Work Text:
Quiet Eternity
A Fukigen na Mononokean fanfiction
When Ashiya reaches home, he’s standing at the gate again, staring outside the Torii gate with a stormy expression. Why’s he already irritated...?
Ah.
“Abeno-san? What’s wrong?” Ashiya asks anyway.
“...You’re back.” He just says, and his expression grows even more disgruntled.
“I’m back? Sorry for being late...” It sounded like a question when Ashiya said it, “You look grumpier than usual, Abeno-san? Were there kids bothering you again today?”
Abeno just looks more annoyed.
“Is that a yes?”
“No, but they’re on the same mental level.”
“A middle schooler?”
“...” Abeno glances at Ashiya again, “No, I was wrong. Definitely not on the same mental level. Even worse.”
“...Are you making fun of me, Abeno-san?”
“It took you this long to figure out?”
“Abeno-san!!!”
Abeno just huffs and turns back, heading towards the shrine again. Even though it’s still daylight outside, Ashiya can see the briefest flicker of flame, shaped in glowing ethereal-looking tails, the same glimmering gold as his hair, his eyes.
For just a moment.
“Hurry up already!” He stands at the top of the stairs, imperious and handsome as per usual.
Were all gods this impatient? Well, not like Ashiya can ask anyone else. Besides, this was probably Abeno-san being Abeno-san. He’s been like this for a long time already.
“Is mom still at the store?”
“She is. And that sister of yours might be arriving tomorrow, not today.”
“Eh? Is she being held up?”
“Not yet.”
Ashiya looked at him, the question mark almost visible over his head. Abeno just sighs and holds his palm open. Ashiya just stares as the thread swirls in his hand and then flies outward, tugging at Ashiya’s sleeve.
“Uh.”
“Hold your hand out!!”
“Ah, right!! Okay!!! But why?!”
“You’ve seriously forgotten?! You did this already before!”
“When?!”
“That...” Abeno pauses mid-yell, “...”
And then he frowns.
“Abeno-san...did you forget too?”
“I remember!!” Visibly frowning again, he stares at the thread as it slinks past Ashiya’s finger and wrapped neatly once around the pointer finger and once around the middle finger, then settling in a loop around his wrist.
“...”
“Abeno-san?”
The thread started going up the shoulders and tugging his ears now and Ashiya tries again, “Abeno-san??? This isn’t really what we call cat’s cradle Abeno-san...”
“Shut up! You were definitely younger...” And then Abeno looks up, “Ah. You see, right?”
“No????”
“Have you degraded from a five year old to a three year old??”
“Why am I going down in age?! And no, I still don’t understand!!”
Abeno clicks his tongue at that, irritably, and tugs the string away from Ashiya now, managing to stop it before it winds into his hair and makes even more of a mess, “...Hrm. Even if you could, I doubt you would understand this.”
Ashiya pouts, “I’m not a three year old because I can’t understand your strings Abeno-san!!”
“...Your sister will be held up because she’s helping someone else. With work...tangled up you could say. “ He eyes the thread at Ashiya’s fingers, “Your mother as well. ...Carrying over from last week. She, as a human, should rest more.”
“Oh. Okay...”
“Hm. You were definitely younger then...a child probably?”
“...Abeno-san. Was I actually three years old when you taught me?”
“Mh. Perhaps.”
“Abeno-san!! Humans don’t remember anything from then!! You’re using it as an insult too!”
“Hm.”
Abeno turns his face away at that obvious, pointed-out flaw in logic. Almost childishly.
“I don’t do such trivial things as counting the years. Especially for all the ones I’ve passed.”
“Abeno-san...you just admitted you’re an old man?”
“Say that again.” Abeno says with an even tone and facial expression. And sensing the danger, Ashiya immediately apologizes in an extremely overtly polite and strangely archaic way, “I humbly beseech thee to forgive this lowly one, Abeno-sama-“
“Do I look like I came from Edo?? Oi!”
“Probably!! You just admitted you’re old!!”
“So you said it again-!!”
At this point, thankfully they’re both interrupted by the soft padding of paws on the floor and a tug on the red string. Ashiya looks down to see the small fuzzy creature padding happily around their feet, running in circles.
“Fuzzy!!” Ashiya picks the literal fluffball up and hugs it tightly and it nudges its...face(?) against his happily.
“He was making even more of a ruckus than usual today.”
“Eh, he’s really well behaved with you though!”
“His owner must be rubbing off on him.” Abeno says, succinctly.
“Geez...”
Abeno is merely speaking the truth.
Even back then, even as a toddler, Ashiya was a loud and cheerful child. Unfortunately, that was the child of this household that could see Abeno.
Happily wandering close to the shrine, closer and closer, past the torii gates where their worlds can mesh and they will meet.
When he asked one day, Ashiya had told him. As little children do, they spread the rumors that had been passed down to them from their parents, their grandparents, generation after generation, tales from so long ago that it had taken on a new life of their own.
The fox god that quietly haunts the shrine, one of them. He had forsaken humanity long, long ago.
He can’t count the eons anymore.
But even this misanthropic deity would never stoop so low as to harm a child.
He crushes the skull of the yokai in bloodied claws. Humans...bleed so much more than he remembered.
The child lay at the foot of the stone stairs.
This child...was so small.
His smile was nowhere to be seen.
...How old was he then?
When his glassy eyes saw Abeno’s thread wrap their fingers together and touch his soul.
When Abeno spoke to him quietly, soothing that shell shocked soul. Older than the toddler who saw him for the first time and Abeno nonchalantly answering his questions, using big words no child could possibly understand,
But then, it’s natural that humans won’t remember.
Least of all the human, whose memory he shielded.
“...”
Even now, he wonders why he did that.
“Abeno-san?? Abeno-san!”
“Loud.” He opens his eyes, chin resting on his palm.
“Eh, I’m not even trying to be though!!”
“That’s even more annoying.”
“How mean!! I can’t help it then, it’s part of my identity!!”
He was loud even as a child and annoying and cheerful.
Quite unlike the silence of his temple, that quiet...quiet solitude.
For years and years.
“Here!”
“Loud. What is it...”
He looks up to see soft glowing fire and a happy face.
“Happy birthday Abeno-san!”
“...Hm?”
“Happy birthday! You told me you were technically “born” today right?”
“...In a sense...” Abeno stares at the object in front of him. A white looking thing with tiny lanterns...no. Those are candles so..., “This is a cake?”
“Yeah! I was looking for cake shops with Saga and Fusshin. You don’t like things that are too sweet, so we went all over the place to get this.”
“...Why?”
“Ehh, this is how we celebrate birthdays Abeno-san!”
“...”
Abeno is about to say something when he’s interrupted by Ashiya, “No, you’re not going to chase me away today!! I spent a long time looking for this cake!! And I have a gift to give to you later!!! Accept my gift!! Or I will cry!!!!!”
“...Tsk.”
He could hardly explain the reason why he chases this child away on this date. Especially if he’s forgotten the reason.
Humans don’t deal well with suppressed trauma and memories of such things.
He sharply glares at the youkai in the corner that eye this child, barely holding on to their composure.
“Geez, Abeno-san. If you’re going to be so sour about it, here take your gift early. And be happy!! Being grumpy will spoil the taste you know.”
“...Mh.”
Soft fabric...a haori. Vivid purple, blue and pink in the shapes of flowers, hydrangeas, their warm colors breaking through the cool blue of the cloth.
“...”
“Well?? Well, is it good?”
“Strangely. It’s strange that you’re the one giving it to me.”
“Why?!”
“It doesn’t seem like it’s your taste entirely.” Well, not like any other adult human can see him. It’s strange enough that Ashiya hasn’t lost his sight of him yet.
“You’re always wearing that tattered haori!! I just wanted to give you something nice to wear!! How mean, Abeno-san!!”
Tattered haori to suit tattered clothes. Frayed from the knife and fire.
It would be stranger to put this on top of his ruined wear...but seeing that eager expression, Abeno just sighs and puts the haori on.
“...”
“Yes! It suits you! Well, a lot of things will suit that cool, handsome face.” Just saying that, Ashiya’s expression falls into another pout.
“...” He didn’t even say anything and this human managed to switch expressions so quickly...
“You like it, don’t you?!”
“Hm.” It didn’t exactly offend his sensibilities in any way...
“I’m glad.” And Ashiya smiles again.
Ever so easy for him to smile, isn’t it.
Abeno’s hand under the table moves a bit. The shadow slinking on the floor that Ashiy hasn’t noticed, shrivels up and dies.
“Sooo...what do you say, Abeno-san? I wished you and everythingggg...”
“...Annoying.”
“Hey!!” Ah, and he’s upset again.
Tiresome.
Ashiya is about to complain more but he freezes up suddenly.
Seeing the smile on Abeno’s face. A smile that the boy himself hasn’t realized is there.
“...Thank you...I suppose.”
“....”
“...? Ashiya?”
Ashiya turns his face away and dramatically puts his hand over his heart, “Just as I thought, the smile of an ikemen is scary!! Dangerous!! Dangerously scary!!”
“Shut up.”