Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It’s said that if you enter that forest after commiting a bad deed that has either gone unpunished or not been balanced out, the Spirit of the Forest will punish you, the severity of the punishment depending on your wrongdoings.

But if you came in intending to hurt the forest in any way… Well, let’s just say the hundreds of woodcutters who came there never came back.

People had many names for this particular spirit throughout history, but eventually, the name just morphed into the Spirit of the Forest. Very creative.

Anyway, because of the risk of not coming back alive, most people strayed clear of the forest. Once in a while, a daring soul would wander inside. Only about 25% of those people came back. Makes you question your faith in humanity, eh?

And so-

“I already know this.” Jouno interrupts. “I’m still going.”

“Eh? But with someone with a track record like yours…” Jouno’s neighbor, a very average man (with a generic name that Jouno can’t remember for the life of him), says, fiddling with an earring in his pocket nervously. “N-not that I’m saying that you’re a bad person, of course! I mean you are part of the Hunting Dogs and all!”

“You’re just making me want to go.” Jouno says, because a sleepy Jouno is a reckless one.

Jouno originally decided to move to this place because it was easy to fall asleep here. Unlike the loud buzz of the city that seems to never quiet down, this place was almost uninhabited thanks to its small size, and the ones who did live here shut up at night… usually. The ‘cursed’ forest next to the town was also empty, obviously.

But recently, said forest hasn’t been so quiet. There’s been some kind of crackling noise coming from there, but only at night, as if whatever was making that noise is trying to annoy him.

A sleepy Jouno is also a salty one.

“Hm… well… if you say so. I just don’t want any harm to come to my neighbor right before I move, ya know?” his neighbor says, before he lights up. “Oh, I know!” He takes the earring he’s been fiddling with out of his pocket and holds it up to his mouth. “O Great Forest Spirit… Please bring no harm to the man who steps into your forest!”

“What are you doing?”

“Wishing upon my lucky earring! Now ya don’t have to worry about dying in there, eh?”

“Yes. Because I’m sure that the Spirit of the Forest will always listen to you just because you have an earring.” Jouno remarks in the driest tone he can muster.

The sarcasm is seemingly lost on his neighbor, however, who just pats him on the back harder than necessary. “Exactly! Now, have a nice trip, buddy! Hope ya don’t die!”

“And I hope you die.” Jouno mutters.

Jouno is very glad that he’ll probably never hear from this man ever again.

Leaves crunch beneath Jouno’s feet as he stomps through the forest. A bit odd since it’s March, but this forest never seems to follow the rules of the seasons because despite being a nature spirit, the Spirit of the Forest seems to not care about how things work in the wild.

The wailing sound starts again, and Jouno concludes that it must be nighttime. Not like he can tell, since the trees are so damn thick. But there are also a bunch of dry leaves on the ground? Jouno tries to imagine what the forest would look like with all the information he has, and has to suppress a shiver. Too many leaves. Whoever this Spirit of the Forest is, they have no aesthetic taste.

Well, at least it’s easier to find his way to whatever’s making the noise now. He makes his way deeper into the forest until he finally stops. This is where the wailing is coming from, he’s sure of it. He takes a step closer, holding out his hand, which lands on something smooth and hard.

A crystal? What is that doing here?

That question was quickly answered when Jouno feels a crack in the middle of the crystal, right under his palm. He quickly draws his hand back before he gets cut, and soon after that, the thud of two halves of the crystal hitting the ground plays, and Jouno takes a moment to reconsider his life choices.

Another thud. This time, it’s quieter and more controlled, like a cat landing on its feet. Ah, if only the thing in front of him is innocuous as a cat.

“…Hello there.” the person who just appeared from the crystal said as if nothing was wrong.

Jouno skips the pleasantries and gives the person an annoyed look. “Are you the one making that noise?”

“What noise?”

“The crackling noises.”

The person blinks slowly. “…The leaves? They just… do that.”

“Look, I don’t know who you are-”

“You can call me Tecchou.” Tecchou offers. “Or Spirit of the Forest if you want to be formal.”

“-but there are way too many leaves in this forest. Also it’s March? Why are there that many fallen leaves here in the first place? I get that it’s your forest and you can do whatever you want with it, but could you not disrupt my sleep?”

“You can hear the leaves from town?” Tecchou frowns.

Jouno simply points to his eyes and taps his ear. That’s all Tecchou needs to understand.

“The leaves look nice, though.” Tecchou comments. “I don’t really want to not get rid of them.”

“I don’t really want to be not stabbing you either, but I have self control. You can make sacrifices.” Jouno says, pretending he didn’t just hear Tecchou say that the leaves look nice.

Tecchou makes a sound of consideration. “I guessed it’d be unjust if someone were to lose sleep because of someone else’s choices…”

“Glad you understand.” Jouno huffs, and turns on his heel.

“Wait.” Tecchou suddenly calls out, causing Jouno to stop abruptly.

“What?”

“You released me from the crystal.” he says, as if that explains everything. It doesn’t.

“So?”

“Thanks to that, we’re bonded through something called a ‘soul link’.” Tecchou states gravely.

“And what does it do?” Jouno asks cautiously, not sure if he even wants to know.

“Many things, but the gist of it is that if you die, I die too, and vice versa.”

“And?” Jouno asks impatiently. “I’m not going to die anytime soon. And you can’t die either, right? You’re a forest spirit.”

“I may be a forest spirit, but since you released me, I’m stuck in a physical form, and therefore can die. I can protect myself with my ability, but you,” Tecchou unsheaths his sword and points it at Jouno, “have a dangerous job that constantly puts you in danger.” He thrusts the blade as if making a point, and Jouno easily dodges.

Oh, so Tecchou already knows who he is. Makes things a lot easier. “You know who I am, so don’t look down on me.” Jouno growls. He knows where this is going. But part of him still hopes he’s wrong. “I can protect myself.”

“Regretfully, I’m just stating the facts.” Tecchou says, not sounding very regretful at all. “In order to prevent any incidents, I will be accompanying you for the foreseeable future.”

Jouno groans. “You don’t even know my work schedule. Unless you have mind reading powers?”

“Oh, you misunderstand. I’ll be staying with you at your place as well. You never know when someone strikes.”

Oh god, Tecchou’s going to be following him around all the time? This was worse than he thought. Jouno would’ve preferred dealing with his neighbour over this.

Jouno quickly runs all the information he knows about spirits that he knows, trying to figure out if he’ll survive this. The more markings they have, the more powerful they are… Not helpful. Their ability is dependent on their parents or how they died if they weren’t born as a spirit… Also not helpful. All spirits have some kind of control over a human’s life source if they bond for long enough… Mildly helpful. But not really since he isn’t planning on spending any more time necessary with this man.

Wait, does the soul link count as ‘bonding’? Shit.

“Look, I don’t know if you have a hero complex or something, but following me around won’t help me with anything.” Jouno tries to explain, annoyed.

Tecchou blinks. “But-”

“You just explained how you’d help, I know. Unfortunately, you’re completely mistaken.” Jouno sighs so dramatically that it could almost be seen as mocking. “Now, I don’t doubt your abilities, o great Spirit of the Forest , but I don’t think you’d be very helpful in protecting me. Like I said, I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself. All you’d do is get in the way.”

“Hm.” Tecchou hums. “I’m not sure about that.”

“Like I care what you think. I’ll rip off your legs if you try to follow me.” Jouno says, annoyed and suddenly something sharp jabs his back.

Jouno isn’t sure what to be more concerned about, the fact that Tecchou somehow did that while at least two meters in front of him, or the fact that he fucking stabbed him.

“For resorting to violence.” Tecchou says, either not seeing the irony in his sentence, or simply choosing to ignore it.

“Then tell me to stop instead of stabbing me!?” Jouno shrieks and he isn’t sure why it half comes out as a question.

“Okay.” Tecchou agrees, but for some reason Jouno feels like he’ll forget it in a few hours.

Suddenly, he freezes, attention focused on something else. Jouno doesn’t particularly care what he’s focused on and takes that moment to try to sneak away.

It takes less than 10 seconds for Tecchou to catch up with him. One would think that it’s because Tecchou’s more familiar with the forest, but no. Of course not. Nothing can ever be simple with this man.

“Why,” Jouno deadpans when he hears Tecchou’s footsteps trailing behind him, “are you cutting down trees? From your own forest?”

“Because,” Tecchou replies, mimicking the long pause Jouno had between ‘why’ and ‘are’, “going straight is the most efficient way to travel. No worries, I’m regrowing them back as we speak.”

“Ah, I’m sorry for asking such a stupid question.” Jouno tells him. “I should’ve guessed that you’re too pathetic to walk a few extra steps.” He doesn’t know why this is annoying him so much, he can’t even remember the last time he even thought about the environment, but something about the way Tecchou just exists. It rubs him the wrong way.

“Rebirth is a wonderful thing.” Tecchou tries to reason, and Jouno decides not to argue with this idiot anymore.

The rest of the trip is made without any more words from those two, though Tecchou never did stop cutting down the trees, and when Jouno gets back to his house, he makes his way to his bed before face planting in it and passing out, praying to every deity he knows that he’d wake up to learn that this was all just some horrible nightmare.

Gods don’t exist.

That’s the conclusion that Jouno comes to when he wakes up the next morning and finds Tecchou still in his house. Doing push-ups. Like a fucking wierdo.

“Why are you still here?” Jouno groans.

Tecchou doesn’t even stop doing push-ups as he answers. Again, weirdo. “I explained yesterday.”

Confirmation: Yesterday wasn’t a dream. Way to rip apart the strand of hope holding him together.

“I never agreed to let you stay.” Jouno points out.

“But you never told me to leave either.”

Jouno opens his mouth to protest, but then comes to the horrible realisation that Tecchou is right. He threatened to rip of Tecchou’s legs. He said that following him wouldn’t help with anything. But he never told Tecchou explicitly to leave. “Well, I’m telling you now.” Jouno finally decides on saying.

“It’s too late to take it back.” Tecchou finally stops doing push-ups (thank god) and stands up. “Though if you want to get rid of me, you may try.”

Jouno wasn’t sure what was worse, the fact that Tecchou was being a cocky bastard or the fact that Jouno couldn’t refute him. Or maybe the fact that Jouno could feel Tecchou’s knowing smirk.

Something Jouno had learned throughout the years was that everyone can get used to things over time. He got used to not being able to see through heightening his other senses. He never quite got used to the other Hunting Dogs’ eccentricities but he did learn how to ignore random tantrums and death threats after a while.

As much as he hopes Tecchou wouldn’t be around long enough for Jouno to get used to him, Jouno honestly doesn’t have the energy to get pissed every time Tecchou does something annoying. He didn’t think anyone had that energy, considering that Tecchou was without a doubt the most irritating person Jouno has ever met.

So for now, Jouno would just grit his teeth and bear it, as unhappy as it made him.

(Though he would make sure to shoot Tecchou in the back later.)

He had to just pretend it was a normal day… Ignore Tecchou and his annoying vibes…

Jouno actually manages to do just that until the afternoon when he’s about to reheat some leftovers. Tecchou has one look at the food before commenting, “Your cooking sucks.”

Just ignore him, Jouno tells himself. He’s trembling from the represseed urge to snap back, do anything, really, but he hasn’t yet. Jouno’s a man with self control, damnit!

“There’s too little salt.” Tecchou continues.

Jouno bites back a, How could you tell just by looking at it?

“While this is just a personal preference, and doesn’t apply to you, the different coloured foods being mixed together also doesn’t look appealing. I prefer it when the same coloured foods are mixed, like mustard and egg yolk.”

“Who eats food like that!?” Jouno finally yells, throwing whatever’s closest to him (a pillow, though he really isn’t sure why there’s a pillow in the kitchen. It must be Tecchou’s fault. Everything is Tecchou’s fault).

Jouno’s a man with self control, but admittedly, not that much self control.

(Though he does regret everything when Tecchou slices the pillow in half and feathers fly everywhere.)

“What are you making?” Tecchou asks the next morning instead of a greeting. Well, it wasn’t like Jouno was going to greet him back even if he did say one.

Jouno doesn’t reply, instead turning off the egg cooker as it beeps. Maybe if he doesn’t say anything Tecchou will actually use one of his five senses to answer his own question and fuck off. But he knows well enough by now that he won’t. And he doesn’t.

“What are you making?” Tecchou repeats.

Jouno gives in, it’s too early in the morning to put up with this. “Hard boiled eggs.” he grumbles.

“Can I have one?” Tecchou is already reaching, despite asking.

“If you want to burn yourself, go ahead.” Despite Jouno’s kind warning, Tecchou grabs an egg with his bare hand anyway. He doesn’t even seem to be in any sort of pain from that. Do spirits not feel heat? That doesn’t make sense, grass is supposed to be weak to fire.

But that question is suddenly shoved aside when Jouno suddenly hears a sickening crunch of the egg being eaten.

Hard boiled eggs aren’t supposed to be crunchy.

Unless…

“I’m going to actually kill him. I don’t care if I die too, I’m going to kill him.” Jouno mutters, slapping the monster’s hand away when he reaches for another egg.

(He doesn’t, but only because Tecchou blocks the attack.)

Tecchou decides to grab Jouno’s arm halfway through Jouno’s walk to work. Right before the stall with that noisy spirit medium set just outside the furniture store. Probably to make sure he doesn’t run away and lose him or something.

“Why do you appear at the most inconvenient moments?” Jouno complains.

“I’m always around.” Tecchou says.

“Yeah, that’s kind of the point. Do you know how awkward it is to have you just stare at me as some random old lady thanks me for helping her? Do you think I’m some kind of heartless criminal who doesn’t help people?” Jouno huffs. “If I was a criminal, I’d be a lot more well-known.”

“I never said that.” Tecchou says carefully.

“Yeah, well you implied it.”

“If you were a criminal, I would be much more against following you around, even with the soul link.”

“You’re a spirit, aren’t you? Don’t you have some sort of control over life? Can’t you just remove the soul link?”

Tecchou blinks. “You know about that.”

“Yeah, I do.” Jouno isn’t sure why Tecchou thought he could hide anything from him, but here they are. “So can you do both of us a favor and remove the soul link?”

“While it is true that spirits always have some kind of control over life… I mostly control plant life.” Excuses, excuses. “Anyway, you’re going to be late. Let’s go.”

A sharp increase in heart rate. Stiff posture. The grip on his arm growing tighter. There was no doubt about it…

Tecchou’s hiding something.

Tecchou is pacing impatiently by the front door as Jouno packs another suitcase.

“You know, if you’re so bored, you can actually make yourself useful for once and help me pack.” Jouno remarks dryly.

“But if I do that, I might see something that makes me change my mind.” Tecchou tries to explain.

“What are you then, useless? Don’t answer that, I already know the answer.”

In all honesty, Jouno knows that Tecchou’s right. The reason he was even impatient in the first place was because he knew that he could suddenly change his mind about not moving. If Tecchou ended up changing his mind now, that would be a huge pain.

Jouno had already spent a good hour of his life trying to convince Tecchou that yes, he wouldn’t die moving to another place. He also tried to convince Tecchou to not follow him, but that didn’t go very well. Not because Tecchou had any particularly good argument but because he was just a stubborn bastard.

Jouno had just finished presenting his slide show on why it was better for Tecchou to just stay back, for his sake and Jouno’s, when Tecchou replied, “Why don’t you stay back, for your sake and mine?” which led to a conversation about Jouno’s boss and how there was no way in hell that he’d allow that.

“Aren’t you good at using intimidation tactics?” Tecchou had said. “I can let you borrow my sword.”

“I am not stabbing my boss over this.”

“He deserves it, though.” Tecchou had muttered quietly under his breath, so quietly that if Jouno wasn’t Jouno, he wouldn’t have heard.

But Jouno was Jouno. And he concluded that that was not a very Tecchou-like thing to say.

Eventually, though, Jouno had managed to convince Tecchou, and now here he was. Packing his things while Tecchou waited around impatiently.

“Stop making that face.” Jouno says, immediately guessing what kind of facial expression Tecchou was making. “I don’t exactly want to move to the city either, but you don’t see me complaining.”

“Won’t it be hard for you to sleep there?”

Jouno hesitates. It would but… “It’s fine.” he finally replies. “It’s for my job, after all.”

Well, how hard could it be?

Very, apparently.

Even with earplugs, the roaring of the outside never fades. If Jouno hears another car horn beep, he can’t promise he won’t do something stupid.

Another car beeps.

Jouno does something stupid.

Practically jumping off the bed, Jouno makes his way to the couch where Tecchou is sitting and collapses into him.

This is a bad idea.

“…Jouno?” Tecchou pokes his cheek. “What are you doing?”

“Shut up.” Jouno mutters. “I couldn’t sleep.”

The unspoken, So you came to me? rings throughout the air, and Jouno simply nods. “Being near other people helps with the noise.” he mutters.

“Your back’s going to hurt later from sleeping like this.” Tecchou says, but Jouno doesn’t really care. He’s already drifting off, the metronome of Tecchou’s heart more relaxing than any silence could ever be.

Jouno barely registers Tecchou picking him up and carrying him to his room, and has to repress a smile

This is a terrible idea.

But part of him doesn’t really mind.

“…What do you look like?” Jouno asks one day.

Tecchou blinks. “That’s a random question.”

“I just got curious.” Jouno huffs. “If you’re going to make fun of me for it, then just forget it.”

“I wasn’t…” Tecchou shakes his head. “I can try to… describe it?”

How else were you planning to do it? Jouno is about to say before he bites his tongue so that the words can slip out. Knowing Tecchou he’d probably answer in that stupidly blunt tone of his and then Jouno would feel like an idiot.

“Well, my hair colour is…” Tecchou trails off. “My hair is brown. A dark… dull brown.” Tecchou seems like he’s struggling to come up with words, but he continues anyway. Jouno admires his dedication. He pauses as if waiting for confirmation from Jouno.

Jouno nods. “Go on.”

“My eyes are also brown. A much softer tint than my hair. Like tree bark.” Tecchou pauses again. “I have three marks under my left eye. They look like darts pointing towards my eye.”

Jouno waits.

Tecchou waits.

Finally, Jouno speaks. “Is that it?”

“Yes.”

“You really suck at this.” Jouno comments. “You didn’t even describe the shape of your face or anything like that.”

“Why describe something that you can just feel?” Tecchou says unabashedly and Jouno almost chokes.

“Are you telling me to-” Jouno makes a series of movements with his hands that Tecchou somehow understands.

“Yes.”

Jouno actually chokes this time.

“Where are we going today?” Tecchou asks after finishing his breakfast.

“We’re not going anywhere.” Jouno replies. “I have an important meeting today that you’re not allowed to attend. ” He emphasises the last part just in case Tecchou isn’t paying attention.

“What’s the meeting about?” Tecchou asks.

“You- The whole point of you not coming is for confidentially!” Jouno grits his teeth before sighing. A few details would probably get Tecchou to shut up, and it wouldn’t hurt either. “We’re just trying to figure out how to catch a dangerous criminal. But obscurely, so you can’t help. Just stay here and don’t destroy anything while I’m gone.”

“Okay.”

“If you leave, write the apartment number on your hand so you don’t enter the wrong room.”

“Okay.”

“But just try to tend to your plants or sleep, just in case you destroy the apartment by accident doing anything else.”

“Okay.”

“What did you just eat?”

“A buttered banana.”

“So you were listening. Change up your answers once in a while.” Jouno grumbles, then wrinkles his nose. “And ew.”

“It’s actually quite good.”

“Maybe to you, but you have awful taste.”

“Is that so?” Tecchou sounds amused, but Jouno doesn’t bother questioning why.

Jouno huffs, irritated. “You’re going to make me late. Thanks a lot.” he says, making his way to the door and pretending he wasn’t just as guilty.

“Good luck on your brainstorming.” Tecchou calls behind him. “I’ll be sending you good vibes.”

(The fact that it’s one of Jouno’s most efficient days of work since… well, ever, is completely unrelated to what Tecchou said.)

Jouno comes back to his apartment to a burning smell. That could only mean one thing. “Tecchou, what the hell are you doing this time?”

“Cooking.” Tecchou’s voice comes from the living room, not the kitchen, concerningly, so Jouno makes his way there. Tecchou is laying on the couch, polishing his sword as if he didn’t have any better responsibilities.

“Cooking.” Jouno’s repeats flatly. His voice is dangerous, but he hasn’t snapped yet. Improvement. “And I thought I told you to not do anything?”

“I wanted to make dinner.” The unspoken ‘your cooking sucks’ hangs in the air and Jouno almost throws something at him. But he doesn’t. Improvement. “So I went outside and asked around. An old lady gave me a recipe.”

“Did the recipe tell you to cook the meat for an hour?” Jouno asks dryly.

“No. But it told me to add black pepper.”

Jouno knows where this is going.

“Black pepper is black.”

“I can tell from the name.”

Tecchou ignores Jouno’s snide remark and continues. “And the meat wasn’t. So I had to fix that.”

Jouno throws a pillow at Tecchou, who catches it easily. At least he didn’t cut it in half this time.

Improvement.

When Jouno told Tecchou that he had to interrogate a criminal that day, he was expecting Tecchou to use common sense and not follow him to work.

He seems to have forgotten that common sense is anything but common with the other man.

“Why did you follow me?” Jouno demands.

“I didn’t follow you. I took a separate path.” Tecchou points out.

“It doesn’t matter what path you took to get here. You’re still here. Didn’t I tell you I had to interrogate someone today? You’re not allowed to be here.”

“Interrogation? I can help can’t I?”

Jouno makes a noise of scepticism. “Have you ever interrogated anyone in your life?”

“Yes.” Tecchou replies. “Many times, in fact. I am a great negotiator.”

“This culprit is unreasonable. Negotiating won’t go anywhere with them.” Jouno explains. “The only things that might work is intimidation or torture.”

Tecchou seems troubled by that. “Torture is…”

“Torture is sometimes the only thing that works.”

“Is it true justice if the truth is brought to light with something as horrific as that?”

“True justice doesn’t exist. Sometimes criminals who are punished are good people that have done bad things. Sometimes the people who are expected to serve justice are forced to do horrible things in order to punish wrongdoings.” Jouno tells him. “It doesn’t change the fact that it’s my job to make sure people stay safe.”

Tecchou is completely silent. Well, not completely silent, his heart is still beating obviously, but other than that, it’s almost like he isn’t there. He can imagine it in his head, Tecchou, stiff from shock, eyes wide and unblinking, forgetting how to breathe. “Did I say something weird?” Jouno demands.

“…No. It’s just that you actually sounded cool for once.”

A vein pulses in Jouno’s forehead. “I’m going to kill you.”

“No you won’t.”

No he won’t.

“Though I still don’t get why I’m not allowed to help you.”

“Look, with my enhanced senses, I can practically hear all of their secrets. You being there will keep me from doing my job.” Jouno tries to explain.

“Why?”

“For one, you breathe too loudly. It messes up the vibe.”

“I can hold my breath.”

Jouno raises an eyebrow. “Can you stop your heart from beating?”

Tecchou ponders this from a moment. “I can try.” he offers.

“You- Don’t do that!” Jouno practically shrieks.

“Then why did you ask me if you don’t want me to do it?”

“I didn’t ask you to. You just took it as an order.” Jouno corrects. “That should be common sense anyway. You’d die if you did that, idiot.”

“Oh, so you were worried about me.” To the untrained ear, Tecchou would still sound stoic but Jouno can hear the smirk in his voice.

He’s messing with him. He’s totally messing with him. Jouno didn’t even know that Tecchou was capable of that.

“Shut up and go.” Jouno snaps.

“You didn’t deny it.” observes Tecchou “Would you care if I died after all?”

“I don’t care about you.” Jouno huffs. “I just don’t want to die along with you.” That one song about double suicide that’s always on the radio suddenly starts playing in his head and he has to push it out of his mind. “Now go away and… do something useful for once.”

Tecchou nods seriously and walks away. As his footsteps fade, Jouno wonders if it was a good idea to send him off by himself without any further instruction. He’ll probably get lost on the way to the apartment. Or even worse… He’ll find the apartment and mess it up.

He’ll have to finish this interrogation quickly.

When Jouno gets back to his apartment, he smells dirt.

Tecchou has always had an earthy smell, being a forest spirit and all, but the scent is decidedly stronger than usual. That could’ve just been from Tecchou staying in the closed space for a longer period time than usual, it wouldn’t have made that much of a difference. Besides, there’s a slight breeze inside, signalling that a window is open.

If Tecchou filled the apartment with dirt, Jouno was going to… Shit, what could he even do to punish someone like him? Get rid of all of the foods in the apartment that share a colour with another one? A waste of food, but it’ll probably be an effective punishment.

For both of their sakes (but if he was being honest, mostly his), Jouno really hopes Tecchou didn’t scatter dirt all over the floors.

“Tecchou, what are you doing?”

“Gardening.” Tecchou says, which does not alleviate Jouno’s fears at all.

“I swear, if you created an indoor garden-” Jouno marches over to the balcony where Tecchou is standing.

“I didn’t.” Tecchou assures him. “It’s just on the balcony.”

“It better be.” Jouno huffs, reaching his hand out to run his fingers over the dirt-filled pots. “Why are you suddenly doing this anyway?”

The atmosphere suddenly becomes more melancholy after Jouno asks that. “I miss my home.” Tecchou admits wistfully. “Even if it’s only a growing few flowers, it reminds me of my time in the forest.”

“…Oh.” Despite what some people might think, Jouno isn’t heartless. He does feel a little pity. But not much more than that. Jouno was never really particularly attached to any of his previous homes, so he didn’t really get the feeling. Besides that, no one had asked Tecchou to come along with him, and Jouno certainly wouldn’t stop him if he decided to go back. “You don’t have to be here, you know. Nothing’s stopping you from leaving.”

“There is.” Tecchou says firmly. “You.”

Jouno’s face does not heat up at that. And anyone who says otherwise is lying and also a stupidhead.

“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something were to happen to you just because I wasn’t there to prevent it.”

“You wouldn’t be able to live with yourself. Because you’d be dead.” Jouno snarks before his face shifts into a more serious expression. “But I can handle myself. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“You probably can handle yourself.” Tecchou admits. “You’d be safe 99% of the time. But I can’t risk not being there for the other 1%.” He takes a step towards Jouno, probably leaning down to meet his eyes.

They’re close--too close. The usual background noise of the city seems to fade out as Jouno tries to stay composed. Tecchou’s mouth is moving, but Jouno can’t seem to focus on his words over the sound of their thundering hearts that seem to shake him to his core every time they beat. He has to bite his tongue, letting the pain ground him, and only then, can he start listening to Tecchou speak again.

“My job is to punish the bad and reward the good that wander into my forest. But protecting those who are important to me will always take priority.” Tecchou says firmly. “And for that reason, I will stay here with you.”

Jouno is left speechless at how genuine Tecchou sounds. Tecchou is many things, a man who usually doesn’t do anything unless ordered to, a man with… strange food tastes, a man who takes everything so seriously yet not at the same time.

Jouno suddenly remembers that he isn’t just that. He’s also the Spirit of the Forest, someone who has slaughtered hundreds of people to protect his home, someone who will do anything for the sake of justice. Anything for someone he’s loyal to.

But it’s not him that Tecchou’s loyal to, Jouno has to remind himself, Tecchou just wants to keep himself alive, and by extension, Jouno too. If they’re souls weren’t still linked, he wouldn’t even be here right now.

That thought shouldn’t hurt but it somehow does.

Tecchou is silent, as if waiting expectantly for Jouno to respond, but he doesn’t know what to say. Any words he can think of don’t capture how he feels. So he bites down harder on his tongue, until Tecchou finally takes a step back.

“…Good luck on your garden.” Jouno finally mutters before walking back inside, trying to get his mind off of Tecchou and his pounding heart.

“Why do you spend so much time working on your garden?” Jouno asks the next day. “Can you just make the plants grow immediately?”

“Yes. But since gardening is hard, it helps build discipline, patience, and hard work, among other life skills.” Tecchou says in a matter of fact tone. “You should try it. It’d be very helpful, I think.”

Jouno doesn’t miss the slight amusement tinting Tecchou’s voice. “What are you implying?”

Tecchou doesn’t respond, and Jouno can tell he’s holding back a laugh.

“I don’t even like flowers.” Jouno complains.

The air of amusement suddenly disappears. “Why?”

Jouno knows that he offended the forest spirit, but he couldn’t find it in him to give a fuck. “They smell too strong. I can usually handle strong smells, but the scent of flowers gives me a headache. And I can’t even see them, so…”

“…” Tecchou doesn’t respond, deep in thought. “I see.”

“You see?”

Tecchou makes a faint sound of acknowledgement.

This is strange, even for Tecchou. Did Jouno bother him that much, just by voicing his (perfectly fair) complaints about flowers?

No, Tecchou is clearly thinking… but not about that.

Well, it’s not like Jouno cares what goes on in Tecchou’s brain anyway. As much as he wonders what Tecchou’s thinking, it’s not important.

Not important at all.

Tecchou is waiting for Jouno outside the apartment building. That wasn’t the strange part, when Tecchou wasn’t accompanying Jouno to work, he was usually waiting somewhere near the apartment. And he said somewhere near because sometimes Tecchou would forget the room number, despite Jouno always telling him to write it on his hand or something.

So no, that wasn’t the odd part. What was weird was that Tecchou smells different. Still earthy… but also… floral. More floral than usual, anyway.

Tecchou shifts nervously(? Why is he nervous?), the soft sound of a ribbon rubbing against his gloves invading Jouno’s ears. “…What do you have in your hand?”

Tecchou doesn’t respond, instead grabbing Jouno’s hand and pressing something into his palm.

Flowers. Tecchou was giving him flowers.

“You said that you didn’t like flowers because they smelled too strong and you couldn’t see them, so I wanted to change your mind.” Tecchou explains. “These flowers are relatively odourless, and you’d probably enjoy the feeling of the petals.”

Jouno hadn’t even realised that he was stroking said petals until Tecchou said that, and quickly stops.

“So did you grow these just to convince me that flowers were good after all?” Jouno asks.

“That, and it’s your birthday.”

It is? Jouno mentally checks in his head. Oh, it is.

It makes sense that Tecchou knew his birthday, just like how he already knew his name. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer, after all.

That’s all they are. Enemies. Opponents on opposite sides of the battlefield. The only reason Jouno even puts up with Tecchou is because they were linked, and there isn’t really anything he can do about it, at least with Tecchou constantly bothering him enough to prevent him from figuring out a solution.

But at the same time… An enemy of his only wants to eliminate him, nothing more. They don’t bother to spend time with him. They don’t bother to respect his boundaries. They don’t bother to remember his preferences, they don’t give him gifts with his best interests in mind, they’re never this genuine.

And Jouno would never let an enemy comfort him to sleep.

“…Thank you.” Jouno says, not sure what to do other than stand there awkwardly.

“Mm-hm.” Tecchou replies. “Let’s head back.”

“Do you even remember which apartment we live in?” Jouno asks, but his tone is lighter than usual.

The two walk to their apartment, Jouno absentmindedly stroking the petals of the flowers along the way.

Jouno isn’t sure what a ‘monochrome cookbook’ is. He didn’t even know such a thing existed. Who would even buy something like that?

Tachihara, apparently, after listening to Jouno complain about Tecchou’s awful food tastes one too many times.

Granted, he didn’t say that he was tired of Jouno’s rants straight to his face, but why else would he give Jouno a cookbook? Or any type of book in general?

According to Tachihara, it has recipes of the same colour that are actually edible. “No need to worry about sugar and rice anymore.” he had assured Jouno.

It sounded too good to be true, but a man could hope.

“Tecchou-san.” Jouno calls out, throwing the book in the general direction of Tecchou, who catches it easily.

“What’s this?” Tecchou asks. “An anniversary gift?”

“Anniversary? Of what?”

“You met me a year ago from today.”

“Really? It feels like it’s been so much longer.” Jouno remarks dryly.

Tecchou chooses to ignore him, flipping through the pages of the book instead. “Huh.” he says.

“Is that a good kind of ‘huh’ or a bad kind?” Jouno asks.

“Good.” Another page flip. “If I make the recipes in this, you’ll stop threatening to kill me?”

“No.” Jouno automatically replies, but quickly tacks on, “but I won’t bother you about your food choices anymore.” when he senses that Tecchou is about to throw the book aside. “But just to make sure, you can cook without royally screwing up the food, right?”

Tecchou nods way too gravely for a response to a sarcastic comment. Classic Tecchou.

“Well, don’t just make the same recipe over and over again.” Jouno grumbles. “I expect some variety.”

“Okay.” Tecchou says, then quieter under his breath, “Spoiled.”

Jouno throws his gun at him, deciding that actually shooting him would be going too far.

Jouno doesn’t know when his feelings started to change. Probably long before that. But he only starts to realise it after an offhand comment from Tachihara.

It was supposed to be a normal outing, but of course Tecchou insisted on coming along too. Jouno puts up a fight, like usual, but he doesn’t argue as much as he would’ve done a few months ago. At this point, he had gotten used to the other man trailing behind him. Tachihara doesn’t seem to mind either, actually seeming a little amused.

In the middle of walking to the cafe they were going to, Tecchou’s footsteps stop. With nothing to focus on, the sound of the noisy city re-enters Jouno’s ears. A particular spirit medium is shouting very loudly. He thought spirit mediums were supposed to be quiet and mysterious.

Jouno debates just walking ahead without him, but decides against it. It’d bring too many problems for a small moment of satisfaction anyway. “What is it?”

“We need more pillows.” Tecchou says.

“No we don’t. Now stop being a hindrance and come on.” Jouno replies, taking a step forward but Tecchou doesn’t follow.

“We need more pillows.” Tecchou repeats firmly. “You keep stealing mine in the middle of the night.”

Tachihara chokes on nothing.

“I do not.” Jouno immediately denies.

Tecchou adamantly stays in place.

“…Fine. Fine.” Jouno grumbles. “Just… no feathers.”

“No feathers.” Tecchou agrees, remembering how hard it was to clean them up. He turns to the store nearby and walks away, his footsteps fading into the distance.

“Your boyfriend seems like a handful.” Tachihara comments, regaining his barings.

“He is.” Then, “Wait, what!?”

“Your boyfriend seems like a handful.” Tachihara repeats slowly, knowing full well that Jouno heard him the first time. Confusion radiates off his entire being and Jouno doesn’t know why.

“Boyfriend?” Jouno asks, offended. “Like I’d ever date him .”

“So… you two aren’t dating?” Tachihara asks, and he still sounds uncertain, despite the fact that Jouno just denied it. “I could’ve sworn…”

“Of course we aren’t. Does it look like we’re dating?”

Tachihara frowns. “I don’t know if you know this, but… Normal friends don’t usually share the same bed.”

“We’re not friends.”

“…Then what are you guys?” Tachihara seems more confused now.

Jouno opens his mouth to reply, but quickly snaps it shut.

He… doesn’t know.

They aren’t friends. They never were and never would be. But they aren’t quite… enemies anymore.

“I don’t know.” Jouno admits. “But we definitely aren’t dating.” His stomach feels fluttery at the thought. From disgust, he manages to convince himself. He’s just so disgusted by the thought that his body is reacting in strange ways.

And what if they shared a bed? It was just more practical to do so. Jouno slept better and Tecchou got to keep an eye on Jouno (something he annoyingly still insisted on doing all the time). There were no feelings involved.

…Right?

Jouno knows that Tecchou has a crush on him. He’s known for a while. Honestly, he’d have to be dense as hell to not notice. And despite what Tecchou may think, he is not dense.

At least, he doesn’t think he is.

…After what Tachihara said, though, he’s starting to wonder.

Is he really that out-of-touch with his emotions? Does he really like Tecchou in that way?

He starts to pay more attention to how he reacts around Tecchou. This is the list of things he notices:

• While Tecchou does get on his nerves a lot, Jouno doesn’t actually mind it that much. In fact…
• Jouno enjoys his time spent with Tecchou. The banter, the warmth at night, even the times when they’re just there, not talking, but together.
• Sometimes Tecchou will randomly latch on to Jouno in the middle of the night. Jouno never pushes him away.
• Jouno would like to continue on with… whatever this is, if possible.

Jouno’s conclusion is mixed.

Some of the things he’s noted are just things that friends do… right? Some friends are just touchy with each other. But at the same time, he knows that neither him nor Tecchou are very touchy people.

Perhaps he’s just reading things all wrong. Perhaps their bond is more akin to friends or siblings than lovers. Perhaps he really does like Tecchou romantically.

But those were all just theories. Jouno could be completely off or close to hitting the mark. The probability of being wrong would always be there. As far as he’s concerned, only one thing was certain, only one thing mattered.

Jouno would like to continue on with… whatever this is, if possible.

Since that was the case, because Jouno doesn’t want to make the wrong decision and ruin everything, he’ll continue going along with how things are now.

And so he does. He continues going on with his daily life like nothing has changed. Like he didn’t have an hour-long crisis about his feelings. They slip back into their regular routine.

Even if their regular routine does involve keeping secrets… Jouno’s fine with that. It makes both of them happy, so everything is fine.

Until it all stops.

Jouno wakes up alone. Despite the noise streaming through the partly opened balcony door from outside, the apartment itself is completely silent.

Jouno doesn’t bother calling out Tecchou’s name. He already knows--he isn’t here.

“I’m sure that… he’s just going to the store.” Jouno mutters to himself tightly. “To get… more ingredients.”

He already knows as the words come out of his mouth that it’s not true. He would’ve woken up if that was the case.

Tecchou has always had secrets and Jouno didn’t mind, because he always did too. But these past few days… he’s been more… distant? As if he was actively trying to get Jouno away from him.

Jouno hadn’t thought much about it, though. He assumed Tecchou was just doing something he didn’t want Jouno to know about. He didn’t want to leave, and Jouno knew how to respect privacy, so he didn’t pry.

So if Tecchou wasn’t planning on leaving… Why is he gone?

He walks to the balcony that Tecchou always stayed at, the smell of dirt bittersweet as Jouno remembers Tecchou and his earthy smell.

Jouno runs his fingers through empty pots of dirt. It’s odd, isn’t it? Despite all that time Tecchou spent on his garden, despite the lingering sweet scent of flowers, there weren’t even any seeds planted. It’s almost like…

It’s almost like he was planning on leaving.

Jouno tries to push that thought away. That was impossible. He would’ve known-

You don’t know everything. He could have decided to leave while you were sleeping. a traitorous voice in Jouno’s heart whispers.

Jouno doesn’t want to believe it. But what other choice does he have?

It doesn’t take very long for the smell of dirt and flowers to become more painful than calming, and Jouno has to go back inside. When he closes the door, the scent of dirt fades, yet…

The aroma of flowers is as strong as ever.

“No. He didn’t.” Jouno mutters as he makes his way to the flowers that he’s sure Tecchou tried to hide.

He grabs the flowers carefully hidden inside a cabinet, running his fingers over them. They’re the same type of flowers from last time, but if only that was the case, then there was no reason for them to smell this strongly.

“He didn’t.” Jouno repeats as his fingers brush over another flower, one that feels slightly different from the others.

Jouno is no expert on flowers, but this one is so common that he’s basically memorised the smell and feel of it.

It’s a rose.

Tecchou left him a fucking rose.

Jouno can’t tell the color of it, of course, for all he knows, it can be yellow, simply symbolising friendship. But if that was the case… why would Tecchou choose roses, a flower most known for romance? He was stupid, but not that stupid.

A hollow laugh escapes Jouno’s mouth. Then another. Then another. Until the apartment is filled with nothing but the sounds of Jouno’s empty laughter.

He really is an idiot.

Jouno doesn’t have an affinity for growing plants. He knows this. Yet, he can’t tear himself away from that stupid mini-garden.

Being there hurts. The smell of dirt, the feel of wind through his hair, it’s all so familiar. But someone’s missing.

Yet, no matter how much he hates being there, he continues to come back. Because Jouno’s come to the horrible realisation that he can only sleep around the smell of dirt.

It’s stupid, he knows. It was because of Tecchou’s heartbeat drowning out noise that Jouno was able to fall asleep around him, not Tecchou himself. Jouno must have started to associate the smell of dirt with a heartbeat or something, because Jouno seems to have no problems sleeping in the garden. When he’s really tired. And at the brink of collapsing. Imagination can never match up to reality, but it’s better than getting no sleep at all.

At least, that’s what Jouno tells himself, trying to ignore the fact that he doesn’t imagine the warmth of Tecchou’s body draped over him whenever he sleeps in the garden.

It’s not the same, though. Jouno thinks one day, exhausted from sleep deprivation. It’s not really Tecchou.

And for the first time, Jouno admits that he misses Tecchou.

Jouno absolutely hates Valentine's Day. Or any couple’s day in general. It just seems like a day for couples to flaunt their relationships and make all the single people feel bad. Which Jouno has been able to ignore for the most part, but it was infuriating, not being able to sleep because of the noise.

This Valentine’s Day was no different (except it wasn’t nighttime yet, thank god), but instead of ignoring them by actually doing his job like on Christmas, his boss gave him a day off to move out of the apartment. There was no need for him to be there after taking down the criminal organisation in that city, he supposes.

As he packs, though, he can’t help but listen to random couples out on dates. It’s not like he’s trying to, it’s just kind of hard to ignore those sickeningly sweet nicknames and… other things…

Seriously, do people really take a day off just for this? They should be doing their jobs, damnit!

(To be fair, Jouno wasn’t either, but he considered packing up as his job, thank you very much. Sure, it didn’t require a whole day off, but his boss offered it so he took it, shut up.)

“We went here last year, remember?” Jouno hears someone say.

“Of course, how could I forget?” another person says.

Jouno suppresses a groan. People were too sentimental. What was the point of bringing up the fact that they visited that specific place before? Did it really matter? Wasn’t just being with their significant other good enough? What was the point of dwelling on the location?

Jouno knows that he sounds cheesy with that line of thinking, but it’s true isn’t it?

Material objects and physical places can be easily destroyed. Hell, even human bodies won’t last forever.

(It’s a good thing you’re in love with a spirit then. Jouno’s mind quips.

Shut up. Jouno replies to himself.)

The bonds between people aren’t nearly as fragile. Some may disagree. Small arguments can lead to ugly tears in between two people, they say. What Jouno would argue though, is that it only rings true near the beginning of a relationship. As two people grow closer, their bonds can become stronger than anything. So strong that the two members in the relationship lean on each other like some kind of crutch.

Jouno suddenly remembers that one day four years ago when he and some coworkers pulled a boy out of a river, shivering and half dead. The boy had mumbled someone’s name as soon as he gained consciousness. Jouno couldn’t remember the name anymore, but what he had said afterwards still rang clear in his head.

“Is he okay?”

When Jouno had replied with “there was nobody else in the river with you”, it was like the small fire that the boy still had left was extinguished.

He won’t ever forget the sheer emptiness he felt then. It was the feeling of someone who had their heart ripped out of their chest and trampled. It was the feeling of someone who had lost their only will to live.

That’s when Jouno first came to a depressing realisation. If you can’t be fond of objects because they’ll break but you also can’t lean on another person because you’ll be torn apart from them one way or the other…

Did all relationships end in tragedy? Was Jouno deluding himself into a happy ending the whole time as he continued to cling on to Tecchou?

Maybe the only reason people cling onto temporary things is because they want to feel hope. Even if it’s just an evanescent strand, they want to find some way to keep living. And if that was the case…

Jouno runs his fingers over one of Tecchou’s pots, chipped and cracked from the years of use, but not quite broken yet, and slips it into an extra bag to take along with the rest of his luggage.

…then maybe it’s okay to be a bit sentimental.

Today marks two years since Jouno and Tecchou met and six months since Tecchou left.

Jouno decides to visit Tecchou’s forest again that day. The rumors about the spirit of the forest killing almost everybody who steps inside still float around, but Jouno doesn’t pay any mind to them. It’s not because he believes that he’s a good person.

It’s stupid, but Jouno thinks that at least he’ll get some sort of confirmation that Tecchou’s still alive. And he knows that he won’t die because…

…Well, Tecchou had six months to get rid of him, and yet Jouno was still here.

Jouno walks through the forest, surprised that he still remembers the path to the crystal in the middle. There are less leaves on the ground than last time.

When Jouno finally arrives at the middle of the forest, he notices that the two halves of the crystal Tecchou was in are still lying there, completely undisturbed from last time. Jouno places a singular rose in the middle of them. The rose is store bought since Jouno didn’t have any time to plant any, but the intention was still clear.

“You idiot…” Jouno mutters, even though he knows that Tecchou can’t hear him. “Why did you have to leave me when I still needed you? Why did you have to confess to me right before leaving, despite knowing that you’d never see me again?”

Jouno laughs bitterly as tears stream down his cheeks.

“Why did it take you leaving for me to realise that… I really was in love with you.”