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Bokuto was waddling through the forest, holding at his arm. He had a small bag of some essentials thrown over his other shoulder, and the giant forest around him suddenly began to make sense as he recognised the mushroom patterns and the areas some trees had branches cut off. There was no mistaking the place he was headed towards, as he heard laughter and the air had the clear and unforgettable scent of sage. Branches were crushed underneath his feet as he got closer to the source of the smell, and he left footprints into the damp soil which still smelled like the moment after the rain (bokuto was lucky to leave after the storm had ended).
And in the distance he could spot light and smoke, a wooden cabin. He was almost there, it was certain. And as he got closer he could feel his body warming up a bit, relaxing, until he finally reached the cabin.
“Oh, Bokuto.”
“Hey Kenma!” He waved.
“Hey. What happened to your arm?” Kenma asked, referring to the blue scales growing around Bokuto’s arm.
“That’s kinda why I’m here…”
Kenma sighed. “Come on, Kuro’s inside. And another storm is gonna start soon.”
“How do you know?”
Kenma simply turned to look at Bokuto with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh, right. Divination.”
“Let’s go inside, be careful though. He got attached to the duck and I don’t know where it is anymore.”
“Oh wow.” Bokuto quickly followed Kenma inside, shivering at the sudden change of temperature. They walked through the messy house to the kitchen together.
“Kuro, someone’s here to see you. For some assistance.”
“Just give me a second.”
“It seems pretty urgent.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, c’mon.”
Kuroo put everything he was doing and turned around, his eyes immediately lit up as he ran to Bokuto and hugged him.
“Koutaro!”
“Hey babe.”
“I missed you.”
“I did too.”
They chatted quickly for a few minutes, until Kuroo properly sized Bokuto up.
“...why is your arm scaly?”
“Oh, that’s why I’m here. Warlock incident.”
“Why didn’t you say sooner?!”
“Well, Kenma tried to.”
“I figured he was just trying to get my attention.”
“Well, that too.”
“Come on, we’ll see what I can do.” Kuroo took Bokuto’s good hand, and led him to the backroom. He immediately took several books off different piles, while Bokuto sat in one of the chairs.
“Hey Kenma?” Kuroo called out.
“Yeah?”
“Where’s that one book about hexes?”
“I think it’s in the attic.”
Kuroo sighed. “This place has been a mess lately.”
“What happened?”
“We’re both getting a lot more clients, and there’s less time to really tidy up after we’re done with some rituals.”
“I guess word really gets around.”
“It does. The storm did kind of give us a break. Wanna come to the attic to look for the book with me?”
“Sure!”
They got up and walked up the stairs, which much like the rest of the house were stacked with piles of grimoires and recipe books. Their entire house was in a state of perpetual mess, aside from Kuroo’s room which was always kept neat and tidy. It was the perfect kind of warm and happy mess, the mess of books that were read a thousand times and homemade meals, of happy people sharing a home and gratitude from their visitors. It was Bokuto’s favourite place in the world.
They got to the attic, and immediately started looking for the book.
“Where do you think it is?”
“Not sure, but it has to be on the top of one of the piles since I use it a lot.”
“Got it.”
“Oh, there it is!” Kuroo picked the book up, wiping away the dust on the soft leather cover. “Let’s go back downstairs.”
They went back to the backroom, which was mainly used as a study for the two witches. They sat back down and Kuroo started looking through the book.
“So how did this happen?”
“I had a bad encounter with a warlock. Me and a group of other people got jumped on our last little delivery, and one of the attackers cursed me. It’s been spreading steadily for about a week, I only noticed two days ago though.”
“It’s good you came here, I can probably treat it.” Kuroo looked up at Bokuto and smiled for a moment.
“Any excuse to come see you.”
“That’s so sappy.”
“It’s true! It’s been such a long time since we’ve seen each other. Communicating by letters isn’t enough,” Bokuto complained. “I really missed you.”
“You could always take up on my offer.”
“And come live here?”
“I don’t see why not. You love being here anyway.” Kuroo shrugged. They’ve had the conversation dozens of times, but always ran into the same obstacle.
“Yeah but I won’t have anything to do. We both know I’d get restless.”
“True…”
“We’ll find some solution. Maybe I’ll find something I love doing and I can do here. Maybe I’ll get into witchcraft,” he suddenly mused.
“What exactly would you want to practice?”
“I don’t know yet. But it’s a nice idea, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“You think?”
“Of course! You’re like, the smartest guy I know.”
“Thanks Kou.”
“Anytime.”
“I think I found a solution for your… Little problem.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. But we can’t do it until the moon is up. And I’ll need Kenma’s help.”
“How’s Kenma supposed to help? I thought he doesn’t really do herbal magic.”
“He says it’s not his thing. He’s also too lazy to go collect ingredients from the forest, which I get since it’s not always fun.” Kuroo remembered times he had to go on longer journeys to get special ingredients. “But he does know how to do it, obviously. And this ritual will need more power than I anticipated.”
“Do you think he’ll help?” Bokuto scratched the back of his head, bouncing his leg antsily.
“Obviously. It’s Kenma. He doesn’t hate anyone that much, and he doesn’t hate you at all.”
“Okay, that’s good.”
“Mhm. It gives us some time to prepare.”
“What kind of ritual is this, exactly?”
“We’ll be channeling the lunar energy that we charged onto crystals to you and it’s supposed to help.”
“How?”
“Time heals all.”
“Oh shit that’s deep.”
“I’m not actually sure that’s why but it sounds right. This is a very old book, can’t always trust the translations.”
“So I’m your little experiment?”
“Uhh, yeah. I guess.”
“Awesome!”
Kuroo laughed. “Yeah. Let’s start with making dinner. In the mood for something certain or should we just have leftovers?”
“Show me what you have and we’ll ask Kenma what he thinks?”
“Nah, Kenma’s with a customer. It might take a while if the dead aren’t in the mood to talk.”
“I still think it’s crazy he just… Talks to dead people. And sees into the future.”
“It took him a while to get used to it too.”
“Seriously?” Bokuto chuckled, his shoulders shaking a little. “He started when he was a kid!”
“It took like two years. Now it’s not weird anymore.”
“I figured. To think you both started when you were ten years old and now it’s been a decade and that’s how you make money?”
“That’s how professions work.”
“I know! I meant with like how much you advanced. I still remember when you used to burn things hoping it’ll do something.”
“From the moment I started documenting everything it was easier. I’m still using spells I found when I was ten.”
“Which is absolutely awesome,” Bokuto reiterated.
“Not like you aren’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re freaking raising dragons! What’s cooler than that? You know how long it’s been since we ran out of dragon scales thanks to you?”
Bokuto smiled, his face flushed with pink. “You really think it’s cool?”
“Of course I do!”
“Thanks Tetsu.”
“Now c’mon, we have some leftover noodles. We’ll leave a portion for Kenma and once he’s done we can discuss the ritual together.”
It was late at night, the waxing moon was winking at the three boys who were carving shapes into the wet ground, while the wind howled and whistles around them, bending down even the higher treetops and the rain poured hard onto them, leaving their clothes soaking in a matter of minutes. All of that didn’t matter, as they had a mission to finish. Bokuto was wearing something he was given from Kuroo, a dark red cloak which was slightly too large for his size. Despite the rain and wind, he was still warm somehow. Kuroo explained that it was his travelling cloak, and into the fabric was sown a useful little spell which helped keep him warm. At the current temperature, Bokuto was thankful for the cloak.
“I THINK WE’RE DONE!” Kuroo shouted over the wind. “IT LOOKS ABOUT RIGHT!”
“WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE RAIN TO STOP THOUGH!” Kenma yelled back.
Several minutes later, the winds seemed to have calmed down, enough for them to speak normally and the constant barrage of the rain had turned into a light drizzle.
“We can start properly now. Kou, can you just stand in the middle right there?”
“Sure.” Bokuto stood in the middle of the fractal shape, while Kuroo and Kenma started putting different artifacts, presumably charged with energy, in the corners of the shape. “Do you think if the spell fails I’ll just turn into a lizard?”
Kuroo and Kenma slowly looked up at him, wearing the same expression of knitted eyebrows and slightly gaped open mouth, as if they both wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words.
“I know, I know. That’s ridiculous. It kinda stopped making sense to me as I said.”
“When spells don’t work they usually don’t reverse. If nothing works, eventually, you’ll be a lizard. But I’m confident in my skills.”
“Okay.” Bokuto sighed in relief. “I trust you.”
“Good. Because Kenma thinks this won’t work.”
“WHAT.”
“Kidding, kidding! He says he’s seventy five percent sure it will.”
“Kuro’s trying to ease the air.”
“He’s doing a bad job!”
“Note taken. You’ll be fine.”
“Okay.”
Kuroo and Kenma paused, looking up at the sky.
“What’s going on?”
“We need the clouds to dissipate, to see the moon,” Kenma explained.
“Usually I’d do it with magick, but I’m saving power, so we need to wait naturally. Speaking of which,” Kuroo looked through his small duffle bag, throwing a small vial to Kenma, and grabbing an identical one for himself.
“Thanks.” Kenma drank the amber-coloured liquid from the vial, making a face. “Does it have to taste so gross?”
Kuroo shrugged, drinking it as well. “You prefer being drained for the next few days?”
“I drank it.”
“What’s that? Strength potion?”
“It’s like an extra shot of espresso or something, gives a little spike in our… Magick, I guess? It’s not caffeine.”
“Cool!”
“Yeah, but it tastes like dirt.”
“Less cool.”
Kuroo laughed.
“Kuro, we should start.” Kenma pointed up at the sky, which was still mostly cloudy. But out of the large grey they could see the clear light of the moon.
“Right. Kou, you ready?”
“Mhm. Don’t turn me into a lizard.”
“You’re in good hands here. Close your eyes if you want.”
Bokuto shut his eyes, breathing deeply. He heard Kuroo and Kenma whispering between themselves for a minute, then full silence.
One second, then another, then another, and ten seconds later Bokuto realised what felt so wrong with the silence that fell all around them. Something about it was so incredibly loud, drilling into his eardrums, feeling him with something he could only think of as dread.
The wind had stopped completely.
No sound was heard anywhere.
He could hear Kuroo and Kenma’s shallow breaths.
He could hear his heartbeat pounding.
He could hear the blood coursing through his veins.
Someone once told him that something like this could drive a person crazy.
And before he could process it all, all in a single moment, the wind burst back out, but something felt off about it. It was revolving all around them, faster and faster. Bokuto tried to piece out everything that was happening around him without opening his eyes. From previous experience with magick he knew keeping his eyes open could be a risk, as most of what would happen would be beyond his understanding. He clutched Kuroo’s cloak, wrapping it around himself. It took a minute before the wind started blowing around with no purpose and the rain began dripping again. Bokuto opened his eyes, blinking quickly a few times to get used to the light.
“Did it work?”
“Let’s go inside and check.”
They quickly gathered everything, erasing the tracks in the mud and dried off their clothes.
“I don’t think it worked…” Bokuto stared down at his arm, which was still covered in deep blue scales. Kuroo grabbed it firmly for a few seconds.
“No, it worked. It’ll take a couple of days.”
“How do you know?”
“Well, your blood is flowing there normally now.”
“It wasn’t before??”
“Nope. Your body is starting the healing process, it’ll take about…” Kuroo paused to think for a moment. “Four days I’d say.”
“Closer to three, actually.”
“Kenma’s predictions are usually better than mine. You’re welcome to stay here until it all goes away.”
“Really?”
“Of course, you’re always welcome here. Right Kenma?”
“Obviously. I’m gonna go to sleep now.” Kenma said goodnight and left for his room.
“Thanks.” Bokuto grinned widely. “I’ll stay for a while. Also, here’s your cloak back-”
“Keep it.”
“But it’s useful.”
“That’s why you should have it. I can always make another one.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Now c’mon, let’s get ready to sleep. It’s late.”
“Okay. Thanks for everything again.”
“Anything for you.”
“God I love you.”
Kuroo threw his head back in laughter.
“What?”
“I love you too.”