I know nobody ever reads this like ever but I'm writing a bonus chapter due to my irregular update schedule
WRITING THIS FOR MYSELF BY THE WAY!!!!
Also I got a computer woa
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Mizuki blinked her eyes open, her vision fuzzy as she felt herself begin to wake up. As her consciousness returned, she noticed that it was still very dark out. She also realized that she was being roughly shaken awake.
"Mizuki. Mizuki!" A voice cried, the figure shaking her aggressively. Mizuki rubbed her eyes open and let out a soft sigh. Kneeling in front of her was none other than her best friend, Ren.
"Ren..? What are you doing here?" Mizuki mumbled sleepily, looking at her friend. Judging by the hue of the sky, it had only recently turned to nightfall. Mizuki glanced at her surroundings for a moment. She was under a large willow tree, sitting beside a small stream.
"Why are you asleep here?!" Ren exclaimed, sitting down beside Mizuki. Mizuki suddenly felt her heart drop as she realized that she had been caught sleeping outside. That was the last thing she wanted.
"Er- I was just too tired to walk all the way home." Mizuki lied, yawning, "It's a bit of a walk, and I didn't want to hinder Kyojuro and his family."
Ren looked angry at this, but her eyes softened slightly, "You could have come to me! I would have let you stay with me!"
"No, I can't do that to you, either." Mizuki let out a sigh, "I'm fine out here, really. I'll go home tomorrow after training."
Ren looked irritated, "Mizuki, you can't keep doing this. Come home with me."
Mizuki suddenly stood up, wobbling slightly, "No can do. I'm gonna go walk home now."
Ren looked suspicious, but she backed off, "Please stay safe. It's dangerous late at night."
Mizuki let out a sigh, smiling softly at her friend, "I'll try." She then walked away in silence, feeling Ren's gaze burning into her back as she, too, walked away.
Mizuki let out a sigh of relief as she continued walking. Obviously, she wasn't going home. She was gonna go wash up and then wander the rest of the night. Perhaps return to the tree, but she might accidentally oversleep and Ren may find her there again.
Mizuki wanted to go home, but tension was too high at her estate at the moment to return. Recently, Suki had attempted to run away from home with her fiancée, but her attempts were futile, as she was almost immediately caught and brought home. In the midst of the fight, Suki had screamed at her parents, insisting, "Mizuki almost doesn't live here anymore! She's never home, and so why shouldn't I be"
From that day forth, Mizuki's mother and father had kept an unfortunately close eye on her, punishing her whenever she was gone for too long or when she returned past curfew. After about a month of enduring this, Senjuro had noticed a small bruise on her wrist, and she knew she had to get away before people got suspicious. So she left a note on her brother's bed, gathered her belongings, and stopped returning home.
Mizuki mainly stayed underneath that tree at night, though she never expected to be caught there by anyone, much less Ren. She bathed in the river and attempted to keep up a constant sleep schedule so she could train her best. She didn't want to fall back and disappoint Kyojuro and his family.
Mizuki sighed as she took a full round trip, reaching the empty clearing beside the tree once more. This would be a long night....
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