Chapter Text
“Ryuu, come on! Mom asked us for these herbs hours ago!”
Ryuusuke waves his hand dismissively, swinging from a tree branch. “She didn’t say she needs ‘em right away, we can take our time. ‘Sides, she’s probably feeding the baby anyway.”
Aoka frowns at him, clutching a basket filled with mountain roots and flowers. “Doesn’t mean we can just wander around for no reason. There’s still bears up here, ya know.”
He huffs as he lands back on the ground. “Bears are no match for us! Dad probably scares ‘em all off when he goes huntin’ and stuff anyway.” Despite his protests, he starts to walk in the direction of their home again, his older twin falling into step beside him.
They make their way through a still-wild portion of the forest, tromping through brush and snapping twigs in their wake. Normally, they trod carefully but, today, stepping on the dry plants helps them avoid the sticky, half-dry mud and murky puddles leftover from the past week’s storms. Ryuusuke reaches out and absentmindedly pulls at tree branches as he walks, listening to the swishing sounds they make as they swing back into place. In the commotion they cause, neither notices a much larger presence behind them.
Just as the silhouette raises up to make its move, something rustles off to the side. The stalker pauses and checks the movement. “Aha!” a cry rings out through the trees, followed by a thump. Ryuusuke and Aoka turn to look behind them, already knowing what they’ll see.
“Oi oi, where’d you come from?” Inosuke shouts, reaching up above his head.
Kotoha laughs wildly, her legs wrapped around her dad’s torso and her arms circling his neck. “Tricked ya!” she shouts. “I threw my shirt into the bushes but I was above you the whole time!”
“Mom’s gonna get mad at you for running around shirtless again,” Aoka calls.
Kotoha looks up at her younger sister and sticks her tongue out. “I got the sarashi on, she can’t get that mad this time.”
“Nah, she’ll wonder how it got so dirty though,” Inosuke says.
She looks back down at the back of his head. “Dirty? It’s not-oi!” The forest flips upside down as Inosuke reaches around his back, grabbing her by the waist and twisting her around to hold her in his arms. He dunks her head down towards the ground and she feels her hair land in a puddle of water. “Nooo,” she whines. “I just washed my hair last night!”
Inosuke pulls her back up in his arms and laughs when he sees her pout. The brown water seeps out of her hair and down her shoulders, soaking the tops of the cloth bands around her chest. “At least I’m not the only one who’ll get in trouble,” she mumbles. He stops laughing suddenly, feeling the subtle vibration of mischief as he holds her. Maybe Zenitsu was right when he used to say that Kotoha was too much like her father.
“Wai-“ He doesn’t get the whole word out before Kotoha’s hands plunge into his hair, coating the shiny strands with mud that she surreptitiously scooped up while dangling from his grip. He growls in his throat as she starts to laugh again. “You’re in for-“ A wet smack interrupts this time. Inosuke and Kotoha both go quiet. They look down and see a large smattering of mud splashed across both their torsos. A clump falls off Inosuke’s chest and lands on Kotoha’s stomach. They look up and see Ryuusuke grinning, mud dripping from his hands. Aoka sighs.
Kotoha squirms and Inosuke sets her down. In the blink of an eye, she’s chasing down her brother with mud in her hands. “See if I ever protect you again,” she yells at him. “No more bodyguard for you!”
“No one asked you t-“ his screams trails off into laughter as he attempts to outrun the older and taller girl without much success.
Inosuke treads carefully through the brush and kneels down next to Aoka. He takes the basket from her and she climbs onto his back to be carried back home. “Those two should be the twins,” she mutters. “They both act like you, even though Ryuu looks like Mom.”
He chuckles. “You might look like me but you act just like your mom,” he muses to her as he walks.
“Someone has to,” she says, pulling a loud bark of laughter from him.
He drops her off at the edge of the clearing and she takes the basket back. He presses a kiss to the top of her head. “Tell Mom I’m heating up the big bath for everyone.”