Kechizu rambled on about this or that, never giving Gera a moment to cut in or respond. Pakin could see her frustration building, until, like usual, she deflated and seemed to resign herself to the kunai’s chatter.

  Toshi watched on with a grin before stepping in as Kechizu began listing off ‘the most handsome and available weapons on the mountain’.

  “Kechizu. I’m sure Gera appreciates your matchmaking, but unfortunately, she and I have some important business to discuss. Would you mind escorting Pakin back to his home now?”

  Kechizu twirled in place before floating over and saying, “Of course, my dear Toshi! Sorry, Pakin, I just get so worked up over that girl. I’m sure, as her student, you understand.”

  Pakin nodded absently, his previous chat with Sho sliding to the front of his mind. “It’s no problem, Miss Kechizu.” Pakin bowed towards the floating knife.

  A sound like a gasp and metal on a grinding wheel echoed from Kechize, and she said, “Oh no no, none of that ‘Miss Kechizu’ and ‘esteemed avatar of the blade’, and ‘most beautiful kunai in the world’ nonsense from you! Just call me auntie!” She did a front flip and waggled side to side, like a chastising finger.

  I’m pretty sure I only said one of those things. Pakin rose from the bow, and Kechizu floated over, close to his face. “Let me have a look at you, dear.” Pakin almost flinched back, but managed to stop himself, as Kechizu’s sharp edges glistened in the artificial lighting of the deck. “Well, aren’t you a handsome little thing! You know, you remind me of the first Raikage! Your noses are so similar, of course, you’ve still got your youthful softness, but I can practically see it now.,I’m sure you’ll have all the ladies swooning when you grow up.” She flipped and sliced horizontally towards Toshi, asking, “Doesn’t he look like the first Raikage, Toshi?”

  Toshi shook his head and said, “Kechizu, I’ve never met the esteemed founder. He died long before I was born.”

  “Oh, how silly of me! I just can’t imagine a memory without you in it!” She turned, and Pakin gritted his teeth as Kechizu’s blade flashed close to his face. Does she not realize how scary that is?!

  He looked over at Gera with distress, and she mouthed ‘you’ll get used to it’. Pakin gulped audibly, and Toshi escorted him and Kechizu to the hallway leading back down into the restaurant's interior. “Alright, now make sure he gets home safe, Kechizu! And please refrain from bothering him too much about making a match, the boy hasn’t even cast his first proper jutsu.”

  Kechizu bobbed up and down quickly, saying, “Pish posh, Toshi! I do have some restraint, you know.” She tilted herself to an angle, and pointed slightly towards Pakin. “Still, there’s no reason he can’t think about what kind of partner he might be interested in meeting someday.”

  Gera shouted from her seat at the table, “Auntie!”

  “Fine, fine! Jeez, an old woman can’t even be a busybody these days. What has happened to the shinobi world?!” Kechizu lamented as she floated down the hallway, calling back to Pakin, “Come along, Pakin sweetie.”

  Pakin waved goodbye to Gera and Toshi before turning and skipping into a jog to catch up to the floating kunai, “Coming, Auntie!”

  __

  As Pakin and Kechizu walked (and floated) home, he did his best to ignore the commotion his chauffeur was causing. Everywhere they went, people would point or start whispering as they passed. Kechizu, for her part, was completely unbothered by the attention. Her focus entirely on Pakin.

  “So you came all the way from your little town on the border! How quaint! It takes a lot of bravery to leave home and come out here to the big city, especially with all that tough training Gera put you through!”

  Pakin shivered, and nausea built in his stomach. Something about the way Kechizu said brave set his teeth on edge and made him clench his muscles.

  There! It’s like with Director Osako, am… am I getting- before Pakin could remember the word and finish his thought, Kechizu waved herself in front of his face.

  “Helloooooo, Pakin sweetie? You still with me?” She asked in a sing-songy voice.

  Pakin shook his head and hands, feeling the tension flick off his body like sweat. He replied, “ Sorry, Auntie. I was… lost in thought.”

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  Kechizu waved back and forth again and said, “It’s no trouble dearie, all this reminiscing must be filling you with sorrowful memories of home. I do apologize if I’ve upset you.”

  “No, it’s alright! I was thinking about other stuff.” Pakin quickly changed the subject, asking, “Oh, can I ask you some stuff about Master Toshi? Like, why does his clan have a restaurant? I thought they were a prominent shinobi clan?”

  Kechizu bobbed up and down fiercely as they walked out over the river and towards the east side of Kumo. “Well, I suppose most people think being a shinobi clan means nothing but missions and killing! But my dear Toshi and his wonderful clan are so much more than that!” Kechizu twisted this way and that, until they passed a nice-looking warehouse. She pointed towards the sign and said, “See, look there, under that sign is a name. That’s the symbol for the Janbi clan.”

  Pakin looked where Kechizu pointed. True to her word, under the sign labeling the warehouse as a meatpacking facility, was a smaller stylized character for Janbi.

  “The Janbi clan used to be fishermen, but after the first shinobi war, they joined the village and moved to the valley. However, making money as a shinobi isn’t extremely profitable for larger groups, and not everyone is cut out to be a shinobi. So, what do they do? They leaned back on their old ways and started investing in fishing businesses. Slowly, they grew to own a large percentage of the animal husbandry in the Land of Lightning. They also own a restaurant by the Fool’s Pillar, well known for its incredible sushi.” Kechizu explained.

  “Oh, I see,” Pakin replied, looking back towards the warehouse. “So, clans support themselves by investing in different business ventures.”

  “Exactly! Now, of course, the Shomei are the most wonderful and fantastic clan in the village. That’s why my lovely father made a pact with their ancestors to let them summon his beautiful children.” Kechizu spiraled and made a loping figure eight in the air as she said, “Like me!”

  Pakin giggled at Kechizu’s acrobatics. Is it still acrobatics if you can float? He filed that question away for later as he considered what he remembered about summoning jutsu from the anime and asked Kechizu, “I hope it’s not rude, but how does the summoning contract work for you and Master Toshi?”

  Kechizu stopped twirling and said, “Oh, it’s no trouble, dearie. The mechanics aren’t a huge secret, and since you’re a part of the family now, you should learn about it!” Pakin kept walking, but had to slow down as Kechizu flew right in front of his face. She turned herself so he could see one side of her blade. “Look very closely, do you notice anything special about my beautiful skin?”

  Skin? Pakin looked closely at Kechizu and noticed something peculiar. There was marking across her entire surface, almost indiscernible to the naked eye. However, if Pakin stopped moving and focused really hard, he thought he could make out that the markings were separated into lines.

  “You’ve got lines all over your blad-er, your skin.” Pakin said, as Kechizu moved away from his face and floated beside him again.

  “Yes! And if your human eyes were a little sharper, you’d see that they match some of the beautiful markings on my dearest Toshi’s arms.” Kechizu giggled with delight and wiggled through the air. “The members of the Shomei clan used to be weapon masters until they met my father. Now, each member trained in shinobi arts marks their body with a contract that allows them to summon a paired weapon. Then, in order to strengthen their paired weapon and the bond they share with it, they’ll sacrifice knowledge of how to wield a weapon other than their partner. Each sacrifice increases the size of the contract marking and grants them more power.”

  Holy shit, that’s awesome! But, how does that even work? Is it like a vow, or does the knowledge actually get removed from their brain? Hold on, is that why Gera is learning to use so many weapons? Pakin thought to himself before asking, “Is that what you were talking to Gera about? Setting her up with a weapon?”

  Kechizu sliced through the air several times and said, “YES! But that little girl is so indecent! She’s at the age and level of training that make her a perfect match for any weapon on Mount Shakahoko. However, despite being Toshi’s only student and a prodigy of weapon mastery, she refuses to let me set her up on a few dates!”

  Well, she does really love weapons. She must not want to give up her knowledge or whatever. The power of a summoned weapon must not be worth it to Gera. Pakin said, “I can see how that wouldn’t be super appealing to her, being tied down to one weapon like that.” Pakin felt an ominous presence crash over him as he turned to see Kechizu had stopped moving and floated silently in place.

  Pakin felt a bead of sweat drip down his back as he quickly added, “Of course, that must be because she doesn’t see how wonderful that could be!”

  The pressure abated, and Kechizu replied, “Absolutely! Thank goodness, I thought that I’d have to give you a serious talking to about the importance of committing long-term to a weapon! Of course, there’s nothing wrong with experimenting in your youth, but the comfort of commitment can’t be denied.”

  Pakin sighed in relief and followed behind Kechizu as she explained, “You’ll understand one day, Pakin dearie. The love you feel once you’ve met your true soul-mate is like nothing out there. Why, I remember the day I met Toshi. We were arranged to meet at a little tea house in the Shomei complex, and, oh my goodness, he was just the most handsome Shinobi ever. He’s only gotten more handsome with age! The refined look of an older man suits him well ,don’t you think, Pakin?”

  Pakin nodded as Kechizu kept talking, never seeming to run out of things to say about Toshi.

  I guess she's the type of person to keep going until someone stops them.

  Pakin responded occasionally when prompted, but otherwise let Kechizu keep up the conversation the rest of the way to the apartment.