"Ha... ha... S... stop chasing me Chōjirō-niisama! Haha...! Ha...!"
A young girl giggled as she ran around the grove filled with tall trees in a secluded village. She was breathing heavily with exhaustion while trying to run away from the "oni".
A young boy who was older than the little girl, was chasing behind her with an unusual playful grin, a kind of expression that he rarely showed. The boy was totally absorbed by the young girl's innocent laughter. His eyes were entirely on her tiny, delicate and youthful figure.
He had been observing every small action of hers, how she turned around her head occasionally and glimpsed at him with a huge smile on her face while running; how she was panting with giggles while telling him to stop chasing after her with a childish voice; the way that she called him niisama, or Chou-niisama... or Choujiro-niisama...... He thought she looked innocent and adorable, as pure as an angel... he wanted to see more of it, more of her.
His lips curled up more, forming into a larger smirk.
"Ha! Stop! Stop! Why are you... only... going after me? Aa!...! Chase Kyara instead niisama! Or Kasumi! Or Ennosuke...!"
She ran and ran, but he didn't seem to give up chasing after her.
"No... no fair! Why is niisama only chasing after me?!"
The young girl started to pout. She turned her head again and caught a glimpse of him for a second, who was smiling— no, smirking. Her eyes widened when she saw that kind of smirk from him, as it was definitely something she normally didn't see. She then returned her gaze towards her front, finding ways to win.
He couldn't stop himself. His mind was taken away by all the tiny movements of the young girl. He wasn't even saying anything during his chase. Simply focusing on her every action, her every facial expression, her voice.
"Niisama, I don't want to lose! Ah...! Just a little bit longer... just a little bit more then I'll win...!"
10 seconds more.
How did this happen? Well——
"Yay! Training's ended! Ne Chou-nii, can we play after all the training? I kinda want to play with everyone else after learning some new ninpou!"
Ennosuke asked while helping his teacher tidy up the shurikens, putting them back into a big leather bag.
"I agree! Let's have fun! Is it alright, Chou-nii?"
Kyara asked while retying her long red ponytail.
"I want to play too, Chōjirō-niisama!"
Kasumi said.
Their teacher turned to them after finished tidying up the equipments they just used for training. His eyes unconsciously searched for one of his disciples, who was drinking water silently next to Kyara with a bamboo suitou, a container that was used as a water bottle.
Noticing her teacher's cold gaze, she felt nervous and choked on the water for a second, but she quickly controlled her composure and looked back at him with big blue eyes, as clear as the sky.
"I... want to have fun too. With niisama."
The young girl said as her tense lips slowly formed into a small smile, telling her teacher about her opinion.
"Hm. Fine then. Play whatever you want. Everyone, you all did a good job today."
"Yes!!!"
They all cheered.
"What should we play?"
Kyara asked.
"Mm... why don't we play onigokko?"
"Oh yes Ennosuke-niisama!"
Kasumi replied.
"That's a great game Ennosuke, it's beneficial for your physical fitness as a shinobi. A great running exercise for all of you."
Their teacher spoke while finding a place to sit, preparing to look after them as they played.
"Ooosh! That's been decided then! Let's play everyone!"
Ennosuke spoke happily as he ran off to a broader field of grasslands compared to the one at the training grounds. Kasumi jogged behind him with a smile and Kyara walked alongside her.
While walking halfway along with Ennosuke and the others, Enju suddenly stopped her footsteps as if she had forgotten about something important. She turned around and looked at her teacher with a tint of nervousness.
He looked back at her with confusion.
"Enju? What's wrong?"
The young girl walked towards him slowly with small footsteps. Her teacher was sitting on a log.
"I thought niisama was going to play with us too..."
Her head lowered down slightly. Her eyes looked at the large shadow casted on the patch of grass in front of her. His shadow.
"...You want me to play with you?"
He asked with a soothing but emotionless voice.
"Mm. If... you don't mind."
The girl glanced up at him with her head still lowered down, but blinking her big round blue eyes at him.
...
Silence filled between them.
...
Maybe I'm asking too much of him...
As she was about to apologise, she noticed his change of expression. A gentle gaze landed upon her.
"Okay."
He smiled softly.
After hearing his reply, the girl grabbed his sleeves with a huge smile and started to lead him towards the broad field of grasslands that were full of children.
"Everyone! Niisama is going to play with us too!"
She pulled his sleeves and they walked together.
"C-Chou-niisama is going to... play...?"
"With us...?"
Kasumi and Kyara asked with disbelief as they couldn't imagine the kind of image where their strict teacher would join and play with them. Just the thought of it made them feel humorous.
"Well! More people more fun! Isn't it? I'm sure that'll make a fun game for us!"
Ennosuke said.
"Oh... though, since Chou-nii's in the game... there's a very low chance that we get to win... haha..."
"But no doubt it'll be fun if niisama's here! I hope you have fun with us too, niisama."
Enju giggled and glanced up at him, observing his expression.
Niisama looks gentler than usual. He looks... soft, today. ...I guess I really like niisama's bob hair, he looks surprisingly adorable... like this.
His short purple hair was whipping around his face in the wind. His emerald eyes looked down at her softly, not his usual sharp glare, just a gentle gaze.
The boy reached out his hand and patted her head in exchange for his words.
They did rock-paper-scissors to determine the "oni", the person who was supposed to "tag" others to win, and that person turned out to be Chōjirō.
10 seconds left!
10 seconds left then she would win the game.
I'm going to win I'm going to win! Niisama's not fair! How could he be only chasing after me but not the others?!That's not how the game's supposed to work!
5 more seconds until her victory.
"I'm going to make it! I just need to run faster and hide behind that tree then I'll lose hi-"
"Fufu, caught you."
He successfully chased her down right when she was about to win.
"...!"
"Oh! Enju's the "oni" now!"
Ennosuke shouted as he ran away from the girl, just like everyone else.
"N..Niisamaaa! I'm hunting you down!"
Enju parted her pouty lips and exclaimed.
"Fu."
Young Chōjirō let out a chuckle and ran at a speed that she could never catch him.
"Hm! I...! I'm not giving up, niisama!"
"Oh, a revenge against Chou-nii? I guess we don't need to run after all since Enju's not going after us!"
Kyara said loudly.
"Hahahaha! It was funny how Enju-neesama was being chased by Chou-niisama just now!"
Kasumi laughed while looking at the current game, Enju was chasing after Chōjirō in desperation.
"Ne! Enju did a pretty job though! Knowing Chou-nii's unrelenting physical strength, it was hard to maintain that long without being tagged!"
Kyara said.
"I think Chou-nii actually slowed down his pace deliberately and saved for the last few seconds to catch Enju though..."
Ennosuke thought as he said.
"Mm, well... it would seem so..."
Kyara looked at their chase, Chōjirō was running at inhuman speed. Enju was panting extremely heavily, but she looked so desperate to catch the young boy.
"Enju-neesama... good luck..."
"Niisama... Niisama... Niisama...aaaa!! You're so mean to me...!!!"
As the chase continued, an unexpected silhouette showed up from afar and walked towards their current "playground". The young boy blinked his round yellow eyes at his teacher and his princess with confusion, stunned by his view.
"Enju-sama...? Chōjirō-dono...?"
His princess was chasing after his strict teacher with all her might. In contrast, his teacher looked relaxed while running away from her, he was apparently different from his usual self. He looked like he was having fun with his disciples. He gasped at the sight laid before him again.
Kyara, Ennosuke, and Kasumi were standing far away from the two.
"H-hey everyone! What's going on?"
The boy asked.
"Gekkamaru-niisama!"
The youngest among them, Kasumi smiled and waved at him.
"Oh! Gekka-nii's back! Haha! Look Gekka-nii! Your Enju-sama is so desperate chasing after Chou-nii! Isn't it funny?"
Kyara put a hand on his shoulder after he had arrived at the "playground".
"What's happening?"
The young boy asked, confused.
Ennosuke explained how their teacher was being mean to Enju in their previous game, which was why Enju was trying to hunt him down.
Spotting the contrast in their physical strength, and that Enju was starting to lose her breath, Gekkamaru immediately revealed an expression full of worry.
"Enju-sama, stop! I'll help you chase after Chōjirō-dono!"
The boy said and ran after them instantly.
"Gekkamaru-niisama?!"
"Ooh! Something's fun definitely going to happen, I'm sure. Let's watch everyone!"
"Fufufu."
Enju was glaring at her teacher with pouty lips while chasing after him, he was chuckling, somehow mischievously. Enju never knew that side of him, she was happy to see that of course... but, she was more determined to catch him rather than observing his rare expressions at that moment.
"Niisama! I won't give up chasing after you...! Ha...! Ha...!"
Chōjirō wasn't even panting, he deliberately let her ran close to him, and quickly dodged every time she attempted to touch him.
"M...muuuu! Niisama is so mean to me!"
He pulled back himself when she almost reached her hand out to him, which made her feel very frustrated. Her eyes even started to get teary due to the never-ending chase.
"Mu... niisama... let me catch you..."
Suddenly, a figure jumped behind her teacher, blocking his escape route.
"Enju-sama! Now!"
A boy shouted as he stretched out his arms towards the side, preventing his teacher from running further away.
Not expecting that, young Chōjirō widened his eyes for a second, but quickly ran sideways towards a thick and tall tree for his hideout.
"Gekkamaru...! Thank you for your help! Niisama's hiding over there! Let's chase him down!"
"Enju-sama! You need to drink water first! You've been running out of breath! What if you hurt yourself from the chase? You know, it's hard to hunt down Chōjirō-dono..."
"I don't care! Niisama's being so mean to me and I'm going to return him the flavour! Kyara! Kasumi! Ennosuke! Don't just stand and watch! Let's chase after niisama together!"
"Doesn't that sound fun? Let's go after Chou-nii everyone!"
Kyara laughed as she ran to the thick tree that her teacher was hiding behind.
"Hm!"
Young Chōjirō jumped over her with a backflip and ran away, his eyes were searching for a certain girl.
"Ah! He escaped!"
"Chōjirō-dono! Let's stop this!"
Gekkamaru even reached to his sword, but young Chōjirō easily dodged his attacks and ran towards a different direction.
Where is Enju?
Despite his effort of dodging all their attacks, all his disciples were still going after him.
"Oi oi, is this not just a game anymore? Why do I see shurikens being thrown around the area???"
Ennosuke exclaimed. He saw Kyara throwing her shurikens towards their teacher.
"Hey Kyara! Stop! This is dangerous!"
As Ennosuke tried to stopped her, young Chōjirō kicked the back of Kyara with both of his feet instantly as he jumped, stopping her attacks.
"Ah!"
"This is indeed a great exercise for a shinobi."
He murmured as he smiled mischievously.
"Niisamaaaaaa!"
As he turned around and reacted to the voice he was searching for, a small hand grasped his clothes to prevent him from running away. The young girl was gripping onto the white cloth that wrapped around his waist.
His emerald eyes widened.
"I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!"
...
"Is it... over...?"
Ennosuke panted heavily.
"Thank you everyone for helping me catch niisama."
The young girl said as she pouted, "niisama's being so mean to me."
Everyone's gazes landed on young Chōjirō, who was struggling to find his words for his childish actions.
"Ne Chou-nii, why did you hunt down Enju so desperately in the precious chase?"
Ennosuke asked.
"...I'm... sorry."
He simply answered.
"I was distracted for quite a while... Enju, are you hurt...?"
Enju closed her eyes and turned away from him stubbornly, ignoring her teacher.
"Gekkamaru, thank you!"
She turned to her bodyguard instead.
"Haha. I'm glad you didn't hurt yourself, Enju-sama."
"En-"
"Aa—! I'm tired! Why don't we head back, everyone?"
"..."
Enju's voice overlapped Chōjirō's every time he attempted to speak to her. She didn't want to hear any of his apologies.
"Enju, I-"
"Oh! I don't want to hear I don't want to hear!"
She covered her ears with both of her small hands and shook her head vigorously.
"Let's go! Gekkamaru!"
She reached her hand out towards her bodyguard instead, she grasped his arm.
"Un, but..."
Gekkamaru looked back and forth between his princess and his teacher with a troubled expression, still standing there.
"...Enju..."
Chōjirō tried to speak to her again and revealed an apologetic expression.
"Are you... mad... at me? I'm sorry about that, but somehow... I couldn't help but want to keep seeing you chasing after me... you looked... adorable, back then."
It might be the word, "adorable" that made her cheeks flushed. Her body reacted to his words and she felt her cheeks sizzled, her round blue eyes blinked at the ground for a few times, comprehending what he just said.
Reluctantly, she let go of her bodyguard's arm and turned to him.
"Wh-what did you just say, niisama?"
She put her hands in front of her chest, asking him with a blush, but still pouting at him.
"I said you look adorable."
"..."
Everyone gasped at their teacher's words.
"Eh...?"
Gekkamaru looked at Chōjirō unbelievably, confused about what he just thought of his Enju-sama.
"Sorry Enju... forgive me. I wasn't acting like myself back then. Also, I'm sorry Kyara, for kicking your back, I was trying to stop you from throwing your shurikens..."
"...I-it's okay Chou-nii! I'm sorry too, for throwing shurikens out of nowhere... I guess I got too hyped... Anyway, we had fun! Right, everyone?"
"Y..yes we did! All of us were chasing Chou-nii and it was kinda hilarious! Well, I had fun!"
Ennosuke said.
Gradually, the grasslands were filled with laughter.
Chōjirō averted his eyes from Enju because he knew that she was still frustrated about his odd behaviour. As he started to blame himself for his childish actions, he felt a soft tug at his sleeve. He turned to see Enju beside him.
"...niisama, what do you mean when you said... that, I... looked... adorable?"
"...That's just what it means. You looked so adorable when you was running away from me... I couldn't stop myself from teasing you... but now I regret what I did... of course."
"...! ... E-even if you said something like that, I- I'm not going to forgive you easily, just because... of your flattery."
"Flattery? ... Oh... I see."
He said quietly.
Maybe it was because Gekkamaru had just finished accomplishing his mission, he was very excited to stay beside Enju again.
At first, she felt happy that he was there for her company. He followed her to her estate, he cooked her food, he told her about his 2-day journey and gave her another souvenir. This time, it was a moon-shaped keychain, he told her she could attach it to her sword.
"Thank you Gekkamaru! This looks really pretty!"
The accessory was attached with a red string, Enju tied it around the handle of her sword and smiled.
"Hehe, I'm glad you like it."
The reason he always chose the moon-shaped accessories was because of his name, of course.
The first kanji from his name, "月", means moon, and Gekka, "月下", means moonlight.
Whenever he saw her using them, he felt like she was slowly being immersed with the colour of his soul... his name. Most of all, seeing her put on the accessories he gave her made him feel like that she— had accepted his feelings.
It was selfish of him, but he didn't realise it himself, that giving her accessories wasn't for her but for his own self-satisfaction, that he wanted to make her his, in an extremely subtle way.
...
"Thank you for your company today, Gekkamaru, but you don't need to go after me, I can go there by myself."
"Why?"
"I want to go training..."
He never understood why she was so desperate for becoming a shinobi.
"But you've already trained this morning with Kyara and the others before playing onigokko."
"Yes, but I'm still so far behind... I want to train again, but I know you don't like me training so hard, so I'll go by myself."
"...It's better if I go with you."
"You really don't need to."
No matter what she said, he was following her everywhere and it annoyed Enju a little, which led to this kind of outcome—
Enju was finally alone. Gekkamaru lost sight of her because she ran away from him. She was in the middle of the woods, a totally different area from the usual training grounds. However, she didn't mind and started her training anyway.
...
The sun started to set and the sky turned orange. Enju slowly glanced up at the sunset after performing her last attack from the ninpou Chōjirō taught her. She then frowned at the sun that was starting to hide behind the pinkish clouds. Her heart was filled with insecure and worry. After all, she didn't know where she was.
Don't worry. It'll be fine. Gekkamaru will find me. He was still looking for me everywhere just a while ago... before he lost me.
She was starting to regret her actions, that she stubbornly left her one and only bodyguard.
The sun got dimmer and dimmer.
She sat next to a robust tree, her arms hugging her legs. Come to think about it, the injuries she got at the teahouse had still not yet recovered. She softly touched the bandages that were taped on her elbows and knees by her admired shinobi.
Her mind then wandered to him.
I still haven't told niisama that I've forgiven him. Actually, I'm not that mad at him anymore... After all, I did have my fun when he was chasing after me.
She hugged her legs more tightly and leaned her back against the thick tree.
It was true that he was mean to me, but I got to see some of his rare expressions today too. I saw him smirk today. Hehe, he looked like he was having so much fun when he was chasing after me. I also heard a lot of his mischievous giggles today too.
"Niisama..."
The sky got darker gradually.
"Uu..."
The young girl covered her face with both of her small hands as she started to sob. She felt scared in the dark. No one was there. She heard nothing but the faint sounds of crickets and her own sobs. Her silent tears fell down to the patch of grass softly.
I shouldn't cry. This is not that scary. Maybe I should find the way home myself. It shouldn't be this hard.
She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand as she thought, prepared to search the way home by herself.
Before the sun became nowhere to be seen, she heard something moved behind her. She quickly lifted her head up and held a shuriken in one of her hands. Despite her teary eyes, she tried to glare at the target fiercely to make herself look strong, in case anyone wanted to hurt her.
Oh...
"Found you."
However, what greeted her was nothing intimidating but a soothing and calming voice.
"Come on, let's go home."
The boy said as he landed over his greyish handkerchief to her.
"Uu... hai."
The young girl grabbed his handkerchief to wipe off her remaining tears and quickly stood up, reaching to his sleeves. It was the end of dusk already, darkness had landed upon the ground with dim moonlight. She tugged at his sleeves with her small hands, they were shivering a little.
"...T-thank you, for picking me up, niisama."
She stuttered as she thanked him, because she still hadn't told him that she had already forgiven him, so it was weird to thank him, she thought.
"Don't run off to somewhere like this next time, I can't say it's not dangerous staying here."
"..."
"Gekkamaru is worried sick about you at the moment, let's tell him you're alright."
...
"...niisama."
"Hm?
"I... um, I forgive you."
"...! Is it so? Fufu, thank you Enju, I'm really glad. Sorry for not acting like myself this morning."
Chōjirō revealed an expression full of relief while feeling the strong tug at his clothes.
"Actually... I think niisama should play with us more. Niisama, you had fun this morning, right?"
"I did... but I upset you. ...I'm sorry."
"N-no! ... I mean, I want niisama to have fun too... I'm not upset anymore. I was just mad because you was being mean to me. You picked on me..."
"Oh, I... that wasn't my intention. I'm sorry that you feel this way. I just thought... you looked adorable, my mind was solely on you when I knew I needed to tag a person to win the game..."
"..."
The young girl felt her cheeks sizzled again. This time, she found the heat almost unbearable.
"I thought you looked lovely. The way you pouted at me... it looked really cute. I couldn't stop myself from chasing you down, because I wanted to see it longer. Enju, I... really wasn't picking on you. Ha... I guess that doesn't sound convincible to you though, does it?"
"..."
"Enju? Why are you not saying anything back to me...? Are you still mad? Or, do you not believe me after all?"
Niisama wanted to see me pout at him? For a little bit longer? So he chased me down but not the others?
What is that.
What kind of reason is that.
...
She felt her heart beating rapidly.
"Enju?"
"D-don't say anymore. Niisama, I feel strange..."
"Strange? What...? What did I say?"
As a man who barely knew emotions, he was quite a thickhead in this particular aspect indeed. He never realised these kinds of emotions and words only came out of his mouth when he was talking to her.
He never said this to anyone else. Only to her. That was because she was special to him. These sentences themselves were definitely not something he would normally say.
"I just thought you looked adorable."
"My mind was solely on you."
"I thought you looked lovely."
Her heart reacted to his words.
My cheeks feel hot. I wonder why. My heart is beating oddly fast too. This is strange. If niisama says any more, I feel like my heart will beat too fast that I might die, so I told him to stop saying. However, when he asked what it was that made me feel weird, I... didn't really know what to answer.
It is true that most people would feel embarrassed if the other told them that they were adorable, but maybe the young girl was overthinking about the matter too much... due to something else, something about her personal feelings. This might not have been something she would fuss about if she merely thought of him as her big brother. After all, it isn't surprising for elder relatives to tell their younger ones that they look adorable and pretty, and all that kind of stuff.
However, she felt strange. She didn't only feel embarrassed, but she put his words into her heart and repeated them like a broken radio.
Something's wrong with me...
Little did she know, she felt this way because she didn't see him only as a family member.
"N-nothing, but it's true that I've forgiven you, niisama."
"That's great to hear."
A small smile formed on his lips.
"Hm...? ...Enju, you must have got scared when you was all by yourself. Are you still scared? Your hands are shivering."
"...!"
Chōjirō felt the trembling in her tiny hands because they were gripping onto his clothes tightly. After all, the sky had turned pitch black, even the sounds of night owls could be heard in the deep woods.
"Enju, I'm here. Don't need to be afraid. You can stay closer to me if you need to."
Instead of walking behind his back, she walked to his side and clutched his purple sleeves again, then she wrapped both of her arms around his left arm. She looked up at him under the moonlight, blinking her big round blue eyes at him innocently.
It was an adorable view.
Chōjirō's heart tightened at the sight all of a sudden without realising it himself. Despite his heart and mind being insensitive and stoic to emotions and feelings, his right hand landed on the top of her head by itself and patted the young girl's head lightly.
The girl then showed him a smile full of bliss and hugged his left arm with all her might.
Eventually, they headed home safely together— she replayed his words like a radio inside her head as she slept.
Author's note
This chapter will be the one that concludes their childhood! From next chapter onwards, their ages will be the ones which we are all familiar with:
Kasumi: 8-- 15
Enju: 9-- 16
Kuroyuki: 9-- 16
Kyara: 10-- 17
Ennosuke: 11-- 18
Gekkamaru: 12-- 19
Chōjirō: 16-- 23
That being said, the story is going to move towards the main plot. However, I'm still planning to add some more extra chapters before that because I want to dig into their relationships a little bit more, so it should take a while until then. Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!