"𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝙼𝚎" [𝚂𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚒 𝚡 𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚒]

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙸

Chapter 1 - first meeting
Sanemi

It was like any other day, I was in the backyard avoiding my father as I normally did. The garden wasn't anything special it was overgrown and you had to constantly watch where you stood because of all the spiky plants and broken glass hidden in the long grass. In the corner was a rusted lawnmower that stopped working years ago with weeds taking over it.

The bushes were also overgrown hiding the neighbors garden which was well kept and had a trampoline and a swing set.

The only good thing about where I lived was the tree house from the previous owners but it was so decrepit that I was too worried that it would collapse so I never went in it.

Normally when I go outside I can here kyojiro and his little brother playing but today they weren't outside for whatever reason so it was quiet which I didn't mind.

The silence also helped me hear the bushes rustling like something was in them. I brushed it off at first thinking it was just a cat but then it didn't stop.

It was starting to get on my nerves so I walked over to the bush getting on all fours crawling under it to try to catch whatever was making that noise.

When I saw what it was tho I froze in my place. A little girl? couldn't have been older than 8 with her small size. She had two different colored eyes and long black hair but the strangest thing about her was that half her face was covered by bandages.

When she noticed me she grabbed something off the floor, that I hadn't seen before, darting off through the gap in the fence which I hadn't even noticed before. "Hey wait!"

I sat there in confusion I had so many questions. Who was this kid? Where did he come from? Why did he run off into kyojiro's garden?

None of it made any sense but I needed answers so I made a plan. The next day I sat by the hole in the fence hoping that the kid would come back. The first day they didn't show up and they didn't the second either but after enough waiting she came back about 9 days later.

She came through the same hole in the fence but this time I was prepared. She wasn't expecting me to be there so it was pretty easy to grab her.

They shouted pushing me off but I didn't give up I needed to know who they were. I grabbed her by the wrist tight enough so she couldn't break free.

"Who are you where did you come from!" I yelled back at her

It took a couple minutes but I was able to calm her down enough to answer my questions. I sat in front of the gap in the fence to stop her from running off.

"Now where are you from?" I asked but I was met with silence, whoever she was she sure was stubborn.

"If you don't answer me I won't let you out" I threatened but it wasn't very effective as she just looked away from me as to say she wasn't scared.

"I'm being serious" I said which had the same effect "Can you talk?"

She looked around for a second or two before shaking her head no. "Oh sorry" I said feeling guilty for yelling

She once again looked around before taking a seat in front of me.

"My name is sanemi by the way" I said "so where did you come from?"

She looked towards the rengoku house and pointed at the freshly painted house, it was a nice house that clearly matched the garden it was attached to.

"Are you lying"

She shook his head no again

"Well I know that Mr rengoku only has two sons and doesn't have a daughter"

She seemed offended by that as she repeatedly shook her head repeatedly

"Did I say something wrong?" I asked

She nodded and started frantically pointing at stuff

"I have no clue what you're trying to tell me" I admitted

She grabbed one of the blue flowers that had grown through a hole in the fence and pointed at the flower then me and then her.

I sat there for a second trying to understand before it finally clicked "wait are you a boy?"

He nodded

"Oh sorry, I thought with the long hair that you were... Never mind" I said sort of embarrassed. This made him laugh just a small one but it felt good to see him happy.

"SANEMI! WHERE ARE YOU!" I heard shouting from outside of the bush and instantly recognized the voice

"You need to go" I said to the boy "NOW" I stood up and grabbed the boy pushing him through the gap in the fence. I had no thoughts at that moment but to protect him, I don't know why but I felt like I needed to.

Suddenly I felt an arm grab me and drag me out of the bush by the back of my shirt. I didn't even want to look up at him, I was too afraid, but as long as we were outside I knew he couldn't do anything.

"Shinizigawa! Funny seeing you here" soon as he heard mr rengoku he let go of me.

"This is my garden" my father told him

"I know but aren't you working today?" He asked

"No I had to resign from the job" my father lied in truth he probably got fired for being drunk at work.

"Oh well that's too bad" rengoku said

"Yeah"

"How's sanemi doing?" He asked

"Fine"

"I know how draining the breaks can be, with having the kids home all day" rengoku continued "how many do you have now?"

"Seven" my father replied

"Wow, must be a handful. You know me and ruka have recently taken in a foster child"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, his name is obanai. He's had quite a troubled past so it'll probably take him some time to adjust but we're gonna try to make it work"

"You have more patients than me"

While they were talking i took this as my chance to run inside. I went upstairs into our room and hid in the wardrobe. I was hoping that conversation would have been enough to calm him down, just enough so he didn't come searching for me.

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