Dream

Hours passed and it soon became nighttime at Ryozanpaku as Shigure had arrived back at the Dojo and stood on the porch.

"…I'm back… Hello."

Following her stoic declaration, Kensei rolled over to her with a camera in hand and greeted her.

"Welcome home, Shigure." Kensei was snapping pictures as he spoke. "You're back sooner than usual. It's none of my business, but I can't help but wonder—Guh!"

Kensei grunted in pain as Shigure stomped on his camera and in turn his face.

"So… Are they… Still alive?" Shigure vaguely asked.

"Oh yes, they're still kicking," Kensei answered through her foot. "Though they probably wish they were dead. But they're alive."

"Oh…" Shigure muttered as she walked off.

As she left Kensei rolled over again and continued snapping pictures with his camera as Shigure responded by hurling a throwing star at his camera's lens and thus destroying it, making Kensei gasp in dismay.

"Not the lens!" Kensei cried out.

Shigure then walks past the training hall and stops at the open door as she sees inside. Right now Kenichi is training with Apachai while Ohma is training with Sakaki. Sakaki kicked Ohma into a wall with a loud impact.

"Augh!" Ohma grunted as he falls to the floor.

"Come on, punk. Done already?" Sakaki taunted him.

Ohma stands up and glares. "I'm just getting started."

"Remember, no hands." Sakaki reminded him. "Just kicks this time."

At that point, Kenichi hit the floor, having reached the limit while training with Apachai as Apachai stood over him.

"Apa?"

Kenichi then looked over to the door and noticed the weapon, Master. "Hey, it's Shigure."

Ohma looked and saw her as well. "Back already, it hasn't been a day?"

Shigure just looked at them without responding before walking away.

"…They're not… Dead after all." Shigure noted quietly.

Ohma looked back at Sakaki. "Alright, let's go again."

"Heh, you asked for it," Sakaki smirked.

As Shigure was walking away from them, Hayato appeared in front of her path and addressed her.

"So, Shigure, are you concerned about those two?" Hayato asked, stroking his beard as usual.

Shigure paused before answering. "…No."

Hayato watched Shigure continue her departure inside as he put on a pleasant smile.

"I really should be grateful to those boys," Hayato muttered. "Their arrival has somehow managed to lift everyone's spirits around here, even Shigure's."

***********

A little while later, training was done for the day and everyone went inside where they were all sitting around a large dining table. Ohma, Kenichi, Miu, and all the Masters with the exception of Shigure were present. The table had a large plate of chikuzenni, a big bowl of miso soup, a pot of potato stew, a pan of steamed vegetables, deep-fried pork, salads, and a rice-cooker filled with steamed rice.

"Woah?" Kenichi was visibly impressed by all the food. "Really? You made all this by yourself, Miu? That's great."

"Stop it," Miu told him with a smile and a blush as she poured rice into a bowl. "Flattery won't get you any extra food." Her words didn't match her actions as she gave him twice as much rice as everyone else. "Here, hope you're hungry."

Kenichi looked sightly surprised at her actions. "Um, yeah, thank you so much."

"So I guess flattery does work on her." Ohma noticed.

Apachai had a look of envy at Kenichi. "But, that's not fair."

"Hey, don't worry about it, big guy." Ohma offered Apachai his bowl of rice. "You can have mine."

"APA!" Apachai cheered as he gladly accepted it.

"Are you okay with that?" Kenichi asked. "I mean, aren't you hungry?"

Ohma shrugged. "I'll just eat something when I get home. I like to cook my own food."

Kenichi nodded before he noticed something. "You know, come to think of it, where's Shigure?"

Ohma raised a brow. "You mean you just now noticed she wasn't here?"

Miu put on an unsure smile. "I don't know why, but Shigure prefers to eat by herself. She usually eats up in the attic."

Kenichi shrugged. "Heh, she's kinda strange, isn't she?"

"Speak for yourself, Kenichi, is that how you always eat your food?" Miu asked, referring to the fact that he was holding his food close to him and kept an arm around it. "You're hiding it."

"Oh, well." Kenichi looked a bit nervous. "I guess I just—"

Before Kenichi could go on, Ohma hastily covered his mouth and whispered to him.

"Don't say it, don't give them any ideas," Ohma advised him. "If you give these psychopaths a chance they'll do whatever they want, or do you want to go hungry tonight?"

Kenichi's eyes widened as he realized what Ohma meant and thus nodded his head as Ohma moved away from him.

"Hey, what was he going to say?" Hayato asked with curiosity.

"Nothing, just forget it." Ohma waved him off.

"Come on, now we're interested, tell us." Kensei insisted.

"Please, just pretend I didn't say anything." Kenichi nervously pleaded with a hint of desperation. "Let's just eat before the food gets cold."

"He's right, Apachai's already started eating." Akisame pointed out.

And with that, they all began enjoying their meals, and luckily Kenichi was able to dodge the bullet and avoided what could have been a disaster for him.

**************

Once dinner was over, everyone retreated to their respective rooms and Kenichi was laying down inside a sleeping bag on the floor of the training hall in the Dojo. While Ohma, who was just about ready to leave walked up to him and noticed the depressed look on his face.

"Lately, it feels like every time I see you, you're depressed about something," Ohma noted.

"I can't help it!" Kenichi comically complained. "It's just not fair! I have to sleep here alone on the floor of the Dojo by myself."

"What else to did expect?" Ohma asked.

Kenichi then blushed and had a grin. "Well… I was hoping for~"

Kenichi then has an imaginary sequence of him and Miu sharing a futon while Miu wears revealing sleepwear and there is a sensual atmosphere in the air around them. Just imagining it makes Kenichi drool a bit.

CLAP!

Ohma claps in his face to snap him back into reality. His expression showed that he thought Kenichi was just being pitiful at this point.

"Look man, I want you to answer me honestly on this." Ohma requested before asking his question. "Did you actually believe that was ever going to happen? Do you think it even makes sense?"

Kenichi paused as he thought about it then just looked upset and let out a defeated sigh. "Okay fine, it's just wishful thinking at best. But a guy can dream, can't he?"

"Yeah, but you dream so often you might as well be sleep-walking in the daytime." Ohma pointed out.

"You're right, I suppose this is reality, but why can't it collide with fantasy for once?!" Kenichi then laid back down. "Ah well, at least some good things came out of today." He grinned again. "I got to eat Miu's home-cooking, I always knew it would be great and it tasted better than I imagined."

"Why were you imaging the home-cooking of a girl you've barely known?" Ohma thought with a cringe. "How desperate can you be?"

"Psst…"

Suddenly both of their attention was grabbed when they heard that sound, they looked over towards the door to see Miu peaking out from the door and waving at them to follow her.

"Miu? What is she…?" Kenichi thought as he became hopeful. "Here's my chance to collide."

As Kenichi got up to follow her, Ohma decided to go. "Why not? Could be interesting."

When the two of them exited the Dojo, they saw that Miu was no longer at the spot she was on a moment ago. Instead, she is around the corner and edging them to follow her still, when they walk around the corner they see that for a third time she isn't there but now on the roof. Once they arrive up on the roof, finally she stays there and greets them with a smile.

"Hey, you two." Miu greeted them.

"Miu." Kenichi admired the way she looked at night.

At night, Miu let her hair down completely and currently had thick golden locks that went down to her back and even covered her ears. Her pyjamas were a long yellow pyjama dress-shirt with a ribbon tied around the collar, long sleeves, and black cat paw-prints. It extends down to her thighs making it hard to tell if she has anything underneath.

"Why'd you call us up here?" Ohma asked.

"Well, I thought we could talk alone for a bit," Miu explained. "The Masters are nice people, but they aren't very adept at social skills."

"Actually, I was hoping I'd get the chance to talk to you," Kenichi admitted before looking down a bit. "I'm sorry about this morning, reminding you about your parents and all."

"Oh, it's nothing to apologize for," Miu assured him, not upset. "Even though I never really got to know my parents, everyone here is my family." She then looked up. "And look up, how can I be sad with that view?"

When they all looked up, they saw that the stars were shining brightly in the sky, and not only that, the moon was shining right above their heads. Kenichi held up his hands as if to reach for it.

"It's almost like, I can touch the moon." Kenichi realized.

"Right?" Miu agreed. "I know."

Ohma didn't look as impressed. "It's nice, but I've seen better."

"Yeah well, not all of us have gone around the world, Ohma." Kenichi reminded him, almost amused.

Miu just kept her gaze on the moon. "I think this is my favourite place in the whole wide world, I've always dreamed of bringing a friend up here, someone to just sit here and watch the stars with me." She said wistfully.

Hearing her say something like that made Ohma go quiet for a bit before he looked up as well and let out a sigh.

"Well, since we're confessing things, I guess I'll say something too." Ohma started before looking at Miu. "It's not exactly the same as losing both parents but my mother passed away, when I was young."

Both Kenichi and Miu were taken aback by that confession as they didn't expect him to suddenly say that. Ohma went on.

"I was five or six at the time," Ohma explained.

Miu looked sympathetic at him. "I'm sorry."

Ohma shook his head. "Don't be, I hated my mother."

Kenichi and Miu remained silent for a moment.

"How did she die?" Kenichi asked.

"That is something personal," Ohma told him. "Something I wouldn't like to share."

Kenichi tried to not look sympathetic so he avoided eye contact, but he felt sadness on the inside. "You are always so carefree and energetic, I never knew he went through something so sad as that? I am sorry if I sound insensitive..."

Ohma paused for a second. "Change the subject, I don't want to sleep with a bad taste."

Miu remained silent before looking at Kenichi. "Kenichi, what's your dream?"

"Well, it sounds kinda silly but my long-term dream is to someday become a novelist and win the Naoki Award," Kenichi confessed before he looked away with regret. "But, my future seems to be headed off in a different direction than I expected."

"No! I'm sure you can!" Miu insisted, hoping to console him.

"Well, if you want an idea. Why not a book upon yourself." Ohma told him with a brash attitude. "Called it History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi or some shit."

Kenichi had an unsure smile and chuckle. "Sure, I'll consider it." He then looked back at Miu. "What about you, what do you dream of, Miu?"

Miu then looked flustered. "Wha? I already told you, remember?"

"What the whole 'looking at the stars with a friend' thing?" Ohma chimed in. "We're not buying that, you hafta have a bigger dream than that, some future you dreamt of since you were a kid."

Miu became nervous and looked away. "T-That's a secret."

"No, that's not how it works." Ohma narrowed his eyes at her. "Why told you ours so you tell us yours."

"Yeah, tell us." Kenichi wanted to know as well. "Why's it such a secret?"

"It just is okay?" Miu insisted.

"Now I want to know even more." Kenichi went on.

"You're not getting off this roof until you tell us," Ohma told her.

"My dream for the future is—"

Miu gasped when she and the other two heard a familiar voice nearby and looked to see Shigure sitting on the roof as well and reading out loud what was written on a piece of paper.

"—To one day get married and have a big beautiful wedding. Signed Miu Furinji, Class 1-D, Eighth Grade."

"Uuwaaaaa!" Miu shrieked and dove at Shigure.

Shigure jumped and dodged Miu's desperate assault as she somersaulted away leaving behind the paper that Miu grabbed in embarrassment.

"Uwa! That wasn't very nice Shigure!" Miu cried out.

"Has she been sitting there this whole time?" Ohma wondered.

Kenichi just seemed happy when he heard about Miu's dream. "Well, that's kinda a relief to hear, it's good to know at least Miu's dreams are normal."

Miu stood up. "Kenichi, I'm gonna good back in from the other side, if my Grandfather catches the three of us together he'll kill you and use you as punching bags." She warned them. "I'm not joking."

Kenichi looked terrified at the thought of that but Ohma didn't seem worried or afraid.

"I thought I made this obvious, I'm not afraid of the geezer," Ohma informed her. "Besides, there's something I want to talk to you about."

"Talk?" Miu asked, surprised.

Ohma nodded. "Meet me outside the gate, this is important."

"Oh, okay." Miu accepted.

Kenichi frowned at them. "No fair, I wanted to talk to her alone." He then slumped. "But not as much as I want to keep living."

As he was about to climb down the roof, Miu called out to him. "Wait, Kenichi."

"What is it?" Kenichi asked with haste. "Hurry up and tell me, I kinda don't feel like dying tonight."

"I hope we can stay good friends, for a very long time okay?" Miu told him with a bright smile.

Kenichi smiled back. "You mean always?"

"Yeah, forever," Miu added.

"So does that mean we'll always 'just' be friends no matter what?" Kenichi asked, hoping to be wrong.

Sadly his hope was unanswered. "Yeah, we'll probably."

"You know, I think she just told me I'll never have a shot at being her boyfriend?" Kenichi thought, his smile hiding his disappointment.

Ohma cringed on the sidelines. "Ouch, that was brutal."

*******

After Kenichi went back inside, Ohma and Miu stood right outside the front gate of the Dojo.

"So what was it you wanted to talk about?" Miu asked curiously.

"Miu…" Ohma looked at her seriously. "Have you ever visited Colombia during your childhood?"

Miu went quiet and blinked. "What are you—?"

Ohma cut her off. "Have you ever visited Colombia?"

For a moment, Miu didn't respond, she stood with a confused look on her face. "I don't understand. What happened in Colombia?"

"You don't remember. Well, makes no difference to me." Ohma sighed.

Ohma then turned. "It's getting late and I need a good sleep more than anything. Anyways, see ya tomorrow."

"Wait." Miu stopped him from leaving and went over to the gate as she picked up something wrapped in a cloth. "Take this with you."

"What is it?" Ohma asked as he took it.

When he opened it up, he saw that wrapped in the cloth were two hand-made riceballs. "You didn't get to eat as much as the others at dinner so I decided to make you a snack."

"You know I have food at home right?" Ohma reminded her.

"Yeah, but I just wanted you to have it." Miu reasoned, still smiling.

"Well, I can't exactly say no since it's already been made." Ohma decided as he wrapped it back up. "Later."

With that taken care of, Ohma walked away and left the Ryozanpaku Dojo behind as Miu went back inside. With the events of today done, Ohma made his way home through the silence of the night as he decided to eat one of Miu's riceballs as he walked, after taking a bite he said to himself.

"Meh, I've had better."