I sit on one of the benches outside the village clinic with my head down and arms lying limp in my lap. Hatsuga leafs through the hundred ryo notes with an expression that matches the face of one of the older men from the merchant caravans that comes every month as he counts how much that we've earned. It was an interesting experience. An interesting and tiring experience.

We sold today's milk for a lot more than we usually get with Hatsuga's devious plan of using m- No, I shall not recount what happened.

Let's just say that I didn't know that people could be exploited that way. I just hope that Hisao or Daiki did not see anything from that dark period of my life (that lasted a whole fifteen minutes).

"Don't look so down, Toru-chan," There's a playful lilt in his voice as he counts the valuable pieces of paper in his hands again, "We've made doub- No, near triple of what we usually sell it for."

I look at him with disbelief in my eyes, my soul, my everything.

Hatsuga grins, fanning the money at me, "Maybe we should do this every day, then we'll definitely have enough to cover all our repairs and other necessities."

"Nooooo," I whine, placing my face in my warm palms. That was a humiliating experience, "I don't want to go through that again!" I pause, lowering my hands to look at him with round eyes, trying my best to say the unknown word, "Necessities? What does that mean?

"It means 'stuff that we need'," Hatsuga tucks the money into the folds of his Kimono and purses his lips in thought, "Like food. Firewood in the winter. Clothes. Necessities, y'know?" He gestures vaguely into the air at necessities.

"Well," I say with a frown, rocking both my legs into the air. My legs are too short to even reach the ground, "I know now. Where's Kaa-chan?"

Right on cue, Mother exits the clinic with a worried expression on her face, holding Moe really close to her chest. Her shoulders are shaking and her eyes look a little unfocused as she falls onto the bench.

"Kaa-san?" Hatsuga reaches out to hold Mother's hand, "Is everything okay? What did the doctor say?"

"She's running a high fever that's a little unusual for babies her age," Mother reaches out to squeeze Hatsuga's fingers with one hand, the other giving Moe back pats in an attempt to coax her into sleep, "He gave me some medicinal herbs that needs to be mixed in water for her to drink. He said it'll help for now but we'll have to go back for check ups." Her eyes dart around, as they do when she's deep in thought.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Hatsuga pulls out the thin bundle of ryo from his kimono and hands it to Mother, "We made quite a bit. If Kaika-nee helps out, we probably have enough for everything and the doctor's."

Mother smiles but her the corners of her eyebrows are raised. She ruffles the top of Hatsuga's head, messing up his purplish-red hair. I see a shy smile on his lips, "What a good boy you are. A reliable man of the house-hold ey?"

Hatsuga puffs up his chest with pride.

----------------------------------------

Hisao and Daiki did know about whatever happened in the marketplace. The other girls in the village spread the word about what I did. I did not have a good time in between getting teased for it and playing ninja and being called girly.

They forgot all about it once I shifted the conversation to the Academy enrollment in winter though! Hisao's family really doesn't want him to go so he spent most of his time complaining about that. Daiki and his mysterious self forever remains a mystery. He doesn't talk about his family, preferring for us to talk about ours.

On the brighter side. Moe's sickness doesn't seem so serious, which is a big relief.

----------------------------------------

That night, everyone was greeted by the sight of a large, cooked pheasant that could feed an entire family and then some. The smell travels all the way to the front door (then again, small house. The smell reaches every wall and corner). The crispy brown skin and the juicy white meat underneath. Father probably grilled it considering the large smile he has on his face as he gestures towards the dining table with both of his hands.

"What d'you think boys?" Father says, "Proud of your oyaji yet?"

Kaika is already at the dinner table with all her utensils spread before her, chopsticks ready to dig into the bird meat before her. She's silent and looks slightly ticked off, but I can see that she brought some extra fabric home to work on.

Mother has put a wet cloth over Moe's forehead, careful to keep adjusting it so that it doesn't fall off, or suffocate her. After making sure that everything is alright with Moe, she moves closer to Father and gives him a short peck on the cheek, "I'm so proud of you Anata, and I didn't forget about the firewood you brought back."

Father puffs out his chest and rubs underneath his nose with a finger. Hatsuga must've gotten that from him.

"Ooh," I clap my hands together as I stare at the succulent spread of food on the table with large eyes, "That's really awesome, Tou-san!" I quickly remove my zori and wash my hands before joining them at the table.

"Che," Hatsuga crosses his arms over his chest. Standing around at the genkan before he ambles his way towards the sink and taking his own sweet time, "I caught some too. And brought home chestnuts. And a whole bunch of sweet potatoes. Right, Toru?"

"H-huh?" I blink at him, "I can't confirm or deny that alleged piece of information? I wasn't even there with you?"

Hatsuga shoots me a dirty look, his mouth set into a deep scowl, "Where did ya' learn all those words from?"

"You." I deadpan.

Hatsuga hits me on the top of my head.

I grin to myself as my family laughs at our antics (yes, even the royally pissed off Kaika. Five points for me!). Everyone's made up and everything is well. We might make it past winter after all!

If we keep getting lucky with the pheasant catching and foraging, we'd be able to breeze by winter without a hitch.

----------------------------------------

A week later, a letter from Kizashi finally comes. The entire family is really excited about it, clamoring around the lamp and waiting for Mother to read the contents of the letter out loud. Not too loud since Moe is asleep right now.

Kizashi mailed most of his earnings back, which would make the winter and the doctor's appointments bearable. His missions mainly consists of paperwork stuff, nothing exciting, no exciting skirmishes with the enemy. No combat assignments. Kizashi says he's lucky for not getting any even though the war is still going on. I think otherwise. But it's good that he's still sends responses back!

He's glad that Hatsuga cares so much about him and that he has received Hatsuga's words to heart.

I blink my eyes over at Hatsuga's direction.

Hatsuga scowls, "I told him to write back more basically. I'm surprised he can understand what I wrote, I speak better than I write."

No response from Shibomu. While my parents are happy about a response from Kizashi, Shibomu's silence worries them.