Joining the Tiger General II

Hearing that, Haruto's worries lessened but it couldn't help but still linger. Despite this, he could feel any anger towards Ken or Isao. He knew that with the strength of the two teens, they could not be shackled in this village, their potential would not allow for them to spend the rest of their life here.

Even more, Isao and Shoma weren't people who were born and raised in the village, he knew that they had desired of making their way back home and that it would eventually lead to them making their way out of the village.

"Shoma," Isao made his way to Shoma who was sitting down and eating with Shino.

Shoma's head immediately turned around and he greeted Isao with a simple raise of the head with a single "Yo."

However, as soon as he said that 'yo', his voice immediately stopped in its tracks as he looked at Isao's leg and saw the bandage, he sustained an injury. A slightly serious expression appeared on his face.

"I thought I should let you know this sooner rather than later," Isao spoke as he turned to Shino who was suddenly caught off-guard by his gaze as a slightly embarrassed look appeared on her face, "We will join Ken's army from tomorrow morning. Do what you need to do."

Hearing this, Shino's embarrassed expression disappeared from her face as she blankly stared at Isao before her gaze slowly turned towards Shoma.

Shoma's face remained the same serious expression but there was a sense of excitement in his eyes that he was not able to hide. He simply gave Isao a nod and Isao turned around and rejoined Riku.

Shoma's gaze then shifted to the burning pale orange flames of the campfire as he seemed to be deep in thought.

Also hearing the news, Shino's mood turned very depressed. She had seemed to finally make some progress in pursuing Shoma but before she could actually do anything, fate seemed to have blocked her path.

It might seem normal for her to have a crush on Shoma because he was one of the strongest of the younger generation and he was also quite handsome with his enchanting purple eyes. How could anyone not have a crush on him?

However, the story behind how she came to fall for Shoma had a bit more back story and her interest in Shoma was deeper than that of a simple admirer.

It happened about two years back, a few months after the two boys were introduced to the village. The two of them were still quite fully comfortable with the village yet so they had spent most of their time living in the Eastern side of the village, in the forests.

On one faithful day during fall, Shino ended up on the Eastern side of the forest while she was collecting mushrooms. It had been a very lucrative expedition with around five girls from the village spreading out and going in different directions from the village to collect them.

Shino seemed to have pulled the short end of the straw that day as she was not able to collect much mushrooms at all. Unwilling to go back to the village with such a measly amount, she ventured further into the forest when she suddenly ran into a wild boar and was saved by Shoma who was able to carry her and outrun the boar.

It had turned out that the boar was a mother who had just recently given birth and was very protective of her newborns. Shino had accidentally lurked close to her shelter, causing mama boar to see her as a threat and she began to chase Shino. Along with this, she had never learnt martial arts either so she was inevitably struck a few times by the boar and had sustained a few injuries.

It was Shoma who had come to her rescue and even helped her bandage her wounds. And after hearing about her unsuccessful mushroom escapade, he began to help her. That day, she ended up being dropped off back at the village holding a huge basket of mushrooms that were piled up to the point where she couldn't even see the road ahead of her.

From that day, she developed an interest in Shoma but was not able to take time to further their relationship as she was very busy with work that was to be done in the village, leaving the only times they were able to meet to be whenever Shoma came to the village.

Today seemed to have allowed their relationship to progress the furthest as they were able to spend the most time together which she was extremely thankful for. But then Isao's notice came…

She stared unwillingly at Shoma with a reluctant expression as she tried to settle her negative thoughts and just enjoy the moment.

"Sigh…" a loud sigh emanated from Shoma as he suddenly fell back and laid back right on the floor, "Just when you thought something was happening huh."

"You're going to join an army? That probably means that you will be fighting in many battles…" Shino complained quietly, her eyes containing an intense sense of worry.

"It's Isao's decision. I fully trust him in this," Shoma replied as he put his meal down and looked at Shino, "I already told you about our goal, didn't I?"

A complicated expression appeared on Shino's face as she could not muster up a reply, she knew how important the goal of the two of them was, it was something that Shoma told him that he was willing to do no matter the cost and now that they had a path the was opened up to them, she knew without a doubt that they would take it, there was no convincing otherwise.

"Haha," Shoma laughed lightly as he saw the hesitance in her eyes. A warm smile appeared on his face as he stared right into her eyes, "It's a bit of a selfish request, but would you be willing to wait for me?"

Hearing this, a shocked expression appeared on Shino's face as she stuttered, "W-wait?"

"Are you saying that you-"

"Yup," Shoma cut in as his smile grew larger, "I like you, Shino."

"Ugh! Barf!" a voice sounded from a few metres behind them. Riku could be seen staring straight at the two lovebirds with an extremely cringed expression on his face.

"Hahahaha!" Isao laughed out loud as he heard Riku's comment, "You'll be having feelings like those in the future."

"Hell no! Why would I waste my energy on saying such cringe lines?" Riku immediately retorted with an angry expression on his face and turned his head to the other side as he began to grumpily munch on his food.

Seeing Riku throw his childish tantrum, Isao simply smiled as he began to eat the tiger meat once again, leaving Shoma and Shino to get back to their love-building.

The feast soon ended as all the adults soon got their food and finished eating. The moon began to take its place in the centre of the night sky, tinting the earth a shade of silvery white.

Isao and Shoma made their way back to their camp and spent their final night there. At midnight, Isao could be seen walking out of his small makeshift hut and resting on the grass.

The calm night refreshing night breeze slowly blew by, carrying the scent of the forest as the concert of the insects could be heard in the distance.

Laying on the grass, his translucent grey eyes stared straight up at the sky, darting across the vast space, seemingly searching for something.

The wander journey of his eyes soon stopped as his gaze rested upon three particular stars in the sky which were ordered in a straight line. And upon seeing them, a warm heartfelt smile appeared on his face.

"Hope you are safe and well…" he mumbled into the vast abyss, "We made progress today. I think I've finally found a path towards you guys."

"I'm doing my best to make my way back home"

"Your brother's also growing really well. He managed to hold out a bandit leader in close combat by himself. I've got so many stories to tell you now…"

And as he said that, he let his eyes close as he began to meditate, feeling the nature and air around him, listening to it.

At the same time, back in the village, Ken could be seen walking out of the village inn, where he was staying. Having his mind extremely troubled, he continued walking and ended up taking a walk out of the village and into the forest.

In his mind, he began replaying everything that happened today. A light smile appeared on his face as he thought of Isao. He could not believe that he had run into such a talented teen in such a random village.

Isao's demeanour has left him stunned as he found a likeness with him.

"I should ask him about what he thinks…" he told himself as this particular thought had been bothering him for the last month.