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The wind never seemed to whip around Kazuha--simply straight through him--as if he wasn’t there at all.
The plains of Inazuma shone a wheaty shade of yellow and the grass rippled like waves upon an ocean, lapping at Kazuha’s sides and hair. His lithe back pressed against the thick roots of an old maple tree. He stared at the swaying branches as if they had something promising to show him that they couldn’t quite deliver. A gray vision was pressed into his right hand, and he rubbed his finger across it constantly as if assuring himself that it was still there. A white kitten sat on the branches above him, its eyes narrowed as it licked its paw.
“I can’t feel the wind on my back,” Kazuha spoke slowly as he gazed at the leafy branches. The kitten stopped mid-lick and looked down at him.
“Can you feel the wind with all your fur?” The man tilted his head back to acknowledge the cat. “Doesn’t it bother you?”
He got no response. The wind blew tiny pieces of old leaves onto its thick white pelt and the kitten simply brushed them all off with its pink tongue in a never-ending battle. Kazuha looked back down and closed his eyes, a slight frown crossing his lips.
“Well, It bothers me.”
Kazuha sighed and slowly sat up, the roots from before leaving imprints on his pale skin. He didn’t mind. He gazed at the gray vision one last time before squeezing his hand around it and letting it fall limply to his side. The wind was still avoiding him.
Kazuha bit his lip for a moment before twisting around to face the cat once more, a strangely anxious expression on his face.
“...Do you miss him?”
The previously unamused cat seemed to raise its fluffy head at this assertion, and it looked at Kazuha--unblinking.
Kazuha looked down at the grass. “I don’t understand you as much as he did. I’m sorry, that must be frustrating for you.”
The kitten returned to licking itself, losing interest.
Kazuha squeezed the vision tighter.
It was windy autumn days like these that Kazuha remembered the most fondly. When he was a kid, the wind pushed him so hard that he could almost fly; his arms outstretched like a bird’s wings as he laughed--yelling praises to a roaring world. He had felt immense pride when the Gods gifted him with an anemo vision, taking it as a sure sign that he and the gale would always be intertwined together. As Kazuha held his arms out, sorely missing the fresh sting of the breeze against his skin, he realized that its love was ultimately conditional.
Kazuha surprised himself when he tiredly rubbed his eyes and found them wet, a cascade of water dribbling down his chin. He wiped his cheek with his sleeve.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into me.” Kazuha forced a small smile as he desperately tried to stop his tears. “I’m losing favor with everybody. First Tomo, then the wind, and now my own body.”
The air whipped around Kazuha and the little cat like a hurricane, yet he remained consumed in his grief. The kitten gave a frightened meow as it scampered off, and Kazuha held the gray pendant to his mouth, pressing it to his lips in mock prayer. The atmosphere smelled thick and heavy--a telltale sign of rain--and Kazuha could’ve sworn that he felt tiny pricks from underneath the surface of the dull vision, shocking the man back to a shaky reality. Kazuha looked around at the cascading branches around him, throwing themselves about as if they were alive, and he quickly stood up on trembling legs.
He looked around frantically at the torrent of air that grabbed thin trees and bushes by the handful. A hurricane? Kazuha pushed himself back on the sturdy trunk of the maple tree. Now?
Suddenly, he tumbled to the ground as the mighty maple tree was ripped away from its dwelling as if it only were a weed. Kazuha looked in horror as the maple was carried far away and into the horizon. However, his terror quickly came to a halt when a hefty branch was suddenly flung at his head, smacking him in the face and knocking him down on his back.
Holding onto his last few moments of consciousness, Kazuha prayed that Tomo’s cat was safe before his eyes fluttered down and he sank into a peaceful dreamless void.
. . .
The soft fragrance of pollen and fresh flowers floated through the air. By the time Kazuha woke up, his nose burned and his eyes twitched from the impromptu bloom. He carefully sat upwards as his aching limbs crossed in front of him. He hadn’t the slightest clue of what happened--Kazuha was just happy to be alive.
He looked around the surrounding area with a renewed sense of wonder. There wasn’t the slightest hint of weather damage, and the tall maple tree that he had been leaning against before was still perfectly in place. What he found the most strange, however, was how the windy autumn day seemed to be replaced by a warm spring one. Kazuha sniffled again as he fought with his reemerging allergies.
Suddenly, Kazuha gasped as he felt a keen emptiness in his palm, opening it up to reveal nothing.
Tomo’s vision.
Kazuha shot up and frantically searched around the maple tree, whispering swears under his breath. If he lost it in the storm, then he may as well have lost it forever. Kazuha looked at the vast island before him. He felt his heart sink with every passing moment.
He was snapped out of his stupor when he heard a faint meow a little ways away from him, his shaky gaze landing on the figure of a small white cat. Kazuha sighed in relief.
“You’re okay.” The man stepped towards the cat before frowning. “I lost the vision. I’m sorry, please help me find it.”
Kazuha wondered if it was foolish to ask an animal for help as if it would understand. However, the small white cat stood up and turned around, seemingly beckoning Kazuha to follow it with its tail. He chased after it.
The kitten ducked and weaved through the undergrowth as Kazuha took in the spring scenery around him, quickly looking forward to hop across a gap in the mountains that the cat did. Its slim white legs jumped down a short cliff and onto the coast. In the distance smoke from a bonfire could be seen. The cat headed in its direction.
By the time Kazuha managed to catch up with it, he found that they were in an empty camp; clearly occupied by someone as per the open fire. Kazuha looked around wearily.
“Did the person in this camp take it from me when I was passed out?” Kazuha looked at the kitten once again licking its paw. “Why are we here?”
It ignored him.
Kazuha pressed himself low to the ground and hid behind a large rock, covering himself with stray seaweed littered by its feet in the process. When the thief comes back, Kazuha thought to himself. I’ll ambush them. He double-checked to make sure his own vision was still clipped to his shoulder and peaked in at the camp anxiously.
He lay there in stark silence for almost half an hour before he heard footsteps around where he was hiding. He held his breath as he tried and failed to get a better look at the culprit. The footsteps seemed to notice this slight movement, not quite able to see Kazuha, and slowly approached the rock. Kazuha gripped his vision firmly as a figure peered over the boulder and down at him.
“...What the hell are you doing?”
Kazuha sprang up like a trap snapping closed and summoned a powerful gust of air that knocked the aggressor through the clearing and smack down in the center of the campsite. Kazuha furrowed his brow.
“Where’s the vision, you--!”
Kazuha’s voice seemed to break in his throat as he got a better look at the man he had just hurled away from him. Kazuha’s eyes went wide and his skin drained pale.
It was as if Kazuha was looking at some cruel mirror of the past.
His blond hair was done up in a messy ponytail and his robes were an orangish red, like ornate origami paper. The man braced his hand in front of his face as he glared at Kazuha--taken aback.
“Uh, what’s gotten into you?” the man asked as he gave a weak yet nervous smile. “I mean no harm. I promise.”
Kazuha continued to stare wide-eyed at him, his voice finally managing to croak out.
“You’re-- you’re dead. ”
It was now the other man’s turn to gawk. “What?”
“ You’re --” Kazuha cut himself off as he suddenly became overcome with emotion, letting out a shaky laugh and running over to the man.
He tackled him back to the ground in a warm embrace.
“Tomo,” Kazuha whispered as he dug his face deeper into the man’s collarbone. “Is it really you?”
Tomo--now incredibly bewildered--laughed awkwardly as he hugged Kazuha back. He was becoming more concerned by the second.
“...Remind me to never take a job more than three weeks again.” Tomo played with Kazuha’s hair. “Clearly you can’t handle yourself.”
Kazuha pulled back and looked him dead in the eyes with a hardened expression; a far cry from his sentimental self from a moment ago.
“This isn’t possible.” Kazuha shook his head. “Am I dreaming this?”
“Kaz. seriously.” Tomo raised his eyebrow. “You’re starting to actually freak me out.”
Tomo leaned back and gingerly lifted Kazuha and himself to their feet before brushing some excess dirt off the back of the other man's clothes. Kazuha noticed the bright purple vision hanging off of Tomo’s hip.
That’s where it was.
“Listen.” Tomo warily scratched the back of his head. “Why don’t I make us something to eat and you can tell us all about…what’s going on with you.”
Us, of course, referring to the small white cat that jumped into Tomo’s arms, cuddling against his chest. Kazuha wondered if the cat also found it strange that its owner was seemingly reincarnated right before their very eyes, but if it did--it gave no indication.
Kazuha nodded softly, suddenly feeling very tired, and looked up at Tomo.
“I’d like that.”
. . .
“It’s terrible what she’s doing to those people,” Tomo scoffed as he bit into a piece of meat, a scowl plastered on his face. “Without their visions, they have nothing left.”
Kazuha hummed in agreement as he looked into the raging fire, the issue of the Raiden Shogun still too hurtful to think about despite her most personal crime seemingly reversed.
“The Shogunate’s gone crazy,” Tomo sighed as he looked at Kazuha. “I can tell you’re out of it today.”
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping.” Kazuha gave a weak smile to Tomo as he delivered his white lie, crossing his feet neatly together. “I’m so sleep-deprived that I thought you were someone else earlier.
“I understand.” Tomo clicked his tongue as he put a long kiseru pipe in his mouth. “It’s getting late. We should get ready for bed.”
Kazuha nodded slowly and got up to his feet, stretching his legs.
“Besides, I’m sure I could make you real tired,” Tomo laughed as he took Kazuha’s dirty plate from him, coughing slightly as Kazuha frantically looked away.
An exciting proposition, that was true, yet Kazuha’s heart was still reeling from the fact that Tomo was even there at all. Joking and cooking like he always did. Was it truly okay to return to any form of normalcy?
Tomo stopped in his tracks. “Ah, shit. I almost forgot.”
He walked a couple of paces away and picked up three buckets full of water before dumping them into a large wooden bath. Kazuha looked at him quizzically as Tomo dusted his hands off.
“You hate the smell of smoke in your hair, right?” Tomo flashed a toothy smile. “I figured why not try and wash it out before bed this time? I already heated the water.”
It was true that Kazuha couldn’t stand it. Whenever there was a fire, he would sit further back than anyone else and lean away, as if it were poisoned air. He'd almost forgotten this fact about himself. It seemed to be locked away securely in the same vault that concealed the electro powers of the little gray vision he held earlier.
Kazuha nodded.
“I don’t see why I shouldn’t give it a go.”
Kazuha walked over to the basin of water, and before long Tomo was running his soapy fingers through the other man’s hair. He rubbed his scalp with firm yet tender movements.
“Your hair’s so nice,” Tomo whispered as Kazuha leaned into the touch. “Beautiful color--it’s almost indescribable.”
Kazuha hummed a little. “Silver and red. Seems simple to me.”
No, no.” Tomo shook his head. “It’s not silver.”
“Not silver?”
“Not at all.” Tomo reapplied more soap. “Silver is too sharp, too sleek, too prim.”
Kazuha lulled his head backward. “Well then. What do you suppose it is?”
Tomo looked wistfully at the sky before looking back down. “It’s like when you mill wheat into fresh flour and it gives off a slightly warm hue.”
Kazuha chuckled as Tomo rinsed his hair off. “Red is too simple as well. Your hair looks almost like if a phoenix was flying overhead one day and one of its feathers happened to land on your head.”
“I never took you as a poet.” Kazuha smiled as his hair was toweled dry.
“I wasn’t.” Tomo rang the towel out in his hands. “Until I met you.”
The two men stood up and went to their tent, the violet spring Inazuma night covering the camp in a blissful quiet. A swallow chirped slowly in a peach tree before being swiftly tackled and bitten through by the white kitten. It proudly took its kill and laid it at the tent’s feet, curling up in a small bucket beside it. The air inside the tent was crystalline as the two men curled against each other, their skin twisting and contorting as they moved.
The world fell silent once more.
. . .
Morning dew fell upon arches of grass, dulling their edges and making them sparkle in the sunrise. Tomo lazily walked out of their shared tent and sighed as he stepped over the gift that the little white cat left them.
“Why do you kill them if you’re not even going to eat them?” Tomo raised his brow at the sleepy kitten that emerged from its bucket. “Is it to send a message? Look out birds--don’t mess with me!”
The cat looked unamused as Tomo threw a leftover fish head into its bowl. A rustle behind him revealed Kazuha as he rubbed his eyes and narrowly avoided the dead swallow on the ground.
“Looks like the cat has been busy,” Kazuha yawned.
“Tell me about it.” Tomo stretched out his back.“Let’s fish today– kitty here needs snacks.”
Kazuha smiled. “...And us too, I presume?”
“Right, yeah.”
The red sun rested proudly in the middle of the sky by the time the two men drew in their lines and counted their spoils.
Three fish. A perfect number.
They decided to rest on a large stray piece of driftwood as they watched the ocean from the wet sandy banks.
“Sometimes,” Kazuha started as he watched seaweed duck in and out of the waves. “I wish I could forget the past.”
“Hmm?” Tomo closed his eyes as he smoked his pipe. “That sounds like hell.”
“Not the way I see it,” Kazuha sighed.
“You need the past.”
“Do you?”
“Absolutely.”
Tomo leaned back and put his hand on his stomach. “Without the past, you’d have zero idea how to move forward.”
Kazuha stared at the horizon, saying nothing. Tomo breathed in.
“For example, if I didn’t remember how good things were before.” the taller man flicked off a stray leaf that had fallen on his robes. “I wouldn’t see how oppressive the government is now.”
Kazuha hummed.
“If I hadn’t been attacked by a stray cat when I was a kid,” Tomo laughed. “I couldn’t appreciate how cuddly our little white kitten is.”
Kazuha couldn’t help but smile with him as Tomo wrapped his arm around his shoulders, his face morphing into one of sincerity.
“And if I didn’t have so many good memories with you.” Tomo pulled him closer. “I wouldn’t want to marry you.”
“What?” ital.
Kazuha pulled back and stared wide-eyed at the other man, searching his face for any sign of jest. Tomo still looked as sincere as ever, his cheeks growing flush under Kazuha’s intense gaze.
“What do you mean, ‘what?’” Tomo laughed a little into his hand. “...Did you not know this?”
“No.” Kazuha seemed almost frantic. “This is the first time you’ve told me you wanted to marry me.”
“Really? I swear I said something before.”
“I think I would’ve remembered that.” Kazuha rubbed his forehead in bewilderment as he took a small moment to collect his thoughts. “How--how long have you felt this way?”
“Like, a year?” Tomo tried to put on a confident face, but he didn’t quite expect such a visceral reaction from the other man.
He wasn’t fully able to tell if Kazuha was pleased or mortified.
Kazuha was mortified, but not because he was displeased.
Tomo coughed, his face somewhat anxious. “I’m sorry, was it too soon to tell you?”
Kazuha looked mournfully at Tomo and sighed.
“No, not at all. I would’ve loved to marry you.”
Kazuha knew deep down inside that it was time to come to grips with what was happening. The small seedling of hope that he had just dreamt of Tomo's death was becoming more shriveled by the hour, a sinking feel in his chest. The air was too thick and the animals too manicured. Kazuha couldn’t see the snowy mountain across the ocean or the stormy peaks of Seirai island. It was as if his mind trapped him in its own little bubble--secure and unchanging.
“Would’ve?” Tomo couldn’t help but feel dejected. “What happened?”
Kazuha tenderly held Tomo’s hand and gave him a weak smile. “I would like to marry you, but I need you to come with me somewhere first.”
A wave of relief washed over Tomo’s face as he squeezed back on Kazuha’s hand.
“I’d go with you anywhere.”
The two men finally reached the maple tree in the morning after they cooked their fish and went to sleep for the night. The small white kitten trotted alongside them, bobbing through their legs and flicking its tail. The tree was just as Kazuha remembered it, and he sat down underneath its shady branches, beckoning Tomo to do the same.
“It’s a beautiful view up here,” Tomo sighed contently as he slid down next to Kazuha. “What did you want to discuss?”
Kazuha hummed and looked at the world around him. The budding leaves of the tree cascaded down like a red waterfall, its brown bark slightly pink with the flush of spring. Kazuha focused in on the far sounds of birds chirping as he closed his eyes, allowing a soft smile to cross his lips. The kitten played with leaves in the distance.
“I appreciate you.” Kazuha opened his eyes and gazed longingly at Tomo. “I’m glad I met you.”
Tomo nodded and scooched closer. “Me too.”
“I was thinking about what you said earlier, and you’re right.”
“I am?”
“Yes,” Kazuha chuckled softly. “The past helps you move forward.”
Tomo smiled. “What's with the change of heart?”
Kazuha looked at him--all of him. His messy blond hair and the robes that made him look like a ruddy kingfisher. Tomo’s electro vision and its purple light reflected onto his skin like puddles split by the shades cast by the tree. Kazuha wiped a threatening tear off his cheek.
“Kazuha?” Tomo’s features hardened in worry as he put a comforting hand on his back. “Are you alright?”
Kazuha sniffed and smiled. “Just lay with me, okay?”
Tomo was pulled down by Kazuha as they both lay down on the thick roots of the maple tree, their limbs intertwined and their breathing shallow. The morning sun shined brightly, and the soft spring grass tickled their skin as they drifted into a pleasant sleep. As his eyes fluttered down, Kazuha looked one more time at Tomo and smiled.
“I’ll move forward for you.”
. . .
A crisp autumn chill filled the air by the time Kazuha was roused awake by the licking of the little white cat. His back still pressed uncomfortably on the rough bark of a maple tree. Kazuha gently pushed the cat away as his dreary eyes scanned the world around him. Everything seemed perfectly in place other than the rain that clung off every surface, the air heavy with humidity. In Kazuha’s right hand lay a dull gray vision.
Kazuha picked up the white cat and looked longingly at the ocean, softly petting its white fur.
“Were you there too?” Kazuha asked the kitten.“Or was I alone in that dream?”
The cat looked blankly up at him with large blue eyes. Kazuha sighed.
“He wanted to marry me.”
Kazuha set the cat down as he stood up on sore legs and pocketed the dead vision. The wind whipped around him violently, its frigid chill finally managing to bite his skin and pull him forward a tad bit. Kazuha gasped at the long-forgotten sensation.
The man looked out at the large sea before him as its waves splashed on the dotted shore.
It was clear that he couldn’t stay here.
“I must go,” Kazuha whispered to the kitten. “I don’t know if I’ll return.”
The cat licked its paw.
“You seem content here.” Kazuha stepped forward a few paces before turning and waving goodbye to the white kitten, its fur shining on the yellow grass. “Kill as many swallows as you want.”
Kazuha walked away, the wind pressing on his back.