𝟏.𝟓

                                    

                                          



I hitched my sheath close to my hip and fastened it close. Beside me, Inosuke was already putting on his mask, shuffling it from side to side as it sat on his head. It was already early morning. The sun's rays were bright and at their peak as they shot through the crack in the door. I had to quint every so often.
Sleeping with Inosuke, in separate sleeping mats far, far away from each other, was quite... interesting.
He forced me to sleep near the corner where there was a crack in the wall and the wind could brush against my forehead. He, on the other hand, had the whole entirety of the middle of the room. He didn't even sleep on his mat. He slept on the space next to it.
I kept waking up in the middle of the night to the howling of the wind or the roaring of Inosuke's snoring. He was way too comfortable on the floor now.
I just wrapped my pillow around the back of my head and used the edges to cover my ears. Surprisingly, I found comfort in that position.
Now, we were preparing to leave right after we, or rather he, had our meal.
Lastly, I swung my haori over my shoulders and slipped my arms into the smooth sleeves. They smelled of lavender. As I sniffed in the sweet scent, raising my head up, a crow suddenly flew right into the door.
"Oh!" I crouched down, sitting on my heels with my arms folded around my knees. I offered my hands forward and the crow happily hopped onto my palm.
"Lady Shinobu and Tomioka send their wishes and hope you come home soon to retrieve your nichirin blade." The crow croaked out as it flapped its wing after every syllable, small feathers fluttering out of its wings.
A huge smile from ear to ear stretched onto my ear. "That's soon? How exciting!" I chirped as the crow seemed to lift up its eyes as well. "Do you think you can lead the way home for me?"
The crow nodded its small head and hopped right off my hands.
"What the hell was that?"
I flinched once I turned over my shoulder to see Inosuke lingering over me, his hands on his hips as he bent forward. I rustled around and turned to face him.
"This is a goodbye, Ino," I softly giggled as I tilted my head. A small smile was planted onto my face. I felt my shoulders relax as my eyes squinted upwards.
The rays of the sun brushed nicely against my back as I slid open the door. I heard the birds chirping and the silent breeze as it picked up the strands of my hair. Turning my head around, Inosuke was standing there in the middle of the room.
"Goodbye? Wait a damn minute, woman! I'm racing you!" He shouted out as he skidded his ankle back and readied his arms to charge forward.
In a quick motion, he sped out of the room, shaking the tatami floors. He shoved me right out of the doorway and ran straight down the hallway, yelling like a maniac while doing so.
"What?" I chuckled and simply ran along with him.
The sky was blue with only a few amount of clouds littered in groups from here to there. The sun was shining beautifully and gave the whole atmosphere a wholesome look. As we ran out of the gates of the wisteria house, I paused for a moment once I saw my crow cawing from above.
Looking back down, Inosuke was still running ahead with a cloud of dust behind him.
This was like when he was running into the forest of the Final Selection and I had to stay behind. Just like then, I have my own path to follow.
As I stared him down, he suddenly stopped. He skids on his heels and twisted his body around, his arms waving frantically in the air as he tried to catch his balance. Once he did so, he twitched his whole body into a standing position and pointed right at me.