Chapter Six
I smiled nostalgically as I returned to the Academy for my 3rd year therein; my second year had been interesting, and a learning experience; now I felt like I was on the home stretch to becoming a genin.
Not that I'll be graduating way early, that could put Nii-san's position as clan heir in jeopardy; and I have no interest in leading the clan directly, though there are benefits. For one, I would be able to spend most of my time within the village, spending time with sons, daughters, and nephews. And maybe even nieces, if my appearance in this timeline has changed more than I thought.
But truly, the position of Uchiha clan head was about as attractive to me as the Hokage's hat, I.E. not very.
The reason I have no desire to be Hokage is simple, I've seen Sarutobi's face in person. That tired and haggard look while still cheerful and smiling was enough to drive me away from the post forever.
Not that with my knowledge I couldn't help Konoha with becoming a better village, but I had no real desire to do that either. I was not so naïve as to believe that Konoha was 'the good guy' and everyone else the 'bad guy'.
Indeed, Konoha's ninja had lead Akatsuki, killed thousands and experimented in ways that only Sasori could even hope to match. And he did it with dead bodies, which in my esteemed opinion, is no problem at all, the fact that he killed people to experiment on, however, was plain playing god.
Not that we don't all play god at least some time in our miserable years.
Gah, I'm going on a thinking rant again, where is Kushina when you need her?
"Oi, clan-boy!"
Right there.
"Yes, Uzumaki-san?"
"I am going to beat you into the ground!"
"You can try, and you can fail." I've had that saying for years, can't believe I'm only using it now.
"I bet you can't even float in the sky."
"I regret to inform you… that you are absolutely right, I am unable to 'float in the sky', Uzumaki-san." I kept my face carefully blank and my voice ever so slightly goading.
"See! Even genius eye-freak over here can't do something!"
"Everyone has a limit, not to sound petulant," Although I do have some ideas on how to pull off flight with chakra.
"Well you did sound petulant, petulant clan-boy."
If I said anything back I would look irreparably childish, so I merely gave a slight nod and sat with the Hyuuga twins.
"Hiashi-san, Hizashi-san, how are you two today?"
"I am feeling well, thank you."
"My health is impeccable." Hizashi finished.
"I see; I hope that the home situation is good, not to pry."
"Indeed, Father has advanced both our training's and is in amiable condition."
"I am glad to hear that, Hiashi-san. And how is your mother, Hizashi-san?"
"She is well, but still pays more attention to Hiashi." The two are close and do not resent each other but still, I am amazed by how open with me they are about the home condition.
"Bias cannot be destroyed I suppose," I replied politely, I couldn't say much else without crossing into dangerous and very Hyuuga territory.
The relationship between me and the Hyuuga twins is an intriguing one, while we are tacit friends, we are also rivals, a natural result of the Hyuuga-Uchiha 'my doujutsu is best' thing.
"Good morning maggots!" Yoshiro really has gotten more severe over the last year.
"Good morning Sensei!"
"Furuya dropped out so you won't be seeing her this year."
I see; Mebuki dropped out did she? I wonder why, not that I ever acquainted myself with her.
One of the boys in class hung his head. A budding friendship? A one-sided crush? It doesn't matter in the end.
"I expect the rest of you to make a real showing, no slacking allowed in this class."
"Yes sir, Aoki sir!" Need I say it again? Kushina wasn't the only one to get stomped into place; the whole class got a taste of sensei.
"I want this year to be a real learning experience for all of you." He smirked and cracked his knuckles, a simple, if effective, intimidation tactic.
"I don't think we need to go over the rules, so we'll get right to it. When I call your name, you come up, and without a single peep you'll receive a schedule."
He called in alphabetical order, starting from the top. Once we had all gotten one he continued.
"If you lose it, you will not get a replacement so, if you can't keep it safe! MEMORIZE IT!"
Most of the kids swallowed nervously and mutely nodded.
"Now for the obstacle course, to determine class placements, that's outside to your left."
The entire class wanted to groan at this point, while my no-longer-new diligent personality recognized the benefits, my lazier side wanted nothing to do with it, but we kept it in because of the knowledge of what would follow.
The obstacle course was a reusable, non-lethal, half a mile of torture, every five feet or less there was some manner of pain waiting to be unleashed, and every six months six vindictive genin teams redid the whole thing.
Fortunately, unless you really screwed up all you got was a couple bruises. It was also wonderful competition however, since because of the length of the track they sent in a new student very five minutes no matter what.
This resulted in a system among the students where each kid was graded by how much time he was ahead of the guy behind him.
Suffice to say, plenty of kids got so shamed because of this that they willingly took the course so that it wouldn't happen again. Because it 'encouraged personal ability' the teachers made no move to alter the state of affairs.
The current best time record holder was Hizashi, a full three seconds faster than his brother. Next came myself, thirty seconds behind Hizashi, after that it was Kushina, she took twenty-one seconds longer than I did.
In any case, as last year's top student I had the dubious honor of going first. I yawned and clacked my teeth twice as I stepped up to the starting line.
"Begin!" The mid-height Aoki yelled almost insistently.
I took off at a mad sprint, ducking under two swinging logs and over a pit filled with painful rocks. It seems the course got more dangerous this year, time to show off.
I activated my now two-tomoe Sharingan and continued, easily picking up trip wires and pitfalls with my enhanced vision. I lazily stepped, jumped, and hopped over the traps until I came to the most unique of the new additions, synthetic rapids.
This would slow anybody down, but it's not expressly against the rules to go around it, problem is it might be faster to go through it.
I did decide to show off right? Through it, it is.
My Sharingan still draining chakra I carefully made my way across the very real, if man-made, roaring waters. They really spend a lot on the Academy huh; guess that's why tuition is so high.
The 'river' crossed, I almost got swept off my feet the fact that the ground under me moved away causing this disaster. I picked myself up from my clumsy stumble and charged ahead.
The course seems longer this year, I slid under a low-hanging beam, perhaps 3rd years are expected to be good? Of course they are; I dodged around a clumsy dummy samurai with a wooden sword.
Finally, I exited the training run, right at the location I had begun, only on the other side.
"Congratulations Uchiha, you are the current record holder for this year's class." Yoshiro mocked.
The rest of the kids laughed, amused that the so called genius Uchiha had taken so long on the course.
Their laughs turned quiet shortly and soon whispering started, Hiashi had gone in after me so there was no way he could be this much behind. In fact, Hiashi did not emerge until five minutes and three seconds had passed beyond the time I had come out.
"Is the course harder this year, Hyuuga-san?"
"Yes," Was his brief reply.
Several widened eyes met this statement, conveying the owners' true feelings of 'it was crazy hard last year!'
At length the whole class had gone through, the ones after Hizashi looking more or less disheveled.
Minato in particular had looked bad, though I suppose I don't spare much attention to anybody else, save the Hyuuga and Kushina.
Then we had gambling lessons, to everyone's great surprise. Apparently, being a gambler was a common cover for Konoha shinobi. Although I get the impression it was later removed from the academy since it was all luck.
Still, knowing when to fold or go all in was a skill that all ninja needed.
Poker was the game played, thank goodness, so it went alright. The teachers handed 'Academy tokens' to all the kids at the start of the game, apparently these tokens could actually buy you stuff from the Academy. This added a sense of realism to the game.
After poker it was acting, you picked a class-mate and acted them out for a set period; it could be quite confusing, since it was all the kids at the same time, with henge applied.
School ended half-an-hour later than usual, apparently this was the new normal, and I left for home worn out but smiling.
Being a kid was great.
XXX
I have not discovered any revelations in fuinjutsu since my experiment with liquid storage last year.
This was all rather disconcerting to me, but with months of nothing I have turned my attention back to my senbon launcher.
I went to the rust-yard and found a piece of piping the exact same as last times, though this one was considerably longer, and took it over to the blacksmith, who I asked to cut it in half. He made some foolish statement about how he was above cutting pipes in two but I refused to pay him more.
I would love to cut it myself but I had not the saw needed for such work.
Then I had him make me a cylinder of very thin metal that would fit inside. Also commanding him to make a protrusion, that could be pressed down with minor effort. When I was sure the competent fellow understood my needs, I left him to it, counting out the cost as I did so.
I gave him half in advance, as was standard in crafting society, and left, to return in two days.
Two days later I was back at the blacksmith, asking if my order was ready. It was, and the man and handed me my things. I thanked him with words and money and then left, excited to see if I could pull this off.
I removed the pressure chamber wood from my mark one senbon launcher and moved it over to mark two, the end filling pieces already prepared; I inserted them in each new construct.
Now for the wait.
Class followed the same general pattern as the first day, though P.E was not always the obstacle course, naturally.
Acting and gambling remained as a subject. Math was upgraded to more complicated things, stuff that could actually be used by active ninja.
Kushina was as she always is, "Clan-boy, I heard you lost yesterday."
"My loss was only token," A brilliant pun if I do say so myself.
"So I heard, betting it all on a pair of jacks!" She began her offensive cackle.
"It was a risk I was willing to take, I lost."
"And whatcha gonna do when it's your life on the line, Uchiha?"
"How morose, I doubt I'd make the same choice, I value my life more than my money."
"I knew it, a coward eye-freak."
"I am indeed a coward; if you'll excuse me, Uzumaki-san." Perhaps she has changed somewhat.
The red-head watched with open mouth as I left her standing there, I know I'm a coward. Doesn't mean I like being called one.
Though to be fair, gambling with your life is a fool's choice. Still, I am a coward, so scared of blood and guts I can't even behead a chicken, or gut a pheasant.
Maybe that should be next on my things-to-do list, yes, I think so.
"Haha, I need to butcher an animal." Let it never be said that I don't follow through.
"Eh, why, Nana-chan? You can buy meat at the store."
"That's not the point, I dislike blood so I have decided to conquer my fear, what better way than to butcher an animal?" It should be noted that I am completely okay with my own blood, but other people's or critter's blood can get to me.
"Aren't you a little young for that kind of thing anyway?" Here's the problem, to my mother I am still little 'Nana-chan'.
"I'll be a ninja in two years or less at the current rate."
"I see, in that case let's ask your father." Why such a big deal about killing, skinning, and gutting a rabbit or some such thing?
Nevertheless, the issue was put on hold until Father got back from his duties.
I let Mother start the conversation, "Nanashi said he wants to butcher an animal."
"Why?" The Uchiha patriarch asked, turning to me as he did so.
"I want to get over my fear of blood."
"Fear of blood?" He asked with narrowed eyes, "A worthy goal, proceed immediately."
It seems Father dislikes the fact that his child does not like blood to the extent that it is called 'fear'.
"Thank you very much." Now to find the poor critter, shouldn't be too hard, I know some of the clansmen keep chickens.
I checked my scant pile of ryo, praising my penny pincher tendencies as I did so; it would be enough.
I knocked on the door of an Uchiha who owned some fowl.
"Sorry to disturb you so late, but can I buy a chicken?" I asked politely.
"Who's asking?" The man asked as he opened the door.
"Uchiha Nanashi."
"That's all right then, any special needs, kid?"
"Just a living chicken that can bleed, sir."
"Aha, you ain't the first kid who's come for that reason." He picked out a distinctly old rooster.
"Free, more trouble than he's worth at this point."
"Thank you very much." I put my money back in my pocket; I'd need a wallet soon.
"No trouble, good luck."
I grimaced as I got a whiff of the chicken yard smell emanating from the rooster in my arms. Old or not, he was going to die early.
I went to the training ground where Hiroshi-sensei and I still met on week-ends for training, finding a short pole to set my meat on.
I took the now squawking piece of free blood and set it down, holding on to one of its legs.
I wrapped my whip around the poor thing's neck securing the other end to a nearby pole. I pulled on the leg it the opposite direction, stretching the rooster out for the finishing blow.
Grimacing as I pulled out my sharpest kunai I bemoaned the fact I had not an axe.
It would have to do.
A chicken's neck is an amazingly tough thing I mused as the roosters head finally swung free of its body. I held the dead chicken down as it continued its struggling, waiting patiently for the dead body to stop.
Chickens are quite interesting when they have their heads severed, the continued motion a mystery I have yet to dissect.
Now for the hard part; it's lucky the day has plenty of light left as I doubt I can skin the thing in under an hour. Before that though, I need to pluck it.
I almost studiously pulled the feathers from the cooling corpse, sighing at the sheer quantity.
At length, the still draining body was naked completely. I shivered in disgust as I shifted the rear in my direction, rubbing my nose with my right arm as I did so.
Now to stick my hand in there.
XXX
In retrospect, while butchering is somewhat disturbing it isn't so bad. Though, the feeling of being a sort of murderer because you killed something not a bug remains.
Still, I feel almost good about the whole affair, it having gone better than I expected.
I daresay I think it should be downright mandatory for academy students in the fourth year. Fortunately, for guys who don't think so, I'm a third year, and I'll probably have forgotten all about it by next year.
XXX
With the requisite two weeks drying period over, I inspected my mark two senbon launcher, admiring the blacksmith's handy work as I did so.
I experimentally popped down one of the protrusions, noting with delight that it was almost effortless and that it popped back up just as easily.
My mark-one pressure chamber inserted, I loaded the senbon. I then pointed the contraption up down and all around, nearly gushing over the thing as the senbon stayed put.
Putting both hands on the launcher I compressed chakra, inside the chamber, to the upmost of my ability. Then I pointed the thing side-ways to me and released, the senbon barely exited the launcher, poking out mockingly.
I nearly screamed, what had gone wrong! I carefully pulled the senbon out, then noticing the reason of the problem. The wooden chamber had clearly had too much speed, destroying itself on the double ended projectile it was meant to launch.
Obviously I need a totally metal launcher, as evidenced by the fact that the end stopper had been blown outward to an extent.
This was a disaster, when was the last time I even succeeded at anything new and unseen? More than a year ago.
Perhaps a fuinjutsu rifle like I had thought of before? It was worth a shot.
I took the previously used senbon launcher mark-two and disassembled the thing, leaving me with a useable pipe. Rifling the inside would have to wait, for now I needed bullets that'd fit. A visit to my favorite blacksmith is in order it seems.
"Blacksmith-san, I need you to make spheres that'll fit inside the pipe perfectly."
"You need what? Kid, didn't your parents ever tell you to stop playing around with stuff?"
"Never, I see you aren't busy."
"No I'm not…" He slumped his shoulders.
"Now what you'll need to do…" I described the little bullet maker from the movie 'Patriot' and I think the intelligent man understood.
"And once it's made and ready you can just put pieces of lead in."
"I see how it is, kid. Run along."
Still, I doubt an inaccurate musket will threaten shinobi. I liked the idea though, even if I was wasting time.
XXX
The academy never fails to surprise me, in one way or another. It turns out that the place has had a gym of all things, all this time.
Everything from tread-mills to dumbbells to various rope climbing activities, it was like heaven for dedicated students.
Unfortunately, kids from all years were present and the teachers didn't interfere unless stuff approached maiming.
This is unfortunate because it seems I have some older… admirers.
"You think you're hot, huh? Think that just because you're a clan-brat you can just go anywhere you want?"
"To what are you referring?"
"To what are we referring?" The somewhat pudgy boy asked his friend in a mocking imitation of my own voice.
"What we mean is…" They shared a laugh, "GET LOST!" All three yelled in my face.
"I'm afraid I know my way around Konoha fairly well and don't think I can get lost, perhaps another time." Ok, that was somewhat arrogant sounding, but boy did that feel good.
"The look on your guys' faces!" The absolutely dumbfounded face they had worn gave way to a look of unbridled rage. All three lunged at me, as I jumped back to avoid certain pain.
Three minutes later I was sitting on flesh, spitting out pink spit as I did so. I admit; they got in a lucky shot. Two lucky shots actually, I looked down at my slightly bruised left side. For bullies, these guys were good.
Of course, having two years on me helped them somewhat, but I have the interceptor style. It's rather embarrassing that they even touched me.
"Oi, stop moving! Don't you know that chairs are supposed to stay still?" The rest of the kids inside shook their heads in disbelief.
"I'll show you who's a chair m-oof." I stomped the offending face twice more for good measure.
"Ah, that feels good. But you know, this is rather out of character, so I'll let you guys go now." But first… I used the tickling technique on them as I got up, heading in the direction of the rope climbing.
Soon the three boys were literally rolling on the floor laughing, to the amusement of everyone there. Eventually the genjutsu ended and they panted, recovering sorely depleted oxygen stores.
I climbed up my rope with gusto, back-flipping off when I could no longer keep advancing.
At length I had had enough, so I claimed a treadmill and ran for all I was worth. Which, in my esteemed opinion, is quite a lot.
It seems I put too much effort into running, if the difficulty I am having walking home is any indication. Nevertheless, I can't build muscle if I don't try. After eating supper I went to my room, too tired to read, and went straight to bed.
XXX
Perhaps I should buy some weights? I think my body can handle it at this point.
Seventy was my number, a rather impressive one if I do say so myself; in push-ups that is. A long way off from 300, but I'm getting there.
As it stands, I'm the student of the year, and while Hiashi is quite good, only the genius of Minato really threatens that position. Kushina, however, places no stock in class rankings it seems, mercilessly taunting him, and even crushing him in taijutsu spars when he accepts her challenges; which, more often than not, he does.
"I want to see three of each of you!" Aoki yelled without warning, he often did this now, telling us to give him forty in the middle of a lecture and similar.
I preformed the bunshin, making two illusory copies of myself.
"I want to hear a high five, no asking friends for help on this one." That's new, but impossibly simple, I slapped my hands together twice, for effect.
It was a simple mind game, first he makes you create clones that aren't solid, and then he tells you to high five audibly. No rule that you can't do it on your own self without clones though.
The Hyuuga twins saw a different loop-hole, high fiving each other instantly and without any words.
Once everyone had completed the assignment we were returned to our seats.
"Who remembers the name of the second Tsuchikage?"
"Mu."
"Who knows the term for Kiri's Kage?"
"Mizukage," That was Minato, interesting.
"Who can tell me when the next war will break out?"
I raised my hand, "Within the next twelve years."
"What makes you so sure, Uchiha?"
"I could tell you, but it'd go way over your head."
"Try me."
Ugh, that was stupid of me, now I have to think of a reason.
"Because the hidden villages each believe themselves to be superior, eventually one of them will make a move on neutral ground, resulting in a skirmish which gets blown out of proportion until its full-blown war. Or else, one of the villages will outright invade a different one, causing immediate embroilment." Good thing I have a water bottle; that was quite the speech.
"How astute, indeed, war will break out in your lifetimes kids, so be ready." Aoki sported a wicked grin as he said so.
XXX
I chuckled as I looked at my cards, causing the other players to look at me appraisingly. The chuckles increased in volume as I knew that the other's called my bluff, too bad for them I'm bluffing that I'm bluffing.
Shin'Ichi put in ten tokens, raising by five, with narrowed eyes.
I put in my own ten, not willing to raise the stakes just yet. By the end of the round betting was up to nine-teen just to check.
I laid onto my face an obviously faked grin as I went all-in. While everyone 'knew' I wasn't good for it they weren't so sure about each other. In the end, two of the six folded and the rest went all-in.
"Club straight, 7-jack," I announced proudly, easily defeating the rather mundane hands of the rest.
Gambling was stupid, really stupid, but fun. Not when the stakes were real money though; then I folded right away. I've said it before, I'm a penny pincher.
Next was taijutsu, no spars today, however. Merely instruction and correction, you went through the kata's and teachers went through, telling you of errors and even using you as an example for the class. Which could be ultra-embarrassing if you were the example of what not to do.
Fortunately, the teachers rarely bothered me, knowing I knew exactly what I was doing. Not that I was the exception, by now most of the kids knew what to do, only they forgot sometimes, or got lazy.
"Uchiha-san, when do you suppose they'll teach us something new?" Hizashi asked me, mostly as a conversation starter no doubt.
"Like a technique?"
"Yes."
"Never, we're already introduced to the academy three; from here on out it'll be theory and non-chakra stuff. Like the poker."
"I see; why do you believe as much?"
"Most academy kids aren't ready for more, plus I think jonin-sensei don't like it when their kids know way more."
"Interesting." Yes, my friend, it really is.
"Still, nothing saying you can't look up all the E-rank stuff you want at the library."
"I see, not much that ninja use is actually E-rank though."
"No it's not, but it's fairly easy to convince the library man to give you a D-rank pass."
"Oh?"
"I speak from experience, just impress the guy a little and boom, D-rank. C-rank stuff you have to be a real ninja with an ID to get at though."
"Makes sense, thank you very much, Uchiha-san."
"It was no trouble Hizashi-san."
XXX
I sighed as I drank the last of the broth from the rooster I had butchered, it was almost nostalgic now.
To explain, I felt really bad for killing a chicken for no reason than to soak myself in its blood so after I had washed it and skinned it I made some broth with the meat. The meat itself was way too tough for a clan-boy like me so I had chicken broth only. I sealed it up in my liquid storage scroll to keep it safe and fresh, and then drank some whenever I felt like it.
Now, I've run out, all too soon.
And so, with the broth all gone, my self-imposed dead-line has been met. I shall now go buy weights, not as much as Lee had, to be sure, but enough to make my muscles do some work.
Buying weights was actually incredibly easy, seeing as it's rather popular in a ninja town like this. Strapping them on was harder, if still elementary.
But now I see why weight training isn't more popular than it already is, it throws everything way off.
My kunai still hit the target, if farther than where I aimed than they should, but the shuriken… way off sometimes. Like a whole two feet off, which might not sound like much, but ninja are precision fighters.
Nonetheless, for the added muscle mass I shall continue. Now for protein! I wonder; do they have protein powder here?
"Welcome to Konoha General Store east, how may I help you?"
"Do you guys carry protein powder?"
"Of course, two aisles to the left from the far wall."
I am amazed; Naruto-verse is so messed up, such a mix of modern and ancient that it's crazy. It works for me though.
Let's see… Miso flavor? This really is crazy. Vanilla or chocolate please. Aha! Chocolate here I come.
"That'll be twenty ryo."
Stingy! I sullenly handed over the money, toting the huge cylinder of protein as I walked home. Needless to say, I regretted not waiting on the weights by the end of the journey.
Now let's see here… milk, perfect. Fridges are so convenient; I stirred my now chocolate protein milk, watching the colors blend with faux interest.
As I drank I swished the mixture in my mouth, not bad. I finished the glass, draining the dregs until the very end, I then put in some tap water, swirling the glass and drinking the diluted milk as a finisher.
After washing out my cup I hauled the marginally lighter container to my room, stuffing it in a corner thereof.
The next day, I paid a visit to my blacksmith friend, "You done yet, sir?"
"Yeah yeah, I was done yesterday."
"I see; I apologize for the trouble."
"Never mind that, you going to buy some lead with that or are you coming here every time you need more?"
"I'll buy some lead, the cheapest."
"It's all the same to me."
"Forty ryo kid, no arguments."
"Forty? I'll need to save for months now, honestly." I paid the man and took my goods, grumbling about greedy blacksmiths the whole while.
Forty may not seem like a lot but to a kid like me, it's everything.
Back at home, I filled my chicken-skin bag with bullets. Now though, I was out of money, so stopping up the end would have to wait, on second thought; it's probably easier to just make the blacksmith forge me a new barrel.
Wasting hundreds on little projects like this will be the death of me, seriously. For now though, I need to find the method I'm going to use to propel my bullets. Gun powder could work, but it's a dead giveaway. Fuinjutsu would be ideal, but it's going to take time to design a working seal.
With the money I have now, making a reusable seal is impossible, so explosive tag? Problem is, I have no idea how to compress seals and sticking an entire note down the barrel is out. Maybe if I just made it the most diminutive I could? It's worth a shot.
With my Sharingan active I looked over the instructions for the explosive note, taking in the look of the seal especially.
Then on a little piece of paper, around 1/12 of the size of a regular explosive note I wrote the seal carefully with a tiny quill.
I held the tag up to the sun, checking it over for mistakes. Seal-work is like carving, one mistake and the whole thing is ruined.
"Katsu!" I yelled from a good fifteen feet away; an audible bang greeted my cry and a blade of grass went flying.
I went over and inspected the damage, not bad, too bad it took thirty minutes to make the thing. That's horrible, for all the good a gun that takes thirty minutes to make ammo for is, I might as well shoot my own foot!
I needed a way to mass produce the tags; unfortunately, there are not short cuts in fuinjutsu. Which meant that the gun would be nothing more than a hobby, at best.
I felt like pulling my hair out, the last thing that went well was buying weights.
I found my short whip and went outside to the training ground; perhaps some whipping would take my mind of things.
In short order I had worked up a sweat, lashing out with an unconcerned frown. I began to sing in English as my spirits rose with the workout, ignoring my new accent that had went unnoticed.
Really, it's been way to long since I used my original language, the L's come out funny and it sounds somewhat wrong. At least I still remember how to write in English.
On a side note, it's amazing how long songs last in your memory; music really is a power that crosses worlds. Heh, it really does; I smiled as I continued long past supper time finally going back in when I noticed Fugaku staring at me.
"What?" I asked him as I walked by.
"You were singing…"
"So?"
"You never sing."
"I guess I don't, eh? Maybe I should again sometime."
"Sing in intelligible words next time, otouto."
"They are intelligible, just not around here." I answered cryptically with a smile. Fugaku simply shook his head, following after me to the house.