Archive of Our Own

枝垂れ桜 : Rewinding Spring (A xxxHolic/J-Rock crossover)
Pairing: Shou/Uruha; (future) Tora/Saga; (future) Hiroto/Iv
Bands: Alice Nine, The Gazette, ViViD
Rating: Gen
Summary:
‘That makes no sense though. If you can see this shop, there should be something you want here.’

‘What kind of a shop does that?’

‘This kind of a shop.’ Tora deadpanned.
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything including the story idea. I also don’t own xxxHolic. That’s all CLAMP’s.

The title is read as ‘shidarezakura’. It’s a type of weeping cherry tree.

‘I’m home,’ Tora announced to the shoe shelf, half throwing his slippers on to the wooden floor before wearing them.

‘Welcome~!’

‘Home~!’

Shouted two voices from a distance.

‘What did I say about mangling your speech, hmm?’ Tora sighed.

‘You said not to—’

‘Do eet~!’

Iv and Ko-ki rounded the corner and threw themselves on Tora. It was with much practice that Tora managed not to lose his balance.

‘We’ve missed you, Tora-chan!’ Iv said from somewhere around his neck.

‘Yeah, yeah. Careful, I’ve got the kuma- shōchū Nao-san wanted. Here, give the bottle to him, will you? There’s also chocolate in there for you guys.’ Ko-ki turned to look at him with honest-to-god stars in his eyes.

‘Thank you so much Tora-chan~!’

‘You’re welcome. Now be careful with the bottle, okay?’ he said as Ko-ki sprinted his way through the hallways.

And that left Iv who still had his arms around Tora’s neck. The twins are really lucky Tora is fond of them. And really, why wouldn’t he? They’re hilarious in their weird way, like only a pair of soulless guardians with a teenagers’ body and a teenager’s mood whiplash can. And they followed him around like puppies, destroying things in their path in their attempt to ‘help Tora-chan around the shop’.

‘Iv?’

‘Hmm?’

‘I need to go prepare lunch now.’

‘Good. I’m starving.’

‘You might wanna let go of me then.’

‘Do I have to?’

‘You kinda do-’ the sound of the wind chime startled Tora and he was about to walk the few steps to the door (difficult with one half of said guardian twins around his neck) when it slid open.

And he saw a kid standing in the doorway.

He looked young enough to be fresh out of high school, judging from the lack of uniform this time a day. Tora looked at the leopard print shirt the kid was wearing on top of what Tora would bet were some ridiculously expensive ratty jeans and even more expensive combat boots.

Are they just attracting this kind of crowd, now?

‘Can I help you?’ Tora asked automatically.

‘Um.’ The kid said with eloquence. ‘I think I’m lost?’

‘I’ll go get the proprietor.’ Tora said and turned back so that Iv’s the one facing the kid now.

‘Ah.’ The kid said as he saw Iv.

Iv cocked his head, looking quizzically at him.

They’ve been talking with the kid—Hiroto—for a while now and the only thing both Shou and Tora can establish is that the kid apparently hasn’t got a need for anything.

It baffled Tora to no end.

‘That makes no sense though. If you can see this shop, there should be something you want here.

Are you sure you don’t have an insatiable hobby you could barely afford? A taste for exotic pets? Somebody you want revenge from?’

‘What kind of a shop has all that?’

‘This kind of a shop.’ Tora deadpanned.

‘I really don’t. I mean, I’m not loaded or anything, but I can support my lifestyle even though now I’m living alone.’

‘Have you ever seen anything like this?’ Tora asked Shou, who mostly was just sitting there seemingly gauging the boy.

‘Hm? Just once.’ He answered, still sounding distracted.

‘Really? What happened?’

‘Now, now, Tora-chan, Shou would never kiss and tell,’ Nao said as his shadow moved across the corridor. When he slid the door open Tora noticed he’s getting a bit sunburned and smelling a lot like sand. God knows what kind of world he just came from. He stilled for a few seconds as he saw Hiroto, before whistling at him.

‘That’s some fate thread you got there, kiddo.’

Shou stilled at those words.

‘Fate thread?’ Hiroto asked.

‘You know,’ Nao raised his hand and wiggled his little finger. Hiroto scoffed at that.

‘Isn’t that just children’s fairytale?’

‘Oh no, it’s very real. They say it’s a line connecting you to your fated one, but it’s actually more significant than that. It’s a lifeline for your fate. Some people never had their red thread grew, you know. The more lucky ones have them as guidance in life. And then there are some whose red thread are growing and growing, longing to show them the way but couldn’t. It’s all about the heart, you see.

It can’t take you on a journey if you’re not ready to take the first step.’

Nao took the few steps it takes for him to cross the room and squatted in front of Hiroto. He picked something up that he seemed to wrap a few times around his palm, something Tora’s eyes couldn’t see. ‘Yours are in an impressive tangle here around your feet. It’s searching for your fated way, and waiting for you to be ready to take it.’

The sound of Shou placing his tea cup on the table broke the silence that followed Nao’s words.

‘Why don’t we just wait around and see what might come up? It could just be that you wanted something but the right time hasn't come yet. You’re free to go or stay if you want to.’ He smiled. ‘now are you sure there isn’t anything we can do for the time being?’

‘I can’t think of anything besides I’m really tired now and I’d want nothing than to nap before my part-time shift start.’

Shou chuckled. ‘I’m sure we an arranged for something like that.’

‘Can I really do that? Or are you gonna charge for my soul as soon as I’m awake?’

A surprised laughter came out of Shou and Nao.’ We don’t trade with souls here, that’s just asking for trouble.

No one would mind if you stay for a while. I’ll ask Iv and Ko-ki to prepare something. As for your red thread of fate…’ Shou trailed, glancing at Nao.

Nao shrugged. ‘That’s some fiddly work that could turn messy. Even Uruha had made mistakes on that one. Let’s not go there for now.’

‘True.’ Shou’s smile was rather fond, to Tora’s bafflement. But the proprietor was already asking Hiroto to share their meal, so it wasn’t really Tora’s place to pry.

And Shou isn’t one to reminisce, but Hiroto’s condition reminded him of a time long past.

It confused Shou when he heard that the elder master won’t be performing the cleansing ceremony, and it’s clear that it baffled almost everybody else in the monastery too. His scholar brothers were busy trading whispers amidst doing their daily chores like really chatty swarms of bees.

‘Now, brothers. We’ve no luxury to gossip here. The dead is, ironically enough, waiting.’ Brother Nikkyou warned them, and the swarm of young monks kept their heads down again and continued their tasks.

They still had much to do until the ceremony. They couldn’t afford wasting time. Their temple was small enough to fall under the radar, but if the masses sniffed out that they’re still performing rites, they’ll be targeted as well. And when that happens, it won’t be pretty. They should know; they’re preparing to pray for their brothers who lost their lives to those masses after all.

What amazed Shou more than anything, as he saw the group of people slowly crossing over their rope bridge, was that apparently they had summoned a witch. The figure walking beside their Rōshi now could very well be one. Her hair was long and the color of young trees. She’s wearing an intricately patterned Uchikake over her dark red furisode, the kind Shou had only saw princesses of prominent samurai families ever wore. There’s something about her that made her look familiar, but couldn’t put a finger on it.

She looks every part like what Shou dreamed a princess would look like, except for the fact that he could swear she’s shimmering under those layers of fabrics. The whiteness of her face, her neck and the tips of her fingers seemed to glow under the night sky. As she walked, Shou could see the rising moon behind her head and couldn’t help but thought the eerie beauty of the moon matches perfectly with hers. And her eyes, the color of midnight sky, made Shou thought she shouldn’t have bothered coming down to earth. Nothing that walks in this earth fits her better than the dawning Pleiades.

Their Rōshi wanted Shou in the temple for the purifying ceremony, brother Nikkyou had said. So Shou hurriedly washed his hands and feet at the dorm before slipping inside the inner sanctum of the temple, and quietly sat a few meters behind the elder master.

‘I’m here, shīfu.’ Shou whispered. The Rōshi turned slightly.

‘Good. I want you to help our guest. I’m afraid this is a matter not of this world, and it’s beyond my ability. You should be fine, Shou. Your eyes Sees things most of us don’t.’

Shou nodded at that, though he felt hesitancy in all this.

The side door opened and in came their guest.

The guest (Shou was mildly surprised that it was in fact a ‘he’) had took off most of his layers of ornate clothing, and was now only in his nagajuban. A pure white nagajuban that only complemented the wearer’s fair skin even more. Shou caught a glimpse of long legs the color of ivory as the guest walked over to the two priests and had to fight from a really inappropriate notion to blush at the sight.

‘Shou, this is the wizard of the dimension, Uruha-ue. We normally don’t cross each other’s path unless absolutely necessary, and unfortunately tonight we must.’

A wizard?

The supposed wizard bowed at the introduction, his hair falling off of his shoulder as he did so. Shou bowed back. ‘Are you the one that will assist me?’

‘Yes, this is Shou. I hope he’s suitable for this.’

The wizard didn’t reply to that, instead for a few moments he stayed silent, his eyes fixed on Shou. This close, the eerie glow radiating from him was palpable. He’s had the kind of beauty that raised goosebumps on the back of your neck.

‘Have we met before?’

Shou blinked at that. ‘I doubt that’s true, I’m sure I’d remember ever meeting someone like you,’

Never mind that he still can’t shake the feeling of familiarity from the wizard.

That was when Shou felt a thought, alien and not of his own, probing at the front of his mind. Startled, he blocked his mind’s opening. The wizard shrugged at that.

‘Uruha-ue? Will he suffice?’

‘I’m sure he will.’ He said, voice airy like he’s no longer touching the ground. ‘Come, young priest, your fallen comrades are waiting to be shown the way.’

As he opened the door to the main hall where all the bodies were lain, Shou had to close his eyes to adjust to such large gathering of restless souls.

‘We couldn’t purify those souls without his help, it just couldn’t be done.’ Their Rōshi sat there with an opened scripture in his lap but his eyes looked much too burdened to read them.

They’ve finally cleansed every single one of their brothers’ soul with the help of Uruha-ue, and it still took them two nights to do so. There were blisters in Shou’s hand from his prayer beads, and his fingers nearly froze from prolonged contact with the icy water they used as purifier. By the end of it the wizard had pulled out a piece of silk and wrapped it around Shou’s palms to cover the wounds, and that had helped a bit.

‘So much was lost in the riots. Satsuma is still aflame.’ The elder master continued. ‘The shogunate won’t be there for long. Once they perished we may just perish with them. They’ve burned down the temples, and melted the bells away. So many of our brothers lost trying to protect the sūtras from being fed to the fire…’

‘At least we can try and pray for them all, shīfu.’

He sighed. ‘You’re right, child.’ His eyes hardened. ‘The wizard smelled the wheels of time turning. A tower that’s build too high will topple over, he said. Change is in the air, he said.’

The Roshi turned thoughtfully silent at that, before his gaze turned sharply towards Shou

‘…Shou?’

‘Yes, shīfu?’

‘If you feel your borrowed time with us is up, come to me.’

‘Yes, shīfu.’

They stayed for a while in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

‘I’m sorry child, it’s been a long night, you must be tired. Unlike most of your brothers, you can see those souls after all.’

‘It’s fine, I’m used to it. Besides, they’ve all crossed over peacefully; I managed to feel them cleansed before they disappeared.’

‘That’s good.’

‘Um, shīfu? About the wizard…’

‘Yes, child?’

‘Uh. No, nevermind. I’ll be heading to sleep now. Do rest, shīfu.’

‘I will. I’ll see you at dusk, child.’

‘Good night.’ Shou slid the door close on his way back before making his way to the dormitory. He sneaked a glance at the moon one last time before slipping into his futon, wondering if he’s imagining how unusually bright it was that night.

He fell asleep and dreamt of the wizard, and a shop with red gate doors, and a voice beckoning him to come.

For his shīfu, Shou was a child that came out of a dream. For six days in a row he kept dreaming of a shidarezakura tree. Its branches heavy, weighted by the Sakura flowers as white as snow. Seemingly crying along with the baby cradled between its sturdy roots.

The baby was crying in all the dreams, and there was a spider web covering its left leg. Each night as he dreamt of the baby, the spider web grew larger and larger until by the seventh night the baby was fully covered with it up to its neck. And then it stopped crying.

When his students spoke of wanting to pray for a shidarezakura tree in the mountain that’s alarmingly blooming out of season, it felt like the only thing to do was to visit the tree by himself and looked around the nooks of its roots to see if indeed there’s a baby there.

He found the child there, a boy, covered by a piece of cloth white as snow. The child of the weeping cherry.

He called him Shou and knew one of these days the call of the weeping cherry will beckon the boy back to where he belongs.

Leaving the monastery was an easy thing in theory. But Shou knew nothing of the world outside of memorizing scriptures and tidying up the temple. For some reason he had it in his mind that he needed to be in the capital, but living in such a big city isn’t something he knew of.

He hasn’t found good employment to survive a life in Edo. Everything was so expensive. He should try to earn some money but his empty stomach won’t agree with him on that. He’s so hungry he could eat anything right now.

A stray dog walked pass him with suspicious eyes as if it knew what he had in mind.

The heat really wasn’t helping. He looked up to the sky.

Huh.

He never knew the sun was so green.

Or how trees can sway and dance, for that matter.

He looked to his right and realized with a jolt that he’s standing in front of the red gate doors he’s so familiar with in his dreams. Is it supposed to sway too, though?

‘How curious,’ was the last thing leaving his mouth before he felt darkness taking over.

He distinctly heard voices in the background. Somebody was shouting about a human sleeping in front of the front gate.

‘What are you doing there, Uru-chan? He hasn’t come to, has he?’

‘No. I just—’

‘Hm?’

‘I can’t be rid of the feeling that I’ve seen him before.’

‘Well—yes you have, right? Up at Aizu-han.

Or… do you mean you’ve Seen him?’

‘Father always says we’re working under the seal of the Sakura tree. And he—

He smelled like Sakura trees in my dreams.’

‘Be careful, Uruha.’

‘Hm? Why’s that?’

‘I’ve never seen somebody with such a tangled mess of fate threads before.’

‘Allow me to make this clear young priest—are you saying you don’t want anything?’

‘Well—maybe work and lodging, I guess.’

The red-headed one barked out a laugh. ‘Unless you want the most opulent of castles and riches beyond any human’s imagination, you probably shouldn’t say that to a dimension wizard.’

‘You’re not very helping, Nao-san.’ Uruha sighed. The wizard walked closer to where Shou was sitting cross-legged on the floor, his translucent eyes peering into Shou’s.

‘It’s just that you were the one in my dreams,’

The red-head snorted at that.

‘Not. Helping. Nao-san.’ Uruha sighed again. ‘I rarely ever have premonition dreams, you know. That just isn’t where my ability lies.’ The wizard halted at that.

‘Nao-san… you know how we don’t pick up strays?’

He forsook his grinning face at that. ‘Uruha…’ he said in a concerned tone.

Shou knew the one called Nao was slightly concerned about him being there. He’d said as much when he proclaimed that Shou’s red thread of fate was in an alarming bundle of mess pooling around his feet. But it’s not like he has anything to do with it.

‘Am I allowed to at least stay here until I found out my want?’ Shou steeled himself to ask. A mysterious shop existing nowhere in the dimension was still better than being stranded anywhere else in Edo.

‘What you want is Elemental Art training, I do think.’

‘Elemental Art?’

‘He means magic.’ Nao interrupted. He turned back to the wizard. ‘Don’t you want to consult the Old Man first, Uruha?’

‘The century will be gone before we’ll hear from him. I am to decide matters of the shop now that he’s away, am I not?’

Shou was amazed to hear a hint of petulance in Uruha’s tone.

‘Now, young priest, do you want to be a dimension wizard?’

Uruha’s eyes on him were curious, and it felt intoxicating being the focused of his attention. That was what Shou blamed if anyone ever asked, anyway.

‘Sure, why not.’ Shou smiled.

Uruha blinked. ‘…We’ll work on your enthusiasm later.’

From behind him, Shou could here Nao snicker.

And that was how he came to live in the shop. And if occasionally he still saw Uruha in his dreams, making him spend more and more time with thoughts of the wizard in his head, then that’s just for him to ponder upon.

Hiroto woke up from a lovely nap with a big yawn, feeling more rested than he usually would.

‘I’ll be going now. I can come by tomorrow too, right?’

‘Hey, if Shou’s okay with it. As long as you can see the shop, I guess.’

The kid slid the door from the living room open and walked his way to the genkan.

Tora was about to retreat to his room when something caught his eyes

‘Aw, shit, the kid’s forgot his cell phone.’

‘Hey, kid!’ Leaning his head out the corridor he saw Hiroto was almost out of the gate, so Tora jogged a bit and went after him.

‘Oy! Hiroto!’ he finally caught him by the front gate, just before Hiroto’s feet left the front lawn. ‘Your phone.’

‘Oh! Thanks! Geez, that was close.’ Hiroto was thanking him once more, but Tora’s attention was already away from him. From the distance he could see what could only be described as a towering cloud of grey spirits. He’d never seen anything that big gathering on such a small point, and he looked on in disbelieve when he saw, from the thickness of the cloud, a glimpse of a person in the eye of the storm.

The fuck…

It was the guy from yesterday, and Tora couldn’t believe his apparent oblivion of the tower of ghouls circling over his head. Even the guy’s aura was thinner than yesterday. Some of the ghouls had managed to chew some of its layers away. But he was just walking along like everything’s normal.

That can’t be right.

‘Ah!’ beside him, Hiroto shouted.

It’ll be really ironic, a portion of Tora’s brain thought, if a person surrounded by such dark energy ended up hurt because of something as normal as a speeding car, even though they’re probably the ones attracting all the bad luck available around here.

The other portion of Tora’s brain wasn’t really working. He was just letting his reflex took over as he grabbed the guy away from the road and onto the pedestrian lane. One of his hands was on the back of the guy’s head, preventing it from hitting against the pavement, and he could feel his knees scraping against the road instead.

‘Oww…’ they both moaned.

Hiroto walked towards them ‘You guys okay? Maybe we should get back to the shop.’

The guy blinked up at him. ‘Uh. Thanks for that.’

Tora had half a mind to appreciate how he’s got an attractive guy under him before he realized the grey cloud still surrounding their bodies.

He. Has got. Ghouls. Touching him.

Eyes widening, Tora jumped up from the ground. Ah jeez, these itch! he thought, already scratching at any exposed stretch of skin.

The guy was looking at him now like he took offense of Tora jumping off of him as he raised back on his feet.

'No seriously, you guys are bleeding; we should go back to the shop.' Hitoro insisted.

‘No, I’m fine it’s just a sc—’ the guy started, already about to walk away. Tora grabbed his hand to stop him, putting thoughts of Damnit. I could already feel the rashes! out of his mind for a while. ‘Wait.’

Fuck it. He’d made it his problem now anyway.

‘Can you see this shop?’ he pointed above his shoulder.

The guy is still frowning at him. He looked at Tora with eyes that said ‘do you think I’m stupid?’

‘Well— yeah.’

‘Why don’t we come inside, then? Let’s take a look at that cut.’

Tora had rushed to the bathroom as soon as they got inside, splashed some purifying salt onto the bathwater and jumped inside the wooden tub, scrubbing furiously at every part of his skin. Some of the rashes were really starting to show. He’d have to recite some sūtras before bed that night. Thank god the ghouls couldn’t follow them in as soon as they stepped into the front yard.

He being occupied in the bathroom though, just gave time for Nao to do his favorite hobby—unnerving the customers. Before he realized it, said traveler of the Worlds was already leaning against the shoji door overlooking the tearoom.

‘I love how we’re just collecting strays, now,’ he mused from behind the paper wall, amused eyes trained at the guy Tora just coaxed inside –Saga, he said his name was, but mentally Tora was still calling him ghoul-magnet.

‘Be nice to the customer, Nao-san,’ Tora said as he came out of the bath, a towel around his neck and his hair sticking up. He should go look for Shou now.

‘I’m not really a cus—’ the guy started, but Nao wasn’t making the effort to listen. He walked across the threshold and squatted in front of Saga.

‘You know,’ he started, smiling. ‘You were a cat in your previous life.’

Saga’s eyes widened at that.

‘He was?’ Tora exclaimed from the corridor.

‘Uh-huh.’ He nodded gravely. ‘A cat named chicken.’

You could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed, until from across the corridor Hiroto started laughing his head off, slapping his hand on his thigh.

‘That’s a good one Nao-san!’ he said, wiping tears from the corner of his eyes. Tora could’ve sworn he saw the guy sweatdropped.

‘Okay. That’s it, stop poking fun, Nao-san.’ Tora came back to the room and dragged Nao away with a hand on his upper arm. ‘Let’s go find Shou, okay?’

‘But I’m serious,’ Nao whined.

‘Yeah. Sure you are.’ Tora stopped at the next room, where Hiroto was still smothering laughter. Both of the twins were there with him and had started laughing the moment he did. ‘And aren’t you supposed to be working?’

‘Nope. A friend just texted. He needed the extra shift, so I’m just gonna hang around here for a bit.’ The boy grinned.

From beside him, Tora heard Nao said ‘I love collecting strays,’

Stop.