January 5, Thursday
For some reason, you felt as if you knew this boy from the past. As if, that is. You weren’t actually sure, but in yourself, you felt as if he was a ‘friend’, returning from a broken memory.
“And this is Jakotsu, Suikotsu, Mukotsu and Renkotsu. I doubt that you’ll have problems which is which, seeing as you remember the names of the whole army individually.” Said Hyura (Nishizawa’s first name), chuckling at the thought.
“Seriously? She remembers all the names of the soldiers?” asked Jakotsu in surprise. Yup, you remember their identities already. Hyura giggled and nodded.
“I’ll give you a tour around the castle later after lunchtime, seeing as you will be staying her for a while.
Yozora, if it’s alright, can you temporarily change the training hours earlier for a week? Around 7 to 8, then 4 to 5, maybe.”
“Sure…” you said softly, not even bowing and walking out the room, still feeling uncomfortable with the leader’s presence, making your way to the training grounds, only to see most of the soldiers knocked out, some oversleeping, some sitting down, bewildered looks on their faces. One thing though; they were all the high-ranked soldiers.
The training grounds were divided from the castle in a large building, at least half the size of the castle, with a bridge and a path itself to the building. However, there is also small piece of land used for outdoor training.
“And they say ‘rise and shine’…” you muttered, in S-Mode already. You simply hated lazy sluggards. Dark aura surrounded your background, as you stood there, arms crossed, waiting for someone to confess their excuse.
“My deepest apologies, Housen-taii.” One of the soldiers, who was practically the only one wide awake and shooting arrows with a recurve bow. This one was probably Jiro. You sighed, in exhaust, knowing your schedules are definitely too early.
“No.” you said straight. “I have to tell the lot of you something, but I need…everyone awake!”
You shouted that last part at the top of your lungs, causing the gardener on the other side of the castle to jump. Unknown to you though.
At that moment, all the soldiers flinched and jumped themselves, and saluted as they stood up straight, staying where they were, and apparently, shivering as well. But you knew they all had their attention on you. High-ranked, yet the opposite of hard-working. Well, sometimes.
“Starting on Monday, for one week, your training times will be temporarily changed. Morning sessions for all ranks will be from 7 to 8, whilst the same goes for evening sessions which will last from 4 to 5. Do you get that!?” you yelled with an annoyed (yet unserious looking) look.
“HAI!” they all responded in unison. You sighed once more before saying at last, “You can stop now if you want to.”
At that, you left to indoors. Although that was a rather harsh-sounding announcement, the soldiers looked at each other in thought, before they all divided themselves and continued on training. Even though they can be unpunctual, they still thought of your safety and protection…in secret.
You went to look for Ruka, who would probably be in the bathhouse that is another building from the castle, twice the size of the training grounds, where soldiers or any staff would go to relax when they are allowed to. Ruka is a rather immature and flirty one; she would often be seen trying to hook up with the new good-looking low-ranked beginner soldiers, to whom you have to pay a whole lot of attention, both to bring them to their potential in fighting and awareness of Ruka.
As you walked along the hallways of the second floor to your room, you stopped when the Chief of Staff, Kenta, a 76-year-old man, about half the size of you, wise but eccentric, stopped you as he jumped out of the nearby room, his arms stretched out as a sign of ‘Not so fast, young lady’. He had a friendly look on his wrinkled face, to be contrary.
“Rara-chan! Come join me and the guests inside!” he said grinning, and strangely, he hadn’t lost any teeth yet. Before you could say anything, he took your pinky and pulled you inside the room he was in. It was a simple room, with shoji doors, embroidered tatami flooring, a small table in the centre of the room with six seating pillows around it.
To your surprise, Jakotsu, Suikotsu and Renkotsu were there: ‘the only girl in a man’s world’…
“Yo, shireikan!” said Jakotsu, rising his cup which contained only hot tea.
“Yozora!” you shouted. Almost everyone call you something else other than Yozora; what was wrong with your name? Was it that hard to pronounce? Does it mean something nasty? Humans…
“Whatever…” said Jakotsu scoffing before drinking his tea. You scoffed back and sat down on an extra pillow, between Kenta and Suikotsu. Among all the Shichinintai members you met so far, Suikotsu seemed like the most mature one.
“So, introduce yourself, Housen-san.” Said Suikotsu, putting down his cup. And I said he was mature…
“L-like what?” you whispered as Kenta handed you tea, sitting back down next to you. You have been quite shy when it comes to meeting new men, except for soldiers.
“Well, anything.” He said with a smile. Impossible…mercenaries? Who are this soft?
“Rara-chan likes spicy food and cool drinks.” Said Kenta straight, grinning as always. Well, it was true, but there is another personal thing that no one else besides Hyura, Yui, Saika and Ruka knew.
“Really? What about sake?” asked Renkotsu, rising an eyebrow. You stayed silent.
“Sorry, but can I tell more about myself later? I’m in a hurry.” You said, as an excuse (which was true), and glared at Kenta, who started it all, stopping you while you were in an individual search party, rewarding yourself with Ruka’s bubbliness, and bringing you into a room full of male strangers. At that, you rushed out of the room and up to the bathhouse, where Ruka would still be at. When you go outside and running across the path that led to the bathhouse, you smirked when you saw Ruka on a footstool, in her shin-length kimono, looking through the small window, holding heart-eyes.
You shook your head and walked over to her, “Good girls shouldn’t be peeking at men while they’re bathing.”
Ruka flinched and fell off the stool, landing flat on her back.
“Y-y-y-yozora!” she cried, as she sat up. You chuckled, helping her up and walking with her back to the castle.
“Ne, Zura, I saw the Shichinintai!” she squealed out of the blue when you two went inside. “Ruka, the youngest member is 17. You’re too young!”
“Not me, you!” Ruka puffed her cheeks. “Besides, I…quite like the newbie, Aki.”
“Oh, yes! Him. He’s a fine one; loyal, hardworking, polite…but don’t go out with him before you got to know him.”
“Yeah, sure…please try to bond with Bankotsu!” she whined with puppy eyes, which never really effected you.
“He actually whispered in my hear shireikan-chan…”
“Oh! He must have been flirting!” said Ruka, as she began to snicker.
“Shut up! Why would he be trying to flirt with me?”
“Well, first off, I saw your look; you felt uncomfortable as if you saw him falling from the sky as if there was no tomorrow. Two, I also saw him whistle behind your back as you began to leave the throne room. And three, you are pretty, Yozora! Any boy…or man, would die if they never saw you.”
“But aren’t I…a strict character?” you asked, your look getting softer.
“Sort of…but you know, some people believe torture is sometimes the key to sexual attraction.” Said Ruka, giggling at the thought. Dear goodness, where does this girl get her adult knowledge from?
“Well, I do feel something strange about him…” you mumbled as you look down, untying your hair and let the turquoise silk down.
“What do you mean?” asked Ruka, now more serious.
“I feel like I met him before…long ago.”
“Long…ago…” Ruka repeated your last words in confusion, trying her best to understand.
No matter how hard you try, you couldn’t figure what about Bankotsu made you feel uncomfortable about. It was practically an artificial reunion. Getting together by feeling you knew that person…