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Throwing Stones
Chapter Thirty-Six: Needed Change
Kagome smiled as Eri tailed after her wherever she went. The girl had Ohagi cradled in her arms as she walked, creating an adorable image.
"Oh please let me make something for her! She is just too cute!" Kenji squealed with delight as they held up an array of decorative ribbons that they thought would suit her.
"Sorry Kenji but no sewing machines or needles allowed. I'd let you otherwise." She offered them an apologetic smile, "I'd love to see some designs though."
It was a pity, though. She really did want to see what sort of clothing Kenji would make for Eri.
She reluctantly had to admit that asking Aizawa to bring the child a new set of clothes had been a major mistake. He'd bought her a garish green jumpsuit decorated in cats in a hideous display. She'd never judged her mentor's sense of fashion but she couldn't bring herself to put the jumpsuit on Eri either. Kenji had called the outfit an atrocity against fashion. She had to thank her mentor for being so thoughtful and that she would put it in Eri's closet for when she felt like wearing it. That seemed to appease him just enough as the chaos died down soon afterwards.
Currently she was able to use some of her own old clothes for the girl while Hawks went out shopping for new ones.
Maybe she could sneak a sewing machine and some fabric to Kenji though? All of their designs were absolutely gorgeous.
"Careful," Touya gently guided Eri away from some books that were strewn across the library's floor. "Don't go tripping and hurting yourself, kid."
Eri shied away from him, her hands clutching Ohagi closer to her chest.
Touya noticed but opted to give the girl her space.
They'd noticed early on that Eri was extremely wary of new people. She was the only one she felt comfortable with at the moment. The child still flinched and hid behind her whenever anyone else approached. Currently, she wanted to test Eri's reading and writing skills. It was important to keep up with her education despite the strange situation they found themselves in.
Touya took up a seat in the far corner of the room as he pulled a mystery novel from the shelf beside him. Kenji followed them into the library and began pouring over some fashion history books she'd bought specifically for them.
"Here we go," Kagome helped Eri into a seat. "Let's get you started."
Aizawa had brought over some learning supplies as well just in case. So this would serve as a good benchmark on where Eri was academically.
"Are you able to read?" Kagome kept her voice soft as she questioned the young girl.
"A little." Eri responded in kind.
Kagome pulled a chart of hiragana characters and pushed it towards here.
"Let's just go over the basics first. There's no harm if you have trouble with anything, okay?" Kagome then gestured towards the first character.
"A," Eri pronounced it correctly.
She then went through the first series of lone syllables. As expected, Eri aced through the first section. As Kagome proceeded through the rest of the hiragana chart, she noticed Eri struggling more the further down they went.
"And this one?" Kagome pointed for the character 'ha'. It was used interchangeably for 'wa' in specific contexts, so she didn't blame the child when the girl's brows scrunched in confusion and she fell silent.
"This one is 'ha'. Next to it is 'hi'." She then finished out the rest of the chart with Eri.
It would seem that she hadn't managed to memorize the full table yet. Trying to introduce katakana or basic kanji would be off the table for the moment. For now, she just wanted to get Eri comfortable with the building blocks of their written language.
The rest of the lesson went about she'd expected. Eri still struggled to memorize the last half of the chart. It wasn't good to stress her out, so they would practice little by little every day until it became second nature to her.
"I'm sorry," Eri sniffled as tears welled in her eyes. "I'm sorry." She apologized again.
"What is there to be sorry for?" Kagome kept her tone soothing as she brought the girl to her side in a show of affection. "When I was your age, I was extremely stubborn about learning anything. My mom had to chase me through the house because I wouldn't sit still long enough to memorize any of the characters."
She heard Touya cover his snort of laughter with a cough.
Kagome merely rolled her eyes at him and smiled before she continued.
"I was a wily child. I spent more time out in the trees than I did inside. My father often had to climb up into the tallest tree he could in order to find me." Kagome combed her hands through Eri's hair as she pushed on, ignoring Touya's subtle snorts of laughter. "As a result, I was really behind my peers when I did end up going to school. So that's when I finally got serious about studying." She offered the child a small smile, "There's no reason to feel ashamed for struggling. Unlike me, you're putting in your best effort. Sometimes just changing the way we learn things can help. So we'll try something else tomorrow that might make it easier for you to remember."
Kagome lifted both Eri and Ohagi who she was still clutching onto in her arms.
"Oh you hear that?" She craned her neck as the sound of food sizzling on a cooktop could be heard from the kitchen. "I think Tenko is making dinner. What do you say we try to help him out?"
"Okay!" Eri swiftly perked up as the made their way out of the library.
Touya followed beside them but a small smile pulled at the corners of his lips.
"Yes?" She smiled back at him.
"So you were a wild child, huh?" He tucked his hands into his pockets as they rounded the corner and found Tenko holding Himiko back with one arm while he hovered over a boiling pot.
"As if I'd be anything else." She shot back at him playfully, "Besides you have no room to talk. You're still wild."
She didn't have to look back to know that he was practically grinning ear to ear.
Kagome led Eri to the kitchen as Touya still hung nearby. If she didn't know any better, she'd say that he was being quite overprotective of the child already.
"Need some helpers?" Kagome smiled once more as she approached Tenko.
Reading, writing and math weren't the only skills that mattered. Things like this were just as important.
Tenko's gaze shifted between her and Eri cautiously.
"No touching the stove, got it?" His command was directed at the girl.
Eri winced slightly but nodded.
"Good, now set the cat down and wash your hands. We're going to be making soba from scratch." He stepped back to allow Eri the chance to wash her hands. Kagome followed after her as they lined up in the kitchen, ready to fulfill their assigned tasks.
It wasn't much, but moments like these would do more than just teach Eri life skills. It would also serve as an important confidence boost.
Aizawa would be back tomorrow to start her quirk training in earnest, for now though they would just enjoy this moment.
Kagome smile's widened when she caught sight of Touya hovering nearby, watching over them as if ready to intervene if needed.
At least she could say that he was a natural at the whole 'protective caregiver' thing. Besides, it was nice to know that he was already so invested in helping Eri out. Even if she was still wary of strangers, this was at least a step in the right direction.
Her smile softened as she noticed Tenko's expression growing kinder as well.
Clearly, this was the change they'd all needed.
