"What do you mean she's an orphan?" a woman argued.
"Keep it down, Maemi!" Tazu argued, shushing the woman. "The little one is in the next room. She can hear you!"
Maemi was another beauty and Kiyonobu's first wife. Her hair was in the style of wild curls resembling a corkscrew rush plant and pulled into a high bun with pins and very intricate pieces resembling a snapping turtle's shell. Her eye markings were also green, and her hair waxed with tree sap to give off a pleasant smell. One could say the scent hinted toward her growing wisdom. Though beautiful and appearing about Kiyonobu's age, she was the most intelligent of the wives and a warrior who specialized in high defense. She was also considered the noblest of the wives and made Kiyonobu realize that he didn't want to follow oni tradition like his father or the rulers before him. He'd rather have fewer wives and raise his family with them as opposed to solely leaving the duty to his brides and leaving the children practically fatherless. It gave him a bit of joy knowing that his sons and daughters may participate in doing away with polygamy in the future. He liked Maemi's fire when they met and was happy with her being the head wife. She could run the kingdom herself if he let her, but Kiyonobu was merely a guardian and it was important for him and her to remember their place. Maemi seemed to not mind her role either. She was able to teach the children and quiet the ruckus that could ensue in the house at any given moment. A comical parallel to the citizens of the watery kingdom. Tazu was the only wife able to calm Maemi down most of the time, so it was a good thing she was here. She looked up to Maemi and usually felt more secure and confident when she was around.
"This is an outrage! Surely, you had to have seen someone with her, husband," Maemi said, picking up the left of her kimono skirts and throwing them behind her.
Kiyonobu shook his head as a reply before saying, "Only sprites were with her. They were not her parents. She seems to be quite adept at collecting pets. This makes her a sociable girl. Kachan oni's mortal skin is impressive by our beauty standards. I've no doubt she will attract attention once she starts maturing. Right now, she is still too young, but that doesn't mean predators won't find her enticing to eat or to keep. The more territorial and primitive of us could make her life shorter."
"You'll like her, Maemi," Tazu said sweetly, taking her sister's arm into hers and making Maemi look at her with softened eyes. Much like Tazu, Maemi didn't like the idea of an orphaned child and had worry in her eyes. Tazu then said, "Her hair is as vibrant as a rose about to bloom. She even has a little green dress on! She seems to be quite intelligent. She wants to be a doctor someday. I think the commander of the earth would love to train her when she's a bit more grownup. Won't you take a look at her, sister?"
"I - " Maemi started, interrupted by Kiyonobu giving her a light kiss.
She blushed brightly before taking a deep breath. How this man had so much power over her would always be a mystery to the matron, but she dropped her head for a moment and looked at him to nod. Hearing laughter, the oni parents looked at each other and turned to the nursery. They walked in and gasped at the sight. Omezo and Meioshi were building a fort together and organizing the toys to be an audience. Homugi, Yuko, and Hasumi were building beds. When the two oni children were complete, they started sparring with cushioned rattles that were styled to resemble the trademark kanabo. The fort was where Hasumi was seated, so it was really meant to look like a spectator's chair for royal viewers. Homugi and Yuko were royal attendants from the looks of things. The parents were actually fairly impressed with the setup, but what came next was the real surprise.
Kiyonobu knew that Meioshi could fight. She was able to challenge Lord Numa-o and knock him back with sheer power multiple times when that generally would've been impossible for a child to do. In Lord Numa-o's hasty decision to downsize her for bringing up King Shanwang's name, or even the possibility that he was still alive, Kiyonobu didn't get to see her hand-to-hand combat once she and Numa-o started knocking each other into other spaces out of reach. She was quite good at this. Omezo was arguably going to be one of their strongest children and one of the better guardians for the next generation of oni soldiers, but he was struggling a bit to keep up with Meioshi's defensive skills. A light thump to the ground from Omezo made the "spectators" jump up like they were cheering or saying "Ooo!" This combat affinity must've been what Numa-o was raging about after she collected the waters into her pearl. He mentioned that she would've been an exceptional fighter under his wing, but he refused to train her if she was so loyal to Shanwang. He would instead investigate the pearl should she find the Flying Reiki palace once more.
"Hey! No pushing, remember?" Omezo said, standing akimbo with a pout.
"Oopsy!" Meioshi gasped, covering her mouth. She waved her hands a bit and asked, "Sorry, Omezo. Did I hurt you?"
"Nope!" Omezo replied, laughing cheerfully. He returned to his fighting stance and said, "I'm ready!"
"Okay!" Meioshi said, twirling on her foot to get back into a defensive position. "We have to impress her ladyship."
"Her highness is most displeased with pushing," Hasumi said from the throne of toy and blanket. "That will be one penalty point."
"I've never seen Omezo play so gently," Maemi whispered, placing a hand on Kiyonobu's chest. "He's usually too rough or too shy with his siblings."
"Do you think that's how little Meioshi saw the Aqualiseum? Wanting to impress Lord Numa-o and not hurt him?" Tazu asked, placing her fingers on her lips.
Kiyonobu's pupils shrank out of anger. If Meioshi was trying to impress the commander and he endangered this little girl out of spite, he would have some choice words to exchange with him. However, hearing Meioshi yelp out an 'oof!' and giggle from her tumble made his eyes soften up. He then said quietly, "She did impress him. He may not wish to instruct her, but I've no doubt that we can."
"Numa-o might be a favorite to the public, but, at his best, he can be an abhorrent fool," Maemi hissed. "This girl, however, does share our king's features. He may not have been adept at hand-to-hand combat like that, but he was capable of battle at a young age. Look at the way she releases the kanabo to perform her strikes... then takes it into her hand again to deliver a blow. That is a skill an experienced soldier would have."
"She and Omezo might be able to train together," Kiyonobu said, rubbing the stubble on his chin with thumb and index finger. "But, it may be in our best interests to organize a few of the children to test her might."
"Kya!" Omezo cutely shouted, twirling his cushioned kanabo before charging at Meioshi again.
____________________________________________
"A tournament with an orphan? Are you insane?" a woman shouted.
"Oh, Kadiri, we're so soft to our tots!" Tazu said, dropping her head with embarrassment.
Kadiri was another beauty, but she was of the warrior class and not to be mistaken for a dainty noblewoman. No one really knew how Kiyonobu managed to tame the firestorm that is Kadiri, but no one dared question it either. She was his wife and that's all there was to it. Of all of Kiyonobu's wives, Kadiri had a warrior's markings over her eyes and thin eyebrows. Her brows were contoured and painted onto her face daily, but the strip of green and underline red only went on when she was training the children or called to guardianship duties. She blamed the thinness of her hair on childbirth, which was a fair argument and left her feeling insecure sometimes, but she was ultimately happy that Kiyonobu didn't see her as less attractive with shorter hair; in fact, he had no problem with reminding her why he chose her as his third wife in the first place. Her hair was a bit on the fluffier end and styled into a high ponytail that resembled the flowers of the pussy willow tree. She had pins all throughout her shorter hair, and she wore armor of saltwater crocodile skin. Her lips were painted an enchanting red and her thicker body was dressed in a yukata with leggings of a sort.
"Who's soft? I run this arena!" Kadiri argued, snapping her head to the side.
"You know you crumble when one of the little ones does a perfect kanabo strike," Tazu said, leaning to her side to make eye contact with her intimidating sister. Only Tazu could calm Kadiri a majority of the time. It was a superpower of hers with the headstrong wives.
"That's called pride, not crumbling!"
"It's crumbling when a little tear pops out, Kadiri," Tazu said, making the woman blush minutely.
"That was one time! A-a-and it was my first time teaching," Kadiri tried, pouting and folding her arms.
"Oh, Kadiri!" Tazu said, embracing the stubborn demoness.
"Don't you, 'Oh, Kadiri', me! Why is an orphan here anyway?" Kadiri demanded, not returning the embrace but familiar with Tazu's sweetness.
"It's the little girl that Kiyonobu was sent to find for Lord Numa-o. The one he was pacing around for after he lost her."
"She's alright then?" Kadiri asked, unfolding her arms. She had relief written all over her features.
"She's in the nursery now. She's so cute, Kadiri! She's play-fighting with Omezo now. Husband wants us to train her until he can send word to the commander of the earth, but we need to know where her strength lies. That's why we're setting up a tournament. Something small, though. At least one child from each mother close to her age should do. We don't want to overwhelm her. Kiyonobu said she's weak. Something happened to her before he found her again. That's the only reason why he was able to sense her when he did. She used up more power to fight something in her travels than she did when she sealed away the chaotic waters. Her pearl is with her, too. We can inspect it for a little while in the meantime."
Kadiri hummed with thought before unfolding her arms completely and said, "Do you think she's telling the truth? About King Shanwang?"
"I don't know, sister. We'll have to ask her after husband has sent word. Lord Numa-o refused to train her from what I understand," Tazu informed.
Kadiri frowned at this then rose to her feet to say, "I'll arrange your tournament. At the very least, the kid can get some armor and clothes worthy of her oni heritage."