#genrou

“Hrm. I see.” Miaka murmured quietly to herself, then raised her gaze once more. “Ah! Now, I mustn’t forget the orthodox type…”

Tasuki looked at his companion with a fed up expression on his face.

“You know, the type that has a bit of an airheaded demeanour, who might be a little bit clumsy, that might be a bit of trouble to handle.”

“You pretty much nailed number five!” Tasuki raised his index finger as if to indicate Miaka had hit the jackpot. “To be more specific, I mean my fifth sister, Aidou.”

When youngest of Tasuki’s older sisters, Aidou, was just sixteen years old, she really loved to go out and about – as might be expected of someone at that age.

“Hey, sisters! Let’s go to the matsuri in the next village!”

“What are you talking about? We went yesterday and the day before! Seriously.” The oldest sister Eimin reproached.

“You don’t have any pocket money left. And you got Shun’u wound up in it as well, didn’t you?” The second sister, Rin’an, bent her neck to look at Aidou.

“And there were no handsome guys there anyway, An-An.” The third sister, Fuyou, tossed her hair as though she was bored with the whole subject.

“If there was a fight going on there, I’d be the first out of the door, mind you,” the fourth sister Manka yawned.

“Fine. Then I’ll take Shun’u with me.” At Aidou’s statement, all the sisters began to protest at once.

“That’s no good! Shun’u has a whole lot of household chores to be getting on with!”

Aidou glanced out of the corner of her eye at Shun’u who, for a brief moment had had the hopes of going to the festival, and was now looking glum.

“Well, then I’ll go on my own,” she decided.

“Do as you like,” her sisters replied. So, in the end, Aidou went out of the house on her own. It was a two hour walk to the next village via the main streets.

“Make sure you come home by evening!” Her mother warned, but Aidou didn’t reply, and set off up the path purposefully. However, even when night began to fall, Aidou did not return home. And, at the same time, it began to rain heavily.

“What’s going on?”

The mother, who was normally not easy to shake, started to worry and fluster about.

“I’ll go look for her,” Shun’u volunteered. Putting on his raincloak, he went charging out of the house like a fleeing rabbit. The truth was that, that morning, Aidou had had a bit of a cough, and Shun’u realised this now.

Fifteen year old Shun’u had one thing that he took particular pride in. His skinny body had grown, so he no longer needed to rely on his sisters in a fight situation, but the thing he excelled at most was the fleetness of foot with which he ran from his house. Over the past couple of years, Shun’u’s speed had got quicker and quicker. At this rate, he wouldn’t lose, even to a mountain wolf.

Shun’u ran through the torrential rain coming down with such ferociousness. It was as though he was parting the shards of water as they fell. As he came within reach of the next town, he caught sight of a small building standing on the side of the road. Maybe it was his imagination, but he had the sense that he could hear a moaning voice within that building. Shun’u flung back the heavy door.

“Neechan!”

Aidou was inside, shivering violently, and he carefully drew nearer to her. She had a tremendous fever.

“Sh…Shun’u!”

Shun’u was lost, not knowing what he should do now. Should he leave Aidou here and go for a doctor? But he felt that there was no time for that.

“Neechan, put this on.”

He gave his sister the raincloak to wear, and then hoisted her body up onto his shoulders.

“I’ll take you to a doctor right now.”

Hurrying out into the rain, which was falling more ferociously with every passing moment, Shun’u set off running a second time. From somewhere inside of that lean body was hidden a strength, the origins of which one might wonder, and Shun’u was able to make good progress.

“You did well, bringing her back in all that rain.”

As the doctor treated Aidou, he reflected that it was a good thing the youngest child of the family had quick wits and strong muscles. “If you had left it much longer, it could have become serious.”

Once the doctor had gone, for a while the whole of the Kou family gathered around Shun’u in celebratory mood. It was the moment of Shun’u’s birth as a full grown man of the Kou family.

“I guess you are a boy, after all! When it comes to the crunch, you’re different!”

“The speed of those legs is a real surprise.  Is there no way we can market them?”

“If you weren’t my little brother, I could easily fall in love with you!”

“Today I can see the whites of your eyes and your fangs for the first time!”

“Aidou, it doesn’t matter how, but you need to say thank you to Shun’u.” This last was the mother, speaking to the youngest sister, who lay on the bed in the middle.

“If only it hadn’t been Shun’u ,but some other handsome guy, though.” Aidou said.

“Aidou!” Everyone scolded Aidou at one go, but, then she caught sight of Shun’u’s forearm and stared, her eyes widening in surprise.