Chapter 137 - "I Called First!"

"Lift your heads. I understand the desperation you feel, but lowering your heads this easily to me might just lower my good impressions of you two." Red tells the couple.

The couple immediately straighten their postures out of panic.

Red still sees the worry in their eyes however.

"I'm not going to fire you two." His preface drops the couple's stiff shoulders.

"But you did make things move faster than I had estimated." He shrugs.

The couple are confused, but they stay quiet.

"Come with me." Red tells them as he makes his way to the door.

After a short walk, the three arrive at the training yard where Kotone, Yoshiko, and the children are waiting.

"…" Kotone and Yoshiko give the couple strange gazes.

"…" The couple has noticed those looks from the two young women since yesterday.

But due to their perception of the two young women being powerful superiori, they did not dare to find out why the two cultivators' treatment of them suddenly turned lukewarm. They can only tread lightly while in the two women's presence.

Thankfully for the couple, they are saved from the intimidating looks by, "Good morning Kichirou-san.", the children's warm greetings to Red.

"Good morning, everyone." Red returns with a warm smile.

"Kids, wanna go inside the gate?" He then asks the children.

"Really?!"

"AWESOME!"

"OOhhh!"

The children exclaim in disorder.

They were always curious about what is beyond the huge bamboo gate they see every day. The gate they never saw anyone open, only jumped over or climbed.

"But I'm not going to open it." Red's words, like a bucket of ice-cold water, snuffs out the excitement of the children.

"If you want to see what is beyond the gate, you all have to climb it." He asks of them.

"…" Everyone, including the adults, are stunned.

They do not know why, but they feel that Red's words is not a jest.

"C-climb…" Taishiro utters.

"Yes. Climb over and there's a reward for you waiting." Red nods.

"Yoshiko already climbed the gate. And she already got her reward." He adds.

"…" Yoshiko is taken aback by being suddenly involved, but she already knows what to do.

"I did." She nods.

"Yoshiko-nee did?!" Ran looks at Yoshiko in disbelief, reflecting what the children and the dancer couple is feeling.

"Want her to show you all?" Red asks the children.

"*hehe~*" Kotone's sudden and out of place giggle makes the children nervous.

Soon, the group is now in front of the bamboo gate.

"…" Yoshiko who is standing right in front of the gate, gives Red a look of amusement.

She just noticed that the ropes tying the bamboo logs together, seems to have multiplied overnight, and are tied closer to each other. They look perfect for foot holds and grips for the children's small limbs and short reaches.

"Yoshiko-nee, be careful!" Chihiro says in worry.

"I will." Yoshiko nods to assure Chihiro before grabbing one of the ropes and pulling herself up with it.

Soon, she finds herself on top of the wall, and waves at the children.

"She really did it!" Chiro starts jumping in excitement.

"The other side looks so cool. You kids should see it." Yoshiko goads the children.

"I'll see you on the other side! It's nice over here." She then starts to climb down, instead of simply jumping down to keep the farce up.

She is not at all worried about the children's safety. After all, she knows, just like Red, Fumio, and Kotone knows, that the children, after unknowingly training their bodies with resistance seals in addition to bathing in herbal concoctions and eating the most nutritious food she knows, can survive falling the height of a two-story building, even if there is no one to catch them, even if they land to the ground head first. Whatever injuries they might incur, she knows that they will still come out of it perfectly fine with Red's healing powers.

The children however, does not know that.

*CLAP* "Alright." Red clasps his hands together loudly.

"Who's next?" He turns to the children.

"…" The children look at Red and they confirm that their adoptive father really is not kidding around.

Osamu looks at his step brothers and sisters and Kanon who is beside him stands out to him.

After all, unlike the three others who all look scared, Kanon is looking up at the top of the gate with pondering eyes.

"… Are you going for it?" He asks the girl quietly.

"…Uhn." Kanon simply nods as if it is obvious.

This pulls out a feeling of competitiveness out of Osamu's heart.

He noticed that it is always Kanon who was the best out of all the children in whatever task Red and Kotone wants them to do, except for school and drawing seals as Taishiro is number one in those, but he does not like school and drawing seals.

He noticed that Kanon was the first in completing the 16 poses, the first to be praised by Kotone for her use of the basic breathing technique, and the first to paint Kotone's clothes during their 'Nana Game'.

He was always puzzled because he is taller and bigger than Kanon, but he is always lagging behind her.

"I'll go first, Kichirou-san." He steps forward from the line-up.

"Oh?" Red raises his brows in false surprise.

"…" Osamu frowns at Red. He does not know why, but Red getting surprised at him volunteering makes him feel slighted.

"Go right ahead." Red's allowing gesture however eases that slight.

"Wait a minute, Osamu." Taishiro grabs Osamu's arm.

"It's dangerous." He warns.

"…" Osamu sees that Kanon is still looking at the top of the gate.

"I know. But I… wanna do it." He tells Taishiro.

"But…" Taishiro is taken aback.

"Kichirou-san… will you catch him if he falls?" He asks Red.

"I won't fall." Osamu however answers on behalf of Red.

"You don't trust Osamu?" Red asks Taishiro.

"I trust him. But it's still dangerous." Taishiro reasons.

"Yes. It is. But if in case he falls, I won't catch him." Red says.

"This…" Yori, who has been standing behind the children with Akane and Kotone, hears Red's words and he gets agitated.

"Sir. You really won't?" He asks.

Him speaking out, gathers the eyes of everyone.

"I won't. But that doesn't mean that I won't send him to the hospital." Red shrugs.

Yori is not appeased and, "I won't stand for this.", words of protest come out of his lips before he even realized it.

And when he realizes what he just said, "I…" he is stunned.

"This is abuse and manipulation, sir." Akane supports her husband.

"Well, well…" Red smirks at the two.

"Do you really think my kids are ordinary?" He tells the two through spirit sense.

"Wha-.." The couple is stunned, hearing Red's voice in their heads, but not seeing his lips move.

"So just shut up and watch." They hear Red's voice ring in their voice again, and they feel a choking feeling, any intentions of protesting are replaced with fear.

"Now, Osamu." Osamu's attention on Yori is taken by Red.

"I won't catch you in case you fall, and you might get hurt. Will you still do it?" Red warns Osamu one last time.

"I…" Osamu hesitates this time.

Then, out of the corner of his vision, he sees Kanon's figure appear.

"May I go first?" Kanon asks Red.

"I called first!" Osamu says in panic.

"…" Kanon is taken aback Osamu's outburst.

"Okay. Sorry." She apologizes.

Osamu, seeing Kanon's stunned face, realizes what he just did and, "It's okay. I'm sorry for yelling.", apologizes in return.

"Well then. Osamu." Red interrupts the moment.

"Be mindful of each of your movements, okay?... And.. " He starts prepping Osamu.

Soon, Osamu is now standing before the gate.

He always knew that the gate is huge, obviously. But thinking of climbing it, makes him feel like it grew a few more meters than usual. He wants to back out, but after Red's advices, and the supportive comments from his brothers and sisters, he figures it will be to embarrassing to quit now.

"*sssss…**huuuuu*" He takes one long drag of the basic breathing technique and after calming himself down, he grabs one of the ropes.

'Mindful of each hold and step. … Focus on climbing up' Red's words earlier replay in his mind, and before he knows it, he already feels himself ascending.

"Just me… *hup* and the wall… *hup*" Some time has passed, and after repetitive climbing movements while whispering the mantra he derived from one of Red's advices to himself, Osamu feels his body starting to feel heavier.

He knows that he is starting to get a bit tired, but seeing that he is almost at the top of the gate, he smiles in excitement.

A few more seconds later, he finally grips the top of the gate and pulls himself up.

"Whoa…" After peeking his head just enough to see the gardens, he is stunned by its beauty.

The lush green grass, the emerald green leaves of bushes and trees, the sparkling fruits and berries, and the flowers glowing under the sun, makes him feel like he is in a dream. He figures that even the flower gardens he saw in the film 'Princess Peony' is nothing compared to what he is looking at.

He does not know how long he has been appreciating the view, but he is pulled out from his daze when he feels his limbs starting to ache.

'Always be careful, even at the top, no matter what you see…'

Red's advice rings in his head once again.

After a split second of decision, he pulls his right leg up above his head with great flexibility and feels out the surface of the top of the gate.

After estimating the entire thickness of the gate with his foot, he hooks his leg on the opposite edge of the gate, and pulls the rest of his body up with his hand and arm.

Soon, he is now saddling the gate between his legs, sitting on it as if riding a bicycle.

"HE DID IT!"

"WHOOO!"

"OSAMU!"

"AWESOME!"

He suddenly hears cheers and applause from the foot of the gate.

He looks at the group, smiles, and waves his hand at them.

Suddenly, "Whoop!!", his heart drops realizing how high up he is.

His excitement and pride is slowly replaced by fear and he starts feeling dizzy.

"Very good Osamu! But it's not over yet! Now climb down to the other side and join Yoshiko!"

Red's words do not help and instead almost makes him puke.