(Time Skip A month later)
Mizuki POV
"Hahhh." I sigh out as I fall to the ground covered in sweat. I close my eyes feeling completely worn out and exhausted from my training. I look up at the sky seeing the bright blue sky of spring. I smile slightly as the occasional cool breeze cools me down.
"You alright?" I hear as I look to the side seeing Michikatsu stride over to me with sweat falling dripping down his face as well. I could feel my heart beat quicker as I smile as lift up my hand to wave. "Yeah, just tired and admiring the weather." I say out as I look away from him, trying to push these feelings away.
"I see. Today is quite nice." Michikatsu says as he stands over me and offers his hand. I smile widely as I see his gesture, wasting in no time to grab onto his hand. "Thanks." I say as he gives me a smile in return.
"Michikastu. Mizuki." Sato-san calls out to us, breaking that moment. We both turn to look at him. "Take a quick break and we'll continue with training in a bit. Also Mizuki, when you're done with your break, head out and retrieve some water." Sato-san says as I nod my head and give him a smile.
Picking up my training sword, which is now a real metal sword. I smile slightly as I look down at it, admiring the way it shined and reflected in the light. I walk over to the rack and place it down. "Let's head inside Michikatsu. I'll prepare some snacks for us and I'll head out to get water." I say as I head towards the house.
I glance at Michikatsu seeing him nod his head and follow me inside.
As I finish making our snack consisting of simple rice balls and tea, I set it down as we enjoy the relaxing atmosphere during our break. I smile slightly as I enjoy the taste of the riceball and thinking back to my progress that I've made in the past years and this past month.
Ever since I had decided that I wanted to become even stronger so I could go home, I had pushed myself harder than before. Perhaps, too much. To my surprise Michikatsu had found me in the back by Yoriichi's room practicing. I didn't think that he would come out so late in the night and find me, once more that he hadn't noticed I was training at that time.
Though I did receive a little scolding from him that I was pushing myself too hard after he found out that I was training so late in the night, when he could clearly see my eye bags in the morning. Perhaps the lack of sleep made my movements and training more exhausting. But seeing him check up on me at night telling me to go to bed or caring about me made my heart swell.
I furrow my brows slightly at this feeling and put my hand over my chest. Lifting my gaze, I glance at Michikatsu who is sitting across from me enjoying the snack as he looks outside. The smile soon returns back on my face as I admire his features. 'No matter how stern his face is and how emotionless it seems. But when he smiles that coldness seems to disappear.'
"Mizuki?" Michikatsu questions with the slight tilt of his head as he meets my gaze. Widening my eyes slightly realizing I was staring, I could feel my face heating up and I smile as I wave my hand around. "Oh sorry for staring, I was just lost in thought." I say trying to brush it off.
Nodding his head in understanding, he picks up another onigiri. I sigh out as I put down my tea cup and get up from my comfortable spot. "I'll going to retrieve the water now. Tell Sato-san that I'll be back in a bit." I say as I straighten out my clothes and see Michikatsu nodding his head.
I smile towards him before leaving the room to retrieve the buckets and the wooden staff that I use to carry the buckets. Setting the buckets on the side, I lift the staff over my shoulders and make my way out of the house.
As the cool wind blows my stray hair, I smile slightly as I look up at the sky seeing some clouds flying up above. I narrow my eyes in the distance seeing that some darker clouds would be possibly heading towards our direction. "Maybe it will rain..." I mumble to myself as I walk on the dirt path, heading towards the stream.
"Mizuki!" A woman's voice calls out to me causing me to snap my attention towards the direction of the voice. I grin the moment I see the woman who called me. I jog over and giggle slightly seeing her. "Mizuki, it's been a while since I saw you! I see you're retrieving water again, you should really ask that boy, Michikatsu, to help you. Or at least to do it instead." She tells me as she waves her finger towards me.
I giggle as I shake my head. "Ah it's no problem. Don't worry about me, Tsubasa! After all these years, I'm getting stronger!" I say playfully. This woman is about 5 years older than me and has been like an older sister even since I came here. I hear some sounds and tilt my head to see her baby on her back.
I smile even wider and tickle the baby's cheeks. "Aw he's so cute Tsubasa~" I coo out as the baby reaches out to grab my finger. Tsubasa giggles as she looks at me. "Isn't he~. But enough about me and my baby. It's about you Mizuki, I've been busy and finally see you again. So you got to tell me, when are you gonna get married!! That Michikatsu, has he said anything to you about marriage?" Tsubasa asks as she gives me a look.
I flush slightly and shake my head. "I'm not planning on getting married anytime soon! So calm down!" I begin as I shake my hands and hear the buckets swing on the stick. My mood then drops as I look down at the ground. "But Sato-san had already set up an arranged marriage for Michikatsu already so...."
"Huh!? How can that be Mizuki! You're so cute and pretty, strong at that too! Sato-san didn't want to match you up with his son! You guys are like good for each other aren't you? I've seen you two at times when you come out to the town. You guys are cute~" Tsubasa grumbles out to me as she does her hand motions.
Seeing this my mood lightens up and I giggle. "Aw thanks Tsubasa. But we're just friends and Sato-san already set that marriage up a long time ago. But I'm not sure when she's supposed to come though.." I comment as I scratch my cheek, feeling my heart ache and tug. Trying to push those feelings away I look at Tsubasa's baby and smile widely seeing him grin at me.
"Hmmm. Well that really makes everything difficult. I feel bad for you, Mizuki. Where and what are you going to do the moment she comes??? You need to have a place for yourself too you know." Tsubasa tells me as she gives me a concerned look. I sigh and shake my head.
'It's not like I haven't thought about that...I don't know but hopefully I can stay with the Tsugikuni's a bit longer. I still need to plan about where I want to go.' I think to myself as I play with the hem of my shirt.
"Ah I'm sorry Mizuki! But I'll offer you my home if things don't go well. Then you can go find your husband and be happy." Tsubasa tells me as she waves her finger. I sigh and smile at her. "Thanks Tsubasa. I appreciate that. Well I have to get going, make sure you get home safely okay and don't stay out too late." I tell her as I motion her towards her house.
"Yes, yes, I know. But you should be worrying about yourself. The river is near the forest and you shouldn't stay there when it's dark. Who knows when those monsters may appear." Tsubasa comments as she shivers slightly at the mention of monsters. I nod my head in return and wave goodbye as I continue down to the river.
_________
"Alright. That's the last bucket." I mumble to myself as this was my last and second trip to the stream. As I place the stick over my shoulders, I start making my way back towards the house. The streets of the town are quieter as the rush hour has settled and the villagers are walking back and forth.
As I'm left to my own thoughts, the conversation I had with Tsubasa replays back in my head. I sigh out as I rub the temple of my head. 'I don't even know where I can go. Wander around and defeat demons, but where to live? I'm not sure.' I stop these thoughts as I pass by a vendor which I always stop at.
I look at the remaining vegetables and goods that are placed in the baskets, I smile as I think of some meals that I can cook. We still had some food back at home but I could always pick up some more. "Oh Mizuki! What are you doing out here so late?" The vendor calls out to me as he approaches.
I smile at him. "Nice seeing you too, Yuzu-san! I just had to retrieve some water like usual. How are you doing?" I ask as I shift the wooden stick on my shoulders. "Hahah, doing well! I see your getting stronger! Did ya want to buy some vegetables?" Yuzu asks. I shake my head as I had then realized that I didn't carry any money on me.
"Ah no that's okay. I was just looking, I don't have any money on me right now or anything I could trade you with." I say as I smile at him. He raises a brow and looks at his remaining vegetables. "Actually how about this. I'll give these veges here and in return you'll fetch me some fresh water tomorrow like you usually do and talk to my wife too." He says as he grabs the all the vegetables and puts them in a basket.
I widen my eyes and shake my head. "Oh you don't have to give me so much!" I say as I move and hear the water slosh in the buckets. "Ah it's fine Mizuki! You're always helping with the water and my wife enjoys talking to you, so come back again tomorrow when you're done with your training. You better be off before the sun falls." He tells me as he hands me the basket.
I look down at the basket in my hand now and smile warmly. "Thank you so much Yuzu-san! I'll be back tomorrow and haul a bunch of water for you and help water the plants too! I'll make sure to find something interesting to talk to your wife as well!" I say with a smile.
The man laughs as he pats my back and sends me off. "Make sure you get home safely as well!" I say as I wave and I start walking down the remainder of the street.
Seeing the Tusgikuni household, I smile and look down at the basket. "Today was really nice. I don't think it can get any better." I mumble with joy seeing the vegetables I got and how I progressed in training, meeting Tusbasa and her cute baby.
"I'm back." I call out as I push open the front door and close it as I walk to the back to pour the water in the large barrel.
"Hm?" I hum out seeing no Michikatsu, where he was training earlier and he normally doesn't stop this early. After I come back from retrieving the water, the both of us would take a quick break and resume training. I walk towards the training ground as I hold the basket full of vegetables with me. "Michikatsu?" I call out and look for Sato-san.
'Maybe they went inside early.' I think to myself as I walk towards the door and slip off my slippers and notice another couple of pairs of slippers in the doorway. 'Guests??' I question, as we normally don't have guests over.
I shrug that creeping feeling that I have and walk around the house heading towards the main dining room so I could get to the kitchen. As I approach I hear voices and as soon as I see the dining table, I scan seeing three new figures and Michikatsu and Sato-san across of them.
Continuing their conversation, I blink and wonder if I should leave or introduce myself. As I was about to turn and leave, trying not to think too much who these people are. It seems that Michikatsu caught my gaze as he looked at me and nudged Sato-san a little bit. I was about to move when Sato-san looked up during the conversation and saw my figure.
I could see him sigh slightly as he shifted in his spot and the guests noticed that the two were looking behind them, causing them to turn and look at me. I blinked and held onto the basket tighter. "Kuguri, Yumi this is the girl that Michi had taken in. Mizuki come here and introduce yourself.
I nodded my head feeling awkward with the attention on me. I quickly made my way over to them and straightened out my clothes feeling that I was put on the spot. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Mizuki Amateratsu." I say as I bow towards the three individuals. I lift my head and glance at Sato-san seeing that he was okay with my introduction and looked back at the three guests.
"Oh so she's the one Michi-san had taken in. She's quite cute, she's been in your care ever since?" The woman with brown hair asks as she gives me a smile. "Yes, she has." Sato-san says as he glances at me.
"Mizuki I see that you just came back. Could you cook us some dinner." Sato-san says as he glances at the vegetables in the basket. I nod my head as I glance at the girl who was sitting in between the woman and the man. She was pretty, she had black hair like the man but shining teal blue eyes similar to the lady. I could feel my heart tighten and these unfamiliar feelings surface.
I quickly turned away and made my way to the kitchen. As I'm out of sight and away, I let out a sigh and grit my teeth. 'What the hell is this?' I question as I clench onto my chest and lean on the counter top. 'I somehow felt so inferior and weak when I saw her, I could feel that girl's gaze along with her parent's.'
I peel my hand away form my chest as I wash them in the sink and pull out the vegetables and start to rinse and prepare them. 'Don't think about useless things Mizuki. Just do this task and I can return to my training after...' I think to myself.
'Just focus on this...' I tell myself again as I grind my teeth. Pulling out the cutting board, I begin to cut the vegetables at a decent pace as I need to prep the other ingredients.
A so called wonderful day is ending with this feeling inside of my chest. Everything is falling deep inside of me, this feeling is bringing me down. I feel like I'm falling in this never ending darkness. This darkness that continues to grow in my chest and this unknown feeling that erupts every time with Michikatsu.
I'm starting to hate these feelings. ".....Ex-.....Excuse me?"
"Huh?" I turn my head to the side and widen my eyes.
'CHOP!'
________________________
Hey guys! I'm trying to update more often but I also have my other books that I'm trying to work on as well! But I'll most likely be updating on the weekends if possible, so look out for those updates!
On a side not, I really enjoy writing chapters for this book and I'm really grateful to all my readers for the votes and comments. So please continue to support me and this book. If you all haven't seen I enjoy replying back to all your comments and seeing them makes me really happy~
But if you haven't already check out my other books, vote, comment, and enjoy! Readers can also follow me if you'd like. I'll see you next time!
~Miya