"Siblings?"
Tanjo could not help but draw out a curious response to what his instructor had said. Envisioning his only guardian vividly, the boy grappled with the idea of Old Man Nozomu befriending anyone enough to make them considered siblings, or close to it anyway. The white-haired man was always locked tight; any emotion he felt was filtered through the steely countenance that he had upheld since Tanjo's first memory.
Asami raised her index finger. "Almost."
Clearing her throat, along with the restrained ire she had felt toward the boy moments prior, Asami sighed exasperatingly. If what the blue-haired woman had said was true, then that means that she potentially knew more about Old Man Nozomu than Tanjo himself, the boy who was diligently raised for sixteen years by said man. The coincidence felt impossible to grasp.
"How long ago?" Tanjo picked his voice back up with an expectant expression.
Asami blew a small gust of air past her lips, her posture bending at the waist as she stood pensively. "I'd say maybe thirty to thirty-five years?"
That may explain why friends would have been possible for Old Man Nozomu. Thirty to thirty-five years was a lengthy span of time; realistically, anybody could live an entire lifetime in just those years, depending on what occurs throughout the duration of their days. And Tanjo did not need to think much to realize that his guardian had experienced quite a bit in his past.
"Did you guys grow up in the same area? Like a town or village?" Tanjo resumed the conversation, a combination of questions flowing through his head.
The Tansu vessel nodded. "A small village called Tokuni. I doubt any of the buildings were even two stories tall due to how low on materials it was."
The teenage boy collected his thoughts before continuing:
"How was Old Man Nozomu back then?"
Asami chortled at the way Kaminari Nozomu was referred to as "Old Man." The woman briefly realized how tiring it must have been to be called that day in and day out by a kid.
"He was still quite the grouch," Asami admitted, "stone-faced and nitpicky of everything that involved him."
Tanjo scratched the back of his head as he also laughed. "It's almost like alcohol was his saving grace from what I've seen."
The blue-haired instructor's eyes dimmed faintly. "Unfortunately, we had been distanced from everyone as kids."
"Everyone?" The teenage boy voiced with perplexion, tilting his head to the side.
It appears that Asami had let an extension of her past slip up by accident, as evidenced by the fact that her physiognomy shifted a tad into a look of surprise.
She rubbed her fingers together, brimming with hesitance. "There were five of us, all the same age."
"Did you all share the same mutual relationships? Considered siblings?" The jet-black-haired boy queried reasonably.
The instructor slowly turned on her feet, stepping deeper into the forest. Tanjo quickly followed suit, his eyes trained on Asami. It took a few seconds as the two strolled before the blue-haired woman produced a response.
"We were all we had at the time, if I'm being honest. We were about twelve, left in the hands of some adults without a care in the world." Asami refused to be taken down by a somber atmosphere, breathing in with integrity.
Tanjo rejected the idea of asking about Asami's parents or any of the other kids' parents. Besides, from what he had just been told, the parents were not all that involved if she and everyone else were left in the hands of apathetic people.
With gentle flaps, a couple of birds soared above the trees, eliciting a few chirps. The wildlife dragged Tanjo and Asami from their thoughts for what seemed like eternity, only for it to actually be mere seconds.
"And, so you don't have to ask it yourself, we did not have parents at the time. Nor did we ever after leaving Tokuni." Asami abruptly clarified, watching the birds disappear beyond the trees.
The boy remained quiet for a few moments, only to stop as Asami halted in her tracks, her stare concentrated on him.
"Now, tell me, where were you in the past seven hours? I told you about what I experienced, albeit vaguely; now you tell me what you experienced." Asami ordered sternly, no true indignation lacing the underbelly of her words.
Tanjo wanted to throw his head back and groan as the question he did not wish to answer popped back into the conversation. Truthfully, the boy did not have a clue how to touch on the topic without unveiling the existence of Kronos and other godly beings, along with the concept of the multiverse sitting in the back of his mind.
"Uhm…" Tanjo attempted to conjure a sentence or two.
"I already told you to be honest, so it shouldn't take you this long to answer." Asami said steely.
The teenage boy inhaled deeply, his brain scrambling greatly as many seconds came to pass. Then, out of the blue, an idea struck the boy.
"I have promises to uphold with people, and growing stronger is one of those promises. They were in need today and I fled to go help them."
Despite it being quite a flimsy response, Tanjo had a viable option to build off of it. He hated lying so callously, but the identity of otherworldly concepts was probably supposed to stay just that: otherworldly. Now, a new question buoys Tanjo's conscience.
Could he tell Asami of his new power, the Disruption of Reality?
She would probably figure it out eventually anyway.
"But hey! I was able to grasp on a new power!"
Asami narrowed her eyes. "A new power? How the hell did you manage to get a new power?"
"I say we skip the questioning and start training, yes?" Tanjo tried to change the topic, smiling widely.
"No, wait—!"
Tanjo began to march off in a specific direction, turning his head slightly to look at Asami as he left.
"That mountain was a good place—let's head back there!" Tanjo declared, interrupting his instructor with faux glee.
"Tanjo!"
"Hurry up and lead the way back, Asami!"
With a discontented grunt, the blue-haired woman raced forward.
XXX
It was yet another tedious day for Gimu. The bandaged swordsman had been staring off into space while positioned on the outskirts of the Furusato castle, his right leg dangling off the edge of a wall. It was how every day was turning out, with fewer and fewer actions driving each day. When the Furusato Unit first convened as an official group, it was an endless cycle of bloodshed and destruction, but now neither Gimu nor the other rogues would participate in such activities anymore.
The fiery butler, Imawashiki, had mentioned that the rogues had done their job and that Regashi, the mysterious but soulless leader that commanded them all, was preparing for one last mission.
Gimu suddenly sensed the presence of another. With his single eye darting to the corner of his head, the swordsman could see one of the green-haired rogues of the Furusato Unit—correction: the only green-haired rogue of the Furusato Unit—ambling across the wall that Gimu was sitting on mindlessly.
"Grieving again?" Gimu asked prickly, arching his only visible brow.
Itami stopped walking, inclining his head to glance at the swordsman that was a few feet away. "At least I'd be using my mind, unlike you."
The bandaged swordsman chuckled coldly. "I choose not to dawdle on useless thoughts. Your brother died—big deal. You didn't seem to appreciate his company while he was here, so don't drag us all down with your moping."
Itami scowled darkly, his eyes flashing furiously.
"I'd gut you if Imawashiki wouldn't be up my ass about it." The green-haired rogue threatened, his jaw clenching.
The swordsman averted his gaze. "Then that threat is as empty as your chances of even touching me."
"I want to feel bad for the people that raised you, but I assume that they've already felt the disappointment of raising you long ago." Itami's anger flared, barely restrained.
Gimu eventually picked himself up from sitting on the edge of the castle's wall, standing up straight as he spun around and walked toward his fellow rogue.
"If an argument is what you want, then annoy Shoto. He's usually alone anyway." Gimu said carelessly, walking past the green-haired rogue indifferently.
As Itami was about to let the swordsman meander away, the wood-manipulating rogue parted his lips to speak: "You do know that Regashi is about done with us, right? We're going to be nothing but sacrificial pawns any day now. When we are, I want you to think about yourself. What purpose will you serve? What do you do that is beneficial to anything in life, including yourself?"
"What's happening with you? Getting existential?" Gimu shot back defensively, his lips pulled into a thin line.
Itami was unwavering. "I want to be there when you realize that you are only worth as much as the dirt you stain with blood."
Gimu stood still for several moments, his single eye staring a hole through his fellow rogue's skull.
"We are worth less than the dirt, Itami. All of us. I'm just living the experience."
And with that, the swordsman flickered out of sight, leaving Itami to his own thoughts atop the castle wall.
XXX
An odd encounter between Gimu and Itami, but I simply wish to lay out the fact that the Furusato Unit has never been known for good teamwork. Sure, they've been paired into groups before, but have never actually structured ethical partnerships among one another on missions. Maybe with the exception of Gimu and Heiki Shototsu with Yuso's first appearance in the novel. But, on an even more important note, I've come to a conclusion on where I want the novel to end. It's an important decision for me and I finally reached the conclusion. I won't be detailing the layout, but it will become abundantly clear as time passes. What will happen next? Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_