It all started with yelling. “Kono!” Chulainn shrieked, running as fast as his legs could take him. He had spotted Kono now, seeing the thin figure draped in the familiar white cloak standing in the field and staring at the soft sky.
“What?” Kono flatly responded, turning around from looking at the morning sky.
“It’s gone,” Chulainn breathed heavily, resting his hands on his knees.
“What’s gone?” Kono asked, folding his arms.
“My hammer,” Chulainn explained.
“Okay, why are you bothering me about this?” Kono replied, already getting bored with the conversation. “Go and clean your room and you’ll probably find it, you dolt.”
“No, Kono. You’re not understanding. I’m pretty sure someone stole it,” Chulainn said, still breathing hard to catch his breath.
“Why on earth would someone want to steal that piece of crap from you?” Kono inquired, rolling his eyes.
“I don’t know, but I’ve looked everywhere. I can’t find it,” Chulainn answered.
“So what do you want me to do about this?” Kono said.
“I just want you to help me find it,” Chulainn replied.
Kono sighed. “Fine, I’ll help you,” he moaned.
“Yay!” Chulainn squealed, grabbing Kono by the arm and pulling him back towards Chulainn’s house. They arrived at the small, cozy house, Chulainn immediately busting in. Chulainn led Kono to his room, which was a haphazard mess of clothes, blankets, and other trinkets strewn about.
“What on earth did you do to this place?” Kono asked, pointing at the room.
“Well, I was trying to find my hammer, so I just kind of started throwing stuff to see if it was under something,” Chulainn explained as he peeked under his bed again.
Kono rolled his eyes again, walking over and standing behind Chulainn.
“See? It’s not under here, where I usually keep it,” Chulainn said. He moved a few inches over for Kono to look. Kono kneeled down, peering under the bed.
“Huh. There doesn’t seem to be anything here,” Kono stated, standing back up. “So, kid, we’ll start by folding up all your stuff over there and putting it away. Then we’ll know for sure it’s not in that pile or under your bed. Then we can proceed to investigate, I guess.”
“Sounds like a good idea. I think all this stuff tripped me up cause I slipped on something and fell when I tried to run to get you,” Chulainn giggled sheepishly.
“You’re a dolt,” Kono replied flatly.
The two only spent around an hour cleaning up the strewn about items in Chulainn’s room. Then Kono sat down on the bed, putting his hand on his chin. Chulainn sat next to him, resting his hands in his lap.
“What are you thinking about?” Chulainn asked after quite a few moments of silence.
“I’m trying to figure out what we should do next,” Kono replied.
“What do you mean?” Chulainn queried.
Kono didn’t reply for a few moments again, eventually turning his head to Chulainn. “Has anything else gone missing?” Kono asked.
“I don’t think so… I haven’t gotten to see since I rushed almost immediately to you when I saw my hammer was missing,” Chulainn answered. Kono nodded sagely.
“Alright. Come on. That’ll be the first thing. We’ll ask your parents what they’ve noticed. After that… we’ll get some drinks,” Kono stated.
They first found Chulainn’s mother sitting out on the back porch. “Good morning,” she greeted delightfully as they approached.
“Morning, Mrs. Morgan. I have a question for you,” Kono began matter of factly.
“Yes?” she responded.
“Would you happen to have noticed that anything has gone missing in your house?” Kono asked.
“No… why?” Chulainn’s mother asked.
“Hmm,” Kono said, looking into the distance. “Curious. Well, I’m glad to hear seemingly nothing else has been stolen. Thank you for helping me, miss,” Kono kindly said, then turning around to walk back inside. Chulainn scampered after him, the two proceeding to the small shack a few paces from the house. Chulainn opened the door to the shack first, peeking only his head in.
“Hey dad?” he peeped. Kono only heard the metallic clanging from inside the shack cease and a grunt. “Can my friend ask you some questions for a minute?” Chulainn asked.
“Why sure, Junior!” Chulainn’s dad heartily chuckled. Chulainn stepped into the shack, and Kono soon followed. “Ah, it’s you!” Chulainn’s dad laughed, looking down at Kono with a twinkle in his eye.
“Yes, sir. I just need to ask you some questions. Um, have you noticed anything missing from your house or shack here?” Kono queried.
“No, not that I’ve seen,” Chulainn’s dad answered, stroking his bushy beard.
“Okay… Who has come to you in the past few days?” Kono inquired.
“Well, a few of my regulars… Jin, who works down at the bar, Rai, the sawmill manager, and Enki, who left town yesterday. Came over to say bye before he left,” Chulainn’s dad answered. “There was a little girl who stopped by, too. I can’t remember what she said her name was, but she asked what I could make, and I showed her some works, but she decided she didn’t want anything. Oh, and this other guy came by and tried to negotiate my price with me, but I wasn’t having it. I had to remove him from here by force because he wouldn’t leave when I asked him to.”
Kono nodded, his hand on his chin again. “Interesting… Well, thank you! Have a good day!” Kono said.
“You, too,” Chulainn’s dad wished them before the two scurried off.
“So, what are you thinking?” Chulainn asked as Kono walked confidently through the streets.
“I don’t know, kid. It makes no sense. I didn’t see any signs of damage to your house. It didn’t look like anyone forced their way in. But it’s gotta be someone who knows you or your family and has a grudge,” Kono reasoned. They walked in silence to the bar where they took a table and sat down with some drinks.
“W-what if it’s that guy, Enki, that my dad mentioned? He said he left town yesterday! What if they’re halfway across the country by now?” Chulainn cried.
“No,” Kono responded, quizzically holding his hand to his chin. “There’s no reason I can find that someone would specifically want to take your hammer. Maybe something your father made, but not your stuff. It’s gotta be someone who’s trying to screw with you. They probably want us to find them. We just need to know where to look… So who do we know that would want to screw with you?”
“Um… your sister? I’ve got nothing,” Chulainn responded.
“No. Lapis wouldn’t do something like this. Not her style. If she were to do anything, she’d mess with me,” Kono said.
“Then who?” Chulainn asked.
“Well, I think we can safely rule out the three ‘regulars’ your dad mentioned,” Kono reasoned. Chulainn nodded. “Now, who do we know who would be mad at you..,” Kono paused, tapping the table rhythmically. They sat like this for a little while, Kono staring into the glass of water he had in front of him. “Did you notice any noises in the night? Did anything stir you from your sleep?” Kono randomly asked.
“No,” Chulainn answered.
“Hmmm… Okay,” Kono sagely responded. He kept tapping his finger on the table, focusing on the glass of water. Suddenly, he looked at the glass of water, a quizzical look coming over his face. “Come on kid. I want to look at something again,” Kono said.
The duo went out, Kono leading them back to the house. He went confidently back to Chulainn’s room. He then knelt to the floor, looking carefully at it. He nodded as he observed the small spots of water residue on the floor. He peered at the window, putting his hands on the bottom. He shook the pane, feeling it easily lift up and down. He smirked and suddenly, with no warning, he slammed his fist in his hand. “Of course!” he yelled.
“What?” Chulainn asked. Kono gave no response, instead excitedly rushed out of the room. He ran straight for the shack, slamming the door open violently. He set his eyes straight on Chulainn’s father.
“What did that little girl look like?” Kono burst out.
“What?” Chulainn’s dad asked.
“What did the little girl you mentioned to us look like?” Kono repeated.
“Uh, she had blue hair that was somewhat long and gray eyes. She wore a pretty plain, black outfit,” Chulainn’s dad answered.
“Hah! I figured it out! Thank you!” Kono said rapidly, breathing heavily. He turned around and walked outside. He caught his breath and then looked over to smile at Chulainn. “I’ve figured it out,” he said again.
“Who is it?” Chulainn excitedly inquired.
“Heh, I’m surprised you didn’t recognize your father’s description. It’s Yui,” Kono responded, smiling.
“Yui?! Why would she be here?” Chulainn asked.
“Don’t you see? Obviously she wants to get back at you for beating her so badly in the tournament,” Kono explained.
“But where are we going to look? We have no idea where she could be hiding,” Chulainn stated.
“True. I think our best bet is to stake out your house. She may try to take something more or see how you’ve reacted. I think this culprit will return to the scene of the crime,” Kono replied. Chulainn nodded in agreement.
That night Kono and Chulainn both sat on Chulainn’s bed, doing nothing. As the darker hours of the night crept up on them, Chulainn began to get tired.
“Are you really going to fall asleep on me?” Kono asked after what felt like the thousandth yawn from Chulainn.
“No. Why do you still not trust me to do anything?” Chulainn snapped back.
“Don’t get snippy with me. Just stay awake,” Kono commanded.
Chulainn rolled his eyes. The two sat in silence for quite a while, the only sound being the two’s breath. Suddenly, Chulainn felt Kono shift and become tense. He also moved to hold his hand close to Chulainn’s arm.
“Be prepared,” Kono whispered.
Chulainn couldn’t see anything outside but suddenly heard the window begin to slide up, slowly but surely. No sooner had the window gotten all the way up when Kono bolted forwards, straight through the open window, and toppled the culprit.
“Kono!” Chulainn yelled, running up to the window. He saw Kono on top of a dark figure, Kono pinning down both of the figure’s arms. Kono turned his head slightly.
“Could you come here and do something?!” Kono shouted at Chulainn. Chulainn scurried out of the room and through the front door, arriving on the scene. “You really had to take the long way out, didn’t you?” Kono said, rolling his eyes. Suddenly, with a burst of strength, the dark figure pushed Kono off. Kono pulled out his weapon, a long, heavy scythe. He looked at the figure, every muscle in his body tense.
“Wait, Kono! Don’t start anything. Please,” Chulainn begged. Kono only grunted in response, still staring down the opponent. Chulainn then turned to the culprit. “Please. Just stop this,” Chulainn said.
“Why? Why should I do that?” The figure said in return, lifting her hand to the mask she wore over her head. She ripped it off, her long, blue hair flowing outwards. “You took everything from me!” Yui shouted.
“I-I didn’t mean to do anything to you,” Chulainn said.
“And yet you still took everything,” Yui snarled back.
“If you didn’t want that then you shouldn’t have entered that tournament,” Kono interjected.
Yui whipped her head around to look at him. “I was promised great things, not that all that I loved would be gone!” Yui snapped.
Kono growled, his muscles tightening again and raising his scythe.
“Look, Yui. I’m sorry! I didn’t want anything to happen to you… I didn’t know this hurt you this much… I’m sorry,” Chulainn apologized.
“What? You’re sorry?” Yui asked.
“Yes! I never wanted to hurt any of you! I just wanted to get out alive with my friends,” Chulainn answered.
“Heh. That’s all I wanted too, ya know? I just wanted to stay alive and live with my friends,” Yui smiled.
“We have something in common, then. So why do we have to fight?” Chulainn inquired.
“Heh. I don’t remember. I never wanted to hurt you… I just wanted to be with my friends,” Yui responded. Chulainn stepped closer, holding his hand out. Yui smiled at him, tears beginning to run down her cheeks. “You really are the nicest of them all, aren’t you?” asked she.
“Maybe I am, or maybe I’m not. I just want to help people,” Chulainn responded.
Yui chuckled weakly. “I really don’t know why I wanted to punish you. You’re the best one,” she said, grasping Chulainn’s hand and then falling into him. Chulainn put a hand on her back, looking sadly at her.
Kono sighed, putting his scythe back behind him. He walked a little closer, but still stayed a few feet away from the two. Eventually Yui picked her head out of Chulainn’s chest, looking up at him. Chulainn delicately put a hand on her cheek. Yui sighed.
“I should probably give you your stuff back,” she said.
“Maybe,” Chulainn joked. Yui giggled quietly.
“Yeah,” she simply replied. She led them out of town and past the large hill just outside. She led them to a small little notch in the hills and behind a rock she grabbed Chulainn’s hammer. “Here,” she said, handing it to him. He grabbed it, nodding.
“Do you want to go and get something to drink?” Chulainn offered.
“Nah. I’ve hurt you guys enough. I ought to just continue my journey,” Yui replied.
“Okay. Be good and keep yourself hydrated,” Chulainn said goofily.
“Heh. Thanks. You, too,” she responded. The three parted ways that day, both groups feeling good. The next day, after a good night’s rest, Kono and Chulainn sat around for breakfast.
“You know, Kono? How did you figure out who it was so quickly?” Chulainn asked.
“It was simple. I deduced that it would have to be someone with a beef with you, because I realized that your hammer isn’t something you use commonly, so it would be difficult for someone to know about it specifically. It’s also not in sight from your window, as you keep it under your bed, so no one could see it just by looking into your room. I then ruled that someone would have to have the ability to get into your room without damaging your house and quiet enough to not wake you. When I thought about possibilities, the water glass triggered thoughts of Yui, with her water abilities. When I observed the water spots on the floor and the loose window, I realized she had loosened and opened the window, then nabbed your hammer without having to set foot in your room. Then, when your father described the girl, my suspicions were affirmed. Then we just had to wait,” Kono explained.
“Huh. I never thought you were so observant and logical,” Chulainn commented.
Kono smirked but didn’t say anything, instead beginning on eating his pancakes.
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