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“So what’s your type?” Yae Miko asked, a mischievous grin on the kitsune’s face as she placed another piece on the board. She swiftly captured a good amount of Scaramouche’s stones and he was already getting pissed; she must have been cheating somehow.
“Why should I tell you?” He snapped back, placing a piece of his own, adding to his pitiful amount of black stones. Miko just chuckled, not offended at all by his rude tone.
“I’m just curious. It doesn’t seem like you’ve ever been interested in another and I’m starting to suspect you aren’t attracted to anyone at all.” She said with an innocent look, though Scaramouche could hear the smile in her voice.
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” He retorted just as a few more pieces of his are captured.
Unexpectedly, Miko shrugged, dropping the subject. Her suddenly conceding made Scaramouche even more suspicious than before. Usually, she would pester him constantly until he gave in or managed to escape her interrogation. They sat in silence, the gears turning in Scaramouche’s head as he continued to lose more and more territory.
Eventually, Miko won like she always did. In the past century alone, Scaramouche must’ve managed only one or two victories. He swears up and down that the kitsune is cheating somehow but he’s never been able to prove it.
Frustrated and still confused with her odd behavior, he finally answers her question with a huff. “I’d like one who is firm in his beliefs, kind, pretty and not stupid.” Miko’s face immediately takes on a sly smirk and Scaramouche can feel his face burn as he realizes he fell for her trap.
“I see.” She says ominously, to which Scaramouche groans.
“Fuck you Miko.” He grumbles before getting up and floating away from where they were sitting on a couple of rocks atop a grassy hill. The baku prides himself on just how quickly he can float and uses this to his advantage as he makes his escape.
The only thing he can think of is how the kitsune may decide to use this information; she surely wouldn’t waste an opportunity to torment him yet again.
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Scaramouche floats down into the heart of Chinju Forest, somehow managing to avoid the bake-danuki altogether. The small, lively yokai always get on his nerves, and he’ll always deny the soft spot he has for the little ones. The baku transforms into his humanoid form and scans his surroundings, taking in the glowing blue flowers around him but he doesn’t spot what he’s looking for.
A small, white fox emerges from the nearby shrubbery, calm but hesitant in its movements. The kitsune spots Scaramouche and approaches him before transforming to a humanoid form to match the baku’s. The pink kitsune he had been expecting is nowhere to be found.
“Hello, my name is Kazuha. Do you perhaps know where Yae Miko is?” The kitsune speaks up, politely introducing himself with a beautifully melodic voice. Scaramouche takes a moment to respond, unsure of what Miko’s gotten him into this time.
“I’m Scaramouche. I don’t know where Miko is, but she probably invited us here for a reason…” The baku trails off, his face flushing with embarrassment as he realizes why Miko would’ve wanted him to meet Kazuha. He’s going to kill her later.
“In that case, would you like to take a stroll? It would be a shame to miss an opportunity to appreciate such a beautiful environment.” The words roll off Kazuha’s tongue like the notes of a song. Scaramouche can’t possibly resist.
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Kazuha isn’t like a typical kitsune, one who is mischievous and cunning. Rather, he’s extremely polite and compassionate. “You’re different from how I assumed you’d be.”
The kitsune chuckles softly. “I’ve heard that many times over the centuries. I’m not like most of my kin; I’m a holy fox, not a wild one. I believe that would explain why my behavior could seem odd.”
The baku takes a moment to respond and Kazuha smiles as he adds, “I don’t think you’re all that different from how I thought you’d be.”
Scaramouche can feel his face coloring and he avoids eye contact as he asks, “How so?”
“The winds told me of your benevolence and all I’ve found from you is an alluringly pure soul.” The baku can feel his face burning and he ducks his head away so that his face is out of Kazuha’s view. His sweet words form a knot in Scaramouche’s gut and his words are suddenly stuck in his throat.
It takes him a moment to collect himself but the kitsune simply sits beside him and waits patiently, staring off into the horizon. Finally, the words loosen and come out of his mouth in one smooth, sharp motion, “You’re wrong.”
He can’t bear to say anymore before flying away, leaving only a small cloud of dream energy behind.
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Scaramouche manages to avoid Kazuha completely for a few years, though with every passing day he can feel the knot in his gut grow heavier. Thoughts of the kitsune plague his mind as he tries to focus on his task of eating dreams. The baku finishes consuming, a bitter taste filling his mouth and almost causing him to gag as a nightmare flashes before his eyes.
A little human boy lays in front of Scaramouche on a small bed inside of what appears to be an abandoned shack riddled with holes. The boy is unhealthily skinny and one of his bony hands frantically clutches a small, soft doll. Scaramouche doesn’t recognize the boy, but the scene feels unbearably familiar and fills his entire body with dread.
The boy gives a weak cough, his sickly pale face covered in sweat. The baku tries to reach out to him, to do anything to stop this inevitable ending, but cannot move a muscle. Finally, the boy looks at Scaramouche and it almost feels like he can really be seen. The boy holds the doll out to the baku, laying it gently in one suddenly outstretched hand.
“Take care of him for me. I’m sorry.” The words are strained and, on the surface, make no sense to Scaramouche. Despite this, his heart lurches as if it was being painfully ripped from his chest. The boy lets out one final breath before he goes completely still, his glassy eyes staring wistfully at the ceiling.
The baku feels his knees buckle under him and can vaguely register himself crumpling onto the wooden floor but his vision is completely obscured by tears. His hands desperately grab for the boy’s, but he’s completely cold and unresponsive. A mere moment later Scaramouche’s surroundings begin to fade, the boy’s corpse slowly claimed by the darkness.
His eyes open. The baku’s body feels even heavier than before now; he’s had too many bad dreams to count and they’re seriously catching up with him. The person he just assisted quickly thanks him and rushes off but he’s only focused on the dream he just ate.
It felt so… vivid. Almost as if he had experienced it himself, and his heart continued to ache for a boy he never knew. His feet find their way to a secluded spot as if they had a mind of their own. Scaramouche doesn’t bother to take in his surroundings and quickly crumbles to the ground once more, overcome with foreign emotions that don’t really belong to him.
He’s pulled abruptly from his mind by a warm hand resting on his shoulder. The baku looks up to see Kazuha crouched in front of him, his face painted with worry. The sight just serves to make him feel infinitely worse but he can’t look away.
“What happened?” The kitsune asks in a soft voice.
Scaramouche somehow manages to choke the words out, “I ate a bad dream. I’ve had a few too many lately without a good dream to balance them out. But that last one… it felt like it really happened to me.” He’s not entirely sure why but he’s completely willing to spill his guts in front of the being before him.
Kazuha nods and gives a simple reply, “Why don’t you have one of my good dreams, then?”
The baku’s eyes widen and he has the urge to push the kitsune away. Instead, he shakes his head. “It’s… a really intimate act for another yokai to offer their dreams to a baku. It’s not something you do out of impulse—”
Kazuha cuts him off with a firm but kind voice, “I’m not doing it out of impulse. I care about you and I’ve got plenty of other good dreams, I don’t mind sharing them with you.” Scaramouche hesitates but the kitsune gives him a determined nod that wears down his restraint.
One couldn’t hurt…
The taste of sweetness fills his mouth, though it’s fairly subdued and extremely delicious. A breathtaking scene flashes before his eyes, filling his body with warmth. The first thing Scaramouche sees is the setting sun, the air staying pleasantly warm despite the growing lack of sunlight.
His head turns involuntarily and the baku’s met with lavender eyes and registers the unfamiliar being sitting next to him. He can’t distinguish what kind of yokai the other being is; or if he’s yokai at all. All he can take in is that light blond hair pulled back into a ponytail and the kind expression on the other’s face.
Even though the other is a complete stranger to Scaramouche, he feels immense comfort and peace well up within him. Content, his head turns back to the horizon as a slightly rough hand intertwines with his. The moment almost feels bittersweet and there’s a lingering trace of sadness within the memory but the baku ignores that for now, delighting in the delectable sweetness.
Scaramouche opens his eyes again and sees Kazuha before him in the exact same position as before. The baku is unsure how long others wait while he’s consuming dreams but it seems his companion already has limitless patience. The moment Scaramouche fully comes back to reality, his face flushes and he ducks his head.
“Are you okay?” Kazuha asks in a still-concerned voice.
The baku doesn’t look up but responds, his voice slightly muffled. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t seem fine. Was the dream unpleasant?”
“No, it’s not that… it’s just that it was the best tasting dream I’ve ever had.” Scaramouche tries to explain, though he’s sure the deeper meaning is missed by the kitsune.
The baku can practically feel the smile radiating from Kazuha as he responds, “In that case, you can eat my dreams anytime you’d like. Like I said before, I have more than enough good dreams for one being, I don’t mind sharing them with someone I care about like you.”
Scaramouche can’t help but snap his head back up to look the kitsune in the eyes. “Do you really mean that? For us, that’s basically a declaration of romantic love…”
Kazuha’s expression remains unchanged. “I don’t mind my promise being viewed that way. Do you?”
The baku breaks eye contact, staring off into the distance. “I don’t know how you could feel that way about a being like me.”
“Loving you was as easy as breathing to me. I couldn’t avoid being pulled in by you, and I didn’t want to.” A stray tear slips from Scaramouche’s eye and Kazuha gently brushes it away before directing the baku to look at him. “I love you. All of you. I don’t care about your past, I can see who you are now. That’s all that matters.”
Scaramouche’s eyes well up but before the tears are shed he leans in and connects their lips in a kiss whose sweetness is only rivaled by the dream he just consumed. Kazuha’s warm hands wind their way into Scaramouche’s hair, his thumbs brushing away the tears now streaming down the baku’s face. Scaramouche’s own hands find purchase on Kazuha’s yukata, settling on his waist and pulling him even closer.
When they part, they’re practically sitting in each other’s lap and the baku dazedly admires how beautiful Kazuha looks. The tears finally slow their descent and Scaramouche leans in close to whisper just loud enough for the kitsune to hear.
A secret between just the two of them. “I love you too.”
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Yae Miko chuckles to herself and the divine being before her raises an eyebrow. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just got the feeling that the hunch I had was correct.”
The being rolls her eyes, taking another sip of tea. “And what hunch is that?”