Chapter Text
This was their third time moving from abandoned house to another, it was exhausting but it was worth the risk. Rinto dropped his items to the ground the house was less crooked than the last one, they were lucky. He turned to his left, a boy not less taller than him dropped his bag almost causing a huge hole to the wooden floors.
“Can we leave by dawn?” He asked, scratching his neck.
Another boy, hair messy and long almost covering his eyes turned to the boy, “Seriously what’s your problem?”
The same boy grabbed his bag that was probably wet from the ground, “Oh I don’t know Kazuya… these floors don’t look promising!”
Kazuya’s eyes rolled until it seemed unseen, “It’s better than staying at someone else’s house, Ryoku”.
Ryoku brushed off the dust and whatever muck was left on his bag, before finally straightening his legs as he sat down, “Ohama-sama was nice enough, she would’ve let us stayed longer”
“I felt bad though, she had other kids to tend to, too” a girl behind kazuya trying to bring her bag to the steep stairs before settling in beside him.
“You feel bad for everyone” Ryoku lifted his arms.
The girl crossed her arms, “Feeling bad for people means empathy!”
“But not empathy to us who’s let me remind you, too young to survive on our own!” Ryoku shouted.
“Will you shut it?! Kiyo was just trying to lessen the trouble for Ohama-sama” Kazuya argued.
“Of course, go ahead and defend for your sister…tch” Ryoku crossed his arms, his posture tensed.
Before Kazuya could threatened the annoying mouth of his mate, Rinto’s palm reached his shoulder faster. “This might not be as lavishing as Ohama-sama’s house but it’s the best we’ve got” Rinto mentioned, “Rather be safe than eaten”.
That sentence silence everyone in the room, suddenly Ryoku who was chattering stayed quiet, Kazuya’s shoulder who was tensed became more rigid and Kiyo looked ready to be held by someone. Rinto who noticed the shift in the atmosphere, immediately smiled warmly, tugging his bag closer, “There’s a neighborhood nearby, we can visit and maybe buy food, how’s that sound?” everyone agreed to the suggestion, their expression seeming to relaxed just the slightest.
He watched as the others started laying down, Ryoku isolated himself while Kiyo stayed closed to her older brother, getting enveloped protectively from dangers. By seconds, Rinto was laying on his bag as the pillow, closing his eyes ever so gently. His legs was exhausted from running constantly. The air was colder than usual, itmade him shiver since his haori had flown away. In his mind, it wasn’t always like this. He actually had a decent home, his parents were a whole different problem, a home he didn’t want to return to that’s for sure.
The moment the sun rose, Rinto found himself walking through the markets of the nearby neighborhood. The smell of tempura and iri-mame caught his nose in an instant. Perhaps the scent reached Ryoku faster because he bolted to the kiosk right away, pulling Kiyo with him. Rinto watched with a huge smile as he followed Kazuya. The tall boy’s expression was sharp, as far as Rinto knew Kazuya never smiled unless it’s about his little sister. He never questioned it, didn’t want to get into people’s business but sometimes he thought deeply about it.
“Are they done?! We need to prepare the house!” Kazuya yelled.
Rinto stopped at his tracks, his gaze returning to the two hungry gremlins. “Let them be, we haven’t got good food in a while…”
“Explains why, Ryoku was snappy last night” he sighed, dropping his hands.
Rinto let out a soft cackle, he agreed with that, Ryoku was unexpectedly grumpier than his usual silly self last night. The events and long walk could be draining to anyone. Kazuya turned to Rinto, his long hair almost hitting Rinto’s face.
“Come on, let’s get some wood for tonight…” He mentioned.
They all heard that by tonight, the air was going to be chilling and they needed wood that burned endlessly. Rinto followed Kazuya, passing by multiple kiosk though most of their products are sold out. From food to everyday items, only one to two items were still available on the wooden baskets. Certainly odd, for what it seems like a normal day. They stopped by a kiosk at the far end of the neighbourhood, even his wood was running out.
“We would like the last few wood…” Kazuya ordered, giving the merchant the money in exchange for the wood.
“Be careful and close all doors tonight… I heard the yokai’s are coming back” The merchant mentioned.
“Yokai…?” Rinto asked.
“Don’t listen to him, it’s childhood tales…” Kazuya paused him.
“No no no! It’s not a mere child’s tale! They are dangerous, many lost their lives to them” The merchant warned.
Yokai’s were tales Rinto had heard of as a child, deadly creatures that feed on humans for revenge or merely hunting.
“Yeah thanks, we’ll be off now” Kazuya slinging the woods over his shoulder.
Rinto bowed towards the merchant muttering a thank you before rushing towards Kazuya, something about the merchant’s tone scared him. Like he knew the merchant's words were true, not by facts or instincts.
“Don’t dwell on that, you and I both know Yokai’s are just legends” Kazuya’s voice echoed despite walking in front of Rinto.
He curled his fists, “I suppose but it’s something to consider…”
Kazuya rolled his eyes, not batting an eye to Rinto, “Sure, come on we need to prepare the house for tonight”.
The moonlight shine right through the hole on the roof, blinding Ryoku’s eyes as he tried to enjoy his tempura. Kazuya was preparing a fire on the farther side, probably wanting to be alone at the moment. The breeze felt chillier than last night, the villager’s words weren’t wrong. Turning to Kiyo, Rinto placed a blanket over her shoulder. She let out a gentle smile tugging the blanket close.
“Arigato! The night is freezing!” Kiyo shivered.
Rinto’s heart tugged the moment he heard the sentence. Among them all, Kiyo was the youngest, she considered herself “independent” even when they all know she loved to be held when she’s asleep or shivering.
“I know, I hope your brother finishes soon” Rinto mentioned, rubbing his arm.
“Yeah, he’s surely taking his time!” he shouted louder for Kazuya to be fuming with air.
“Give him some time, the woods we got are not the best quality” Rinto stated, biting into his onigiri.
“Mann, are you all regretting leaving Ohama-sama’s house now?”
“RYOKU!” Kiyo shouted in agitation.
“I mean by now, we would’ve have nice dangos, and mochis and maybe a nice hot bowl of udon…” Ryoku fantasized.
Kiyo’s grip on the blanket tightened, at any moment the blanket will flung to Ryoku’s face. Rinto let out a cackle, grabbing a cup of water next to him. He seemed to have noticed the way Ryoku’s hair flew as the breeze grew stronger. The air grew colder by the second, rather to cold.
Kiyo lost grip of her blanket, letting it flow away from her shoulder, “The wind is getting strong, too strong”.
“OH GOD! IT’S A TORNADO!!!” Ryoku yelled out.
“Let’s not jump into conclusions, maybe the weather is just not good today…” Rinto turned to Kazuya who’s having immense trouble lighting the fire with the breeze, “Need help Kazuya?” he offered, holding his hair from the strong wind.
Kazuya, wiped the strands off his face and turned towards Rinto, but the moment he gazed to him, his expression widened, fingers loosened letting the wood fall. When Rinto heard a screeched he knew something was up.
Ryoku had fallen on Kiyo’s arm, skin torned open where blood was dripping. Kiyo’s face screamed worrisome as she glanced at Rinto. There was nothing in the atmosphere just strong wind, very strong wind. He squinted his eyes just a bit, something was touching Kiyo and Ryoku, not hurting but was about to attack.
“RINTO!” Kazuya shouted.
He grabbed the katana that was thrown at him, the katana with the fire symbol that matched Kazuya’s kimono. This was his heritage, a piece of information Kazuya had told beforehand. Rinto held it tight, before marching at the huge wind. Kiyo saw the signal and brought Ryoku close with her farther away. Rinto swung the sword at the air. Nothing but sway. He felt his kimono getting torn piece by piece but nothing was in sight, what was it??
“RINTO WATCH OUT!” Kiyo shouted.
The moment his shoulders turned, he felt it. The sharp pain on his back. He stumbled down, holding the katana but the grip started to loosened, for a second he saw what it was. It was some kind of weasel, three actually, with sharp nails or rather claws. Two of the weasel’s claws were dripping with crimson, one of them must’ve stabbed him.
Rinto held the katana tight once again, his leg supporting his weight. When the weasel striked, he swung his katana. Missing the shot terribly. He got pushed by the other weasel. His face was facing the claw, he swung the katana and it bounced off the claw. His breath shortened and his eyesight was darkening. Then he felt it, another slash to his arm. He held his weight from his arms, that was in clear pain. Barely holding on. The katana was miles away from his reach.
Rinto felt the gush of wind approaching. With enough strength, he tumbled his weight to the corner of the house. The push hitting him right on the back. His eyes squinted to the katana, gone from sight. Kazuya had grabbed it, swinging the katana towards the weasel. Rinto never seen him fought before, but the way he struck was aggressive, he didn’t have mercy. He just striked constantly with no point. The blade piercing through one of the weasel’s body, creating holes of blood. One of the weasel’s fell, blood spilling over the wooden floor.
Rinto turned his sight, the two weasels were still alive, and they were fuming. Kazuya held the weapon roughly ready to fight, despite his trembling grip. This was not about to end well. Rinto reached for some pebbles on his side, his finger stretched to grab.
Suddenly he felt it, a gust of wind again but it felt different. It was spontaneous and came from outside. He let his arm closed his eyes preventing dust from enter. When he saw it. Two figures, one had the same hair as Kazuya, messy and unbothered and the other had golden strands, eyes sharp. The messy haired man, jumped out fo the weasel’s sight, his nagita swinging over it’s body, ripping two of its claws off in swift.
The blonde haired man, let his katana twirled between his fingers, catching the attention of the weasel. The wind gust to him, his hair flowing by but the weasel dropped to the floor, minced through pieces, for a second Rinto saw steam coming out of its body. He glanced to the blond hair man, his sword smoking from flame as his hand dropped. Before the weasel striked him from the back, the messy haired man, swung his nagita in whirlwind, twisting its body before it torn to pieces, dropping to the floor.
For a moment, Rinto sat there, amused perhaps scared form what he had witnessed. The weasel bodies flew away from the wind that suddenly came by drifting far. Both the blond hair man and the messy haired man bowed slightly, Rinto assumed they were honoring the creatures death. His breath got shorter as he felt more blood seeping through and pooling the floor. Before blacking out, he saw a figure rushing to him, he quickly grabbed something from his bag.
And when Rinto felt like his conscious slipped away he heard it, “We need to bring them to the estate… come on!” with the last thing he saw was a blond strand of hair falling to his eyelids.