Disclaimer: If only I owned this series...But it belongs to Nagaru Tanigawa and Noizi Ito. I own nothinHeyheej
Kyon, still tired after only five hours of sleep, was quite hungry. As he walked down the hallway to the dining hall, he could only think about the recurring dream he'd been having. What could it possibly mean? His stomach growled as if in response to his thoughts. "Shut up. You don't even know what I'm talking about." he muttered to his gut.
As he approached the door of the dining hall, Kyon heard laughter and conversation flowing out of the room, as per the usual at morning meals. He slid back the door and stepped inside, ready to eat anything he could get his hands on. He grabbed a cushion from the corner and took his usual spot next Taneguchi, immediately filling his bowl with rice from one of the steamed baskets in the center of the table. Kyon glanced around the room as he filled his rice bowl. Just like every other morning, most were present, but some were already off at work. He looked at his bowl and muttered "Thanks for the food." and started eating.
"Hey." Taneguchi had suddenly leaned in uncomfortably close. Kyon wondered how Taneguchi could so readily invade someone's personal space so early in the morning. Especially considering how everyone in the house would reflexively snap the neck of anything foolish enough to surprise them.
Kyon replied irately, "And good morning to you too. How can you be so energetic on so little sleep?"
Taneguchi just smiled. "No idea," he said. "but hey, I'm running a delivery out to a farm on the outskirts of town later. Wanna come with?" He looked a little hopeful.
"I can't." Kyon replied flatly. "I have things to do. A letter came for me yesterday from Grandmaster Tsuruya. She's coming back today and she said she has a very important task for me. I wish she would've what exactly it was though…" He trailed off into thought, wondering what it could be and why HE, of all people, was chosen to fulfill said task. He was still just an apprentice with three years of training under his belt. There were many people above him in above him in both rank and experience. Was it because he was the grandmaster's personal apprentice? Or was there some other unaccounted factor hiding in the shadows?
Taneguchi playfully elbowed Kyon, bringing him back to reality. "I bet it's very~ important." he said with a wink. This somewhat irked Kyon. "Well, I'd better head out." Taneguchi said, getting up from his spot. "If that package is late, I'll get chewed out six ways from Sunday by several different people." He gave a small salute and left. Kyon just continued to eat his breakfast in silence.
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Later that day, things continued as normal. Kyon had cleared his schedule after receiving Tsuruya's letter, so he didn't have any work. He walked around the market all morning pondering what his master could be bringing back for him and why exactly it would require an amount of trust and responsibility so great that the letter repeatedly emphasized the importance of the task. Eventually, he gave up and decided he would burn the proverbial bridge when he got to it. However, his uncanny "sixth sense" of predicting strange things continued to nag at him.
When he noticed the sun was directly overhead, Kyon decided it was time for lunch. He headed for his favorite ramen stall, Hagakure Ramen, at the south end of the market. Upon his arrival, he noticed Taneguchi was taking his lunch there as well. He sat down on the stool next to his friend. "Yo." he said, "you get that delivery done yet?" Taneguchi ignored Kyon and continued slurping down his noodles. "Hey!" Kyon shouted. "Taneguchi!" This time, Taneguchi glanced sideways, merely nodding, and continuing to absorb his noodles. Kyon was confused. It wasn't like Taneguchi to pass up an opportunity to make idle conversation. But the silence was justified in the space of three seconds. As if trapped in slow motion, Kyon saw it all. Taneguchi leapt backward off his stool and where his head was not even one moment ago was not even was a leather boot-clad foot, flying straight at Kyon's chest. Before the third second could be counted, the foot had been planted on his chest, the force of the kick sending him off his stool and into the air. Even with his advanced reflexes, he couldn't right himself before landing on his back in the dirt three feet away from the ramen stall. As he lay on the ground stunned, staring up into the cloudless blue sky, the assailant put their foot on his chest in a triumphant pose. The high sun made it impossible to distinguish any detail on the silhouette standing above him, but he had a feeling this had happened before. What gave away the attacker's identity was Taneguchi's sudden outburst of laughter. Then an oh so familiar voice, energy-filled voice hit Kyon like a brick.
"Hiya Kyon-kun! Did ya miss me, nyoro?"
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After successfully performing her sneak attack on Kyon, Tsuruya, master of the Tsuruya ninja clan and many other things, helped Kyon off the ground, a huge, cat-like grin plastered on her face all the while. She suggested they go back to the boarding house (also owned by the Tsuruya ninja clan), a notion to which both boys agreed. Kyon because he had to see what Tsuruya wanted of him, and Taneguchi because he was curious and had nothing better to do with his time. When Kyon asked Taneguchi why he conspired with Tsuruya for her "surprise return", the slick-haired teen simply replied "I was bored. Besides, gotta listen to the boss, right?" It was easy to understand, but Kyon still felt annoyed by his friend's response.
Upon their return to the house, the three headed directly to the grandmaster's private quarters. Tsuruya took her spot at the head of the room on the dais. The two boys sat down in front of it, cross-legged. Tsuruya cleared her throat. "So, you're probably wondering what I have for you that's so important, right?" The seriousness of her tone and facial expression were so unusual that Kyon was slightly unnerved. Nonetheless, he nodded. "Good," she continued, "Kyon-kun the reason I chose you for this task was because, as you are my direct apprentice, I trust you more than anyone else here." She glanced at Taneguchi. "Sorry, no offense Tamagotchi."
"None taken." Taneguchi replied honestly. " Sounds like it's gonna be difficult, so I'm a little relieved I wasn't picked. Oh, and my name is Tane-" Tsuruya cut him off mid-sentence and continued what she was saying.
"Anyway," she continued "Kyon-kun, while you yourself are still an apprentice, I've decided you can be trusted enough to temporarily look after and train someone as your own pupil." Kyon's eyes almost burst from their sockets in surprise. He didn't know why Tsuruya wanted him to train his own apprentice. He had a feeling he didn't want to know either. But her orders were absolute. "As a matter of fact, you're new student is here right now, right behind you." The two boys turned around, only to find themselves staring at a blank wall.
Taneguchi adorned a look of mild confusion and annoyance. "Hey, what gives? It's just a wall!"
Kyon was also confused at first, but he saw something his friend had missed. "No, look closer…" He stood up and walked over to the empty wall. "So, Tsuruya-san, my mentor and grandmaster of our clan, chose you to be my apprentice?" To Taneguchi, it appeared as if Kyon was talking to the wall. When he looked over at Tsuruya, she was smiling. Suddenly, Kyon grabbed a section of wall and quickly pulled it away. As if out of nowhere, crouched next to him was a somewhat nervous-looking girl. She was fairly short compared to Kyon, with not-quite-shoulder-length silver hair, and a cute face. "That's quite the technique you've got there. A pretty high-quality shroud too." Kyon casually stated. Tsuruya walked over to the two. The short girl promptly hid behind her.
"Yeah," Tsuruya said almost exasperatedly, "She's really shy. I found her wandering the streets somewhere. She kept moving from cover to cover, hiding from everything and everyone. She almost gave me the slip a couple times." Kyon leaned to the side to look around his master at the new girl. Her shyness was causing her face to redden as they looked at her. Tsuruya continued speaking, smiling all the while. "Well Kyon-kun, I trust you to show her the ropes and teach her our ways. By the way, I managed to squeeze her name out of her before we arrived. She said her name is Yuki Nagato. And believe it or not, she's the same age as you. Isn't she just cute?" She pulled Yuki Nagato out from behind her and had her stand in front of Kyon. Kyon carefully examined the girl. She kept her head down the entire time, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room.
"Well," Kyon started, "I suppose it can't be helped." He placed one hand on the short girl's shoulder. "Nagato, right? I hereby take you under take you under my wing as my own personal apprentice. Let's get along and have fun, eh?" Yuki nodded in response.
"And I hereby appoint you kunzite-in-training for the Tsuruya Clan!" Tsuruya piped in cheerfully. "Yuki, make sure your cute little self gets along with everyone! And Kyon-kun, you are wholly responsible for her from now on, ok? Well, I have things to do around town, so I'll take my leave. Bye~!" At that, Tsuruya sped out of the room, leaving Kyon unable to respond. What did she mean wholly responsible?
Kyon let out a small sigh. "Well, Nagato, it's just you and me now. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. Let's go get some lunch." Nagato just nodded and silently followed him out, sticking uncomfortably close behind him.
Taneguchi was still sitting in the middle of the room. After three minutes of stunned silence, he got up and left, sliding the door shut behind him. Too stunned to say anything, even to himself, he could only think "Am I that easy to forget…?"
Hey, sorry to any readers for the late update. vacation started two weeks ago and my writing is suffering. I just can't find the time. But here it is at last. Also, I may be starting two new projects, so I'm not promising any updates for a while. Anyway, hope you enjoyed Tsuruya and Nagato's introductions. Please review if you've read this far. Thanks.