I find it funny how in the time it takes me to type up one chapter I've already written two or three more. xD Although rereading it, I've found that some parts I don't like, so it takes me a while to change small things without having to change the whole story. Don't know why I care, but I do. xP I just realized I keep putting the story name on every chapter. xD Yay for being weird...

Chapter Six

Danielle was quiet during breakfast, her eyes staying on her plate as she ate everything on it.
"Did you want more, Danielle?" Mayumi asked with a smile.
"Um, yes, please," she said in a low voice, quickly glancing at her before looking back down.
Goemon occasionally glanced at the empty place at the table, finally standing and walking back to Ichiro's room.
Danielle glanced at him as he walked by, looking down as Goemon rolled his eyes down at her.
Danielle was used to adults being angered by her actions. She was also used to living with it, she and her dad getting into fights all the time. What she wasn't used to was living with someone as intimidating as Goemon.
"Did you get enough to eat, Danielle?" Mayumi asked, seeing her plate was once again empty.
"Yeah, thank you," Danielle said with a slow nod. "It was good."
"Mom's food is always good," Jiro said with a smile as he gulped up the last of his breakfast.
The three then looked up as Goemon came back, an upset Ichiro following, both sitting at the table.
Danielle returned to staring down at her plate.
"You will both be helping with the house chores today," Goemon said as he looked at Ichiro and then at Danielle. "And in the afternoon you will be at the dojo to clean the floors."
Danielle and Ichiro were silent.
"Is that understood?" Goemon asked in a raised voice.
"Yes, dad," Ichiro said.
"Sure," Danielle said in an almost whisper.

After breakfast was over Goemon and Jiro left to the temple to meditate before training began.
Mayumi was left in charge of Danielle and Ichiro, wanting Ichiro to clean the bathroom while she and Danielle cleaned the kitchen.
"Danielle," Mayumi said as she swept the floor, Danielle busy washing dishes. "I think we should discuss what happened at the dojo yesterday."
"Sure," Danielle said, not too enthusiastic about the idea.
"Did you think what you did was right?" Mayumi stopped sweeping and looked at Danielle.
"What else was I supposed to do? I mean, I asked nicely and she wouldn't stop, so I made her stop."
"We don't do things like that here, Danielle. When something like that happens we discuss it with the teacher."
Danielle scoffed. "That would have just made me look weak. I like doing things my own way."
"You could have seriously hurt her over a simple act of teasing," Mayumi said, trying to get her point across.
"Maybe she'll learn something over it," Danielle muttered.
Mayumi only sighed, knowing she was fighting a losing battle. "When you're done with the dishes you can start cleaning the living room."
"Fine."

Danielle was almost done cleaning the living room when Goemon and Jiro came back, Jiro rushing to the kitchen to get a drink of water while Goemon made his way towards her.
"You can go to the dojo now," he said. "Koji has everything set up."
Danielle nodded and walked past him quickly and silently, able to make it out of the house without having to hear some sort of speech on good behavior.
Ichiro wasn't so lucky, though, stuck having to listen to Goemon chide him for twenty minutes before he was told to go to the dojo.
"Took you long enough," Danielle said as he entered. She was sitting down and slowly making circles on the floor with the brush in her hand.
"I got stuck listening to my dad go on about how this is my last chance," he said as he rolled his eyes.
"Last chance for what?"
"Uncle Lupin invited me to Paris for my birthday."
"When is that?" Danielle asked, looking over her shoulder at him.
"A month and a half," he said as he started to roll up his sleeves, already having rolled up his pant legs.
"That should be fun. Is it just you going?"
Ichiro scoffed. "Like my dad would let me go to Paris alone."
"Oh." Danielle continued to watch him as he got on his knees and scrubbed the floor. "Done this before?"
"Everytime I get in trouble," he said with a grin.
"And now I get to share the joy with you." Danielle dipped the brush into the soapy water of the bucket next to her and worked a little harder at cleaning. "Just you, me and the toe sweat."
"Two sweat?" he laughed, looking back at her.
"Mmhmm." She smiled, the punishment suddenly not seeming so bad.
"Are you ever coming back here to train?"
"Probably," she shrugged. "Why?"
"Just wondering." He stopped scrubbing and sat up, watching Danielle as he took a quick break.
"Can...can I ask you something?" Danielle stopped, also sitting up as she looked at Ichiro.
"Sure."
"Why do you want to go to Tokyo?"
He looked down and stared off at the floor. "Jiro told you that, huh?"
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," she said, not wanting to seem like she was prying into his life.
"I want to go live with my uncle," he sighed. "He offered me a job in his company, plus he said he'd pay for my schooling. But dad...he sees it differently. He says I'll end up corrupted by the big corporations."
"What about your mom? What does she think?"
"She thinks it's a great idea. Her brother and my dad never really got along, though. And if she says anything, dad will just say she's picking sides."
"So, you get to stay here, then?"
Ichiro glared at the floor. "He has Jiro to follow in his footsteps. I don't see why I have to, as well."
"Because you're carrying on his name."
"Like a name means anything," he muttered.
"To your dad it does."
Ichiro scoffed at her remark. "Let's just get this floor cleaned, okay?" he said, not wanting to talk about it anymore.

The two continued scrubbing over the next two hours, getting the whole floor cleaned just as the sun was starting to set.
Ichiro took the buckets and dumped the water in the grass outside, carrying them and the brushes to a small shed that sat against the temple.
"Hello, Goemon," Koji said as he walked from the temple.
"Hey, Koji," Ichiro said.
"Are you prepared for the festival?"
"Festival?" Danielle asked as she walked up to them.
"Hello, Danielle." Koji smiled and bowed slightly.
Danielle smiled back.
"I don't think I'm going," Ichiro said. "Besides, it's the same thing every year."
"What is it?" Danielle asked, looking at Ichiro.
"The Spring Festival," he answered with no interest in his voice.
"It isn't that bad," Koji said with a grin.
"When is it?" Danielle asked.
"Two weeks," Ichiro said as he closed up the doors to the shed.
"So, what do you do during the festival?" she asked.
"There's music, dancing, games, and a big feast," Koji answered.
"Oh. Why don't we all go together?" Danielle had always wanted to do something with "friends", something she didn't get to do enough of.
Ichiro gave her a slightly disgusted look and scoffed.
"I doubt my teacher would allow me out of my festival duties," Koji said sympathetically.
"Oh, well, that's fine, then, I guess," she muttered with a shrug. "Doesn't sound interesting anyway," she added with a scoff. She then turned and walked off.
Ichiro and Koji watched her before glancing at each other, both then looking back at Danielle.
"Maybe I can force myself to go," Ichiro sighed.
"I may be able to get out of my duties," Koji thought.
"Yeah, well, I should get back. Bye, Koji."
"Bye, Goemon." Koji waved and then headed back inside the temple.

Goemon was sitting by the front door when Ichiro walked up. "Finished?"
"Yeah," Ichiro mumbled, kicking his sandals off and heading inside the house.
"Get ready for dinner," Mayumi said as he walked to his room. "It's almost ready."
Ichiro nodded and then entered his room. He glanced at Jiro for a few seconds before going back to ignoring him, sitting on his bed and reading a book.
"Yasuko's dad came to the dojo today," Jiro said, upset as he stared down.
"I wouldn't worry about it," Ichiro said as he continued reading.
"I don't know..."
"Remember when that happened to me?" Ichiro asked, glancing at his brother. "Mister Sugiyama didn't get anywhere with dad."
"Yeah, but Mister Sugiyama didn't know people."
Ichiro shrugged. "Dad will handle it, don't worry."
Jiro stared down at his bed in silence.
"Dinner is ready," Mayumi said as she peaked her head into the room.
They got up and followed her to the table. Goemon and Danielle were already seated, Goemon busy telling Danielle about what was expected of her in school.
Danielle didn't look too happy, but she nodded at everything he said.
Dinner was quiet and uneventful, everyone seeming to have something on their minds. When dinner was over with Goemon told Danielle, Ichiro and Jiro to get to bed.
Danielle went reluctantly, but found out just how tired she was once she hit the mattress, falling asleep fairly quickly.

Ichiro entered Danielle's room the next morning, seeing she was still asleep. "Danielle, get up," he said, gently nudging her shoulder. "Danielle," he said a little louder, getting a groan in response. Annoyed, he grabbed her arm and started to drag her out of bed.
"Okay, I'm up!" she growled, pulling her arm away and sitting up, rubbing her face with her hands and yawning.
"Now you know what I go through with Jiro," he said with a grin.
"Lucky me," she mumbled.
"Hurry up so we can eat. You're gonna make me late."
"Uh oh, we can't have that," Danielle said as she rolled her eyes. She got to her feet and pushed Ichiro out of her room so she could get dressed. Her school outfit was the same as her training outfit. And from her experiences in the village, it seemed like the everyday normal outfit.
Ichiro and Jiro were already sitting at he table when she left her room. She joined them, looking around. "Where's your mom and dad?"
"They're having a meeting with Yasuko's parents," Jiro said.
"Oh no, I'm gonna be a big trouble now," she said sarcastically. She then scoffed and started to eat.
"They want you expelled," Jiro said.
Ichiro closed his eyes and groaned, wishing Jiro had kept his mouth shut.
Danielle stared down at her plate in anger. "Good. Maybe I can get out of this hellhole and go somewhere I'm actually wanted." She stood and stomped off to her room.
"Why did you tell her that?" Ichiro asked as he glared at his brother.
"What?" Jiro asked innocently.
"Just get ready and go to school," he said, walking off towards Danielle's room. He lifted his hand to knock on it when he stopped, hearing her low sobs through the door. "Great," he sighed.

"Come on," Danielle begged. "How would you write it?"
Ichiro gave a nervous laugh. "I'm not writing that."
"Okay, fine. Then how about 'Yasuko is a terd face'? Is that any better?"
"Not really," he muttered.
Danielle laughed at Ichiro's fear of getting in trouble. Although she already knew they were going to get punished for skipping school.
Ichiro had finally decided to enter Danielle's room. He wanted to talk to her about what Jiro said, to assure her that nothing was going to happen, that everything would be fine. He also wanted to know what had happened, what she had gone through the day her dad died.
He knew that asking would be pushing it and that he was already walking the line by barging in unasked, so he decided to hold off on questioning her. Plus, he knew it would only make her upset, defeating the whole purpose of why he was there. He figured if she wanted him to know that she would tell him. And he knew that now wasn't that time.
Instead he decided to tell "Remember when..." stories, things to get her mind off of the sad memories and to focus on more happier times. He was amazed when it actually worked, as it was one of the many tips his Uncle Lupin had given him. And even though he loved his uncle, he always saw him as somebody who was full of crap.
Both were then laughing as they talked about stupid things that had happened during some of their vacations in Paris. And even when Jigen was brought up Danielle still laughed, enjoying remembering her dad in that way.
After the laughter and the stories Ichiro decided to start teaching her basic Kanji. Or at least he tried teaching her, Danielle only wanting to know what certain words and phrases looked like.
"Fine," Ichiro sighed in defeat, writing out Danielle's original request of 'Yasuko is a pile of shit' and handing the paper to her.
"Wow...it looks so...polite looking," she said as she stared at the symbols. "'Shit' looks a lot cruder in actual letters."
"Well, that depends on the language," Ichiro shrugged. "Remember when Uncle Lupin taught us swear words in French?"
The two started laughing once again.
"J'ai chié mon pantalon!" Ichiro said in mock fear. (AN: According to the unreliability of online translators, that phrase means "I shit my pants!")
"Hey, write that, write that!" Danielle said as she laughed.
Ichiro did, handing back the paper.
"Not in French, you moron," Danielle laughed as she tossed a crumpled up piece of paper at his head.
"Oh," Ichiro laughed. "I thought you meant..."
The two collapsed from laughter, Ichiro on the floor and Danielle on her bed.
Their laughter was the reason they didn't hear Goemon and Mayumi return home, something that would have made the laughter stop and panic hit.
That soon came, though, when the door opened, Goemon standing in the doorway staring at them in annoyance.
The two looked off at the floor in worry.
Goemon stepped in, noticing the paper on the bed and grabbing it. The more he read the angrier he seemed to get.
"It...it was my idea," Danielle muttered.
Goemon crumpled the paper in his hands and glared at Ichiro. "Go to your room."
Ichiro left quickly and quietly.
"I thought I told you to go to school," Goemon said as he tried to hold in his anger. "Instead you disobey me and keep Ichiro from attending as well. And for what? To write obscenities and insults?"
"I'm sorry. I was-"
"You're more than sorry, Danielle. Can't you even follow basic instructions?"
Danielle looked away, tears rolling down her face.
"You're more trouble than you're worth," he growled, turning and leaving her room, slamming her door shut.
His words caused her to break down, falling onto the bed and sobbing into her pillow.
Ichiro stood by his closed door, able to hear everything his dad said. He tensed with anger, his hands forming into fists as he looked down. "I thought you wanted her to feel welcome," he muttered. He walked to his bed, sitting on it and leaning against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared off at the wall.

xD Goemon's a dick. And yeah, Danielle isn't acting very Jigen-like, but she's still in her mourning and trying to belong period. Next chapter she gets angry, I think. Although looking at that chapter I hate it, so even more adding and removing stuff. Yay...