Chapter Text
After assuring himself Yuu is sleep, Mika slips out of the blanket and leaves the hut. The forest has turned pitch black leaving the moon and stars the only source of light left. Even if the moon wasn't out, Mika would have no problems getting past the forest due to his keen senses. He passes through the groves of trees, shrubs, beyond the cliffs- heading deeper into the forest before finally stopping at his destination, a mansion. At first glance, it'll look like an abandoned mansion, but once you give it a good look, one can tell that there's somebody living inside. Mika ran past the gates of the mansion to the front entrance and knocked on the door.
-Knock Knock Knock- No answer -Knock Knock Knock- The doors of the mansion opened revealing a tall handsome silver-haired man who looks like he’s in his 20s dressed up in an expensive elegant black and white patterned kimono. His long silver-hair is tied up into a ponytail with a black bow complimenting the kimono. If it weren’t for the unusual red eyes, fluffy ears, and nine tails on his behind, he’d look like any human being you can find. The man gazed down to see a slightly tired-out Mika.
“Hello, good evening Ferid-sama.”
“Mika-kun? What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to request something of you.”
“You have something you want from me? Could it be you’re here for that?” Ferid gave a slight grin in amusement and chuckled. “I knew you’d come to me sooner or later.”
Mika paused for a moment thinking what it was Ferid was talking about before responding. “That’s not it. There’s a tool I want.”
“Oh? You’re not here for that? I see... What tool is it that you want from me?”
“A.. hatchet.”
“Hatchet?” Mika nodded in reply. “All right. I’ll go fetch it for you right now, since you came all this way. I remember having one laying around here somewhere…” Just as Ferid turned back inside the mansion, he stopped and looked back at Mika. “You can come in and wait.”
“Uhm. I’ll wait here.” The smaller boy shook his head.
Yuu-chan is back at home alone without knowing I’m gone. It’d be bad if he wakes up and finds me missing...
“Alrighty, then.” Ferid turned away from Mika and went to fetch the desired tool.
As Mika waited for Ferid to retrieve the item, he stood and watched the brightly star-lit sky. The wind blew harshly causing Mika to shiver. In attempt to warm himself up, Mika rubbed his arms continuously. Silent howls of caves nearby can be heard clearly.
It’s quite cold tonight. I have to hurry back! I hope Yuu-chan didn’t get sick.
The doors of the mansion opened up again with Ferid holding the hatchet in his hands. The hatchet was carefully give to Mika who received it gratefully.
“Thank you very much, Ferid-sama! I’ll be going back now!” Seeing the boy running off so happily, Ferid gave a light chuckle.
“Careful, now. Say hello to your friend for me,” said Ferid leaning on the door frame smirking while waving at Mika’s back. Upon hearing those words, Mika stopped in his tracks. “Eh...? What do you mean?”
Amusement can be heard from Ferid’s tone. “Aha. Am I wrong? It’s unusual for you to come visit me at this time of the day.”
Mika gripped the hatchet tightly before turning his head to look at the other. “What are you talking about? I visited you at this time before.”
“You did now, didn’t you? You also asked me for something then too.”
“...”
“Well, you should hurry on now. You don’t want to keep your friend waiting.”
Mika then quickly ran off and headed back to the hut-- breathing heavily before stopping to catch his breath as to not wake Yuu up.
He steps into the hut, to see the still fast asleep Yuu. “I’m back, Yuu-chan…” After placing down the hatchet in the corner of the room, Mika stealthily slips back into the blanket. The unexpected warmth from the other boy’s body allowed Mika to quickly settle in comfortably and fall fast asleep.
That’s good… You’re okay…
"-ka! Mika! Wake up!" Yuu shook the blonde's shoulders aggressively.
"Yuu-chan? Morning..." Mika sat up straight, rubbing his eyes. "What's wrong?"
"That!" Yuu points to the hatchet in the corner of the hut. "You got the hatchet!! When?"
“It doesn’t when, matter does it...?”
“It does!”
In an attempt to change the topic, Mika got up and headed to the table filled with food. “Are you hungry? What do you want to eat?" Upon taking a closer look at Yuu who's still sitting on the blanket, Mika notices something different from the Yuu he saw yesterday. "Yuu-chan! The hand mark is gone now.”
“Huh? Ah- Yeah! It doesn't hurt anymore, your medicine must've worked! And I’m not hungry.” Yuu got up from his spot and stood up. “The hatchet… Thanks for that.” A heart warming smile appeared on Yuu’s face causing Mika’s heart to flutter.
Mika then glomps Yuu playfully. “That’s what friends are for!”
“Hey! I’m still hurt, you know!” Yuu complains only for Mika to continue giggling happily.
The two then leave the hut carrying the hatchet with them. “So, where should we start?” Yuu inquires.
“You’re asking me? You’re the one that wants to chop wood.”
“That’s cause you live here! You should know a place or two that has good wood.”
Mika ponders silently. A place with good wood… good wood…
“We can try going to the lake. There should be some nice trees there.”
“Yeah, okay! Lead the way!”
After about half an hour of walking, they reached their destination. The lake is crystal clear and stagnant, surrounded by a bountiful of trees with no filth in sight. You can see the azure sky clearly without tree branches blocking the view.
“Amazing!” The raven hair boy dashes hurriedly to the lake.
Mika smiles happily at the amazed Yuu. “Right?!”
“Let’s get started then.” Yuu heads to a nearby tree and swings the hatchet in his hands onto the tree trunk. He had a vice grip on the hatchet, so that it doesn’t go flying away. “You can just sit and watch, Mika.”
Mika nods and takes a seat under the shade of a nearby tree, watching Yuu as he attempts to cut down the tree using the hatchet. A shiver went down Yuu’s spine as he jumped and yelped in pain from the contact the blade of the hatchet made with the tree trunk. His arm couldn’t bare the impact due to the wound he received from the bear, which has yet to fully heal.
"Yuu-chan?! Are you okay?!" Mika runs towards the Yuu who's crouched down and holding onto his arm like his dear life.
"I'm fine. It's nothing much." Yuu picks the hatchet up and swings it to the tree trunk again, onto the spot he had just made a scratch. "Just watch me."
Shivers went down Yuu's spine again. "S-See?" Mika watches the raven unamused.
"No, I don't see. You're not fine at all! You should stop, your wound is going to open up again." He tries to take the hatchet from Yuu's hands, but Yuu shifts away before he could. "It won't! I'll be suuuper careful."
"Yuu-chan!" Humans are weak. Just from a small wound, if it gets infected they die.
"If I don't chop the wood, then I won't be able to go home and see mother... She's waiting for me! Even right now the firewood in the fireplace may be running low. The winters here are harsh... She needs me!" Yuu's eyes starts tearing up. "That's why, I have to chop the wood even if it hurts. This pain is nothing if I'm able to gain my mother's approval."
"Yuu-chan... Then how about I help you?" Mika looks at Yuu apologetically.
"Eh?"
"I'll chop the wood and you can take it home to your mother."
"You can't do that! It's my task!"
"Don't be so stubborn, Yuu-chan! You're hurt! You might die from blood loss if you reopen that wound. I don't have honey or anything with me that can help treat your wound right now." Mika holds out his hand demanding Yuu to hand over the hatchet to him, only to have Yuu back away and hold the hatchet protectively.
"No! Listen to me!"
"Ugh. I won't listen. Give me the hatchet!" The blonde walks closer to Yuu and sighs. "Fine, how about this, Yuu-chan? I'll chop the trunk of the tree, then chop it into smaller pieces while you hold it. You're helping me and your wound won't worsen. You'll also be doing your task."
Hearing this, Yuu lessened his protective hold on the hatchet and willingly handed over the hatchet to Mika. "Sounds like a plan...!"
"Great! I'll get started right away." Mika turns towards the tree Yuu made a scratch at and with a swift swing of the hatchet- the tree comes falling down.
"...What the hell?! You're so strong! How'd you manage to take the tree down in just one swing?!" Yuu looks at Mika in disbelief who only smiles back. With another with swing, part of the tree trunk detached from the upper half with branches. The tree Yuu had chosen lived pretty long, considering how wide the trunk was. Mika then split the trunk into four separate pieces, so they’re short enough to fit into the basket.
“Okay, Yuu-chan! Hold a piece of the tree trunk onto the tree stump.”
Quickly, Yuu grabbed a piece of the trunk Mika cut and placed it on to the stump as he was told to. “Yuu-chan, watch your hand!” Mika swung the hatchet down- splitting the trunk into two smaller pieces of wood. This process continued on until all the tree trunk Mika had cut part from the tree became a smaller pieces. They had more than enough wood to fit into the basket, so the remaining wood would later be brought back to Mika’s hut. Yuu would later go there if his mother asked him to retrieve wood again.
“Thanks, Mika! I hope this would make my mother accept me.” A gentle and warm smile slipped onto Yuu’s face as he thought about his mother treating him with care as she used to.
Seeing Yuu so happy, Mika could not help but smile too. “You owe me one, Yuu-chan!”
“Yeah! I’ll be sure to pay you back!”
“I was just joking, Yuu-chan.”
“I’m still going to pay you back!” Yuu wrapped his arm around Mika’s shoulder. “I mean it!”
Chopping wood had taken the whole afternoon. Yuu figured he should get going back to his mother’s place. “I think I’ll go back now. I had fun, Mika.”
“Eh…? Already?”
“I want to hurry and give the wood to mother!”
“Yeah, okay I understand....”
“See you, Mika!” Yuu hurried and turned away, leaving a dejected Mika behind.
“W-Wait, Yuu-chan!” Yuu stopped as he was called.
“What is it, Mika?”
“See you...” The blonde waves at the raven with a forced smile.
“I’ll come again, Mika! See you!” Yuu proceeded to turn away again, but stopped in his tracks.
“Yuu-chan? What’s wrong? Did you forget something?” Yuu pulled onto the strap of the basket tightly.
“Mika~ I don’t know how to get home.” Hearing that response, Mika could not help but burst into a fit of laughter. “S-Stop laughing! It’s not funny!” A deep shade of red flushed onto Yuu’s face.
“Pfft. Sorry, sorry. I just didn’t expect that coming. I’ll go home with you, Yuu-chan~”
The sun has set by the time Yuu got back to his house and parted with Mika at the entryway of the forest. Yuu wonders if his mother’s asleep by now and worried about him. Probably not, but Yuu figures that might change once he hands over the basket of chopped wood to her.
“Mother? I’m home.” Yuu slowly enters the cottage. He looks around to see if his mother’s around awake. If he were to wake her up, she’d slap him across the face again. His mother appeared to not be home. Which is strange, because she’s home most of the time. Suddenly the door opens up behind Yuu, who turns around to see who it is.
“F-Father?”
“Yuu?” A tall figure stepped into the cottage. “Where have you been?”
“I was...g-getting w-woo-”
“SPEAK UP!” The loud booming voice of the older man caused Yuu to flinch in fear.
“I was getting wood for mother like she had asked me to!”
“Is that so? Well hurry up and go to bed!” Yuu’s father turned to leave, but was stopped by small hands.
“Uhm… Where’s mother?”
“She’ll be back soon. If that’s all, I’ll be going now.” Yuu released his hold on his father’s clothing and watched the man leave.
Even if he tells me to go to bed... it’s only in the afternoon, so I can’t sleep. What did father even come back for?? Never mind.... I’ll just wait for mother to return.
A growl came from Yuu’s stomach. He’s hungry from having not eaten anything all morning. There should be some bread around here somewhere….
Yuu searches in the cabinet for the half-eaten loaf of bread his father received few weeks ago. It was slightly moldy, but this was the only food there is in the house. His family’s poor.
Just as he finished eating the bread, the door once again creaked open. This time his mother had come home.
“Mother!” Yuu runs up to his mother and smiles happily with the basket in his hands.
“Yuu… what are you doing here?” The raven held the basket filled with wood he and Mika gathered to his mother’s face.
“I got the wood like you had said you wanted!!” His mother takes the basket of wood and places is down onto the ground. She kneels down until she’s face to face with Yuu and strokes his head whilst pulling him to an embrace.
“Good job, Yuu. I’m happy. Shall we eat together?”
“Y-Yes!!” The smile on Yuu’s face becomes wider as he hugs his mother back.
She’s happy! She’ll treat me kindly like she used to! I’m happy! I’m glad I accepted the task! I’ll continue to be a good boy!
Yuu’s mother pulled away from the hug and took out a fresh peach from her kimono sleeves. “This is all I have with me right now, so you can have it.” She hands Yuu the peach who gratefully takes it and splits it in half.
“Mother, you should eat too. I can’t eat it all by myself.” Yuu holds out a half of the peach to his mother who hesitates to take it. “Ah... T-Thank you, Yuu.”
Both of them ate the peach in silence before deciding to sleep. “Mother is tired, so she’ll take her rest. Yuu should go and rest too. You’ve been out in the forest all this time weren’t you?”
“Okay!” Since mother says so, I’ll go. I’ll be a good boy for mother!
After parting with Yuu, Mika heads straight to Ferid’s place. The sun has mostly gone down since taking Yuu home. The distance between Yuu’s house and Ferid’s mansion are quite far apart from each other.
-Knock Knock Knock- This time the door opens quickly with Ferid standing at the door again.
“Mika-kun! Welcome~”
“I’ve come to return the hatchet, Ferid-sama.” The younger boy hands over the hatchet to the older man.
“Ah thanks. Was it useful?”
“Yes, Ferid-sama.” Once Ferid takes the hatchet, Mika bows and turns to leave. “I’ll get going now, Ferid-sama.”
“Wait up, Mikaela-kun. Your food stock has arrived.”
“I.. I don’t need it. I’m still not done with my current batch of food.”
“Now, don’t say that. You’ll run out eventually. It’s better to have more than enough than a shortage. Plus, I’ve been ordered by Krul to take care of you~”
“Then, just for a bit.” Ferid smirks and opens the door wide to let Mika inside his mansion. The blonde takes off his sandals at the entrance hall and led by Ferid to the lounge.
“Wait here a bit, while I go get the food from the kitchen, alright?” The blonde nods and watches the silver-hair man walk away whilst grinning.
Haah. Ferid-sama is so hard to deal with. I hope he isn’t going to ask anything regarding Yuu-chan. I can’t tell what he’s thinking. If he lays a hand on Yuu-chan, I won’t forgive him!! I’m only going to stay here for a short time. Once I get the food, I’m going to hurry up and leave- Then I’ll run back home. I should also get more materials to make medicine. It wouldn’t be good if Yuu-chan comes over hurt again and I ran out of supplies. Yuu-chan’s too reckless after all. I hope he doesn’t get lost coming to the forest again. Should I draw him a map? Yuu-chan’s not a genius like me, so it’ll be hard for him to understand a map wouldn’t it? I should-
A voice snaps Mika out of his thoughts. “I’m back.” Ferid comes into the lounge carrying a large bag, most likely containing the food (aburaage, tofu, red bean, etc.). He hands the bag over to Mika.
“Thanks, Ferid-sama. I’ll go now.” Mika gets up from the zabuton and proceeds to slip away from Ferid and out the door. An arm blocking the doorway stopped Mika from going any further. “Let’s have a small talk about your friend, shall we?”
Uwah. He just asked me about Yuu-chan.
“How about introducing them to me?”
“He’s too shy, so he won’t be able to come see you…” replies Mika without looking at Ferid and continues facing the door.
“Really? That’s too bad. I looked forward to it. It's pretty strange for a human to be in these areas. The last time a human was here, let's see... 3 years ago? This forest's been called 'The Forest of No Return' by the humans since then. Do you know what I'm trying to say Mikaela-kun? You're smart so you should know."
"Eh? I don't understand... I'm just a child."
"You don't understand? Well you'll understand eventually~ ♪ I’ll see you later then. You look like you’re in a hurry.”
“I’ll see my way out.” Ferid retracts his hand allowing Mika to run off to the gates and head back to his hut.
Is Ferid-sama implying that Yuu-chan is abandoned by his mother? So when Yuu-chan said his mother sent him on a task to gather wood and that it'll make her happy, could it be she lied? The actual reason Yuu-chan is in the forest is not to gain approval, but to actually get lost...? I have to talk to Yuu-chan about this when he comes again!! For now I should make my rounds around the forest and gather herbs to create the mixture of medicine for Yuu-chan. It worries me how he gets hurt all the time.