Train, Train, and More Training...

He cleared his throat and smiled dazzlingly at us, "Alright. That's enough for now. Next is physical body training. You will run five laps around the house for now. If you aren't tired after that, then I will increase it till you are tired."

Asuya looked incredulous, "Ehhh?!"

---

And just like that we all had to run around the house five times.

By the end of five laps, Jun and Asuya were both dead tired. I however was not completely tired yet, thus I had been assigned ten extra laps. I looked over towards Jun and Asuya. They rested with their water in hand and danged their feet off the porch.

I pouted.

They get to have a break without me... This is an injustice, injustice I tell you!

Ryuji saw my pouting and smiled at me, "Once you're done you may join them for a short break."

His smile was the devil himself. A person isn't tired and you assign them ten more laps? What is wrong with this world?!

"Quickly now, start running~"

My mouth dropped. This... This shameless person in front of me, is this really the Ryuji I know of? How could someone be so... Different. This was definitely the devil incarnate.

He started at me menacingly and said with a sweet voice, "Rin..."

His voice and his face don't match! He is definitely the devil incarnate! I better run those laps, before he gets angry.

He smiled, "...Just now, you were thinking I was the devil incarnate? Alright... Five more laps."

Were all my thoughts displayed on my face?!

I immediately took off and started running. What a monster he was! To guess what I was thinking and to assign me more laps...

Tears slid down my cheek, 'Mommy...'

I looked towards the two on the porch.

Their shoulders are shaking. Are they just as scared as I am of him?

*Puhahahaha*

Loud laughter rang out from behind me.

I looked back behind me and saw the two there holding their stomachs with their mouths wide open. They seemed to be laughing at me...

I pouted, 'Everyone is making fun of me.'

Ryuji's voice rang out, "You want extra laps too? Okay, five extra for both of you."

Surprised, they looked up at Ryuji.

My mouth curved up, 'At least this monster is good for something...'

"Whaaat~"

He sternly told them, "You heard me. Five extra laps. I think your break is sufficient, get running!"

All of us thought at the same time, 'He's a drill sergeant... This monster...'

They got up quickly and started running, afraid of the monster behind them that was holding the metaphorical whip of extra laps.

Both of them thought, 'He might assign us more if we don't get running now.'

I slowed down to wait for the others to catch up and whispered to their ears, "So? How does it feel?" I chuckled.

They glared with anger towards me.

Ara? Are you blaming me for your own laughing?

*Piku*

I lightly giggled.

What, I'm just giving you a taste of your own medicine... You should've expected this when you decided to laugh at me.

I ran ahead of them, leaving them in the dust.

I have to do a lot more laps than they do, so it'll be beneficial for me to speed up and finish mine sooner.

We all ran around the house. Asuya and Jun for five laps, and myself for fifteen.

Needless to say, I was dead tired by the end of my fourteenth lap. But due to the fear I had of Ryuji assigning me even MORE laps, I pushed myself to make it.

*Pant* *Pant*

The way I ran could barely be called running at all. I was practically dragging myself to the finish line.

Out of breath, I whispered, "You,"

*Pant*

"You... Monster..."

He teased, "What was that? You. Want. More. Laps?-"

I glared at him and taking a deep breath, I shouted, "NO!"

I finally made it past fifteen laps. Asuya and Jun had finished long ago. They had gone inside the house. I fell to the ground and laid on my back, catching my breath.

Ryuji looked down towards me and smirked.

This devil...

Grabbing a water by his side he came up to me, "Here."

I looked at Ryuji suspiciiusly, he wouldn't be planning anything, would he?

He rolled his eyes and gently smiled, "It's fine. Take it."

I laid upright and took the drink from Ryuji's hands. After I unscrewed the bottle cap, I poured it down my throat.

In a split second all the water in the bottle was gone.

He said innocently while scratching his face, "Did I go overboard, maybe?"

Damn right you did!

"Here, let's go take a break inside with Asuya and Jun."

"That-"

*Pant*

"That would be good."

I took a deep breath and took my time to catch my breath. I slowly got up from my spot and swayed. Ryuji, seeing my unstable figure, helped me inside.

With Ryuji holding my shoulder, we had made it inside. Although, I feel very faint.

Shinko stood in the entry way and looked down menacingly towards her husband. Almost as if understanding what had just transpired.

Her eyes darted towards my direction and she looked me up and down. She looked at my pale face, concern apparent in her eyes. She worriedly asked me, "Rin? You okay?"

Before I could answer, she switched her gaze towards Ryuji, "Dear, you didn't go overboard did you? It's just their first day, be gentle with them."

"Aye, sorry to trouble you." He handed me off to her and Shinko fumingly carried me up the stairs and into Asuya's bedroom.

Sighing, she slowly let me down onto the bed, "Sorry, Rin... If he starts going overboard again you can let me know, I'll help you kick his butt."

She looked down at me with pity in her eyes, wait... Pity?

"Is he usually this intense?"

She nodded, "Yes. My husband gets rather... Crazy when it comes to training. Especially when he has young talents in front of him. I apologize on his behalf."

She bowed and turned around, "I'll get you some water. Knowing my husband, he probably didn't give you much time to rest."

She walked out of the room, closing the door.

*Click*

*Siiiiigh~*

I rolled around on the bed.

After I rest, will there be more hellish training?

I thought back on everything that's happened so far.

'I was kidnapped, found, woke up in a hospital, and then some kind of strange fox appeared.'

'Wait... That's right, it turned into a necklace.'

I picked up the necklace into my hands and looked down at it's fox head.

What was that thing I saw?

It had white fur, and it looked... Majestic.

I stared down further at the wooden white fox head carving.

It looked like your average fox head carving, made out of wood. But exactly what was it? Why did it disappear into this thing?

*Click*

Someone opened the door and entered the room.

I looked up and saw Shinko looking towards the necklace in my hands, "That's a cute necklace you have there. I remember that when you were in the hospital you didn't have it. Where did you get it?"

I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know."

Don't look at me like that, I really don't know. How would I even explain what had happened to me? No one would believe it even if I did explain anyways.

"I see. That's too bad, it's really cute."

She pondered with her hand on her chin, "Hmm... Maybe you have a mystery lover. Someone must have visited you when you were in a coma and put it on your neck."

She seemed to be cocking up some weird misunderstanding. A mystery lover? No, more like a mystery fox...

Well, it's not like I can correct her on this anyways. I don't have any way to explain it.

I thought up something else and tried to correct her, "Do you really think so? It could just be that I was visited by a kind soul, who seeing me in a coma for two years made me this as a get well present."

Not everyone has that kind of thing, plus... Did she forget? I'm only four this year! Well, turning five soon... But still! A five year old shouldn't have a love interest yet! At least not at this age.

"Well, that's a possibility. Whatever I guess."

She shook her head and exited the room while saying, "Rest well, your water is on the nightstand."

I shouted at her back, "Thanks!"

She looked back at me as she exited. She sweetly smiled at me while slowly closing the door.

*Click*

I flopped back down onto my back, 'What a day. I better rest up so I can get back to training, I don't want to be behind Asuya or Jun after all.'

I laid on my side and closed my eyes for awhile.

...

Six hours later...

The light of the moon shined on my face, 'It's too bright.' I rubbed my eyes.

Looking over towards my side, I saw Asuya sleeping right next to me. She was bundled under all the covers.

I rubbed my eyes and slowly got up, sitting upright on the bed.

Looking outside the window, the full moon was shining brightly down on Konoha. The rest of Konoha's lights were all out, and the village was completely silent. Not even a soul was wandering the streets of Konoha.

I looked up at the moon, perfectly up above Konoha. It was shining extremely brightly, and it seems to be larger than normal as well.

I felt drawn in by the moon, 'It's so beautiful...'

Simply how could something in this world be so beautiful? Honestly speaking, nothing in the world is as beautiful as the full moon in a darkened and cold night. I reached out to open the window, and pulled it up. The cold fresh night air rushed into the room.

I felt refreshed, with the cold breeze blowing against my skin.

The air outside is so very fresh, it is nothing like my original world, where the air was contaminated by pollution. In earth, the smell of the air was never clean. Well. At least not in the city.

Putting my arm on the window seal, I thought back to everything in my life that's happened so far...

My parents died after two years, and I met Ryuji. I even got to meet his family and my old friend...

There have been so many things happening. Even though it has been two years between some events... For me it felt like they were all just yesterday.

When I finally woke up from the coma, the world had changed and years had already passed. Nothing felt the same anymore...

I guess this is what other people in a coma feel like when they wake up too.

The cool breeze flowed against my body and refreshed my mind. Staring up at the moon, I contemplated my life.

I felt enraptured as I stared up at the moon. It felt as if it would suck me in. This bright light shining in the silent darkness of the night... Was just too beautiful.

The wind picked up around me. I felt the wind blowing behind me and past my neck. Leaves blew into my house from the window, flying past me.

There seemed to be air gathering behind me. I could feel the air spinning behind my back...

I looked back and behind me was...

A whirlpool of leaves and wind.

No seriously... Wind was gathering up and the leaves were surrounding something in the wind...

But what it was, I have no clue.

I turned my body all the way around and waited for whatever that was in the whirlpool of leaves to come out.

It slowly died down and the leaves disappeared. It seemed I could only see the figure of something, it seemed as if darkness was gathering around the figure...

I look closer, scrunching my eyes while trying to decipher what that figure was.

I saw the outline of something as I focused, it was something small...

It is... A cat?

I looked closer through the darkness of the night, and the moon seemed to aid me as it shined onto the figure.

No, it was... A fox.

To be more specific, it was the fox I had met in the hospital.

But... Was it really the same fox that I saw last time?

I looked down at my neck.

The necklace was gone, confirming my conjecture.

'Does this mean... This is the same fox I saw earlier?'

I looked back up at the fox on the bed. It is just sitting there with it's big blue eyes staring right back at me.

'It certainly looks just like it... Then, that means this is the fox I saw earlier?'

It walked up to me, seemingly annoyed at my puzzled expression.

[Is it still not clear? Or did you perhaps, forget this one's figure already? I am the one you saw.]

I jumped as I heard the voice.

This voice still scared me. How on earth could something speak in your head like this? It's just not logical.

It narrowed it's eyes at me and approached closer, [You don't think it's possible? But here I am, speaking in your head. It's possible.]

I shivered.

This thing's stare is just too intimidating, and yet it has such a cute figure...

[Cute? This one is not cute. Would you like this one to prove it to you?]

He bared his fangs towards me.

My mind wandered, 'It's so cute~ I wonder what would happen if I squeezed it's face~?'

He snarled and rushed forward, biting my hand.

[Idiot human. You are too slow. This one decided to show you his figure, show some respect.]

I looked down at my bitten hand, and saw the blood running down from it.

'I wasn't dreaming?'

[...This isn't a dream. Wake up.]

I felt my eye lids become heavy and my vision blur.

...

"Rin! Wake up!"

Who was hitting my chest? Stop it already!

"Wake up!"

I felt groggy. I didn't sleep too well, "I'm awake.. I'm awake. So stop it already."

I slowly opened my eyes and slowly sat upright. I rubbed my eyes.

"Yesterday, we were all given a day's break. But who knew you would be sleeping all the way till now..."

She looked towards the open window and admonished, "You must've woken up in the middle of the night right? The window is open. The night air is cold, so we need to leave it shut during the night."

*Siiigh*

"I understand."

She smiled, "Good. Now let's get ready, we have another day of training ahead of us. The rest are already in the courtyard, so let's hurry up and eat breakfast."