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Akaashi Keiji's life had changed the day one lost and teary eyed Hinata Shouyou had stumbled into his front yard the previous year, all muddied clothes and scratched knees.
Two well-placed mugs of hot chocolate had been all the young wizard had needed to get all his answers: the boy, who was only nine years of age, had been playing hide-and-seek with the other children and their fairies near the woods. Having wandered off further than usual, he had gotten lost in the forest, panicked and run as soon as he had found a clearing, eventually reaching his house.
Once the child’s story had come to an end, Keiji had taken a good look at him and steered himself. Reassuring Shouyou with what he had hoped to be a kind smile, he had taken him by the hand and led him back to the town.
By the time they had reached their destination, a search party led by Shouyou’s very distressed parents and fairy had already been patrolling the area for a while. While the little troublemaker’s family welcomed him with open arms and relief, everyone else around them had ahhh-ed and ohhh-ed at the dark haired wizard like he had been some sort of apparition.
If Keiji had to be honest with himself, to the townspeople he might as well have been one. He had little need — or will — to leave the isolation of his cottage, content with making do with the produce he grew himself for both eating and selling, and his few visits were spurred only by a sporadic need for meat and, even more rarely, for new utensils or clothes. Regardless, he couldn’t deny that the stunned look on the people’s faces had left a sour taste in his mouth.
Graciously accepting his thanks, he had turned on his heel and briskly left.
Keiji hadn't expected to find four orange heads and a small fairy knocking on his front door the next day, but it would have been rude to refuse the gift basket the Hinatas had brought him. Soon he had found himself seated at his dining table, engaged in a polite conversation with the two other adults present, while Shouyou and his sister Natsu played in his garden under their caretaker's watchful eyes. The soft light emitting from his wings and body made him stand out against the plants, pinpointing the children’s location even when they had disappeared under much taller plants and bushes.
A mere half an hour later, Shouyou had joined them in his living room and excitedly asked after the big telescope under the glass dome on his roof. Keiji’s answer had only led to more questions about his studies, and soon Shouyou had become enthralled with the idea of giving his trusted tool a try. When it had been time to go, much to his family’s dismay, he had literally clung to his leg.
In the end, the boy’s incessant begging had worked its magic, and Keiji had invited everyone to stay for dinner to placate his spirit and let him see the stars.
Mortified by their son’s behaviour and aware of his seclusive nature, Shouyou's parents had bashfully apologized, but Keiji hadn’t truly minded. He was naturally introverted, but he wasn’t actually adverse to the company of others. Working late into the night obliged him to rest during the day, though, so he avoided the noise of the town, of the people. Weariness also made it harder to command his magic, and the feeling of some stranger’s thoughts suddenly slipping past his barriers into his head was one he had never grown comfortable with.
But he could make an exception every once in a while.
Starstruck, Shouyou had kept questioning him all throughout dinner, drinking his every word.
Taking advantage of a moment’s silence, he had looked up in wonder and asked, «Akaashi-san, will you have me as your student, please?»
Admittedly, Keiji had found it a welcomed surprise, and he couldn’t hide his contemplative expression before the boy had the time to notice.
After that, nothing his parents had said had managed to sway his confidence.
«Akaashi-san doesn't mind and you know I'll sneak out anyway even if you say I can't come, so you might as well give me permission now!» had been the last nail on the coffin. Exasperated, all the adults could do at that point had been to agree on which days Shouyou would be accompanied by his fairy to the young wizard's house.
As the months flew by, thus did Keiji often find himself sitting with the child in his study. The sea of charts and books spread on his desk awaited them thrice a week, and the wizard did his best to pass all he had learnt through his readings and research on to his eager student. Keiji couldn't complain about having such an enthusiastic pupil — «The sky's so cool, Akaashi-san! Can I please, please stay here for a bit more tomorrow? I want to see the stars go bwah and gwah some more!» — but, for the longest time, he couldn't make out why Shouyou would choose to stick around a wizard of the Dark like himself, especially after he'd presented as a wizard of the Light.
Keiji hadn't witnessed the event first-hand, but one spring evening Shouyou had burst into his house with his fairy hot on his heels, proudly proclaiming that he had managed to take flight just as the clock had struck midday, and had chatted about it the whole time.
«I had been trying to reach a shelf, and then suddenly I was hovering in the air, Akaashi-san, it was soooo cool! Daichi said I looked like a — what was it, Daichi? A fish out of water? — a fish out of water, I don't know what it means, but I had so much fun! Ah, I still can't do any magic and my mum told me I can't fly without permission, but I’m so happy!»
Keiji had used to think that Shouyou had turned to him out of boredom and that he would have begun to hang out with the other magical children of Fairy Oak again after his magic's awakening, but, clearly, he had been wrong.
«It's because you take him seriously.» Daichi had told him several weeks later after he'd confided to him.
It had been a clear night when Keiji had gathered the resolve to finally voice his question. While he and the fairy attempted to clean the mess in his study, Shouyou had been on the other side of the room, cheerfully fiddling with one of his portable telescopes.
«Shouyou's a very… enthusiastic child. He doesn't always get along with everyone, and sometimes he overwhelms the other children, so the adults are very strict with him, or they treat him like he's younger than his age. But he likes it here, and he knows that he's allowed to stay as long as he doesn't make a mess. To be honest, I think his parents are actually glad that they've put him in your care. I’m happy to look after him, and I have to be around to keep him safe, but in the end the one whom he looks up to like a guide is you. And, although he doesn't pay much attention at school, he's genuinely interested in your studies, so that’s something.»
Upon having heard those words, Keiji’s usually stoic expression had melted. Daichi had nodded in sympathy at first, then the fairy’s smile had turned devious and he had joked about him not being any different from the pastries Mrs Hinata loved to bake, all hard exteriors and soft insides.
Daichi had spent the rest of that evening locked in an empty jar on one of his study’s shelves.
Shouyou's sunny disposition and ever present smile made it very easy for people to love him, and Keiji cherished every moment he spent with him.
After one night the little redhead had told him he was “absolutely the coolest person in the whole world” as he walked him home — words of the highest calibre if he had to go by what little experience he’d had with children up until that point — he figured that he could live with being accosted to Mrs Hinata’s baked goods, after all.
Keiji had been waiting in his kitchen when one evening he heard Shouyou run towards his house while screaming about some “big news”, his shrieks accompanied by Daichi’s reprimands.
Ushering them inside, he sat both child and fairy in front of his lit fireplace and set off to make some tea. Shouyou was still talking, but at least by then he'd calmed down a little. Daichi looked like he wanted to tear his own ears out, but he said nothing and huddled close to the redhead's thigh for warmth.
«Shouyou, you'll need to start from the beginning, otherwise I won't be able to understand you.»
«Oh! You're right, Akaashi-san, I'm sorry, I'm just really excited! Yesterday morning Mayor Ukai reunited all the adults in the square — didn't you get his message too, Akaashi-san?» he had, indeed, gotten Mayor Ukai's message, but he would have never found the strength to raise his head, let alone move his body, in the early morning, and he had figured that no urgent meeting would have been called through a simple crow anyway. «And he said that some important people from Arandiston are moving here! I was playing by the beach this afternoon and I saw this biiiig ship dock at the harbour! I wanted to get closer to greet them, but Iwaizumi-san sent me away 'cause he and the others had to help move all the stuff, so I don't know what they look like yet. My mum and dad said that they're moving in the empty house close to ours, so they've been baking pies and biscuits all day so that tomorrow we can bring them some gifts when we go meet them! Gwaaah— we haven't had someone new move here in, like, forever, this is so cool!»
Keiji absent-mindedly nodded along to Shouyou's words and realized that the boy was right. Apart from the occasional travellers and traders, no one had come to Fairy Oak in several years.
He supposed that a little change could only do the town good. Everyone knew everyone already, so those new people were certainly going to bring about some freshness to its stale streets. The change wouldn't really affect him as well due to his living conditions, but he had no reason to oppose it.
He should have seen it coming.
«Akaashi-san, I have an idea, why don't you come with us tomorrow? You're never around, and you need to find a way to greet them anyway, it will be fun!»
Shouyou was immovable, and the little rascal knew that not even Keiji could resist him when he gave him that face.
Silently accepting his fate, he gave in to the boy’s request and didn’t stay up after he and Daichi had left, knowing that nothing, not even Shouyou’s puppy dog eyes that time, would have made him get up the next morning otherwise.
The following day, Keiji woke up earlier than he’d had in months. Half dead on his feet, he ransacked his kitchen for some jars of jams and honey, put them in a nice basket he found in the back of his closet and then finally headed off to meet up with Shouyou's family so that they could greet the newcomers together.
His student's parents seemed happy to see him, and Natsu shyly smiled up at him from behind her brother. While the children finished getting dressed and the parents arranged their own gifts for probably the umpteenth time, Daichi kept him company in their living room.
The Hinatas lived in a cosy, two-storey house similar to his own near the edge of Fairy Oak. Although he had only been through the front door and then straight into the heart of the house, he could tell that every room in that cottage reflected the sunny and joyous personality of its inhabitants. It was too soon to tell whether Natsu would present as a witch as well, so for the moment Shouyou and his mother were the only magical members of the household — Daichi excluded, of course. Nevertheless, one could see the presence of magic of the Light everywhere, from the small buds scattered over the wooden walls to the gentle flickering of the fire over the scented candles which ornated the room. It was nice.
The foreigners' new house was just beside the Hinata family’s residence. A broken wooden fence divided the two buildings, so Keiji could easily see part of an overgrown garden and a brick wall covered in ivy even from where he sat in the living room. It was obvious that no one had lived there in a long time, but he mused that the cottage resembled his own house. He had never bothered with looking after his walls’ appearance, and, while he diligently tended to his vegetable garden, he let the other plants run free, so that untidy view was familiar, almost comforting in a way.
The front door had just been locked when multiple voices suddenly screeched.
«Look out!»
Bonk.
Shouyou, who had been standing next to him, was nearly knocked off his feet by a ball that slammed against his head.
They hadn’t even recovered from the shock when a distressed looking man barged into their garden, followed by a child and by a small ball of golden light.
«Oh my gods, I'm so sorry, please tell me you’re not hurt, we just wanted to practise outside and I didn’t expect my nephew to hit the ball with that much force, please don’t be hurt.» the more the man spoke, the redder the face of the child behind him became — Keiji could hear him stutter some quiet “I'm sorry”s under his breath — and not even his fairy’s small caresses seemed to soothe him.
As the stranger kept apologizing, Shouyou puffed his chest out and insisted that he was fine, that the hit “had just surprised him” and that it hadn’t been that strong anyway, while his parents awkwardly assured him that no harm, no foul.
«But do be more careful next time, please.» at those words, the offending child’s expression turned positively bashful and he vigorously nodded, half hidden behind his uncle’s broad figure.
For a few seconds, an uncomfortable silence settled on the group when the time for apologies had passed. Keiji’s shoulders sagged in relief when Mrs Hinata finally broke the ice and asked the man whether they were the people from Arandiston who had moved to Fairy Oak.
«Oh!» the man exclaimed with a friendly smile on his face, «Yes, it’s us! Well, half of us. I'm Bokuto Koutarou, and these are Tobio and Koushi.» a wide gesture of his arm, first to his nephew, then to his fairy, accompanied his words, «There's also my sister Kiyoko and her husband Ryu, but they’re inside the house. Tidying up and stuff, you know. I brought Tobio outside to play because I wanted to make him unravel a little— again I'm really sorry for what happened.» saying this, he gently pushed his nephew forward to encourage him to say something, but all the boy did was pout and nod once more. Keiji was still processing his words when Mr Hinata went for a handshake and opened his mouth to respond, but Shouyou hopped forward and beat him to the task, wildly gesturing to the small group at his back.
«Hello, Bokuto-san, it’s so nice to meet you! My name is Shouyou and these are my mum and my dad, those are my little sister, Natsu, and our fairy, Daichi, while that’s Akaashi-san, he's my teacher and he knows a whole lot of stuff! Is Arandiston very far from here? How long were you on that boat? Oh, oh! I read a book about marine monsters once, did you see any from your boat? What abou-» Shouyou was practically vibrating with excitement — Keiji wouldn’t have been surprised if his magic suddenly went wild — and his mother had to basically drag him away from under their new neighbour's face, though the man only smiled in amusement at his questions. The only one who looked like he wanted to be anywhere in the world but there was his nephew, his face turning more and more sullen by the second.
During those brief seconds, Keiji finally took notice of Bokuto’s appearance, regarding his strange black-white hair and big, golden eyes with interest.
“He's clearly a manual worker”, he mused after a quick glance over his toned body, and his eyes hesitated over the man's handsome face for a split second before darting away.
The loud creaking of a door interrupted Shouyou's stream of questions, and a quiet voice spoke up.
«Koutarou, is everything alright? I heard screaming.»
A beautiful woman stood at the entrance of the ivy-covered cottage, her eyes thinly veiled with concern.
“Uh. Must run in the family”
«Don’t worry Kyo, your son just made an attempt on our new neighbour’s life and we had to call an impromptu meeting to negotiate peace.» the man joked in response as he gestured to the people in front of him, then he turned to the group again, «Oh, by the way, are we keeping you? You looked like you were going somewhere, I don’t want to make you late.»
Shouyou’s father saw that as his time to shine, stepping forward with a polite smile and stating their business. Keiji mused that he had almost managed to completely hide his bafflement at the whole situation.
Almost.
After everyone had been finally introduced to the two remaining people of the household, Keiji found himself in the family’s living room, sandwiched between the Hinata matriach and the armrest of a green couch, one of the few pieces of furniture in the room which looked far from being over a century old.
Kiyoko was a pleasant and courteous host and Ryu had welcomed the small entourage with a wide grin, and the couple had offered everyone tea and traditional arandistonian sweets as soon as they had stepped past the threshold.
As the adults chatted away, Shouyou and Natsu took Tobio and Koushi hostage, talking their ears off about all there was to know about Fairy Oak and the people who lived there, while Daichi watched over them with an exasperated look on his face. The boy didn’t seem to appreciate all that chitchat, and he was visibly restraining himself from likely snapping or at the very least running away from the other children, aware of the trouble he had caused already. He perked up as soon as the topic of magic came up, though, and proudly announced that he was the first wizard of the Dark of his family. Inevitably, he and Shouyou immediately clashed — «I can see in the dark!» «Well, I can conjure stuff!» «I know how to hear people's thoughts!» «And I know how to make plants flourish!» — and then resorted to glaring at each other from across the room after their parents reprimanded them. Kiyoko and Ryu confessed that neither of them could use magic, while Bokuto was a wizard of the Light, so Tobio's magical education was mostly in the hands of his school teachers.
The conversation naturally developed from there: Tobio would start attending the town's school the following day, Kiyoko would soon begin to work under Master Takeda in his magical research laboratory — it looked like she was the truly important new addition to the town — while Ryu and Bokuto were respectively going to work at the Azumane's carpentry and at the docks.
Keiji was mostly quiet during the whole deal, choosing to just listen to Ryu's tales about Arandiston and to Bokuto's boisterous laughter rather than to participate in the conversation, feeling a weird sense of kinship with Kiyoko whenever she exasperatedly looked at her brother and husband after some particularly loud, combined screeches. The Hinatas, unsurprisingly, didn’t seem bothered by them.
After a quick glance at the clock, they were also the first ones to stand up and suggest it was time to head back home. Everyone said their goodbyes to the new family — Shouyou and Tobio even managed to begrudgingly nod at each other — and left. Before he could begin to walk the path towards his house, Keiji felt a pull on his hand. Glancing down, he gave Shouyou a questioning look.
His small pupil squeezed his hand and stared back at him with a wide smile.
«Akaashi-san, thank you so much for coming today! I'm happy I met Bokuto-san and Ryu-san because they’re really cool, and Kiyoko-san and Koushi are nice, but I— I’m really happy that I got to see you outside my lessons, too! Please think about coming to the town a bit more often, okay? See you tonight then, Akaashi-san, bye!»
Having said that, Shouyou grinned at him one last time and then turned away, disappearing behind his front door.
Keiji wasn’t surprised that Shouyou's new neighbours had become his new favourite conversation topic, so for the next couple of weeks he let the boy tell him all about how Bokuto had cleaned the garden while Ryu fixed the roof of their new home, how Kiyoko and his parents had shared a bunch of recipes, and how Tobio was still an unbearable meanie.
«Mum and dad say I should play with him and bring him along when I meet the others because he's shy and new , but he's always angry! I can’t stand him!»
«Tobio picked a fight with Kei this morning at school and the teacher gave him detention, serves him right!»
«Why is he so good at playing volleyball, it isn’t fair! He doesn’t even want to practice with me, like, ever!»
Shouyou seemed to have a new anecdote about his new frenemy every time, and every time Keiji had to restrain himself from chiming in with something along the lines of “you know you don’t have to hang out with him if you don’t want to, right?”, but he didn’t dare meddle with the inner workings of the child's mind. Someone had also been looking especially cheerful lately, and the wizard guessed that a certain fellow fairy of his was to blame for it.
When one afternoon Shouyou and Daichi eventually turned up at his house with Tobio and Koushi in tow, he just sighed, offered everyone some hot cocoa and waited for them to explain themselves.
«Ehm… Akaashi-san.» Shouyou timidly began, wringing his hands as he spoke, «The thing is, I wrote about you in an essay we had to do for school and my teacher said she was really happy to see that I found something I like to study, and this idiot here — at which he received a hard jab to his stomach — Ow- fine! Tobio eavesdropped on us and annoyed me until I agreed to bring him along. Are you happy now?» he then finished, pouting at the boy sitting by his side. Tobio sneered at the redhead and then turned to Keiji with an earnest look on his face, speaking with the firmest voice he had ever heard a ten-year-old child muster.
«Sir, may I become your apprentice? I know you already have your hands full with this guy, but I heard you’re a very capable wizard of the Dark, and I'm sure I'd be useful to you in some way. I don’t practice much magic at home and I think I'd be able to learn a lot even just from watching you, sir!»
The boy stared intently at him, and Keiji noticed him hide his trembling hands under the table, while Koushi fondly patted his shoulder. Keiji smiled.
«I don’t know what you told your parents when you left, but something tells me they don’t know where you are right now. I can’t have you do anything without their permission, so, as soon as you’re both done drinking your cocoa, I’ll walk you back home and you’ll have a chat with them about it, alright?»
Both children looked down in embarrassment at his words and nodded wordlessly, while their fairies looked at them as if saying “I told you so”, sending him matching thankful looks.
The kids pulled faces at each other during the whole way back, but no one really talked, and soon the forest cleared and the first buildings of Fairy Oak came into view. Snickering, Shouyou suddenly jumped up in the air and quickly flew towards the houses as Tobio dashed behind him, calling him a dirty cheater and screaming to meet him a dusk if he wanted a “proper match”.
While Both Daichi and Koushi rushed to their respective child, Keiji followed behind them at a more sedate pace. It wasn’t cloudy, but the Sun did nothing to protect him from the cold either, and he shivered in his coat after a vicious gust of wind hit his face. He truly couldn’t fathom how Shouyou or the fairies could stand to fly in that weather.
When he eventually reached Tobio's house, the quartet had already met up with Bokuto, who had presumably heard the children's loud voices and had come out to investigate. Unexpectedly, he was pleasantly surprised that the man not only recognized him, but also greeted him with a firm pat on his shoulder as if they were old friends and not practically strangers.
«Tobio has a little something to tell his parents.»
Bokuto gave Koushi a confused look at his words, but he ushered everyone inside anyway and jokingly asked his nephew who he'd almost killed that time.
«I've never almost killed anyone!» the tall child retorted with a pout, «And I need to ask mum and dad if they'll let me become Akaashi-san's apprentice. I want to become a better wizard!» he then finished with determination.
«Eh? An apprentice?» Bokuto's golden eyes shifted to meet Keiji's grey ones. «Hey, hey, is Tobio bothering you? He has weird ideas sometimes, I don’t want you to feel obliged to appease him.»
Keiji's “Everything's alright, don’t worry” came out at the same time as Tobio's “I didn’t bother him!”. Bokuto looked even more confused than before, but he just shrugged and went to tell his sister and Ryu to join the group that had taken a seat in their living room.
Apparently, Tobio had never hidden his frustration at home, having often complained about how little progress he made at school with his magic in the past, so his wish for more didn’t come as a surprise to his parents. They told Keiji that they had heard only praises about him from the Hinatas whenever the subject of their child’s very own studies came up when they talked, so they easily agreed to their son's request.
Tobio and Shouyou were to share the same schedule. Only, while one worked on improving his spells and abilities, the other would do his readings and study the stars, both under Keiji's supervision. Differently from Shouyou, though, Keiji was to see Tobio four times a week because of his flight lessons. The boy wasn’t as enthusiastic about them, but his parents had insisted. Flying without the proper technique was dangerous, and Kiyoko and Ryu had every intention of making use of the time Keiji had put in their disposition to ensure Tobio’s wellbeing.
«I have a request.» everyone looked at Keiji and curiously waited for him to keep talking, leaning forward in their seats. «Getting accustomed to flying can be hard, and the magic of children your son’s age can behave erratically. I do not mean to alarm you, but anything could happen, and I want to prevent that. For this reason, I would like to ask if any of you would join us and look after Tobio from the ground, just in case.»
Despite his nephew's whining, Bokuto immediately brought a fist to his chest and said he'd be happy to accompany them with a dazzling smile.
«Hey, hey, hey, I'm the only adult wizard in this house, and yet I couldn’t do anything to help Tobio until now, at least now I won’t feel useless anymore!» he said, flushing a little in embarrassment.
Despite himself, a small part of Keiji innerly cheered at that — “Am I really that desperate to anticipate a child's lessons just so I can ogle his uncle?” — and he murmured a quiet thank you in Bokuto's direction.
Kiyoko had then invited everyone to stay for tea, and Bokuto hogged all Keiji's attention to talk about Fairy Oak and its unending differences to Arandiston. He reminded him of Shouyou, in a way. Both of them were energetic and loud, but charming in their own fidgety way, though one obviously carried himself with the kind of carelessness only a child could muster while the other emanated self-confidence with every stride he took.
Seeing a grown man childishly munch on a pastry and getting crumbs all over himself was odd to say the least, but almost funny.
Sometimes, though, when Bokuto talked about his old home his expression would turn sombre and wistful, only to be masked by a too wide smile in the blink of an eye, making Keiji wonder what truly was under all his boisterousness. It would have been second nature to access his magic and take a peek in the other man’s head if he wanted, but it didn’t feel right. Nursing his drink, he nodded along to Bokuto's monologue and studied his face and body language as he talked. Maybe it was his powers that granted him more insight into his behaviour, after all, but, now that he was actively paying attention to it, it was rather obvious to notice.
When Kiyoko retired to her study and Ryu took the children and the fairies outside to play, the two of them were left in the living room alone.
Silence fell when Bokuto stopped talking to take a sip of his tea, and the words were out of Keiji's mouth before he even noticed.
«Bokuto-san, why did you leave Arandiston?»
The older man flinched, one hand halfway towards another pastry. He looked away in discomfort only for a split second before forcing a smile.
«Well, you see, there’s nothing much to do in there. Kiyoko's always been brainy, you know? But there was nothing for her there, and we could see that she was unhappy. At some point, an old acquaintance who knew what she was capable of put her in contact with Master Takeda and… Here we are, I guess.»
«She was certainly fortunate to be given this opportunity.» gently setting down his teacup on the table in front of him, Keiji pressed his lips together and frowned, «I don’t mean to sound rude, but Arandiston is clearly very dear to you… Wouldn’t going back be an option, if you so wished?»
“Are you actually happy here?”
He didn’t say that last part, but Bokuto’s eyes widened in shock as if he had. The conversation’s new tone had obviously been an unexpected one, and it took him a few moments to respond.
«Well, I do miss Arandiston. I lived there my whole life and that’s where all the people I grew up with are, but family's family. I could never say goodbye to Kiyoko, Ryu's become like a brother to me, and then there's Tobio. And… I love them. I don’t think I could live without them, you know?» he smiled again, but it wasn’t hard to see the poorly concealed shine of unshed tears in his eyes.
Never the physical type, or the good-with-consolations type, Keiji gave him an awkward pat on his shoulder and hoped that what he was going to say wouldn’t sound too inopportune or stupid.
«You had to make a difficult choice and no one can blame you for it, but I… believe that you may be neglecting your own feelings. Maybe you think that, by hiding how much you miss Arandiston, nobody can blame themselves for your pain, but I think that that wouldn’t be fair to neither yourself, nor your family… You've crossed the sea for your sister's sake, haven’t you? I'm sure everyone in this house would do anything to see you happy, too, and… I suppose that Fairy Oak doesn’t feel like home yet, but I'm positive that working things out with the others will help. It can become one, if you let it.»
Noticing that Bokuto had started shaking, Keiji braced himself, waiting for a slap to the face, for a “mind your own business!”, to be thrown out of the house, anything.
What he hadn’t expected was to be enveloped in a crushing hug by a pair of strong arms and squished against an equally muscled chest. Tensing in surprise, it took him a second to take notice of the silent sobs wrecking the other man's body.
Suddenly, he felt like an idiot. Maybe he did deserve to get punched.
Carefully raising his arms, he hugged Bokuto back and ran one hand up and down his spine in what he hoped to be a soothing gesture, ignoring the wetness he could feel on his shoulder. Only then did he tip into his magic, using the slightest bit of it to slip quiet reassurances into the other man’s head.
“Everything is going to be okay, Bokuto-san. You have nothing to worry about. You'll be fine”
After what felt like an eternity, the other wizard sniffed and slowly detangled himself from him. He didn’t look directly at him right away, but his eyes were noticeably puffy and red, and his breath still trembled a little.
«I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to put you through that.»
«It's alright. Are you feeling a bit better now, Bokuto-san?»
«I cried like a baby in front of you, don’t be formal like that.» he said, scratching his head in embarrassment, «But yes, I feel much better now, really. I'll… I guess I'll talk to Kiyoko and Ryu and see what I can do. Thank you, Aka— ah!» straightening up, he rubbed away the remaining wetness in his eyes and shot Keiji an apologetic look, «I’m sorry. I just told you not to be formal with me, but I realized I never even asked for your name.»
At that, Keiji could only remain silent for a moment and look at the other man in surprise.
Huffing, he turned to the biscuits on the coffee table again and grabbed one, immediately recognizing Bokuto’s attempt at changing the topic. He didn’t know if the other was truly oblivious to his given name, but he graciously chose not to dwell on that.
«Keiji.»
The conversation soon turned to their respective jobs, and then to Tobio's incoming lessons. As if called, the tall boy barged inside the living room only a few minutes later, demanding that his uncle play with him and the others.
Keiji decided to take it as his cue to leave. He most certainly wasn’t running away.
As he bid everyone goodbye, Boku— Koutarou sent one last smile his way, a true one that time. A certain heaviness hadn’t quite left his shoulders yet, but his eyes shone in gratitude, golden and bright.
Keiji most certainly did not run away.
Tobio was a genius.
Despite having presented only a few months prior and having little to no experience with magic, he was already capable of successfully vanishing certain objects and of controlling small animals. Mind reading seemed to be his weakest point for the moment — Shouyou had told him he couldn’t do it because he was an oblivious idiot and Tobio had vanished his homework to get back at him, once — but Keiji was sure that, with enough time, he would master that skill as well.
Sheer magic wasn’t the only thing Tobio excelled at: although his technique was still unpolished and rough, he moved skilfully in the air and only needed help with few things. Keiji had even told him that in a few months he wouldn’t need his lessons anymore, but Tobio was adamant that he wanted to keep on being his apprentice.
He suspected that the boy wasn’t on good terms with most of the other townschildren, yet. Shouyou and he still bickered a lot, but not as callously as before, having finally come to terms with the begrudging friendship blossoming between them. One particularly cold night, he had even caught them share a blanket while they took a break, Daichi and Koushi nestled between them.
True to his word, Koutarou had always accompanied Tobio to his flight lessons and diligently followed them from the ground.
On the first day, he had taken Keiji aside and pushed a box of biscuits into his hands — «As a thank you for the other day!» he had said with a bright smile — and then rushed to his nephew to give him a pep talk. Keiji didn’t know how long he had stared between the box and the other man, standing still as a board. If the sound of his loud encouragements and back pats hadn’t snapped him out of his trance, he easily would have remained there, gaping like a fish. Tobio’s cheeks had coloured and his face had contorted into a grimace, though whether it had been due to embarrassment, pain, or both, Keiji hadn’t known.
There was something captivating about Koutarou, and often times Keiji couldn’t help but gaze at him when he knew he wasn’t looking. The more time passed, the happier he seemed, and he liked to think that maybe his advice had worked, that at some point the man had had a heart-to-heart with his family. He didn’t know what the other man thought of him, but he had started to consider Koutarou a friend. Apart from the children and their fairies, he was the only person he regularly spoke to and had contact with, and he felt comfortable in his company.
When, one day, he had finally deemed Tobio capable of flying on his own, all that was left for the two of them to do had been to sit side by side on his house’s front steps and watch the child hover in the air with his fairy under the moonlight.
He had already gotten accustomed to Shouyou's shenanigans, so he didn’t particularly mind Koutarou's excited babbling, or his fidgeting. The way his eyes shone bright in the darkness was mesmerizing, and he often wondered whether it was the doing of a conscious use of magic on the man's part, or if it was a natural occurrence. Koutarou's body was warm next to his, and he had to catch himself from leaning towards the heat at least a few times each night.
If anything, at least he could distract himself by looking at the buds that had started to grow around his threshold in spite of the cooling weather.
A few weeks into the newly established routine, a great horned owl flew into his kitchen, knocked a jar of chestnuts off his counter, and briskly landed on his dining table.
Keiji, who had been quietly eating lunch, froze with his next bite still in mid-air, halfway to his mouth. Before he recovered from the shock, the grey owl hopped forward and pecked at the meat stabbed on his fork, flapping its wings in his face with a satisfied hoot.
«Oh— Ohi, you! Shoo, stop it!»
He made to swipe at the bird with his free hand, but hesitated and decided not to. Furrowing his brows, he looked it in the eye and issued a firm command.
«Stop moving.»
The owl immediately stilled.
He disliked using magic on animals, but he didn't know how it would have reacted to being touched, and the raptor’s beak was much too close to his face than his liking. The shift was visible the second the order left his mouth: the owl’s breathing almost slowed to a stop and it retracted its wings, its wide pupils visibly restricting as it stilled in front of him. If one didn't know any better, it could have passed for a taxidermy.
Keiji’s heart was still beating like crazy in his chest, but it was then that he noticed the piece of paper tied to the animal’s leg. Touching the owl as little as possible as to not agitate it, he quickly untied the message and then slowly backed away, expecting it to lash out the second he undid his spell. Surprisingly, the owl only inclined its head left and right a few times and ruffled its feathers, then went back to pecking at his food.
With a sigh, Keiji unrolled the piece of paper. His breath caught in his throat as his eyes skimmed across the few lines.
“Hey, hey, hey, Keiji! This Saturday we're having the Hinatas over for lunch, why don't you come as well? I'm only writing you this because I don't want Tobio to eavesdrop on us during his lesson, I want it to be a surprise for him and Shouyou! We’re all expecting you, alright? See you soon!
PS, I hope that Fukuro didn't give you any problems. I've had him for only a week and he can be a bit of a rascal sometimes.”
«… Fukuro?»
Keiji miserably glanced first at the glass shards on his floor and the chestnuts scattered around the room, then at his ruined lunch. Fukuro's big, curious eyes regarded him with interest. The second he returned his stare, the bird tilted his head to the side again. Keiji was somewhat surprised that he hadn't backed off already, but he figured that no animal of Koutarou could be wary of people.
«Like owner, like pet.» he murmured, muffling a chuckle.
His eyes shifted towards the hand that was still holding the message and he felt his cheeks get warmer at the thought of Koutarou going out of his way to invite him over for lunch, even if it had been only for the children's sake. He found a piece of paper to write his reply on and then carefully approached Fukuro, who easily presented his leg to him.
As soon as he had tied his message to it, the owl took flight, disappearing outside his window and leaving only a few striped feathers behind.
Saturday noon found him crossing the forest as he carefully balanced a large orange pie between his hands. Showing up empty-handed would have been terribly impolite — his mother, bless her soul, would have had his head if he had even just thought about it — hence he had dedicated the previous day to trying his hand at baking and putting his last remaining jams to use. Absent-mindedly musing that he’d need to stock up on them soon, he fiddled with the adorned cloth he had covered the pie with. He'd have to find some new baskets, too.
The red leaves crunched satisfyingly under his feet.
Luckily, it didn't take long for him to reach the outskirts of Fairy Oak, and soon he was walking towards Koutarou's house. When it fully came into view, even from a great distance, he could tell how different it looked from the first time he had seen it.
As he came closer, he noticed that a large, roofed cage had been built on the side of the house. As he studied it with interest, he spotted Fukuro, perched on a branch inside it. The owl turned his head when he heard him approach and let out a soft hoot upon recognizing him, as if in greeting. Keiji flashed him a small smile and walked up to the front door, knocking on it a couple of times. Shouyou’s and Tobio's loud voices could be easily heard even through the brick wall, accompanied by Daichi's ever present, desperate attempts at placating them, and he inwardly snickered. Those kids really were something else.
The door swung open only a few seconds later, revealing a beaming Koutarou.
«Hey, hey, hey, Keiji, you're here! It's so good to see you, come on, come inside! What's that?» the other man confidently gripped his shoulder and ushered him inside, closing the door behind him.
«It's a pie.» Keiji answered, balancing the dessert on one hand and shrugging his scarf and coat off with the other, «As a thank you for inviting me.»
Koutarou took his clothes from him and hanged them before he could do it himself, then laughed out loud.
«You didn't have to, it's a pleasure to have you here. But thank you! It smells fantastic, I'm sure it's delicious! Come, come, let's go to the others.»
Koutarou's hand moved from his shoulder to his back to gently guide him through the house, and Keiji had to fight with himself to keep a straight face and not look visibly happy for it. Before they reached the living room, Koutarou let out a contemplative hum and turned to him.
«I think it's better if I hold this for now.» he whispered, freeing his hands from the pie.
Shouyou and Tobio came into view the second they turned the corner. They were arguing over what seemed to be a toy railway. Two small wooden trains laid abandoned on the floor on their sides. Keiji figured they had to have crossed paths and crashed. Natsu was trying to get her brother's attention by hitting him with a plush toy, unsuccessfully. Daichi and Koushi were flying over the children’s heads, one visibly exhausted, the other looking somewhat amused.
Koutarou bumped his shoulder against his and grinned conspiratorially.
«Look who’s here!» he said, his voice much louder than those of the three children combined.
Silence fell, and everyone turned around to look at them.
All was still for a moment, then Shouyou let out a loud gasp. Understanding what was about to happen, Keiji inwardly thanked Koutarou for his foresight.
«Akaashi-san!»
Shouyou crossed the room in the blink of an eye and launched himself against him, almost knocking him off his feet with the force behind his jump. Tobio had followed after him right away. Although his shyer personality stopped him from outwardly expressing it, Keiji could tell his self-proclaimed apprentice was happy to see him, too. Little Natsu greeted him with a squeal, and the fairies silently thanked him for having stopped the children's shouting match with his presence alone.
Shouyou wasn’t yet done telling him how happy he was to see him when his father and Ryu peeked their heads into the living room, curious to see why their spawns had become quiet. They, too, greeted him with mirroring grins, and only then was Keiji free to venture into the kitchen to greet Kiyoko and Hinata-san, who had almost finished preparing lunch. Koutarou, who had trailed behind him with the pie, handed the dessert over to his sister and then went back to the living room to set the tables, while Ryu entertained the kids with anecdotes from when he was a “punk” just like them.
Kiyoko and Hinata-san emerged from the kitchen not long after. Before he had time to react, Keiji felt a firm hand grip his forearm and was dragged to sit down next to Koutarou. He wouldn’t have been liable for his response under different circumstances, but his current assailant made it very hard for him to not be greatly delighted by the turn of events.
The meal was as quiet as one could imagine. Tobio and Shouyou hadn't gone back to arguing, but they were still loud. Koutarou and Ryu were naturally boisterous as well, but in the end their chaos made for a nice balance with the others' more composed nature. While Shouyou’s mother fussed over the food time and time again despite everyone’s assurances, his father was completely enraptured with stories about Ryu’s workplace. Keiji went back and forth between Kiyoko and Koutarou, hearing about the woman’s research one second and life down at the docks the next.
«Actually!» Koutarou exclaimed after Keiji had asked after his new pet, «It's thanks to her that Fukuro's with us now!» he said, gesturing to his sister with a tilt of his head.
«Really?» Keiji asked, curious as to what an owl had to do with her field of work.
Kiyoko nodded back at him with a soft smile. When she spoke, the ruckus just next to them made it almost impossible to hear her placid voice.
«One of my co-workers likes animals and works with the rescues we get. He told me they had saved an owl recently, and that it kept coming back whenever they released him into the wild. He had begun training him, but he couldn't keep it with the other birds.»
«Ah, that would be Ushijima-san, right? I knew there was a shelter downtown, but I had no idea Master Takeda had begun working with it.»
«From what I'm told, it's a fairly recent development, and it's mutually beneficial. The people from my department are enthusiastic about it because we get to study how magic affects animals, and how their own magic works should they have any, and the people from the shelter have more helping hands.» pausing for a moment, she bowed her head and flashed Koutarou a smile, «Anyway, since Fukuro had grown too accustomed to humans to leave, I figured he'd be a perfect companion for a certain someone.»
The man in question scratched his head in embarrassment and let out a loud laugh. At Keiji's questioning gaze, he looked away and shrugged.
«They're my favourite animal, man. When I was little, I used to leave food out on my windowsill overnight in hope to see one. I always wanted one and… I don't know, I just think they’re really cool. A-And I’m not the only one who likes them, anyway! Tobio adores him, too!»
«Tobio said he wanted to train him to peck at the other children’s ears, it is not the same.»
«Same difference. He even named him!»
«No. You asked him to name him because you wanted to include him, he said he’d just be our owl, and you went with it.»
Koutarou crossed his arms to his chest and scowled in fake annoyance. It only took few seconds for his face to split into a wide grin again, which Kiyoko reciprocated, and the two siblings chuckled together. Keiji didn't miss the look that passed between Koutarou and Kiyoko after the humour had passed. Studying the sudden downturn of the woman’s lips, he wondered whether Fukuro had just been her way of asking her brother to forgive her for not having noticed his feelings right away.
He had gotten so absorbed in his thoughts that Koutarou's question went almost ignored.
«Do you want to feed him? It's almost mealtime.»
Keiji didn't tell him that he would have done anything as long as he asked him with that smile.
After everyone had finished eating their slice of pie — for which he received several compliments — Koutarou handed him a thick leather glove and pouch, excitingly leading him towards Fukuro's aviary. As soon as he opened the door, the raptor let out a loud call and flew over to his owner, landing on a branch near his head.
«Well hi! How's my little guy doing? Are you hungry? You're hungry, huh?»
Keiji stifled a laugh at Koutarou’s baby talk. For its part, the owl didn't seem to mind, leaning over and presenting his head to the man, inviting him to pet it. Koutarou happily complied with his request and gestured at Keiji to walk closer with a tilt of his head.
«Should I just hand the mouse over to him?»
«Just take it in your hand and whistle, he'll come to you!»
«Alright.»
Keiji followed Koutarou's instructions, and Fukuro didn't keep him waiting one second. Eagerly landing on his covered arm, he promptly swallowed the first mouse offered to him. Carefully, he fed him again and again, until the owl’s interest in his pouch had completely dwindled and his hunger had been satiated.
After having finished his meal, Fukuro didn't fly off as Keiji had expected, turning around to regard him from his perch on his fist. Tilting his head the same way he had done back in his kitchen, he looked at Koutarou and then went back to regard him. Slowly, he inclined his head forward. Keiji gasped in surprise. Next to him, Koutarou laughed out loud and delivered a firm pat to his back.
«See? He likes you! Go on, pet him!»
Slowly, Keiji raised his free hand and gently stroked the owl's head. Fukuro’s response was to let out a content hoot, and that time he couldn't help the smile on his face from showing.
Having that animal’s approval made him incredibly, stupidly happy.
Looking confidently up at Koutarou, he found he was already staring at him with a radiant smile.
In the dimming light, his golden eyes looked like they were glowing.
The realization hit him one night three months after the beginning of Tobio's lessons.
Despite the late hour, Keiji was still in his study, copying his ratty, old sky chart onto a new sheet of paper. The weather had worsened again and, although he only wanted to drown under his blankets, he was resolute in accomplishing his objective. His students had gone home several hours prior. The silence they had left behind was almost deafening.
That day, instead of just leaving right away, Tobio had taken him to one side and handed him a small pouch. Upon having opened it and seen the ginger roots it contained, Keiji hadn’t been able to hide the confusion on his face. After having bid everyone goodbye, he had stared at the pouch some more, still puzzled. Then it had clicked.
Of course. Koutarou might be childish and immature at times, but his magic was still that of the Light. He had to have realized that something was up with him. If he had to be completely honest with himself, Keiji had been feeling a little under the weather that past week. Koutarou was obviously bound to notice those kinds of changes, so it wasn’t like anything special had happened. Regardless, thinking about it made something in his chest squeeze, and he found it hard to suppress the urge to smile.
While his hands mechanically copied the planets and the stars, his eyes occasionally darted towards the window on his right. Despite his sitting position, the forest was perfectly visible, and his mind wandered to Fairy Oak. For the first time, he wished that he lived close enough to it to see the lights flicker inside the houses at the edge of the town.
“Everyone must be asleep by now”
When he looked down at the table again, his eyes fell on the small pouch. He let out a sigh. Despite the cold sending shivers down his spine and the heaviness in his head, he didn’t feel tired yet, and his body was growing restless, although he couldn’t figure out why. After his pen finally inked the last dot on the chart, he lazily got to his feet and covered himself with his warmest coat and his scarf. It had been a long time since he had last ventured outside at night, but he felt like he would have gone crazy if he remained still one second more.
Bracing himself from the cold, he took a deep breath and ventured outside.
The rattle of the tree branches and the howling of the wind made the night feel a little less lonely, and Keiji slowly paced along the edge of the forest. Autumn was starting to make room for winter, and many trees looked bare over him, as the newly fallen leaves crunched softly under his feet.
He didn’t pay attention to the passage of time, walking his legs out of their stiffness until his lips turned blue from the cold. Only when the shaking of his hands and the chattering of his teeth had become impossible to ignore did he stop to assess his surroundings, looking down at himself in dismay. Turning around, he buried his nose deeper in his scarf and finally headed towards his house.
He didn’t know how it happened.
Maybe his foot had gotten caught in a root, maybe he had slipped on the humid terrain, maybe his legs had given way under his weight. All Keiji knew was that one moment he had been steadily walking towards his front door, and then the next he was sprawled on the ground, gaze fixated on the starry sky above him.
Everything suddenly seemed unnaturally bright. As he trembled under that sight, Koutarou's golden eyes abruptly flashed in his head. The sound of the other man's clear laughter echoed and rippled in his ears, and he ached to feel the warmth of his body at his side again. When he closed his eyes, all he could see was his smile. Looking up at the sky again, the idle, fleeting thought that Koutarou was a star crossed his mind.
Keiji instantly wondered whether someone like him would ever even be able to reach for his hand.
“Ah. This is bad”
His feelings weren’t the culprit behind his turmoil. It had not, after all, been hard to come to terms with his growing affection towards the other man. Rather, it had been the crushing realization of the abyss which divided them that had done him in. Being put face to face with the awareness that someone like Koutarou was on a completely different level than him was terrifying.
For a second, his wistful gaze morphed into a glare. The sky was far away, unobtainable. Beautiful. It wasn’t fair.
The cold of the soil reached deep into his body and chilled him to his bones. Still, his eyes burned.
It was almost funny. Dark and Light. A recluse who had to be dragged out of his house and someone who thrived in the company of others. A lonely scholar and the shining stars.
“How banal”
Keiji suddenly felt his chest tighten. A few tears escaped his eyes as he got up and hurried to swing his front door open, but he only managed to reach his stairs before collapsing again. Crawling back to his couch, he lied down without even taking his shoes off and gripped one of the cushions tightly. He wasn’t sleepy, but a profound exhaustion made his limbs and eyelids feel heavy.
It wasn’t long before his eyes closed and he fell into a long, dreamless slumber.
Keiji's body held on for another day.
He woke up at noon, drank ginger, lemon, and honey tea for lunch, groggily cleaned his house, drank ginger, lemon, and honey tea for dinner, had Shouyou and Tobio respectively trace the course of a comet and try to read Koushi's mind, and then collapsed again — that time on his bed.
The following day, he hardly even managed to raise his head, and all he could do was cocoon himself under his blankets and sleep.
He hadn’t even reacted when he’d first heard the voices, thinking them just another delirium caused by his fever. When he remembered about the children, he slowly turned around to look at them through half closed eyelids. Tobio and Shouyou were peered worryingly down at him, meanwhile Koushi and Daichi gently touched his forehead to check his temperature. He couldn’t make out what they were talking about. Nodding to something Koushi had said, Tobio let the fairy out through one of his windows and then sat next to Shouyou and Daichi on the carpet by his bed. Though he couldn’t tell whose it was, he felt a tiny hand reached for one of his own and squeeze. Appealing to what little strength was left in his limbs, he squeezed back, hoping that his gesture would be of some reassurance.
Keiji wasn’t sure when he had slipped away again.
When he came to, the first things he noticed were a warm hand massaging his head and the smell of broth. It took him a while to open his eyes but, when he eventually did, two pools of gold immediately jumped to his attention. His throat burned and his mouth felt dry. When he tried to speak, he only managed to let out a few hoarse sounds, giving up when the pain became too intense to try.
Koutarou carefully pulled him into a sitting position and helped him drink a glass of water. Keiji laid his head on his shoulder and slowly melted against him, an action which he would’ve loved to blame on his fever. The truth was, despite the circumstances, he was happy. And he had been too weak to stop himself from indulging in something that felt so right.
Opening his eyes again, he looked around the room. No one else was there, so either the others were somewhere else in his house, or they had gone home already. The selfish part of him hoped it was the second one.
“Just for a bit more… I want to stay like this…”
Koutarou didn’t seem fazed by his actions and moved from the chair he was sitting on to his bed so that they were properly side by side. Having wrapped one arm around his shoulders to keep him steady, he used his free one to reach for the tray on the bedside table. He was also the first one to break the silence.
«You probably already know this, but down at the docks it’s not hard to get some injuries here and there and stuff.» he explained, cautiously balancing the tray on his legs, «I'm not as good as a doctor obviously, but I don’t think I suck at healing spells either, you know? I don’t like to perform magic directly on people and I don’t know when you last ate, so, well… Everything’s here. Broth. You like broth, yeah? I'm not really a great cook, but… I tried. Sorry if it sucks. So, uh…»
Keiji smiled faintly at Koutarou's rambling and began to eat small spoonfuls of the charmed meal. The man was right: he definitely wasn’t a chef, but he still felt heat pool down in his stomach at the thought of him rushing to his house just to prepare him a meal, magically charged or not. Maybe he was just deluding himself but, from the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Koutarou smile at him while he ate.
In just a few minutes, a tingling sensation ran down his spine, and at once his body didn’t feel as heavy as before. Keiji sighed contentedly and knocked his head against the headboard of his bed.
«Thank you.»
Koutarou snickered and squeezed his shoulder.
«Don’t even mention it.»
Saying this, he smiled at him and moved to sit back on the chair. Keiji felt cold again, but his health had little to do with it that time. Hiding his disappointment under his usual stoic façade, he straightened up and insisted that Koutarou accepted his thanks. The other man just smiled and said it had been no problem, looking away in embarrassment.
«Well.» he said after a few seconds of silence, «It's pretty late and you still need to rest, so make sure to sleep lots and don’t tire yourself out, okay?»
Keiji felt himself freeze.
His eyes darted from Koutarou to the clock hanging on the wall — it was almost one in the morning — and then back to Koutarou. He knew he was being childish, but he didn’t want him to go.
Not knowing what to say or do, he grew tenser by the second, watching the older man as he drew back and arranged the dirty dishes on the tray. As he readied himself to stand up, Keiji forsook what little restraint he had left and instinctively reached out a hand, grabbing him by a wrist. Koutarou looked at him in confusion and raised one thick eyebrow in a silent question.
«I…»
«Is something wrong? Are you still feeling sick?»
«No, no, it's not that…»
“Come on, speak, you coward”
«… It is late, you’re right. And it’s cold outside, and you’d have to traverse the forest in the dark… I don’t want you to end up sick like me. There’s a spare room I've never used on this floor, why don’t you stay the night?»
Koutarou's eyes widened comically at his offer. If Keiji hadn’t felt so nervous, he might have even laughed.
Still looking somewhat incredulous, Koutarou gave in to his request. While he took care of the tray, Keiji set off to find him some spare clothes to wear. Koutarou’s torso was much broader than his and he feared that nothing he had would fit him, but he eventually managed to exhume a large sweater the right size from the depths of his drawer, and a loose pair of bottoms. He had even offered to prepare the room for him, but at that point Koutarou had only pushed him back into bed and bid him goodnight again, insisting that he still needed to rest.
The Sun had already been high in the sky when Keiji woke up, feeling thoroughly refreshed.
Slowly, he made his way down the stairs and padded into his kitchen, where he found Koutarou in front of his stove, turned away from him. Keiji watched him fondly as he hummed to himself and reached for the honey jar he kept on one of his shelves, pouring what looked to be warm milk in a couple of mugs with his other hand. His heart skipped a beat and his chest abruptly grew tight, caught between apprehension and the desire to drape himself around the other man. Seeing Koutarou simply be in his sunlit kitchen after he’d just woken up was doing wonders to him, both in the good sense and in a bad one, and the irrational fear that the quickened thumping of his heart could be heard from where the other was made his stomach drop.
He didn’t want Koutarou to turn around and find him staring at him like a creep, so he murmured a quiet greeting and carefully sat at his table. The man immediately rewarded him with a bright smile and handed him one of the two mugs he had prepared.
«It's honey and warm milk! Kiyoko always makes some whenever Tobio doesn’t feel good, so it should give you a boost, and it'll warm you up.» he explained, taking a seat in front of him. Keiji nodded in understanding and drank.
The table had already been set and they talked a little as they ate rusks and jam. Keiji tried to thank Koutarou for the ginger he had sent him, but the older wizard only shrugged him off and joked that it had gotten to him too late.
«If I had charmed it too, you probably wouldn’t have gotten so sick.»
Keiji didn’t tell him that his fever had been set off by his little nightly adventure and that he likely would have held on if he hadn’t been outside in the cold for what had felt like hours. In a way, he was glad that he had gotten sick, which made him feel like an idiot, something that he mused had seemingly become a frequent occurrence whenever Koutarou was involved.
At some point, neither of them had had anything else to say anymore, so they just sat there together.
The lit fireplace emitted sporadic crackling noises and basked the room in a pleasant heat. Keiji had never imagined that being in someone’s company could feel so good, and he strongly hoped that Koutarou found the silence that had settled between them as comfortable as he did. Regardless, he still had a family to go back to, and business to attend back in town. Eventually, he left the kitchen and went upstairs to change into his clothes, while Keiji remained behind and washed the dishes.
When he had finished, he turned around and found Koutarou already standing by his front door, looking uncharacteristically hesitant.
«So, do you think you’re going to be alright?» he asked him after he had walked closer.
«I know I will… Only thanks to you.»
«Ack— Okay, fine, will you stop saying that if I told you “you’re welcome” or something?»
«I suppose that I could.»
Koutarou let out a grunt and scratched the back of his neck, bringing a small smile to Keiji’s lips. Silence stretched for a few, long seconds, but neither of them made a move. Ignoring the urge to fiddle with his fingers, Keiji tilted his head and furrowed his brows in confusion.
«Is everything alright?» he asked, looking at Koutarou’s paling cheeks in worry.
«Ah- Yeah! Yeah, of course, it’s just, uh… I heard that Mayor Ukai's organizing a fair for this weekend to celebrate the winter solstice and, ehm... I was— I was wondering if you wanted to come? I mean, not that I was thinking that you wouldn’t go, I know these events are really important here, just… Would you like to go together? As in, with me?»
Seeing how hard Koutarou was staring at the coat rack next to him, one could have mistaken it for the most interesting object in the world. As for himself, Keiji's brain had short-circuited the second it had processed what the other man had asked him, and he felt all the blood in his body rush to his face. Not seeing the state he was in, Koutarou didn’t take his prolonged silence as a good sign and grimaced. Willing himself out of his paralysis, Keiji inhaled for the first time in what felt like minutes and inwardly begged his voice not to falter.
«Of course— I would love to go with you, Koutarou-san. Koutarou.»
The other wizard quickly turned his head back to look at him, lips slightly parted in surprise. The sound he let out was something halfway between a sigh and a laugh, and Keiji was pulled into a rib crushing hug faster than he could blink. Once again, he didn’t immediately understand what was happening, but he melted into the embrace as soon as the realization hit him, raising his arms to squeeze back. Koutarou's earthy scent reached his nostrils as soon as he laid his head in the crook between his shoulder and neck. Keiji managed not to swoon thanks to what had to be sheer willpower alone.
He really didn’t want that moment to end, but Koutarou eventually softened his hold on him and showed him one last smile before disappearing behind his front door.
He didn’t know how longer he just stood there, pure elation rushing through his veins.
Keiji had never felt more anxious before.
The first snow of the year had fallen all throughout the previous night. As he carefully made his way through the white coloured woods, his mind conjured simulation after simulation of all the ways things could go wrong.
He'd been sure that Koutarou's hug and invitation meant something, but what if he had been wrong? After all, the other man was naturally very affectionate, and physical contact was no stranger to him. Maybe he had simply wanted to be nice. Maybe people in Arandiston were just more open about their feelings, platonic or romantic that they were. No, that wasn’t right. Most people in Fairy Oak were just as good-natured as Koutarou was, he was the weird man out in that situation, the black sheep of the town. So did it mean that the other wizard possibly, hopefully, returned his feelings? The mere thought of it sent his blood rushing to his cheeks but, at the same time, it was something he just couldn’t wrap his head around.
How could someone as lively and bright as Koutarou be interested in someone like him? Why would he even be? He had nothing to offer, if not for an old house long ignored by their fellow townsmen and dusty books.
In the end, Keiji spent the rest of his walk alternating between states of pure dread and acceptance.
When Fairy Oak eventually came into view, adorned with fairy lights and festive banners, a voice in his head immediately urged him to turn around and run away, but he did his best to ignore it. He could feel several pairs of eyes on him as he walked towards Koutarou's house, but he found that he didn’t care much about what curious passers-by thought about his unexpected arrival.
Koutarou was leaning against his fence, already waiting for him outside. As Keiji got closer, he noticed he was bouncing his leg and fidgeting with the hen of his scarf. Feeling his heart swell in affection, he took a deep, calming breath and called out to him.
Koutarou perked up as soon as he heard his voice and met him halfway. He didn’t hesitate to pull him into a quick hug, and Keiji blissfully reciprocated his gesture. He swore he heard several shocked gasps and murmurs behind his back, but at that point he was too happy to spare a thought for their audience’s reaction. Let them stare to their heart's content. Nothing could pull him away from that moment.
They had to part eventually, but they remained close to each other even when they began walking towards the town square. The streets gradually became more and more packed with people as they got closer to the centre of the town, where the great oak stood. Some were simply strolling through the fair, some were visiting each and every stall, some were playing music and dancing, some were telling stories. Children were running everywhere, either in groups or accompanied by their families. From the corner of his eye, Keiji even noticed Shouyou and Tobio standing by a food stall, munching together on what looked to be some kind of candies.
Being surrounded by so many people would have usually made him feel apprehensive, but at that moment a weird sense of peacefulness and belonging washed over him. Keiji suspected that Koutarou was to blame for it.
When the cold became too biting to fight off alone, they stopped at a stall for a few minutes and brought some hot chocolate. After they had warmed up, Koutarou dragged him through the whole fair and forced him to join him in his quest to play every single game he could lay his eyes on.
Hours later, after the Sun had set, Koutarou still looked like a child in a candy shop, his gaze still darting in every direction as an excited smile was plastered on his face. Keiji felt himself blush and resolutely turned his eyes away from him. He hoped that the many lights around them weren’t bright enough for him to notice the state he was in.
Although it wasn’t late yet, the streets weren’t as crowded as before, and Keiji suddenly noticed a very distinct shift to the streets’ atmosphere. Whilst during the afternoon they had been surrounded by loud children and happy families, now a veil of quietness had fallen over the town, and who he saw the most strolling by the colourful stalls were couples and elders.
Out of the blue, he felt a lump in his throat and realized that, soon, the day he’d spent with Koutarou would come to an end.
He didn’t want to leave his side without knowing, though.
What had been going on in Koutarou’s head was still a mystery to him, but nothing would change if things remained the way they were, or if he didn't take the initiative for once, would it?
Swallowing a gulp of saliva and ignoring his heart's insistent thumping, he slowly slid his hand out of his front pocket and tentatively wrapped his fingers around Koutarou's gloved ones. Dread made his blood run cold when he felt the older wizard stiffen beside him and he immediately regretted his decision, but then Koutarou relaxed, carefully holding his hand back and giving it a gentle squeeze. Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, Keiji stopped feeling like he was going to pass out and bit back a smile.
He did it.
He was holding his hand, and Koutarous was holding his back.
“Now what?”
Happiness and anxiety weighted on his shoulders in equal measure.
Surely Koutarou had to know what he meant with his action, right? There really wasn’t much room for a misunderstanding there. But still— it was still something that they needed to talk about, wasn't it? And yet more and more time was passing, and neither of them had uttered a single word. He didn’t know what to do and he knew he was starting to panic, but then—
«Hey, Keiji, do you mind if we sit down somewhere for a while?»
“He spoke!”
«Not at all.» he calmly replied, not quite knowing himself how he had managed not to squeal.
Koutarou nodded nervously and led him through the crowd without even letting go of his hand. Not many minutes later, they managed to find an empty bench a bit further down from the town's centre, though not much far from where the other people were.
Keiji's brain managed not to shut down just yet. Throwing a quick glance in Koutarou’s direction, he noticed a slight tremble to the other man’s shoulders, and he felt him take a deep breath more than he’d heard it. Even though they weren’t looking at each other, he began talking.
«When a few months ago you said that Fairy Oak didn’t feel like home to me yet, you were right about that. I didn’t want to face the truth for the sake of my family. Kiyoko was finally satisfied, Ryu was doing something he loved, and Tobio had even managed to find a friend here. I thought that they would have been disappointed if they had found out the truth, and I felt like an intruder in my own house. Talking to them wasn’t easy, you know? Kyo cried. I knew she was going to, but it still hurt to see her like that. Still, things got better. I didn’t have to pretend anymore. I didn’t feel like I had to be happy anymore, and I think that’s why it feels so good to be now… To be honest, if it hadn’t been for what you said to me that day, I… I don’t think I would have ever said anything. None of what I feel now would be real if you hadn’t been here.» pressing his lips into a thin line, Keiji turned his head in Koutarou’s direction. The man shrugged his shoulders in embarrassment and smiled. «After you left, all I could think was “Wow, this guy's so damn cool”. You manage to survive completely alone, you're smart, you’re a teacher, and now you’d also helped me clear my mind and see that I was being an idiot. The more I saw you, the more I began to realize how incredible you are, and… At some point, I couldn’t stop myself from falling for you, and I started to wonder how could someone like this… How could someone so wonderful live so close to me, you know?»
A hand tenderly stroked Keiji’s cheek, rubbing soothing circles into his skin. So wrapped as he was, he hadn’t even noticed Koutarou move to begin with.
Pressing his trembling lips together, he forced himself not to break their eye contact and raised his unoccupied hand to mirror the gesture. Swallowing deeply, he hoped his voice didn’t sound as shaky as he felt.
«If there’s anyone here who’s worthy of praise, that would be you, Koutarou. I would have never found the courage to leave all I knew behind the way you did, and I wouldn’t have been able to resist like you did, either. I know it isn’t much coming from me, but you are the most selfless person I know, and no words could ever express how much I admire you. You’re truly the greatest man I've ever met, and— I know that I'm being selfish, but I'm glad you chose to come here. I feel terrible saying it, because I know how much you’ve hurt, but I truly am. I've never wanted to be close to someone the same way I do with you, and sometimes I… I fear that I won’t ever get tired of hearing your voice, or of seeing your face. It makes me incredibly happy to have you next to me.»
Unable to bear the weight of that golden gaze anymore, he shifted closer to Koutarou and wrapped his arms around his chest, hiding his face in his warm scarf. He immediately felt the other wizard still and release a trembling breath, but he recovered soon, locking Keiji in his embrace. They remained motionless like that for several long moments, bathing in each other's warmth, silent. Keiji was positive that his heart wouldn’t survive the night.
The first fireworks finally exploded up in the sky, and suddenly everything around them burst into colour.
Keiji didn’t know what had compelled him to raise his head, but, when he did, he found Koutarou staring back at him with a beautiful smile on his face. All at once, everything clicked into place.
Koutarou's golden eyes shone bright with the reflections of the rainbow lights. Keiji swore that, if it hadn't been for the crackling noise of the fireworks, the other might have been able to hear the booming of his heartbeat, if he couldn't feel it already from where their chests were pressed together.
As the people of Fairy Oak huddled together to look up at the spectacle in the sky, they were the only ones who hadn't raised their heads, remaining with their eyes firmly trained on each other.
Slowly, Keiji released Koutarou's chest and gently took his face in his hands. The stars he had seen on that cold night just a few days prior overlapped with the gold in front of him. He had never given much credit to fate, or destiny, but he wondered whether the sky he had loved all his life had served as a prelude to what he'd feel for that man, and whether he was really meant to be there, at that moment, in that place, with Koutarou.
He couldn't tell which one of them had moved first, and he didn’t care.
The reds, yellows, greens and blues of the fireworks mirrored in Koutarou’s eyes came closer, and closer. As he lowered his eyelids and his world slowly turned to black, as his heart thundered in his chest, as he felt the heat of Koutarou’s breath on his lips, Keiji couldn't help but wonder whether that was what it felt like to drown.