Girl with the Strange Green Eyes (Hashirama)

Ticking Time Bomb

The air was somber at the Ishikawa burial site the next day. There was a bright, sunny sky. It felt anything but bright and sunny to the members of the clan.

The burial site was a twenty minute walk from their main compound, out further into the rolling hills. There stood a large monument to Myobu, a tall, stone statue of a white fox. In front of the statue was a wooden pier.

When a member of the head family of the Ishikawa died an honorable death, namely on the battlefield or giving birth, they were draped in a handmade, golden-yellow quilt with intricate royal purple designs of Myobu, the fox Yokai, and the second most powerful of their gods, on it.

Now, it was Ishikawa Keisuke that was wrapped up in the quilt from head to toe, no part of his body showing, and tied to the pier with red, chakra-coated string.

The whole Ishikawa clan stood in a crowd, somberly looking forward to their fallen heir. The battle that took him, which had since been named The Battle of Broken Earth, had cut their Shinobi forced drastically. Out of the two-hundred-twenty-five Shinobi who had fought, only twenty-five came back.

Many Ishikawa lost their loved ones that day, and they were in the process of making the ceremonial burial caskets of the clan. Their funerals would be held all at once, leaving together as they had lived together, according to clan tradition. It would happen the following day.

Right now, though, it was about Ishikawa Keisuke.

The head family stood at the front, except for Ryuu, who stood by the pier. As he had helped bring Kei into this world, he would assist in guiding him towards the afterlife, where Tengu and the other gods would take care of him.

Yoko stood in the center, and Han stood to her right. Tomoe was to her left, with Sora next to her.

Sora was in tears, sickly body leaning against Tomoe. He was crying so hard Tomoe doubted that he could see—it was unbecoming of a Shinobi, though everyone in the clan knew he was no such thing.

He and Yoko, unlike Tomoe and Han, got a pass. So, the two civilians cried.

Yoko cried silently, trying to look strong and proud, even as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

Sora didn't care about looking dignified. He cried on Tomoe's shoulder, loudly and unashamedly, snotting on her plain, black kimono.

She squeezed his hand.

Unlike her brother, Tomoe couldn't cry. Even if Ryuu allowed it, no tears had even threatened to fall. She was all cried out from being on the battlefield, and now she just fell impossibly numb, like there was nothing inside of her.

There was a pit where her heart should've been in that moment.

Tomoe stared ahead at the pier, at her brother's blanket-covered corpse, and only felt cold. Her face was blank, just the tips of her lips tilting downwards and giving her a somber look, making her look much older than she was.

Han was much the same, holding their mother and comforting her as he stared ahead unblinkingly. His light brown eyes were empty, though his hands were trembling.

Ryuu was struggling to stand up, face hardened and cold. Under his black clothes, his whole middle was wrapped in bandages. Although he was no where near recovered, and his legs were shaking, he had insisted on doing this—"It's my duty as his father."

Tomoe almost scoffed just thinking about it. He chooses Kei-niichan's death to be the first time he acts like a father.

It was disgusting.

"May Myobu-sama lead this precious soul to Kunisaki, where he can reunite with his spiritual creators, the Five True Yokai. Noboru."

"Noboru," Tomoe repeated, along with the rest of the clan.