Shun, Okumaru, and Ryu were all sitting in the living room, silent and grim. ‘Would Kokoro remember everything? Would she-leave?’
Suddenly, they heard footsteps on the stairs and Soon, Kokoro hopped into the room, smiling manically. Luna came behind, looking unusually different.
“Heylo, you guys. Why are you so grim, eh? Et is a beautiful morning, na? We should all be smiling and happy!”
All three boys looked up at her in surprise. First of all, she was talking in English. Second of all, was that an Indian accent?
“Are you ok?” Shun asked so tentatively in broken English that Kokoro had to hold back a laugh.
“Yeah, course I am, Suraj!”
Suraj?
Shun said in rapidly and in his normal language, “Suraj? Who is Suraj? It’s me Shun.”
“What did you say?” Kokoro asked, puzzlement etched across her face/
“Oh, your showing off aren’t you. It’s not my fault I didn’t take foreign languages. Let’s talk in Urdu.”
Before they could protest, Kokoro immediately started speaking Urdu, an Indian language.
“Ap loug hamarko esa kyu dekrehei? Hamare pas mustache grow huwa, kya?”
(Why are you guys staring at me like that? Did I grow a mustache or something?)
All the three of them could do was stare at her in horror, even Okumaru. What did she just say? Kokoro chattered on in Urdu, oblivious to the fact that the three of them were staring at her as though she had lost her mind, (which they thought she had). Luna sat by her side, looking more Indian tiger like by the minute.
“A be hamarko bouk lagre hei. Ap ke pas kana hei? Ham kitchen me jake kana banate.”
(I’m feeling hungry now. Do you guys have food? I’ll go in the kitchen and make some.)
And she did just that. The men conversed in low worried tones as she cooked.
Shun: Aaah! I don’t understand a word she’s saying!”
Ryu: “I can understand just a few words. Kyu means why. She was asking us a question in the first sentence.”
Okumaru:……This is a problem. And we can’t ask Gramps what to do since he’s out.”
At that moment, Kokoro started setting the table. They went over and stared the food. It was so different all they could do was look and look. It smelled alright,, though, and they set themselves down to a dinner of Dal and mutton, rice, some sort of vegetable, and a drink called ‘lassi’ made from yogurt.
After dinner, the sat numbly back in the living room and conversed in low voices.
Shun: “That was good! Last time Kokoro tried to make ramen at my house she burned it so bad that my house stunk for days!”
Ryu: Yeah….
Okumaru: Mmmm.
Kokoro came over and sat across them speaking so fast in Urdu, they couldn’t find a single ‘kyu’.
“Ap loug ko ach cha la ga? Hum practice karre the. Kal hamloug ke pass school he, heyna? Natash hamari naya friend hei. Wo bouth ach che hai, kel nekil ye. Ap loug ko usco meet karna hei? Ap loug Urdu me kyu nai bat karre hei?””
(Did you guys like it? I was practicing. We have school tomorrow, right? Natasha is my new friend. She is very fun to play with. Would you like to meet her? Why aren‘t you guys talking in Urdu?)
Kokoro repeated the last question in English, and they just stared at her, aghast. Their expression was so funny, Kokoro couldn’t hold her laughter in any longer, and burst out laughing so hard she fell to the floor. Luna purred with amusement, and the three boys just stared at her. It slowly dawned on Okumaru that she might have been playing a joke on them and accused her, “Kokoro! That was mean, we were worried!”
She just laughed harder, tears of uncontrollable mirth pouring from her eyes. She banged her hand on the floor, and the boys sat silently until she stopped laughing. She sat up slowly,, and smiled at them weakly. “Heehee. I know you guys wouldn’t pass up a chance like this either. You should have seen your faces! You were looking like this, and like this.”
Kokoro pulled such long scared faces that the three had to laugh. Then Ryu got serious.
“Kokoro, Gramps told us that you probably remembered something, that was why you acted like that.”
Kokoro frowned and said thoughtfully, “I know I remembered something. A boy- but I couldn’t see his face properly. Two people- I don’t know what happened but when I saw them an uncontrollable grief rose up inside of me. But the most clear thing I saw was a jade locket that had my picture in it. Over all, this was no help at all for finding my family.”
They all sat there, subdued. Then Okumaru asked, “How did you learn Urdu?”
“The wise One taught me. Actually, us. Luna knows how to speak to an Indian tiger.” (Kokoro was lousy at keeping secrets, so she had quickly spilled to the two. Luna kept an eye on her from then on, making sure she didn’t tell anyone again.)
That night Kokoro lay in bed and asked Luna, ‘Did you feel it? The sadness? Is that why you fainted?’
‘Yes…’
They both mind touched the same thing. ‘We are more connected than we thought.’
Kokoro smiled and touched Luna between the ears, scratching hard. ‘night.’
‘Night. Aah, a little more to the left. Right, right, perfect.’
The next day, Kokoro and Luna went to the Wise One right after the Academy.
They explained what happened, and he closed his eyes then said, “You are ready.” standing up suddenly. His head banged into a low hanging branch, shattering the sense of wonder and mystery. Kokoro sweat dropped, then, kindly ignoring the bump on his head, asked.
“Ready?”
“To fight! There are special jutsus one can do if the jutsu has been applied to you. It is my job to teach you them, as it was my father who was one of the two who had undergone the jutsu. He taught me all he knew so that I might teach someone like you two.”
“Since both of you are new at this, and have not even left the Academy yet, I will have to teach you the basics, and work upward. You will start learning serious techniques about one year before you graduate from the Academy, which will be in about three years, right?
“Yes, sir!” seemed to be the appropriate thing to say, and Kokoro said it, leaping to attention.
“Kokoro, remember, you cannot tell anyone of these jutsu, except maybe another who has undergone the jutsu. Do you and Luna vow to never tell these secrets to others?”
“Yes sir!”
Then let us start.”
“Yes sir!’
“And stop saying yes sir!”
“Yes sir!”
‘Are you doing that just to annoy me?”
“Yes sir!”
“What!?”
“Uhh-um, No sir!”
“Oh shush.”
“Yes sir!”
“What did I just say!?!”
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Chapter notes: Hmmm, I keep on trying to put a picture of Kokoro, but I can't! Bre2k8, thanks for your advice but it desn't seem to be working. *sigh*