12 Bonfire & Music

"Co- Come on Sisi, you don't have to be so cruel now yeah?" Karni said in a half joking manner, though still very much mentioning the forbidden nickname. He wasn't going to let that nickname go, if it meant he could get back at her with it.

Siduo stopped and turned around looking him dead in the eye. Then she smiled 'kindly'. "That's six."

"Ah… I really fucked up didn't I… Worth it."

… … …

Thump.

She beat him. Again. And he fell. Yet again.

His body has started to hurt, she hit him just enough so he wasn't injured, and just enough so it hurt in just the right places. Not that he had any hope in winning against someone like her who was reincarnated and definitely had combat experience from her previous life.

He tried to stand up again. He wasn't sure how many times it has been now, he stopped counting at ten and they've been at it for 2 hours. It was his fault really, he never dropped the nickname. Still hasn't.

Finishing the slow rise, he put his weight onto his bo staff and then leaned with his head on the staff as if it's a walking stick.

Looking at the long part of the staff he sighed to himself. He was kind of enjoying this. She was clearly a tad frustrated. Despite both being fellow reincarnates, both of their physical brain and body were that of small children.

Thinking about it, he really wasn't looking forward to going through another puberty.

He glanced at the bo staff onto which he was leaning and his thoughts were interrupted. His face turned strange. "Hey, Sisi, time out. I need to see something."

She looked at him annoyed for calling her Sisi again and just as she was about to complain, she stopped.

Karni was already sitting cross-legged, closely examining his martial soul. He was looking at one of the rows of the four symbols on his staff. The symbol he was looking at was the golden and silver cat.

Actually it should not be called a gold and silver cat anymore. It was now that of a black and white cat. It had greater detail on it now as well, the cat seemed to have fur as if the fur itself was growing on it. It stood out among the gold and silver colouring of the staff. It was the second thing that brought some extra colour to this martial soul of his, the other being the spirit soul coiling around it.

"When did this happen?" He thought to himself. He tried to think back on the last few days.

The last time he focused on the details of the staff was back when he was still in the Green Tiger Town, hence at least a week. Back then he noticed that the only part that had any colour were the two dragons. To be more accurate, their eyes had colour.

Those two dragons were connected to the cat through the interwoven details of the bo staff. Now that same cat also changed and became more detailed. So did the details between them. It looked like an interwoven gold and silver stream of water, connecting the two symbols together, a few of its strings stretching towards the other symbols in a flowing manner.

He was sure it hadn't just happened. It must have been before now. When he thought of it the last few days, whenever he used his martial soul, he wasn't really as focused on observing its peculiarities. He decided to make a mental note to check on his staff every now and again, perhaps experiment a little, though he had no clue how.

Suddenly a voice interrupted his thought. "That symbol looks kind of like my twin martial souls, no?" Said Siduo from next to his head. At some point she has gotten behind him. He was so engrossed in this he didn't even notice her sneaking up.

"And the eyes are the colour of my hair."

Karni looked back at the symbol. Yeah. The eyes were bright red indeed.

The bloodlines of Wulin and Yuena and the twin martial souls of Siduo? What would that mean? Some sort of thing with where he was? But then what about the other symbols?

"Well it doesn't really matter, I can't really do anything about it." He thought out loud.

"Shall we continue Sisi?"

Her mouth twitched. "No, I think you should train with someone else. I need to speak to my parents soon, otherwise they'll get noisy."

She stood up and looked around the training field they were just sparring at. She stopped her look on a certain person. It was a tall woman, and currently she was standing guard with a spear in her hand. She had a pretty face and down her left cheek there was a small scar.

Wu Siduo saw this person and started walking towards her. She greeted her then whispered something in her ear. There was a surprised face on the woman that turned to helplessness, however Siduo kept on whispering to her.

After a solid minute, Siduo turned around and waved to Karni. "Have fun, I'll come and get you later."

She just started walking back towards the mansion. She just went up and left Karni alone on the field. The young woman Siduo was whispering to was walking towards him.

"Greetings young master Karni. My name is Lao Alix. Thank you for taking care of our young miss." She bowed slightly to Karni.

Karni was taken aback for a bit. He really wasn't used to these kinds of customs. "No problem, she has been taking care of me more than I have of her. Also, um… You don't need to call me young master, please just call me Karni." He scratched his head with an awkward smile.

"Since you are a friend of our young miss I must call you young master." She answered simply, to which Karni just sighed. He thought this might happen as soon as he heard 'young master'. To him this was quite cringeworthy, these types of cultures were rare on Earth these days. Perhaps only in really rich families.

Seeing that Karni didn't say anything, Lao Alix took it upon herself to continue the conversation. "Young Miss has instructed me to help you get familiar with your bo staff. I will train with you from now on."

Well, Karni got the gist, but he felt like there was something else as well. "Ah… Thank you. Can I take a short rest before we continue then?" He gave her a hopeful look.

She returned an apologetic look. "I'm sorry young master, but I was instructed to continue your training immediately."

Of course. "Of course she'd order that. Alright then, I'm never calling her Siduo again." A revenge plot had been established in his head. From now on he will always call her Sisi. No matter the situation. It's the least he could do.

Lao Alix could only feel sorry for the both of them, seeing that they are both stubborn children. She remembered what Siduo said at that point. "Train him 'carefully'. Since he is tired he will slowly ingrain the efficient movements of the body. Use your spear more so to teach him control with a long weapon, generally, rather than the spear itself. Oh, and don't be merciful. I'll have you do this for the foreseeable future."

*They're clearly friends, do they have to annoy each other so much?* Was what was going through Alix's head as she looked at his reaction.

Karni slowly stood up. "Alright let's do this then." He raised his bo staff.

"Wait a moment. Young Miss told me that your martial soul has predictive effects. Since we don't want you to get too dependent on that power, we will be training with a wooden bo staff instead." She went toward the wall and picked out one of the many wooden weapons.

Karni didn't complain, it was actually something he welcomed. He understood this problem, he just hasn't thought of it until now. It sounded more than reasonable.

She threw the wooden bo staff towards him and he caught it without a problem. They both got into the stance.

The training felt more tiring than when he was practising with Siduo. Unlike with Siduo, this woman hit both the awkward spots, as well as made him dodge in ways which exerted a big amount of energy everytime he had to do it.

Since he was so exhausted already, he was searching for a way to use his whole body as dynamically as possible, but most of the time it turned into an eventual fall. He really couldn't control his body well. Yet it felt like he was constantly being manipulated in the ways he should dodge.

… … …

"Mom, Dad, I'm here." A voice could be heard behind a door.

A woman and a man turned their heads, they were currently discussing something with what seemed like a butler of the house.

"Come in Sisi, we haven't talked to you in ages." The woman said with a smile. It was Wu Siduo's mom Ta Siyu.

"What do you mean in ages, I've been gone for only two days." She grumbled back in a monotone voice. She sat on the sofa next to their parents and gave them both light hugs.

"That's two days too many." Answered Wu Jianguo. He wore a blissful face while he returned the hug his daughter gave him.

Siduo on the other hand had a grumpy face. "You do know that at some point I won't be seeing you for years yeah?" Though when she said it, her own face appeared blissful in the embrace of her parents.

"Oh, our daughter already knows so much, hubby. She's growing up too fast." Said Ta Siyu with a worried look.

"Indeed, it's why we have to pamper her as much as possible while it's still time." Answered Siduo's father without missing a beat.

Siduo was blushing a bit, but she clearly didn't mind.

At this point, the father opened his eyes. "How is the boy Sisi? Is he good natured, he didn't do anything weird to you did he?"

"Dad, we're six, what are you thinking of? If you annoy him I won't talk to you for a week." Siduo huffed and turned away from his dad.

Wu Jianguo's face got pale as he heard his darling daughter say such harsh things to him.

"Now, now, don't cause trouble for the boy." The mother comforted Jianguo. She found the whole exchange very adorable. The couple was madly in love with each other as well as with their darling daughter.

"Siduo, we'll throw a small party for our employees today." The woman suddenly turned toward Siduo.

"Eh? Why? Did something happen?" Siduo asked curiously.

"Well our precious daughter returned after two days, and we're getting a new member of the family of course." The mother gave a mysterious smile.

Siduo could only sigh. She just introduced Karni and they're already treating him like family.

… … …

Karni was barely catching his own breath as Lao Alix was leaving no good ways for him to dodge, before his focus was taken away by a shout.

"Today at 7 in the evening." An announcement began. "All the employees are invited to a small party on the training field. There will be music, food and a bonfire in celebration of the returning young miss." A man dressed in a suit was voicing out next to the mansion.

"Eh? A party for Siduo? It's been two days." Karni asked Alix.

The knight laughed to herself. "This is perfectly normal. When young Miss was four, she went missing for 3 hours and when she was found, we were celebrating for a whole day." Most of the people training were chuckling as well. It seems like everyone found this piece of news completely unsurprising.

"Her parents love her a lot." Karni said in a soft voice with a small nostalgic smile on his face. Seeing this lovely family made him even more determined to someday return.

Lao Alix caught his small change of mood with his words. She figured that the kid had a story but decided that these were private questions she shouldn't ask.

"Well, it seems like this place is going to get busy soon. Let's finish up, I'll go and help prepare everything for the party." The knight said as she started putting away the wooden weapons.

"In that case I'll help prepare as well." Said Karni and started putting things away with her.

"Young Master, you should relax. You had an arduous training after all. Keeping young Miss company would be better." She didn't want the friend of her young miss helping as much. More so because of the status than anything else.

"No, no, I insist. It was partially my fault for Sisi missing for two days as well, I want to make it up to you guys for all the hospitality." He was smiling, but it was a tired smile after training the whole afternoon.

Lao Alix simply nodded at his words.

… … …

It was late in the evening. The training field was full of people working in the mansion. There was a bonfire that hadn't been lit up which was standing around 2 metres high. Around the bonfire there were sets of tables filled with food and the people were chatting merrily.

Karni was sitting on one of the chairs, exhausted. While he did help, he wasn't very helpful. Most of his time was spent resting and helping only in between. His training tired him out too much after all.

Everyone was waiting for the main family to arrive. At that point, the party was truly going to start.

They didn't wait for long. A small ringing of a glass could be heard and everyone quickly quieted down.

"Welcome guards, chefs, housekeepers and everyone else who always help keep this household safe and orderly." A sturdy, manly voice could be heard.

Wu Jianguo appeared in the centre and welcomed everyone. "As everyone surely knows by now, our darling daughter returned after two very hard days for us."

The atmosphere immediately became cheerful with these words. It was clear that Jianguo was quite liked as the leader of the house.

"Today we prepared this small party for her return, but there is another reason for this party. We have some great news which we wish to announce." The man said as a mysterious smile appeared on his face.

Everyone got curious at what this other piece of news was. They thought that the party was made simply for Siduo's return. The Leader of the Wu family answered their questions.

"Me and my wife have some wonderful news for everyone. We are expecting another child of the Wu family." The training grounds became quiet for a second.

Not long after, the first sound of congratulations could be heard. And like a domino effect, everyone started congratulating. At that point, Siduo and Siyu appeared as well.

Siduo stepped next to the bonfire and lit it up. As soon as the bonfire was lit, the liveliness increased by another level and the whole party cheered, including Karni.

The whole atmosphere of the party simply got better and better. Everyone was having fun. The Wu family was hanging around their employees, while the employees were competing in eating games, drinking and they were singing. Some of them even pulled out some instruments.

Siduo sat next to Karni. "So, how do you like my home?"

"It's very lively, everyone is kind." Answered Karni with a smile.

"So, you'll become a big sister eh? Can't see you being one." Karni gave her a tired, but a cheeky smile.

"You wanna get more training tomorrow?" She softly hit him in the shoulder as she laughed with him.

"Honestly I didn't expect this news either, I expected something else." She made a weird look as if in thought.

"Oh what were you expecting for the news to be then?" Karni asked, genuinely curious.

Siduo chuckled. "Well it doesn't matter anymore, the thing I expect will happen eventually anyway."

"What does that even mean?" Karni didn't have a clue what other news there could be.

Siduo chuckled. "Well, hopefully it happens." She turned towards the table. "Come let's go eat next to the bonfire."

She took his hands and dragged him next to the bonfire. They sat next to the employees and started to chat merrily with them.

Karni was really enjoying the atmosphere of this place. It was comfortable and welcoming. Some people were asking about their meeting and most of them laughed at hearing the shenanigans that their young miss has caused. Karni still wanted to get revenge for that first meeting someday though.

Everything reminded him of the village parties back home. Due to living in a rural area, most people knew each other and parties were very personal, this gave off the same vibe to him.

They kept telling stories until quite late into the night. The people with the instruments joined the bonfire circle as well. Karni sang along with them at times as well. After he learned the lyrics a bit at least.

Siduo praised Karni's voice as he had an ear for singing, though he was quite embarrassed about it. His voice quieted down the next song. He wasn't used to singing in this either, it was very high pitched, normal for a child though.

After constant teasing and his tiredness getting to him, Karni decided to play along. "Phah, okay you want to hear my singing? I won't do that, I'll play AND sing." He gave a small huff while ending the sentence. Similar to ones Siduo does at times.

"Oh? What do you play?" Asked one of the people with an instrument.

At this point Karni seemed to have realised what he said and started backtracking. "Oh, well, I know how to play a little bit of ukulele. But I'm not really good at it." He scratched his head, he regretted his loud mouth.

Honestly he would've preferred a piano or a synth, even the drums. He played both of those actively once. His understanding of how to play the ukulele was quite poor. Someone who learned the basic chords only.

"In that case you have to play us a song don't you. No pressure." A voice was heard from beside him. Of course the owner of this voice was Siduo.

He was silent for a second. "Ok. But you have to promise not to laugh." Karni has now gotten a bit nervous, looks like he missed his chance to escape the situation.

He borrowed the ukulele and put it in his small hands. He was a bit awkward at it, just like he was with the one he kept in his room. He wasn't used to his small hands yet.

He thought of what song to even play. What did he even know when it came to guitar songs? Ah really there was just one that kept on coming to his mind, but he really didn't want to play it as it was just so cliche for a bonfire song.

He tried to think of anything else but really couldn't think about anymore. He sighed to himself. Time for the bonfire song then.

He started strumming. This song he knew like the back of his hand. It was most likely a majority of people's first song on guitar that they learned, even if they didn't know the chords.

♪ Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you. ♪

It was truly a 'wonderful' song. And while he heard it so much it was annoying back at home, he had to admit. It reminded him of home, if only because of how much it was played.

At heart a romantic song, singing about that special someone, yet when he sang.

♪ You're gonna be the one that saves me ♪

He first remembered his mom. In his own context. Remembering his previous life. His loving family.

♪ You're my wonderwall ♪

He had to admit, his mind also drew a picture of Siduo. Not in a romantic sense, but that of pure gratefulness. He had to be honest, this girl, who somehow knew him, was a reincarnate like him. He could tell she'd take care of him somehow. And he felt safer than before.

The roads reminded him of the long path he needed to take to reach his home.

The lights that are blinding. The hardship he'll have to take. It was probably not how the lyrics were meant to be interpreted. But it put his mind at ease somehow. The song, which he didn't quite like as much, made him tear up a bit. It was so nostalgic.

The people around were enamoured. They could tell that the song was most likely a romantic one, but it didn't feel this way when Karni sang it. It was like a special energy was put into his voice, his playing.

Karni had his eyes closed. It was like only he existed in this moment. Around the heat of the fire in front of him, oh so familiar and reminding. He could almost see his friends sitting around him, laughing, singing along, complaining: "Not this song again."

The people around have never heard of such a song, but everyone became enamoured with it. It was both catchy, and Karni's sincere performance made everyone feel friendly towards him.

There was but one person who at some point sang the lyrics perfectly with him, though he wasn't even aware of it, to him it was just a complementary second voice in the background. Siduo sang along. A look of nostalgia on her face as she looked at him.

But Karni didn't sense any of it. He just kept playing and soon came to the final words of the song.

♪ You're gonna be the one that saves me ♪

On constant repeat until the end. And perhaps he said it too many times. He didn't know. His mind was feeling completely blank at this moment.

The song ended. A soft voice could be heard next to Karni after a long silence. "He fell asleep." Siduo was looking at him with tears in her eyes and her words were warm to the ear.

Some of the people were shocked, they have never seen their cheery young miss act like this.

"I'll take him to bed." She said quietly as she picked him up slowly and started carrying him towards the mansion.

Karni didn't seem to fight her, it seems like on a deeper level, he has already trusted Wu Siduo, even if he knew her for a very short time..

"It was this very song Karni." Siduo whispered with a warm look. A doting one.

It was yet another comfortable sleep in this new world, so much has happened to him in the span of short two weeks. His life in this new world didn't feel as empty to him anymore. At the very least, he found a place that he can rely on.