❝𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐲❞ - KNY Fanfiction

Chapter 4: ❝𝐀 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞❞

It was 5:30 when I strolled over to my brother, leaning on the kitchen table. Since we got home, we hadn't talked much, instead, he exercised while I worked on many projects, like sewing up my sweater. In between bites of his sandwich, Darius looks up and asks, "Hey shorty. What's up?" I roll my eyes and smile.

"I just wanted to ask if you want to go see Mitsuri, Muichiro, Shinobu, and Rengoku at the Butterfly Mansion this week?" I ask him, casually making sure to include the Rengoku bit because my brother absolutely loves him. They have been friends for a while now, and Darius looks up to him.

As I expected, my brother's eyes lit up at the mention of Rengoku. "Rengoku-san?!" he excitedly exclaims, "Sure, when?" Looking at me wide-eyed. I smirk.

"Do you only care about Rengoku? What about Muichi?" I say, a smile in my voice. Muichi is the nickname I gave to Muichiro, my close friend. Actually, I'm not even sure if he would consider me his friend; he's so spacey, I wouldn't even know. What I do know is he doesn't like the nickname much, but he doesn't get much of a choice, does he?

Anyways. I'm not really bothered by his reaction to be honest; I know how much he loves Rengoku. When we both trained under him, he got really attached. They now have some sort of a father-son relationship, and it's pretty adorable. I mean, I love Rengoku too. Training under him was amazing and inspiring, and he's a really good teacher! I guess it's just different with those two.

My brother responds. "Well. Muichiro is kinda short. You know how I feel about short people," he says with a quick shoulder bump. "When we going to the mansion?"

I roll my eyes playfully and say, "You can't call people short when you're not even six foot. Also, I already told you. We're going this week."

"Says the shorty." I ignore his joking and search the fridge for food, deciding on a chicken salad with cheese as a healthy option.

"Someone's impatient..." I comment before sipping my tea.

"Whatever," he responds, going back to his sandwich, clearly very excited. I then smile to myself and think, 'I'm happy he's happy,' putting a forkful of salad in my mouth.

I wasn't paying attention when I realize Darius is staring at me. He playfully shouts, "Stop smiling!" I shake my head softly and continue to smile.

I quickly finish my food and turn to my brother, "What are we going to do now?" I ask putting my hands together, "I made dinner, watered the flowers, cleaned my room, and fixed my sweater. Now let's do something fun!" I tell him with a smile on my face, "I don't know what, but something".

"Go read," he tells me, "It's literally nighttime." I pause, realizing he's right. I sigh dramatically and take his advice, grabbing my book and plopping myself on the floor sofa. I roll over and curl up slightly, continuing into the book I was halfway into. After a bit, I decide I want a different scenery, so get off the sofa and open the door.

I start to walk into our garden, taking the pathway down into the beautiful scenery. I sit on the fountain in the middle of the enclosure, putting down my book to admire the wisteria and other plants. We made sure not to plant a lot since it tends to choke out the other plants, however, we don't have much of a choice as demons are only allergic to wisteria and sunlight. I wonder if any demons aren't though. Anyways, I can't wield the sun, so planting wisteria all around the house is the next best idea! It's time-consuming though...

I admire the garden, deep in thought. "I wish everyone knew about wisteria. It works like a charm, and the knowledge could save lives," I whisper wistfully, watching the sky. As the sun falls asleep and moon gains dominion, the light of the sky gives up its struggle against the darkness, only to overtake it again in the morning.

The struggle enraptures my mind. Mesmerized, I enjoy the moment. 'Nature never fails to make me feel happy,' I think as I hug my knees to my chest. I focus onto a falling wisteria leaf as it floats through the air like a feather until suddenly, its swept away.

"Caw caw!" A large-winged, charcoal-black crow flies into the wisteria enclosure

My smile widens and I offer the bird my arm, it lands on it, immediately croaking out "Caw caw! Lady Shinobu has a message for you!" I use my other hand to softly rub the bird's head as I respond "Well I figured that much out already...What's the message?" I ask smiling at the cute bird.

The bird seems to enjoy being petted and flaps its feathers happily. I chuckle at its antics. "Well, Lady Shinobu sends this message 'As I said before, you two can come over whenever you'd like! The Love, Fire, and Mist Hashiras will be here tomorrow, so it would be a great time to visit. I would love to see you both! Have a nice evening- Shinobu Kocho'" I nod at the bird and say, "Thank you, En!" Then I pat her head gratefully and respond, "Please tell Shinobu-sama that we will definitely be there tomorrow and are excited to see everyone."

I slowly lift my arm, allowing Shinobu's bird to take off, she does and I wave goodbye, smiling as En soars through the sky. I stare and suddenly realize it's getting dark. I then get up, still holding my book, and slowly make my way back inside. I look around for my brother, who has been awfully quiet all day, 'Normally he pesters me' I think furrowing my eyebrows 'Huh' I then shrug it off, and start looking for him so I can say good night.

"Dariiiiiii" I say skipping down the hallway, not really caring if he was asleep. He doesn't go to bed at 8:30 anyway. I stop at his door, then decide to be rude and barge in, why not after all? I come into his room to see him sitting on the floor, Darius was wearing his pajamas. He appears to be meticulously cleaning his sword.

"Hiiii!" I say energetically my brother continues to stare at the sword, clearly not wanting to accidentally damage his blade while he's trying to clean it. I sit next to him watching him sharpen and shine the piece of metal, adding oil, and various powders.

When he is finally done he looks up at me "Hey Lan" he responds now smiling at me. I'm sitting cross-legged and rocking back and forth in a fidgety way as I tell him what happened: "En came over while I was in the garden, and Shinobu-san invited us to come over tomorrow!"

He looks at me looking amused as he carefully puts his sword into its sheath. "Calm down," he tells me gently, "Sheesh, I thought I was the excited one. You can barely sit still."

I fall on the floor onto my back. "We just got back here, and I'm already bored," I admit, laying on one side as I talk to him. "I guess I just miss seeing my friends..." I pause, then I mumble quietly, "and that mission was...." I stop talking, pursing my lips as recall the events. I shut my eyes trying to force away the age-old memory, look at the ceiling, and look back at my worried brother.

"You ok?" he asks, softly nudging me. I smile at him and nod solemnly, "I-I'm ok," I respond slowly, thinking, 'I don't want to bug him with my problems.' Standing up, smiling at him, and backing toward the door, I say, "Byeee...I'm starting to get tired. Love you!" watching my confused brother, grasping for words to say as I retreat. "Ooh...um ok bye! Love you too..." I hear him say through the door.

As I lean against the door, my smile fades, and I sigh. I furrow my eyebrows, staring at the floor, slowly walking towards my room.

'Why does this keep happening?' I lay down in my bed, closing my eyes and wondering. 'Maybe talking to people will distract me from this... feeling'.