Chapter Text
“Why can’t I go outside, Father?”
“The world is a dangerous place.
You must stay here, where it’s safe.”
If Akechi knew who the god or deity or universal figure that gave him magic, glowing hair was, he would have killed them by the time he was sixteen. Of course, there were only two problems with that: One, he would need a weapon. Two, he would need to leave the tower.
The first one was an easy fix. He could always use one of the kitchen utensils, like the frying pan. Shido didn’t keep any actual weapons around the tower but Akechi would make do with what he had. Certainly hitting someone over the head with a frying pan hard enough would kill them, right?
The second problem was more, well, problematic. Leaving the tower was forbidden on all accounts by Shido, and Akechi couldn’t even so much as glance longingly out of the window without Shido reprimanding him for getting “foolish ideas”.
Akechi was a bird trapped in a gilded cage. A magic healing bird, but a bird nonetheless. Having been born with hair that glows when he sings (ew), many people sought the healing powers that came with it, forcing him and Shido to hide away in the tower for refuge. It was all this damned hair’s fault.
He’d considered cutting it many times but was afraid of upsetting Shido. While he wasn’t Akechi’s biological father, he took Akechi in after the death of his parents and raised him as his own, shielding him from the cruel world. In exchange, Shido occasionally used the healing powers of the hair to give himself a boost of energy.
Akechi understood why he needed to stay in the tower. The world wanted to cut his hair and sell him off to the black market. He was safe here. He was happy here, too, he would insist to himself. There were always plenty of interesting books to read that Shido provided and he wasn’t lonely, even when Shido would leave for days at a time.
“I say we ask.” Morgana insists for the fourth time that day. Akechi rolls his eyes and makes his next move on the chess board. Morgana, a black kitten also cursed with magic, sits across from him, swishing his tail back and forth. He resided in the tower as well, though Shido didn’t know. The two agreed to keep it that way.
“He’s not going to agree.” Akechi responds, watching Morgana’s move intently. Around this time of the year, Akechi and Morgana would get into the same argument, about whether or not to ask Shido to let them leave the tower.
“You don’t know until you ask.” Morgana counters. Akechi contemplates his next move. “It’s your eighteenth birthday and you want to know what those lights are, don’t you?”
Akechi bites his lip, his focus broken. The floating lights that appeared every year on his birthday were the only mystery he couldn’t seem to solve. Their identity alluded him, and the only thing he was certain of was that they weren’t stars.
After all, stars were constant, and the lights only appeared once, every year on his birthday.
He shakes his head to empty the thought and makes his move. “He’ll never agree.” he repeats. Morgana snorts.
“Again, you don’t know until you ask.” he says. Akechi smiles suddenly and Morgana’s whiskers twitch. “What?”
“Checkmate.”
“Again!?” Morgana hisses in defeat as Akechi chuckles to himself. A cat is still a cat, no matter how magical, and Akechi remains undefeated at chess. Once Morgana finishes liking his wounds clean, he side-eyes Akechi.
“What?”
“Just ask.” Morgana repeats. “It’s not like you’ve asked to leave the tower before. And if Shido goes with you, he can protect you.”
Akechi weighs that logic in his mind. “I guess that’s true.” he relents. “I’m just worried about what will happen if he says no.”
Morgana replies, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. But there’s no harm in asking.”
Akechi thinks of the floating lights. Their beauty draws him in, but not as much as the mystery surrounding them. If he could only just know…
“Fine.” he sighs eventually. “Fine. I’ll ask.” Morgana meows happily just as a voice calls out from the open tower window.
“Akechi!” Shido’s voice floats up from the grassy meadow below. “Let down your hair!”
“You better hide.” Akechi tells Morgana as he quickly replaces the chess pieces back to their original location. Morgana leaps off the table and dashes up the stairs towards the curtains separating Akechi’s room from the rest of the tower.
“Good luck.” he winks before disappearing from view. Akechi nods, his determination overshadowing his anxiety.
“It’ll be fine.” he whispers to himself.
“Akechi, I’m not getting any younger down here!”
“Coming, Father!”