Village Life

The next morning came, and the sound of a rooster could be heard. Kizou sat up and let out a huge yawn. The sun was shining brightly through the window as the light entered Kizou’s room. He got up and pushed the window open. The scenery of the village always seemed to amaze him more and more. It looked like the farmers were awake early in the morning as they were tending to the fields. Water seemed to come out of their hands, but Kizou didn’t know how that was possible. He wanted to ask Grandma, so he went to get dressed.

Kizou walked up to the wardrobe that Grandma told him about yesterday and opened it up. There were plenty of clothes that seemed to be just around his size which Kizou found peculiar. He stood there and stared at the clothes to find the reasoning behind it. He remembered the name Shoma and came up with only one logical conclusion.

I got it! Kizou thought to himself. They must’ve saved another kid that was drowning in the river.

He pounded his left hand with his right hand and let out a smile as if that was the reason. He started rummaging through the clothes and tried out different outfits that might’ve looked nice. He put on a green hat, black shirt, and black pants. He looked down to his toes to inspect his outfit but didn’t like anything except for the black pants. He put on a yellow coat with a white shirt underneath. He inspected himself once again and took off the coat, since it was hot outside. He just ended up wearing a white shirt and black pants. He put on some brown shoes and walked outside of his room. His stomach started growling.

Grandma was nowhere in sight, but Grandpa was sitting at the dinner table and eating breakfast. He looked up at Kizou and let out a look of disbelief as he looked at Kizou's outfit. He looked as if he wanted to make a comment. Kizou winced at the thought of having to listen to a rude comment and closed his eyes. After some time, there wasn’t any comment and Kizou looked up to see Grandpa finished with his food. He walked outside with his plate to clean the dishes.

That was surprising, Kizou thought to himself.

Kizou walked to the dinner table and found a plate that Grandma left for him. It was more vegetables with some meat which got Kizou extremely excited. He started chewing his food with his mouth open and realized that Grandma’s cooking was the best.

Ahhh, this is the best food I’ve ever had, Kizou thought happily to himself.

Kizou looked back up to see Grandpa walking in with his dishes and staring at Kizou who still had his mouth open from enjoying the food. Grandpa looked like he was about to say something again, but he ended up putting his plate away. He walked towards his room and shut the door. Kizou flinched after hearing the loud sound of the door shutting. Kizou finished his plate and went outside to wash it.

As he walked outside, he looked around and saw that the village was lively. While looking at the area around him, Kizou bumped into a girl who was around his age. She had long brown hair and had fair skin. She was wearing a brown shirt and black pants.

“Ouch!” she said as she rubbed her head.

“I’m sorry,” Kizou said as he patted her on the head.

“Sorry isn’t going to fix my head,” the girl said with a pout.

“Well, I don’t think your head is broken or anything,” Kizou answered as he started looking at her head. “Only bumped into me cause you’re short.”

“Short?!” the girl asked angrily.

“I mean, we have to be about the same age, but your head reaches to about my chest,” Kizou answered with a smile. “You’ll probably grow soon.”

“Do you even know who you’re talking to right now?!” the girl asked with an embarrassed look after being mocked for her height.

“I actually don’t,” Kizou answered as he looked at her from head to toe. He paid more attention to her head, since she said that it was hurting.

“Just what are you staring at?!” the girl said as she put both her hands on her head with a red face.

“What are you talking about?” Kizou asked, confused. He was genuinely concerned if she was in pain.

“Pervert!” the girl said as she ran away.

“What?!” Kizou exclaimed. He watched her run away as he was frozen from being called a pervert when he didn’t do anything.

He went over to a bucket filled with water to wash his dishes.

Pervert?! Me?! Kizou thought to himself.

He put his dish in the water and started cleaning it, so he could bring it back into the house. He was 0 for 2 among the new villagers, and it upset him. If he was going to live in this village, then he needed to be friends with everyone. He put his dish back inside the house and walked back out of the door. He inhaled deeply through his nostrils and exhaled after getting as much air inside.

If I’m going to live here, I may as well not be a burden, Kizou thought to himself.

He started walking around the village to find out what he might be able to help in, but it looked like everyone already had everything in order. The crops were watered, the children were being taken care of, and everything seemed to be in order. Kizou aimlessly walked down the dirt road when he heard chattering behind him.

“That’s the guy!” said the voice of a familiar girl.

Kizou turned around to find the girl who accused him of being a pervert. She was walking with two other guys that were the same age and height as Kizou.

“What did you do to Kaiya?” asked the boy who was clearly angry.

“I didn’t do anything,” Kizou answered as he stepped back a little.

“Don’t lie! You tried touching me,” Kaiya said as she stuck out her tongue from behind her bodyguards. She was clearly trying to get Kizou in trouble which got him angry.

“Just because you were saved by the Witch doesn’t mean you gotta act like her,” the boy said towards Kizou.

The Witch? Kizou thought to himself. Who are they talking about?

“Either way, we’re going to teach you a lesson,” the other boy said.

They both walked towards Kizou while cracking their knuckles. Kizou backed up slowly and was terrified of what was about to happen. He closed his eyes and put his head down, just waiting for a beating.

BAM! BAM!

The sounds of a hard object could be heard hitting a softer object. Kizou opened his eyes and looked up to see both of the boys holding their arms. Kizou looked towards the floor and saw rocks and realized that someone must’ve thrown it at them. They looked at Kizou and suddenly became terrified. They ran towards Kaiya, and all three of them ran away instantly.

What happened? Kizou thought to himself. Did I just unleash some hidden power?

Kizou became prideful after deciding for himself that he must’ve been the one to hurt them. He walked towards the rock and crouched down to inspect it. It was a pretty large rock, and it even took him some strength to pick it up.

“How sad,” a female voice said. 

Kizou could see the outline of a shadow hovering over him. He looked up to see Tomiko looking down from on top of him. She made another disgusted face while looking at him.

“What do you mean how sad? I just beat those people up,” Kizou said proudly as he stood up.

“You? That was me who threw the rocks at them,” Tomiko answered. “You were too busy hiding like a little baby.”

Oh, Kizou thought to himself after the realization. That makes more sense.

“I wasn’t hiding, I was just trying not to hurt anyone,” Kizou said while still trying to save face.

“Yeah, whatever,” Tomiko answered while turning around.

“Wait, how did you do that?!” Kizou asked. He noticed that the rocks were a bit heavy, so there was no way she could’ve just thrown them so easily.

“What are you talking about?” Tomiko asked as she turned around again.

“How did you throw the rocks?” Kizou asked. “It’s clear that these are too heavy.”

“Magic,” Tomiko replied. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Magic?” Kizou asked, confused. “Ahhh, so you really are the Witch.”

“Witch?!” Tomiko’s face got instantly red.

I guess even she can get embarrassed, Kizou thought to himself.

“Yeah, that’s what the kids call you,” Kizou replied. “The Witch.”

“All I did was use magic,” Tomiko replied. “They’re too young to even know what magic is.”

“So, why do you know what magic is?” Kizou asked. “I mean, I’m positive we’re around the same age the more I look at you.”

“That’s because-” Tomiko stopped. It was almost like she was trained to not answer the question. “It’s none of your business.”

Kizou looked at her as she stormed off back towards her house. He stood there and let out a huge sigh as if his acquaintanceship with Tomiko got even worse. He was now saved twice by her. Kizou continued to walk around the village and explore everything that was there. He saw a little hut that seemed to be crafting swords, and he had his eyes opened in awe.

“Hey there, I haven’t seen you around here before,” the man said as he continued crafting a sword. “The name’s Dax.”

“My name’s Kizou, I was saved by Grandma and am currently living with her,” Kizou said as his eyes were still in awe from the man’s work.

“Grandma is always doing those types of things,” Dax answered with a smile. “Shoma probably got his personality from her.”

The name popped up again, and Kizou became interested. Maybe if he was able to figure out who Shoma was, he wouldn’t have such a problem with Grandpa.

“Can you tell me about Shoma?” Kizou asked.

“Well, I can tell you as much as I can about him, but you should ask the other villagers as well. His presence was definitely something no one forgot,” Dax answered.

Kizou listened to Dax’s story about how Shoma would always stop by early morning and clean the equipment with water. Kizou walked to another hut to where they were selling produce. They told Kizou that Shoma would deliver their food whenever he had time and would travel to even the farthest areas. Everywhere that Kizou seemed to go, he would always hear good things about Shoma.

This Shoma guy is something else, Kizou thought to himself after being impressed by the stories.

He continued down his walk and found a road that led down into the river. He walked down the road and saw a figure washing clothes at the river. He looked closely and realized that it was Grandma.

“Grandma!” Kizou yelled as he started running over to her.

“Yes?” Grandma said as she turned around. She looked at Kizou running down, and it was almost like she was frozen as she looked at him. She saw his clothes from head to toe and couldn’t help but let out a smile.

Kizou looked behind him to see if there was anyone following him, but he was the only one there. He walked up to her, and she gained composure and gave him a hug.

“Did something happen?” Kizou asked.

“It’s nothing,” Grandma answered. “You just looked like Shoma with those clothes on.”

“Grandma, who is Shoma?” Kizou asked. He felt like it was time for him to know who he was.

“Well, I guess I might as well tell you,” Grandma answered as she sat on a rock. “Shoma was a boy that Grandpa and I adopted around 5 years ago. He was 5 back then, so he should be around 10 now.”

Kizou sat on the floor intently listening to the story. If she met Shoma 5 years ago, then that means Kizou wasn’t even born.

“He was still a baby at the time, but Grandpa really wanted a son,” Grandma said. “Throughout our marriage, we never had a child.”

“Wait, how are babies born?” Kizou asked as a new question popped up that was more interesting to him.

“Ahem,” Grandma coughed awkwardly. “That’s a conversation for a different day.”

“Okay,” Kizou answered, even though it was definitely going to weigh on his mind for a while.

“Well, Grandpa loved Shoma for the 4 years that he lived with us,” Grandma said. “He would always help Grandpa with all of the tasks such as cutting wood, cooking his food, and doing things together.”

If he stayed here for 4 years, that means he must’ve left around a year ago, Kizou thought to himself after piecing the story together.

“I heard from the villagers that he would always help them with whatever tasks they needed,” Kizou said.

“That’s no surprise. Shoma would help anyone that was in need,” Grandma replied.

“What happened to him?” Kizou asked hesitantly as he was scared to hear that he might’ve died.

“Nothing,” Grandma said.

“Huh?” Kizou asked with a confused look. “Then why is Grandpa so upset with me?”

“Well, he did leave the village,” Grandma answered.

Isn’t that a little more than nothing, Kizou thought to himself.

“How come?” Kizou asked.

“He wanted to be a hero to the world,” Grandma said. “And that was something that Grandpa didn’t approve of.

Grandma continued telling the story of how Grandpa and Shoma argued and didn’t talk to each other for 3 nights. From being friendly and loving one another, Shoma’s dream was the turning point of that relationship. However, on the 4th day, Shoma couldn’t take it anymore. He wrote a farewell letter to both Grandma and Grandpa and headed towards the main Kingdom. Grandpa was furious and decided that he didn’t want anything to do with Shoma anymore.

“That’s the reason why Grandpa is so mad with me?” Kizou asked. “Because he thinks I’ll leave him like Shoma?”

“Well, I’m not sure if that’s the case,” Grandma answered. “He’s probably just worried that he’ll grow too attached to you.”

“I just want all of us to enjoy our time together,” Kizou said with his face down. He didn’t want anyone to hate him.

“It’s okay, Kizou,” Grandma said while scruffing his hair. “He’ll eventually warm up to you.”

Kizou let out a big smile as he grabbed the basket of clothes that Grandma was washing at the river. She smiled back at him as they both walked up the road back towards the house. Kizou talked about his day towards Grandma which she listened attentively to. Kizou hoped that one day Grandpa would be able to join them as well.