Archive of Our Own

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a prince and his little brother, who wore a dress for some reason and was called “princess” by everyone.

…Incidentally, this story is not about the royal siblings, but of a certain teacup loved by the royal family generation after generation until it became sentient. The teacup was nicknamed Osomatsu-cup with affection (his real name was actually something on the lines of “Blessed Holy Chalice of Sinful Nectar of Eternal Earl Kiss of Rose” but Osomatsu-cup quickly forgot), and the spirit of the teacup enjoyed his life today as well.

His daily routine consisted of preparing the best tea ever during the afternoons, but otherwise he was free to laze around and munch on whatever snacks and cookies were nearby.

“Ah~ Needing to only work once or twice a day and getting cleaned and polished all the time by pretty maids is great~” The small teacup spirit cheered lazily. “Sugar is awesome~ But what would be even more awesome if the prince could put some beer in my cup again!”

Had the butler of this castle heard this spirit’s words, he would have snapped for about twenty different reasons.

Osomatsu stretched and poked his head out of his cup. “What should I do today?” He wondered. Shall he go on an epic journey to explore the castle again? Sneak his way into the kitchen and get some different food today? Or head to the garden outside and see his leaf spirit friends and get a ride on a snail?

“…But it’s not like I have that choice, huh…”

The window directly across from him reflected grey skies in the background as heavy rain tapped against the glass along with strong winds.

Osomatsu sighed, resting his arms against the edge of his cup. “Isn’t it raining way too much for some reason? It’s been like a whole week like this. Ah~ So boring~”

The small spirit’s voice rang emptily in the air. When it’s raining like that, he couldn’t go outside. Sure there were things he can do inside the castle but he was the only ‘spirit’ here, so it always got so lonely. Osomatsu decided he might as well go back to sleep until it was teatime.

“—Hurry up, Brother! This ingenious plan will work, I promise you!”

The teacup spirit snapped his eyes open just seconds before he drifted off to sleep. ‘…Hm? The princess’ voice?’ Was that idiotic princess doing something weird again?

Osomatsu peeked out of his cup again and noticed that the princess and the prince walked into the next room, which he only got a partial view to.

“Yeah, yeah,” the prince responded lazily. “Like this?”

“No, Brother! Be more gentle! And don’t put it so high up or I wouldn’t be able to reach it!” The princess yelled as he jumped up and down before kicking his taller, older brother’s ankle.

“Ow! Ow ow ow! I got it! Geez, I’m a prince, not a decorator,” the prince complained, but he seemed to be listening to the princess’ complaints.

The teacup spirit got curious. Osomatsu grabbed his red hat and golden teaspoon before running to the edge of the side table. Fixing his red hat on to his head, he rested his butt on the spoon to levitate down on to the wooden floor.

Now it was just a task of jogging out of the dining room into the living room. By the time the small spirit made it, the prince picked up the princess and dragged his little brother back into his room to play. Osomatsu’s curiosity didn’t wane and stared up at where the royal siblings used to be.

He narrowed his eyes and saw something new being added by the window. It was white, decorated with blue, and dangled on a beaded cord that ran from one side of the window to another.

“Huh? It’s not bright blue and sparkly?” Osomatsu muttered with wonder. “That doesn’t look like the princess’ taste, unless the prince stopped him from going nuts.” Still, he mounted on his spoon again to float up, aiming for the windowsill.

As he got closer up, he realized that the white thing was a spirit. The blue were flowers and the spirit even had a tail and cat ear-like hood on its head. It was forced to hang in the air with just a string that Osomatsu would have yelled teacup abuse if it happened to him.

Yet the white spirit didn’t seem all that distressed. In fact, it looked quite excited as it opened up its miniature umbrella to twirl it in its hands before staring out the window into the gloomy, raining garden.

And when the white spirit noticed it could see its reflection in the glass, it suddenly made sparkly shitty, shoujo eyes like Osomatsu had seen the princess do quite often. It forced the teacup spirit to burst out in laughter and thanked the gods he was on solid ground now instead of flying.

“Eh?” The white spirit flinched at the sudden noise. He looked left and right, and then he twirled his body around to lock eyes with the sudden stranger down below. “Ah!” The spirit squeaked before he covered his face with his small hands.

And dropping his umbrella in the process, which Osomatsu ran to catch. “Hey, you dropped your umbrella!” The teacup spirit shouted up at the white one.

But the white spirit continued to cover his face and fidget. Every so often he did peek between his fingers but quickly shrunk down even more as his cat tail wagged endlessly.

“Hey, what’s your name? I’m Osomatsu! A teacup from next door,” Osomatsu yelled, trying again to start a conversation. But he placed a hand on his hat when he could tell how panicked the white spirit was.

Osomatsu told himself he had all the time in the world and decided to leave his new neighbour alone. He floated up closer to the white spirit and hooked the umbrella on the beaded chain instead. “There you go. Try not to drop it next time, okay?”

Tomorrow, let’s talk eye-to-eye — the teacup spirit wanted to add in; however, the white spirit was flushing too red, which included his arms.

“I’ll see you around,” Osomatsu said instead and made his journey back to his home.

On the next day, Osomatsu noticed that it was raining still with dark, thick clouds. However, it didn’t get him down because he had a mission today and that brought his mood up more than anything.

The teacup spirit hurried to the next room and looked up to see that the white spirit was still dangling by the window. Osomatsu couldn’t imagine being in that state for hours, let alone days. Yet there he saw the white spirit twirling round and round with his matching white and blue flower decorated umbrella with a bright smile.

“Hey, I came to play again!” Osomatsu yelled into the air, waving.

Unfortunately, the white spirit froze in place much like yesterday. Panic wrote on his face and he looked like he was about to cover his face again with his hands. Still, he remembered what happened yesterday, so he covered himself with his umbrella.

“N-N-N-N-N-No one is h-home!”

Osomatsu barely heard that small shriek since he was down on the windowsill but the intention reached him.

‘Hmm… Maybe I need to change the way I approach,’ the teacup spirit mused in deep thought for once. He wanted to be friends with the white spirit. It was lonely being the only spirit here in the castle. Throwing up his hands in the air and giving up just wasn’t an option.

“Okay! I’ll come back tomorrow!” Osomatsu shouted before turning around.

“E-Eh?”

He heard the white spirit let out a pitiful voice like an abandoned puppy dog, but Osomatsu turned his heart into steel.

The teacup spirit thought he heard a faint ‘thank you’ behind him as he made his way back home.

“Ahhhhh! It’s not like me to think! It’s not ‘Osomatsu-ish’ to think at all!” The teacup spirit shouted in the air the next day as the rain pitter-pattered against the windows.

“In the first place, that white spirit gives the same vibes as that princess, so he should be easy to win over!” Or more specifically, anything sparkly, shiny, or blue will do the trick. The teacup spirit rummaged the nearest cookie box and gleefully took things that technically didn’t belong to him. He grabbed a star-shaped cookie, one with sparkly hard sugars, and one decorated with blue icing.

There was only so much he could carry since flying on his spoon was limited. He collected cookies in a handkerchief and secured it around his body.

The trip to the next room felt like forever, so Osomatsu was more than happy to put his feet on solid ground once more.

The white spirit seemed to be expecting him; he was not facing outside and instead faced down at the windowsill. But the moment their eyes met the white spirit covered his face with his small hands. Yet again, the white spirit peeked through his fingers not subtly and his tail wagged.

“Hey!” Osomatsu shouted. “I brought something nice this time!” He pulled out the blue frosted cookie and held it up in the air.

“Blue!” The white spirit perked up and reached his hands out to grab it. However, he forgot how he was tied and dangled in the air, so he reached nothing. His feet and hands wriggled in air fruitlessly.

Osomatsu resisted the urge to laugh due to how pathetic (and excited) the white spirit looked. “I’m coming up, okay?” He gave a warning ahead of time before slowly floated up with his spoon.

The white spirit was too distracted by the blue cookie to shrink away, so Osomatsu was able to take a seat on top of the beaded chain. It was sturdy enough, but Osomatsu tried not to think about what would happen if he fell.

“Come on, I’ll lend you a hand,” the teacup spirit said as he pulled up the white spirit to the beaded cord. ‘He’s pretty light…?’ Osomatsu thought with a bit of confusion.

The white spirit looked a little uncomfortable, unused to anything but dangling in the air. Osomatsu kept his eye on him in case the white spirit fell over before handing the blue cookie. “Heheh~ It’s a gift from your Charisma Legend teacup!”

“So this is the rumoured forbidden ecstasy from the Garden of Eden…!” The white spirit completely ignored the teacup to take a bite of the blue cookie without reservation. He snapped his eyes open and they literally sparkled. “Oh… So Very Deliciousness~! C’est la vie!”

Osomatsu slapped a hand against his ribs because he thought he heard a crack. He prayed it was his imagination and resisted the urge to run back to his teacup body to check. “Don’t eat so fast or you’ll choke~” The teacup spirit called out to the nonstop nibbling white spirit. “I have some tea too, so let’s have our own tea time like the humans do.”

“Tea time…!” The white spirit let out with excitement.

Osomatsu laughed before he held out his golden spoon, which he filled up with the familiar fragrance of earl grey tea.

But for Osomatsu who knew what a true afternoon tea time was like, this makeshift one was definitely a shabby and pitiful one. However, as he watched how enthusiastic the white spirit was with the sparkles and stars he got, Osomatsu thought maybe this wasn’t so bad either.

With murky grey in the background, Osomatsu headed to his new friend’s home with special treats on his back. In the end, the white spirit didn’t talk much yesterday as he was too busy stuffing his face.

“Welcome~!” The white spirit shouted excitedly, waving his hands in the air when he spotted Osomatsu. “What treats do you have this time, my dear Giver~!”

“Don’t call me with weird names! It’s Osomatsu! The teacup!” Actually, while he was at it… “So what’s your name in the end? You never told me.”

“Eh? I-I didn’t introduce myself?” The white spirit blinked his eyes with shock before he quickly made an expression filled with triumph. “Heh… My name is… Karamatsu the Great Teru Teru Angel Feather Wing Bozu!”

“That painful naming sense… can only be the princess!” Osomatsu shouted. He barely took a seat on the beaded cord safely because of the attack. It did, however, answered his suspicions that the white spirit was made by the princess. It also explained why the white spirit seemed so young.

“Osomatsu~! Osomatsu~!” Karamatsu called from below, stretching his hands up, urging the teacup spirit to lift him up like yesterday.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it~” Osomatsu couldn’t say no to this (cute) plead and helped his light friend up. “But this time, let’s talk a bit more, m’kay? Last time I did all the talking.”

“Talking?” Karamatsu mimicked with wonder.

“Right, right. Like… for example, whatcha doing dangling by the window?”

“Heh… I am glad you asked,” the white spirit suddenly boasted. “I was bestowed with a Mission of Destiny by the princess to ward away the tiny droplets of gem and open the curtains to the Only One Light~!”

“Sorry but I didn’t understand a single thing. Can you talk more normally?”

“E-Eh? Ah… The princess made me, a teru teru bozu, and I’m a charm that will bring good weather and stop the rain,” Karamatsu explained in a more proper manner like he was told to.

“Bring good weather? You?” Osomatsu was skeptical since no matter how he looked at it, Karamatsu’s true body was made out of a fancy white cloth with blue flowers stitched on to him.

“With the sun, the plants outside will be happy and the princess and the prince can take walks outside in the garden~!” Karamatsu spoke enthusiastically, no doubt recalling words the princess told him. “Osomatsu, you will be happy with the sun too, right?”

There was no doubt in the white spirit’s glittering eyes that he will accomplish his task. Then maybe this so-called teru teru bozu will really bring back the sun.

“Yup, I’m getting bored with all this rain too~” The teacup spirit admitted. “Do your best, Karamatsu. I’ll be cheering you on~” Osomatsu reached out his hand and ruffled the head of the white spirit.

“Leave it to me, Osomatsu~!”

Karamatsu beamed even more brightly and innocently than before that Osomatsu almost thought he saw the sun.

Rainy days continued on and on that even Karamatsu became dejected as he dangled by the window.

As to show how exactly dejected the teru teru bozu was, he burst into tears the moment Osomatsu came over for their usual tea time. “I-I-hic-I let the princess downnnnnn wahhhhhhh!!!! The sun won’t come out at all wahhhhh!!! W-Why is it hic so scared of my guilty charmsssss!!!!”

“You aren’t actually all that depressed are you,” Osomatsu couldn’t help comment since the white spirit was as painful as always even with all the sobbing. “Ah, ah~ Don’t cry~ You look ugly when you cry,” the spirit called out to comfort his crying friend.

“I-I-hic-I’m not ugly! Take it backkkk wahhhh!” The white spirit protested loudly between his bawling and stretched his hands out in the air towards Osomatsu.

As usual Osomatsu would reach out and help his light friend up to the beaded cord. Karamatsu wrapped his arms around Osomatsu’s neck and continued sobbing into the other spirit’s clothes. Osomatsu didn’t mind and prodded Karamatsu on to his lap and patted his back lightly.

“Yeah, yeah, you aren’t ugly. You are guilty, guilty,” the teacup said without putting much of his heart in it. “The sun’s just shy, so you don’t have to cry so much, m’kay?”

Karamatsu sniffed loudly before lifting his face and looking at Osomatsu with wet eyes, snot coming of his nose, and flushed cheeks. “R-Really?” He asked with hope as his tail wrapped around Osomatsu’s thigh pleadingly.

Osomatsu merely laughed and then patted Karamatsu’s head. “When am I ever wrong? Just trust this charisma teacup!”

“The other day, you said mixing all that stuff into tea would taste good but it didn’t at all,” the white spirit pointed out with half-lidded eyes.

“That’s just a one-time thing,” Osomatsu dismissed as he roughly wiped Karamatsu’s tears away with his sleeve. “I’m sure it will be sunny tomorrow. …And when it is, let’s go outside and have a picnic in the garden.”

“O-Outside?” Karamatsu asked as he sniffed.

“Outside,” Osomatsu repeated. “I know all the best spots and I’ll take you there~ And then on another day, I’ll show you around the castle to the places you haven’t been to yet. We can explore everywhere and have fun.”

“Y-You would really? Take me to places?” Karamatsu tightened his grip around Osomatsu’s neck, which made the teacup spirit laugh.

“Yeah, I will. To anywhere and everywhere you wanna go~”

“Always?” The white spirit asked like a child with bright, hopeful eyes.

Osomatsu swallowed, unable to take his eyes away, and tried to keep a straight face. “…Always,” he replied huskily, putting more strength on his hold on the white spirit. “We’ll always be together.”

His words finally put Karamatsu at ease.

“Then I’ll do my best today to make it shine tomorrow!” The white spirit declared with strength. “For our picnic, I want the sparkly blue cookies again,” Karamatsu demanded greedily.

Osomatsu laughed. “Okay, okay, sparkly blue cookies it is~” He gave in as he embraced the other spirit even tighter.

On the next day, the teacup spirit didn’t wake up to the sound of rain hitting against the windows. When he looked out to the window, he saw how parts of the dark clouds were being cut away by the sun.

It wasn’t quite what you would call a beautiful sunny day yet, but the rain had stopped. That was enough for Osomatsu to hurry to the white spirit’s window before it was their usual time.

“Osomatsu!” Karamatsu shouted from above enthusiastically. “The rain stopped! You can see a bit of the sun!”

Osomatsu opened his mouth to congratulate Karamatsu for his good job, but he ended up dropping his spoon on the ground to spread his arms out.

Karamatsu unhooked himself from the string that kept him in the air and drifted down with his umbrella opened up. Cloth or not, it gave Osomatsu a heart attack as he managed to capture the falling white spirit with his arms.

“It’s sunny, Osomatsu!” Karamatsu announced with pure happiness, looking down into Osomatsu’s face.

“…Yeah, it’s sunny. You did a good job, Karamatsu,” the teacup spirit praised the white spirit he held up with his arms. “It’s still gonna be wet for a day, so let’s go outside for our picnic tomorrow.”

“Then it’s a promise!”

“It’s a promise. Be a good boy and wait for me tomorrow, m’kay? No more jumping down by yourself.”

“Hmm~? I got it,” Karamatsu nodded his head, not showing one hint of understanding.

But Osomatsu didn’t expect that much from the white spirit’s empty head and decided that he just needs to keep an eye on the spirit all the time so that Karamatsu doesn’t do anything dangerous again.

The sun was shining. The sky was an endless blue as far as the eye could see. He had his best batch of tea and the finest blue cookies all prepared for today’s afternoon tea. Osomatsu’s heart beat loudly in anticipation. Would the white spirit enjoy himself outside? Osomatsu didn’t mind the white spirit’s crying expression, but he thought that Karamatsu looked best with an all-too-confident smile.

“Alright…! There’s no way I won’t be able to impress him,” the teacup spirit told himself before he hurried off.

His heart thumped louder and louder as he got closer to the white spirit’s window, but it ceased all sound when he looked up.

Karamatsu wasn’t there. The beaded cord wasn’t there either.

Osomatsu flew up with his golden spoon. There was no hint of white cloth anywhere he looked.

“Karamatsu?! Where are you?!” The teacup spirit shouted.

There was no way that innocent, oblivious spirit would do something like play hide-and-seek and not answer when Osomatsu called his name. The worst case scenario popped up in Osomatsu’s mind and he gripped his spoon until his fingers were white.

After all, they were ‘things.’ They were created by human hands and by the will of humans, their fate were always decided without their voice. Osomatsu spent decades seeing that happen. Objects would break so easily and be discarded. Even objects that were beloved would eventually be placed away, forgotten in dust. Osomatsu thought he was lucky that he’s so carefully kept by the royal family throughout all these ages.

But what about objects that fulfilled their role?

“Did the maids… No, they won’t throw away the princess’ things like that. The prince won’t ever let that happen.”

Think. Think.

If it’s the princess, he won’t throw away something he made so easily. Not yet at least.

There was still time.

Osomatsu ran before he even noticed. “Karamatsu, wait for me—!!”

The path to the princess’ room wasn’t an unfamiliar one. It was just a long, long trip for a small spirit between dodging humans and making sure he didn’t fall and break. It is on times like these Osomatsu is grateful for the holes that mice made (even if it made the butler go on a rampage).

The princess’ room was filled with luxurious furniture, a full-length mirror to admire every angle of the body, too much glittering objects in one place, and the colour blue as usual. Osomatsu didn’t even stop to catch his breath as he scanned the room from below.

He didn’t see the white spirit on the table or anywhere. In that case, was Karamatsu in one of the drawers…?

“Karamatsu!” Osomatsu tried shouting; however, his voice didn’t reach anyone.

He tried flying up the vanity table where the princess places his most precious things.

“——!”

Osomatsu thought he heard crying from one of the drawers. He didn’t even doubt it and knew that was where Karamatsu was.

“Karamatsu! It’s me, Osomatsu!”

“———!!”

He couldn’t hear the white spirit clearly, but he knew that Karamatsu was sobbing, calling out his name, and reaching out for him. There was no way he could just turn around and leave the white spirit alone like this.

Osomatsu banged his fist against the drawer but it didn’t budge. He tried pulling the drawer as well while wobbling dangerously in the air on his spoon with little result.

The teacup spirit clicked his tongue and tried to see if the key was anywhere. The princess was clumsy to begin with, so it wouldn’t be strange if the princess dropped the key on his way out...

“Karamatsu, just wait a little bit more! I’ll get you out of the drawer!” He shouted before flying over where he spotted a silver spark near the bed.

He quickly recognized the spark as the key to the drawer since he had saw the princess used it before. What he did not expect was how heavy it was.

“…!!”

Osomatsu gritted his teeth and dragged the item made out of metal, which was as heavy or heavier than he was, by force. The journey from the bed to the drawer was one thing, getting the key up to the drawer and inserting it was another.

Osomatsu’s body ached and cried from the strain and pain of carrying a heavy object in flight. Being far away from his physical body was another burden as well.

‘But it doesn’t matter if my body becomes brittle or if I crack.’

Objects can live much longer than humans, but they can also be as fleeting as seconds. If Karamatsu was the latter then, Osomatsu thought, he’d rather be a thing that lasted for a second too.

The teacup spirit carefully inserted the key into the keyhole and twisted it until he heard a click. Next was tying a ribbon around the drawer pull and flying as far as he could to drag it along with him.

“O-Oso-hic-matsu wahhhhhh!”

He could hear those ugly cries of the white spirit escaped from the gap of the drawer and it made his heart warm with relief.

“Ah~ Stop crying already, Karamatsu~” Osomatsu said lightly, ignoring how his arms trembled as he barely managed to fly back to the drawer. He peered into the gap and there he saw the other spirit dressed in a white dress, holding his arms out in tears.

“It was dark hic and scary and you weren’t there,” Karamatsu sobbed. “I don’t like it if Osomatsu isn’t there…!”

“…Yeah. I don’t like it if you aren’t there either,” Osomatsu admitted softly. He held out his own arms and pulled the light spirit out of the drawer and back into the outside world.

The white spirit looked much better in the daylight than with the gloomy, bleak skies behind him or inside a dark drawer.

Karamatsu wrapped his arms around Osomatsu’s neck and refused to let go. “T-The princess said a soldier needs rest until the next battle but… but I rather be at the window since that’s where you visit me every day.”

Osomatsu felt himself tremble, but it wasn’t from pain like earlier. He pulled away just a bit so that he could see the white spirit’s face properly. Karamatsu’s face was flushed red and his eyes were puffy from way too much crying. It was hard to say the white spirit looked cute at all.

Osomatsu wiped those tears away with his sleeve before he opened his mouth.

“The princess’ probably right you should take a break until it rains again. And until it does, you can stay with me.”

Forever. Always. Just like how he promised Karamatsu.

“B-But the princess…”

“Yeah, I know. So, Karamatsu, let’s marry, okay? Marry me and stay by my side forever.”

Karamatsu’s eyes widened; a single tear slipped down.

Blushing red, the white spirit nodded his head, and that was all there needed to be said.

“Hurry up! My Karamatsu Great Teru Teru Angel Feather Wing Bozu has been stolen! What kind of Devilish villain could do such a thing…!”

“Didn’t you just put it in a different place and couldn’t find it…?”

“Non, non, don’t put me on the same level as you. I remember exactly where I put my guilty soldier away! Plus, you saw how my drawer was unlocked and the key was left in the keyhole!”

“Your big bro can’t handle all this running… Can’t we just walk?”

“When I think about how Karamatsu Great Teru Teru Angel Feather Wing Bozu could be kidnapped, I can’t just stay still.”

“I’m more afraid about how you can remember that ridiculously long name…”

“I will not forgive that kidnapper—— Hmm?”

“What’s wrong? Eh? Isn’t that your teru teru bozu? What’s it doing here?”

“I see…! It is an elopement of LOVE and not kidnapping!”

“Eh!? How did it turn into that? Wait, wait, if that happened then you’re telling me your teru teru bozu grew legs and walked off?”

“Non, non, Brother~ Clearly, Karamatsu Great Teru Teru Angel Feather Wing Bozu was swept off his feet by this sinful Blessed Holy Chalice of Sinful Nectar of Eternal Earl Kiss of Rose Osomatsu Cup. Heh… Not even I could have predicted this outcome.”

“Eh? Then the teacup grew legs and arms and stole your teru teru bozu? Scary! That image is scary! I don’t think I can drink from this cup anymore!”

“They must be filled with overflowing love~ And, I, the KINDEST PRINCESS in the world, must bless their union as no one else would!”

“Your big bro’s ribs needs to be blessed with unbreakable powers first…”

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a red teacup that the royal family treasured for generations after generations.

Curiously, always beside the teacup on sunny days was a handmade doll made out of white cloth and stitched with blue flowers. After tea time and when the weather was fair, the two would disappear for hours. The servants and the royal family would sometimes spot the two in the garden basking in the sun with treats nearby.

On rainy days, the white doll would hang by the window praying earnestly for the sun while the teacup would be on the windowsill below, brewing delicious earl grey tea.

Until the end of their time, the two of them will surely live happily ever after.