09. Protect

                                    

                                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
                          
[name] and Shinobu could only shake their head in response as they looked at how happy the girls from the Butterfly Estate was. Shinobu then noticed the bitter smile on [name]'s face, and she could only have her soft smile appearing on her lips as she looked at [name], who was then looking up into the night sky where the moon shone brightly.
                          
"Been a long time since we went to a festival, right?" [name] whispered out, and soon turned to look at Shinobu. A soft smile graced upon [name]'s lips instead of a bitter one and soon she sighed.
                          
"Don't stray too far from us!" [name] called out as she realized the girls were getting further away from them, and the crowd was getting bigger as more people started to pour into the festival.
                          
[name] looked around, and her dark blue ocean eyes laid upon a family. A happy family to be exact. She watched as their son who had dark blue ocean eyes similar to hers, smile as he had received the prize he had won. She watched as his parents had nothing but a huge smile on their faces as they looked at how happy their son was.
                          
"A happy family..." she whispered out and soon felt Shinobu grabbing hold of her hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. [name] then turned to look at her, flashing her a smile to assure her that she was alright.
                          
[name] then nudged Shinobu lightly and looked towards the front. The Moon Hashira and Insect Hashira watched as the girls were busy eyeing some street food that was sold at the festival. A smile appeared on [name]'s face as she soon tugged Shinobu along, heading towards the food stall where the girls were at.
                          
"What do you girls want to eat?" [name] asked as she looked at the array of delicious savory food that was lined up before them, and [name]'s eyes widened when she felt a smudge on her nose. She then turned to look at Naho who giggled at what she had done, and [name] could only smile in response as she cleaned the smudge off her nose.
                          
"Naho..." she called out, and Naho quickly hid behind Aoi as she continued to giggle. [name] then shook her head in response as she continued to look at the food that was being sold at the stall, wondering what the girls wanted to eat.
                          
"Akane-san! Can I please have that?" Aoi called out, and [name] looked up and noticed Aoi was pointing to something. She then noticed Kanao too was shyly pointing to what she wanted to eat, and [name] could only smile in response.
                          
"Hai, hai,"