"Jiyuudo," the purple eyed girl said, giving the teen an unsure half-smile in return for his grin.
"What're you doing out here, Jiyuudo-san?" Takehiko asked, "It can be quite dangerous at times."
"I can take care of myself," Jiyuudo said defensively, gesturing to the incapacitated Oto-nin on the ground.
"Well," the black-haired teen started, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "There are worse things to run into than some shinobi."
"Like what?" she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her hips to one side.
"I… uh, well… I mean… Hiraku-kun!" he called to the other teen who had simply watched them from a distance. "What do you think?"
"Oh no," Hiraku said, raising his hands with his palms outwards, "you got yourself into this one, you can get yourself out."
Takehiko made a face at his companion before turning back to face Jiyuudo.
"Why're you out here by yourself?" he changed the subject.
"I'm not by myself," she said, and as if on cue Makoto padded into the clearing.
"I see," he said as he watched the large white dog warily.
"He doesn't bite," she said calmly, glancing back at the canine, "hard."
"Well that's comforting," Takehiko muttered to himself. "Why don't you come back to our camp with us?" he asked in a louder voice.
"Takehiko-kun," Hiraku said in a warning tone, "Katsuo-sama won't be pleased."
"Oh, hush," the pale skinned teen said, "it'll be fine; we'll just bring more firewood."
Jiyuudo gave a small smile as she walked with Takehiko and Hiraku through the dimly light woods. The taller of the two was doing his best to lighten the mood that the shorter of the two kept bringing back to reality.
"I'm telling you, this isn't a good idea," the brown haired teen said for the tenth time.
"Calm down," Takehiko sighed yet again, "everything will be fine!"
"How will this be fine?" Hiraku demanded; stopping and throwing his bundle of wood onto the forest floor. "You know better than anyone how things are with the clan, how low supplies are running! Not to mention all the people that have been going missing-"
"I know," the taller teen snapped, cutting off his companion. "Don't lecture me about these things; besides, I'm only suggesting that she stay the night. Whether she stays is up to her."
Hiraku only growled in a sort of acceptance before he started to pick his bundle back up. Jiyuudo crouched down beside him and helped him silently, her good mood from earlier gone. The three continued walking in silence until a faint hum in the distance rose in the air.
"I will go on ahead," Hiraku said softly.
"Wait," Takehiko said as he caught the teen's arm. "Don't tell Junko-chan about the attack."
"Of course," the shorted teen said with a slight bow.
"What was Hiraku-kun talking about?" Jiyuudo asked once the teen in question was out of sight.
"Perhaps you should see for yourself," he suggested, gesturing for her to continue on through the trees.
She gave him a mildly sour look before she complied and pushed through the tree line. She was greeted by a large campsite illuminated by the gentle glow of many fires dotted between covered wagons and tents gathered together.
"What is this place?" she asked, looking back to Takehiko.
"Aside from the obvious?" he asked with a slight smirk, and she gave him a sour look in reply. "It's the caravan of the Yamakaze clan."
Jiyuudo sat cross-legged between Takehiko and Hiraku with a simple wooden plate balanced on her lap, picking at its contents with her fingers as she watched the others seated around the campfire. There was Junko – Takehiko's sister; a brown eyed girl around Jiyuudo's age who shared her brother's black hair, Akemi – another girl around Jiyuudo's age with light brown hair and eyes who kept glancing over at Takehiko, Benjirou – Takehiko's brother who looked almost exactly like him except his skin was a bit darker. There were more seated with them, but they didn't pay Jiyuudo enough mind to introduce themselves, and that suited her just fine.
"So, Jiyuudo-chan," Benjirou started as he leaned in closer to her, "what were you doing out in the woods by yourself?"
"She already told you, Bakarou," Takehiko cut in before she could answer; "she was going to meet her cousin in another village."
So, Jiyuudo hadn't actually said that; but she hadn't corrected Takehiko when he first said it and apparently whatever he said was the unadulterated truth to this group.
"She never said that, Takehiko-san," Hiraku said quietly as he picked at his food, "and if I remember correctly Jiyuudo-san never actually agreed to come with us, you just decided to bring her along like an interesting stone you found on the riverbank."
The group fell quiet as all eyes turned to Jiyuudo. She shifted a bit under their gazes, not sure of what they expected.
"If it means anything, I don't regret it," she said with a sheepish grin.
"See? And you said she didn't want to come!" Takehiko laughed as he clapped Hiraku on the back.
"That may be true, but why were you out there alone?" the teen continued with a suspicious edge in his voice.
"I… well," Jiyuudo started, suddenly finding her plate very interesting. "I'm not sure," she cringed a bit as she waited for what she expected an explosive reaction.
"Were you going to meet someone?" Akemi asked, trying to be helpful.
"I guess," she shrugged as she answered. "I spent the last year pretty much on my own, so I guess I'm trying to find a place to belong."
"Well, you can belong here with us," Benjirou suggested as he reached over to grab a hold of her hand.
"That'd be nice," Jiyuudo smiled up at the rest of the group who were all looking at her.
Benjirou smiled and squeezed her hand, Takehiko wrapped an arm around her shoulder and grinned widely, Akemi and Junko both smiled warmly at her, and from the corner of her eye Jiyuudo saw Hiraku give her a poorly concealed suspicious look.