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Raikou and Gau stood in the open doorway of the apartment they shared with Raimei, shock written clear across their faces. From the other side of the room, Raimei yelled, “Don’t just stand there, close the door!” Raikou pushed Gau in and closed the door behind them.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Raimei?” Gau snapped. Flying around the room was a large owl. It was shrieking loudly, clearly not happy about having been kidnapped and cramped into the tiny apartment. There were feces and feathers covering the floor and the furniture.
“I caught him, he’s going to be our pet,” Raimei said as the large bird swooped down, talons coming right for her face. She ducked at the last moment, but the talons caught in her hair. The owl continued to try to fly away, tugging at her long, blond hair, until finally a large portion pulled out. Raimei fell to the floor and seemed to collapse in on herself.
Walking over to the window, Raikou opened it, and immediately the bird flew out into the dusk. Raikou then walked over to his sister as Gau began flitting about, hurriedly starting to clean. Kneeling in front of his sister, who was looking out the window with tears in her eyes, Raikou placed a hand on her shoulder, “I’m sorry, Raimei.” The tears began to slide down her cheeks, and she started to sobbing, clutching onto Raikou and burying her face in his neck.
Gau stopped and looked at them, momentarily confused. He watched silently, still cleaning, as Raikou helped Raimei treat the injured area of her scalp where her hair had been pulled out, wash and change, and finally get her into bed.
“I’m going to go shower,” Raikou said. Gau just nodded as he picked up the last feather, putting it into a bag with the rest. He was surprised when Raikou came up to him, reaching into the bag and pulling out one plume, before walking into the bathroom.
Later, when they’d both washed and lay in the dark in the bed they shared, the feather nearby on the beside table, Raikou moved closer to him, pulling him close. Gau rested his head against Raikou’s, and could just make out tears rolling down his cheeks, “What is it?” He asked, running his fingers under Raikou’s eyes, collecting the warm, salty liquid on his fingertips.
“I love you, Gau,” Raikou said.
“And I love you, but what’s wrong?”
“Raimei, she misses him,” Raikou said. They were quiet, until Raikou chuckled, “You have no idea who I’m talking about do you?”
“Not really…”
“You’re so dense, Gau.”
“Hey!”
Raikou put a finger to his lips, “Shh, don’t wake her. It’s Kouichi. I think she really might have loved him.”
Raimei had been awake for hours, but had yet to get out of bed. The place on her head where her hair had been pulled out throbbed. She didn’t even rouse when there was a knock at her door. When she made no reply, it cracked a little, and Raikou stuck his head in, “Raimei, I know you’re awake. Get up and come out here.”
When she made no move, he left, but was back in a moment with Gau in tow. Raikou helped her sit up, that is, he forced her to, making her sit on the edge of the bed. Then he took a square container with a cloth draped over it from Gau and presented it to her. Pulling off the cloth, he revealed a cage, inside which sat a green bird with a yellow and orange face, and a red beak. It chirped at her, but she didn’t have the strength left to smile, and instead a tear rolled down her cheek, “What’s this?”
“It’s a Love Bird,” Raikou explained. “The woman at the store said they usually come in pairs. This one and its companion were the last ones in stock, but just last week this little guy’s friend got sick. She was forced to separate them to save this one, but because of that, the other one died alone, and now they’ll never see each other again.” The bird in the cage trilled, picking up a piece of straw that lined the bottom of the cage and nibbling at it.
“Still,” Gau said, “This little guy finds the will to go on. You should have heard him, Raimei, he sang the whole way here. Maybe if you take good care of him, he’ll sing for you, too.” Raikou held the cage out to her, and she took it delicately. The tears were flowing nonstop now, and she clutched the cage to her chest. Inside, the bird flew up to the highest tier and trilled at her, then started to sing.
Inhaling sharply, Raimei opened the little door to the cage and stuck her hand inside. The bird jumped onto her finger, and she carefully pulled him out and held him close to her face, examining his every feature. He grabbed a piece of her hair, playing with it, and she smiled at him, a small chuckle escaping her lips, “Thank you, Raikou, Gau. I’ll call him, Ryouichi.”
Raikou ran a hand over her head, gently brushing back her hair to cover the already healing bare spot, “Just remember Raimei, ‘People live like birds in the woods: When the time comes, each must take flight.’”