The Daimyo's residence was far quieter in the morning than Konoha Village.
There were no footsteps of ninja racing across the rooftops, no muffled thuds of kunai striking targets at the training grounds, and no vendors shouting about their vegetables.
Shin-chan lay in the guest room arranged for him, staring at the exquisite wooden carvings on the ceiling as his stomach let out its sixth growl.
"So hungry."
He rolled over and pressed the pillow beneath his stomach, trying to suppress the hollow feeling rising from his belly.
A maid's voice came from outside the paper door.
"Lord Nohara, are you awake?"
"I'm awake." Shin-chan slid open the door. "What's for breakfast?"
"Breakfast has already been prepared. Her Highness has invited you to dine with her."
Shin-chan followed the maid through the corridors before stopping outside a Japanese-style room facing the garden.
The paper door was half-open, and the morning sunlight fell across the tatami.
Ai was already seated at a low table, with an elegant breakfast arranged before her.
"Good morning, Young Master Shin-chan." Ai bowed slightly.
Shin-chan sat cross-legged across from her and looked down at the food.
"Ai, is this enough to fill you up?"
"Hmm?"
"All of this together isn't even as much as one bowl of ramen."
Ai lightly covered her mouth. "Meals at court are supposed to be refined. You can't devour food the way you would in the village."
"But hunger doesn't care about refinement."
As soon as Shin-chan finished speaking, his stomach growled at the perfect moment.
The smile at the corners of Ai's lips spread all the way to her eyes.
She beckoned to the maid beside her and whispered a few instructions.
Before long, the maid returned with a large bowl of white rice topped with grilled salmon, tamagoyaki, and several slices of pickled daikon.
"Is this enough?"
"More than enough." Shin-chan picked up his chopsticks and pressed his palms together. "Thanks for the food!"
He took a huge bite of rice. "This rice is a hundred times better than the kind we eat at home."
"This is the finest newly harvested rice in the capital, specially supplied to the Daimyo."
"Oh." Shin-chan took another large mouthful. "Then I'll eat more."
Ai watched Shin-chan devour his food, unable to suppress the curve of her lips.
"Young Master Shin-chan is still exactly the same as before."
"What?" Shin-chan lifted his head from the rice bowl, a grain of rice stuck to the corner of his mouth.
"Nothing."
After breakfast, Shin-chan patted his round stomach and let out a satisfied burp.
The maids beside them turned pale, but Ai acted as though she had heard nothing.
"Ai." Shin-chan leaned against a veranda pillar. "What do you have to do today?"
"I have tea ceremony lessons in the morning and a music lesson in the afternoon."
"You have to study those things every day?"
"Mm."
"Then when do you rest?"
"Rest?" Ai tilted her head slightly, as though the word were unfamiliar to her.
"You know, doing absolutely nothing. Lying on the roof in the sun and eating chocolate sticks."
Ai was silent for a moment.
"My tea ceremony lesson begins at ten."
"So?"
"So I'm free until nine-thirty."
Shin-chan sprang to his feet and held out his hand to Ai. "Then let's go."
"Where?"
"Out into the city."
"I heard the capital has been unsafe lately."
"What part is unsafe?" Shin-chan looked around. "The fish in the pond look peaceful enough. They just seem a little fatter than they were seven years ago."
"The steward said I'm not allowed to leave the residence without the Daimyo's permission..."
Ai looked at Shin-chan's outstretched hand.
She hesitated for less than a second before placing her own hand in his.
"We have to return before nine-thirty."
"No problem."
Shin-chan took Ai by the hand, left the room, and turned into a corner of the garden.
"We can't use the main gate. The steward will stop us."
"Then we'll go over it."
"Over it?"
Shin-chan pointed at the wall.
Before Ai could react, he had already wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Chakra gathered beneath his feet, and with a light leap, the two landed steadily in the alley outside the wall.
"We're out."
Ai steadied herself. Remembering what had happened seven years ago, she couldn't help smiling.
"Let's go. If we stay here, the steward will notice."
The streets of the capital were much livelier than those of Konoha Village.
Ai ran while Shin-chan pulled her along, the jade hairpin in her hair gleaming softly beneath the sunlight.
Her heart was beating even faster than when they climbed over the wall, afraid that everything would end too soon.
"We're here!"
Shin-chan stopped in front of a stall with a red noren hanging above it.
"What kind of shop is this?"
"A sweets shop."
Shin-chan lifted the noren. The shop was small, with only a counter and several wooden stools.
Behind the counter, an elderly woman wearing a white apron was kneading dough.
"Welco—hmm?" The elderly woman adjusted her reading glasses and looked down at Shin-chan. "Little boy, did you come to buy sweets by yourself?"
"I'm not alone." Shin-chan pointed behind him at Ai. "There are two of us."
The elderly woman looked past Shin-chan and saw Ai.
"Please, have a seat."
The two sat down in front of the counter.
Shin-chan expertly raised one finger. "Two red bean dango, two sesame dango, and two matcha dango."
"Does Young Master Shin-chan come here often?" Ai asked curiously.
"This is my first time. Grandpa Third said that whenever he carried out missions in the capital, he always came to this shop."
The dango were brought out.
Each one was round and plump, with so much filling that it looked ready to burst through the surface.
Shin-chan picked up a red bean dango and took a bite.
Then his entire body froze.
"Ai, this dango..."
"What's wrong?"
"It tastes so good that my brain stopped working."
Looking at Shin-chan's face, which seemed to declare that the god of dango had descended upon the mortal world, Ai finally couldn't hold back and laughed.
"Young Master Shin-chan, your expression is far too exaggerated."
"It isn't exaggerated. It's true." Shin-chan stuffed the remaining half into his mouth. "Grandpa Third didn't lie. The dango from this shop really can make people happy."
Ai picked up a matcha dango and took a small bite.
The slight bitterness of the matcha powder blended with the sweetness of the red bean paste. Even a certain corner of her heart seemed to grow sweeter.
"It really is delicious."
"Right? Right?" Shin-chan pushed his cup of tea toward her. "It tastes even better with tea. Try it."
Ai lifted the cup and took a sip.
The tea's faint astringency perfectly balanced the dango's sweetness, the two flavours intertwining in just the right way.
She suddenly remembered the character she had written in the study that morning:
Stillness.
Thinking about it now, that character had seemed like an order she had given herself.
Yet sitting here in this old sweets shop, eating dango with a cup of simple tea, made her feel more peaceful than any calligraphy practice ever had.
"Ai, what are you thinking about?"
"I was thinking... how many more days like this I'll be able to have."
"As many as you want."
By the time they left the sweets shop, the sun had climbed high into the sky.
"We should go back," Ai said softly.
"Mm."
The two followed the same road back.
Halfway there, Ai suddenly stopped.
"Young Master Shin-chan."
"Hmm?"
"Could you not tell the steward about what happened this morning?"
Shin-chan tilted his head. "Are you afraid he'll scold you?"
"It isn't that I'm afraid of being scolded." Ai lightly twisted the edge of her sleeve between her fingers. "It's just... this is a secret between Young Master Shin-chan and me. If anyone else knows about it, it won't feel quite as special."
~~~
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