Nino Mod (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nino_mod) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
ninoexchange2017-06-24 11:13 pm
nino_mod) wrote in ninoexchange2017-06-24 11:13 pm
Entry tags:
fic for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sky_fish7
For: sky_fish7
From: :3.
Title: 人間じゃない（？）
Pairing: Sakumiya, Juntoshi, Aimiya (bff), Matsumiya (brothers), Ohmiya (in laws)
Rating: PG-13 for Kisses
Warnings: Nothing
Summary: Two souls with two deep cuts finally met in a hidden village where magical creatures were actually free to roam around. You just needed to open your eyes wide to see one. The question is, how could they mend each other’s wound?
Note: Dear sky_fish, it really surprised me to have your name as my assignment. I'm a fan of your own sakumiya. I know this may not be as good as yours, but I do have a lot of fun in writing this and all small research to write it. Hope this meet your expectations and hope will like this.
Lastly, dear mod, thank you for arranging the exchange, I really appreciate your effort and help in my grammatical errors. Otsukaresamadeshita m_ _m
They were dancing the ballroom dance in a social event that his wife arranged. Most people snickered at them, saying the social event was nothing more than a socialite hang-out only with a conscience, just an event that basically covered up all the hedonistic lives they led daily. Some even came with harsher comments, that no matter how many good deeds they did, they would never cover up their sin. But then, the woman on his arm, his wife, never argued with such narrow-minded people, never cared about what others said, but never even stopped helping others. He was so proud of her, his childhood friend who turned to be his lifetime friend. It just seemed natural for them to get married as soon as they both finished their degrees. No one was surprised when he, Sakurai Sho, the heir of a television company in Japan, finally married the prospective young lawyer, Horikita Maki, making two wealthy family united in marriage.
Sakurai was looking down and smiling sweetly at his wife. He led her through the dance together. As the chairlady of the NGO social foundation, Maki had gathered all his and her friends, presenting the idea of helping in good deeds for people who were less fortunate than them. All the more reason for Sho to so proudly have full coverage of the event on his TV station. That night, everything went well, they both stood side by side, seeing their donations being counted, but…
“Sho! Look out!” It was too late for him to figure out what happened; all he knew was that he was shoved aside and his beautiful wife jerked as a machine gun shot through her small body. Sho watched as the white dress she was wearing turned red. He pushed himself up, didn't care about his surroundings, about the people screaming around him, his eyes fixed on her terrified ones until she fell down and he could only screaming her name. “Maki!”
✏ ✏ ✏
Sho jolted away from his seat. Seemed like he had fallen asleep at his desk in his office. Hopelessly wiping his sweat in January, he confusedly looked at all the paperwork on his desk just in time for his door to swing open before a man rushed into his office.
“Hey! You ok? I heard you screaming.” Sho looked blankly at the man before him, trying to collect his consciousness. He didn’t realize he was crying until the man offered him a box of tissues to his face.
“Still the same dream?” Sho nodded to the question, couldn’t find his voice to answer, just wiped all the sweat and maybe tears from his face with no words.
“Sho, don’t you think it’s about time for you to let go?” The tall man sat on the edge of his desk and Sho could see all worries inside the man’s eyes, but that angered him more than his dream.
“What can I let go? Have you caught the person that actually created the scenario? How long has it been, 4-5 years? Did your troops really work on the case or is it already saved in a thick ice box?” Sho kicked the table, making his chair whirl behind. He didn’t care that his action made his computer fall down. He stood up harshly after that, trying to even his raging breath, but the face of his dying wife was still so clear within his eyelids.
“Sakurai Sho, I will pretend I didn’t hear what you just said because we both know, who and why the case will never be resolved,” the man answered with gritted teeth.
“You might not trust me, but her case is the biggest failure in my entire police experience. We both know there’s a greater power that covered up the scenario, and I know even though the shooter had been shot death it didn’t put you at ease. Believe me, I know.” Sho looked at the man and somehow managed to feel calmer. This was not as simple as it may have seemed and he, as did the other man, knew that well.
“I’m sorry, Bussan-nii, I…” his words stopped, and he suddenly felt ashamed of himself, since he knew how hard the man before him had worked and how much it devastated him when there was a letter from the top of the police squad instructing him to stop the investigation. That’s when Sakurai knew, the attack was arranged neatly for him.
“Just forget it, I know you don’t mean it.” The man sat before him, inhaling deeply. Sho had broken the mutual silent agreement on the case with his outburst just now, and that made it awkward for both of them. “I’m here because people in your home are worried about you. They said you haven’t returned home for a week now.”
Sho didn’t answer his cousin that he considered his own older brother. Instead he looked down at his uneven fingernails that were broken since he kept biting into them every time he was worried, and for the last five years, there were countless times when he was under deep depression.
“Listen Bambi, I understand, but please at least let us know where you are. Your parents are also worried about you.” Okada Junichi, or as Sho often called him, Bussan, was his cousin, and at that moment, Sho felt sorry for him. It must have been hard for his cousin to appear calm in their family while he was screaming inside, wanting to reveal details about the case as much as he wants. Not to add, Bussan was the only one his parents would come to whenever he was in trouble, and his cousin had been the one who saved his ass since childhood.
“And, Aoi asked me to invite you to dinner tonight. She really won’t accept a no as an answer,” his cousin continued, picking up the documents scattered around just like he always did.
“Bussan, I don’t think I’d be the best guest tonight, so maybe better next time.” Sho knew how his cousin’s wife also worried about him, but he just wanted to spend the rest of his night alone with a bottle of whiskey and the memory of his beloved wife. He straightened his body and piled all the documents Okada brought to his desk too, but handwriting caught his attention.
“Bambi, please, Aoi misses you too. You two are best friends aren’t you? She’ll understand no matter how badly you behave, or maybe we can get drunk together, the three of us if you want.” Sho just kept quiet, looking at the bright pink post-it on top of a document where he could clearly read his wife’s handwriting.
“Hey, are you listening to me?”
“Bussan, do you know where Hirabaru is?” Sho finally looked up, showing the document he had in his hand. He handed it over to Okada who had a confused face.
He sat back for awhile, looking at Okada reading the document, wondering how it was placed on his desk and when. He just knew the village name bothered him somehow. He remembered this was supposed to be Maki’s last social project; the village was flattened down by a landslide, and the social event Maki arranged was to raise awareness for said village, but Sho was certain it would never happen. They did transfer the donation to the village, but no one had actually checked whether the donation had been received and used well or not.
“Maybe I’ll visit it one day…”
🐱🐱🐱
“Kazu, where are you going?” The young man turned to find his unamused brother behind him. Annoyed by the question, he stood up when he finished tying his shoes, silently opening the door in front of him.
“Not so fast! Answer me.” This time, the man called Kazu fully turned his body around, seeing the beautiful man in front of him.
“I’m going to my part-time job, and in case you forgot, you’re not really my parent, Jun.” He knew he hurt the man instantly with those words, but at least it would get him off the hook.
“I’m still your older brother, and I have all the right to question you. What part-time job you have? You had been at Aiba Shrine during the day.” Jun’s voice got lower and started shaking. Kazu knew his brother was on the brink of anger, disappointed and giving up.
“How long do you have in this form? It’s not healthy for you, Kaz. You have to change once in awhile.” Jun continued with his preaching as Kazu just stayed silent. Getting more annoyed with his brother, Kazu could only mumble, “You’re noisy.”
“Kazu, look at me and tell me properly, where are you going? It’s been five years, and I’ve never said a word, but now you need to tell me what it is that’s bothering you now. Where have you been every single night?” This time, Kazu rolled his eyes. “Then leave it that way. Mind your own business.”
“Confusing people so they get lost on their way here is not an answer for what has happened, Kaz. you must learn to forgive yourself. He has forgiven you.” Jun hadn’t finished his words.
“What do you know, huh? You’re not the one betraying your master! You’re not the one drowning half of the village!” Kazu had strode toward him instantly, grabbing his brother’s kimono and shove him to the wall despite their different sizes. Kazu knew that his bigger brother let himself get shoved away, only growling in annoyance. His brother might as well have expected it to happen. But before everything went worse, a hand grabbed his wrist.
“He’s not, neither of you have. I did. Now, let him go Kaz, please.” A soft baritone tone interfered between the two brothers. A smaller man with tanned skin stood beside them, one of his hands grabbing Kazu’s wrist.
“Your brother is just worred about you, Kazu. I’m sure you can understand him,” the man continued, slowly untangling his fingers from Jun’s kimono. “You only have each other, so please try to get along like you had before. You used to be so close.”
“Used to be, there’s a past tense in that, Ohchan.” Kazu slowly released his grip. That man, Ohno Satoshi, also known as the Village’s leader who also happens to be his brother-in-law, is right. He used to be close with his brother. He admired him, and even when they grew up and lived separately, even after Kazu was saved by his master, even after Jun married his husband now, they are still close. But one minor incident led to a bigger one, and even the biggest one that almost destroyed the village they lived in, and killed Kazu’s old master, all courtesy of his own foolishness.
“It’s all in the past. The past is past. What’s so wrong about your brother wanting to know your present?” Kazu chose not to answer him. He knew he wouldn't win against them anyway. He opted to leave the house in silence as he took the conversation as ended.
Kazu tighten his jacket around his neck as he sat quietly over the big stone near the village entrance. The dusk was just about to end, darkness engulfing his surroundings, but he still could see clearly that his charm on the village gate was still strongly intact, like it had been since 5 years ago. After the accident that destroyed half of the village, he installed his charm on the gate, confusing outsiders from coming into his village. No one was supposed to know he had put it there, but his brother’s inquisition just now might have proved him wrong.
He knew why he was mad with his brother back then. It was not just because he was caught putting on the charm, but also the fact he had done it to prevent any outsiders from coming into the village like how it had happened 5 years ago, an outsider that had confused him, and showed him dreams that he should not be dreaming, an urge to go against his own destiny without him realizing he was destined to be trapped in the remote village, up on the hill.
He just didn’t want to repeat the same mistake. Why couldn’t his brother see that all he did was just protect himself from getting hurt, protect the village from another disaster? All he did was to show him, how sorry he was. But no, his brother would never understand him, Kazu thought, so he would just keep continuing to confuse people that wanted to enter to the village, and keep the gate close from anyone that was not a village resident.
Kazu’s train of thought was distracted when he felt someone approaching the village gate. He sat quietly, looking down when he noticed a head of a human getting closer to the gate. The human hand was extended and touched the gate’s pillar confusedly. He had made the gate look like it hadn’t been passed through for long time, with bushes around the gate, and tall weeds covering half the height of the pillar. No one in their right mind would come past that kind of gate, especially now when dusk was over and darkness engulfed the area.
Kazu sat, only silently waiting for the human to pass like others who had come before, but when the man approached the gate, he couldn’t help feeling slightly worry and intrigued. With his chin on his hand, his eyes screening that man below his feet. That man’s shoes were dusty, and he carried a big bagpack with an additional strap on his chest, a red water bottle dangling on his hip, his right hand holding a walking stick for hiking. Kazu tried to look at the man’s face, but the brim of his sun hat was covering his face. Kazu rose immediately to his feet when that man touched the gate. He was really worried now, especially when the man tried to shake it. Hurriedly, Kazu leaped from his place, making sure his appearance was seeable, and he approached the weird man.
“Excuse me sir, what are you doing here?” he asked nonchalantly as he tried his best to hide his grin seeing the man yelping and jumping like a little girl.
“Ah, gosh, you surprised me.” Now Kazu could see the man clearly even under the dim moonlight, and he could make out the figure in front of him. High nose, round eyes, and pouting lips. He was sure many had been brokenhearted by that man, just the kind he hated the most.
“You still haven’t answered me. What are you doing here?” Kazu tried to be mean without being scary, playing the part of the bratty boy that he appeared to be.
“Do… do you live in this village? Is this Hirabaru village?” True to his initial thought, that man came to this kind of high place only to look for his village. Not an easy task to do though.
“Why are you looking for Hirabaru? It’s just a legend.” Kazu shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s said the village is here.” That man showed him a Google map on his smart phone.
“Well, Google can be wrong sometimes. It’s just ruins in there.” Kazu walked away, baiting the man to follow him. No one in their right mind would want to stay out on such a dark cold mountain night.
“But, hey, wait, the village was here 5 years ago, right? Social workers said the donation was received well. Where’s it now?”
“How should I know? Maybe they moved away.”
“The whole village?” Kazu mentally slapped his own face. Of course that man wouldn’t trust such obvious lies.
“Ah, Kazu, there you are.” Kazu really slapped his own face now, hearing a nasally voice he knew way too well. “Your brother just told me what happened, and that’s not nice leaving home without eating. Come on, Erika’s cooking your favorite hamburger.”
“Aibaka! Shut up!” Kazu tried to silence the tall men he’d known since they were babies, but of course, it was an impossible thing to do. If someone could keep bouncing, excited and blabbing around, Aiba Masaki was the one that could do it.
“Hmh, excuse me.” Kazu didn’t try to hide his glare at his friend, when the stranger approached them carefully.
“Oh, sorry I didn’t see you, are you Kazu’s friend?” This time, Kazu really was rolling his eyes. There was no limit to Aiba’s positive thinking. He grabbed his friend’s hand, intending to leave the stranger all by himself.
“Oh, so the boy’s name is Kazu?”
“Hey, watch who you’re calling a boy. I may be older than you, old man.” Kazu turned to get his message across.
“Okay, I’m sorry, but could you please tell me where Hirabaru village is? I wished to go there, and it’s dark now, and there’s no public transport passing through this area.” The man looked desperate now, trying to talk with Aiba after stopping them for a while.
“I’ve told you, the village is gone!” Kazu raised his voice at the same time that Aiba answered. “You can come with us.”
The man looked confused, looking back and forth between the two of them. If Kazu wasn’t so worried about his charmed entrance gate beside them, he would be laugh loudly, seeing the man mimicking a goldfish.
“W… wait, I’m not following either of you.”
“Kazu and I are the villagers of Hirabaru. In fact, Kaz here is… ouch.” Kazu stepped on his longest friend’s feet. Aiba could relay too much important information without even noticing, and no one could ever be mad at him because he’s just being himself.
“Thank you. I’ve been walked around since noon looking for your village. It’s still here, isn’t it?” The man looked at Kazu accusingly.
“And you are?”
“Sorry for the late introduction. My name is Sakurai Sho from the Sakurai Foundation.” The man pulled off his hat, and Kazu could see the wide forehead behind it.
“Sakurai Foundation? I think I’ve heard of it before. Aiba Masaki at your service.” Aiba extended his hand, as friendly as he always was. Kazu still believed in his theory that even if there was serial murder coming to the village, Aiba would still welcome him openly.
“And this one is Kazu.” Aiba turned his hand, grabbing the smaller man instead.
“Yes, I’ve been in his care for a while just now. Nice to meet you.”
“Why did you come all the way here?” Aiba walked beside the man, gesturing to the man the pavement he should take. Kazu felt like he wanted to strangle his friend for blowing his camouflage on the gate. The man, Sakurai, still looked confused as all he saw was Aiba walking through high bushes with ease.
“I… I was just sent to check on the village. Our foundation had sent a donation to the village 5 years ago so I just want to check on it.
“Now I remember where I had heard your name. Indeed there was social company that came here after the flood, but after a month, they all went and never returned. Are you from that company?” Aiba chatted quickly, still holding a struggling Kazu in his hand. Now Kazu remember the name too, even the sakura logo that had covered his house for almost a year. An aid sent it to them because he was too stupid to believe a stranger, the same mistake he vowed never to make again.
“Wait, Kaz!” Aiba was distracted from his questions when Kazu, who had not said a word until they had entered the gate now, snapped his hand free. He really did not intend to hear all of their conversation, much less now that he had an important thing to do, which was strengthen his charm on the gate. At least this time, if anything happened to the village, it would be all Aiba's fault.
“I'm sorry, he’s usually not like that.” Kazu could hear Aiba apologize quietly as he walked away from the two of them.
✏ ✏ ✏
Sakurai Sho just couldn't believe his luck. After he arrived in Fukuoka, he started questioning around for Hirabaru village, but no one seemed to know the area, not the tourist information, police, or even the post office guy. The only information he got was from an old station head that told him to go to Inunaki Dam, so he did. He really did, but lost track of time while he was admiring the grand structure of the dam, a hobby he enjoyed during his college years. It was way past lunch when he finally remembered his plan. Again, no one seemed to remember that the dam was actually built above half of a village that was now buried deep inside. He walked in a circle until he finally noticed the gate that he swore wasn’t there before. He had circled the place for the 3rd time, and that was the time he finally noticed the hidden gate.
Sho didn’t regret his decision though. Even in the darkness of the night, he still could appreciate the beauty of the village. At least here, he could see the stars clearly. That Aiba guy had been so friendly. He talked about the first team that had come to the village and Sho felt a tug in his heart. Even in his desperation, the people Maki and he trusted kept their promise to help the village. Aiba was so easy to talk to, and from him, Sho had a full report of what the donation had done, but their conversation stopped when Aiba showed him a wide house on top of the hill. Taking a wild guess, Sho could tell it was the village head’s house.
“Excuse us, Ohno-san, can we come in?” Sho was a little shocked seeing Aiba asking while at the same time sliding the door open.
“Masaki, it’s late. Is Kazu with you?” Sho was instantly mesmerized by the pretty guy that stood in front of them, and another wild guess made Sho sure that this man was the village’s head.
“Ah, Jun, sorry, I couldn’t bring him home, but don’t worry, he’s at his usual place.” Sho tried to school his face into neutral, but it was kind of impossible. That man questioned about the Kazu boy, and it seemed like both he and Aiba knew how the boy usually spent his time, but how come they were so calm, when they knew a boy was wandering around at night in a village on top of the mountain like this? Sho brow scrunched more as the man sighed deeply.
“And who is this gentleman you brought?” Another man suddenly appeared beside the first man.
“Hi Riida, I want you to meet Sakurai Sho. I found him wandering outside our village gate.” Aiba answered immediately after a small bow. So, that man was the village’s leader, but it was still weird to see how Aiba was being respectful to the smaller man.
“You found our gate?” It was the pretty guy that questioned him, even before he could introduce himself. Sho however, found the question rather tricky. Was the gate mean not to be found? He was about to voice his question, but the smallest man cut into his thought.
“I believe we can discuss it inside.” Sho felt cold air around him as the leader spoke and lead the way inside. He stood there confusedly until Aiba tapped his shoulder and gestured him to get into the hallway, following their host. They entered a traditional guest room, with all tatami mats, a kotatsu table and low chairs, like what he could find in a ryokan. The room was tidy and well managed, an ikebana brightening the room with its purple and blue hortensia, an odd choice of flowers, Sho thought.
“So, allow me to introduce myself, I’m Ohno Satoshi and this is Jun.” The smallest opened their conversation when teas and cakes were served in front of them. Sho felt his stomach grumble, which made him realize the last time he ate was at the small cafe near station. His face instantly turned red as the other three looked at him warily.
“I’m so sorry, my name is Sakurai Sho from Sakurai Foundation.” He bowed and he could see the other three trying to hold in their laughter. He hoped the floor could open up and swallow him. Maybe seeing his discomfort, Ohno coughed a little. “Jun, dear, I’m still quite hungry, do you mind making me another set of onigiri?”
“I…” Sho words were cut off immediately as Ohno stopped him. “Don’t worry Sakurai-san, I always can’t get enough of Jun’s onigiri.”
“So, what made you come to our humble village?” Ohno started questioning him, as the other host walked out to a door that Sho thought was where the kitchen would be.
“I’m from Sakurai Foundation. Around 5 years ago, after that painful flood, we donated money to the village, and we just wanted to know if our donation had helped the village and if we could help you with other work so the village could be easier to live in.” Sho had prepared his answer, although deep inside he just want to know if the village Maki had strived for until her last breath really was worth her devotion.
“We apologize for bothering you so far Sakurai-san, but nevertheless, we are grateful for your attentive donation. It helped our village a lot.” Sho could sense something was wrong with the politeness of the leader’s words. It seemed like he had touched a forbidden topic to discuss on their first time meeting, especially when the other host was coming out of the kitchen with freshly made onigiri. “We’re sorry for poorly welcoming you. Had we known, we would have arranged more acceptable festivities.”
“No, it’s my mistake for coming and bothering you so late at night.”
“Please have some, and we wish to know about your travels to our village. It must have been some adventure for you.” Jun spoke softly with a big smile, but somehow Sho didn’t feel the smile reached his eyes.
🐱🐱🐱
“Have you lost your mind, Ohchan?!” Kazu stormed into the backyard of their home, found the man sitting lazily under the spring sun and quickly shut his mouth as he saw the big white cat on his brother-in-law’s lap. The man was looking at him expectedly. “What do you mean?”
“You… you let that Sakurai guy stayed over? And in Aiba’s house?” Kazu hissed, avoiding waking the cat up.
“He seemed nice, didn't he? And where did you think he should stay? Here?” Kazu bit the inside of his cheek, quickly thinking of an excuse to kick the man out. When he didn't answer, Ohno continued.
“You know it would be impossible to let him live in our house, right?” Kazu just nodded at the question. No human is actually allowed or can survive approaching the single house on the hill except the Aibas.
“But why Aiba? Let him stay in the woods. That’ll teach him not to step into someone else’s area.” Being the stubborn person he was, Kazu still wanted to defy his brother. He hated when humans came into the village. Despite the fact that his brother should already know why, he still let that single human stay in their village.
“There’s something that had cut him deep Kaz, and I’m sure, he’s not here to just check where on the donation went. Why don’t we help him find his inner peace here?” Ohno asked him, stroking the white cat so it purred gently under his touch.
“Ne, Ohchan, if anything went bad, I wasn’t the one that let that man come in and stay in our village. It’s all yours now.” Kazu was ready to turn, but his brother caught his wrist before he could, pulling him gently until he sat beside the man.
“None of what happened five years ago was your fault, Kaz. I was the one that lost control. I was the one that killed, not you, and it had never been you. Your brother is more worried about you than I am. You must learn to let go, Kaz. You’ve tried your best to protect this village, but maybe, just maybe, not all humans are as bad as the one that tricked you.” Kazu looked at the cat on his brother’s lap. He knew the cat had been listening to all of Ohno’s words despite pretending to sleep.
“You wouldn’t have lost control if that bastard hadn’t threatened Jun, and Jun wouldn’t have lost his privileges if he hadn’t protected me. Can’t you see? It’s all my fault. It was me who fell into his trap, it was me who dreamt big, it was me who tried to leave the village, who betrayed the master that had once saved my life.” Kazu leaned his head onto Ohno’s shoulder. He was the one that was the most joyous when Jun accepted Ohno’s proposal despite other suitors that had tried to have his brother’s hand in marriage. For Kazu, Ohno was not only a brother-in-law, but since who knows when, he was relying to the tanned man. He lied the night before. To him, Ohchan and Jun were more like parents to him than brothers. That was another reason he couldn’t forgive himself. “I had betrayed the two of you.”
“You are still our precious baby brother, remember?” Ohno patted his head, the act that he was never worthy of. “Your brother and I just want what’s best for you, Kaz, so please give that human a chance to prove that not all humans are as bad as that one, mostly, give yourself a chance to move on.”
Kazu decided not to answer. Instead he put his head in Ohno’s lap, side by side with the big white cat. He stroked the cat’s head, murmuring, “Sorry.”
***
“Good Morning everyone.” Kazu rolled his eyes hearing the cheerful voice on the next day he went to Aiba’s shrine. He was surprised yesterday when he saw the man was sitting at Aiba’s dinner table, having breakfast while talking friendlily with Aiba. That must not be right, and that was the reason he went to complain to his brother-in-law. But today is another day, with another annoyance in his presence.
“Good morning, Kazu.” The man stood in front of him, but Kazu didn’t give a damn. He kept on his work, sweeping the yard of Aiba shrine.
“Aiba told me you work as the shrine keeper. Must be hard, isn’t it?” Kazu stayed silent, pretending the man didn’t exist. He swept further into the yard, noting some cherry blossom trees needed fertilizer.
“So you’re still not talking with me?” The man was still following him. Kazu almost lost his temper. How persistent can that old man be? He intently swept the fallen dry leaves in his direction, silently telling him to leave him alone. He half-heartedly listen to the man complain, but he put on his victory pose when the man finally turned and left him to do his task in peace.
Kazu threw the matches onto his piling leaves, watching the fire burn them slowly. “You really won’t spare that poor man ne, Kaz?” Kazu exhaled exaggeratedly, seeing his best friend lean on a tree with his son Kou on his back.
“Why don’t you mind your own business, Masaki? Don’t you have some prayers you need to conduct?” He point at Aiba’s attire, the white and red hakama that priests usually wear. It meant he had something on his schedule.
“Don’t be so uptight, Kaz, the kids miss uncle Kazu, especially because you didn’t return here yesterday. So he’s all yours, and if Erika asks, do you mind telling her I will be having prayer with your brother-in-law? Thanks,” Aiba said quickly, shoving his son onto Kazu and pecking his cheek.
“Yeah right! Bring me some trout!” Kazu couldn’t help but chuckle. Prayer with his brother-in-law only meant they both would go fishing on the Inunaki Dam, and just didn’t want to be bothered by his brother and Aiba’s wife, Erika. Kazu was still smiling, holding little Kou on his hips while he watched the fire slowly go out. He gathered the ashes together in the middle, and he threw a bucket of water towards it. What he didn’t expect was someone yelping. “Who’s there?!”
“Oh no! What are you doing?” Kazu was so surprised to see Sakurai coming out from behind a tree, all wet with his phone in his hand. The man seemed to yell more at him but hold the words when he saw Kou on his hips. “Listen, I know you don’t like me, but could you at least check your surroundings before watering?”
Kazu didn’t get time to respond, as Sakurai stomped past him, trying to dry himself and his phone. He just stood there, seeing Sakurai grumble, holding his phone and trying to make a phone call, failing of course. Kazu started with smile before he laughed out loud. That should teach the human a lesson, a reminder that the shrine is a phone-free area.
***
That was basically how their days started. Kazu still came to Aiba’s shrine, but he tried his best to avoid the man. It wasn’t a really hard job to do since the man himself was rarely seen at the shrine. He most likely walked around the village and Kazu could see all maidens smitten by him. Just the nature of a human, Kazu thought. He really wished Ohchan would kick him out of their village soon, because the man seemed to overstay his 1-2 day stay for so long that it was almost a week now.
“Kazu-jii, Kazu-jii, let’s look for beetles, come on Kazu-jii.” One of the village kids called him from below the shrine gate. Kazu was startled. So it was beginning of summer already, and it would mark five years even since the painful. He shook his head immediately, yelling back at the group of children. “Oi, I’m not a jii-chan, it should be nii-chan, you brat.”
The kids were just laughing but beckoning him to follow them, which he did laughingly. He always believed, human children have the purest nature, a clean sheet, a soul that was not corrupted yet, unlike their adults. Kazu was engulfed by the kids’ enthusiasm, so much that he didn’t realized Sakurai stood under the tree, watching him being dragged along by the kids.
Kazu was still chuckling when he dried his hair. It looked like his beetle searching turned into a water war on the river where the kids decided that a wet uncle Kazu was the greatest goal they will have for that day, so that was how Kazu returned home all drenched, laughed at by the mothers, but they seemed to feel sorry for him too. Kids always had that power.
“Excuse me, Ohno-san.” Kazu hurriedly came out the bathroom, grabbing his t-shirt without putting it on. His brother was not at home when he came home just now, so no one could answer the call. He opened the door in an instant and froze, seeing the last man he wished to see standing before him. Kazu was suddenly aware of his half nakedness when he felt the man’s eyes roaming his body. He felt his cheeks burning, so he put on his shirt with a death glare at the man.
“What do you want?”
“Is Ohno-san home?”
“If he were, he would have opened the door.” Kazu heard the man sighed before he turned without a word and Kazu felt a little bit bad. Maybe that man really had an urgent matter. “Why do you want to see my brother anyway?”
“Not that you’d help to pass the message on to him anyway, right? Why bother asking?”
“Hey, I’ve tried to help you.” Kazu’s words were caught when he saw Ohchan coming back, the big white cat was in his arms.
“Sakurai-san, what a pleasant surprise. How can I help you this time?” Kazu saw his Ohchan being too friendly with the human, but he might not have been the only one, as the cat in Ohchan’s arms glared at the man, hissing madly.
“Ohno san, glad to see you. I wanted to ask your permission.” Sho stepped back, getting away from the cat, making Kazu giggle a little. “My cousin wants to see me in this village, but I can’t answer him yet, before I ask your permission.”
Ohno looked calm as always, but Kazu knew that his brother was as surprised as him. He looked at his older brother who was stroking the cat slowly, an act that Kazu knew was meant to calm himself, before he answered. “I’m honored that you think about this village first before inviting your cousin, Sakurai-san. However, I must decline your request. As you may know by now, the villagers are not really open to strangers.”
Kazu scrunched his eyebrows together. Villagers seemed not to have any issues with how Sakurai wandered around these days, but he knew why Ohno declined. All for him. As always.
“No worries, Ohno-san, I will just meet him on the dam. It’s also the easiest place to go to.” Sakurai smiled brightly. “Thank you for your understanding, Sakurai-san. I’m really sorry for not accepting your request.” Ohno nodded a little, dismissed the man silently.
***
Kazu swore he wasn’t following the man on the next day. He has his own business, namely getting the fertilizer Aiba ordered by mail at the nearest post office. No, he wasn’t following the man when he saw him hugging a tall man in a parking lot of the dam. He just strolled down on his bicycle passing the dam, insisting to himself he didn’t need to know what the man was up to.
Kazu took the 20 kilos of fertilizer that Aiba ordered, cursed internally, thinking about how he could bring it up to his village. He sure would give Aiba his wrath later on, he thought as he put the fertilizer on his bike. True to his prediction, he was running out of breath halfway, which was in front of the dam. Kazu was not considering the fact that the car he saw earlier was still in the parking lot, no, that definitely was not the reason he pulled his bicycle over and decided to rest for a while at the dam. Absolutely not.
The dam was relatively empty except for some seasonal fishermen trying their luck fishing there. Kazu just looked around until he found Sakurai standing side by side with the same man he saw earlier. Kazu took a seat, still watching Sakurai, who laughed at the man’s words, and Kazu thought about how he never saw that laugh before in the village. Sakurai always smiled, but never laughed like he did just now. That intrigued Kazu, wanting to know what he was up to, so he slowly walked toward the two of them.
“No, Bussan, but I feel bad prolonging my holiday.” Kazu could hear Sakurai say those words.
“Why should you? I can understand why. This area has such clean, fresh air, I would stay here forever if I were you,” the other answered laughingly.
“I wished I could, Bussan, but you know it won’t be so easy. I have live in Tokyo too, you know.”
“A life where you work 25 hours?” There, Kazu saw the sad smile again. “Hey, I was just saying, maybe it would be good for you to stay here and relax for a while.”
“I wish I could relax, but there’s this brat that keeps on bothering me since earlier. I had to put my phone under a drier once because he throws buckets of water on me. Can you imagine that?” Kazu couldn’t believe his ears. How could that man say bad things about him? He never asked him to come to the village, and as far as Kazu was concerned, that man had better leave as soon as possible. He decided, he had no need to be there anymore, so he turned around to continue his trip back to the village, but he didn’t see a man taking his lure backward and hit him, making him fall down on the wrong foot.
“Kazu?” Kazu groaned hearing Sakurai called his name. He tried to get up and get away from there, but his right foot objected, made him fall again, and he looked away from Sakurai’s worried face. “What are you doing?”
Kazu pushed the man away, but he didn’t budge. Instead he circled his waist and picked him up, bringing him away from the crowd.
“Oi Bambi! What’s going on? Who is the boy?” The one that Sakurai was talking to followed them to the parking lot, but Sakurai didn’t seemed to hear him, focusing on him instead. “Bussan, I’ll call you later, I’ll let you know when I’m ready to go back to Tokyo.”
“Put me down! Now! I don’t need your help.” Kazu struggled, feeling so ashamed being easily manhandled like that with people watching them in amusement.
“Stay still or I may drop you and your ankle will get worse.” Kazu froze. It was the first time anyone had yelled at him for long time. Even his brothers had stopped reprimanding for as long as he could remember. “How did you get here?”
“Bike.” Kazu pointed to the only yellow bike under the shade of a tree. Sakurai put him down once they got to the bike. He arranged the fertilizer sack before arranging Kazu to sit.
The road back was spent in silence until Kazu couldn’t help asking. “Why are you helping me? I still won’t be nice to you, just so that you know.”
“Don’t worry, you had made it clear that you don’t like me.”
“So why bother helping me? I’m just a brat that made your phone wet,” Kazu questioned, trying to ignore the nice smell from Sakurai’s back. Wait, he didn’t just say it was nice, right? Can't be right, especially when Sakurai mumbled, “So you did overhear us.”
Sakurai didn’t answer him. Instead he was just pedaling with all his might upward to the village, his breath ragged. Kazu almost felt sorry for him. Pedaling a bicycle with 20 kilos of fertilizer and himself must have been hard for the man. They didn’t say anything until they reached the village’s gate. “Listen, I know you don’t like me, that’s crystal clear, but I know you don’t mean anything bad. No bad people would help others in need, no matter how silly it was, like finding a beetle for kids. So, truce? At least until we get to the village, and get the doctor to check on you.”
Truce didn’t seemed too bad now, Kazu thought.
***
His ankle did get twisted, and it took him 3 days to get it into function, but after that, the relationship with Sakurai changed a little bit. At least he didn’t try to throw buckets of water on him anymore. They strolled together through the village, with Kazu’s excuse being that he was just helping Ohno to distribute the announcement. At least now they could talk like civilized people, and Kazu felt a little proud of himself. He even sat with the kids as Sho taught them English. It seemed like talking with Sho made him remember his dreams, which sometimes he was afraid of. He was assuring himself, he would never go down the same path ever again, and that he would just learn what he could here, in the safety of his village, as long as Sho stayed.
“Are you sure you have everything with you?” Kazu heard Aiba’s wife, Erika, ask, and he turned to see if she was talking to him, but no, she was talking to Sho who had a full backpack with him. Aiba at her side also looked at the man with worry.
“Going somewhere?” Kazu approached them and questioned him. It had been almost a month of Sho’s stay that he didn’t understand the uneasy feeling of seeing Sho with a big carrier, all ready to go, didn’t know where to, but maybe he was returning to Tokyo. A pang tugged at his heart when he had the thought.
“Kazu, good that you’re here. Sho here insists on going alone into the woods. He wants to see stars, he said.” Erika was the one who answered his question. “Please tell him the woods can be dangerous, especially for him, who doesn’t know the area.”
“Erika-san, you’re just too worried, but I’m grateful. I’m sure I will be fine though.” Sho laughed a little, to get his host to stop worrying. Kazu couldn’t say that Erika was wrong. The woods could be mean to humans sometimes, especially to a city born like Sho who didn’t know anything about surviving in nature.
“Erika is right, Sho, it may be better if you went there with someone familiar with the woods,” Aiba chirped in. This time, Kazu did feel a little worried, as he saw some teasing in his eyes. “Kazu can help you go through the woods. He’s been there for most of his life, and he knows the area like the back of his hand.”
“Oi…” Somehow, Kazu could hear his own complaint was made halfheartedly.
“No, that’s okay, Kazu may be busy and has better things to do, right Kazu?” Sho refused with a red face, something that Kazu believed was related to the rising temperature lately. “Well, if you opted to get lost in the woods, then be my guest.”
“Come on, just go, you two. It’s been a long time since you went into the woods too, right Kaz?” Kazu couldn’t understand why Aiba seemed so excited with them going together. He looked at the pair questioningly, but didn’t object when they pushed him to go with Sho, waving excitedly.
“Kazu, wait!” Instead of stopping, Kazu quickened his steps even more, trying his best to avoid that man. “Hey Kazu, wait for me.”
Kazu turned in annoyance, just as the man tripped on his own feet, making him lose his balance and fall on all fours. Kazu couldn't help his laughter, seeing that miserable state. Sho stood up with a full pout, wincing as he saw his hand and the tear on his knees.
“Really, Sho, I wonder how you could find our village when you are this clumsy.” Kazu turned around and stepped toward him. He still couldn't conceal his amusement.
“Well the road is even and I wasn't chasing after a bratty boy whose hobby is running away from his house,” Sho answered grumpily.
“Hey, I wasn't running away from home. This was supposed to be the way to the waterfalls, which by the way wasn't your thing, old man.”
“Oi, watch your language, boy, I'll show you I can always chase you around.” Kazu silently heard the confidence in Sho’s words.
“Hmph, do whatever you want, just don't get in my way.” Kazu turned again, stepped away, and continued his walk, but now, he stopped once in a while, pretending to search for something, or tying his shoes, while the truth was that he was waiting for Sho to catch up. He heard the man breathing heavily, and Kazu smirked. That should teach him well not to underestimate the woods. But still Kazu wait for him nevertheless.
“Wow, it's beautiful…” Kazu smirked, hearing the exclamation. They arrived at the feet of the waterfalls. Not many knew about it, hidden inside the woods of what people thought was an abandoned village. It was like his own personal waterfalls, well, not anymore.
“Wait until we reach the top.” Kazu stepped closer to the waterfalls.
“Wha...what? What do you mean, the top? It's good enough here.” Kazu smirked, hearing the panicked tone.
“Sure old man, you can wait here if you want.” Instantly a “Hey!” was heard.
Kazu didn't say anything more, just walk toward the falls, removing vines that covered a ferrata ladder leading upward on the cliff. He slowly climbed it up, ignoring Sho’s calls below him. He peeked through the gap between the ferrata and the cliff, seeing Sho's pale face following him, and Kazu almost laugh loudly, noticing the shaking of Sho's legs and arms. Deciding to spare the man, he stopped at the small opening on the cliff, and he sat there throwing weeds downward, intent on getting them on Sho. He really laughed seeing Sho yelp, avoiding the dirt.
“Hey! That's not nice you know.” Sho finally sat beside him on the clearing, playfully shoving him a little.
“So, the CEO of Sakurai Foundation and its newlines companies are afraid of height? That'll be a headline, I'm sure.”
“You brat!” This time Sho shoved him more powerfully, so Kazu pretended that he was about to fall from the small clearing, but Sho grabbed his hand faster.
“Sorry, I forgot you're so small, I shouldn't use much force.” Kazu decided not to answer but sat silently looking at Sho's hand on his. He hoped Sho would keep holding his hand. “Hey, I said I'm sorry Kaz.”
“Shh, be quiet. I'm enjoying the view.” Kazu point to the green that was his village in front of them, still noticing Sho hadn't removed his hand yet. He heard Sho taking deep breaths seeing it also. “It's beautiful.”
Kazu didn’t answer, only humming in reply. He had seen the view for more than a hundred years. Changes had happened and even if it wasn’t as green as it used to be, the view was still breathtaking. He relaxed a little and unconsciously leaned against Sho, letting Sho play with his hand, unconsciously also. It did cross his mind to wonder how he felt so calm beside Sho, and why he brought Sho to his nest, but the wind gently blew, and the warmth of the sun and the blue sky above them made him forget all the causes and reasons. It was just there.
“If I remember correctly, around 6 years ago, this place was the new tourist destination, wasn’t it? I can see why now.” Sho spoke up after quite a while. Again, Kazu hummed his answer before he really answered, “It wasn’t supposed to be one. It’s too dangerous here.”
“It’s beautiful here. If your brother allows it, I can make TV footage of my trip and air it, so people will remember this place. And it can help the economy in this area too, don’t you think?” Sho turned just to see Kaz stiffen, but he still leaned against him.
“Then what will they do? Coming here, covering the woods with all their garbage, scaring the animals with their loud voices? Laughing at how stupid they think the villagers are? Selling hope about how great the cities are? No thanks, that won’t happen again.” Kazu knew he sounded bitter, but Sho’s suggestion opened an old wound he wished he could forget, and aside from opening the wound, Kazu was even madder at himself. How could he forget that Sho was a human, who of course thought of anything through an economic perspective, instead of what truly lay on earth. He straightened his position, pulling his hand from Sho’s grip, surprising the man that instantly looked at him.
“Kaz? Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything bad, it was just a suggestion.” Kazu just sat there with his knees to his chest, and his arms holding his legs in position, he put his head on his knees. Sho turned fully to face him, trying to take the hand that was now circling his knees.
“Kaz, please, just forget what I said. I promise you, I won’t even bring it up to your brothers, I’m so sorry, please, say something.”
“Have you ever gotten your hopes up high? Like a dream that you never dreamt of will finally come true? Do you know how it feels?” Kazu whispered softly. When Sho didn’t answer, he peeked through his lashes, seeing the man stunned in front of him. That’s when Ohchan’s voice rang in his head. There’s something that hurt the man before, and Kazu got the urge to know it. “Do you want to listen to a story?”
“Once upon a time.” Kazu started his story when Sho nodded. “This area was a thick wood, where a lot of animals stayed. Say, do you believe in youkai? Youkai also lived here.” Kazu could see Sho started to question his story, but he continued nevertheless.
“So, youkai brothers live here together, they watched the first humans come into the area, and they let them start building houses, having their children grow up, raising grandchildren. Then one day, the youkai big brother got married to another youkai, giving the little brother an option to follow them, but that young youkai refused, didn’t want to bother his beloved brother who was finding his happiness. He was so foolish.”
“Why?” Sho whispered. It seemed like he didn’t want to interrupt the story.
“No youkai can live on its own, you know. They must live in family, or with their master. So one day, the young youkai was trapped into a boar trap that the villagers pulled out. It’s human nature to be afraid of something that doesn’t look the same as them, so they were afraid of the young youkai and tried to kill it.”
“Did they?”
“No, of course not. A priest stopped them. That was Aiba’s great grandfather.” Kazu smiled seeing Sho flabbergasted hearing that Aiba actually really came from a priest family. “He assured the villagers that he would be responsible for the young youkai, thus the youkai found himself a master, and started to live in the village. His brother followed him with his husband later on.” Kazu looked at Sho this time, hoping the man knew where the story was going.
“So they lived happily ever after in the village?”
“I wish the story was as simple as that, but no. The young youkai started to feel restless again. He wanted to have experiences, just like the human children that had grown up. So he begged his master to bring him out of the village, which of course his master refused. But he had a second best idea, of bringing more humans into the village, so he did. 10 years ago.” Kazu saw the understanding in Sho’s eyes.
“Until 6 years ago, when with what you call Google, everything went to chaos. City people started flowing into the village. The youkai was thrilled to hear their stories, hear the magic that happened in the cities, and one man, one particular man, approached the youkai. Promised to show him real magic and not just a story, saying he could live in the city instead of a deserted village like this, and the youkai believed him.”
“What?”
“I know, that youkai was so stupid, right? Despite the fact that his brother forbade him, and his master, who just turned 100 years that year, told him not to go, he still insisted. That young youkai was so stupid, believing everything the stranger said. He even turned into his real form as a youkai in front of that man.” Sho took a deep breath, eyes wide. Kazu just chuckled, changing his position to lean back to him.
“That was when the young youkai felt it. He felt the dishonesty of the man, felt the discomfort that his master warned him about, but all was too late. The man became violent, and one night, he tied the youkai up, and forcefully tried to bring him out to the cities, trying to sell the youkai to a circus or something like that. His master noticed it, tried to stop the man, but he hit him. A hundred year old human, getting hit by a pickup truck, and you can imagine the rest.” Sho circled his arms around Kazu, something that he never thought he needed. He started to cry into Sho’s chest.
“That was a very tragic story Kaz. You don’t have to continue it if you don’t want to.”
“That was not all, Sho. That youkai brother saw what happened to his brother’s master, and he attacked the man to free his little brother. Youkai, especially as powerful as that brother youkai was, only have one basic rule, which is never to hurt a human, for whatever reason, otherwise he will lose all his power. Even knowing that fact, his brother still attacked, but the human, I don’t know if we can call him human or not, tried to kill the older youkai with gardening fork. That was when everything lost their places. His husband lost control. He is a rain dragon youkai, you know.” Kazu felt Sho stiffen beside him.
“Rain Dragon? I once read it’s the rarest but most powerful youkai of all.” Kazu smiled. As expected from the head of a television company, seemed like Sho didn’t just spent his time reading economic journals.
“You right, he was so powerful. He started the heavy rain, getting the truck stuck in the mud, and that was when this river here flooded. It came fast, and without anyone expecting it, half the village was covered in water. It killed half of the villagers, and of course that evil man, the dragon killed him. All because of that stupid young youkai.” Kazu ended his story with his last sob.
“I think you’re wrong. That evil man was to blame. He deceived the youkai, disgracing all humans by being ungrateful, and I think it’s good that the dragon killed him. It’s not the youkai that was at fault.” Sho lifted Kazu’s chin, looking deeply into the man’s eyes. “I can understand why you don’t trust strangers now, but not everyone is like that evil man. I’m not.”
Kazu don’t know when and who started it, but the last thing he knew, he felt Sho’s lips on his, and he didn’t refuse the man, melting into his arms instead. The kiss was unsure and started with just a peck that let their lips connect, just like touching their lips together, but then Sho started kissing him softly, slowly from one corner to the other corner of his lips, tasting his salty tears, and when Sho’s tongue sneaked out, Kazu answered the kiss, answering the worry in Sho’s kiss with his way of telling him he was fine now. He didn’t know for how long, but he realized he was on his back with Sho covering him, and then he was afraid. He pushed the man off and scrunched away, looking back at him with paranoia.
“I… I’m sorry… not sorry for kissing you though. I’m sorry I moved too fast. I didn’t mean to scare you away. Sorry.” Sho kneeled in front of him, extending his hand, waiting for him to answer the hand too.
“I think I’ve fallen in love with you, Kaz.” Sho kneeled forward, softly taking his hand.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. This is not right. You.. you don’t know me…” Kazu groggily stood up.
“You don’t know me, you just think you fell for me, but no, one day, you will return to your big city and you will forget me. I can assure you that.” This time Kazu said it with more certainty. He walked back to the ferrata on the side of the cave, leaving the stunned man behind.
“You’re right, I don’t know you, as much as you don’t know me. But why don’t we change that? I’m serious with my feelings, and I think I’m no longer a teenager who doesn’t know what he wants or the consequences of what he wants. And I want to know you.” Kazu stopped to see Sho standing in place, looking back at him determinedly.
Kazu decided there’s no use talking to that man at that moment, so he turned his back, continuing to step down the ladder. His ears still heard Sho’s deep breath but he knew the man was following him. He looked up to see Sho’s stubborn face looking back at him, and the horror started in front of Kazu’s eyes. Sho stepped too close to the end of the cliff, and he slipped before he got the chance to grab the ladder. The last thing Kazu heard was Sho screaming his name.
Instinct took over him, and Kazu could feel it. He felt his inner self growl, and that was it. His stubby hand started to change into claws, his small body popped up everywhere for the first time in 5 years, his bones tore his human flesh and skin, and fur, definitely fur was forming all over his body. He had surrendered to his youkai that ran after Sho’s body, which was falling fast from the high cliff. He got Sho as the human fell onto his back, and grabbed his fur. He was too focused on saving Sho that he didn’t notice he hit the cliff. He tried his best to control his speed, but his head hit the protruding cliff in front of him. He howled in pain but refused to fall just like that, not with Sho on his back. He lost his conscious once he felt the ground on his feet. He growled for the last time before blackness covered him.
✏ ✏ ✏
Sho groaned and shifted from his position above the fluffy fur that caught him from falling. The first thing he remembered was the thing underneath him was a beautiful kitsune, clear white with its elegant nine tails. A kitsune that had come out from Kazu. Sho moved immediately when the warm fluffy fur changed into a thin human body.
“Kazu, Kazu.” He called the name, but he touched wet sticky red fluid when he tried to lift the man's head, then he remembered the kitsune hit the cliff before they fell.
“Kazu...Kazu…” Sho opened his shirt, holding it closely to the wound on Kazu head, pressing it strongly to stop the bleeding, assessing his surroundings and trying to find away to bring Kazu back to the village, but then the man’s shape turned into the beautiful kitsune again before he could lift the man.
He heard footsteps running his way, and Sho started panic. No one could see Kazu in this form. There must be a reason why Kazu always showed himself in his human form. He must not have wanted to be seen. Sho was torn between applying pressure to the wound and trying to grab something to hide them before he could actually go fetch some help. His train of thought was stopped when a white big cat almost the size of the kitsune appeared in front of him, looking deeply at him, hissing in annoyance, trying to get closer to the kitsune. Sho thought the cat was going to hurt Kazu, so he did the only thing he could, defend Kazu. He grabbed a small rock with his free hand and was about to throw it at the cat when someone approached them.
“Please put the stone away, Sakurai-san. I don't want to hurt you if you try to hurt my Jun.” Ohno came out of nowhere, but he kneeled beside the kitsune like it was something he saw in daily basis. Sho stared at the man confusedly, but that was before the cat in front of him turned into Jun, which is when he yelped like a little girl.
“You! What did you do to Kazu?!” Sho tried to turn his eyes away, avoiding the nakedness of Jun's human form, even though the man himself didn't seemed to mind and only had Kazu’s state in his head. He shoved Sho away with the threat, “If anything happens to Kazu, I'll kill you.”
So Sho stood aside, seeing the two men hovering above the kitsune.
“What's wrong with him, Satoshi? Why did he howl just now?” Jun asked his husband. Tears were started to form in his eyes. Instead of answering, Ohno pulled off his haori and put it on Jun's shoulder, hiding his nakedness.
“His transformation was in a rush. After so many years in his human form, this was his first time to change, and in a hurry. His body wasn't prepared for that. Why is there this wound, Sakurai-san?” Sho was just looking at the three in front of him, trying to digest. Kazu’s transformation, Jun coming out from a big white cat, and Ohno who was so calmly watching it all. It took him some seconds before he could answer the question.
“He tried to save me. I was falling from the cliff and he saved me, but he hit his head, and we both fell.” Sho tried to explain with his hand flying around to show what he meant. Ohno and Jun were looking at each other, and they both looked at the cliff and the kitsune that was now changing back into his human Kazu form.
“We must bring him to the house.” That was Ohno’s conclusion before he picked up the young man with ease and ran through the woods carrying him with Jun running beside him. Everything clicked in Sho's head now. Kazu was the kitsune youkai, Jun who just came out from cat form, and the show of power that Ohno performed just now, as well as their inhuman speed. They were the youkai in Kazu’s story. Realizing that fact, Sho ran to follow them. Kazu had been so lonely this whole time and now he understood why. He needed to prove himself to Kazu that he was worthy of being trusted and more so worthy of being loved.
It was almost midnight when he arrived back at the village, and he ran immediately to leader’s house. True to his assumption, Kazu was brought there. They were in the backyard where spring water was coming out. But he was surprised when he saw Aiba chanting a spell, beside the kitsune. So Aiba had known all along, as expected from the descendent of the priest that had saved Kazu on the first time. He fell to the ground, sweating through his t-shirt, the spring cold air biting his skin even more, but he didn't want to leave the youkai.
“Can you please follow me, Sakurai-san, I believe I have a shirt in your size.” Jun called him inside, fully clothed this time, so he followed the man. “How is Kazu, Jun-san?”
“I don't know. Satoshi said this midnight is his critical condition. He must survive the night, otherwise he will vanish from the world.” Jun shoved a shirt at him that he took from a cupboard near the kitchen.
“Can you do something?”
“Why are you so worried?” Sho couldn't answer the question.
“Satoshi tried his best. It will be up to Kazu’s will now.” Sho could see the worry clearly shown in Jun beautiful face.
“Tell me Sakurai-san, what are you intentions with getting closer to Kazu?”
“I love him.” Sho answered quickly.
“Why? Sorry, but I did a background check on you. Kazu is not the same as your late wife.” Sho chuckled. He should have guessed, the leader’s husband won’t allow him to stay just like that.
“I’m aware of that fact Jun-san. I don’t know why either, it just happened. It’s just I can’t get away from him, in any way. I’ve tried to. I was thinking of going back to Tokyo with my cousin a couple of weeks ago, but he was suddenly there, and I couldn’t just leave him alone.” Sho was remembering the episode when Kazu twisted his ankle.
“Even if he's a youkai?” Sho thought for a moment, playing the image of a beautiful kitsune with nine tails and all in his mind, and decided that he didn't care of any form Kazu is, he just loved him.
“Kazu ne, even if he survives the night, he needs to choose to stay as a youkai in the kitsune form forever, or stay as a human that can one day die,” Jun continued, looking at the night sky.
Sho stayed silent and followed Jun back to the backyard. Kazu had again changed to his kitsune youkai form. Ohno had a ball of water in between his hands, and Sho saw him run it through the kitsune, making it glow, but the Kitsune shook wildly before he changed to Kazu human form, only for less than a minute, and changed back to the kitsune form. It happened several times until Sho realized the full moon was directly above their heads. It was midnight now.
“It will be up to him now.” Ohno walked to sit on the veranda with Jun. Sho saw Jun toweling Ohno’s sweat and Erika giving Aiba his tea.
“Can I stay beside him?” Ohno looked at him but nodded with sympathy.
Sho carefully lay on the worn-out carpet beside the big kitsune. He didn't know what he could do, but he just stroked the kitsune’s fur, feeling the softness, flicking its ears, carefully checking the wound on its head. Sho thought he felt the kitsune purr under his touch so he held its paw, avoiding the sharp claws. He meant what he said. He didn’t care if Kazu turned into a youkai forever, he still would love him anyway. He put the paw in his lap, stroking it, whispering his love until he fell asleep.
Sho didn't know how long he was asleep for, but he saw his surroundings. Aiba and Erika had fallen asleep in front of the make up altar, and Ohno and Jun asleep in their seats on the veranda. He looked at Kazu’s face. It seemed like he’d changed back into his human form, but Sho didn’t know for how long, so he was just going to appreciate it. He looked at the young face, too serene, and he missed the bratty man.
Sho shook his head, realizing what he did probably failed, but he kept holding Kazu’s hand. He was thinking of the worst when he felt the hand in his tapping his palm. He opened his eyes, looking down at clear brown orbs that were staring at him lovingly. Sho didn’t waste another second, leaning in to peck the dried lips. “Welcome back, my brat.”
-end-
sky_fish7From: :3.
Title: 人間じゃない（？）
Pairing: Sakumiya, Juntoshi, Aimiya (bff), Matsumiya (brothers), Ohmiya (in laws)
Rating: PG-13 for Kisses
Warnings: Nothing
Summary: Two souls with two deep cuts finally met in a hidden village where magical creatures were actually free to roam around. You just needed to open your eyes wide to see one. The question is, how could they mend each other’s wound?
Note: Dear sky_fish, it really surprised me to have your name as my assignment. I'm a fan of your own sakumiya. I know this may not be as good as yours, but I do have a lot of fun in writing this and all small research to write it. Hope this meet your expectations and hope will like this.
Lastly, dear mod, thank you for arranging the exchange, I really appreciate your effort and help in my grammatical errors. Otsukaresamadeshita m_ _m
They were dancing the ballroom dance in a social event that his wife arranged. Most people snickered at them, saying the social event was nothing more than a socialite hang-out only with a conscience, just an event that basically covered up all the hedonistic lives they led daily. Some even came with harsher comments, that no matter how many good deeds they did, they would never cover up their sin. But then, the woman on his arm, his wife, never argued with such narrow-minded people, never cared about what others said, but never even stopped helping others. He was so proud of her, his childhood friend who turned to be his lifetime friend. It just seemed natural for them to get married as soon as they both finished their degrees. No one was surprised when he, Sakurai Sho, the heir of a television company in Japan, finally married the prospective young lawyer, Horikita Maki, making two wealthy family united in marriage.
Sakurai was looking down and smiling sweetly at his wife. He led her through the dance together. As the chairlady of the NGO social foundation, Maki had gathered all his and her friends, presenting the idea of helping in good deeds for people who were less fortunate than them. All the more reason for Sho to so proudly have full coverage of the event on his TV station. That night, everything went well, they both stood side by side, seeing their donations being counted, but…
“Sho! Look out!” It was too late for him to figure out what happened; all he knew was that he was shoved aside and his beautiful wife jerked as a machine gun shot through her small body. Sho watched as the white dress she was wearing turned red. He pushed himself up, didn't care about his surroundings, about the people screaming around him, his eyes fixed on her terrified ones until she fell down and he could only screaming her name. “Maki!”
✏ ✏ ✏
Sho jolted away from his seat. Seemed like he had fallen asleep at his desk in his office. Hopelessly wiping his sweat in January, he confusedly looked at all the paperwork on his desk just in time for his door to swing open before a man rushed into his office.
“Hey! You ok? I heard you screaming.” Sho looked blankly at the man before him, trying to collect his consciousness. He didn’t realize he was crying until the man offered him a box of tissues to his face.
“Still the same dream?” Sho nodded to the question, couldn’t find his voice to answer, just wiped all the sweat and maybe tears from his face with no words.
“Sho, don’t you think it’s about time for you to let go?” The tall man sat on the edge of his desk and Sho could see all worries inside the man’s eyes, but that angered him more than his dream.
“What can I let go? Have you caught the person that actually created the scenario? How long has it been, 4-5 years? Did your troops really work on the case or is it already saved in a thick ice box?” Sho kicked the table, making his chair whirl behind. He didn’t care that his action made his computer fall down. He stood up harshly after that, trying to even his raging breath, but the face of his dying wife was still so clear within his eyelids.
“Sakurai Sho, I will pretend I didn’t hear what you just said because we both know, who and why the case will never be resolved,” the man answered with gritted teeth.
“You might not trust me, but her case is the biggest failure in my entire police experience. We both know there’s a greater power that covered up the scenario, and I know even though the shooter had been shot death it didn’t put you at ease. Believe me, I know.” Sho looked at the man and somehow managed to feel calmer. This was not as simple as it may have seemed and he, as did the other man, knew that well.
“I’m sorry, Bussan-nii, I…” his words stopped, and he suddenly felt ashamed of himself, since he knew how hard the man before him had worked and how much it devastated him when there was a letter from the top of the police squad instructing him to stop the investigation. That’s when Sakurai knew, the attack was arranged neatly for him.
“Just forget it, I know you don’t mean it.” The man sat before him, inhaling deeply. Sho had broken the mutual silent agreement on the case with his outburst just now, and that made it awkward for both of them. “I’m here because people in your home are worried about you. They said you haven’t returned home for a week now.”
Sho didn’t answer his cousin that he considered his own older brother. Instead he looked down at his uneven fingernails that were broken since he kept biting into them every time he was worried, and for the last five years, there were countless times when he was under deep depression.
“Listen Bambi, I understand, but please at least let us know where you are. Your parents are also worried about you.” Okada Junichi, or as Sho often called him, Bussan, was his cousin, and at that moment, Sho felt sorry for him. It must have been hard for his cousin to appear calm in their family while he was screaming inside, wanting to reveal details about the case as much as he wants. Not to add, Bussan was the only one his parents would come to whenever he was in trouble, and his cousin had been the one who saved his ass since childhood.
“And, Aoi asked me to invite you to dinner tonight. She really won’t accept a no as an answer,” his cousin continued, picking up the documents scattered around just like he always did.
“Bussan, I don’t think I’d be the best guest tonight, so maybe better next time.” Sho knew how his cousin’s wife also worried about him, but he just wanted to spend the rest of his night alone with a bottle of whiskey and the memory of his beloved wife. He straightened his body and piled all the documents Okada brought to his desk too, but handwriting caught his attention.
“Bambi, please, Aoi misses you too. You two are best friends aren’t you? She’ll understand no matter how badly you behave, or maybe we can get drunk together, the three of us if you want.” Sho just kept quiet, looking at the bright pink post-it on top of a document where he could clearly read his wife’s handwriting.
“Hey, are you listening to me?”
“Bussan, do you know where Hirabaru is?” Sho finally looked up, showing the document he had in his hand. He handed it over to Okada who had a confused face.
He sat back for awhile, looking at Okada reading the document, wondering how it was placed on his desk and when. He just knew the village name bothered him somehow. He remembered this was supposed to be Maki’s last social project; the village was flattened down by a landslide, and the social event Maki arranged was to raise awareness for said village, but Sho was certain it would never happen. They did transfer the donation to the village, but no one had actually checked whether the donation had been received and used well or not.
“Maybe I’ll visit it one day…”
🐱🐱🐱
“Kazu, where are you going?” The young man turned to find his unamused brother behind him. Annoyed by the question, he stood up when he finished tying his shoes, silently opening the door in front of him.
“Not so fast! Answer me.” This time, the man called Kazu fully turned his body around, seeing the beautiful man in front of him.
“I’m going to my part-time job, and in case you forgot, you’re not really my parent, Jun.” He knew he hurt the man instantly with those words, but at least it would get him off the hook.
“I’m still your older brother, and I have all the right to question you. What part-time job you have? You had been at Aiba Shrine during the day.” Jun’s voice got lower and started shaking. Kazu knew his brother was on the brink of anger, disappointed and giving up.
“How long do you have in this form? It’s not healthy for you, Kaz. You have to change once in awhile.” Jun continued with his preaching as Kazu just stayed silent. Getting more annoyed with his brother, Kazu could only mumble, “You’re noisy.”
“Kazu, look at me and tell me properly, where are you going? It’s been five years, and I’ve never said a word, but now you need to tell me what it is that’s bothering you now. Where have you been every single night?” This time, Kazu rolled his eyes. “Then leave it that way. Mind your own business.”
“Confusing people so they get lost on their way here is not an answer for what has happened, Kaz. you must learn to forgive yourself. He has forgiven you.” Jun hadn’t finished his words.
“What do you know, huh? You’re not the one betraying your master! You’re not the one drowning half of the village!” Kazu had strode toward him instantly, grabbing his brother’s kimono and shove him to the wall despite their different sizes. Kazu knew that his bigger brother let himself get shoved away, only growling in annoyance. His brother might as well have expected it to happen. But before everything went worse, a hand grabbed his wrist.
“He’s not, neither of you have. I did. Now, let him go Kaz, please.” A soft baritone tone interfered between the two brothers. A smaller man with tanned skin stood beside them, one of his hands grabbing Kazu’s wrist.
“Your brother is just worred about you, Kazu. I’m sure you can understand him,” the man continued, slowly untangling his fingers from Jun’s kimono. “You only have each other, so please try to get along like you had before. You used to be so close.”
“Used to be, there’s a past tense in that, Ohchan.” Kazu slowly released his grip. That man, Ohno Satoshi, also known as the Village’s leader who also happens to be his brother-in-law, is right. He used to be close with his brother. He admired him, and even when they grew up and lived separately, even after Kazu was saved by his master, even after Jun married his husband now, they are still close. But one minor incident led to a bigger one, and even the biggest one that almost destroyed the village they lived in, and killed Kazu’s old master, all courtesy of his own foolishness.
“It’s all in the past. The past is past. What’s so wrong about your brother wanting to know your present?” Kazu chose not to answer him. He knew he wouldn't win against them anyway. He opted to leave the house in silence as he took the conversation as ended.
Kazu tighten his jacket around his neck as he sat quietly over the big stone near the village entrance. The dusk was just about to end, darkness engulfing his surroundings, but he still could see clearly that his charm on the village gate was still strongly intact, like it had been since 5 years ago. After the accident that destroyed half of the village, he installed his charm on the gate, confusing outsiders from coming into his village. No one was supposed to know he had put it there, but his brother’s inquisition just now might have proved him wrong.
He knew why he was mad with his brother back then. It was not just because he was caught putting on the charm, but also the fact he had done it to prevent any outsiders from coming into the village like how it had happened 5 years ago, an outsider that had confused him, and showed him dreams that he should not be dreaming, an urge to go against his own destiny without him realizing he was destined to be trapped in the remote village, up on the hill.
He just didn’t want to repeat the same mistake. Why couldn’t his brother see that all he did was just protect himself from getting hurt, protect the village from another disaster? All he did was to show him, how sorry he was. But no, his brother would never understand him, Kazu thought, so he would just keep continuing to confuse people that wanted to enter to the village, and keep the gate close from anyone that was not a village resident.
Kazu’s train of thought was distracted when he felt someone approaching the village gate. He sat quietly, looking down when he noticed a head of a human getting closer to the gate. The human hand was extended and touched the gate’s pillar confusedly. He had made the gate look like it hadn’t been passed through for long time, with bushes around the gate, and tall weeds covering half the height of the pillar. No one in their right mind would come past that kind of gate, especially now when dusk was over and darkness engulfed the area.
Kazu sat, only silently waiting for the human to pass like others who had come before, but when the man approached the gate, he couldn’t help feeling slightly worry and intrigued. With his chin on his hand, his eyes screening that man below his feet. That man’s shoes were dusty, and he carried a big bagpack with an additional strap on his chest, a red water bottle dangling on his hip, his right hand holding a walking stick for hiking. Kazu tried to look at the man’s face, but the brim of his sun hat was covering his face. Kazu rose immediately to his feet when that man touched the gate. He was really worried now, especially when the man tried to shake it. Hurriedly, Kazu leaped from his place, making sure his appearance was seeable, and he approached the weird man.
“Excuse me sir, what are you doing here?” he asked nonchalantly as he tried his best to hide his grin seeing the man yelping and jumping like a little girl.
“Ah, gosh, you surprised me.” Now Kazu could see the man clearly even under the dim moonlight, and he could make out the figure in front of him. High nose, round eyes, and pouting lips. He was sure many had been brokenhearted by that man, just the kind he hated the most.
“You still haven’t answered me. What are you doing here?” Kazu tried to be mean without being scary, playing the part of the bratty boy that he appeared to be.
“Do… do you live in this village? Is this Hirabaru village?” True to his initial thought, that man came to this kind of high place only to look for his village. Not an easy task to do though.
“Why are you looking for Hirabaru? It’s just a legend.” Kazu shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s said the village is here.” That man showed him a Google map on his smart phone.
“Well, Google can be wrong sometimes. It’s just ruins in there.” Kazu walked away, baiting the man to follow him. No one in their right mind would want to stay out on such a dark cold mountain night.
“But, hey, wait, the village was here 5 years ago, right? Social workers said the donation was received well. Where’s it now?”
“How should I know? Maybe they moved away.”
“The whole village?” Kazu mentally slapped his own face. Of course that man wouldn’t trust such obvious lies.
“Ah, Kazu, there you are.” Kazu really slapped his own face now, hearing a nasally voice he knew way too well. “Your brother just told me what happened, and that’s not nice leaving home without eating. Come on, Erika’s cooking your favorite hamburger.”
“Aibaka! Shut up!” Kazu tried to silence the tall men he’d known since they were babies, but of course, it was an impossible thing to do. If someone could keep bouncing, excited and blabbing around, Aiba Masaki was the one that could do it.
“Hmh, excuse me.” Kazu didn’t try to hide his glare at his friend, when the stranger approached them carefully.
“Oh, sorry I didn’t see you, are you Kazu’s friend?” This time, Kazu really was rolling his eyes. There was no limit to Aiba’s positive thinking. He grabbed his friend’s hand, intending to leave the stranger all by himself.
“Oh, so the boy’s name is Kazu?”
“Hey, watch who you’re calling a boy. I may be older than you, old man.” Kazu turned to get his message across.
“Okay, I’m sorry, but could you please tell me where Hirabaru village is? I wished to go there, and it’s dark now, and there’s no public transport passing through this area.” The man looked desperate now, trying to talk with Aiba after stopping them for a while.
“I’ve told you, the village is gone!” Kazu raised his voice at the same time that Aiba answered. “You can come with us.”
The man looked confused, looking back and forth between the two of them. If Kazu wasn’t so worried about his charmed entrance gate beside them, he would be laugh loudly, seeing the man mimicking a goldfish.
“W… wait, I’m not following either of you.”
“Kazu and I are the villagers of Hirabaru. In fact, Kaz here is… ouch.” Kazu stepped on his longest friend’s feet. Aiba could relay too much important information without even noticing, and no one could ever be mad at him because he’s just being himself.
“Thank you. I’ve been walked around since noon looking for your village. It’s still here, isn’t it?” The man looked at Kazu accusingly.
“And you are?”
“Sorry for the late introduction. My name is Sakurai Sho from the Sakurai Foundation.” The man pulled off his hat, and Kazu could see the wide forehead behind it.
“Sakurai Foundation? I think I’ve heard of it before. Aiba Masaki at your service.” Aiba extended his hand, as friendly as he always was. Kazu still believed in his theory that even if there was serial murder coming to the village, Aiba would still welcome him openly.
“And this one is Kazu.” Aiba turned his hand, grabbing the smaller man instead.
“Yes, I’ve been in his care for a while just now. Nice to meet you.”
“Why did you come all the way here?” Aiba walked beside the man, gesturing to the man the pavement he should take. Kazu felt like he wanted to strangle his friend for blowing his camouflage on the gate. The man, Sakurai, still looked confused as all he saw was Aiba walking through high bushes with ease.
“I… I was just sent to check on the village. Our foundation had sent a donation to the village 5 years ago so I just want to check on it.
“Now I remember where I had heard your name. Indeed there was social company that came here after the flood, but after a month, they all went and never returned. Are you from that company?” Aiba chatted quickly, still holding a struggling Kazu in his hand. Now Kazu remember the name too, even the sakura logo that had covered his house for almost a year. An aid sent it to them because he was too stupid to believe a stranger, the same mistake he vowed never to make again.
“Wait, Kaz!” Aiba was distracted from his questions when Kazu, who had not said a word until they had entered the gate now, snapped his hand free. He really did not intend to hear all of their conversation, much less now that he had an important thing to do, which was strengthen his charm on the gate. At least this time, if anything happened to the village, it would be all Aiba's fault.
“I'm sorry, he’s usually not like that.” Kazu could hear Aiba apologize quietly as he walked away from the two of them.
✏ ✏ ✏
Sakurai Sho just couldn't believe his luck. After he arrived in Fukuoka, he started questioning around for Hirabaru village, but no one seemed to know the area, not the tourist information, police, or even the post office guy. The only information he got was from an old station head that told him to go to Inunaki Dam, so he did. He really did, but lost track of time while he was admiring the grand structure of the dam, a hobby he enjoyed during his college years. It was way past lunch when he finally remembered his plan. Again, no one seemed to remember that the dam was actually built above half of a village that was now buried deep inside. He walked in a circle until he finally noticed the gate that he swore wasn’t there before. He had circled the place for the 3rd time, and that was the time he finally noticed the hidden gate.
Sho didn’t regret his decision though. Even in the darkness of the night, he still could appreciate the beauty of the village. At least here, he could see the stars clearly. That Aiba guy had been so friendly. He talked about the first team that had come to the village and Sho felt a tug in his heart. Even in his desperation, the people Maki and he trusted kept their promise to help the village. Aiba was so easy to talk to, and from him, Sho had a full report of what the donation had done, but their conversation stopped when Aiba showed him a wide house on top of the hill. Taking a wild guess, Sho could tell it was the village head’s house.
“Excuse us, Ohno-san, can we come in?” Sho was a little shocked seeing Aiba asking while at the same time sliding the door open.
“Masaki, it’s late. Is Kazu with you?” Sho was instantly mesmerized by the pretty guy that stood in front of them, and another wild guess made Sho sure that this man was the village’s head.
“Ah, Jun, sorry, I couldn’t bring him home, but don’t worry, he’s at his usual place.” Sho tried to school his face into neutral, but it was kind of impossible. That man questioned about the Kazu boy, and it seemed like both he and Aiba knew how the boy usually spent his time, but how come they were so calm, when they knew a boy was wandering around at night in a village on top of the mountain like this? Sho brow scrunched more as the man sighed deeply.
“And who is this gentleman you brought?” Another man suddenly appeared beside the first man.
“Hi Riida, I want you to meet Sakurai Sho. I found him wandering outside our village gate.” Aiba answered immediately after a small bow. So, that man was the village’s leader, but it was still weird to see how Aiba was being respectful to the smaller man.
“You found our gate?” It was the pretty guy that questioned him, even before he could introduce himself. Sho however, found the question rather tricky. Was the gate mean not to be found? He was about to voice his question, but the smallest man cut into his thought.
“I believe we can discuss it inside.” Sho felt cold air around him as the leader spoke and lead the way inside. He stood there confusedly until Aiba tapped his shoulder and gestured him to get into the hallway, following their host. They entered a traditional guest room, with all tatami mats, a kotatsu table and low chairs, like what he could find in a ryokan. The room was tidy and well managed, an ikebana brightening the room with its purple and blue hortensia, an odd choice of flowers, Sho thought.
“So, allow me to introduce myself, I’m Ohno Satoshi and this is Jun.” The smallest opened their conversation when teas and cakes were served in front of them. Sho felt his stomach grumble, which made him realize the last time he ate was at the small cafe near station. His face instantly turned red as the other three looked at him warily.
“I’m so sorry, my name is Sakurai Sho from Sakurai Foundation.” He bowed and he could see the other three trying to hold in their laughter. He hoped the floor could open up and swallow him. Maybe seeing his discomfort, Ohno coughed a little. “Jun, dear, I’m still quite hungry, do you mind making me another set of onigiri?”
“I…” Sho words were cut off immediately as Ohno stopped him. “Don’t worry Sakurai-san, I always can’t get enough of Jun’s onigiri.”
“So, what made you come to our humble village?” Ohno started questioning him, as the other host walked out to a door that Sho thought was where the kitchen would be.
“I’m from Sakurai Foundation. Around 5 years ago, after that painful flood, we donated money to the village, and we just wanted to know if our donation had helped the village and if we could help you with other work so the village could be easier to live in.” Sho had prepared his answer, although deep inside he just want to know if the village Maki had strived for until her last breath really was worth her devotion.
“We apologize for bothering you so far Sakurai-san, but nevertheless, we are grateful for your attentive donation. It helped our village a lot.” Sho could sense something was wrong with the politeness of the leader’s words. It seemed like he had touched a forbidden topic to discuss on their first time meeting, especially when the other host was coming out of the kitchen with freshly made onigiri. “We’re sorry for poorly welcoming you. Had we known, we would have arranged more acceptable festivities.”
“No, it’s my mistake for coming and bothering you so late at night.”
“Please have some, and we wish to know about your travels to our village. It must have been some adventure for you.” Jun spoke softly with a big smile, but somehow Sho didn’t feel the smile reached his eyes.
🐱🐱🐱
“Have you lost your mind, Ohchan?!” Kazu stormed into the backyard of their home, found the man sitting lazily under the spring sun and quickly shut his mouth as he saw the big white cat on his brother-in-law’s lap. The man was looking at him expectedly. “What do you mean?”
“You… you let that Sakurai guy stayed over? And in Aiba’s house?” Kazu hissed, avoiding waking the cat up.
“He seemed nice, didn't he? And where did you think he should stay? Here?” Kazu bit the inside of his cheek, quickly thinking of an excuse to kick the man out. When he didn't answer, Ohno continued.
“You know it would be impossible to let him live in our house, right?” Kazu just nodded at the question. No human is actually allowed or can survive approaching the single house on the hill except the Aibas.
“But why Aiba? Let him stay in the woods. That’ll teach him not to step into someone else’s area.” Being the stubborn person he was, Kazu still wanted to defy his brother. He hated when humans came into the village. Despite the fact that his brother should already know why, he still let that single human stay in their village.
“There’s something that had cut him deep Kaz, and I’m sure, he’s not here to just check where on the donation went. Why don’t we help him find his inner peace here?” Ohno asked him, stroking the white cat so it purred gently under his touch.
“Ne, Ohchan, if anything went bad, I wasn’t the one that let that man come in and stay in our village. It’s all yours now.” Kazu was ready to turn, but his brother caught his wrist before he could, pulling him gently until he sat beside the man.
“None of what happened five years ago was your fault, Kaz. I was the one that lost control. I was the one that killed, not you, and it had never been you. Your brother is more worried about you than I am. You must learn to let go, Kaz. You’ve tried your best to protect this village, but maybe, just maybe, not all humans are as bad as the one that tricked you.” Kazu looked at the cat on his brother’s lap. He knew the cat had been listening to all of Ohno’s words despite pretending to sleep.
“You wouldn’t have lost control if that bastard hadn’t threatened Jun, and Jun wouldn’t have lost his privileges if he hadn’t protected me. Can’t you see? It’s all my fault. It was me who fell into his trap, it was me who dreamt big, it was me who tried to leave the village, who betrayed the master that had once saved my life.” Kazu leaned his head onto Ohno’s shoulder. He was the one that was the most joyous when Jun accepted Ohno’s proposal despite other suitors that had tried to have his brother’s hand in marriage. For Kazu, Ohno was not only a brother-in-law, but since who knows when, he was relying to the tanned man. He lied the night before. To him, Ohchan and Jun were more like parents to him than brothers. That was another reason he couldn’t forgive himself. “I had betrayed the two of you.”
“You are still our precious baby brother, remember?” Ohno patted his head, the act that he was never worthy of. “Your brother and I just want what’s best for you, Kaz, so please give that human a chance to prove that not all humans are as bad as that one, mostly, give yourself a chance to move on.”
Kazu decided not to answer. Instead he put his head in Ohno’s lap, side by side with the big white cat. He stroked the cat’s head, murmuring, “Sorry.”
***
“Good Morning everyone.” Kazu rolled his eyes hearing the cheerful voice on the next day he went to Aiba’s shrine. He was surprised yesterday when he saw the man was sitting at Aiba’s dinner table, having breakfast while talking friendlily with Aiba. That must not be right, and that was the reason he went to complain to his brother-in-law. But today is another day, with another annoyance in his presence.
“Good morning, Kazu.” The man stood in front of him, but Kazu didn’t give a damn. He kept on his work, sweeping the yard of Aiba shrine.
“Aiba told me you work as the shrine keeper. Must be hard, isn’t it?” Kazu stayed silent, pretending the man didn’t exist. He swept further into the yard, noting some cherry blossom trees needed fertilizer.
“So you’re still not talking with me?” The man was still following him. Kazu almost lost his temper. How persistent can that old man be? He intently swept the fallen dry leaves in his direction, silently telling him to leave him alone. He half-heartedly listen to the man complain, but he put on his victory pose when the man finally turned and left him to do his task in peace.
Kazu threw the matches onto his piling leaves, watching the fire burn them slowly. “You really won’t spare that poor man ne, Kaz?” Kazu exhaled exaggeratedly, seeing his best friend lean on a tree with his son Kou on his back.
“Why don’t you mind your own business, Masaki? Don’t you have some prayers you need to conduct?” He point at Aiba’s attire, the white and red hakama that priests usually wear. It meant he had something on his schedule.
“Don’t be so uptight, Kaz, the kids miss uncle Kazu, especially because you didn’t return here yesterday. So he’s all yours, and if Erika asks, do you mind telling her I will be having prayer with your brother-in-law? Thanks,” Aiba said quickly, shoving his son onto Kazu and pecking his cheek.
“Yeah right! Bring me some trout!” Kazu couldn’t help but chuckle. Prayer with his brother-in-law only meant they both would go fishing on the Inunaki Dam, and just didn’t want to be bothered by his brother and Aiba’s wife, Erika. Kazu was still smiling, holding little Kou on his hips while he watched the fire slowly go out. He gathered the ashes together in the middle, and he threw a bucket of water towards it. What he didn’t expect was someone yelping. “Who’s there?!”
“Oh no! What are you doing?” Kazu was so surprised to see Sakurai coming out from behind a tree, all wet with his phone in his hand. The man seemed to yell more at him but hold the words when he saw Kou on his hips. “Listen, I know you don’t like me, but could you at least check your surroundings before watering?”
Kazu didn’t get time to respond, as Sakurai stomped past him, trying to dry himself and his phone. He just stood there, seeing Sakurai grumble, holding his phone and trying to make a phone call, failing of course. Kazu started with smile before he laughed out loud. That should teach the human a lesson, a reminder that the shrine is a phone-free area.
***
That was basically how their days started. Kazu still came to Aiba’s shrine, but he tried his best to avoid the man. It wasn’t a really hard job to do since the man himself was rarely seen at the shrine. He most likely walked around the village and Kazu could see all maidens smitten by him. Just the nature of a human, Kazu thought. He really wished Ohchan would kick him out of their village soon, because the man seemed to overstay his 1-2 day stay for so long that it was almost a week now.
“Kazu-jii, Kazu-jii, let’s look for beetles, come on Kazu-jii.” One of the village kids called him from below the shrine gate. Kazu was startled. So it was beginning of summer already, and it would mark five years even since the painful. He shook his head immediately, yelling back at the group of children. “Oi, I’m not a jii-chan, it should be nii-chan, you brat.”
The kids were just laughing but beckoning him to follow them, which he did laughingly. He always believed, human children have the purest nature, a clean sheet, a soul that was not corrupted yet, unlike their adults. Kazu was engulfed by the kids’ enthusiasm, so much that he didn’t realized Sakurai stood under the tree, watching him being dragged along by the kids.
Kazu was still chuckling when he dried his hair. It looked like his beetle searching turned into a water war on the river where the kids decided that a wet uncle Kazu was the greatest goal they will have for that day, so that was how Kazu returned home all drenched, laughed at by the mothers, but they seemed to feel sorry for him too. Kids always had that power.
“Excuse me, Ohno-san.” Kazu hurriedly came out the bathroom, grabbing his t-shirt without putting it on. His brother was not at home when he came home just now, so no one could answer the call. He opened the door in an instant and froze, seeing the last man he wished to see standing before him. Kazu was suddenly aware of his half nakedness when he felt the man’s eyes roaming his body. He felt his cheeks burning, so he put on his shirt with a death glare at the man.
“What do you want?”
“Is Ohno-san home?”
“If he were, he would have opened the door.” Kazu heard the man sighed before he turned without a word and Kazu felt a little bit bad. Maybe that man really had an urgent matter. “Why do you want to see my brother anyway?”
“Not that you’d help to pass the message on to him anyway, right? Why bother asking?”
“Hey, I’ve tried to help you.” Kazu’s words were caught when he saw Ohchan coming back, the big white cat was in his arms.
“Sakurai-san, what a pleasant surprise. How can I help you this time?” Kazu saw his Ohchan being too friendly with the human, but he might not have been the only one, as the cat in Ohchan’s arms glared at the man, hissing madly.
“Ohno san, glad to see you. I wanted to ask your permission.” Sho stepped back, getting away from the cat, making Kazu giggle a little. “My cousin wants to see me in this village, but I can’t answer him yet, before I ask your permission.”
Ohno looked calm as always, but Kazu knew that his brother was as surprised as him. He looked at his older brother who was stroking the cat slowly, an act that Kazu knew was meant to calm himself, before he answered. “I’m honored that you think about this village first before inviting your cousin, Sakurai-san. However, I must decline your request. As you may know by now, the villagers are not really open to strangers.”
Kazu scrunched his eyebrows together. Villagers seemed not to have any issues with how Sakurai wandered around these days, but he knew why Ohno declined. All for him. As always.
“No worries, Ohno-san, I will just meet him on the dam. It’s also the easiest place to go to.” Sakurai smiled brightly. “Thank you for your understanding, Sakurai-san. I’m really sorry for not accepting your request.” Ohno nodded a little, dismissed the man silently.
***
Kazu swore he wasn’t following the man on the next day. He has his own business, namely getting the fertilizer Aiba ordered by mail at the nearest post office. No, he wasn’t following the man when he saw him hugging a tall man in a parking lot of the dam. He just strolled down on his bicycle passing the dam, insisting to himself he didn’t need to know what the man was up to.
Kazu took the 20 kilos of fertilizer that Aiba ordered, cursed internally, thinking about how he could bring it up to his village. He sure would give Aiba his wrath later on, he thought as he put the fertilizer on his bike. True to his prediction, he was running out of breath halfway, which was in front of the dam. Kazu was not considering the fact that the car he saw earlier was still in the parking lot, no, that definitely was not the reason he pulled his bicycle over and decided to rest for a while at the dam. Absolutely not.
The dam was relatively empty except for some seasonal fishermen trying their luck fishing there. Kazu just looked around until he found Sakurai standing side by side with the same man he saw earlier. Kazu took a seat, still watching Sakurai, who laughed at the man’s words, and Kazu thought about how he never saw that laugh before in the village. Sakurai always smiled, but never laughed like he did just now. That intrigued Kazu, wanting to know what he was up to, so he slowly walked toward the two of them.
“No, Bussan, but I feel bad prolonging my holiday.” Kazu could hear Sakurai say those words.
“Why should you? I can understand why. This area has such clean, fresh air, I would stay here forever if I were you,” the other answered laughingly.
“I wished I could, Bussan, but you know it won’t be so easy. I have live in Tokyo too, you know.”
“A life where you work 25 hours?” There, Kazu saw the sad smile again. “Hey, I was just saying, maybe it would be good for you to stay here and relax for a while.”
“I wish I could relax, but there’s this brat that keeps on bothering me since earlier. I had to put my phone under a drier once because he throws buckets of water on me. Can you imagine that?” Kazu couldn’t believe his ears. How could that man say bad things about him? He never asked him to come to the village, and as far as Kazu was concerned, that man had better leave as soon as possible. He decided, he had no need to be there anymore, so he turned around to continue his trip back to the village, but he didn’t see a man taking his lure backward and hit him, making him fall down on the wrong foot.
“Kazu?” Kazu groaned hearing Sakurai called his name. He tried to get up and get away from there, but his right foot objected, made him fall again, and he looked away from Sakurai’s worried face. “What are you doing?”
Kazu pushed the man away, but he didn’t budge. Instead he circled his waist and picked him up, bringing him away from the crowd.
“Oi Bambi! What’s going on? Who is the boy?” The one that Sakurai was talking to followed them to the parking lot, but Sakurai didn’t seemed to hear him, focusing on him instead. “Bussan, I’ll call you later, I’ll let you know when I’m ready to go back to Tokyo.”
“Put me down! Now! I don’t need your help.” Kazu struggled, feeling so ashamed being easily manhandled like that with people watching them in amusement.
“Stay still or I may drop you and your ankle will get worse.” Kazu froze. It was the first time anyone had yelled at him for long time. Even his brothers had stopped reprimanding for as long as he could remember. “How did you get here?”
“Bike.” Kazu pointed to the only yellow bike under the shade of a tree. Sakurai put him down once they got to the bike. He arranged the fertilizer sack before arranging Kazu to sit.
The road back was spent in silence until Kazu couldn’t help asking. “Why are you helping me? I still won’t be nice to you, just so that you know.”
“Don’t worry, you had made it clear that you don’t like me.”
“So why bother helping me? I’m just a brat that made your phone wet,” Kazu questioned, trying to ignore the nice smell from Sakurai’s back. Wait, he didn’t just say it was nice, right? Can't be right, especially when Sakurai mumbled, “So you did overhear us.”
Sakurai didn’t answer him. Instead he was just pedaling with all his might upward to the village, his breath ragged. Kazu almost felt sorry for him. Pedaling a bicycle with 20 kilos of fertilizer and himself must have been hard for the man. They didn’t say anything until they reached the village’s gate. “Listen, I know you don’t like me, that’s crystal clear, but I know you don’t mean anything bad. No bad people would help others in need, no matter how silly it was, like finding a beetle for kids. So, truce? At least until we get to the village, and get the doctor to check on you.”
Truce didn’t seemed too bad now, Kazu thought.
***
His ankle did get twisted, and it took him 3 days to get it into function, but after that, the relationship with Sakurai changed a little bit. At least he didn’t try to throw buckets of water on him anymore. They strolled together through the village, with Kazu’s excuse being that he was just helping Ohno to distribute the announcement. At least now they could talk like civilized people, and Kazu felt a little proud of himself. He even sat with the kids as Sho taught them English. It seemed like talking with Sho made him remember his dreams, which sometimes he was afraid of. He was assuring himself, he would never go down the same path ever again, and that he would just learn what he could here, in the safety of his village, as long as Sho stayed.
“Are you sure you have everything with you?” Kazu heard Aiba’s wife, Erika, ask, and he turned to see if she was talking to him, but no, she was talking to Sho who had a full backpack with him. Aiba at her side also looked at the man with worry.
“Going somewhere?” Kazu approached them and questioned him. It had been almost a month of Sho’s stay that he didn’t understand the uneasy feeling of seeing Sho with a big carrier, all ready to go, didn’t know where to, but maybe he was returning to Tokyo. A pang tugged at his heart when he had the thought.
“Kazu, good that you’re here. Sho here insists on going alone into the woods. He wants to see stars, he said.” Erika was the one who answered his question. “Please tell him the woods can be dangerous, especially for him, who doesn’t know the area.”
“Erika-san, you’re just too worried, but I’m grateful. I’m sure I will be fine though.” Sho laughed a little, to get his host to stop worrying. Kazu couldn’t say that Erika was wrong. The woods could be mean to humans sometimes, especially to a city born like Sho who didn’t know anything about surviving in nature.
“Erika is right, Sho, it may be better if you went there with someone familiar with the woods,” Aiba chirped in. This time, Kazu did feel a little worried, as he saw some teasing in his eyes. “Kazu can help you go through the woods. He’s been there for most of his life, and he knows the area like the back of his hand.”
“Oi…” Somehow, Kazu could hear his own complaint was made halfheartedly.
“No, that’s okay, Kazu may be busy and has better things to do, right Kazu?” Sho refused with a red face, something that Kazu believed was related to the rising temperature lately. “Well, if you opted to get lost in the woods, then be my guest.”
“Come on, just go, you two. It’s been a long time since you went into the woods too, right Kaz?” Kazu couldn’t understand why Aiba seemed so excited with them going together. He looked at the pair questioningly, but didn’t object when they pushed him to go with Sho, waving excitedly.
“Kazu, wait!” Instead of stopping, Kazu quickened his steps even more, trying his best to avoid that man. “Hey Kazu, wait for me.”
Kazu turned in annoyance, just as the man tripped on his own feet, making him lose his balance and fall on all fours. Kazu couldn't help his laughter, seeing that miserable state. Sho stood up with a full pout, wincing as he saw his hand and the tear on his knees.
“Really, Sho, I wonder how you could find our village when you are this clumsy.” Kazu turned around and stepped toward him. He still couldn't conceal his amusement.
“Well the road is even and I wasn't chasing after a bratty boy whose hobby is running away from his house,” Sho answered grumpily.
“Hey, I wasn't running away from home. This was supposed to be the way to the waterfalls, which by the way wasn't your thing, old man.”
“Oi, watch your language, boy, I'll show you I can always chase you around.” Kazu silently heard the confidence in Sho’s words.
“Hmph, do whatever you want, just don't get in my way.” Kazu turned again, stepped away, and continued his walk, but now, he stopped once in a while, pretending to search for something, or tying his shoes, while the truth was that he was waiting for Sho to catch up. He heard the man breathing heavily, and Kazu smirked. That should teach him well not to underestimate the woods. But still Kazu wait for him nevertheless.
“Wow, it's beautiful…” Kazu smirked, hearing the exclamation. They arrived at the feet of the waterfalls. Not many knew about it, hidden inside the woods of what people thought was an abandoned village. It was like his own personal waterfalls, well, not anymore.
“Wait until we reach the top.” Kazu stepped closer to the waterfalls.
“Wha...what? What do you mean, the top? It's good enough here.” Kazu smirked, hearing the panicked tone.
“Sure old man, you can wait here if you want.” Instantly a “Hey!” was heard.
Kazu didn't say anything more, just walk toward the falls, removing vines that covered a ferrata ladder leading upward on the cliff. He slowly climbed it up, ignoring Sho’s calls below him. He peeked through the gap between the ferrata and the cliff, seeing Sho's pale face following him, and Kazu almost laugh loudly, noticing the shaking of Sho's legs and arms. Deciding to spare the man, he stopped at the small opening on the cliff, and he sat there throwing weeds downward, intent on getting them on Sho. He really laughed seeing Sho yelp, avoiding the dirt.
“Hey! That's not nice you know.” Sho finally sat beside him on the clearing, playfully shoving him a little.
“So, the CEO of Sakurai Foundation and its newlines companies are afraid of height? That'll be a headline, I'm sure.”
“You brat!” This time Sho shoved him more powerfully, so Kazu pretended that he was about to fall from the small clearing, but Sho grabbed his hand faster.
“Sorry, I forgot you're so small, I shouldn't use much force.” Kazu decided not to answer but sat silently looking at Sho's hand on his. He hoped Sho would keep holding his hand. “Hey, I said I'm sorry Kaz.”
“Shh, be quiet. I'm enjoying the view.” Kazu point to the green that was his village in front of them, still noticing Sho hadn't removed his hand yet. He heard Sho taking deep breaths seeing it also. “It's beautiful.”
Kazu didn’t answer, only humming in reply. He had seen the view for more than a hundred years. Changes had happened and even if it wasn’t as green as it used to be, the view was still breathtaking. He relaxed a little and unconsciously leaned against Sho, letting Sho play with his hand, unconsciously also. It did cross his mind to wonder how he felt so calm beside Sho, and why he brought Sho to his nest, but the wind gently blew, and the warmth of the sun and the blue sky above them made him forget all the causes and reasons. It was just there.
“If I remember correctly, around 6 years ago, this place was the new tourist destination, wasn’t it? I can see why now.” Sho spoke up after quite a while. Again, Kazu hummed his answer before he really answered, “It wasn’t supposed to be one. It’s too dangerous here.”
“It’s beautiful here. If your brother allows it, I can make TV footage of my trip and air it, so people will remember this place. And it can help the economy in this area too, don’t you think?” Sho turned just to see Kaz stiffen, but he still leaned against him.
“Then what will they do? Coming here, covering the woods with all their garbage, scaring the animals with their loud voices? Laughing at how stupid they think the villagers are? Selling hope about how great the cities are? No thanks, that won’t happen again.” Kazu knew he sounded bitter, but Sho’s suggestion opened an old wound he wished he could forget, and aside from opening the wound, Kazu was even madder at himself. How could he forget that Sho was a human, who of course thought of anything through an economic perspective, instead of what truly lay on earth. He straightened his position, pulling his hand from Sho’s grip, surprising the man that instantly looked at him.
“Kaz? Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything bad, it was just a suggestion.” Kazu just sat there with his knees to his chest, and his arms holding his legs in position, he put his head on his knees. Sho turned fully to face him, trying to take the hand that was now circling his knees.
“Kaz, please, just forget what I said. I promise you, I won’t even bring it up to your brothers, I’m so sorry, please, say something.”
“Have you ever gotten your hopes up high? Like a dream that you never dreamt of will finally come true? Do you know how it feels?” Kazu whispered softly. When Sho didn’t answer, he peeked through his lashes, seeing the man stunned in front of him. That’s when Ohchan’s voice rang in his head. There’s something that hurt the man before, and Kazu got the urge to know it. “Do you want to listen to a story?”
“Once upon a time.” Kazu started his story when Sho nodded. “This area was a thick wood, where a lot of animals stayed. Say, do you believe in youkai? Youkai also lived here.” Kazu could see Sho started to question his story, but he continued nevertheless.
“So, youkai brothers live here together, they watched the first humans come into the area, and they let them start building houses, having their children grow up, raising grandchildren. Then one day, the youkai big brother got married to another youkai, giving the little brother an option to follow them, but that young youkai refused, didn’t want to bother his beloved brother who was finding his happiness. He was so foolish.”
“Why?” Sho whispered. It seemed like he didn’t want to interrupt the story.
“No youkai can live on its own, you know. They must live in family, or with their master. So one day, the young youkai was trapped into a boar trap that the villagers pulled out. It’s human nature to be afraid of something that doesn’t look the same as them, so they were afraid of the young youkai and tried to kill it.”
“Did they?”
“No, of course not. A priest stopped them. That was Aiba’s great grandfather.” Kazu smiled seeing Sho flabbergasted hearing that Aiba actually really came from a priest family. “He assured the villagers that he would be responsible for the young youkai, thus the youkai found himself a master, and started to live in the village. His brother followed him with his husband later on.” Kazu looked at Sho this time, hoping the man knew where the story was going.
“So they lived happily ever after in the village?”
“I wish the story was as simple as that, but no. The young youkai started to feel restless again. He wanted to have experiences, just like the human children that had grown up. So he begged his master to bring him out of the village, which of course his master refused. But he had a second best idea, of bringing more humans into the village, so he did. 10 years ago.” Kazu saw the understanding in Sho’s eyes.
“Until 6 years ago, when with what you call Google, everything went to chaos. City people started flowing into the village. The youkai was thrilled to hear their stories, hear the magic that happened in the cities, and one man, one particular man, approached the youkai. Promised to show him real magic and not just a story, saying he could live in the city instead of a deserted village like this, and the youkai believed him.”
“What?”
“I know, that youkai was so stupid, right? Despite the fact that his brother forbade him, and his master, who just turned 100 years that year, told him not to go, he still insisted. That young youkai was so stupid, believing everything the stranger said. He even turned into his real form as a youkai in front of that man.” Sho took a deep breath, eyes wide. Kazu just chuckled, changing his position to lean back to him.
“That was when the young youkai felt it. He felt the dishonesty of the man, felt the discomfort that his master warned him about, but all was too late. The man became violent, and one night, he tied the youkai up, and forcefully tried to bring him out to the cities, trying to sell the youkai to a circus or something like that. His master noticed it, tried to stop the man, but he hit him. A hundred year old human, getting hit by a pickup truck, and you can imagine the rest.” Sho circled his arms around Kazu, something that he never thought he needed. He started to cry into Sho’s chest.
“That was a very tragic story Kaz. You don’t have to continue it if you don’t want to.”
“That was not all, Sho. That youkai brother saw what happened to his brother’s master, and he attacked the man to free his little brother. Youkai, especially as powerful as that brother youkai was, only have one basic rule, which is never to hurt a human, for whatever reason, otherwise he will lose all his power. Even knowing that fact, his brother still attacked, but the human, I don’t know if we can call him human or not, tried to kill the older youkai with gardening fork. That was when everything lost their places. His husband lost control. He is a rain dragon youkai, you know.” Kazu felt Sho stiffen beside him.
“Rain Dragon? I once read it’s the rarest but most powerful youkai of all.” Kazu smiled. As expected from the head of a television company, seemed like Sho didn’t just spent his time reading economic journals.
“You right, he was so powerful. He started the heavy rain, getting the truck stuck in the mud, and that was when this river here flooded. It came fast, and without anyone expecting it, half the village was covered in water. It killed half of the villagers, and of course that evil man, the dragon killed him. All because of that stupid young youkai.” Kazu ended his story with his last sob.
“I think you’re wrong. That evil man was to blame. He deceived the youkai, disgracing all humans by being ungrateful, and I think it’s good that the dragon killed him. It’s not the youkai that was at fault.” Sho lifted Kazu’s chin, looking deeply into the man’s eyes. “I can understand why you don’t trust strangers now, but not everyone is like that evil man. I’m not.”
Kazu don’t know when and who started it, but the last thing he knew, he felt Sho’s lips on his, and he didn’t refuse the man, melting into his arms instead. The kiss was unsure and started with just a peck that let their lips connect, just like touching their lips together, but then Sho started kissing him softly, slowly from one corner to the other corner of his lips, tasting his salty tears, and when Sho’s tongue sneaked out, Kazu answered the kiss, answering the worry in Sho’s kiss with his way of telling him he was fine now. He didn’t know for how long, but he realized he was on his back with Sho covering him, and then he was afraid. He pushed the man off and scrunched away, looking back at him with paranoia.
“I… I’m sorry… not sorry for kissing you though. I’m sorry I moved too fast. I didn’t mean to scare you away. Sorry.” Sho kneeled in front of him, extending his hand, waiting for him to answer the hand too.
“I think I’ve fallen in love with you, Kaz.” Sho kneeled forward, softly taking his hand.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. This is not right. You.. you don’t know me…” Kazu groggily stood up.
“You don’t know me, you just think you fell for me, but no, one day, you will return to your big city and you will forget me. I can assure you that.” This time Kazu said it with more certainty. He walked back to the ferrata on the side of the cave, leaving the stunned man behind.
“You’re right, I don’t know you, as much as you don’t know me. But why don’t we change that? I’m serious with my feelings, and I think I’m no longer a teenager who doesn’t know what he wants or the consequences of what he wants. And I want to know you.” Kazu stopped to see Sho standing in place, looking back at him determinedly.
Kazu decided there’s no use talking to that man at that moment, so he turned his back, continuing to step down the ladder. His ears still heard Sho’s deep breath but he knew the man was following him. He looked up to see Sho’s stubborn face looking back at him, and the horror started in front of Kazu’s eyes. Sho stepped too close to the end of the cliff, and he slipped before he got the chance to grab the ladder. The last thing Kazu heard was Sho screaming his name.
Instinct took over him, and Kazu could feel it. He felt his inner self growl, and that was it. His stubby hand started to change into claws, his small body popped up everywhere for the first time in 5 years, his bones tore his human flesh and skin, and fur, definitely fur was forming all over his body. He had surrendered to his youkai that ran after Sho’s body, which was falling fast from the high cliff. He got Sho as the human fell onto his back, and grabbed his fur. He was too focused on saving Sho that he didn’t notice he hit the cliff. He tried his best to control his speed, but his head hit the protruding cliff in front of him. He howled in pain but refused to fall just like that, not with Sho on his back. He lost his conscious once he felt the ground on his feet. He growled for the last time before blackness covered him.
✏ ✏ ✏
Sho groaned and shifted from his position above the fluffy fur that caught him from falling. The first thing he remembered was the thing underneath him was a beautiful kitsune, clear white with its elegant nine tails. A kitsune that had come out from Kazu. Sho moved immediately when the warm fluffy fur changed into a thin human body.
“Kazu, Kazu.” He called the name, but he touched wet sticky red fluid when he tried to lift the man's head, then he remembered the kitsune hit the cliff before they fell.
“Kazu...Kazu…” Sho opened his shirt, holding it closely to the wound on Kazu head, pressing it strongly to stop the bleeding, assessing his surroundings and trying to find away to bring Kazu back to the village, but then the man’s shape turned into the beautiful kitsune again before he could lift the man.
He heard footsteps running his way, and Sho started panic. No one could see Kazu in this form. There must be a reason why Kazu always showed himself in his human form. He must not have wanted to be seen. Sho was torn between applying pressure to the wound and trying to grab something to hide them before he could actually go fetch some help. His train of thought was stopped when a white big cat almost the size of the kitsune appeared in front of him, looking deeply at him, hissing in annoyance, trying to get closer to the kitsune. Sho thought the cat was going to hurt Kazu, so he did the only thing he could, defend Kazu. He grabbed a small rock with his free hand and was about to throw it at the cat when someone approached them.
“Please put the stone away, Sakurai-san. I don't want to hurt you if you try to hurt my Jun.” Ohno came out of nowhere, but he kneeled beside the kitsune like it was something he saw in daily basis. Sho stared at the man confusedly, but that was before the cat in front of him turned into Jun, which is when he yelped like a little girl.
“You! What did you do to Kazu?!” Sho tried to turn his eyes away, avoiding the nakedness of Jun's human form, even though the man himself didn't seemed to mind and only had Kazu’s state in his head. He shoved Sho away with the threat, “If anything happens to Kazu, I'll kill you.”
So Sho stood aside, seeing the two men hovering above the kitsune.
“What's wrong with him, Satoshi? Why did he howl just now?” Jun asked his husband. Tears were started to form in his eyes. Instead of answering, Ohno pulled off his haori and put it on Jun's shoulder, hiding his nakedness.
“His transformation was in a rush. After so many years in his human form, this was his first time to change, and in a hurry. His body wasn't prepared for that. Why is there this wound, Sakurai-san?” Sho was just looking at the three in front of him, trying to digest. Kazu’s transformation, Jun coming out from a big white cat, and Ohno who was so calmly watching it all. It took him some seconds before he could answer the question.
“He tried to save me. I was falling from the cliff and he saved me, but he hit his head, and we both fell.” Sho tried to explain with his hand flying around to show what he meant. Ohno and Jun were looking at each other, and they both looked at the cliff and the kitsune that was now changing back into his human Kazu form.
“We must bring him to the house.” That was Ohno’s conclusion before he picked up the young man with ease and ran through the woods carrying him with Jun running beside him. Everything clicked in Sho's head now. Kazu was the kitsune youkai, Jun who just came out from cat form, and the show of power that Ohno performed just now, as well as their inhuman speed. They were the youkai in Kazu’s story. Realizing that fact, Sho ran to follow them. Kazu had been so lonely this whole time and now he understood why. He needed to prove himself to Kazu that he was worthy of being trusted and more so worthy of being loved.
It was almost midnight when he arrived back at the village, and he ran immediately to leader’s house. True to his assumption, Kazu was brought there. They were in the backyard where spring water was coming out. But he was surprised when he saw Aiba chanting a spell, beside the kitsune. So Aiba had known all along, as expected from the descendent of the priest that had saved Kazu on the first time. He fell to the ground, sweating through his t-shirt, the spring cold air biting his skin even more, but he didn't want to leave the youkai.
“Can you please follow me, Sakurai-san, I believe I have a shirt in your size.” Jun called him inside, fully clothed this time, so he followed the man. “How is Kazu, Jun-san?”
“I don't know. Satoshi said this midnight is his critical condition. He must survive the night, otherwise he will vanish from the world.” Jun shoved a shirt at him that he took from a cupboard near the kitchen.
“Can you do something?”
“Why are you so worried?” Sho couldn't answer the question.
“Satoshi tried his best. It will be up to Kazu’s will now.” Sho could see the worry clearly shown in Jun beautiful face.
“Tell me Sakurai-san, what are you intentions with getting closer to Kazu?”
“I love him.” Sho answered quickly.
“Why? Sorry, but I did a background check on you. Kazu is not the same as your late wife.” Sho chuckled. He should have guessed, the leader’s husband won’t allow him to stay just like that.
“I’m aware of that fact Jun-san. I don’t know why either, it just happened. It’s just I can’t get away from him, in any way. I’ve tried to. I was thinking of going back to Tokyo with my cousin a couple of weeks ago, but he was suddenly there, and I couldn’t just leave him alone.” Sho was remembering the episode when Kazu twisted his ankle.
“Even if he's a youkai?” Sho thought for a moment, playing the image of a beautiful kitsune with nine tails and all in his mind, and decided that he didn't care of any form Kazu is, he just loved him.
“Kazu ne, even if he survives the night, he needs to choose to stay as a youkai in the kitsune form forever, or stay as a human that can one day die,” Jun continued, looking at the night sky.
Sho stayed silent and followed Jun back to the backyard. Kazu had again changed to his kitsune youkai form. Ohno had a ball of water in between his hands, and Sho saw him run it through the kitsune, making it glow, but the Kitsune shook wildly before he changed to Kazu human form, only for less than a minute, and changed back to the kitsune form. It happened several times until Sho realized the full moon was directly above their heads. It was midnight now.
“It will be up to him now.” Ohno walked to sit on the veranda with Jun. Sho saw Jun toweling Ohno’s sweat and Erika giving Aiba his tea.
“Can I stay beside him?” Ohno looked at him but nodded with sympathy.
Sho carefully lay on the worn-out carpet beside the big kitsune. He didn't know what he could do, but he just stroked the kitsune’s fur, feeling the softness, flicking its ears, carefully checking the wound on its head. Sho thought he felt the kitsune purr under his touch so he held its paw, avoiding the sharp claws. He meant what he said. He didn’t care if Kazu turned into a youkai forever, he still would love him anyway. He put the paw in his lap, stroking it, whispering his love until he fell asleep.
Sho didn't know how long he was asleep for, but he saw his surroundings. Aiba and Erika had fallen asleep in front of the make up altar, and Ohno and Jun asleep in their seats on the veranda. He looked at Kazu’s face. It seemed like he’d changed back into his human form, but Sho didn’t know for how long, so he was just going to appreciate it. He looked at the young face, too serene, and he missed the bratty man.
Sho shook his head, realizing what he did probably failed, but he kept holding Kazu’s hand. He was thinking of the worst when he felt the hand in his tapping his palm. He opened his eyes, looking down at clear brown orbs that were staring at him lovingly. Sho didn’t waste another second, leaning in to peck the dried lips. “Welcome back, my brat.”
-end-
no subject
EDIT:
Here I am, finally! :D I'm commenting along while reading, so prepare for a long comment xD
The beginning! OMG, it's so sad that Sho lost his wife through such a brutal way =( Poor him! I can imagine that he still has nightmares from it, especially if the case was never really solved...
Awww Sho and Okada and Aoi as friends and Okada suggesting him to get drunk as the three of them was such a cute thing to say somehow, I really liked that!
Kazu's introduction is really interesting (and I like that you call him Kazu ^^)! I immediately kept wondering what Jun meant with "in this form" and what Kazu is doing to mislead people... What IS he? A magician, a shapeshifter, some kind of spirit? Is he evil, is he good? (He can't be evil, it's Kazu we're talking about, right? XD) What does it mean he betrayed his master? D: So many questions!!
Oh-chan has a really cool first appearance and of course, he's the leader of the village! I liked that! Oh and I really have a weak point for Jun as Kazus (older!) brother, thanks for including that! I hope, they will get along better again, Jun is just worried, isn't he? (And thank you so much for including Juntoshi as a side-pair <3 Really appreciate that! <3)
Ohhh OK, so Kazu put a charm onto the village, so I figure he at least has magical powers in some way, plus he's trying to protect the village? Btw, I love how you describe the scene of Kazu sitting there and watching the gate, surrounded by woods and all that nature... the setting sounds really beautiful! Also the later description of Riida's house with the arrangement and the (Juntoshi)hortensia (I love hortensia btw!) was really pretty!
I loled at the description of the stranger who tries to enter the gate xD It's like Kazu thinks he hates Sho because he looks so handsome. Haha!
"Playing the part of the bratty boy that he appeared to be" - I love this sentence because it bears so much truth, doesn't it? I honestly believe that whenever Kazu is behaving like a brat, he's simply playing part of his role (well, maybe he enjoys it a little from time to time XD) but that in reality he's a really kind and friendly person. <3
"Google can be wrong sometimes"! XD So true!
Aibaaaa!! Of course he's Kazu's friend <3 and so cute how he assumes the stranger is Kazu's friend too xD LOL I wanted to slap my face too, Kazu, I understand, but Aiba is so cute how he gives away important information and invites a stranger (he really could be a serial murder, you know, Aiba-chan?!) But who can blame him, he's just trying to be helpful.
Sho, are you worried about Kazu for walking through the night? XD That's cute but I think there's no need to worry! Also cute, Sho being embarrassed for being hungry lol It's nice that Oh-chan asks Jun for onigiri. (I bet, Jun's onigiri are the best! Now I want some too...)
Oh-chan has a cat <3 And lol at Kazu's comment for letting Sho sleep in the woods xD
So by now it sounds like none of the villagers are actually humans, right? (Probably I should have guessed by the title lol.) Or at least Kazu, Ohno, Jun... That's interesting... maybe, they are cat spirits? Or fox spirits? Is the white cat in Oh-chan's lap Jun, perhaps or is my imagination running too wild?! I also noticed the cat heads you used to switch scenes... so maybe that's connected?
The scene between Oh-chan and Kazu is really touching, I can feel Kazu's pain :( Whatever exactly happened, it sounds horrible... someone tricked him and then everything went out of hand? That's really a frightening thought. I can understand why he's still traumatized, trying to prevent something like that from happening again, being careful when it comes to the stranger Sho and even not wanting to be held responsible for any further actions. He seems locked in the past for which he takes the blame, but he's so scared to something like that happening again... Also, I really like that despite his grumpy attitude, he loves Oh-chan and Jun so much, that's so cute. Family bonds are important!
Lol Kazu and his way to "ignore" Sho and telling him to leave XD Sweaping the dried leaves into his direction, that's so adorable somehow, I can't help but grin like stupid at that haha Oh and Aiba has a wife and son yei! And he makes Kazu watch his son so that he can go on secret fishing trips with Oh-chan lol nice tactic, Aiba-chan! Kazu's interaction with the kids is so cute btw, I love that! I'm sure he has a lot of fun with them. ^__^
OMG xD Why is he answering the door half-naked?! Lucky Sho! And of course, Kazu did not pull his bicycle at the damm to spy on Sho and Okada, noooo.
Wait D: Who hit Kazu? Who was that?! But yei for Sho helping injured Kazu! See, Kazu? He's a nice guy! And respect to Sho for being able to ride that bike with all the additional baggage up there >.>" I would have died...
So they are getting a bit closer, finally, even if Kazu is still behaving like a brat and Sho thinks he doesn't like him XD Good idea, Aiba to make them go to the woods together lol Poor Sho for having to climb up to the top of the waterfall but it seems it's worth it, right? The view... holding Kazu's hand <3 <3 <3 So cute how Kazu doesn't want him to let go off his hand and even leaning against Sho! Awww that's so cute and so subtly romantic, I love such scenes!!
Youkais!!! YOUKAIS!!! They are youkais!!! And that story... it's so sad T_T Poor Kazu, and all the poor villagers! But Sho is right, it's the human who's to blame for all this... the rest is a chain of sad and unexpected events. Though I understand why Kazu feels guilty...
And the KISS! *____* Yes!!! Comfort kiss, so cute, I'm in heaven... at least until Kazu pushes Sho away D: Yeah, I know, insecurities and trauma and everything but Sho was so sweet, he surely never wants to hurt you, Kazu, you have to trust him!
Noooo Sho, don't trip! OMG! So Kazu IS a youkai, a FOX spirit!! I'm so excited!! That fits SO well and gosh that transformation scene is so well written, I can see it in front of my eyes that's so awesome! And he saves Sho, thank god, but then he gets hurt, no, Sho, do something! T__T That's so sad, I'm so scared, oh gosh!
So Jun IS the white cat, I was right OMG! And Ohno is the water dragon, isn't he? Of course he is. OMG, those three are really youkais, I'm flipping out, that's so cool! I hope Oh-chan can save Kazu now, please! D:
Good point btw, Jun, addressing Sho's late wife. But that was five years ago and who can resist our cute Kazu? You can't blame Sho for falling in love with him xD It's so cute how Sho stays with Kazu, no matter which form he has and how he waits for him to get better and I'm so happy that he really does! So they'll be fine, right? Kazu survived and... the fact he turned into his human form in the end, does it mean that he decided to stay in that form and with Sho? Sho will stay at the village, won't he? There are still some open questions like what will happen from now on and who was really behind the death of Sho's wife, but I'm just glad Kazu survived and Sho truly loves him! <3
This was a really interesting and thrilling story, dear anon! I loved the supernatural touch, with Oh-chan, Jun and Kazu being youkai (seriously, that's SO cool!) and the wonderful, beautiful setting, all that cuteness... and Sho and Kazu falling for each other, despite their natures. I really hope they will be happy together from now on! Thank you so much anon, for writing this for me, for chosing my favourite Sakumiya as the main pair and adding so much love between all the characters in their different constellations. It was really a great read! Thank you! <3
no subject
Thank you for this, it was a good one ♥
no subject
(Anonymous) 2017-06-26 01:32 pm (UTC)(link)Awww maybe we all need Season 2. Www
Thanks for writing sakumiya.. thanks for requesting sakumiya to Skyfish 😍😳
I need you guys to write more sakumiya www~
no subject
no subject