Donten ni Warau: They Carry Shadows

Prologue

The sun sat high in the sky providing a light that the people of Shiga would always cherish. Nishiki loved the sun. She'd been living with Soramaru and his brothers for about four months now. The half haired girl never stopped being grateful to Soramaru. It was because of him that she could live, love, and laugh under a clear, blue sky.

Yet, despite the fact that she had put the dark shadows of her life behind her, they still followed her. She couldn't escape the nightmares that assaulted her every so often, and she was sometimes unable to fight off the vivid memories that were trapped in her mind. She simply did her best to follow what Soramaru told her that one time in the woods, she waited for a reason to laugh. Living with the Kumou, that opportunity came quite frequently.

Nishiki swept fallen leaves off of the shrine's steps. "Hi, Nishiki!" Chuutarou called as he ran down the steps to get to school. Nishiki smiled."Have a nice day at school." She responded. To her, it was almost funny how alike the three brothers were. When she met Tenka, she could very clearly see how Soramaru turned out the way he was. She could see Chuutarou developing a personality that was similar to Tenka's.

Nishiki finished sweeping and went along doing the rest of the chores, which weren't many. She cleaned the house for a bit when suddenly her head felt like it was splitting apart. She felt a pressing sensation from inside her head. She braced herself against a wall as her vision went blurry and her teeth clamped shut to smother moans of pain.

Soramaru passed by at that moment. "Nishiki, are you okay?" He asked, concern filling his voice. The headache passed and Nishiki nodded and managed a small smile. "I'm alright. I must have just been tired. Could have just been lack of sleep." She had been short on sleep lately, and she had no idea what had been keeping her up, but she dismissed it. "Are you sure you're okay?" Soramaru said. "Maybe you should go to bed earlier tonight." Nishiki shrugged. "I will be fine." She responded. Soramaru sighed, Nishiki had grown in the time that she had been living with them, but there were times where she was still the unfledged girl who went overboard with the chores. "Just... don't over work yourself. Okay?"