carefully, "is very important, and I can't tell you about it right now, okay? Mama doesn't even want to know about this right now."
"... If you're sure, Mama," Nami offers a hesitant agreement, staring into the woman's brown eyes. "I won't mess with it, but you gotta tell me when I'm bigger, okay?"
"I can do that, musume," her Mama agrees with something like relief spreading over her face, a smile appearing, as her shoulders relax, not that Nami'd noticed them tensing up, and the tension fades from the air.
Nana reaches out a hand towards her daughter and Nami places her palm in it, allowing her Mama to hold her hand in her own before Nana looks up from her, eyes flicking to the clock kept above the kitchen door.
"It's just about lunch time, Nami-chan. Do you want to help me make it, after I put this away?" She taps the notebook again and offers her daughter a curious look.
"Yes!" Nami agrees easily, bouncing just slightly in place in her chair. Her Mama gives her a smile and stands, keeping hold of Nami's hand as she helps her daughter down before releasing her, collecting her things from the table and then leaving the room, calling a be right back, musume, over a shoulder before Nami hears the woman going upstairs, probably to her room.
Nami sits at her assigned table in the Namimori Elementary first grade class, staring uneasily around at the other kids in the room. They're meant to be doing introductions, and she's going to be coming up soon, but she doesn't want to do it. The idea is so embarrassing!
Not, really, that she's going to have a choice.
She's already seen two girls burst into embarrassed tears and one boy yell his own name furiously before sitting on the floor rather than back in his chair. She's not going to be so dramatic, though, if she can help it.
Finally, her teacher gestures to her, and Nami stands hesitantly.
"I- My name's Sawada Nami, and this is my first time in school. I like the color purple and my favorite food is Yakiniku," Nami explains before dropping back down into her seat, hunching over until her chin is almost touching the false wood of the table. Her face feels like it's on fire, and it's incredibly dumb of her to be so embarassed over something to minor. Her teacher smiles indulgently at her, and making a motion like she's supposed to stand back up. What? No-
"And what do you want to be when you grow up?" Her teacher prompts when Nami doesn't move at all, a few of the children in the room giggling at her but the rest ignoring her, talking to each other or fiddling around with their surroundings.
"Happy?" Nami offers uncertainly, having never thought of that before. Her teacher's smile twitches a little, like Nami had answered wrong, before she gestures at the next child, who is sitting somewhere to her left. Nami frowns, hunching down a little more, and her eyes flick to the side, catching sight of something that makes her stomach turn.
There's Takeshi- she hadn't noticed him being in her class before. He isn't looking at her, and he's surrounded by at least six other children, his face creased into a sickeningly wide smile. His eyes look a little glassy, like her Mama's do sometimes, and that's worrying, but he'd decided that he valued her less than the other kids.
He didn't want to be with her anymore. She won't bother him.
"'M Yamamoto Takeshi, I like baseball, milk, sushi and watching my Dad training in the dojo! When I grow older, I want to be a professional baseball player!" Takeshi says in a loud voice that Nami guesses is probably meant to sound happy but only sounds loud. Nami continues to watch him as other children make their own introductions, and eventually he looks at her. His eyes are blank and calculating, Nami sees no recognition in them at all.
Friends, huh? Nami is torn between laughing and crying, but she doesn't do either, lifting her hands and wrapping her arms around the lower portion of her face from where it's resting on the table, amber eyes continuing to watch the boy she'd been calling friend and the rest of the classroom.
"Nami-chan, we're going to be going to see one of Mama's friends today, alright?" Her Mama asks as she picks out Nami's clothes for this apparent trip. Her Mama thoughtfully avoids picking out a skirt or a dress from the little used back corner of the closet, as Nami'd been obvious in her distaste for them, and she instead pulls out a pair of black pants and a pretty, long sleeved t-shirt with a reddish-orangish color fade pattern that's almost like fire or a flower.
"One of Mama's friends?"
"Yes, her name is Hibari Yun. I haven't talked to her in a long time, since before you were born, actually, but I have to go and talk to her today. I don't know how long we will talk, or if she'll be able to answer as many of my questions as I'd like, so I'm going to take you with me there instead of just leaving you home alone, okay?"
"Okay," Nami nods, allowing her Mama to fuss a little with her shirt hem before straightening up, holding out a hand towards Nami. Nami eyes it uncertainly for a second before taking it. There's no crawling feeling over her skin at the contact, so she tightens her fingers just a little before walking with her Mama out of her room and downstairs.
Nana releases Nami to grab her bag, filled with her notebook, a blank notebook, some pens, her mobile and her keys, as well as her wallet and a few things she'd found in the back of her closet that she's sure belong to Iemitsu. Glancing over as she pops the strap of the bag on her shoulder, Nana meets her daughters eyes with her own and smiles, walking back over to gesture her daughter to go outside.
Nami obliges and her Mama follows her closely behind, locking the door behind them and then offering her hand for Nami again. She accepts and they begin to walk from the house and then down the road.
"How far is it?"
"It's a little distance," her Mama admits, "maybe fifteen minutes," she continues after a moment of Nami's silent staring. Nami looks back ahead, eyes straying downwards to make sure there's nothing in her path to make her trip too badly, silently admitting to herself that without something to constantly keep track of the passage of time, that quantifier is meaningless to her.
As they make their way across town, Nami makes a point to look around and study everything as they pass, her Mama's mood notably sombre in a way that Nami doesn't quite want to break into. Her Mama's mood has been very serious lately, and she's been very thoughtful about whatever is in that notebook of hers, not that Nami's going to ask about it. She's promised to stay out of it until her Mama made the decision to tell her.
She kind of regrets that promise, as she's endlessly curious, but she did and she's not going to break her word.
She just hopes that this Hibari Yun will help clear up some of the things upsetting her Mama, if she's such a friend that her Mama thinks she might be able to help her.
Eventually they make it to the Hibari household, and Nami stares at it with fascination. She can recognize it as a very traditional type of household, from what she can see over the fence and gate, the kind of traditional that her Mama often gazes at with longing. Blinking at the heavy-duty looking gate, Nami wonders just how rich this friend of her Mama's is.
Her Mama rings the bell on the gate, and Nami wiggles her hand out of her Mama's, crouching down on the ground to peer through the gaps in the gate, very curious, until she hears the doorbell make a static-crackle noise, making it an intercom instead of a doorbell.
"Who is it?"
"Sawada Nana," Her Mama pipes into the air in reply to the strange voice, her voice seeming strange. "Hibari Yun told me I could come today. I'm also with my daughter."
"One moment."
Almost as soon as the static dies, there's a click at the gate, and it opens, revealing a woman dressed in a plain yukata, her hair piled up into a bun and a blank expression, an apron tied around over her obi. Her entire existence seems monochrome, and Nami feels her eyes involuntarily widen as she hops to her feet and then skitters to stand behind her Mama's legs.
"Follow me please," the woman bows, not the deepest but very low indeed, and Nami follows behind her Mama as she thanks the lady and they go inside, the gate swinging closed behind them as soon as they're clear of it. When they get to the open area of the genkan, the woman slides off her sandals with grace and then waits patiently as her Mama peels her feet out of her flats and then helps Nami maintain her balance as she gets out of her sneakers by crouching and allowing Nami to rest a hand on her shoulder.
When they're both shoe free, the maid gestures for them to take a pair of house slippers and they do so, though Nami's are at least two sizes too large for her, and then they're moving through the house again, through shoji doors and over tatami, and at one point, Nami catches a glimpse of what looked like a garden that's probably in the center of the house. She's endlessly curious about that, too, but stays with her Mama, who is looking around with something wistful on her face.
"Mama?" Nami questions hesitantly in the quiet of the house. The woman ahead of them twitches but doesn't turn around, and her Mama looks down at her with a curious expression, though her steps don't falter in the least. "Are you okay?" Her Mama makes a soft oh sound, and then she smiles, though it seems kind of sad to Nami.
"I'm okay, Nami-chan. Just… thinking," her Mama tries to reassure. Nami continues to watch her face for awhile before reaching out and grabbing one of her hands in both of her own, looking back ahead with a stern face.
"Well, I'm here," she says in a serious voice as they continue to walk. Her Mama's steps falter before the hand in her own squeezes lightly and her Mama walks on. Nami risks a glance up to see a softer expression on her Mama's face as she looks ahead, no longer so sad or thoughtful. She feels a tiny bubble of accomplishment that she was able to help this woman who's so quickly become her ankle in this life, and resolves to find ways to get more of that feeling as they finally approach a set of shoji doors that seem to be the end of the line for their house walk.
"Hibari-sama, your guests," the woman calls, opening the door and bowing as she does so before stepping aside to allow the two Sawadas into the room. Nami trails just behind her Mama, releasing the hand that she'd been holding onto, and looks around the room, though her eyes fall onto the woman sitting across from the door at the single table before anything else.
She's dressed in a deep red and lighter red patterned kimono and matching obi, looking very elaborate and beautiful despite that the kimono is most of all of her ornamentation. Her complexion is smooth and nice, her eyes sharp and grey, her hair hanging to her mid-shoulders in one straight black wave. In front of her is a table, as well as two seating pillows across from her. On the table is a tea tray, with a nice looking pot, some matching cups and a small plate of what Nami guesses to be senbei.
"Konnichiwa, Nana-chan," the beautiful woman greets as Nami stares out of the open back shoji doors that reveal the engawa patio and, beyond that, a very lovely looking garden. Nami can see sakura trees and bushes, as well as a stone path and very distantly she thinks she might be able to hear water, as well as birds.
"Konnichiwa, Yun-chan," Nana greets as the woman stands up and they approach each other to hug, Nami listening to the shoji close behind them finally as she remains behind, not comfortable following her Mama into such a physical reunion.
"It's been a long time since I last saw you, hasn't it? At your wedding?" Yun asks in a pleasant tone as Nana gestures for Nami to approach the table, all three of them sitting down. Yun takes cups and places them before each of them, taking the faintly steaming tea pot in hand and very carefully pouring tea first for her Mama, then Nami and then herself.
"Yes, it has," her Mama agrees easily, not picking up her tea as she watches Hibari Yun also not pick up her tea. Nami twitches uneasily as the fruity scent of the tea reaches her nose- she wants to drink some, it smells like it'd be tasty, but she's never had fancy tea like this before, and she's never been a guest in anyone else's house before like this, either. She doesn't know the rules, so she's just going to take cues from her Mama until she's told otherwise.
"Is this your daughter?" Yun's eyes flick over to study Nami's face, and would have probably met her eyes if Nami hadn't purposely avoided having such a thing happen by looking through the open doors at the back of the room.
"Yes, this is Sawada Tsunami-chan."
"Hajimemaishite, Hibari…" Nami trails off, uncertain about what honorific she's supposed to be using. Looking over at her Mama, she receives a smile and a mouthing of her Mama's recommended honorific. "-baa."
Yun's light colored lips pull into a delighted, sly smile, and her eyes crinkle up in the corners, one of her hands lifting to cover the baring of her teeth behind one kimono sleeve. Her eyes, when Nami meets them, also seem very delighted, amused and just a little cold instead of the cold menacing amusement she'd half expected to see in them.
"You can call me Yun-baa-san, if you must call me a baa-san at all, Tsunami-chan," she says in a light voice.
"Well, Yun-chan, I can't exactly let her call you -nee, can I? After all, you are older than me," her Mama teases in a voice Nami's never heard from her before, and Nami feels a little happy spark in her chest at seeing her Mama so happy. Yun-baa's sudden and probably unintentional cackling bursts into the air, her other hand lifting to also cover her mouth, one of her sleeves just barely avoiding landing in the tea she'd poured herself.
Nami feels her own lips curl up of their own volition as her Mama also joins in on the laughter, and she hunches her shoulders slightly, tucking her lips against her shoulder closest to her Mama to hide the expression.
When the women calm down in their laughter, Yun-baa looks over at Nami-chan again, giving her a seemingly genuine smile as she lowers her hands down into her lap.
"Tsunami-chan, your mother and I need to have a grown-up talk, will you go out into the garden while we do so?" Nami's head swings around to look at her Mama and she receives a nod and an encouraging smile, though her Mama's eyes have gotten more serious over the last few seconds at the thought of the upcoming conversation. Nami nods in response, standing up and carefully making sure she isn't going to face plant into the table as one of her feet catches on the pant leg of the opposite leg, and her Mama's hand lands on her ribs to help her stabilize before swiftly releasing her. The crawling feeling prompted by the unexpected contact is swift in appearance and retreat, and Nami manages to not flinch at it, standing in place for a moment, hesitating before looking over at Yun-baa.
"Do you want me to close the engawa doors when I go?"
"Don't worry about that, Tsunami-chan. When you get into the garden, though, if you see-" Yun-baa trails into silence before her lips curl into another smile, this one more sneaky than amused. "Nevermind. Just be careful in the garden, Tsunami-chan."
Nami nods and leaves the room, stepping out onto the engawa. One lady, dressed similarly to the one who'd greeted them at the gate, circles around from where she'd been standing elsewhere on the engawa. She glances into the room, receives some sort of signal, and then closes the shoji doors with a low bow and a murmured assent.
The lady starts to leave, but Nami panics.
"A-Ah, excuse me?!" Nami yelps, one hand lifting as though she's going to grab onto the back of the lady's yukata. The woman turns with a mild look on her face, blandly expectant. "H-how do I get in-into the garden? Yun-baa-san said I could go there," Nami asks, voice trailing lower and lower in volume as the woman continues to stare at her. After a minute of Nami clutching onto the hem of her shirt, staring at the ground, the woman's hand twitches and her feet shift before her voice speaks up, calm but sounding just slightly strained.
When Nami looks up at her face for emotional cues, though avoiding her eyes, Nami can see a slight paleness around her face, a little red smudging along her cheekbones and ears, from what she can see beneath the lady's cropped brown hair.
"If you come with me, I'll show you to the garden, Sawada-san," the lady offers.
"I- My name's Tsunami, you can call me Nami, miss-" Nami's voice stumbles into nothing and she feels red flush over her cheeks in embarrassment. A strangled noise emerges from the woman, and she bends just slightly to look Nami better in the face, which is a little uncomfortable for Nami.
"My name is Matsushiya Kaede, Nami-san. You can call me Kaede-san. If you'll follow me, I'll lead you to a garden entrance, yes?" Kaede offers Nami, who nods and shifts in place. Kaede straightens up into a stand and turns in place, glancing back only once before she begins walking down the engawa, Nami trailing a foot or so behind quietly until they come upon an opening in the engawa railing that shows a ramp leading down onto a stone path that leads into the garden.
Kaede stays on the engawa, but she gestures Nami onwards, mentioning that she's not allowed in the garden, but since Nami had permission, she could do so. Nami steps down onto the path and is about to wave to Kaede and then wander in when she notices the woman dithering visibly in place before speaking up one last time.
"If you come across a boy, just a little older than you, with black hair and silver eyes, remember to be polite, and don't crowd him," Kaede says hesitantly before walking off, hands held above her stomach. Nami stares after her hesitantly before turning in place to look into the garden. She can't see very far, because as short as she is, a lot of the flowering bushes are blocking her distance sight, but she's feeling sort of hesitant about going in deeper after what first Yun-baa and Kaede had told her.
But… She has to go into the garden. She doesn't know why, but she does. It's similar to what she can vaguely remember driving her up the tree back then, and what'd held her in place at the park before, which isn't very comforting, but she just does.
Shuffling her feet a little, Nami huffs and puffs up her chest, shaking off that fear and walking ahead in to the foliage.
Blinking a little at the boy she's pretty sure is napping in the tree, Nami wonders how he'd even gotten up there. There's no hand holds, nothing to show his ascent, but he's there, and he actually looks very comfortable with his chosen place. He's a few years older than her, maybe, with short, straight black hair, dressed in yellow overalls and a white hoodie, pale skin and a face that looks vaguely similar to Hibari Yun, Nami guesses that he's probably Yun-baa's son, or maybe nephew.
Fidgeting in place, Nami makes the decision to leave him alone, as he looks very relaxed, and instead looks around the area. She's pretty sure she's at the very center of the garden, with the massive sakura tree the boy is napping in, a small clearing of grass and a pond at the very bottom of the sakura tree, and as Nami approaches, carefully aware of her feet so she won't trip, she can see several koi in the pond.
Sitting down at the edge, Nami leans her elbows on her knees and moves forward, looking into the water with a tiny smile, watching the fish swim around calmly and feeling pretty calm in response to that herself. A few swim over near her, maybe curious and maybe expecting food, and she thinks about reaching out a few fingers to try and pet them but decides against it.
She can't see the bottom of the pond, and she doesn't know how to swim. Knowing her luck (and dexterity) she'd definitely fall into the pond. She can feel her lips quirk upwards a little as she watches the water, time slipping away from her as some petals hit the grass around her.
Nami flicks an eye across the rippling water, spotting the form of the sleeping boy reflected in it, and Nami contemplates the idea of laying down to nap as well in this very relaxing garden clearing.
… The idea is very tempting.
Scooting back away from the water, Nami shifts back around on her legs and butt before rotating to lay on her back on the soft grass, looking up into the branches of the sakura tree above her before she turns on her side towards the pond, closing her eyes and feeling relaxation spreading through her bones in the warmth of the clearing and the gentle sounds of moving water.
She isn't sure how long she's napping on the ground before something hits her in the side. Eyes flying open, Nami rolls away from whatever had touched her, body twisting in on itself until she's crouching on the ground, skin feeling uncomfortable as she blinks dizzily a few times before her eyes land on what had woken her. It's the boy from the tree, now awake, grey eyes staring into her own, just a few degrees off of a glare, she stares at him in incomprehension.
"Eh?"
"Who are you?" The boy asks in a tone that implies he's repeating himself and hating it.
"Ah- I'm Sawada Tsunami, I came here with my Mama, and Yun-baa said I could go in the garden while they're talking-" Nami rambles out, going silent when the boy's eyes shift into actual glaring. Pressing her lips together, Nami stares at the boy uncertainly before continuing, slowing down and speaking more clearly. "This is a nice garden, and a good place to nap. Sorry if I bothered you by napping here."
The boy stares at her for awhile before making a hn sound before turning away. Nami looks around in his wake, and finds that she can't actually see any of the paths from here anymore, and feels a little fear.
"Ah, wait!" She calls out, jolting into a stand and extending a hand in the boy's direction, but he doesn't hesitate at all, doesn't look over or pause even slightly. "Please, wait?" He does not, and she drops her hands down by her sides, feeling resigned as she turns in place, looking around and trying to see anything familiar to indicate where she's supposed to go to head back to the path. A glance directly up reveals that she can't even see the sky from here, and her lip trembles a little before she firms up her emotions and begins to circle the clearing.
It's no use, all of the paths have somehow disappeared from where they'd been before she'd fallen asleep.
Feeling a little panicked the longer she's lost in the garden, Nami sniffles a little and her lip wobbles even more, pressing them together and widening her eyes to stop the tears from forming like they want to.
Eventually there's a sound she can't identify the source of, and Nami freezes in place before the boy from before comes into view, walking out of what looks like nowhere, staring at her with a hard expression on his face before his expression sours even further than she'd expected was possible and he huffs, reaching out to grab ahold of one of her wrists.
Nami flinches away from that hand, and he pauses in place, staring at her with eyes that seem a little more considering than cold before he retracts his hand, turning in place instead.
"Follow me, little animal." Nami almost trips over herself as she hurries to follow behind him, unspeakably grateful for the help and for the fact that he hadn't grabbed her after she'd avoided that initial reach. That happened in school sometimes and it was always very upsetting.
That hadn't helped her reputation with the other kids in her class, or the teachers, but she couldn't help it (they've started to call her useless and she hates it.)
She feels dumb- that girl she'd been once wouldn't have gotten so upset over something like that, and isn't she that girl? Kind of?
Reaching a hand up to scrub her palms against her cheeks, Nami forces back the tears threatening to fall and determinedly following the black haired boy. She's not going to get lost- he came back for her. She has the feeling that he won't do so again, so she's not going to lag behind.
Nami hadn't expected to be taken to a bedroom. She also hadn't expected the boy to be so… strange.
They'd gotten to the room, which was obviously his bedroom after a few minutes, and he'd wandered over to a corner filled with stuffed animals. He'd then grabbed one- a yellow bird plush bigger than her head, and waddled over beneath its size and weight to push the stuffed animal into her. She'd grabbed a hold of it on instinct and overbalanced, landing stomach first on top of the plush before rolling off of it to the side, landing back first onto the floor next to the plush.
The boy had stared at her for a moment before his face had twitched in a way that Nami could imagine was meant to be a smirk before he'd turned away back towards the stuffed animal corner, and then didn't return into her sightline. Nami blinks at the ceiling in confusion before craning her head around to look and see the boy.
She almost wants to laugh, but something tells her that she would regret doing so.
The boy is sprawled over all of the stuffed animals in the corner as though it's a throne or maybe a lumpy futon, looking like he's sleeping again.
She's so confused about what's going on here, but as she reaches out to grab the plush next to her and drag it over her torso, wrapping her arms around it, she decides that there isn't really any harm in staying here.