影と風 | Kage to Kaze | Shinazugawa Sanemi

8 - Family

"These are the remaining children from the village's orphanage. They'll stay with us until I figure out where they'll go." I planted my hands on my hips, standing firm as I faced off with the white-haired man.

"With us? It's my estate; you can't just bring people here," he argued, stepping toward me. The girls immediately ran behind me, cowering.

I closed the distance between us, now just inches away. "They aren't just people; these are kids."

"That still doesn't give you the right." He started to say more, but the young boy suddenly stepped in front of me, holding out his hands. "You can't hurt her. She saved us," he said bravely, though his voice trembled.

Sanemi picked him up by the shirt, his small feet dangling in the air. The girls almost cried in fright, but I remained calm. Sanemi wasn't going to do anything.

"Oh yeah, little man? You think you can just show up and tell me what to do?"

"I'm not telling you anything, but you can't talk to your wife like that."

"She isn't my—"

"Once, my dad hit my mom, and I promised I'd always protect women after that," the boy interrupted. Sanemi's face twisted, the boy's words clearly hitting a nerve. He set the boy down abruptly.

"You have a week to fix this," Sanemi muttered before heading toward his dojo.

I bent down, giving the boy a tight hug. "You did amazing standing up to the scary Hashira." The kids cheered, and we headed to the kitchen, asking the maid to prepare a dish.

After the meal, we all went to bathe. I suggested the young boy join Sanemi, who was also bathing at the end of the estate. The boy puffed up his chest, trying to appear brave, and shakily made his way to the men's bathroom.

"Will he be alright?" Hana, the oldest at eight, asked nervously.

"No worries, Sanemi will take care of him. He's just a big bear," I said, holding up my hands like paws and pretending to be a bear. The girls laughed and ran off.

Later, all the kids—Hana, Ami, Yuki, and Haku—joined me in my room, and we comfortably fell asleep.

~*~

The next morning, I noticed Haku was gone, but the girls were still sound asleep, so I quietly crept out of my room.

"Morning, Sanemi. Have you seen Haku?" I asked as he entered the kitchen. He simply pointed behind him, and there was the little boy, following Sanemi like a loyal puppy.

Smiling, I prepared some rice, and the girls soon joined us.

Later, during training, the children watched us practice our sword moves and sparring, cheering us on. Though he tried to hide it, Sanemi seemed to wear a faint, almost imperceptible smile whenever they shouted his name in glee. He even put on more of a show, performing more aerial attacks and flashier moves.

"We're going to the village, Sanemi. Join us later for dinner," I called out, once the afternoon settled. I only heard a grunt from his dojo as I headed off. We were going door to door, trying to get the children adopted. The village was small, but many childless couples were eager to adopt.

In the village, we spread the word about the four kids available for adoption and told the villagers where we were staying.

"Ne, ne, Ms. Shinazugawa, how long have you been married to Mr. Shinazugawa?" Hana asked while we perched on a bench, waiting for the Wind Hashira during the late afternoon.