Chapter 24
Ayaka and Ann were having such a nice day outside.
It’s a warm, sunny day, and there’s children everywhere running about, making happy noises. It’s beautiful.
Now, Ayaka doesn’t have the energy or mind to play around right now-Spider had them try to manipulate a huge amount of water at once while she watches-but listening is still nice.
They had the afternoon off, and for once, Ann was tired enough to agree to a nap. The sun is shining softly, warm on their skin as they lay down in the shade of a tree off to the side.
Ayaka takes the chance to cling to her twin, carefully wrapping her arms around Ann’s thin frame. Not that Ayaka is any different-despite the months they’ve spent with their mother, their body has not changed significantly.
Ann’s chakra-and those of the children playing around them-is pulsing gently, not unlike that of a heartbeat. It’s so faint, Ayaka can barely pick up the ebb and flow of that pleasant darkness. But that’s good-that's a sign of life.
It’s calming enough that even among the rambunctious energy the other children emit, Ayaka drifts off to a calming sleep.
She was awakened by the feeling of eyes on her-too close. Ayaka carefully doesn’t tense, doesn’t do more than feign the slow twitching of limbs she has watched other children do before they rise.
Her arms are empty, lacking the feeling of faint warmth that usually accompanies a cuddling session that Ayaka knows Ann has wandered off a while ago. She can sense her at the edge of her chakra sensing, not that far away, near the deeper forest.
She fakes a tired yawn, before groggily sits up, one hand carefully holding onto the hat of choice today. It takes some adjusting, but then Ayaka can look up at the one looking at her.
Ah.
So that’s where the sense of familiarity comes from.
In front of Ayaka is someone she would describe as a classic Uchiha beauty-long black hair, soft eyes, elegant shape. She tastes of mists and deception, but also of the fire that most-not all- Uchiha tastes of. She also looks too old to be at the playground, and too young to be a parent. But maybe that’s Clara speaking.
“Hi, pretty nee-san. Is there something wrong?” Ayaka cheerfully asks, after a few seconds of looking at the lady. She carefully ignores the two boys-one of them the one that caught her back at the lake, nonetheless-that stand by her side. Children aren’t so perceptive, after all.
“Ah, it’s nothing, dear.” The lady answers, smiling softly. Truly a classic Uchiha beauty, her. “I was just wondering, are you here alone?”
“Nope.” Ayaka pops the ‘p’ cheerfully, trying to act innocent and childlike. God knows she hasn’t perfected the act yet. “My sister is around.”
Not twins, no. Ayaka wouldn’t be admitting that. They don’t look all that alike-most likely the people will assume they’re adopted or something. Twins can be bad omen-one can only thrive when the other is dead sort of thing, according to the books back at mother’s place. Not everyone believes it, but Ayaka doesn’t want to risk it.
“Why, nee-chan?” Ayaka asks, not really expecting an answer. The lady’s chakra is guarded-well regulated. The hallmark of a good shinobi, to upkeep such a tight coil of chakra even in her downtime. “Do you need anything?”
The lady shakes her head slowly. She carries with her the type of grace that Ayaka loves and admires, because she can’t act that way. It’s too restrictive, too much etiquette to consider.
“Nothing of the kind, dear. I was just wondering if-” Before she can voice the rest of her question, Ayaka turns her head as Ann calls out. “Imouto. Bring me the jar, please.”
Ann’s voice wasn’t loud, nor was she any hurried, but Ayaka still stands up quickly at the call.
“Sorry, pretty nee-chan, my sister is calling.” Ayaka answers with a sheepish smile, before she turns away and runs off, even if her mind says no, because you really shouldn’t act like that in front of someone like that Uchiha lady. Those types-the one with too sharp eyes and too sweet smiles and too calm a facade-aren’t people you would like to disrespect or mess with.
And Ayaka, in her dismissal, as innocent as it looks, definitely did offend the Uchiha in some way.
It’s easy to feel the Uchiha’s-all three of them-eyes on her back. Their attention always makes her skin prickles, in a way that is stalker-like. Anka has the same type of glance.
“Nee-sama?” Ayaka asks, as she comes closer, having picked up their bag from the root of the tree. Ann doesn’t answer, crouching low.
Peeking over Ann’s shoulder, she stills as she finds out what exactly has her sister so focused.
“Nee-sama…” Her voice wavers and turns shrill, “Is that a poisonous snake?!”
“No, silly.” Ann answers easily, one of her hands reaching out to the very clearly poisonous snake. Ayaka remembers reading about one like this-its poison is lethal. Enough to kill an elephant with a bite. A chill runs up her spine, and her hands twitch as she prepares to pull Ann away as soon as the snake acts up. “A snake is venomous, not poisonous.”
“That isn’t the point!” Ayaka hisses between her teeth, one hand moving slowly to wrap around Ann’s waist as the snake inspects Ann’s fingers-then rear its head back.
She knows it.
It doesn’t take a lot to put a burst of chakra toward her feet, as she pulls both of them away before the snake can truly strike and bite down on Ann’s wrist-that would be disastrous. Imagine the things their mother would say.
“Please don’t, nee-sama.” Ayaka whines, as soon as they are away from that snake. “My heart can’t take it.”
No disrespect to snake lovers-Ayaka just cannot stand the whole slithering thing. Actually, she can, because she likes watching fishes and eels and everything ocean related, but snakes? There is just something a little too… other in them.
Ann doesn’t respond right away, blinking slowly. “Ah. Of course.”
She looks more amused than anything, really.
“But I want the snake.”
Ayaka can only sigh and accompany her.
“Is that… a red-banded krait?” The Uchiha lady asks in astonishment as Ann cheerfully carries the jar-typically used to house the herbs they find, now filled with the snake-out.
“I believe so, yes, nee-san.” Ayaka answers in her sister’s stead, only sighing as she watches the snake coils and uncoils in the small jar. It’s… jarring, knowing how dangerous the species is, then seeing a tiny snake acts somewhat cute.
“That is highly dangerous, young lady.” The Uchiha lady starts to look sternly at Ann, who is unperturbed. If you hope to sway her with a disappointed expression, you would be sorely mistaken.
Ann hums, holding the jar to eye level and narrowing her eyes at the snake. There’s a dangerous glint of defiance in her eyes that Ayaka is rather familiar with- That’s the glint she gets when some new plans pop into her head and she acts it out. “I will name you Miru.”
Ayaka can only offer another, soul-deep, tired sigh.
After a while, the snake gets relinquished into the Uchiha lady’s-Uchiha Mikoto- hands, and is promptly disappeared through means unknown. The twins get lectured for a while, on the danger of poiso-sorry, venomous snakes and their correct handling.
Ayaka listens, because even with all the subtle guilt-tripping and disappointing stare Mikoto puts out, the way she speaks is intriguing. Nothing is held back, she talks with brutality in her tongue and a veil of gentleness over those edges.
Also Ann is absolutely not paying attention, with her slightly unfocused eyes and that absent smile. It’s not like anyone else can tell-Ann has used that one particular trick on too many people, and none of them actually noticed.
“Young lady, you should listen well. If you have so much interest in snakes, this information will assist you in your endeavors.” Mikito says, her black eyes narrowing slightly at… Ann?
Ayaka’s eyes widens, before she quickly gets her expression under control again. She notices?
Ann snaps her attention to Mikoto, sweet smile frozen on her lips.
But it only makes sense-Mikoto is a shinobi, far better than those the twins have met. To survive long enough as a shinobi, you are either lucky or strong.
And Uchiha Mikoto-this lady is strong.
The corner of Ann’s eyes slightly wrinkles as her lips quirk a few degrees higher. A glimpse of interest passes through her iris, but a close-eyed smile hides it away just as quickly.
“Ah, of course, Mikoto-san.” Ann answers easily, but Ayaka knows something has changed in her mind. Without any incidents, they will most likely see this lady again.
Ayaka isn’t opposed. She wants to see what hides behind such a sweet facade, what this lady is hiding.
Perhaps some questions to their mother are in order.
“Yo! I’m Uchiha Shisui, nice to meet you!” The boy who caught her last time greets. His eyes glance quickly at her hat-likely seeking out a glimpse of her hair. He has, after all, seen her whole face.
Ayaka does not doubt that he can recognize her, but she plasters on a smile anyway and meets his eyes.
She always admires the Uchiha’s eyes. They are so similar yet so different. All of them shades of grey and black and the darkest of brown, so emotive, so clear. Through their eyes, you can read out a hundred of their feelings, a thousand of their heart’s songs. Their soul is so expressive it spills out through those crystal like irises.
Shisui’s eyes resemble the sky in a raging storm, gray with swirls of black that shifts every second. The sunlight in his eyes only makes them prettier, like golden rays peeking around clouds as the storm draws to a close.
They exchange smiles and don’t mention their previous meeting.
“And this is Itachi!” Shisui gestures toward the other boy, obviously the younger one.
Itachi is quiet, silent the same way you would expect an assassin to be. His cold black eyes shift between the twins, memorizing their characteristics, probably.
Ayaka smiles wider. Both of these boys are so interesting.
Before she can introduce herself, Ann starts first.
“Greetings. I am Ann.” She bows shallowly, more polite than anyone would expect from the way the twin is dressed. Ayaka quickly catches on, smiling brightly and calling attention back to herself.
“And I’m Ayaka! Nice to meet you too!”
She steps forward, offering a hand to both of them. After a moment of hesitation, the two boys shake her hand firmly. She can feel the warmth through her palms, as well as the hard calluses on hands that should be free of such treatment.
The two boys are barely ten, Itachi looks about their age.
Ayaka’s eyes don’t twitch or narrow, nor does she react more than a firm squeeze of their hands.
Stepping back for a moment, she crackles a careless tune, asking with a glint in her eyes. “So, Itachi, Shisui, who wants to race with me through the obstacle courses?”
As she pulls the two away, Ayaka catches Ann’s eyes. They simply must research these people.
“Nee-sama?” As the sun sets, the twins walk home after a while of playing. Ayaka has never had more fun running with someone who can keep up-and surpass her. “Why did you give them your name?”
The two were using chakra, not consciously, probably. The flow of chakra is too constant, too uncontrolled to be directed. Ayaka learns to do the same after a while. It’s easy to let chakra, the formless, slippery thing she has, flow and seep into her muscles and bones and veins. It’s a useful skill. Ayaka would have to tell Spider about it.
“Aren’t they interesting, imouto?” Ann asks in return, her brows soft with something like appreciation.
But Ann never really gives out their names, always preferring to hide away behind the Kochou alias of her. They walk the world with names that exist but aren’t real, with eyes that are too far away and minds too sharp for their age.
“You don’t give names easily. You didn’t do it for Anka.” And Anka is one of their closest. Ann trusts that other girl, and Ayaka trusts her too. Call it instincts.
“Hm… but Anka didn’t either. And these people have resources.”
Ayaka blinks, but understands. They have resources-enough to find information on the two of them. They aren’t ghosts-they have papers pointing to their existence, witnesses that would tell their tales. It is better to be straight forward than risk deceiving those Uchiha. Their reactions at being lied to would be… unpredictable.
Ayaka accepts the theory she herself made, and keeps walking. She has questions for mother tonight.