Firefly Village, Noble Residents, Near Daimyo's Palace
Arms crossed, legs crossed like the young lady that I was, and glaring forward, red eyes fierce. I heard the carriage come closer and closer along with some footsteps of who I assume were the guards. Closer and closer the footsteps came as I straightened my back proudly, continuing to glare forward, not bothering to look or pay any respect to the corrupt welp on his literal high horse. The footsteps stopped as a singular guard came towards me. "Damn, I need to deal with the out-of-control roach infestation in this village someday," I said in thought.
Daimyo's Carriage
"Who the hell is this child? No one taught her any respect it seems, well, don't mind if I do," I said as I halted the carriage, seeing the angered face of Kusatta sama glaring at the child. Taking out my sword and making my way closer to the brat who refused to acknowledge the Daimyo, I quickly moved close and pressed my blade against her neck, "You will show Daimyo sama some respect child, now stand up and bow, on your knees, do it now!" She sat there, now glaring at me with those creepy red eyes causing a slight shiver down my spine. "What kind of child has red eyes? And those tattoos?" I asked myself mentally as I glared back at her, pressing my sword to her neck slightly harder, nearly drawing blood. At that moment, a hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back slightly, I turned to see it was my comrade, Onara. "Look closely, Oshikko," he said, pointing at the girl as I turned to her, only to see an extended battle fan, which looked like she was readying to take my head off with it. "Let's get moving, it's not worth it," said Kusatta sama. I turned back to glare at the child as she stared at me blankly, "Hm, you should be thankful little one," I sneered as she continued to stare through me. I turned back to Kusatta sama and bowed, before becking the horses to continue to move forward, towards the residence of Daimyo sama.
Firefly Village: The Unprescribed Painkiller
"Hm, the smell of filth, I'll remember that," I said in thought as I tucked away my battle fan, seeing in the corner of my eyes the carriage moving deeper into the residential area. "Making enemies with the Daimyo already?" Ariana spoke, earning a smirk from me, "He's too much of a man kicked in the testicles to force me to be a servant for my punishment." I spoke in thought. A moment passed before Ariana spoke, "You wanted to become a servant? Why?" I giggled softly, "My thinking was, since I didn't show him the respect he didn't earn, he was going to force me into servitude as a punishment, helping me gain access to the palace without much issue, outside of hurt to my pride to bow to that insect," I explained in exasperation. "I guess, I'm going to have to do this another way, eh?" I said softly, getting up and glancing at the carriage, seeing that they were a great distance away. I glanced up at the sun, seeing that it was nearing the horizon, and looked around to see if anyone was watching. Seeing no one in my immediate location, I walked to a nearby side street and channeled my chakra, before transforming into a crow and taking off.
I turned and followed the carriage at a distance, analyzing the guards. "Yup, just some poor excuses of samurai, these guys wouldn't know honor if it smacked them. Better yet, they probably couldn't swing a lasso to catch a chicken, I wonder if they may have some chakra-trained guards anywhere in the residence." I thought as I finally saw them arrive at the large mansion of the Daimyo. I landed on a roof nearby and started picking at my feathers like a normal bird, all while secretly watching and listening to them. The chubby Daimyo made his way out of the carriage, rocking the thing to the point that the guards had to hold it steady so it didn't tip over.
"Ah, well, be ready for tomorrow's meeting, we'll be having some negotiations so it'll be a bit of a long one," said the Daimyo as he started on his way to the mansion door. One of the guards quickly moved to open the door after the other guard stood by the horses. I saw the Daimyo walk into his residence as the guard returned to the horses, "Who was that girl? How the hell did she move that fast?" One of the guards asked the other as he got on top of one of the horses. "I have no idea, but she was about to take your head off, we should find that brat and bring her before Daimyo sama, she'll learn her place," said the other guard. His teammate scoffed before answering, "Daimyo sama said to not worry too much, she should be thankful we spared her, we could have sold someone like her off to the highest buyer, maybe someone like Ryu sama would've enjoyed her." He said as they started walking away with the carriage.
I continued to watch, anger rising inside me, but I managed to quell it, for now. "Of course, that jackass would've been in the same bed as the Daimyo of this village, the vast world of corruption never fails to astonish me," I said in thought before taking off towards the village center. "It seems you have your work cut out for you," Ariana said, earning an inward grunt from me, "Yeah, but before we clean up trash, we must take care of the scavengers," I answered. "You mean that you have bigger targets right now?" Ariana asked. "Indeed, we will be moving to deal with one of the puppetmasters shortly, the war will be starting soon, and we'll use that chaos to execute our plans," I responded as I made my way over to the village center and headed in the direction of Benihime forest.
Benihime Forest: The Creative Mind to Work
Once again, I found myself taking slow breaths, channeling my chakra around me to create a powerful pressure, being careful not to force it. As I was about to release the pressure, I imagined a powerful force of an unstoppable nature. I released the pressure as a powerful wind swept through the area, more powerful than before, causing the water of the lake to form a large wave or more like a small tsunami. The wind was so powerful, that the trees all around me, swayed violently, nearly breaking a few of them as they creaked in stress. The poor trees didn't catch a break as the waves caused earlier crashed into them, making their situation worse. I let out a breath that I didn't realize I was holding, finally able to create a powerful wind. Now, it's time to refine my control of the wild force of nature, something like that could probably wipe out a small group of shinobi. I smirked at my success before getting back to focus, taking a break from the wind jutsu training and now focusing on a more basic jutsu. "Very nice," Ari responded, as I stepped off of the surface of the lake, "Thanks, but that was only the easy part since I'm literally trying to control nature itself, and not creating it with my lungs, the real training starts with trying to control it and turning it into what I imagine," I answered back.
As I finally made my way to the shore, I looked up to see the high moon in the sky. With a shrug, I turned to a nearby log, I walked to it then fixed it upright again, and pulled out one of my Wakazashi blades. I sliced the blade into the ground a meter to the right of the log, leaving most of the blade standing up out of the ground. I took a few steps back in preparation, now standing roughly four meters away. "Here goes nothing," I said as I channeled my chakra then flipped through a few hand signs, and imagined myself switching places with the log in front of me. After a short moment and a poof sound, I successfully switched places with the log, although I was slightly disorientated because of the transition. I was slightly surprised I wasn't worse off, but then chalked it up to my enhanced vision and my flight training making me used to high speeds. "Damn, that was easy," I said as I recovered just as swiftly, "Hm, probably because it's something similar to my mass or height," I finished before channeling my chakra and repeating the hand signs, this time trying to fine-tune my chakra as much a possible.
After another moment, I once again switched places with the log, returning it to its original spot, only this time without the smoke and poof sound. "You have mastered the kawarimi no jutsu, your ninjutsu has increased slightly," Ariana quipped. I chuckled slightly before responding, "No I haven't, but I'm about to-" I trailed off as I focused on the Wakazashi blade and channeled my chakra once more. Once again, I successfully changed spots with my blade, causing it to fall to the ground where I stood last. "Amenotejikara Machigai: Success," I spoke, letting a confident smirk cross my face. "False Heavenly-Hand Power? How creative of you," the clearly sarcastic voice of Ariana chirped as my smirk widened to a devious grin, "Hm, best that I can do," I responded. I channeled my chakra once more, finely tuning it again before repeating the jutsu, once again managing to stand in my original spot. I sighed, now feeling my chakra level reach the point of needing a break, I sat down by the edge of the river bank, pondering on what am I going to do tomorrow.
"Ariana, I think I will see Akito tomorrow, I don't want to spend my birthday alone anymore," I said in thought. Tomorrow was my birthday again, July 1st, and this time I want to spend it with actual people and people that made me feel...warmth. A feeling that I haven't felt in a while if I could even remember. "Understandable, however, I assume you still feel just as conflicted as earlier," Ariana spoke correctly. I let out a sigh of resignation, "Yep," I said simply, already aware of my developing feelings, still feeling horrible about the situation. "Just take your time," Ariana responded as I brushed my hair still pondering my feelings. Maybe it wasn't wrong to feel this way? I can't really control who I have feelings for, it just...sort of...happens. However, what I can control are my actions that could follow. Of course, to him, at least before I tell him the truth, won't see much of a problem, but that brings up another problem. How will he feel after I admit the truth? Should I tell him the truth of my last life? Keep something like this from one of the only people I could possibly be closer with in the future, along with his family. I groaned as I flipped my hair behind me, already regretting going to the library.
Bringing my knees to my chest and allowing my head to rest on them, I let out a pained breath, "It's like no matter what option I choose, I'll still be alone," I said quietly, seeing that even if I became friends or more than friends with someone, I may never be able to completely honest unless I risk ruining the relationship with the truth. Perhaps it may be for the best to keep something like this secret, even to the people I am closest to in this world. "I feel slightly offended, but, I see your point," Ariana spoke, bringing me out of my thoughts. I smiled slightly, "Sorry, but I would like the feeling of a person again, at least at some point," I finished, as silence took over, only the sounds of crickets echoed around me.
Firefly Village: This is Definitely Not A Date
"Come, come...you'll like this place, mom took me here for my 6th birthday," said the excited boy as he pulled me along to what looked like a small pond in the eastern part of the village, just south of the merchant center. The bright light of the sun shined down on the pond that had a red wooden bridge that went across it along with a multitude of different flowers on the outer edges of the pond. I gasped slightly, completely forgetting about my hand being squeezed all the way here. Apparently, I also didn't notice my hand being released and Akito turning bright red, spluttering over his words as I remained focused on the scene in front of me. "Wow..." I said in awe as we stood on the bridge overlooking the pond, "It's so...pretty, I haven't even known something like this was in this village," I spoke, oblivious to my friend's predicament.
Firefly Village, Inochiryoku Pond: Or Is It?
Never in my life, I would've thought that I would rest my eyes on something so beautiful. Yes, the pond looks nice, but looking at the shining red eyes of Katomi chan, which were fixated on the view in front of us. I've spent 8 long years living and only now have I come across someone like her, mom always said something like, "You should focus on your studies and sooner or later a smart girl will find you." As much as I feel...funny...about her, I feel as if I am equally intrigued by her. After waking up the other day after my totally embarrassing word slip when I first saw her beautiful eyes, what caught me by surprise was the strange tattoos on her face. I mean, who would give tattoos to only a child? And, well, "child" is a weird term to use on someone like her, she acts more like my mom than the other kids my age. I mean yeah, I'm technically a big boy, but she acts so...calm and mature...seriously, it's like she is literally my Mom. The feeling of heat rose to my cheeks while I stared at her absentmindedly and at the weird title I had just given her.
She turned to me and started looking confused as every moment passed. "Uh, are you alright?" She asked as I swallowed nervously, why did Mom not allow Dad to get that one book I asked about in the romance section? "I-I-I-I-I'm fine, honestly," I said while instinctively scratching my hair. I absolutely wasn't fine at all, I felt like my stomach was going to detach itself and fly away, which would not do well for the plans we had for later today for her birthday, where we planned a celebration dinner at my family's home. "L-let's go to the shorefront and get a closer look!" She said before grabbing my hand as we jogged off of the bridge and made our way to some of the flowers underneath a tree. We finally arrived and Katomi immediately tugged me to the ground while gently touching one of the plants. At that moment, a peaceful and, in my honest opinion, a gorgeous smile crossed her face as she seemingly looked content with life at the moment. The key word was, "Seemingly", because while her pretty white teeth were showing in a smile, her eyes looked like they had a range of emotions.
I watched her in curiosity, trying to decipher the emotions that she was doing a fine job at hiding. I just met her the other day and yet she's already met my father and tonight my mother, along with us being out on this, um, this, um, sightseeing...tourism...guide thing, yeah that. Mom said a gentleman must show the Fairlady around the world, and treat her as a princess. But I couldn't stop thinking about one glaring problem, she never told me about her parents or about how she got those tattoos, or where she goes to sleep. Does she have a home somewhere? Not to mention how she's always wearing the most beautiful kimonos that I have ever seen. She's not the daughter of the fat stacked Daimyo, she would've spat at my existence if that were the case, and she would have not been nearly as nice as she is now. I decided to try to get to know her slightly more and moved to get information as politely as possible.
"Uh, Katomi, forgive me for asking, but, would you like for me to meet your parents?" I asked quietly and as nicely as possible, not knowing her situation. One of my other friends, who sadly moved to the Fire Capital last year, lost his parents and was raised by his Aunt, but she doesn't look much like an orphan. At that moment, she stiffened as her hand fell to her lap, hand clenched tightly. I immediately felt remorse for my foolishness, as I was about to apologize, she spoke in the coldest, most unemotional way that I have ever heard. "Dead and abandoned," she said, her red eyes glaring at the pond surface as I felt a heavy force blanket the area around us. That strange feeling ruffled the flowers and the surface of the water, as all sounds outside of my beating heart completely halted. My breath caught in my throat as I reached up to my neck, slowly choking on nothing. Blood. Red. So much blood. Fire. Those were some of the visions that I saw in my eyes as I slowly suffocated.
Just as quickly as everything started, it left instantly, causing me to fall to my back, shaking in absolute fear. I felt a hand grab my hand gently, seemingly shaking about as much as mine. "Akito...I'm so sorry-" Katomi said in a light, shaking tone, it seemed as if she was about to cry. I couldn't move, I was still paralyzed in fear, I didn't want to move, not even a twitch. She moved to sit beside me on her knees, using one of her hands to lift my head off of the ground as her head was leveled above me. She looked down at me biting her bottom lip as tears started falling from her face onto mine. "Please...I'm so sorry," she said in a completely broken tone, now starting to sob lightly. Not wanting her to be sad over something that was my fault, I raised my hand, which was still shaking, and cupped her face, wiping away some of the tears. She looked shocked for a moment before allowing me to clean her face off, her hand remained around my other hand.
"No, it's my fault, I shouldn't have asked, I was unaware that it was such a sensitive topic," I managed to say, still trying to calm down my heart. She shook her head slightly before grabbing the hand I used to cup her face, before moving to lay her head on my chest, continuing to hold my hands. A moment passed, and if it were any other time, I may have fainted by now, however, now wasn't the time. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm so sorry," she whispered as her head was just below my chin. I smiled slightly, enjoying the scent of the forest in her hair, which smelled like a mixture of grass, flowers of all types, and sweet nectar. She sighed before speaking once more in the same soft tone, "My father...is dead...I killed him." My body stilled once more in shock, she killed him? Why? How? I stayed silent, preventing myself from judging the angel on top of me without knowing her story first. "He used to ignore me for my entire childhood, he was usually drunk and argued with my mother about money. Apparently, someone stole something from the shop he owned, which were things that the Yakuza gangsters wanted. He was already in debt, and the theft made things worse, so, he decided to sell me to the thugs. The Yakuza were also going to sell me into sex slavery, but I managed to escape," she finished.
My mind went blank for a moment, completely shocked at her life story before she continued once more. "My mother also left me alone for much of my early life and one day, she left...completely abandoning me to my father," she finished. After she finished her story, I released my hands from her grasp and wrapped my arms around her, causing her to stiffen slightly once more, before relaxing into my embrace, and letting out a shaky sigh. I pressed my head onto the top of hers, hugging her tightly for perhaps the first time in her life until now. To go through that and still be here, she truly was an angel. I don't think I would've been as strong as her, not even enough to live in her shoes for one day. If my father and mother had abandoned me as hers did, I would have killed myself out of a sheer desire to escape the pain. It was at this moment, that Katomi fell silent and started to shake slightly, once again quietly sobbing into my chest. I moved one of my arms from her back to rest on top of her head, gently pressing her into me. There's no way I will allow her to be so broken ever again, she deserves the world. We laid like this for a forgotten amount of time, simply enjoying each other's company as the background chatter of the village grew faint.