The Typo Pillar!

Chapter 5

Half-foreigner
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The thing that gave away that I was in an anime was not the environment nor the Japanese — rather, it was my hair.

Despite me trying to 'guess' which anime I was in, I didn't exactly believed in it myself — at least not till my hair grew out and I came to notice how much I bloody looked like Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho.

'At least I look pretty...' I thought absent-mindedly as I readjusted the cloth on my head.

Even though I was quite good-looking in this life, I really didn't want the unwanted attention these kinda looks warranted at times.

Not to mention I looked like a girl despite not being one — not that I actually minded. It was rather that I could be kidnapped for human trafficking that worried me more.

Regardless of all that, I tied the cloth around my head tightly and went along with Ojiisan to the town to trade some vegetables for other essential things.

oOo

The first ones to ever know about my red hair — except Obasan and Ojiisan — were the Kocho sisters.

And they were the first ones to make me realize which anime I was in.

'Out of all the animes... why the one with the most tragic ending?' I thought miserably as a young Kanae stared at me with her shimmering lilac eyes.

"Ohayo, Kanae-chan!" Ojiisan called out to the young girl, making her attention snap towards the older man, "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you for asking Ojiisan!" She replied sweetly, "What about you?"

As they exchanged pleasantries, I looked away to find the younger Kocho staring at me from behind the door of their house.

'She looks too... young.'
How old were they in the manga, again? Shinobu was eighteen, right? And Kanae? Didn't she... didn't she die when Shinobu was fourteen—

"Masato!"

"H-Hai?" I stumble out a reply as I heard Ojiisan call my name, my face flushing slightly as I realized I had already embarrassed myself, "Sorry, I was thinking about something."

"It's alright, child." He smiled mischievously at me, "This here is Fujioka Masato. And Masato, this is the eldest daughter of Kocho-san, Kanae."

"It's nice to meet you, Fujioka-san!" She bowed politely, making me feel strangely awkward.

'Did I had to enter the storyline like this?'

"N-Nice to meet ya too, Kocho." I replied rather casually as I bowed back awkwardly, "I hope we can be good friends in the future."

Kanae's face brightened as she heard me say that; her lilac eyes shimmering in delight as she gave me a blinding smile.

'Well, how bad can it be?' I thought absent-mindedly as she started chatting, 'I think I have a bit more time, right?'

Cause I sure as hell wasn't ready for that shit storm in guise of the manga plot, if I were to be honest.

oOo

"Fujioka-san!" Shinobu called me out loudly one day, almost making me wince at her baby-shrill voice, "How do you have red hair?" She asked directly, her lavender eyes filled with curiosity.

"Genes." I answered back non-chalantly as I jerked the cloth (that I wore to hide my hair) vigorously.

"Eh? What's that!"

"It's what makes us look like our parents." I replied as I deemed the cloth dust-free enough to tie it back on my head.

"Oh..." her small face wrinkled in seriousness as she looked at me with her best thinking face, "Then... where are you parents?"

I'll be honest; it took all my might to not just snatch little Shinobu away from the porch and engulf her in a bone-crushing hug — she was just like this little ball of chubbiness and curiosity that I absolutely adored!

"I don't know." I answered honestly, patting her as she looked back at me with confusion, "Some people just don't have parents, I guess."

Her lavender eyes looked at me in disbelief, before they turned sad and watery. She immediately got off the porch and hugged my legs tightly as I was too tall for her.

A wistful smile formed on my lips as I bent down to carry her in my arms — who could have thought the scary Insect Hashira was such a cute little beanie when she was only four years old?

"Ah... no need to cry for me, Shino-chan~ I have Obasan and Ojiisan, right? Then what's the worry~?" I gently patted her back as she sniffled.

'It's funny how these characters are not characters anymore, huh?' I thought wistfully, closing my eyes for a moment as I felt the little one snuggle onto my shoulder, 'It's sad how life plays its role, ain't it?'

I mean, it wasn't much different from my last life either — just that, I knew about my mother in the last one whereas I didn't in this; but what difference did it make in the end anyway?

'None.' I smiled lazily at the elder Kocho sister as she hurried towards us, her apologies ringing through the valley as she repeated herself again and again, 'History sure loves to repeat itself.'

"Chill," I interrupted her continuous apologies, "Shinobu-chan was quite a good child. So, chill, okay?"

Kanae nodded, her behaviour quite mature for a seven-year old girl, "Thank you for taking care of her..."

"If you wanna thank me, then please tell your mum to make those dumplings for me again~" I replied cheekily, making her laugh heartily, "Anyway, I gotta go~ See ya both later!"

"Bye, bye, Oni-chan!" Shinobu loudly bid me farewell, making genuine laughter bubble out of me.

'She's just too cute!'