
But, if he recommended this new teacher, grandfather must have explained our situation here to him at some point, so I think it's safe to assume our new teacher knows how much grandfather meant to us." "So, you are saying that he already knows he can't replace grandfather, but still agreed to come and train us as.a favor to grandfather?" Yozakura shrugged. I just hope the others don't take their anger out on the new teacher, it's not his fault, either." "What do you mean by that?" "Well, they might assume that he is actively trying to replace grandfather. It's not your fault, you're as much in the dark as the rest of us. I know you must be as frustrated that they are trying to replace grandfather, and that we know nothing about the new teacher." "Don't mention it.

"Thank you for helping to defuse that conversation, Yozakura. Shiki, Minori, and Murakumo returned to their rooms, and Yozakura began cleaning the dishes with Yumi following her into the kitchen. I don't like it anymore than any of you, but that's our best option." The rest of the meal was eaten in silence. Information will be given to us as is deemed necessary. For now, we should continue our meal and carry on with our training. I assure you." Yozakura spoke up, "Grandfather trusted us to his guidance, I think that is all that matters. "You were gone, like, all day! That's it? For reals?" "I summarized what I was told, but that is all the pertinent information I received. That is all I know of the matter." "Are you serious?" Shiki stood up. Grandfather made arrangements for this man to take up his position here right before he.before he died. Grandfather was in Sweden on a mission, and he met a friend there.

She let out a long sigh before speaking, "I apologize for snapping, but I don't know much myself. "LISTEN!" Yumi snapped, silencing the other four. He will be.overseeing our training as soon as he arrives." "'He?'" Murakumo spoke up, "Someone definite has been chosen already?" Each of the four girls tried asking their questions at once, resulting in unintelligible chaos. "So, what did our teacher tell you? You were talking for, like, 2 hours." "We.will be getting a.new teacher sometime in the next few months. After several minutes, Shiki decided to address the elephant in the room. Let's enjoy our meal." An uneasy silence fell on the group as they started eating four of them wanting to question the fifth, the fifth obviously trying to keep silence. She quickly composed herself and took her seat.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like their leader had good news, indicated by her furrowed brow and long stare. Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long before their leader joined them. At Yozakura's insistence, the four shinobi sat at the table waiting for Yumi so they could start their meal. "Could you bring one to Shiki and remind her that she agreed to clean and set the table for dinner?" "You can count on me!" Minori took off like a rocket. Minori's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. "Here, I know what will make you feel better," Yozakura pulled a few cookies from a jar. She said it was important, and that she would tell us at dinner." "AThis is something beyond any of our control." "Yeah, I know." a disappointed look crossed Minori's face. "One of the teachers had to talk to her about something. "Where did Yumi go?" Minori asked as she brought the requested ingredients to the counter. Could you grab those vegetables over there?" Yozakura was glad that Minori seemed to be doing so well, considering the circumstances. "Hey, Yozakura! Whatcha making?" Yozakura gave her a small smile, "I am making a stew for dinner tonight. Quick footsteps caught her attention and she turned just in time to see Minori rush in. The wound had closed, but still needed a bit more time to heal. In spite of that, they did thier best to carry on with life as normal. It had been 3 months since Kurokage's death and it still weighed decently heavily on them all. Yozakura stirred the pot in front of her, thinking on her teammates. He grit his teeth and waited for it to make a move. The girls ran through his mind his promise that he would be back before the end of the month, broken because of the creature before him. After a minute of painful silence, the yoma came through the bushes ahead of him. The creature had ambushed him, and now he waited for it to come back, the most he could hope for was to take the thing down with him.
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Now, he lay against a tree, trying to slow the blood flow from numerous wounds, most concerning of which was a gash on his left side. He suspected it could be a yoma, so he decided to investigate. Kurokage had heard rumors that there was a monster terrorizing small villages in northern Sweden.
