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Once upon a time, there was a lone orphan boy named Kazuha who lived in the woods. He was not completely alone and was almost always accompanied by a watchful raven. The pair were fast friends and when Kazuha was a child he offered the raven a name.
“Ikigai.” The raven tilts his head, as if in confusion. Kazuha continues, “I don’t know what your name is, so I’ll call you Ikigai.” The raven stills for a moment, as if he were thinking it over. Eventually, he nods his head, much like a human does, in order to show his approval.
Truth is, the raven had tried hard to try and communicate his actual name to Kazuha, but the human boy could never understand him. Ikigai longed to be able to use human language himself, but no matter how he tried his voice always came out in chirps.
This doesn’t bother Kazuha at all, judging by how he smiles whenever Ikigai is by his side. So, Ikigai vows to never leave him and to always watch over the boy.
Kazuha is busy talking to Ikigai when they stumble into the path of a small bear cub who is wandering about as if lost. Before Ikigai can try to warn him, Kazuha is approaching the cub with a gentle tone to his voice. Kazuha had grown quite tall and quickly crouched down to the cub’s level so as to not intimidate it.
He hesitantly tries to reach out to it and suddenly there’s a loud, rage-filled roar from behind him. As Kazuha turns around, Ikigai dives past him towards the adult bear who had appeared from the line of trees surrounding the clearing. Ikigai swiftly distracts the bear from attacking Kazuha, provoking her by delivering pecks to her eyes and nose.
Kazuha is frozen for a moment before sprinting towards the cover of the trees, easily climbing up into the branches of a large oak. Once Kazuha is out of sight, Ikigai turns to flee, narrowly avoiding a swing of sharp claws. However, he doesn’t avoid the second slash, which grazes one of his wings, tearing through flesh and feathers as if they were air.
Ikigai manages to flutter out of the bear’s eyeline before he crashes to the ground. He’s unsure if the bear was sufficiently distracted by reuniting with her child but he can’t move anymore. His blood starts to soak the grass beneath him as pain rips through his small, fragile body.
The raven faintly registers being lifted and surrounded in warmth before blacking out. When he wakes, Kazuha is lying beneath him, the soft rise and fall of his chest moving Ikigai up and down. He tries to shake out his wings but feels a twinge of pain and some pressure.
“I wrapped up your wing earlier, I tried to be gentle so I hope it doesn’t hurt.” Ikigai looks and finds Kazuha looking back at him, a light sleeper as always. Ikigai shakes his head to indicate it doesn’t hurt all that bad. Kazuha gives him a relieved smile, “I’m glad. You really worried me back there, I almost thought I lost you.”
It’s times like this when Ikigai is filled with an overwhelming longing to be able to talk to Kazuha. He wishes he could reassure the other, explain that he was in no real danger and put the boy’s fears to rest. Instead he settles for nuzzling his head against the fabric of Kazuha’s shirt.
Countless moons pass by and all the while Ikigai’s desire to be human increases until it’s a constant ache in his heart. He’s resting on Kazuha’s shoulder as they sit, looking out over the darkened landscape from the hill they find themselves on. Kazuha reaches out with his hands cupped towards Ikigai, a gesture he uses whenever he wants to pick up his friend.
Ikigai allows it, feeling a bit of nostalgia bubble up from the days long ago when he would’ve pecked at Kazuha for even thinking of touching him. Kazuha lays back and lets Ikigai settle onto his chest, though the human doesn’t fall asleep. After a moment, he says, “Aren’t the stars so beautiful tonight? It’s almost as if they’re sparkling.”
The raven turns himself over with some effort in order to see for himself. To Ikigai, the sky looks as it always does at night, though he takes Kazuha’s word for it. After all, the stars never look quite as bright as they do when the human is with him, maybe he’s the reason behind their apparent twinkling.
The two watch the stars shining above them, the silence between them perfectly comfortable as it is with any best friends. That’s when one of the stars suddenly makes an arc across the sky. “Did you see that? That was a shooting star, they say if you make a wish on one then it will come true. You should make a wish, too, Ikigai.”
Ikigai is skeptical and questions where Kazuha might’ve heard this from but he makes a wish anyways. I wish I could talk to Kazuha and hold him close.
Unbeknownst to the raven, Kazuha simply wishes for his companion’s wish to come true. Perhaps that is why the star gives one last sparkle before disappearing into the night.
Suddenly, Ikigai’s body starts to hum with a mysterious energy, one which he’d never felt before. He tries to get up and examine the cause but clumsily falls over beak-first into the grass. He tries again to move and sit up but his body suddenly feels overly cumbersome. A brief, full-body flash of pain passes through him and when he opens his eyes, he’s finally able to move but something feels… off.
Ikigai looks down at himself and sees that his usual small, bird body has been completely replaced. Now, he finds a curious middle ground between human and bird—Ikigai still has his wings, tail and clawed feet but everything else has been replaced by human anatomy.
“...Ikigai?” Kazuha’s voice reaches his now-human ears. He looks over to see the human staring at him with a wide-eyed expression before his face turns red and he turns to face the ground between them. “You are Ikigai, right?”
Ikigai opens his mouth and tries to make a sound but can’t quite manage a word or a chirp, just an unintelligible mumble. He covers his mouth with one wing, surprised, before just deciding to nod. Kazuha stands up and walks over to his bag, which had been lying a short distance away.
He returns with a bundle of fabric in one hand, holding it out to Ikigai. “You need some clothes, I think these should fit.” He still won’t properly look at Ikigai to which the half-raven suddenly realizes why.
Ikigai’s face feels like it’s on fire as he recalls Kazuha telling him about the strange human custom to always stay clothed. He had never really understood the reason but the sudden feeling of being so exposed without his feathers makes him reach his hand out to Kazuha.
He quickly grabs the clothes and it only takes him a couple minutes to figure out how to put them on according to how he had seen Kazuha wear them before. He never thought about the absence of clothing in the same way as humans did but for some reason the memory makes him feel flustered now.
When he’s done, Ikigai tries to stand but stumbles with the added weight of his new body. He almost manages to catch himself but his foot gives one final slip. He braces himself as best he can for the inevitable fall but warm arms wind their way around his torso and catch him.
Ikigai looks up to see Kazuha above him and as the other man tries to pull him upright the half-raven instinctively wraps his arms around Kazuha’s neck. He’s pulled quite easily into a standing position but Ikigai is hesitant to let go lest he fall again. Kazuha seems to understand this, gently readjusting the half-raven’s arms so that they are holding onto the human’s.
Kazuha then begins to slowly lead him in walking around the hilltop, Ikigai stumbling all along the way but using the other’s arms as an anchor to keep from falling. They go a few laps around the old, tall tree at the center before Ikigai is finally able to step with confidence. He lets go of Kazuha’s arms, but the human follows close behind him as he takes a lap on his own.
Ikigai smiles victoriously at Kazuha, to which the other immediately smiles back, his crimson eyes sparkling with starlight. Ikigai’s mouth opens but he realizes he still can’t talk and Kazuha quickly takes in his disappointed expression. “I can teach you to talk, if you’d like.”
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A handful of moons pass as Kazuha teaches Ikigai the intricacies of human language. By far the most memorable lesson for Ikigai was about the word “love”. He had heard Kazuha use it before and could mostly infer its meaning from context, but the human told him the meanings of all the words they practiced, even the ones Ikigai already knew.
However, the definition Kazuha gave Ikigai was slightly different from what he had thought the word to mean. “It means to really like something or someone. Though when it comes to people, it usually means you have romantic feelings for someone else if you ‘love’ them.” Ikigai must’ve furrowed his brow since Kazuha continued, “Romantic feelings are like when you want to be close to someone not just as a friend but as a very special person in their life.
“It’s like having a longing to be the one and only person who can be that close to them, and usually wanting to hold them close and kiss them. Oh, that’s a human thing where two people press their lips together in order to show their love for each other.” Kazuha’s face turns progressively redder as he explains and Ikigai realizes he had been staring at the other’s lips.
He quickly averts his eyes but the thought still lingers in his mind. Do I… feel love for Kazuha?
This thought continues to haunt Ikigai for another moon or so before Kazuha finally declares that Ikigai has learned enough to be able to sufficiently communicate. “If there’s anything else you need me to teach you, we can figure it out over time.” He says as he flashes a bright smile at the half-raven.
Ikigai nods but quickly catches himself and opens his mouth, “A-alright.” He can’t help but stumble over the word a bit. He had been practicing but for some reason he can’t quite stitch the words together with his heart and mind racing. Kazuha nods encouragingly so he tries again, “Well, I did want you to know that my chosen name was Kuni, though I really don’t mind the name you chose for me.”
Kazuha’s face turns slightly red and he smiles, “I’m glad you like it, but I’ll call you Kuni now that I know your real name.”
Kuni couldn’t resist the smile that crept onto his own face. He’s suddenly hit with the other thing he had been longing to be able to tell Kazuha. Kuni’s almost glad for the extensive lessons, or else he might’ve not known the right words to convey these feelings that had long since taken root in him. He can feel his face heating as he finally says, “There was something else I had wanted to tell you…
“I think I love you, Kazuha.”
Kazuha’s face turns red and one vulnerable moment passes before he replies, “I love you too, Kuni.” Kuni’s heart skips a beat and he can’t fight the overwhelming urge to pull the man closer.
His arms wrap around Kazuha’s torso and the other gives him a smile as he allows their faces to inch ever closer. Kuni’s head spins as he feels Kazuha’s lips brush against his own and finally they meet in a kiss.
And so Kuni’s dream came true and the two lived happily ever after, wandering together through the forest and talking about anything and everything they couldn’t talk about before.
The end.