Hello there, long time no see.
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I feel so very insecure right now …
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Those were times of war. People called it the third great shinobi world war. Proper to its name, shinobi from different origins met in those bloody battlefields. A vortex in which; honor, pride, sin, choice, survival and death clashed. Human life was thrown away like trash, wasted on something that bred nothing but hatred, sorrow and despair. A black canvas painted with madness. The ones lucky enough to live through it were forever scarred and never the same again. Besides their tainted souls, their titles as heroes … meant nothing.
In such a war, a lot of neutral parties got forcefully involved. Smaller villages that separated the bigger ones turned into heated battlegrounds. Innocent people were killed on a daily basis and the number of war orphans did nothing but increase every single day.
Away from all the commotion and black pits of mass murder, situated in an isolated part of the fire country, a small village was built using the ruins of an unknown once-had-been village in the mountains as foundation. Its populace lived in what could be mistaken as peaceful times. The strategically hidden location and the fact that its existence was only privy to the people living inside it was one of the main factors that kept it that way.
They called it; the Kantô village.
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Today is not a sunny one. In fact, the rainy season began not too long ago. The heavy rain pouring down upon the village convinced the adults to keep their children indoors, resulting in lack of the usual noisy ruckus that came along whatever idea those mini devils had of fun.
Normally, a little rain wouldn't stop the kids from going out to play, or train more likely. On a normal day, their oni-sensei would gladly drag them off to run laps or beat each other up with whatever training method he thought of the previous day, before drilling their heads with math problems and such. Even a naïve man like Haruto-sensei was strict when it came to education, be it physical or mentally oriented.
Fortunately for them, today was not one of those. Today, their sensei, or babysitter if you'd prefer, had important matters to attend to.
Or so he says, an old lady sighed from behind a closed window. It's not like she had nothing to do, she just needed a little breather; watching the falling rain as if waiting for it to stop and get her out of her misery.
"Oi, Kô! Give me back my Dino-kun!", Cried a childish voice from behind the granny. Rash footsteps were heard and lots of weeping along with it. They're way too lively for three and five year olds. I blame Haruto. The lady thought, slightly irritated but didn't budge from where she was seated. Her interference wasn't needed after all.
"If you want it then take it back with your own fists like a man! Bakato-sensei says so every time, right?!" The older child, Kô, yelled back. Seemingly amused by his friend's tears.
"That's not fair!", the first child burst into tears again making a third, older and red headed child sit up from where he was chatting with other younger kids.
"Guys, you're scaring Asa-chan. Please, keep it down", the old woman didn't need to turn around to know that Ren, the kids' older brother figure, had stepped in. He'd always been the peace maker… she thought.
"Ren-nii is way too soft on them", A girl with glasses commented from afar. That was Natsume-chan.
"Maa… Kô, give him back his Dino-kun. What you're doing is called bullying." And just like that, another conflict was solved without needing her assistance for what seemed like the nth time in only two hours.
I'm way too old for this … Haruto had better not be off playing around with Mai or so help me…
The rain kept falling down as the old orphanage manager, Hayama Nobara, sighed yet again and dozed off.
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Haruto was in a pinch. His wife, Mai, fell sick today and couldn't step out of bed. A nasty flu she said… She wasn't faking it if you were wondering about that, Haruto checked this time. Never mind the fact that his wife was a skilled doctor and could fool a simple minded idiot who'd never been sick his entire life any day, it was now his duty to take care of his flowers and ensure their wellbeing.
I hope Ren and the rest aren't causing too much trouble for Nobara-san… It feels like I'll get an ear full either way though…He thought as he made his way to the kitchen. Good thing Minori-chan's still asleep. He slipped through the door frame, his eyes quickly scanning the kitchen. He wasn't surprised when they landed on his eldest flower's figure towering over the medical book that was Mai's property and which was bigger than her tiny form. Seriously, two years olds shouldn't be reading those… just looking at it gives me a headache. His right hand sailed to the back of his head and he sighed.
Haruto may not seem like the type but he knew that taking care of a five months old toddler needed full attention. Add to that a hyper blond child that looked nothing like the super curious I-don't-care-about-danger-as-long-as-I'm-having-fun devil that she is….
Truth is; after Minori-chan's birth, Kaho-chan changed radically.
That unmoving child that looked dead to the world suddenly took great interest in it. Her curiosity was so huge that it got her out of her shell and she started talking to them. A skill she was pretty fluent in despite never using it before that one sentence that morphed everything.
Kaho-chan began interacting with them out of confusion, always questions that sounded more like stating facts than asking about the unknown. That was around the time that Haruto would do what he would call, to this day, his worst mistake. He introduced his eldest flower to those cursed mind eaters and, to his future horror; Kaho-chan grew a fascination with reading materials. As long as it was readable, she would gulp it down. For Haruto, it really felt like an obsession, he was more brawls than brains after all. His only solace was that Kaho-chan's speech pattern developed ever so slightly. She still goes by the question answer thingy but actually drops in the occasional opinion and replies when people speak to her.
She still ignores people but Haruto could tell that it was more of a lack of interest than anything. Back then, it was due to something else entirely. He wasn't sure what it was but got alarmingly relieved to see that all of that was in the past now. Because…
Haruto was shamefully scared of the Kaho-chan from before.
Mai may not have noticed but sometimes back then, Kaho-chan's awareness would grow greatly in a matter of seconds. As if a switch got flipped, she would become calculating and absorb all kind of information that came her way. For a baby, it was really fear inducing. But the thing that really got to him was her eyes. They were void. Not like a hardened killer, or a cold blooded manipulator. No, it was worse.
Emptiness…
"Tô-chan, your staring is irritating. Would you stop…" Kaho-chan was staring at him. He grinned at her. His thoughts from before already tossed away. It doesn't matter anymore … what's more important is living in the present… Now back to the problem at hands…
Kaho-chan got back to her reading and ignored her father again. By the way, that thing was about the different kinds of medicinal and poisonous plants in the elemental nations…. An idea came to mind and Haruto grinned wider.
"Ne, Kaho-chan. How about staying at Shû-san's place for the day?"
That was the start of a beautiful friendship ….
Kind of…
Even though Haruto knew he'd regret it later…
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"Why would I babysit your shit bag, Haruto? You know I hate brats, especially at that age!"
The old Tanaka Shû wasn't pleased with this predicament. He knew his day would be ruined the moment he spotted that grin on Haruto's face. Things were bound to get bad whenever that idiot came to the library portion of the Tanaka shop.
"Oh come on! Kaho-chan will totally grow on you, you two are somewhat similar actually…" Haruto's cheerfulness didn't waver.
"What part of I can't stand shit bags do you not understand?" Shû was irritated and his eyes narrowed a little, his voice coming out as a hiss.
"Hey! Kaho-chan is not a shit bag! She's even obsessed with those brain shutters you geeks call books! She never cries, never laughs at my awesome jokes…"
"Who would laugh at your jokes…?" Shû cut in venomously and got completely ignored.
"… and you both have that insufferable sociopath aura that makes people flee in fright...!"
"OI!"
"Have a spirit of camaraderie, will you?!" Haruto yelled out, eyes closed, balled fist shaking pretty close to his face, in a pathetic attempt to sound convincing.
It didn't work.
"Is that any way to ask for favors… either way, I won't let anyone near my collection … you know how much I treasure it" the old man calmed down somewhat.
"At least pretend to have a heart Shû-san, I mean, it's not like Kaho-chan hadn't sneaked in before…" The orange top mumbled to the old man's astonishment.
I didn't detect her at all! Shû thought, am I losing my touch…?
Tanaka Shû is a former Iwa-nin that faked his death to escape the chains binding him to the village. He didn't follow the footsteps of a Nuke-nin and went for a book hunter career instead. His love for books and his collection led him to live a civilian life. He even got married and had kids at some point in the former Kantô village before it got destroyed in the beginning of this accursed third war. For him to let a child no older than two get past him was a big stain to his pride… even if it was this particular kid.
"And you let her?" To his credit, his calm exterior didn't budge. Though he knew it wouldn't last long.
"Why not? She loves it! Plus, if you didn't notice already, Kaho-chan is at it again" Haruto's cheerful voice was like poison to the old man's ears.
It was true, the blond child got past him again. His gaze searched for her form the moment Haruto mentioned her disappearance. She was indeed sitting cross-legged on the floor reading his "Alone", a masterpiece featuring the horrors of … where's Haruto…?
"Come back here you runt!" a vein popped out of his forehead as he cried out his frustration.
Damn that guy… why does he always get what he wants in the end?!
Kaho didn't get distracted by this grumpy old goat's yapping.
Even if she felt somewhat annoyed.
No need to say that both of them didn't really hit it off on good terms.
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"Hi, I'm Ren"
All she saw were his eyes.
Deep green.
Kaho got startled as a boy older, and taller than she was invaded her personal space. He was bent down a little so to be on the same eye level, his face way too close to hers. Almost immediately, she tilted her head a little to the left, a sure sign that she was confused.
The boy, who introduced himself as Ren, smiled, took her hand and retreated just enough for her to write him off as a red head. Sure that he held her full attention, he spoke again.
"You're not very sociable, are you? But that's fine I'll teach you." Why is he smiling like that? This Ren person confused her. His smile wasn't like the one her parents or the other adults had. It was different in a way she really couldn't tell ….
"When someone introduces himself to you, you have to do the same thing" He stopped talking for a moment, inviting her to tell him her name and maybe then the other kids won't feel so intimidated by her.
When Haruto-sensei told them yesterday that his introverted daughter would be joining them for training, Ren really didn't expect for her to be this difficult to deal with. Natsume and Seika wanted to be friendly and invited her to join them, only to be met with silence, indifference and lots of staring. That discouraged the others from trying to approach her which spread a bad vibe among them. So, like the responsible big brother that he is, he decided to intervene.
That didn't seem to be working.
Ren was still smiling and Kaho still had no clue as to what he wanted her to do. She ended up tilting her head further. For some reason, the red head took that as his cue to elaborate.
"You have to tell me your name and maybe if you like me a little, you can tell me about yourself…. Ah! But you don't have to…"
"I'm Kaho" Quietly, she finally said, cutting off the start of a ramble.
The truth is, she really wasn't paying attention to her surroundings before Ren snapped her out of her reveries. All she had in mind was that scroll about shinobi nations and how they came to be that her father forcefully separated her from and dragged her to this large space full of the village children.
She wasn't pleased but even she couldn't argue with Haruto when he was in his I want this done mode.
Ren perked up at her voice. "Great! Let's go meet the others! Haruto-sensei's lesson will start soon!" He ran towards his sensei, dragging her along with him. Her hand still held in his. A little proud that he got her to talk to him when the other girls couldn't. Was she a shy person? He couldn't help but wonder.
Ren shivered. The glare he was feeling suddenly intensified.
Did I do something wrong?
The poor kid will never know.
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When her father talked about training, she imagined sweat, pain and exhaustion. Pretty much what her stories of related topics described. She wasn't looking forward to it, especially since it cut her reading time short. But when she actually started running, as per sensei's order, Kaho did a 180 degree change of mind.
She liked it.
She really liked it.
The moment she leapt forward, she all but forgot about Haruto-sensei's instructions. Instead of a slow jog like he ordered, she went for a top speed run. Wind crashing on her face as she increased her speed whenever she could. Without paying attention to where she was going, she crossed the forest boundaries, dodging whatever obstacle in her way, be it a tree, a root, a rock or a particularly low branch. If Kaho had been in any state to think clearly, she might have noticed the absence of any animal in the vicinity. But she wasn't, and so she didn't.
She kept running like that, sometimes straight, others in circles.
After about half an hour, the pain in her side and lunges that she blatantly ignored made itself more present. However, the rush she felt from spending her pent up energy overpowered her need for rest. She felt herself so in her element that she wallowed in it.
Another half an hour of running at top speed passed, and Kaho was still at it. She didn't realize that she passed her limit even as she blacked out mid-run and almost got herself killed that way.
Unbeknownst to her, Haruto who got startled out of his mind thanks to his flower's odd behavior left Hayato-kun, a fourteen years old, in charge and tailed Kaho into the woods. What she was doing was dangerous and uncalled for. She didn't look in her right mind either. He should have stopped her the moment he found her…
But he didn't.
Kaho-chan was laughing.
That alone convinced him to let her have her fun. Not to mention that he took that as a personal victory against the mind shutters she mulled over all the damn time. For him, nothing equaled a good work out.
After some time of looking after her, he took notice of two things; Kaho-chan wasn't really paying attention as she dodged her way out of death via stumbling kingdom, being able to evade this much trouble at that speed and at this age was remarkable in and on itself. Another thing is that she didn't show any sign of fatigue or pain, nor was she winded at all. He could understand having lots of stamina, she was his daughter after all, but her case was so off that he almost missed her stumbling.
Almost, because the day he would let one of his flowers face that big of an injury is a day out of his lifespan calendar. He caught her moments before she hit the ground. Or anything, really, Shinobi super speed and everything.
Only now, that she's secured in his arms, that he realized her unconsciousness.
From her run, he did take note of other couple matters that set her out of normality's realm. He already had plans for her next training session with him. Is it weird that I find the situation hilariously exiting, or am I just being me like Mai would say? He didn't know for sure but that was fine. Kaho-chan will always stay a challenge I'll never back away from.
An oath to himself that he'd keep to his dying breath.
I feel like I'm forgetting something very important … I wonder what that is … Oh Whatever …
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When Kaho woke up, she did so with a startle. Her eyes widened open as she abruptly sat up on a bed she doesn't remember going to, but that wasn't on her mind at the moment.
Who was that boy?
Her thoughts were hunted with a memory of the dream she saw … or was it a nightmare? It was hard to tell since it featured a boy Hayato-nii's age that kept shrinking every time he called her name. Though she couldn't hear his voice, she knew for a fact it was her that boy was calling. Also, his face looked eerily similar to …
Am I forgetting something?
And that was it. Any traces left of that dream got erased from Kaho's brain; more pressing matters replacing it among her thoughts.
Whatever.
If she didn't remember it, it only meant the thing wasn't worth remembering. Sadly, this girl will keep perceiving things this way for a long time which may or may not hurt her down the road.
Kaho was a bit disoriented. Her hand sailed to her hair and brushed it away from her face. The gesture cleared her head a little and made her notice that her blond locks were down, as in not tied in a side pony tail like usual and her clothes were different, like not the same as the ones she wore this morning, and again she was in her room…
Did I black out?
Another thought that came out of nowhere.
What's a black out again?
It didn't really matter. Not for the first time, words like these _ that held no meaning to Kaho_ came up in her head at random times and intervals. Was this what people called a genius? She had no idea. Strangely enough, Kaho didn't feel the need to find out. That translated to 'ignore it whenever it came'. Simple as that.
How did I get here?
Someone must have carried her, last she knew she was running in the woods ... Then THAT happened … the realization pushed the blond child to stretch her lips into a small smile. It lifted her mood so much that she hopped out of bed and decided to investigate this weird noise of an agonizing animal she was hearing. She followed it all the way to the source (the kitchen).
What she found down there was something she really couldn't comprehend. The suffering beast ended up being her Tô-chan … He was pretty tightly roped to a chair, a magnificent work on her Kâ-san's part, his tears were flowing already and he was struggling like crazy but not managing to run away.
Kâ-san, on another note, acted all lovey dovey cutesy wearing her sweetest smile and humming a cheerful song that only served to increase Tô-chan's sweating and efforts to get away.
"Dear, say ahhh!" Kâ-san's voice was dripping with something Kaho always associated with Tô-chan's misery.
Looking closely, the child confirmed her former statement since her Kâ-san was force feeding her Tô-chan what seemed to be a sort of green food that really should stay censored for the rest of Kaho's life.
That She devil.
But He probably deserves it anyway …
Her parents are acting weird again, nothing new.
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Mai was reeling and that adorable face of hers really wasn't fooling anyone. Haruto wondered why his wife bothered to smile when she was really pissed off… My stomach isn't getting out of this intact, is it? Came the obvious answer that naturally was not helping his case.
"I don't get why you're so angry with me, Mai" He sighed.
"Really? I think it's very obvious Haru-kun" She replied, her back to him and without lifting her eyes from whatever she was preparing in the kitchen counter. "Bringing in Kaho-chan in that state … I never saw anyone black out from your teachings before and I'm the village doctor. Of course it's not just that! He comes, my limp daughter in his arms and without a care in the world he starts rambling about how he'll make her work harder next time! Smiles and sunshine, how dare he?! You?! How dare you?! !
Oh… so that's why she's mad … Haruto stopped thinking after that. He concentrated all of his mental abilities in trying to get away. His instincts were screaming at him to run for his life. Mai just turned around, a blinding smile decorating her cute face. She made her way to him, hands lifting a plate full of a life threatening substance that was shades of a disgusting yellowish green.
… It moved …. That thing is moving, dammit!
The grown man couldn't help himself anymore. His tears fell down like rivers and he struggled like crazy to free himself. Like a fish out of water. It was NOT working.
DAMMIT! Why did I teach her how to bind with chakra?!
"WAIT! Mai, wait a minute! Be reasonable, I … I can explain! I swear that thing is alive! Mai, I'm scared, PLEASE!" He was still crying. His wife didn't get bothered by it, choosing to separate a pair of chop sticks and dig them in that substance from hell. Haruto refused to call it food.
Mai looked him in the eyes, "I'm listening" Despite her words her hands brought the chop sticks to his mouth making it crystal clear that if she didn't like his words, the thing would be down his throat before he'd get the time to take another breath.
"Dear, say ahhh!" He refused to open his mouth.
His wife was scary when she wanted to be.
"I might have just remembered a small little something about my family's tiny … really tiny … tic"
"… Tic?" A perfectly blond eyebrow rose. Her patience was thinning.
"Yes, I'll have to test her and see … if she has it …"
"Oh and that is?"
Haruto was sweating bullets by this point. This is the hard part. Should he be honest? …. Nah. Look where that got him. "Heuh … yeah … nothing much …"
"Nothing much is sounding pretty dangerous to me" Her smile got sweeter and the green thing closer to his mouth.
"NO! No… no danger …. yet …."
"Haru-kun!..."
Kaho cut their torture session short by making her way, all the calm in the world, to where the food was. The edible kind. Turned out she was awfully hungry after her little episode earlier that day.
"Ka…Kaho-chan, you're awake! That was quick. I was so worried. Listen to me young lady!"
"Yeah! Don't ignore your mother like a stinking rotten pig meat…!"
Mai shove the green monstrosity down his throat and he screamed. A very girlish scream but that was irrelevant. The only thing he'd remember of it is the horrible pain, the agony and feeling like his stomach was eating itself … yep. Very irrelevant.
"That wasn't necessary" Mai dropped her smile at that. "Kaho, come here, we need to talk"
The blond child stared at her mother for a moment before taking three apples and turning to sit opposite her father's side of the table. Her father was already back to a semi normal state though still a bit dizzy with a sore taste in his mouth. The man regenerated quickly, you had to give him that. Her mother opted to stay standing between the two. There were things Haruto was just not trusted enough with.
Haruto cleared his throat "What possessed you to run away from the group like a mad carnivorous flower in the woods?" Mai wasn't expecting him to be calm in this, so she decided to keep her mouth shut at the moment.
"…" Kaho didn't reply.
"Okay, let me rephrase that … What the hell were you thinking?!" That's the Haruto Mai knew. This time Kaho did reply:
"I wasn't thinking …" Haruto minutely wondered how she could say something like that with a face that straight.
"… I was feeling, I think" The child said with an even voice.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Haruto, say something"
"I wasn't expecting that…" He was tearing up again. "Give me a minute..!" I don't know if this is upsetting or plain happy improvement, dammit! Kaho wasn't paying attention to the funny duo. She was hungry, and a hungry Kaho only thought about chewing her food.
"Okay I'm fine! Where were we? Ah yeah, I don't understand why you did it, Kaho-chan. Explain"
Haruto turned dead serious. Kaho immediately looked up and met his eyes. She stopped eating and stared at him. For a guy tied to his chair, he sure looked intimidating. Though, his wife didn't really get the vibe.
It happened then, something that really surprised Mai.
Her daughter smiled.
"… I was happy … It's the first time they moved for me …"
"… They?" Mai didn't understand, neither did her husband.
"…The particles …"
"What particles?" This time it was Haruto.
"… I'm talking about these specks of light flying around … everywhere…"
Kaho wasn't smiling anymore. When did that happen? She lifted her hands and gestured at something invisible to her parents. Something that she always saw floating around her, her parents, the villagers, the trees, the animals…. It had always been everywhere. For her it wasn't that hard to understand so why is her Tô-chan making such a stupid face?
"You're looking dumber than usual, Tô-chan…" She said.
"OI!" Automatically, he yelled back.
"Look, yours are moving erratically again… Do you understand now ..."
At Haruto's stricken face, Kaho concluded that he did and got back to ignoring them and finishing her apple. There was still a whole basket over there and the girl was still hungry.
"Kaho-chan …" Haruto didn't get to finish what he wanted to say.
"Do whatever you want Haru-kun. If she agrees"
Mai, who had been silent the entire time, stepped out of the kitchen and closed the door behind her. Leaving her husband to take care of the rest. She really didn't get a thing about these shinobi matters after all.
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"Otô-san! Where are we going?!" yelled a not older than three years old Minori, at the same time, trying to catch her father's attention trough their linked hands. He was carrying her on his shoulders. The strong wind blowing on her face gave Minori the need to shout even if her face wasn't all that far from Haruto's ears. Being a short kid and all. He wasn't even running, only following the lead of his eldest flower, who was running at top speed by the way, and who should have taken that turn a few minutes before.
"Well, Kaho-chan should have led us to Kenji's house, but it seems that she's lost... again!" Haruto replied loud enough for Minori-chan to hear but not at all managing to stifle the laugh that came with it. He was relieved to know that even geniuses like Kaho-chan had things they sucked at.
"Aren't you going to tell her?" Minori asked, her voice lower than before. Kâ-chan said to look after Nee-chan… she thought
"Maa… let her be for now. She is building up her stamina, and I'd like for her to keep moving around like this instead of sitting still and eating those books at Shû-san's place …" he replied with a grin. Then a thought crossed him. That's brilliant! Good going, me! This way, Kaho-chan will forget about the evil mind screwers and immerse herself in her body conditioning. Two birds with one stone! Hahaha!" Laughing "inwardly", which wasn't all that different from "outwardly" in the volume department, Haruto completely ignored Minori's attempts to talk to him or get his attention or even tell him that Himemi-san and Nobume-san were looking at them funny.
Harada Kaho did get her self-centered personality from somewhere.
Haruto stopped looking like a crazy man eventually and turned around towards Kenji's house. Chatting with his flower all the time it took to come barging into his friend's house. Not even taking the time to knock, he kicked the door open and shouted:
"Oi, Kenji! Where's that Camera I asked for!" All grin and cheerfulness. He didn't wait long for the now door-less guy to come to him, Camera in hand and a scowl decorating his slightly scarred face.
"As graceful as ever…" He sighted. It took some time, but he got used to the walking disaster that was this orange headed idiot. "If that was meant to convince me of your reliability, then I have a right to fear for my stuff" He said, the bite in his tone not at all heartfelt.
"Oh come on, Kenji! I did say please!" He may not think of it as whining, but it was.
"Not enough" Kenji was obviously amused, if the chuckle indicated anything, as he shoved the object in Minori's hands. Careful enough to not let her drop it out of surprise, he added. "Minori-chan is more trustworthy than you are, so I don't mind giving it to her".
"It was just that one time! And what the heck! I'm the adult here!" he felt indigent. One time, it was just one time and they won't ever let it go. Argf! He frowned. This is not fair!
"Keep telling yourself that Haruto"
"Can I really take it?!" Oblivious to her father's distress and mounting frustration, Minori cheered when Kenji-san nodded. "Yay! I'll take lots and lots of pictures! Is Nee-chan really going to let me? I hope so!" She was happy to have a chance at doing what her grown up father didn't get permission to do. "I'll take good care of it! Thank you, Kenji-san!" She promised, smiling widely.
"You're welcomed anytime, miss flower". He smiled at her. She giggled at the joke.
Haruto couldn't keep his frown for long, thinking of saying goodbye and looking for Kaho-chan. I wonder where she ended up.
Before he did that though, he saw the smirk on Kenji's lips and opted for a run instead.
A memory of long ago came to mind. "Say, Haruto-kun … Didn't you say that you didn't give two shits about a piece of crap like this one?" voice dripping with amusement as he gestured to the camera Minori-chan balanced on her father's head to make sure that it was safe and wouldn't fall. It was kind of funny. Haruto turned red in an instant, a few unshed tears forming in his eyes. He took it as his cue to break into a run. He did yell back tough.
"That's something else entirely and you know it, jackass!"
The trail of dust he left behind might clue you on the amount of speed he was deploring, or maybe how much he needed to flee the scene. The scarred man didn't even know why his friend felt so embarrassed. Kenji was the one being saved after all, even if it was in a clumsy Haruto-ish way. He shook his head and murmured:
"Hopeless…" I agree with Mai-san, this guy is a high class bully material.
"Tô-chan is an idiot…" It was said in a small voice, scaring the man out of his skin.
There, just outside of his busted door, Kaho-chan was staring at where her father had been standing a few moments ago. Her face stuck in an unchanging bored look. The girl always made him feel uneasy. Her non-showing emotions made you wonder if she didn't have any in the first place. And that was just plain creepy… and scary. It's not like he was the only one with these thoughts, but nobody in this village acted on them. He didn't either. Everyone made sure to treasure and treat this girl like any normal one. Be it in hopes that she would come to change as time passes by or just out of gratitude for Haruto, it honestly didn't matter. In Kantô, every person counted as family. They cry together, they laugh together, they care for each other and they'd be damned if they forecasted a child of their own because of some differences in nature.
Kenji opened his mouth to say something when he realized that Kaho-chan turned her back on him and started heading towards the village borders. Was she lost again? He decided to intervene.
"Kaho-chan! Your house is the other way!" He shouted.
She stopped, turned around and broke into a run in the direction he pointed at.
Sooo like Haruto. He thought as she passed him.
She startled him again when stopped dead in her track and came running again, this time her aim was none other than himself.
"Thanks for the help". From the tone of her voice, anyone could feel a little offended. She really didn't sound grateful for one, but he knew better. For instance, Haruto's daughter had never been one for politeness. The fact that she broke into another head-less run immediately could be tracked back to that.
Kenji smiled at her and shouted:
"You're welcomed!" She didn't look back.
Yep, just a normal child indeed.
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Kaho had been four when it first happened. It was hardly anything a new experience should feel like. It wasn't painful, nor was it scary or exiting. It definitely wasn't abrupt either. If Kaho had to describe it, she would certainly mention a calm sense of ease … a wave of something close to nostalgia. Serene, rhythmic and may as well have lulled her to sleep.
That day, Kaho was home alone reading her latest borrowed book. Shû-san had been in a good enough of a mood to recommend it to her, in his own grumpy kind of way. It centered on the adventures of a young aspiring cook in times of war. If you were wondering why she was alone to begin with, the obvious answer would be that her parents had things to attend to. Haruto took the boys out of the village to hone their "manly skills". Whatever that was, they didn't seem too happy about it. Then again, who could say no to that stubborn carrot top?
Apparently, no one.
Mai, on her end, took Minori and went off to Nobara-bâ-san's (kids tended to shorten it to just to Nobâbâ but that was just plain rude) for her monthly check up. She did offer to take Kaho along too but the latter replied in a monotone voice, not even looking up.
"Silence is rare to come by nowadays."
Used to her verbal antics. The mother let her be. It wasn't the first time and it probably won't be the last. The blond child was responsible anyways … Sometimes … Kind of … when she wanted to be …
Back to the story book, Kaho was surprised and greatly interested in a few parts which explained, in rough details, a few recipes mentioned along the protagonist's journey. Without much thought, she made her way to the kitchen and got to work.
She didn't notice the change until she caught herself staring at a one man cooking show. A child, no older than she was. They even had the same height. The same blond hair, tied in a ponytail on the left side of her head. And the same sleeveless dark blue shirt and grey shorts. She didn't need to look at the face to know that she was seeing herself. She just felt it. Or rather, Kaho wasn't in control of her body anymore, and it moving without her will was probably what was happening right now. That wasn't such a big deal at the moment. The persistent feel of security spared her from dealing with a bigger reaction, or even freaking out afterwards when everything was said and done. Any number of questions she would normally have in this kind of situation died along with her deteriorating awareness.
Lost in a state of numb relaxation, she paid no mind to the wrong in what was in front of her. How her body moved on its own, handling the cooking with an expertise she knew she didn't have. How her mind got filled with foreign recipes she shouldn't have recognized. Or how, when the body in question raised its head ….
A reflecting glass …
But the eyes didn't match …
Kaho, in all her expressionless glory, was still a child deep down. Curiosity, happiness and wonder, her eyes blatantly betrayed these feelings even if some level of skill was needed to pick it up.
What stared back at Kaho were eyes void of any hint of life. Closed windows to a soul that could eerily pass off as non-human. It may as well have been a corpse.
Little Kaho didn't register any of this. What little attention she still possessed was wholly focused on the transparent figure of a woman hovering over her other self. She was staring back. Absent mindedly, Kaho noted that the lady sported a face much like what the former imagined herself to grow into approximately two decades from now.
A moment flew by… Then another. Lady ghost lost interest in the stare fest and went back to her work. Fake-eyes-Kaho mimicked her every action. Vegetables got cut in precise and steady strokes. Water was boiling. And meat was being cooked.
Different sounds seemed so far away. And Kaho lost her focus again. Everything felt like a dream. And like any other, this one came to an end.
Kaho blinked.
Disoriented, she blinked again.
She was back in control, standing close to the dining table which wasn't empty anymore. Looking around, the kitchen was as clean as Mai left it. Unless you counted the delicious smell of food, Kaho was drooling already. But then she remembered the storybook that she was hugging with both arms, it was a pretty heavy thing.
A thought crossed her mind as she made her way to Mai's library.
"I see …" a murmur escaped her lips, not really needing to pay attention to tuck the book back. Her interest in it was long lost. Tomorrow, she'll return it. Because she knew that the other her finished reading it in her stead, as weird as that may sound.
This occurrence actually explained everything. For some time now, Kaho heard several people state that she was what they called a genius. She honestly didn't see how so, but it kind of stuck with her. It seems that she finally had her answer.
I'm possessed by that ghost lady then …, she thought.
It wasn't the correct answer but Kaho didn't know that. Either way, that realization became a solid stepping stone to her development in the future.
And her hunger wasn't anywhere near forgiving.
What was she going to do about it?
Simple, she wouldn't wait for the others.
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So if you feel like it, please, do tell.
See you next time (whenever that is)
Yours truly,
Me ^.^