Chapter 5

Hiroshi sat up, rubbing his eyes. The poor boy had had a bad night, he woke up every few hours only to toss and turn for another half hour before going back to sleep. He hadn't even needed to use the bathroom whenever he woke up either, it was just his body making him wake up for no reason other than to bother him. At least this time it had woken him up from a nightmare, so that was the only good time he's woken up. As he heard Tanjiro about to come in to help him get ready for the day, he pouted, rubbing his eyes again. "I can't sleep more..."He whined a bit but knew he had to get out of bed anyway. So, he got up, as much as he didn't want to. Tanjiro opened the door and smiled a bit, "A bit surprised to see you up before I come in here. Did you wake up to use the bathroom??" He said as he came in to help Hiroshi get ready for the day. Hiroshi shook his head, "Had a bad dream..." He said as he yawned, not caring about acting 'princely' right now. Then again, he never really put on the 'mask' around Tanjiro anyway. He never made Hiroshi feel like he had to. "I see..."Tanjiro said, "Well, I'll tell the kitchens to send up your favorite treat with breakfast, will that help?? Or do you wanna talk about it??" Hiroshi looked down as Tanjiro fixed his hair, "...." He could only remember bits and pieces of the nightmare now. He knew it revolved around his father, grandmother, and his mother... "No. Just a treat, please." "Right, Hiroshi.''Tanjiro said, knowing how the young Prince could be. He would talk about it if he felt like it. "Are you ready for lessons today?" "Can I just have English..?" This made Tanjiro chuckle, "You need your other lessons too." "No fair.." "At least today is the last lesson of the week." --- "" Cassidy said brightly. "" She asked over at her friend with a smile. "" Nao gave a thumbs up, "" She asked, tilting her head. They were both speaking slowly, and clearly. They had only covered this a couple of classes ago, so it was still a good idea to go slowly, and clearly. It helped that Tanjiro was joining in on speaking English, it seemed to spur Hiroshi on to be even more interested in the class. "" She held her arms above her head in the gesture they had agreed on when they were teaching Hiroshi the ways to respond to the question, 'how are you'. Cassidy looked over at Tanjiro, "" The guard hesitated for a moment as he tried to remember the words, ""He gave a thumbs up. The three adults looked over at Hiroshi, "" Cassidy started, "" The child chewed on his lip as he thought over his answer. How was he feeling..? He was still tired from not sleeping well, and still feeling weird about his nightmare. "" He couldn't remember the word but he did remember the gesture. He held his hand up, palm to the ground and shook it in a 'so so' manner. "" Said Cassidy, making the prince nod. "" He said with a nod. "" Cassidy asked. Before Nao could even attempt to translate, Hiroshi surprised all of them by answering. "I had a bad dream and I didn't sleep well." Hiroshi answered, almost absentmindedly. He almost didn't realize that he understood what Cassidy had said, and had answered. But he had answered in Japanese. "Sorry, I answered in Japanese.." However, Cassidy was excited. "" Nao did have to translate that, of course, but she was excited too. The Prince was a fast learner. Before class would end, Cassidy did ask Hiroshi one more thing, cause she had an idea. "" When Nao translated the question, Hiroshi looked down, rocking back and forth on his feet as he thought about his absolute favorite. Was this going to be his drawing today?? He liked changing his drawings around in a big puzzle, like he had his own part of the sea there with him. "... A shark!" He said finally as he looked up at Cassidy. "" She repeated, slowly so he could hear the english translation of it. "" Cassidy waved as Tanjiro led his charge off to the next bit of his schedule. ----- The day had passed quickly to the weekend. Hiroshi saw Cassidy and Nao leaving, to where he didn't know. He wasn't really allowed out unless it was a family thing, and then he'd be by his father's side the whole time. That always grew boring. "Hey Tanjiro??" He tugged on the man's sleeve as he gave the women a wave goodbye as they left, "Where are they going??" "Well, it is Bishop's and Miyajima's day off, they are going to the town to mess about. Maybe do some shopping." He said, as the town wasn't too far off from the castle, nor was the road often attacked by bandits due to the close proximity, they were able to go to and fro freely, for the most part. "Why? Do you want to go somewhere? Wish me to ask your father?" Hiroshi shook his head, although he was kinda wanting a new toy or two. He had broken his boats. Maybe Tanjiro could fix it. He did dash off to his room, Tanjiro quickly did follow after his young charge. He didn't want another repeat of what had happened when Cassidy had appeared. At least it seemed he was in good spirits. The day came and went quickly, right after dinner, Tanjiro had been talked into playing one of Hiroshi's made up games. Just as they were getting around to the end of the rules, someone was knocking on Hiroshi's door. The kid looked up and almost just expected whoever it was to come in, but then he remembered he was a prince, and that wasn't something people normally did. "Enter!!" He said, trying to emulate how his father would say it. He was surprised to see Nao opening the door with Cassidy beside her, Cassidy holding something behind her back."...??? What's going on??" He asked, looking up at the women, his previous game with Tanjiro now forgotten. "Cassidy made something for you! It might help you sleep!" Nao said, "Close your eyes.!" Hiroshi looked at Tanjiro who smiled encouragingly and he put his hands over his eyes. In his lap, he felt a bit of a weight. It wasn't too heavy, but wasn't too soft either. As a matter of fact, it felt... Perfect. He pulled his hands away from his eyes looking down. He was looking down at something blue. He hesitantly reached out to feel the fabric, eyes lighting up at the fact it felt nice. He picked up the plush to look at it. He could tell what it was now, "A shark!!!" He exclaimed before hugging it. He wanted to keep the weight it had on his person somehow, and hugging it was the next best idea to how he could do that. "Thank you!!!" He said, looking up at the women who smiled happily, glad he liked it. "Cassidy said it's a weighted toy, hugging it at night should help you sleep. You can even warm it up! Placing it near the brazier should help warm it up, that way you have a warm friend to hug at night." Nao explained, "She made it so you can have a little friend to help you sleep. Plus, since he's a shark, he can eat away the nightmares!" Cassidy nodded in agreement to what Nao was saying, even if she only understood a little bit of the information that was being given to the Prince. Hiroshi's eyes were still wide as he held the shark close to him. "Thank you..!!!!"He was swaying a bit, happiness just seeming to be emanating off him. Both women simply tittered in laughter before giving a bow of farewell as they left. Tanjiro chuckled a bit at Hiroshi's facial expression. It seemed the kid didn't know what to think and was a bit flustered. He looked just like his dad when the Lord was flustered, as rare as it was when he showed it. "You seem to really like that little shark.. What will you call it??" Hiroshi started to rock in place a bit, one of his non harmful thinking habits, "......" He looked down at the blue one top of the plush shark and turned it to face him so it could look it in the face. "....." "Bishop." ----- "Cassidy, where did you learn to sew?" Nao asked as she took another bite of the sweets that she and Cassidy had gotten on their trip to the town. "You mother?" "No, my father actually. He always helped me fix my dresses, and even taught me how to make my first toy. I'm just glad this looks like a shark," Cassidy said as she held up the outer shell of what would become a shark toy for Hiroshi, "My first every plush looked like a weird worm with legs. Ah... Maybe I should make a cat for myself later.... A project to do later when I get more fabric." She said as she continued sewing. "So... Explain again, what's a weighted plushie?" "It's a plushie that's just heavy, it can help to have that weight when sleeping cause it helps keep you calm, and helps you stay asleep too. I had a blanket deal back in my time. That thing was amazing, and I could've spent all day under it whenever my time of the month was here." She said, grumbling a bit as she readjusted herself. She was getting reminded of when she first started and had to get adjusted to what she needed to wear during this time. At least the doctor's medicine was working well to keep the cramps down majorly. At most they were just a dull throb. "All in all, just something heavyish to hug. It can help even when he's not sleeping to be honest." "Well, I'm sure he'll love it. I got the rice ready for when it needs to be stuffed." "I said it before and I'll say it again, you are the bestie I needed in the future." --- After dinner, the two women went to Hiroshi's room to give him the little shark. Cassidy knocked on the door before hiding the shark behind her back. She and Nao waited for the 'enter!'. When it came, they both looked at each other for a second, looking extremely amused as it seemed Hiroshi was trying to emulate his father. Nao opened the door for them to enter. Hiroshi looked at them curiously, "" "" Nao said, " Hiroshi had looked at Tanjiro for a moment, seeming unsure so the guard gave him an encouraging smile so Hiroshi nodded and put his hands over his eyes. Cassidy carefully placed the weighted shark toy in his lap. The adults all smiled as the young boy opened his eyes and hugged the shark almost immediately after he realized it was a fabric that he liked. ""He looked up at them, "" "" Nao explained, "" Cassidy nodded, a bright smile still on her face, so glad that Hiroshi seemed to like the shark. "" Hiroshi said again, if he could, it seemed he would be physically bouncing all over the place. Instead the boy just settled for swaying side to side a bit in happiness. Both women let out small titters of laughter before bowing and taking their leave. "Oh I'm glad he likes it-" Cassidy blinked as Nao shushed her, pointing back to Hiroshi's door. It seemed Tanjiro was asking him something.. Tanjiro chuckled a bit at Hiroshi's facial expression. It seemed the kid didn't know what to think and was a bit flustered. He looked just like his dad when the Lord was flustered, as rare as it was when he showed it. "" Hiroshi started to rock in place a bit, one of his non harmful thinking habits, "......" He looked down at the blue one top of the plush shark and turned it to face him so it could look it in the face. "....." "Bishop." Cassidy had to cover her mouth to muffle her cry as Nao hurried her away, giggling. That boy was just too cute!!!