The Next Day, During Dawn..
"It's already morning.." Natsumi uttered as she glanced over towards Sumiyoshi and his family before deciding to go and prepare breakfast for them
Natsumi looked around the kitchen cabinets for any available ingredients to use, yet fortunately for her, she was able to find some chicken eggs at the upper cabinets along with some rice grains and salted fish for her to use
As the sun starts to rise at the sky, Natsumi was almost done with preparing breakfast for the Kamado family to eat
By the time she was finished, Natsumi made her way back towards the bedroom to wake Sumire and her family for Breakfast, only to realize that Sumiyoshi was first to awaken from his slumbers..
"Oh! Morning Natsumi" Sumiyoshi greeted as Natsumi gave a small smile towards him
"Good Morning, Sumiyoshi.." she greeted as she strolled over towards her mattress and proceeded to fold her beddings
"Hn? Did you try to cook something at the kitchen, Natsumi?" Sumiyoshi asked curiously as the scent of food reached his nostrils once more
"Yes, I did.. I made Breakfast for everyone to eat, I hope you'll like it" she answered in a soft voice as Sumiyoshi gave a bright smile towards her
"Aww.. You didn't have to do that, Natsumi"
"It's fine.. I don't really mind" Natsumi stated as Sumiyoshi sigh to himself, that he didn't bother to argue back on Natsumi's thoughtful gesture
"Thanks for the meal, Natsumi.. I'll go on ahead and try it"
"Okay.. Can you come outside and meet me at the back of the house once you're done eating?"
"Sure!" Sumiyoshi agreed as he went off to eat Breakfast while Natsumi goes off to wait for him at the back of the house..
"I'm here, Natsumi! What is it that you wanted to talk about?" Sumiyoshi asked as Natsumi stood up from her seat and approached him with a wooden katana at her hand
"Here, Sumiyoshi.." She said as she held out her katana towards him, while Sumiyoshi grew quite wary to even take hold of the katana in her hands
"Umm.. I don't think I should do this, Natsumi" Sumiyoshi stuttered nervously as Natsumi shook her head and persisted, urging him to take it
"Just take it, Sumiyoshi.. We are not even going to engage in a fight to begin with.. I just want to teach you something"
"Oh! You could have just said that in the first place.."
Sumiyoshi laughed awkwardly as he took hold of the wooden katana from Natsumi's hands and followed her to a more spacious area to begin their training..
Sumiyoshi panted heavily in exhaustion as he tries to get back on his feet and ignore the agonizing pain in his muscles..
"Do you need a break Sumiyoshi or can you still go on?" Natsumi asked as Sumiyoshi shook his head and, hurriedly, got back on his feet
"I can still go on! I will do this for my family" Sumiyoshi huffed as determination burned in his eyes, while Natsumi gave a light nod in response and proceeded with her training
Sumiyoshi paid absolute attention to Natsumi's every move, his eyes burned with absolute concentration as if he didn't want to miss even a single moment of her training..
A Few Hours Later, Sunset..
"You finally did it, Sumiyoshi.. I'm glad.." Natsumi praised as Sumiyoshi panted heavily and looked at her with wide eyes, filled with complete surprise at her suddenly praise
"I did it?" Sumiyoshi asked while Natsumi gave a small nod in response as she ushered him back to the house and get some rest, however, Sumiyoshi had other plans in mind
By the time Natsumi returned from the bed room, to fetch her belongings, Sumiyoshi began to ask her a ton of questions about their training..
Sumiyoshi's pov
"It's a Ceremonial Dance that protects one's family from danger.."
"A ceremonial dance? Isn't that usually used as a peace offering to the gods?"
"Yes.. This Ceremonial Dance is a peace offering to the God of Fire.. In order to ward of injuries and disaster.. This Ceremonial dance is performed as an offering to the God of Fire at the start of each year.."
Natsumi explained as I gave her a bright smile before lightly petting her on head, showing her just how much I appreciated her efforts in teaching me
"Thank you, Natsumi.."
"You're welcome, Sumiyoshi.. I'm glad I was able to leave behind something worth remembering.."
Natsumi stated with a happy look on her face as she took out a pair of Flame-style Hanafuda earrings from her sleeves and gave them to me
"Huh? What's this?"
"Take good care of them, Sumiyoshi.. Give Suyako and Sumire my regards.. " Natsumi muttered as she suddenly vanished into thin air, leaving me to frown in disappointment
'Don't worry Natsumi.. I'll make sure your legacy will live on within my family' I silently swore to myself as I carefully attached her earrings onto my ears before suddenly hearing the front door opened
"Sumiyoshi, we're back!"
"Sumi! Dada!"
I heard as I sighed softly in relief and stood up to go and greet my wife and children from their scavenging hunt at the forest
"Huh? Where's Natsumi, Sumiyoshi?"
"Yah, Dada? Where's Sumi?"
Sumire asked as I gave a deep sigh before bending down towards her and tried to break the news to her as gently as possible
"Natsumi isn't going to be staying with us anymore, Sumire.."
"What? Doesn't Sumi like to play with me anymore?"
"It's not like that, Sumire.. Natsumi likes you very much"
"But why doesn't Sumi want to stay anymore?"
"Well, Natsumi has to go home at some point, Sumire.. It's not like we could house Natsumi for too long.." Suyako stated as Sumire gave a small whimper and started sobbing lightly
"Shh.. Shh.. It's okay, Sumire.. It's going to be okay, I'm sure Natsumi will come visit us someday.."
"P-Promise?"
"I promise.."
I replied as Sumire wiped away her tears and decided to go and play with her younger brother while Suyako and I prepared Dinner together at the kitchen.