Just A Kid

Chapter 17

"Well now, I see everyone is awake," a voice said behind Araile.

Araile turned around and saw Seishin and Shinrai standing behind her, a smile on the older man's face. She offered the two a small smile, and Seishin placed a hand on top of her head. An image of a much smaller Araile puffing her cheeks out in irritation with a gloved hand ruffling her hair flashed through her mind. It was gone just as quickly as it came as Araile tried to concentrate on the image, and she blinked in confusion. 

'What was that?' she thought to herself.

She blinked as Meiyo bounced on her heels.

"Seishin! Can we go for our walk now?" Meiyo asked as she jumped up and down, excited. 

Seishin nodded, and took back his hand from Araile's head.

"How was your sleep, Araile?" Seishin suddenly asked, turning his attention to the nine year old.

"Um..it was alright," she answered.

"Alright, let's go," Seishin declared as he began walking.

Meiyo cheered loudly and ran to catch up with Seishin, with Taiyo following slightly behind.

"Come on, Araile! Hurry up!" Meiyo shouted, looking back at Araile.

"Uh, yeah" she said, and ran and catch up with Meiyo.

"Today is a beautiful day," Seishin exclaimed as he led all of the children into the forest.

A chorus of agreement reached his ears as the small group continued walking. 

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A couple of hours later, Seishin led the small group into a small clearing. Araile's eyes widened in surprise when they landed on a whole assortment of katanas, kunais, shurikan, and any other ninja weapons spread out on the grass.

"Seishin, what are all of these?" she asked in confusion.

"This is where we train," Seishin said, smiling at the confused girl.

"Seishin, have you seen where my shurikan went?" Meiyo said, looking around the clearing.

"They are probably where you left them last time," Seishin said, laughing.

Meiyo scratched her head, deep in thought and headed off to look for her shurikan.

"Araile, could you come here please," Seishin called to Araile as he picked up a katana in an emerald green sheath.

She walked over to him, carefully stepping over the weapons that littered the grass.

"I want you to have this," Seishin said as he handed her the katana, along with a small dagger.

She took the katana out of its sheath, and turned it in the light, marvelling at its beauty.

"You will be practising with that katana and dagger from now on, okay?" Seishin informed her and Araile nodded, still looking at the dangerous beauty of the katana.

"You got the same weapons as me," a shy voice spoke up from behind her.

Araile turned around and smiled, a faint line of heat racing across her cheeks.

"Really? You have them too?" she asked Shinrai as the young boy came up behind her.

Shinrai shifted a little on his feet and looked around as Araile put the katana back in its sheath.

"I'll help you with your katana," Shinrai finally said after a few moments of silence.

"Okay!" Araile happily agreed as Shinrai led her to a spot in the clearing where there weren't any weapons on the ground.

Araile and Shinrai began to practice fighting with both of their weapons.

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The months flew by, and Araile continued training with the other demon children. She had become quite close to Meiyo and Shinrai, and constantly hung out with them. Most of Shinrai's shyness had gone, but replacing that shyness was kindness and compassion. Taiyo unfortunately stayed the same since Araile met him those months back. She didn't really talk to Taiyo much, but when she do he was always rude to her. Taiyo treated poor Shinrai worst of all by either punching Shinrai, or making rude comments about the boy either behind his back or to his face. 

Araile tried her best to help her poor friend, but in the end she always got the beating intended for Shinrai.

Shinrai had apologized numerous times but Araile brushed them off and always told him, "that's alright. One day, we'll get stronger then we'll show him".

Araile continued to get weird images throughout the months that would be gone the moment she would concentrate on them. She would have glimpses of a man in a vest, or a dark dog with a curled up tail. Sometimes it was an orange boy, or a pink girl. The only image that would stay with her was a big explosion, and a woman screaming. When she would try to concentrate on those images her head began to hurt: it always felt like a dagger slicing right through the middle of her skull. When this occurred, it would force Araile to sit out when her and Shinrai were practising.

Seishin and Kazoku also noticed this and Kazoku tried many remedies to try and relieve the pain, but nothing seemed to work.

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The male figure sneered as he set his sights on the sleeping body of the nine year old girl through the cabin window. Her will was stronger then he had anticipated, and now her mind was fighting back the jutsu he had placed on her when he had her brought to him. 

This wasn't good. If he wasn't careful, her memories would come back. He gritted his teeth in frustration; he couldn't allow this to happen, or else all his hard work would be for nothing. 

He had to do something.

A smirk suddenly crossed his lips as an idea began to form in his mind. It was risky, but there was a good chance it would work. A chuckle drifted from the male form as he opened the door to the cabin. Yes, it would work in the end.