A Brother's Secret

Chapter 5: Last night..

The next morning, I walk into the great hall to see many empty sake bottles piled up on the table and my palm finds its way to my forehead. 'Don't tell me she dragged someone into it again...'

"Morning Edith." I hear someone say. I turn around to see Fuyukiku with disheveled hair.

"Morning Kiku. Um..Mika didn't happen to drag anyone into a drinking battle last night, did she?" I ask. Kiku yawns with a nod.

"Ran." He answers simply.

"Of course." I sigh. "And she probably set up some weird bet too, am I right?" Kiku's eyes widened briefly.

"Um, they did, but they kinda, called it off..?" He half-asked. Too tired to pester further, I nod.

"Alright then."

"Good morning Eda (Ee-duh) ." Shiroya greets with sleepy eyes. I smile at the nickname he used. He would always call me that when we were younger.

"Hey Roya. Sleep alright?" I ask with a small smile. Roya nods with a yawn and rubs his eyes tiredly.

"Good. I'm going to go get the horses all ready so we can leave as soon as possible, alright?" I say running my fingers through my hair.

"Do you need any help?" Shiroya asked. I shake my head and make my way toward the door.

"Nah I got it. Thanks for offering though." I smile and push open the door and head to the barn. Once I make it there, I'm greeted with a soft nicker. I giggle when I see a large grey horse head pop out of a stall door.

"Hey there, Zapp. How's my boy?" I ask rubbing my horse's muzzle. "Ready to go on a journey?" Zapp whinnied and shook his head up and down. "There's my boy." I smile and pour some food into his, and the rest of the ninjas' horses' troughs. While they were enjoying their breakfasts, I went ahead and started putting their saddles on. Once that's done, I walk back over to my mount and reach up to stroke his neck with a smile.

I glance over to see the empty stall where Kaito's horse had stayed while he was here and it made me think back on his departure.

~Flashback~

"You be careful, alright?" Kaito says with a smile.

"Don't worry, I will. I have everyone to protect me, remember?" I ask.

"Yeah, but I won't be there to protect you from them.." I put my hand on his arm with a sigh.

"I'm really sorry you can't come along. If I had won that rock paper scissors, I would be had you come." I explained. Kaito chuckled and ruffled my hair.

"I know." I shove his hand off my head and wrap him in a hug.

"Bye Big Brother." I say. Kaito returns the hug and sighs. "I'll miss you a lot."

"I know, just take care of yourself and Shiroya, alright?" He asked releasing me from the hug. I nodded with a smile and he mounted his horse. "See ya, Edith!"

~End~

"Edith? I was told to find you here. What are you doing out here by yourself?" Someone asks breaking my train of thought. Zapp lifts his head from his feed to see who else was in the stable.

"Kikyo? You were looking for me?" I ask. Kikyo nods making my eyes widen a bit before looking back down at Zapp. "I'm just getting the horses ready for the journey is all." I run my fingers through Zapp's mane absentmindedly. "That, and I wanted to see my Zapp." I smile and rub his head.

Kikyo chuckles and makes his way down the stable. "I understand completely." He smiles and makes his way over to his horse.

"I take it you're a big fan of horses too?" I ask with a raised brow.