Fan Fiction ❯ Stars ❯ Stupid Birds ( Chapter 2 )

-Stupid Birds-



Nanashi watched the hut crumble, he returned too late to hear the screams of whoever was inside. But they surely had to be dead. He stayed back in the shadows the villagers were back again, this time trying to put out the fire before it spread. He saw the boy from earlier again and he was still calling for Michi. Nanashi turned his back to the village, before strolling off he heard the boy again. "Oh Michi-sama! You're all right!"

Nanashi looked over his shoulder and let his gaze follow the boy, he had run to a young woman sitting in the middle of the grass. She had been in the fire, the burns on her clothes and skin made that clear. But how did she escape? He had sealed the hut making sure no one could enter or leave. He watched the girl closely; she smiled as the boy gave her a hug. Someone who had been lying beside her had just sat up and was talking to the boy now.

They looked weak, just simple human warriors, not a threat. Now knowing Michi was some young student of Masuyo and not someone of higher stature Nanashi walked into the trees again, never to return to the village.

~*~

Nori hugged Michi but very carefully, he knew she was not feeling too well at the moment. He looked at the boy next to her, recognizing him from a few hours earlier "Kiyoshi, grab Michi, you both can stay at my home tonight." Kiyoshi glanced to Michi wanting to make sure it was ok with her before he followed the boy's request.

Kiyoshi sat up and began getting to his feet, Michi doing the same. She got to her feet but stumbled and landed against Kiyoshi. "My bad." she whispered as she pushed away from him and using her Pudao instead, which she fortunately didn't drop in the hut, to lean on. He rolled his eyes, put his blades away, and grabbed the girl without warning or consent.

"You're not walking in this condition," Kiyoshi said firmly; Michi didn't struggle. A free ride was welcome at this moment. Her right leg was tingling where she had been bitten, most would fear the snake poison... but she didn't think twice about it. She put her arms around Kiyoshi's neck, trying to not be a burden as much as possible, then rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

It had been quite an eventful day.

Kiyoshi hoped it was too dark for Michi to notice the blush that graced his cheeks when she wrapped her arms around his neck. He could feel her breathing on it. Nori just walked ahead in silence, he had lost a good friend today and almost lost another.

"We're close, just around this corner."

Kiyoshi nodded and looked back down at Michi. Was she asleep?

~*~

Nori slid the doors open and shut for Kiyoshi. He quickly set up a futon and watched as the boy put down his best friend. He was exceedingly gentle with her he noticed, probably because of her wounds. The elder boy placed the girls' weapon blade down against the wall; then Nori led Kiyoshi to the main sitting room and made some tea. For a long time they sat there in silence, thinking.

Kiyoshi's mind was set on Michi, he wondered who was out to kill her. Most likely the same person who had killed her teacher. Then he looked over to Nori. He had been a pretty good sport in all of this. He looked deep in thought, staring into his teacup.

Nori looked up to Kiyoshi and noticed he was looking at him. Immediately he darted his eyes back to his cup. He tapped the sides of the cup and counted the ripples. There were four this time; his mind wandered to Masuyo sensei. Did he die peacefully in the least? Four ripples again.

Perhaps whoever killed Masuyo was the one who burned the hut with Michi inside. Three ripples. Or maybe she tried to kill herself? Four ripples. Nori looked back to Kiyoshi who had his eyes closed and was leaning against the wall.

~*~

Michi awoke as the sun was rising, which to her would've been considered late since usually she'd be training now. All of her training started around the time everyone else was waking up. She yawned and stretched one of her arms above her head, then she let her body relax.

It took her a few minutes to remember what had happened the previous day, and then a little longer to convince herself it wasn't a dream. The mark on her leg which still tingled with life was proof enough. She simply didn't want to believe it. Her teacher was dead, her home had burnt down with most if not all of her belongings, and worst of all she had not a single clue of who did it.

Who wanted to take Masuyo's life, then hers? That was a question not easily answered. She sighed and rolled over onto her left side leaving her nose not even two inches from the wall.

~*~

Kiyoshi didn't move to a bed the night before, so he woke up still sitting against the wall. His neck didn't feel too great but he did feel refreshed from the unusual and no doubt exciting events of yesterday. Somewhat sleepily he got to his feet and walked silently to Michi's room.

He stood in the doorway staring at her small frame that was beneath the covers. Her back was to him but he was sure if she were awake she knew he was there.

But what if she wasn't awake?

He stepped into the room and leaned against the frame of the doorway. He looked her up and down, but not in a creepy stalker sort of way. This time he saw her as a girl and not a warrior. She had long amber hair which either looked brown in the darkness or golden in the sun. It was still tied back sloppily with something that he couldn't see. Her frame was nice, especially for such a strong girl.

Most women he had had the pleasure of fighting within the past had more of a manly hue to them, overly muscular for females and either wore too much or not enough clothes. Michi on the other hand carried herself pristinely. You could see she was a warrior from the way she walked with her shoulders back; but still tell she was a true woman at heart from the way she let her hips sway slightly as she walked.

Not that he was looking.

Kiyoshi finally left the room by his stomachs' orders. He slid the door mostly closed before venturing off to the kitchens.

~*~

She hadn't moved as he stared at her. She was wondering if he was going to actually say something to her. Maybe walk over and make sure she was ok, or offer her something to eat. Anything. But no. For some odd reason he had just stood and stared at her before leaving.

Strange boy.

After a few moments the girl became restless and sat up. The sleeves, or what remained of them, of her shirt were full of burns and holes. She grimaced and crossed her hands in front of herself, letting each one grip her shoulders. Then making sure her fingertips were on the seems she pulled. She could both feel and hear the threads bursting under the pressure of her pull, then once the sleeves had come loose, she dropped them on the ground and walked from the room leaving her weapon behind.

Her tummy made a small growl and she tried to think back to the last time she ate. Did she even eat yesterday? She shrugged and decided to walk through the house in search of either Nori or the kitchen. Whichever came first would be welcome.

~*~

Nori awoke before the sun had risen. The he went out to the fields to tend to the horses and cattle like he usually did. The events of yesterday kept picking at him and he kept on crying. Then he'd stop and try to be a man... he knew his father wouldn't of cried. Men don't cry.

So he bit down on his lip every time he felt that slumped feeling of defeat that you get before he'd cry. When his eyes watered he'd bat back the tears. Not that anyone could've seen him cry. In fact, it would've been better for him to cry now and blame it on his allergies or something of the sort.

He looked up and saw the sun was up. Time sure did fly, and he wasn't having any fun. Sighing, the young boy made his way home. He took off his shoes before entering his house and slid the door shut. The house was quiet. Perhaps everyone was still asleep?

~*~

Michi wiped the sleep from her eyes, then found the kitchen. the morning sunlight lit up the room. Not bothered enough to make something (or await Nori to offer to make something) She looked around for something that was ready to eat, fruit perhaps. She loved fruit.

On the counter in a bowl under the window sat a small mountain of colourful fruits. She eagerly walked up to them and picked out a peach and a tomato. Both being her favourite. Michi gazed out the window and absentmindedly bit into her peach, letting the juices trickle down her chin.

She could see many people walking to and from her old home. She saw people with buckets strapped to their back filled with charred wood. Then she saw a horse trotting up the street with a back carriage filled with larger planks of burnt wood.

She sighed and looked down to the peach pit that remained in her hand. She didn't even remember eating the thing. Must've really been in a daze. She switched to the other fruit, some people found it weird she'd enjoy the raw tangy taste of a tomato. She found it funny most people mistook it for a vegetable.

~*~

Kiyoshi figured the amber haired girl hadn't noticed him sitting across the room at the small table. He too had found the fruit bowl just moments before. He was surprised in her choice of fruit, both a peach and a tomato. Odd combination.

Deciding it would be better to willingly gather her attention and not have her see him and think he was some sort of creep, he cleared his throat and looked over to her with his eyebrows raised.

Her green eyes shot over to him and a small smile graced her lips. "Mornin'." she said in a voice that didn't reach more than a whisper. He nodded his head in a way to say 'Right back at you'. Last he checked it was rude to speak with your mouth full and he was still chewing on the last of his apple.

She took a seat across from him and looked around a little more. She hadn't been in Nori's home for years and it didn't change much. The pictures on the walls had faded from the sunlight, the tapestries and other decorations were the same, and they now had a thin cloak of dust.

"Seen Nori around?"

The boy shook his head and swallowed the rest of his small breakfast. "No, not since last night. I also haven't seen any parents around; I know he can't possibly live alone."

Michi shook her head and let her gaze fall to the swirled pattern in the wooden table. She remembered quite clearly when Nori's mother had died. He was only five years old and lost the one person he felt comfortable around.

"He lives with his father, who is a farmer and is out right now selling what he can before the winter comes." The boy across the table nodded slightly.

"His mother..?"

"Has passed." She sighed, this was one story she hated to tell. "It was about seven years ago if I remember correctly..." At that precise moment Nori walked in. Michi shot a glance at Kiyoshi to drop the subject for now.

~*~

For some reason he felt as if he had walked in at a wrong moment. Oh well. He sat at the table with the others and put on a fake smile. "Hungry?" The two teens shook their heads. Nori was relieved, he didn't feel like making anything to eat. The thought of eating made his stomach turn.

They all sat in silence until Michi finally stood up and declared she was going home to see if anything was left. The boys decided to tag along, they had nothing better to do.

Michi went back into the room she had slept in and grabbed her pudao and her sleeves. They all made their way through the villagers to the site of her home. Two walls were still standing, sort of. The tops of the walls had crumbled or burned making a weird pattern.

Michi used her pudao to help clear a path for her to walk through. She found a few small trinkets that hadn't burned or melted; like some of her jewelry her mother had sent to her for her birthday last year. Then she made her way to where her sensei's bedroom had been. She kicked the remains of his futon out of the way, letting feathers fly freely in the light breeze.

One would've thought a handful of geese had just ditched their feathers.

She was glad the floors hadn't been too ruined. Save for the spots where the heavy beams had hit once they fell. She grabbed the small handle in the floor and yanked on it. With a small grunt she managed to open it and let the door fall to the side with a loud 'bang'. Several of the villagers had jumped since it had been silent.

Michi pointed to Kiyoshi and waved him over to the small door. "I'm going to need your help pulling some of this stuff out." "Okay." The girl jumped into the small doorway, it was almost a comical sight. It looked as though she just fell through the floor.

Michi didn't remember this place being so deep, but then again she had never actually been down there before. Only looked. The only light she had shone in the center of the ditch she currently occupied. It didn't help her locate the few things she wanted.

She felt around blindly until finally her hands swept against one of the chests she had been looking for. She tried to pull it from its place, but it was planted into the ground rather well. Figured.

With a massive grunt she pulled with all her might and the chest moved rather suddenly into the spotlight. Now she could just find what she needed and leave the rest to the villagers.

~*~

Nanashi had slept rather comfortably out in the woods; he was far from the village now. He glared at the few birds chirping merrily. They had no problems... someone didn't just go steal their life long desire.

Life sucked.

He crunched his way through the fallen twigs and a few scattered leaves. He needed to find that damned heart before someone got some bright ideas.

He was also rather disappointed when he found no traces of the scrolls at Masuyo's home. He was sure of all people, he would've had them. He slouched his shoulders and removed the hood of his cloak. It was too warm and too dim to have the hood up. Though he did like the creepy effect it had when he was playing with peoples minds.

With his hood down, you probably wouldn't have thought he was some nasty villain that could kill someone without flinching, without regret. He looked like some random boy wandering around in a bad mood.

The birds chirped again, apparently they all felt they should shove it in his face how great and easy their lives were while his was beginning a long roll down a rather nasty hill from the look of it.

He tried to ignore them, he really did. But he didn't have the greatest of all tempers and quicker than you could've said "ohmigosh!" four birds were dead on the ground. Their feathers tainted with blood.

A smirk swam onto Nanashi's lips. Stupid birds.

~*~

She threw half of the scrolls to the side and left the other half in the trunk. She knew which were important and which were decoys or just ramblings. "Alright! Ready up there?"

She could see Kiyoshi's silhouette form above her. "Yep, all set." With half of the scrolls the chest was considerably lighter. Michi made sure it was strapped shut and pushed it back in place. "Now! Don't get these dirty."

She grabbed the scrolls off of the ground and handed them up one by one. Kiyoshi took them carefully and passed them to Nori, who then placed them gently down on the tattered futon. The one thing that wasn't covered in ash or soot anymore.

Michi looked around the hole again, she knew there was more down here; but didn't really feel like spending time down there anymore. The air was thick and stifling. She got on her knees and felt around carefully.

She felt a lumpy velvet sack along the edge of the floor. She walked under the spotlight and looked in the bag. She grinned broadly and looked up. "Nori! This is for you." She held them up and once Kiyoshi had them in his grasp. The girl let go.

Nori gratefully accepted the bag. It was heavier than it looked. He pulled the drawstring loose and opened the bag. As he peered inside his eyes widened. "Wow."

~*~

The villagers were beginning to get annoyed with the children just rummaging through the recently passed Masuyo's home. They watched the older boy help the young woman out of the floor. Or so it seemed. Obviously there was some sort of door there.

The kids grabbed their things and hurried off. The remaining villagers immediately swooped to the door in the floor. One man had jumped down in there and began going through the scrolls.

They were all rather disappointed when they figured there was nothing of value down there. They all continued to clean up the site and slowly the small door in the floor was forgotten. For the most part anyways.

~*~

Aha! Chapter 2 is done. Now I know its a lot shorter than my first one. But I just can't keep up 13 pages each time o.o that's just… ludicrous! But I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. Trying to set up a few things here and there. It'll all make sense in time ^.^

Thanks! *waves*

-Proofread and Edited by Ansem =P

*glomps Ansem* What would I do without you!?