“[Name]-san~! Hey, open up!” the auburn haired boy whined, stomping his foot.
Laughing, you stuck your tongue out as you watched him through the large bay window; he was soaked so harshly by the pouring rain that the male looked as if he had jumped into the ocean. The clearing of a throat behind you made you freeze, and you slowly turned around with a sheepish smile, scratching the back of your head.
It had been two days since you were released from Castle Oblivion On November 20, 2012, completing a trial of 140 days, and today being November 22nd—Thanksgiving. After that flash of light, you found yourself in the remains of Hollow Bastion which looked all too familiar. Looking exactly the same, it gave you trouble finding the bag Akinori had stored for you that held your treasured belongings, but after a long while, you found the black case beneath a pile of ash and a half sunken pillar.
From there, you traversed more of the world when guilt hit you, and you were swept into a cloud of melancholy feeling from its demise and your current situation. You settled with yourself that you wouldn’t go and seek out how the lives of your friends had changed without a plan to get your life back, but you needed a place to stay until said idea came to mind.
Then, you remembered what the eldest of the prisoner shinobi had told you when you sent them off to Japan that day—to look for him if you ever were in the country. With things looking how they were now, you were to take him up on that offer. That in mind, you teleported yourself to where you had sent them—Okinawa, Japan—finding that your powers were still rusty since you landed on the beach’s sandy shore.
Now, the same tall elder stood before you—Aoi. Hands on his hips, he gave you a disapproving look, shaking his head as he opened the door for the auburn haired teen named whose name was Bushi. In addition to the two inhabitants of the large beachside yet old fashioned house, there was Kouki—the second eldest at twenty three, Noiku—a blonde boy, Datenshi—a ravenette male, Meiyo—Datenshi’s younger sister of two years, Oni—a quiet brunette boy who looked yo to Kakawara , a blonde female named Desu, a silverette boy named Pyo-si, late Inna’s sister who was actually happy of her own sibling’s death renamed herself Uragiri, ravenette Shinrai, Toushi—Bushi’s twin sister, Chinmoku—a brunette who was the older sister of Gaman, Gidal-yeo—a ravenette boy whose best friend was Pyo-si, Attaku—a silverette, half-brothers Ada and Mikata who were each respectably brown haired and sandy haired, flirtatious redhead Bo-ho, and finally an auburn haired boy—Ma-eum. Their latest addition, and the one who had helped you in syndicate infiltration on your final day on the world, Koji, was there too—still sporting his signature purple hair.
When made into a sentence their names, excluding Aoi’s and Koji’s, read: Noble warriors of the land honor their fallen brethren despite being targeted traitors. Reliable fighters, they silently and patiently wait to attack the enemy of their ally’s hearts to protect them.
“[Name]-chan? You want to explain this to me?” Aoi cooed.
“Well~,” your eyes shifted towards Bushi whose face held an expression of anger, but pleading eyes,” maybe?”
“Bushi-kun, what about you?” the tall ravenette man turned to the auburn haired teen. “I know [Name]-chan always has her reasons.”
“Heh…err…funny story Aoi-san,” the teen chuckled. “You see—”
“Bushi tried to kiss [Name],” Kouki rolled his eyes from reading a book on the floor.
“He tried WHAT!?” Aoi snapped. “[Name]-chan is here as our guest! Not to be your girlfriend!”
“W-Wait! Attaku-kun t-told me to!” Bushi shook his head rapidly. “He DARED me!”
“So if Attaku-kun were to dare you to jump off a cliff, you’d do it?”
“Um…No?”
“That is not convincing at all. Go shower,” Aoi waved him off before turning to you. “I am so sorry about that [Name]-chan.”
“It’s alright,” you laughed. “I’m really enjoying my time here Aoi-san, although it hasn’t been long.”
“That brings up the question, how long are you going to stay?” he asked, leading you to the kitchen. “I don’t mean that in a rude way though! I’m just curious since the predicament you told us you were in seems rather arduous.”
“I still don’t have an idea,” you sighed, shaking your head. “I guess tomorrow or the day after I should go. The only way to go about this is just…do it—live as someone else and watch my own life closely. The only problem though is getting there since I don’t know where anyone lives now.”
“You can always try—”
“Oji-san, phone!” Meiyo called from the living room.
“I’ll be right back,” Aoi patted your back with a smile.
Nodding, you headed to the room you shared with a few of the girls—Meiyo, Desu, and Kakawara—to pack up your things. There wasn’t anything to bring though other than your black duffel bag and clothes you had which wasn’t even half of the black rectangular suitcase you were given to by Meiyo.
As you folded the last of your clothes, you yawned, gazing out the window at the pounding rain. The clock beeped, indicating it was eight thirty and you sighed, reaching a hand up to touch your kudan key.
‘Maybe I should call on Akinori,’ you thought.
The door slid open, Aoi stepping through it with an expression that was both unsure and hopeful at the same time. He sat before you on the wooden floor, fumbling with his fingers. Seeming to come up with how he was to word what he was thinking about, his gaze shifted from the floor and to you.
“[Name]-chan, you’ll have an opportunity to find your friends tomorrow,” Aoi said quietly. “Fai is coming in to check on us, and seeing that he isn’t going to remember you, I’ve been thinking to have him take you to wherever he is going when I teleport the both of you there.”
“Will you be coming with?”
“No, it’ll just be a sending,” he smiled sadly. “Nevertheless, you know where to find us. I’ll try visiting too next month since I’m starting to get a better hang of these powers.”
“Okay,” you nodded slowly. “You think…what are you going to tell him?”
“I haven’t decided yet, but I’ll let you know tomorrow—alright?”
“Okay,” you nodded again.
“Good, now I need to go check on something,” he smiled, exiting the room. At the same time, Koji came in, two medium sized boxes in his hands.
“Hey, [Nickname],” he grinned, plopping down beside you and opening up the suitcase.
“Hi?” you furrowed your eyebrows. “I thought I said that I wouldn’t take any more clothes.”
“Oh they’re not clothes,” Koji shook his head, pulling the folded articles out and placing in the boxes first,” they’re gifts from us.”
“Gifts?”
He nodded,” Thank you presents—and don’t you reject them~! There’s…something interesting you should see in them. But only open it when all of this is settled—you’ll see what I mean.”
“Will do,” you nodded, then sighed heavily as he set the clothes on top of the boxes—all fitting snugly into the suitcase.
“What’s wrong [Name]-san?” the purple haired teen frowned.
“I’m lost Koji, I don’t know…what to do.”
“Hey, you’ll figure it out,” he took your hand, giving it a firm squeeze. “You did in June, and that was WAY worse than this—I think. Besides, today is Thanksgiving! Let’s pig out. C’mon!” Koji tugged you up and onto his back in one swift movement, you laughing instantly as he sang, on his exit of the room, asking for food.
Just as the teen had said, you feasted that night. After the main course of dishes—consisting not only of turkey and mashed potatoes, but ramen, tofu, and others—pies, cakes, and cookies were served for desert—everyone feeling lethargic soon after. Stories were exchanged too with the laughter of reminiscence lingering in the air, the TV in the background, as you sipped the coffee you were given with the slice of [flavor] pie. Aoi got up after a short while into desert, answering the door then excusing himself to go speak with the neighbors.
A long night, you knocked out at around one AM against Ma-eum who had his arm securely around your shoulders as you leaned against him. Noticing you were asleep, he took the liberty of carrying you to bed before going himself.
------------------------------------------
Zoom: Phone Call
“Who is it?” Aoi asked Meiyo as she handed him the phone, he going out into the backyard patio.
“It’s Mr. Flourite,” the ravenette answered, going back to working on the fried beef.
Nodding, he put the phone to his ear,” Hello?”
“Aoi-san!” Fai’s voice chirped. “Happy Thanksgiving! How have things been since last month?”
“Same to you,” he half smiled. “It’s been well, very well. Say, how are things on your end?”
“Oh, same old same old,” the blonde chuckled. “You know how the kids are right now—pigging out with Kurogane yelling at them every two seconds.”
“I see,” Aoi chuckled as well. “We’re just about to eat in a while. How is [Nickname]-chan?”
“[Nickname]? Well, ever since she came back from Castle Oblivion a few months ago, she’s been acting different as I said last time we spoke. But, life changing things change people—”
“Changed?”
“I support the forgive and forget cause, but [Name] hanging around with girls who once despised her is rather…strange; that, and she has been dating a lot lately. Her actions are even affecting Wasurete. He’s…different in general, and towards other people—never questioning [Name] even though what she’s doing is completely…wrong…There’s also—”
“Aniki~!” another voice whined from the end of the line. “I’m hungry~!”
“Dammit Noa, I’m busy!” Fai snapped suddenly, making Aoi cringe away from the phone slightly. With a sigh, the blonde continued,” Anyways, it may be for the best—who knows? Ah, and I’ll be seeing you tomorrow to see how things are going.”
“Alright, I’ll look forward to it.”
“Great! Till then!”
Click.
Zoom: A Neighbor’s Request
A knock came at the door around ten when desert and stories were being shared, the TV showing a Thanksgiving anime marathon. Aoi excused himself to answer it, finding his neighbor with a pained expression.
“Eh? Kazuma-san, what brings you here?”
“I…There’s a new girl staying with you—[Name] is it?”
“Hai, what about her?”
“Well, my nephew says he recognizes her eyes. Do you think he could…,” he trailed off, peeking behind Aoi.
“If I may, Kazuma-san, she’s leaving tomorrow and—”
“Why so sudden?” his frown deepened.
“She needs to take care of some…things.”
“Oji-san?” the raven haired neighbor’s nephew murmured from behind him. “Can I please explain to Aoi?”
“Oi,” Aoi’s eyebrows furrowed. “You’re…What are you doing here?”
He shook his head,” I’m…I’m his brother.”
*15 minutes later*
“I see,” Aoi nodded. “Well, I’ve met him—he’s an absolutely amazing young man.”
“Oh thank god,” Kazuma sighed happily. “He grew up well—that’s good.”
“So…think you can take me?” the teen asked, eyes hopeful.
“No…no,” he shook his head. “You see, [Name]-chan is going—not I. Being the situation she is in, I’d rather you not—not yet. But…I’ll see what I can do in a few weeks’ time okay?”
------------------------------------------
Translations (SOME of these are NOT the direct word, meaning I took out a few letters to make it into an actual name):
Aoi (Japanese) – Color
Kouki (Japanese) – Noble
Bushi (Japanese) – Warrior
Noriku (Japanese) – Of land
Meiyo (Japanese) Honor
Datenshi (Japanese) Fallen
Oni (Japanese) Brethren
Kakawara (Japanese) Despite
Desu (Japanese) Being
Pyo-si (Korean) Marked
Uragiri (Japanese) Traitors
Shinrai (Japanese) Reliable
Toushi (Japanese) Fighter
Chinmoku (Japanese) Silent
Gaman (Japanese) Patient
Gidal-yeo (Korean) Wait
Attaku (Japanese) Attack
Ada (Japanese) Enemy
Mikata (Japanese) Ally
Ma-eum (Korean) Heart
Bo-ho (Korean) Protect