InoAoi tales

Acorns and Heartbeat

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"Have I ever felt this way before?"
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Inosuke went home to the Butterfly Mansion thereon he came back from his mission. Just as he entered the Mansion he saw Aoi holding a basket of white sheets and walking to the back of the Mansion to hang her laundry.

"Hey, pigtails! Inosuke-sama has descended from the mountains, aren't you gonna greet me I'm the king of the mountains after all?!" boasted as he pointed himself with his thumb, cackling.

With her furrowed eyebrows Aoi goes along in his act. "Welcome home Inosuke-san," she replied dryly. Though she may look irritated on the outside, Aoi felt the warmth in her heart knowing he was safe and sound. She excused herself to hang all the laundry at the back.

The boy walks with his head held high towards her, catching up to her speed. He put both of his arms on his head like he was relaxing.

"What's the dinner for tonight?" he asks nonchalantly. Aoi looks at him in surprise, she didn't expect that he was going to follow her.

"We'll have salmon daikon and tempura—do you want to add something to the menu?" she replies, turning her head towards the hallway.

"Seems like the meal you told me was tasty so I won't add anything besides I trust you with whatever you come up with," he shrugged. Aoi stopped in her tracks and looked at him in surprise.

"Hmm, fair enough," she replied. Inosuke accompanies her to the back of the mansion.

They both continued to walk in while he babbled about his adventures. He even acted how he slays the demons using his swords which Aoi scolded him because he nearly cut the wooden pillar. With a scowl, he put the sword back on his hips.

They've arrived at the back of the mansion. Aoi began to put the laundry on the string that was tied on a bamboo stick locking it with wooden clips. She saw in her peripheral vision that he sat on the wooden floor of the house. He continued to tell her the tales of his adventure partnered with cackles between the lines.

As minutes passed by, Aoi was on the last row of her laundry. The storyteller stopped his babbles, she assumed that he dozed off since her vision was blocked by white blankets. The breeze blows the laundry towards the east, letting her glimpse the porch.

"I wonder where did he go," she wondered when she saw he wasn't there. She shrugged thinking he was just around the mansion. Carrying the basket at the side of her hips she walked her way to the porch and dropped it beside her.

Aoi lays down on the warm wooden floor. She exhales letting the warmth of the sun hit her pale skin, she has done so much today. The mansion was packed today and she needed to tend them herself cause her Master hadn't come back yet from her mission.

Now, that she's done with the laundry she's going to cook for them and administer their medicine. Tiredness began to consume her as she slowly closed her eyes.

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Inosuke came back from the mountain nearby to the mansion. He remembers that he hasn't given acorns to the nurse. Inosuke stomps his feet happily walking back to her.

"Oii! Woman! I got you a present! Thank Inosuke-sama!" he shouted followed by a loud cackle that echoed through the empty hallway.

He stopped his tracks when he saw the nurse sleeping on the wooden floor. Inosuke bends over to proudly boast his acorns.

"Oi, woman. I sought you acorns," he said and started to press on her cheeks with his finger. Aoi didn't budge, so he tried again. He wanted to shout or something that would frighten and wake her up but Shinobu taught him that he shouldn't do that to anyone, especially to a girl.