Higanbana

Zankouku

Cold... so cold...

Where am I... who am I...?

N...Ku...

Who's there...

Who's calling...

...ara...ke...

Slowly opening my eyes, I saw a pair of Dark Red eyes staring at me while grinning from seeing me awake.

"Wake up, Nara-nee-chan!! You promised to play with us!" stated the boy as he pulled my left arm. "Hurry up!"

"Shigeru, don't pull Naraku. She just woke up."

"But Kaa-chan, Nara-nee-chan promised us that she would play with us last night!" pouted the boy, Shigeru, still holding onto my arm. "She promised..."

"Shigeru." called the woman causing her face to sadden from hearing what he said.

Not wanting to see them sad, I gently pulled my arm out of Shigeru's hold and gently grabbed his hands, causing him to look my way.

"Don't worry, its fine, Kie-san." smiling softly towards her before rubbing Shigeru's head fondly. "Besides I did promise that I would play with him and Hanako last night. So please don't worry about them, I promise to look after them."

"Thank you, Naraku. If you ever need me, I'll be in the kitchen." replied Kie-san, leaving the room with a smile on her face.

Once she left the room, I turned towards Shigeru and saw something that caused my heart to warmth. Shigeru's eyes were wide filled with joy and excitement, his smile causing his face to beam.

"Come on, Nara-nee-chan! Hanako is waiting for us!" stated Shigeru as he grabbed my arm again.

Seeing him like this caused me to grin towards the boy who was practically jumping where he stood.

"Alright, give me moment to get ready and then we can play until sun down." Pulling my arm gently away, as I get up to get ready to go outside and turned to face Shigeru. "I'll meet you outside, once I'm done here. Ok, Shigeru."

Causing his to bob up and down with joy and rushed out the door.

"You better hurry up or we'll get mad, Nara-nee-chan!!"

Shaking my head while I giggled, I began getting ready for the day. Once I was ready to face the day, I made my way outside but saw Kie-san outside with a boy around my age.

He also had Dark Red eyes and Burgundy hair that was tied up but, what really stood out was the scar on the left side of his forehead.

He was the reason why I'm still here standing, without him I wouldn't be here with these people who because the whole world to me. I'm forever grateful to him for giving to this second chance.

"Nii-chan!"

Turning towards where that voice came from, I saw that it was Shigeru and beside him, was Hanako and from the looks on their faces, it looks like they were excited about something.

"You're going to town again today?" asked Shigeru with a smile.

"I'm going with you!" stated Hanako.

"Oh no, you're not." replied Kie-san as she got up and faced the two. "You know you can't walk fast like Tanjiro."

"Kaa-chan!" whined Shigeru as he stomped.

"You may not." stated Kie-san, walking towards them. "Since he can't use the cart today, he won't be able to give you a ride when you're tired."

Which was true with how much it snowed last night, using the cart was out of the question and without it, would be pretty dangerous for them to go to town.