Rise and Shine
1209 Words
The morning sun made the room visible, where the night had not. Garu had yawned and stretched as the smell of breakfast cooking met his nose. At first he thought it was weird, because there was only him and Tobe there that night, and then he realized that his nemesis lived with a sizable army of ninjas. He noticed Tobe's arm very loosely around him and gently brushed it off. Curious to find the smell, he had stood up and collected his sword, careful not to wake the still snoring enemy as he got up off the floor.
Garu had put the sheath to the sword on his back as he looked around. Sure enough, the ninjas were awake. They were either eating breakfast or waiting for it, happily munching on something simple with eggs and bacon while making conversation. This must've been early morning, since none of them were training just yet. One by one, they started to notice Garu, and their chatter died down until all of them had their sights on him. It felt very awkward for a brief moment until one of them broke the silence.
"Oh, you're awake," One of them, holding a pan full of scrambled egg, had approached. Garu recognized this ninja as Koji. "Well this is awkward. So, um... Do you want something to eat?"
Garu was almost taken aback by this. Last time he had seen these ninjas in this house, they were so eager to attack him. Now, one of them was offering him to eat something. The cohort of Tobe's who had the pan of egg was wearing a pink apron and green oven mitts on top of what he would usually wear, and it seemed as if he was up before all the others. Garu knew this was still one of Tobe's ninjas and stood his ground, drawing his sword from his sheath. Koji stumbled back.
"N-no wait! I'm serious! See? I have eggs!" Koji tilted the pan to show the food sitting inside, flinching out of fear.
Garu stood still for a moment, not knowing how to respond. He lowered his sword as he realized that the ninjas weren't going to fight.
"I... I saw you sleeping next to our master and well, I didn't want to wake you up. I would have, but he was... Hugging you? Sort of, and I knew bold moves like waking him up would end in... Dire consequences."
Garu knew they had a point. Waking Tobe at this moment would come as a surprise to him right now. Having something to eat wasn't the worst idea though and he could use it, so he munched a bit of the eggs, put his sword back into its sheath, and headed outside the door. As he left, he thought about everything that happened the night before, how Tobe seemed more vulnerable than he had ever been, and how Garu of all people was able to help. He also began to ponder why Tobe was nice enough to let him sleep at his house. On the floor, sure, but at his house? Garu knew he was lucky to not have slept outside, in the dirt.
Some time later, closer to noon, Tobe started to wake to the smell of lunch, this time fried rice was on the menu. He noticed himself sleeping on the floor, with no Garu in sight. As he sat up, he started to wonder if what he had done in the night was real or not.
"Huh, how... Weird." Tobe rubbed his eyes. As he looked up, he was being surrounded by his own ninjas.
"What... What are you looking at?!"
"Uh, sir..." It was Koji, still in apron and mitts. "Hey um... Do you know why Garu was-"
"So it wasn't a dream..."
"...What?"
"Not important," Tobe dismissed his thoughts. "What do you want?"
"Well," Koji wasn't sure where to begin. His master, sleeping next to the enemy? That was weird. "We... We noticed Garu was here this morning when we started getting out of bed. We were going to tell you, but..." Koji started to giggle.
"Why are you laughing...?"
Koji took a breath to control his chuckling for just a moment. "Well, you both looked very comfortable."
All of the ninjas in the area started laughing a bit until Tobe yelled for their silence. He stood up and undid his hair ponytail, brushing it out while he explained last night's events with a few white lies to keep his dignity intact. His version of the explanation contained a ploy to shame Garu, where he would lure Garu to his home and hold him hostage until the morning. Of course, no one was buying it. There had to be a better reason why Tobe and Garu were sleeping together on the floor.
"It is true!" Tobe's voice raised as he started to retie his hair. "He came to me in the middle of the night because he wondered right into my trap, and so I held him here for the night and had him sleep on the floor, so that he wouldn't escape."
"Then, why were you also sleeping there?" One ninja questioned.
"And if he was being held hostage, wouldn't Pucca find you both by now?" Another ninja asked.
Tobe thought about the second question first. Techically, Garu had stayed because Pucca was out to find him, not because of the trap. Pucca never found them, which gave Tobe room for excuse.
"Since I had him here, Pucca was unable to find him, meaning that he can't be freed." Tobe grinned. The ninjas could sort of believe that one statement, but nothing else made sense to them.
"Right, I am going to find Garu and finish what was started yesterday. You, you, and you should come with me." Tobe pointed to three of his henchmen. "The rest of you are staying here to clean up this place."
"Wait, Master-- One more question?"
Tobe grumbled. "What?"
"If Garu was being held against his will, then why did you let him escape?"
"I didn't," Tobe refused to take blame, so instead he pointed to Koji. "He did."
As Tobe left with his helpers in tow, he couldn't help but quietly think back to that night. He had felt awful, and finally some of that weight could be lifted off his shoulders. He would appreciate if it wasn't his rival, but something about it being Garu was awakening to him, as if the fighting between them was imagined for just that one moment. Tobe shook off that thought, for he knew better. Garu left first thing he woke up, so there was no way he meant it. Not to Tobe, anyways.
Once they had found Garu, Tobe and his ninjas began to fight. The slashing sounds of swords could be heard for quite a while before either of them gave in. Garu wasn't giving in so easily, and would combat Tobe's attacks in any way he could. As he fought on, he too thought about sleeping on the cold floor and how generous Tobe was to let him stay, just like he did before leaving the house. He could swear there was something wrong, but there was no proof.
- Writer
