Chapter 206: 206
I paused for a moment and she turned her head back to me.
“Well…?” she raised her eyebrows.
“I’m pausing for effect. It’s how you make your listeners stay tuned- Ow!” I said cheekily but she pinched a bit of my leg.
I embraced her tightly with her arms so the movements that she could do in our position is limited.
“Stop moving so much! I’ll get to it!” I said then she stopped and leaned over me again. Her head is rested on my shoulder while I could see a magnificent view from above. A few droplets of water are above her bountiful chest and I continued to tell the story.
“Okay, okay. I was young back then and as you know; I really like to read, like a lot. The mochis they’re making are actually specialty products but still really cheap. I still can’t believe that they haven’t started on exporting it overseas since I believe that they would be extremely popular. Anyway, there are several boxes there where they place each one with a wooden box containing a dozen of them. I was just reading a bit of it and the stickers on the box has instructions on it. Since it was placed offset and was sideways, I tilted my head sideways to read it and suddenly, it got picked by this really tall old man and he brought it to his rickshaw which he parked a few steps on the side. My head started to itch since I didn’t get to finish reading everything and I wanted to peel that sticker off to place it again properly so I followed him.” I said.
“Oh, no. Where are your parents?! Did they even see you?” she asked.
“Well mom was watching me at that time but dad wanted to buy more so he called my mom for a second to get more money. I guess my sneak level was really high since she didn’t notice me slipping past her. Next thing I know I was inside the rickshaw trying to slowly peel off the sticker. Take note, everything else is offset so I suddenly got fired up and didn’t notice that the rickshaw started to move. However, I started on reading the whole thing first even if I haven’t placed the stickers on the correct way yet.” I replied.
She started on chuckling and her b.r.e.a.s.ts started to jiggle while she did so. She wrapped her hands around my neck backwards while she’s still in front of me then she snuggled even closer.
“As I was saying earlier, I got irritated not being able to read the whole thing so I followed the old man and rode at the back of his rickshaw. I was just so intent on reading the whole thing I didn’t know that I’m already being searched by the police and old man Kaiseki didn’t know that he accidentally kidnapped me. I finally read the whole thing and I managed to peel off the stickers and place them properly. However, the slow rocking of the rickshaw made me drowsy and I decided to take a nap.
“HAHAHAHAHA!!! I swear I could see you really doing that!” she interjected, laughing.
“Heh. Crazy, right?! You could’ve seen my parents’ face! Long story short, old man Kaiseki found me sleeping at the back of the rickshaw and quickly went to the police station and told the whole story. I woke up being carried like a sack of potatoes and I thought I was floating for a second since old man Kaiseki is really tall! His long beard and hair is itchy though. He gave me one of the boxes of mochis to eat while we waited for my parents. That was hands down the best mochi I ever tasted! I immediately ate half the box and I felt drowsy again after being so full. I just woke up after a few minutes seeing the teary faces of my parents.” I said.
“Really?! Oh my god! And you just slept through all that?!” she exclaimed.
“Hah! I’m weird when I was a kid! Even now! Give me a break! Anyway, old man Kaiseki felt so guilty making my parents worry so he invited us to their mountain. Our simple trip turned to something unforgettable. We just rode the rickshaw up the small mountain path where he pulled us three effortlessly. The place was so quaint and peaceful. I wish I have a mountain like that. Our place would be really perfect if we build this place on top of a mountain like theirs.” I said.
“Well, who wouldn’t?! I like the mountains too!” she said.
“Hah! *suddenly grabs her two handfuls in front* You already have two huge ones. What are you talking abo-grck!” she suddenly elbowed me.
“HAHAHA!!! Just kidding! Stop! Stop! Let me get back to the story. When we reached the place, there are several people there and a couple of wooden houses that looked like a small mansion. They have a fish pond, a huge farm for vegetables, farm animals, a mine, and etc. They could forage from the mountain some wild fruits and the like but they wanted to be able to have a stable food source. What made me really excited is his workshop. That’s where I discovered that aside from making Mochis for a living, he actually makes and repairs tools. He guided me to his shop and I could still remember how rough his hands were when he’s guiding me, he was actually making tools since he was young. I was looking around and then my eyes locked to one of the weapons there displayed majestically.” I said.
“Is that the katana then?” she asked.
“It’s actually an odachi, much longer than the katana I have and the tachi I have before. I just can’t stop looking at it. He suddenly had a thought and he ordered his son to let me hold a bokken. My parents were amused and just kept on taking pictures all around while I was holding a wooden stick clumsily. He guided me to their dojo and then it happened…” I trailed.
“What? Tell me!” she grew extremely interested.
“See that? Trailing like that makes listeners more interest-ack! Stop! I’m joking! I’ll continue!” I said as she elbowed me again.
“What happened was that there was a young boy and a young girl practicing there as well. Turns out, they were old man Kaiseki’s grand kids. The young girl there, but much older than me approached me and tried to teach me what they were doing but the young boy just diligently practiced. I just watched her move and started to do what she was doing. She got pretty excited that I could copy her easily but the boy there got annoyed and performed something complex. Remember the basics where we draw an asterisk with the weapons?” I said.
“Yeah? I always practice it, why?” she replied.
“Imagine doing that in a quick flowing motion where you could almost see a flower blooming roughly.” I said.
“Oh! Like what you did last time?” she asked.
“Yeah. Something like that but what I did before when you were present is still the basic movement for it, not the actual technique. You’d need to add something else but that is the gist of it. I never intended to perform that technique at that time, but in that place, I copied it perfectly. That actually was a technique in their household for their children before you officially get recognized by their clan as one of their own. I made a rough outline of a flower and Mashiro, old man Kaiseki’s son, the person who let me borrow the bokken ran outside to call the old man. Arashi, the boy, and Aoi, the girl, is staring at me really weirdly when Mashiro went outside with a huge smile on his face. It’s like the two have seen a ghost or several missed calls from their mom or something.” I said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you actually did it because of all the times I’ve seen you do things. Oh! Then what happened? Can they also recognize you as one of the even if you’re not related by blood?” she asked.
“Yeah. Even you, if you managed to do it.” I replied.
“Too bad… wait, what?! For real?!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah. Everyone there is not related by blood before. Old man Kaiseki is just the last of his lineage and adopts or takes in people that he sees potential in. They made a small celebration and my parents were dumbfounded when they told me that they would treat me as family even if we’re not related by blood. A lot more things happened there, it involved where I got my tattoos and weapons from him though that happened a few years after.” I said.
“So, some of them partnered up with each other then? You said that they were not related by blood before.” Kaley asked.
“Yeah, they’re not related by blood so it’s okay. Some of them are still not though since they’re a huge mix of people. Blood or not, he treats everyone like family. They also have a cool family tree carved on their walls. Cool, huh? Also, when this thing is over, we could make our own.” I said.
“Own what?” she asked.
“Family tree.” I said innocently but I tried to get ready in case she attacks me again.
However, she was silent all the way and she’s looking down. Her knees raised up to her chin as she hugged them and her b.r.e.a.s.ts got squeezed in the middle.
“Kaley?” I tried to look at her face.
She just turned around and gave me a quick kiss.
“I love you.” she said while staring at me.
“I know. Ack! I’m just joking! Ahaha… I love you too.” I said after she punched me.
“Hey.” she said.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Do you really want to live the rest of your life with me?” she looked at me seriously.
“Yeah.” I replied immediately.
She’s staring at me and she kissed me again.
“You know… I actually heard everything you said when you were talking to mom.” she said.
I was speechless and shocked. However, my initial expression turned into a very bright smile afterward.
“You heard huh. I’m sorry for not noticing the signs that your mom told me. I’m pretty dense about those kinds of things.” I said after.
She’s just staring at me and she slowly smiled though I think she’s up to something.
“You know…” she trailed.
“What?” I asked.
“I don’t want to have kids now. But, we could always practice… I said we’ll continue this later, right? We went a little fast earlier…” she said as she leaned closer to me.