The young soldiers were finally called upon for a D-rank mission. With a bag on his back, Tsukinoko ran after the group that had set off without waiting for him. The storm that had swept through the region in recent days had caused a lot of damage, and a hamlet of farmers had called on Hanamaru for help. The wind had uprooted trees, which had broken the fences around the pastures, and the herds had escaped into the plains. But a landslide was preventing them from returning. Takeshi sighed incessantly in his corner, which made Shikaru sigh in turn.

  “Are you complaining already, Takeshi?”

  “Why are we helping these hicks?” he grumbled. ‘I don't want to sleep in a barn with stinky cows.”

  “That's what'll happen if you keep complaining. Tsukinoko grew up with farmers, she'll know what to do and we'll be home in no time. I'm counting on you to listen to her advice,’ Shikaru continued.

  Tsukinoko glared at her colleague, but he proudly lifted his chin, his hands behind his head.

  “Yeah, right,” he sneered. ‘It's a man's job, she doesn't know anything about it.”

  “Nonsense!’ she snapped. ‘Idiot!”

  “Moron!’ he retorted immediately.

  “Not again...” sighed Mikio.

  A farmer pointed to a herd of cows scattered in the distance across the meadows, separated by a stream. The children began by clearing away fallen trees, the wood of which would be used to build fences.

  At the end of the day, as Tsukinoko went to fetch more planks of wood, Takeshi followed her, with Mikio behind him.

  “You're going to hurt yourself,” he sighed. ‘You should keep an eye on the cows so they don't run away.”

  “They're stuck, they're not going anywhere!’ she snapped.

  Mikio sighed again, exasperated. The two of them moved forward at the same time to grab some planks, but Takeshi got there first and hit her with a plank as he moved.

  “You're annoying me!“ she shouted, pushing him away.

  “Ouch! You're really annoying,” he said irritably, “I didn't do it on purpose!”

  “Get lost, idiot!“ she shouts, pushing him again.

  “Oh yeah?” he snaps. “You'll see, you ugly cow!”

  They start fighting in the middle of the construction site in front of the worried farmers. Mikio, who had hesitated at first, tries to separate them. Tsukinoko is about to punch Takeshi, but her fist remains frozen in the air, just like his.

  In the distance, Shikaru's piercing gaze is aligned with his shadows, holding back his students.

  Once freed, Takeshi sticks his tongue out at Tsukinoko, who responds by sliding her thumb threateningly across his throat. He quickly retracts his tongue before going to pick up the planks with Mikio, who is just as bewildered as Shikaru behind him. Disgusted and angry, Tsukinoko returns with her arms crossed. Shikaru glared at her as she passed, then finally let her go, tired of their arguments.

  Finally calmed by the adorable kittens lying in a straw bale in the stable, melancholy memories resurfaced in her mind. Before it fell into ruin, the land around her house had been home to a small chicken coop, where the eggs collected each morning were eaten for breakfast, cows taken from neighbors who had moved away grazed in the distance and returned home for the night on their own, as if they had decided on their new home, a vegetable garden, a large apple tree under which she spent hours drawing, among other things.

  Her heart tightened and she gathered all the kittens on her lap to contain her grief. One of them climbed onto her shoulder to lick her cheek, wet with salty tears she hadn't noticed. Footsteps approached at dusk and she recognized Mikio, who was looking for her around the stables.

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  “Are you okay?” he asked timidely. ”Have you been here all day? Hey, are you coming?”

  She didn't answer, her back to him, then he heard kittens meowing and approached to see what was going on, curious. Crouching right in front of her, his head tilted to see her through the hair falling over her face, he pouted.

  “Are you angry? Is it because of Takeshi?”

  She shrugged, and he sat back down on his heels.

  “He's a bit stupid, but he's not mean,” he smiled. ”Master Shikaru yelled at him earlier, and now he's sulking in the corner like you. He just wants to show off. Ignore him and he'll leave you alone.” You two will get along eventually!

  “Do you think I'm annoying too?“ she asks timidly.

  “Well...” he hesitates. “You're both idiots, that's all,” he chuckles. “By the way, you're not from Hanamaru, are you? Where did you live before? Come on, I'm hungry! You can tell us all about your life as a peasant at dinner!”

  Without giving her time to answer, he jumps up and pulls her out of there by the arm.

  Two days later, the farmers had left to sow vegetable plots further away. The brigade, meanwhile, had to take care of finally rounding up the cows now that the pens were ready and the plots cleared. Tsukinoko stayed aside, refusing to help, still upset and sullen. The boys went to look for them while Shikaru tried to motivate his most stubborn student, to no avail.

  The boys had been running after the cows for an hour, and Tsukinoko sat in the grass with the little family of cats on her lap, laughing at them. Even Shikaru couldn't help himself when the bulls started charging Mikio across the hills.

  Shikaru joined her with a game of shogi, unable to get her to move. A few games later, the two boys finally returned, empty-handed and exhausted. Tsukinoko took her turn and then began to snicker haughtily.

  “Help them instead of making fun of them, Tsukinoko,” Shikaru whispered.

  Takeshi and Mikio sighed in frustration. As Takeshi was about to say something else, Mikio gave him a sharp elbow in the ribs.

  “Apologize! We'll never get anywhere if you don't.”

  “What else do you want?“ he retorted.

  “Tsuki, please help us!” Mikio begged.

  “I thought this was a job for men, wasn't it?” she said cheekily. ‘If you're so strong, figure it out yourselves. I don't help people who call me a country bumpkin.’ ‘Your turn, Master,’ she said, resuming the game.

  Shikaru stood with his arms crossed, and Mikio glared at Takeshi, who was beginning to waver. Takeshi capitulated, dramatically to emphasize his annoyance, but Tsukinoko was still unaware of this.

  “Hey, did you hear that?“ he said indignantly.

  “Tsukinoko, make an effort,” ordered Shikaru. “And you, be sincere. Make up, you're not going to spend all your time bickering.”

  Tsukinoko thought for a second but decided to make an effort.

  Standing at the edge of the dam, in the peaceful silence that reigned over the meadows, she suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs, her voice ringing out. Her call echoed through the hills and the cows began to moo in unison.

  Mikio and Takeshi's eyes widened as the herd set off toward the farm. Fifteen minutes later, all the cows were back, and Tsukinoko looked proudly at her friends, hands on her hips, who mimed a graceful bow before bursting into laughter.

  While waiting for the farmers to return, Tsukinoko and the boys finally practiced together for the first time, under Shikaru's proud gaze.

  When the task was done, the chief gave them each a chicken as a thank-you gift. Shikaru politely refused his, while Mikio's climbed onto his head to make a nest in his cap. Takeshi was squawking beside them, trapped by his chicken, which was clucking and pecking at his feathers.

  “Tsuki, help! I was wrong, the farmers are good people, so tell that bird of ill omen to stop! Shout like you do on the dung machines!”

  “Quick, crouch down!” she panicked. ‘There's only one way to stop it. Put your hands under your arms and shout ’boc boc'!”

  Everyone laughed even harder at the boy running for his life, imitating his predator at the top of his lungs, flapping his arms.

  Takeshi heard them crying with laughter behind him and stood up abruptly. The hen cut him off in his tirade of insults by charging at him, and he ran into a pen, paying no attention to the cow dung. Tsukinoko finally took pity on him and went to catch the heated hen by the legs.

  “Hey, it's nothing, don't cry about it,” she giggles as he grumbles, wiping his foot in the grass, red with shame.

  He grabs his sandal full of dung and pretends to touch her with it, before chasing her across the farm to get revenge and throwing the disgusting sandal at her with all his might. Tsukinoko used Mikio as a shield without warning him, and he got the sandal right in the face. Tsukinoko burst out laughing, but Takeshi turned pale as Mikio stood motionless, his face greasy.

  “Takeshi!“ he shouted suddenly, glaring at him.

  “Run, you cow!” shouted Takeshi as he ran away.

  Mikio chases after them, sandal in hand, but finally sets his sights on Tsukinoko, who is still laughing. Under the dismayed gaze of Shikaru and the amused gaze of the farmers, Takeshi joins Tsukinoko in his escape, their bags on his back, before running down the road, pursued by the horde of chickens and Mikio.

  “The children seem to have finally made up,” smiles the farmer. ‘They're not arguing anymore, just bickering playfully.”

  “Indeed,’ sighs Shikaru. ‘Our leader was right to give us this mission,’ he whispers before saluting him.

  Shikaru walked away with a reassured air, while his students ran down the path bickering, no longer sure who their enemy was: the chickens or the dirty sandal.

  Coucou ! Si vous avez aimé la lecture, n'hésitez pas à laisser un petit commentaire, mettre un j'aime et vous abonner. ?a me fait super plaisir et ?a m'aide énormément à continuer. Merci du fond du c?ur !