Chapter Text
Prologue
Chihiro heard the rough, ruffling sound of paper engulf him as the cascade of paper covered both him and the Hishaku henchmen. Just as the papers cleared up a bit, Chihiro’s eyes widened as he realized he no longer felt the solid, concrete ground below his feet.
Instead, he was greeted by a clash of cold wind. Chihiro was now in a freefall. Quickly repositioning his body, Chihiro made a landing with a roll on the nearest roof. It seemed that the building was some kind of fancy theater, with its dull gray tiles and traditional Japanese style architecture.
Chihiro, however, had neither architectural knowledge nor any time to admire the great craftsmanship of the building. He probably did learn that the roof of the building wasn’t a sturdy enough place to fight 3 men powered by Datenseki, as evidenced from the constant debris flying everywhere.
Not that Chihiro had seen much of the debris in the first place, as there was more paper flying around the roof than a rambunctious kindergarten art class gone wrong. Any and every direction Chihiro turned to, there was paper obscuring it.
One of the Hishaku henchmen tried to strike Chihiro using their katana while another attempted to catch Chihiro off guard with an aerial kick. Chihiro quickly ducked and weaved under the kick while deflecting the blow using Enten.
Chihiro had already made several hits on all 3 of the henchmen and they were beginning to slow down a bit. Blood soaked their shirts as they futilely rushed toward Chihiro, gritting their teeth in pain.
After several dodges and counters, Chihiro realized that the henchmen weren’t particularly skilled. They had a better than average level of swordsmanship in terms of skill, but he would have been able to sweep through them easily if they hadn’t been powered by Datenseki.
But the strangest thing was that, even if these men were enhanced, they shouldn’t have been able to be this coordinated. And why was there still paper in the air when that Hiruhiko bastard was nowhere in sight?
Chihiro finally understood what was happening. He had seen that Hiruhiko could control paper remotely, as evidenced by his move that he called “Blood Cranes”. However, the papers flying outside weren’t lethal like how the Blood Cranes were.
Instead, they were highly precise in movement, all pieces seemingly randomly but strategically floating in the air. This meant that Hiruhiko was remotely making it harder to move for Chihiro while helping his allies coordinate their attacks.
Chihiro had no time to wonder where he’d find Hiruhiko as he sensed an attempted attack from behind. Chihiro quickly jumped into the air and spun around, creating the momentum he required for this next move.
As expected, the henchman broke the roof (Chihiro hoped the person owning the building had insurance) which caused the henchman that broke the roof and the other two to fall into the hole.
Chihiro then plunged into the hole spinning around as he felt the familiar slice of a human neck. In one quick motion and one quick second, there were 3 less people in the world.
3 more people Chihiro would greet when he’d meet them in Hell.
But… something was off. The 3 thuds of the heads sounded like they bounced on wood. Chihiro made a swift landing without much trouble as he processed the situation he was in.
The audience seats were full of people. Civilians.
They had all witnessed Chihiro killing 3 people. Without any prior context.
Some had blood on their face that had splashed from the decapitation. Most did not understand what was happening.
Then, everyone began to scream. They saw people being killed in broad daylight. They saw a man with his body and katana covered in blood.
They saw a monster ready to kill them all.
In the middle of all those people was Hiruhiko, watching the scene he had scripted unfold before his eyes. The chaos, the fear, the panic.
To the people, Chihiro looked like a devil that had just been banished from Heaven, descending from the sky, eager to greet the poor people of Earth.
Chihiro’s blood boiled in anger as he gripped his Katana harder and his stare grew colder. Hiruhiko, visibly amused, opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a afraid and familiar voice. A voice Chihiro had not heard in over a year.
“Chihiro?”
Chihiro’s anger dissipated faster than the speed of light, instead being replaced by a mixture of shock and fear. For a few seconds, which felt like eons to Chihiro, he stood still, unable, no unwilling, to move. Chihiro then cautiously turned his face, still dripping with blood, and looked at the person he wished would never have to see him in such a state.
“A-Akane?”
Chihiro’s voice was shaky as he turned to look at the Rakugo-loving girl. She was in a beautiful pink Kimono, tightly gripping her Rakugo fan, her cherry blossom eyes dilated from shock and mouth open with surprise.
Worst of all, she was leaning away from him as far as possible, just like everyone else in the theater.
In fear.
A chuckle from Hiruhiko quickly snapped Chihiro back to reality as he saw the gravity of the situation increase ten-fold. Chihiro rapidly changed his stance, turning towards Hiruhiko.
“You have to get out of here, now Akane!” Chihiro shouted, facing away from Akane as he could not bear to see her face. Not in a situation like this.
“Oh?” Hiruhiko smugly put his index finger on the side of his cheeks, pretending to be curious. Maybe it wasn’t pretending, as he was genuinely curious about the relationship between these two unlikely people. “You two seem pretty close?”
Close? Chihiro wondered if that word could even be applied to the relationship Akane and he had. They were more like friends who hadn’t seen each other in 3 years. Or moreso, Chihiro had been avoiding her.
He hadn’t wanted Akane to get involved with what he was doing, but that entire plan had just come crashing down in front of his eyes.
“I wonder what she thinks of you now that she’s seen the real you: a monster!” Hiruhiko was obviously finding much joy in taunting Chihiro. “Just look at her! She’s horrified by the severed head, probably her first time seeing something like that! And the person who had committed this heinous act was you!”
Chihiro refused to look around at Akane. However, he guessed that she was still frozen in fear and would be unable to move. Chihiro also needed to consider the other civilians around. He couldn’t allow innocent people to get hurt, even if they did see him as a monster.
“And now the only one that can understand you now is me!” Hiruhiko’s remark seemed strangely brimming with joy.
“Cut the B.S.” Chihiro quickly retorted. He was nothing like the Hishaku. He was a monster, that he understood. He was going to Hell. He’d already accepted that fact. However, he would never use a katana other than its original purpose: to protect the innocent.
Hiruhiko was unworthy of his katana and therefore, Chihiro had to take it away from him to prevent innocent blood from being shed.
Innocent people like Akane, who work hard everyday to achieve their goals and dreams, only for people like the Hishaku to pluck it away from them like some bully.
Chihiro would stop them. He’ll have his revenge as he plunges deeper into Hell, dragging all those who’d hurt people like Akane with him.
Akane… that name held a lot of nostalgia for Chihiro. The only friend he had before meeting Char and Hakuri. A friend who shared a similar goal with him in preserving their father’s craftsmanship.
The person he’d give his life to protect.
“Welp, it’s kinda obvious she’s in the way of us being friends, if I presume correctly,” Hiruhiko said as he summoned paper which he surrounded himself with. “Guess I’ll have to get rid of her first. Shame, I really liked her performance.”
“I won’t let you lay a hand on her!” Chihiro got into a defensive stance. Chihiro prepared for any attack that could come from Hiruhiko
“...I’m sorry Akane,” Chihiro quietly said as his eyes were filled with a flame. “I’ll explain everything later. But now…”
“...I’ll protect you.” Bubbles formed from the tip of a bloodied Enten. 3 goldfish swirled out of the blade: a red, black, tricolored. They floated around Chihiro gracefully as Hiruhiko began shooting paper at him, no, aimed towards Akane!
“Aka-”
~~~
Part 1: Chihiro
6 years ago
“-crying in deep red~” Mr. Shiba finished the last line of the song and a few more chaotic rock notes came out of the Karaoke machine while Chihiro stared in confusion. The song was apparently called Kurenai, by a group called XJapan.
Mr. Shiba got a 100/100. This was the 17th time in a row.
Chihiro had first expected the song to be some kind of ballad as the intro of the song was very gentle and had a lot of flowy English words. But right as Chihiro was going to ask what kind of song it was, the intro ended and the song suddenly turned into a hardcore rock song which made Chihiro stay shut during the entire duration of the song.
Why was Chihiro at a Karaoke cafe with Mr. Shiba? It was (like most things) due to his father. This morning, when Shiba greeted the Rokuhiras, Kunishige asked Shiba a favor.
“Ya know, I don’t think Chihiro has ever gone to a Karaoke cafe yet.” Kunishige was lying on his side, much like a reclining Buddha statue. Kunishige then proceeded to scratch his butt, no longer looking much like a reclining Buddha statue. “He should get out and have some fun every once in a while, right?”
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Shiba asked, while also being slightly grossed out by his friend who now started picking boogers using the same hand he scratched his butt. “There might be some people who see the similarities between you and Chihiro.. You’re quite the celebrity outside, remember?”
“It’d be fine,” Kunishige waved off Shiba’s concern (Chihiro went to the kitchen to get some wet tissues to wipe his dad’s hand). “Plus, no one knows where I live. The public also has no idea that I have a son! Unless there’s some kind of traito-”
“Don’t. Don’t finish that sentence.” Shiba stopped Kunishige sternly as the latter finally decided to shut up. “Fine, I’ll take the kid with me to a karaoke cafe. But I’ll also be singing some songs I like.” Kunishige made a face at Shiba. “Do you want me to take Chihiro or not?” Kunishige stopped making the face and pretended he hadn’t in the first place.
Kunishige called Chihiro to come closer so that he could whisper something into his ear. “I’m sorry,” He softly talked into his son’s ear. “You’ll have to excuse Shiba’s taste in music if you want to sing something.”
“Oi!” Chihiro quietly chuckled as Shiba began chasing Kunishige. “When I catch you!” Kunishige quickly got up and started running.
That was a few hours ago and Shiba had been singing songs nonstop. This was because Chihiro didn’t know any songs that had lyrics as Kunishige only listened to traditional Japanese instrumental music (Kunishige only remembered this 3 hours after Shiba left with Chihiro).
Shiba, tired from singing for an hour straight, told Chihiro he’d go use the toilet. All Chihiro could do after Shiba left was awkwardly sitting on the comfortable karaoke cafe chair.
Chihiro quietly sipped on his black coffee and waited.
All the colorful lights and giant tv screen were all very foreign and unfamiliar technology. The only piece of electrical equipment Chihiro knew in the room was the air conditioner and even then it looked different from what he was used to (it would be an understatement if Shiba said had become a little bit more concerned for Chihiro after this day).
Then, without any warning, something strange began happening. A far away sound quick footsteps could be heard outside the door. Chihiro had originally paid no mind to it but he soon realized it was getting closer and closer. What was happening? Did something go wrong? Was Mr. Shiba coming to retreat with him?
Chihiro gently put down his cup of coffee and got up from the couch. After walking up to the door, he carefully reached for doorknob and then-
“I’m here Master!” A young girl, who was a similar age to Chihiro, burst open the door and accidentally knocked him over backwards. Luckily, there was plenty of space (both Shiba and Kunishige were war heroes after all, so Shiba got the biggest room) and Chihiro was able to quickly roll backwards and land on his feet, albeit a bit dazed.
Master? What did the girl mean by that? Why did she suddenly barge through the door? The girl seemed to be as confused as Chihiro was and the girl soon covered her mouth as she realized what she had done.
“I told you to not barge into rooms like that!” An old man with neatly combed white hair and an immense aura came out of the room parallel to Chihiro’s room. The girl laughed nervously, twiddling her fingers. But Chihiro noticed something familiar about the old man. His stature, voice and mannerisms. The man sighed and looked at Chihiro, beginning to say “My apologies, child. My-”
“It’s Arakawa Shiguma.” Chihiro’s mouth was wide open. The confusing situation just became even more confusing. Shiguma’s eyes widened and he looked left and right to see if anyone else had heard it. He quietly closed the door to his room and pushed Akane into Chihiro’s room as he quickly closed the door behind him.
“Shh!” Shiguma seemed distressed to have been recognized in public. By a child no less. “We’ve already had to move karaoke places 3 times thanks to Akane.”
Akane, huh? That was the girl’s name? Chihiro now had a better view of Akane. She had pink eyes (in the literal sense, not the medical sense, Chihiro has had to deal with the same problem since he had red eyes), black hair and was wearing some casual clothes. “Hey! You can’t blame me for getting caught last time, Master!” Akane had her hands on her hips, directly facing her… master. “Remember the baseball incident?”
Shiguma physically flinched. “I can acknowledge that but that doesn't change the fact the first two times were… what are you doing?” Shiguma had now realized Chihiro was about to input some numbers into his ancient looking flip phone.
“Calling the cops,” Chihiro replied in a deadpan manner.
“Yes, but why would you…” Shiguma suddenly realized the implications. A rich old man was with a teenage girl in a karaoke cafe which they have had to change locations multiple times. If Shiguma had heard those facts about a rich celebrity out of context, Shiguma himself would have also wanted that creep to be locked up. “Oh. OH! Wait no stop I’m not-”
“My Master is teaching me rakugo!” Akane suddenly said confidently, without a single doubt in her voice. She had quite a proud look on her face after she said that.
Unfortunately, the look on Chihiro’s face told Akane that he didn’t buy it. Chihiro mouthed the words “Blink twice if you’re lying” to Akane. Akane seemed to be pondering for a while, her head slightly tilted to the left, before visibly having an idea on how to clear her (alleged) master’s name as her face lit up.
“Fine, I’ll show you some Rakugo right now!” Akane kneeled down on the couch in a traditional Seiza position. “Will that convince you?”
Chihiro saw the spark of determination in Akane’s eye to prove her (alleged) master’s innocence. He also saw that the determination was fueled by something else as well. Chihiro shrugged as he said “I guess.”
“Well then, let's start with some introductions.” Akane got a Rakugo fan out of nowhere and pointed it to Shiguma, herself, and Chihiro. “You already know my Master, Arakawa Shiguma. By the way, how do you know about Master? Saw him on tv probably?”
Chihiro realized that this Rakugo show’s only audience was himself. This allowed Akane to talk to the audience and get to know them better while also having the ability to incorporate the small talk with the story. Impressive, but Chihiro wasn’t sure if Akane would be able to improvise well.
“My dad has a poster of him in our home, right over the vacuum cleaner,” Chihiro, still skeptical of the situation, gave a calculated reply. “I basically do all the chores in our home so I see him every time I vacuum the house. I’ve also seen some dvd recordings of him doing rakugo, though our monitor is small and the video image quality isn’t that good.”
“Interesting,” Akane seemed to be noting these things down in her head. “Anything else?”
“Oh, my dad told me about how Arakawa Shiguma had continued to perform Rakugo even while a fight broke out in the audience. Everyone was so captivated by the performance that both sides stopped fighting for a moment to listen to the show.”
“Wait, is that true?” Akane’s controlled expressions broke as she was filled with genuine curiosity. “Wow! I hope something like that happens to me as well!”
“Don’t say anything foolish like that! Right after I finished, the two sides continued to fight again. There were 7 casualties from that fiasco!” Shiguma’s frown quickly dissipated after he saw Akane’s discouraged reaction and his voice became a bit softer. “I don’t want you to experience anything like that…”
Akane’s face was a bit dark as the atmosphere in the room became awkward. Shiguma seemed to be slightly regretting that he scolded her so harshly.
“So,” Chihiro, attempting to change the mood and subject, asked “Weren’t you talking about introductions? What’s your name? I mean, I know it’s Akane but…” Chihiro realized he didn’t know where he was going with this.
Luckily, the comment made Akane smile a bit and she began to straighten her posture again, preparing to continue. “Oh yes, introductions! My name is Osaki Akane! I am the daughter of the Rakugoka Arakawa Shinta!”
Arakawa Shinta? The name had a familiar ring to it. Where did he… oh. Chihiro recognized the name from when his dad wouldn’t shut up about how unfair the Arakawa expulsion was for at least 2 months. Mr. Shiba had stopped visiting them for a while because he was sick of his dad’s never ending rant.
“I see that you recognize that name. I’m actually kinda surprised,” Akane said this in a quiet voice. Chihiro was slightly shocked that Akane could tell that he recognized the name from only his facial expressions. “Well, after the expulsion, my dad quit Rakugo and got another job.”
It was evident how heartbroken Akane was over that fact. She was on the verge of tears from just talking about it, her face slightly lowered. “Everyone told him that he did the right thing by quitting Rakugo, even though that was one of my favorite things that my dad did. I loved his craft and skills, which seemed like magic to me.”
A deep feeling of connection resonated within Chihiro. Both he and Akane loved their father’s crafts, that much was evident from the multiple nuanced expressions or gestures Akane was making which was similar yet slightly distinguished from the performances he had seen Shiguma do.
Checking his pockets, Chihiro took out a white handkerchief and slowly handed it to Akane, to which she made a small smile and used it to gently wipe her tears. “Thanks.”
Akane stretched her neck a bit and proceeded to continue. “Oh right, what’s your name? We haven’t had the chance to ask.”
It was a troubling dilemma for Chihiro. On one hand, he didn’t want to lie to Akane (though he reminded himself that he still hadn’t seen any Rakugo yet). However, he couldn’t just casually reveal himself to be the son of the legendary blacksmith Rokuhira Kunishige.
After a few seconds of silence, Chihiro made his decision. “Chihiro. You can call me Chihiro.”
“Chihiro huh? What a nice name! I bet it has a good meaning behind it too! Wait, what’s the meaning behind my name?” Akane seemed a bit distracted by her own thoughts before she shrugged and said “Guess I’ll ask my mom later.”
Chihiro quietly thought to himself that Akane looked like the type of girl who would probably forget to ask. The look on Shiguma’s face said that he expected the same thing.
“On the subject of names, there is one Rakugo story that involves the misfortunes of a boy who had a particular name.” Ah, it’s Jugemu. Chihiro didn’t really know much about Rakugo, but he did know that Jugemu was a particularly famous story that even people who don’t know Rakugo knew.
“Maybe the name was the reason the boy was such a troublemaker.” Akane simulated knocking on a door by making a motion of knocking using her right hand while using her fan to knock on the wooden part of the couch. This allowed for a convincing scene of someone knocking on a wooden door.
“The father of the child opened the door,” Akane made a motion of opening a sliding door while making another sound with her fan, sliding it against the wall. “‘What is it?’ the father asked ‘Ah, you’re our child’s friend, right?’”
Chihiro was impressed by the facial and voice acting Akane was accomplishing. Her face looked completely different when she was playing the role of the father and when she played the role of the child. The father had a slight roughness to his voice, while the child had a high pitched voice that made it obvious that they hadn't hit puberty yet.
Chihiro was shocked that so much information could be gleaned from only watching one scene of a Rakugo show. He had the tendency to observe for details since he helped his dad in iron working but the performance Akane was showing him had astounding layers of detail and dedication that was clearly visible to him.
“‘Sir, your son Jugemu Jugemu hit me on the head and created this big lump!’ The father was shocked. ‘Did you just say that my son…’”
“‘...Jugemu Jugemu Gokō-no Surikire Kaijarisuigyo-no Suigyōmatsu Unraimatsu Fūraimatsu Kuunerutokoro-ni Sumutokoro Yaburakōji-no Burakōji Shūringan Shūringan-no Gūrindai Gūrindai-no Ponpokopī-no Ponpokonā-no Chōkyūmei-no Chōsuke did this to you?!’”
Chihiro’s mouth looked like it was about to hit the floor. How did she speak that ridiculously long name so clearly? And how did she keep such a straight face?
“‘Yes I’m telling you!’ The boy replied angrily,” Akane made a pouting face. Her face then turned to that of a worried father. “‘Honey! You need to come over here!’ the mother of Jugemu quickly rushed out to the front door. ‘Yes dear? What’s wrong?’ ‘This boy said that our son…’ ”
“‘...Jugemu Jugemu Gokō-no Surikire Kaijarisuigyo-no Unraimatsu Fūraimatsu Kuunerutokoro-ni Sumutokoro Burakōji Paipopaipo Paipo-no Shūringan Shūringan-no Gūrindai Gūrindai-no Ponpokopī-no Ponpokonā-no Chōkyūmei-no Chōsuke has hit him on the head!’”
Chihiro was completely mesmerized by the performance. Akane’s acting was convincing enough that Chihiro felt like he was standing outside of the ancient Japanese house, watching a little boy tell the couple about their misbehaving son.
“‘I can’t believe it!’ The mother was shocked. ‘I can’t believe that my sweet little boy would do that! That…’”
“‘...Jugemu Jugemu Gokō-no Surikire Kaijarisuigyo-no Suigyōmatsu Unraimatsu Fūraimatsu Kuunerutokoro-ni Sumutokoro Yaburakōji-no Burakōji Paipopaipo Paipo-no Gūrindai Gūrindai-no Ponpokopī-no Ponpokonā-no Chōkyūmei-no Chōsuke would ever hit someone!’”
First it was amazement. Then there was a chuckle. Now, however, Chihiro was laughing out loud, grabbing his belly and wiping some tears from his eyes. “‘Ma’am, look at my head! There is a big lump… huh? where did it go?’”
Akane started looking around, behind the couch, under the couch, under the table, and she suddenly stopped and shouted “‘Because you two took so long saying your son’s name, the lump healed in the meantime!’ and that was the story of Jugemu.” Akane did a traditional Rakugo bow as she satisfiedly saw that Chihiro was still laughing.
Unfortunately, Chihiro started coughing because he was laughing too much which caused Akane to give a worried look.
“Here, have some water,” Shiba handed a bottle of water to Chihiro, who received it.
“Thank you Mr. Shiba,” Chihiro opened the cap and started drinking when he realized who gave him water and choked on it, worsening his cough.
“What the!?” Akane jumped and quickly went behind her master who was equally surprised but was able to maintain his calm. “Where did you come from?!”
“I’ve been here for a while. You two just didn’t notice since you were so focused on Rakugo,” Shiba chuckled. “Guess you made a new friend today, huh Chihiro?”
“Friend…” Chihiro began to mull over the word the best he could while choking on water. He hadn’t had any friends before, mostly because he and his father were living in a secret location. The word friend was a mostly foreign concept to Chihiro. His dad had friends like Mr. Shiba and Mr. Azami.
Chihiro, however, never really got the chance to make any friends. That word gave Chihiro a strange feeling he’d never had before. A small smile formed on his face as he said “Yeah, I guess.”
“I guess?” Akane seemed a bit insulted “Come on Chihiro! You attentively listened to my Rakugo and it seemed like you enjoyed it a lot! Anyone who loves Rakugo is a friend of mine! Also, you look like you still need a glass of water. Here!”
Chihiro received the glass of water with a smile, which seemed to remind Shiguma of something, or perhaps someone? While the two teens were bickering, Shiba noticed that Shiguma’s eyebrows were furrowed. “What’s wrong sir?”
“Eh? Oh um, it’s nothing. It’s just that…” Shiguma pointed at Chihiro’s face. “Those eyes. I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere.”
It was now that both Chihiro and Shiba realized they needed to be extremely careful with their next few words.
“Well, I think it’s about time we head back home, right Chihiro?” Shiba got up from the couch and stretched a bit. “Your father will be worried if we’re too late.”
“I agree, Mr Shiba,” Chihiro was trying his best to sound natural, yet the words sounded as natural as AI art. “We really should be heading home now...” It was now Shiguma’s turn to be unconvinced while Akane somehow believed Chihiro’s terrible acting.
“Going already?” Akane seemed disappointed which made Chihiro feel guilty. Akane then brightened up and said “We should exchange Lines!”
“L-lines?” Chihiro had no idea what Line was. Shiba facepalmed at the complicated situation he was in. “Uh, how?”
“You know? Take out your phone and…” Akane’s smile froze as she saw Chihiro awkwardly pulling out an archaic flip phone. “...wow.”
“... sorry.” Chihiro stared at the floor in silence.
“No, no no! You have nothing to apologize for!” Akane quickly tried cheering Chihiro up. “Uh, you said that your dad liked my Master, right? Maybe he can sign something for your dad?”
Chihiro’s face lit up at that suggestion. Shiba let out a sigh of relief. Everything was going smoothly and they’d soon be able to get out of this situation. Chihiro got out another handkerchief and Shiba handed Chihiro a pen.
Shiguma seemed a bit annoyed that his permission wasn’t asked for but he sighed and asked “What’s your dad’s name?”
“Rokuhira Kunishige.” Chihiro replied without missing a beat.
“Huh, funny.” Shiguma finished signing the handkerchief. “That’s the same name as the person who helped end the Seitei war by creating the enchanted blades, right?” Shiguma looked up to see that Shiba was rubbing his temples and Chihiro was frozen rock solid, sweating bullets.
“...oops.” Chihiro quietly whispered.
“...I can’t believe this… and Arakawa Shiguma of all people...” Shiba fell back on the couch, still rubbing his temples while leaning back.
Shiguma’s confusion turned into a horrified realization of how the situation turned from bad to worse.
Chihiro slowly turned to look at Akane who, to his surprise, looked like she got a Christmas present early. “Wait, does this mean that you’re…” Shiguma quickly blocked her mouth to which Akane mumbled in protest.
“There have been enough headaches for one day,” Shiguma said with a deep sigh. Shiba could be seen digging out something in a backpack that Akane could have sworn he didn’t have until a few seconds ago. He took out a brown file packet that had the seal of approval from the Kamunabi, the part of the Japanese government that dealt with sorcerers.
“I need you two to fill out this NDA,” Shiba unwrapped the file packet and took out two sheets of paper before giving it to Shiguma and Akane. Akane squinted as she tried to make sense of the hard words and terminology used within the document.
“What’s a… En-dee-ay?” Akane curiously looked at Shiba, then her Master, then at Chihiro for an answer.
“Non-disclosure agreement.” Chihiro friendly replied while Akane just tilted her head in confusion. “It means that you can’t tell anyone about today, how I accidentally revealed my dad’s identity.”
“Ooh,” Akane seemed to have begun to understand. “So I can’t tell anyone that you’re the son of Roku-” Shiguma once again covered Akane’s mout which she started to mumble again in protest before realizing what she had done wrong. She apologetically mumbled “sorry” before Shiguma let go of her mouth.
Chihiro silently offered Shiguma a wet tissue which he gratefully took. “So…” Chihiro didn’t have much experience talking with kids his age (or talking with people in general) so he didn’t really know what to say to Akane. “...you still want to exchange phone numbers?” Mr. Shiba seemed a bit surprised but he probably concluded that Akane wouldn’t be much of a problem.
Besides, Chihiro desperately needed contact with another human being wasn’t that was his dad or Shiba.
“I'd love to!” Akane eagerly checked her own phone number. “I also have so many questions about Ro…” Everyone in the room stared hard at Akane “...ro? I meant you, of course, Chihi-Ro. Hahaha…” Akane’s nervous laughter released the tension in the room as everyone let out a sigh of relief.
Both Akane and Shiguma finished signing the NDA and Shiba decided to let the teens spend a bit more time together. He and Shiguma stayed in the room Shiguma had originally booked.
“So, that’s Rokuhira’s boy, huh.” Shiguma had his arms crossed, cautiously observing Shiba. “That’s why I thought his eyes looked familiar. Rokuhira had come to my shows before. Several times.”
“And he had high hopes for your disciples as well.” Shiguma flinched as Shiba had hit him in his weak spot. Arakawa Shinta. “He was super mad about the expulsion. Wouldn’t shut up for ages about it.”
“He was that angry, huh.” Shiguma let out a dry, humorless laugh. His face became serious again. “Are you going to let the boy keep on meeting Akane?”
“Are you going to prevent him if I say yes?” Shiba had now crossed his arms as well. The atmosphere in the room was tense, as both sides seemed like they’d never yield.
“You know why I can’t allow her.” Shiguma’s eyes looked straight into Shiba’s. “Her father wouldn’t allow it. He’d know it’d be too great of a risk. She might awaken… it.”
“Chihiro doesn’t know anything about it.” Shiba stared right back at Shiguma. “He doesn’t even have a sorcery ability yet. He’s just a normal kid. Well, as normal as an extremely sheltered kid could be.”
Shiguma raised an eyebrow. “He really doesn’t know?”
Shiba nodded “He wouldn’t even dream of it.”
The tenseness began to slowly dissipate, as Akane suddenly crashed through the door, dragging Chihiro by his right hand. “Master! Chihiro got his first 100 on the Karaoke machine!”
Shiguma clicked his tongue which made Akane a bit embarrassed but his slightly annoyed face turned into a small smile as he asked “Really? What song did Chihiro sing?”
“Akane, please don’t-” “Twinkle twinkle little star!” Shiba burst out laughing as Chihiro covered his face in embarrassment with the hand Akane wasn’t holding. Akane realized what she had done and began furiously apologizing to Chihiro.
Chihiro however started laughing along with Shiba which prompted Akane to laugh together. Seeing Akane laugh made Shiguma laugh along as everyone in the room laughed together.
The time was now actually late so Akane and Chihiro said their goodbyes as Shiguma and Shiba gave each other a serious look.
When Shiba and Chihiro had finally arrived back at the Rokuhira house, Kunishige greeted them at the door, eating a bag of potato chips. “How was the Karaoke, Chihiro, Shiba? Want some?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Shiba replied tiredly as he laid down adjacent to Kunishige. “You explain it, Chihiro.”
Chihiro, who had just swallowed a potato chip, smiled and said “I made a new friend today.”
Kunishige raised his eyebrow for a few seconds before getting up and patting Chihiro on the back. “Good job. Also, whatcha got in your pocket?”
“Oh a signature from Arakawa Shigu-” Before Chihiro could even finish his sentence, Kunishige snatched the signed handkerchief from Chihiro’s pocket and examined it.
“NO WAY!” Kunishige looked at the handkerchief, at Chihiro, back at the handkerchief, at Shiba, Chihiro again, and at the handkerchief. “Is this legitimate? If so, how?! How’d you get this?”
“Oh, he and his disciple, my new friend, now know that I’m your son.”
“...what?” Kunishige looked at Shiba. “...what songs did you sing that caused Chihiro to have such severe hallucinations?”
Shiba got up and started chasing Kunishige again. “Do you know how much of a headache today was? And now you’re dissing my taste in music!”
“But your taste in music sucks!” Kunishige retorted after he began running away. Chihiro sighed as he saw two grown men chasing each other.
Chihiro’s phone rang, which made him jump a bit, as he usually only used it to call or text his dad or Mr. Shiba, both of whom were currently running.
A grin formed on Chihiro’s face as he checked the message.
Akane: wanna hang out again sometime? (Read)
Chihiro texted back and put the phone back in his pocket, excited for what the future would bring for both him and Akane.
Chihiro: I’d love to. (Read)