An Heir's Troubles [Mia]

"Welcome! A-All of them? Uhh...we can catch about three then! I think I can handle three!" Considering the soup he had earlier, three fish seemed fine; he'd definitely eat it! He had settled on three though because four sounded...like too much for him...

Besides it wasn't like these fish were tiny!

"You don't want any though?" He asked, she'd said for him to eat them all, but...

"Just three? Okay I can do that!" Masaru's enthusiastic response made Mia laugh happily, floating over and kissing his cheek before hovering away with a happy little tune coming from her lips for a few seconds.

"I'm not hungry. I think its a ghost thing... I don't feel sleepy or anything either, and I definitely was hungry before ghosting! Papa was teasing me about my stomach growls." She called back, reaching the river and hovering still over it while waiting for the fish to settle back down.

Three would be great!

Masaru was about to respond to say so before...

A small yelp escaped him as his face heated up again, obviously flustered; what...what, why'd she do that!? He'd...He'd just talked about fish! C-C...Cooking fish!

"I-I see then, i-if you're not hungry then-!" He stuttered out quickly.

Masaru's yelp told her quite a bit... It was cute, so cute and Mia had to resist the urge to roll over and hug herself. He was young, she had no real...interest in him other than he was Masaru of the past... He was really flustered though!

She wished she could make it all better... She did... How though? Could she just say things? Would that...change the future? Did that even matter to her though... If he could be happy now...

Even without her...

Mia reached into the river, tossing first one, then another fish of the same kind out towards Masaru. "Catch!"

Three fish in all, she would cook them and make him a nice lunch...

"A-Ah, right!" Hearing her call to him to catch, he moved to do so like he had last time; handling a jumpy fish though still wasn't easy! It took a lot to keep his hold on it but he did!

"Got it!"

They had two now, so just one more!

Mia laughed at the sight of the teen Masaru trying to hold the fish up and shook her head. He was so silly and ridiculous! Look at that enthusiasm...

Mia knew she hadn't been born yet, she just wished...she could have been there for him... A pained look crossed her face before she covered it with a smile. Grabbing one fish from the struggling young man, she quickly and painlessly ended its life before setting it on the wood pile with the other. She then nabbed the third one, also killing it before setting it down and kneeling in the air.

"Masa, dagger please! One of your thin ones, I need to gut the fish..." Rolling up her sleeves, she held out her hand without looking before she stuck her hand into the wood pile. This...was much harder than she had expected, but the pile she had built for cooking had smaller items inside so... with a small purple flash of fire, soon smoke was rising from the wood. Her hand was pulled out after a second, not a mark on her.

"T-Thanks." Masaru said as Mia took the flopping fish from him; he...was not experienced with keeping a hold of them...she seemed to be at least, which was good.

One of his daggers? His thinner one... With a nod, he reached into his yukata before producing the one she'd wanted. "Here."

Oh? His eyes had caught the small purple flash, his attention being pulled to it before smoke began to arise from the wood pile. She'd started a fire then! When she pulled her hand out though she wasn't injured or anything...

"Welcome! Maybe one day you'll learn how to catch them right." Mia had no idea if he could or not in her time but she hoped so... Taking the knife, she looked up with a small smile before flipping it around and beginning to cut the fish open. She was careful as the fire started to get larger, getting first one and then the other two done. She stuffed the herbs she had found inside of it, took the sticks that were straightish earlier and started whittling them a bit down and then...

She soon had them cooking over the smoke and heat! Stuffing another herb into the fire to make the smoke a bit more flavorful, she looked up at Masaru and stretched. "A job well done!"

"Hopefully! If I can learn to catch them properly maybe I can make some nice meals one day as well." Masaru smiled; he was...still practicing with his cooking, he was good, but...there was only so much he could do while doing it in secret.

He watched as Mia prepared and cooked the fish with interest, watching as she went through the steps of slicing them open before stuffing herbs within them.

Soon they were cooking over the fire and Masaru was smiling; he gave a nod at Mia's words as she stretched. "Mhmm! I'm sure it'll be good!"

"I'm sure its possible for you! Maybe you'll learn how to tickle them from rivers too, that would be a sight to see!" Mia was pleased with his enthusiasm, knowing he would make the nicest meals and knowing that he might still need encouragement.

"Meals are important, so its good to know how to cook. It makes others happy and yourself too because when they enjoy your food and smile it makes your heart grow!" She had noted his interest and made sure to work slowly so he could watch without trying to explain too much or make it obvious what she was doing...

Standing up, she gave a silly bow that caused her to hover once more. "Your trust in me, Lord Shirakawa, makes a cook such as myself so pleased. I shall tear up and never forget this day... The day a grand noble such as yourself...complimented my poor cooking..."

She obviously was not taking his lineage seriously and treating him with the respect he deserved but she wanted to tease him a bit... Plus playing the clown was fun sometimes! She liked doing such silly things, but rarely got the chance... She was a notorious prankster in the library at times... This Masaru didn't make her a flustered mess... he was adorable so she would...she would play the part of an older silly friend she guessed.

"With practice I'm sure I'll be able to!" He didn't have many opportunities right now to do so, but...whenever he came out into the Rukon he could practice! He usually just took walks, but now he actually had something he could do!

He gave a nod at her words; meals were definitely important, no one could argue with that. Getting to make a meal and make others happy with it too, that seemed like it would be really nice...

"Aaah?" He could tell she was teasing, but...she didn't need to refer to him like that!

Trying to say she knew he would caused an odd reaction. Her voice stopped, unable to speak more. She couldn't...couldn't say it! Instead she sighed and nodded, stopping the mini fight with herself... There were rules it seemed and that was one of them? How annoying!

Seeing his confusion or...whatever this was, Mia giggled and moved closer to Baby Masa. She reached up and patted his cheek. "I'm being silly Masa! You are supposed to laugh at me... I have a small favor to ask..."

If this was the time period she knew... then...he'd have hidden wounds wouldn't he? Mia...wanted to heal them...

"I-I know..." He replied, with a bit of a pout like last time; he...he just didn't think he needed to be referred to like that! They were friends, right? Incredibly formal titles like that...even with teasing!

He seemed a bit confused, and maybe slightly curious when Mia asked him about a favor.

"Go ahead..." Masaru didn't know what he could really do, but...if she thought he could handle it he'd try.

Masa...pouting...he was...entirely adorable... Giving him a happy smile and laugh, she brought her other hand up and gently pinched his cheeks, pulling them up into a smile. "Then no pouts! Its too adorable! I'll only call you that to tease you, I promise. You are Masa."

Letting go of his cheeks, she turned back to the cooking fish and sighed as she floated and played with her hair nervously. "...Show me the bruises. I can heal them, that way you aren't wasting energy on them..."

"Gha..." He couldn't get anymore than a sound out as Mia pulled at his cheeks; "Not phouting." He said, though his words came out a bit odd due to her hold.

When she asked...that favor of hers though...

"...They're just a couple of training bruises, they're no big deal..." It was a lie, but, it was a lie he kept up for years. It...It didn't mean he wouldn't show them to her, she just wanted to heal them and...only he could see her, but...

Why did she even know about bruises? Did she think he trained a lot? Well, he did, but...again, it seemed odd.

Mia almost said she'd never seen pouting Masaru before but something stopped her. That...rule again! Still, this was adorable! He just let her pull his cheeks and swore he wasn't pouting... Which he had obviously been!

Turning to look up at him, Mia opened her mouth to explain and say something but her voice caught in her throat. She looked pained, her eyes showing she knew it for the lie it was but something was stopping her from speaking. She tried, her hands reaching up to her throat as if to force them out before the woman finally gave up.

She hung her head, shaking it from side to side with eyes trained on the ground. "Let me...help. This little bit...just a bit..."

Mia seemed...awfully serious about wanting to heal them, they...it...it wasn't serious though, not too serious anyway; he'd be fine...but...

Just when he was about to move to lower his yukata some he stopped.

He...had to...lower his...yu...

His face immediately reddened again. E...Even if it was alright for men to go around with their chests bared! It...He...!!

Masa had started lowering his yukata top when he stopped. Blinking, Mia looked up and tilted her head to the side. She was still upset over things but now she was curious as to why the entirely red face and flustered... Wait...wait he was young...even her Masaru got flustered when he stripped for her sometimes...

"Hm? You should hurry, the fish will be done soon." She could smell it cooking nicely, pretending innocence at his situation. If she teased him or made a large deal over this, it was assured Masaru would get more flustered and freeze up.

H...He had to...to..to...

Why'd she know about the dumb bruises, this was humiliating! He'd never-! Even if it was just to get healing...She...She was from Tenth, she was no doctor! Even in front of doctors...

When she mentioned the fish, he seemed to struggle with his choice even more before...he finally lowered it enough to reveal the bruises. He...he was going to die...his face was too red...

Silly baby Masaru, she had seen adult Masaru naked a few times now! Your chest was no big deal though the lack of a scar was...jarring. As was his thinness... He was so scrawny...

She frowned, tears coming to her eyes as she reached out and gently laid a glowing hand on his chest and ran it along the bruises. These were not training bruises...she knew this...and he could still smile so sweetly and happily. He could enjoy the fishing...

Mia cried softly, wishing she could say something, anything to him about his future! But there was nothing she could do or say apparently... Just heal his wounds and make him have some happy memories... Whatever is holding me back, you had best not make him forget this! Forget me, but not how much fun he's having...

An angry grumbled thought rebounded around her head.

Masaru was completely red in the face as Mia went to healing it; sure...sure the lack of bruises for now would be nice, but...but-!!

He still felt he could die! He'd die of humilia-

She was crying again...?

"I-It's alright; the...they're gonna be gone now and I'll be fine. Y-You don't...have to cry..."

"But you'll get more..." It seems she could say that, because it was something obvious? Mia had no idea, but it was possible to speak that at least. She cried still until the bruises were faded, leaning down to kiss his chest where that large scar would one day reside before stepping back.

"One day...it'll be okay. I promise... I promise it will." She rubbed her eyes and turned around, moving to tend to the fish. It needed to be a bit singed on the outside, the scales would keep the meat safely free from burns inside.

She could say that... that was one thing she could it seemed. It was vague enough maybe?

"It'll be fi-aah!?" Before he could finish his attempt to reassure her again, she'd...she'd....leaned down to kiss his chest!? What!? What!? What!?

What!?

He hardly had time to register her words after that before she'd gone to attend to the fish again. She'd just...He felt like he'd collapse...

Just...

...what...

Mia ignored the teens mental breakdown behind her, knowing Masaru was probably dying. Had he even pulled his yukata back up? A glance back told her no, no he had not. He was frozen as if...he was... a startled little red panda.

Masaru always reminded her of those cute little fluffballs... She felt it especially true now. Pulling the fish off of the small smoking fire, Mia smelled them and examined them lightly to make sure they were fully done. She wasn't as good as papa at figuring it out yet...

"You'll catch a cold if you leave your yukata down and have to take medicine."

The yukata went back up immediately, tied properly back in almost record time.

He was not going to get sick. He was not going to catch a cold, and he was not going to be taking any medicine. Not at all. He would refuse the servants that attempted to give it to him.

Medicine was gross.