Work Text:
He never really liked being human. The only thing he loved was being around her.
*
If you asked the village elders at the foot of the mountain, they’d tell you that a couple decades ago there was a temple deep in the woods. They called it the ‘Eternal Paradise Faith’, run by a creature with rainbow eyes, for they deigned to call it human. He had followers in the hundreds and a demeanour that challenged the gods, however men of those days who visited to join the cult never came back.
Exactly one year ago, four village children snuck their way into the building on a dare. They had grown up on warnings about the place, and, eager to impress one another, decided to go all together. Right before dusk, the group returned— frantic— with stories of bloodied rooms that sat abandoned. After concerned parents had called law enforcement, authorities found severed limbs and decapitated heads spewed all around the building, some carcasses had decayed into the floor. The place was razed to the ground and only spoken of in hushed whispers.
*
Thousands of miles away in the Karaizawa region, the creature with rainbow eyes was having a dilemma. An extremely human dilemma.
“Shhhh. Shhhh, goodness.” He grumbled, before continuing “Don’t cry now Ino, else you wake your mother up.” Douma frantically whispered as the baby, Inosuke, was on the verge of tears. He had tried everything. Changing his diapers, feeding him bottled milk, letting him play with his favorite boar toy. And yet, the child became increasingly more agitated.
“Shhh, please?” He all but begged the child to stop, even using his pouting face and saying please. You see, these traits are often used by children trying to get their way. It is a unique sight seeing it being used the other way around.
Inosuke did not budge.
Sensing the start of a tantrum, Douma quickly ran to the kitchen to get the boy’s favorite candy. A bag of Pongashi sat atop one of the counters, high enough so he wouldn’t be able to reach it. Kotoha had just gone to sleep after an exhausting night of Inosuke’s crying, and Douma despised seeing her peaceful sleep interrupted. She deserved the world, that woman. She deserved a good eight hours of rest.
A pack of pongashi in his hand, Douma approached the baby whose lip had finally stopped trembling. He took a quick peek into their bedroom, ensuring Kotoha was still asleep, before picking the baby up and letting him nibble on the treat. The crying stopped and was soon replaced with burps and giggling.
Two hours later, Douma had to replace a full diaper and then did the cleaning. Kotoha was still fast asleep, and he smiles in victory at the thought of her showering him with praise seeing the clean house when she wakes.
He just hopes she doesn’t find the empty pongashi container.
*
If you asked the Douma who was living the second century of his life, he’d tell you there was no purpose in life. That humans assigned meanings to everything they see and that the gods did not exist, he was one, after all. He did not have a favorite meal, however he did enjoy eating his followers. His main goal was to grow his cult to have an endless supply of food, and eventually beat Kokushibo in a battle for the title of Upper Moon One. To this Douma, life was good.
If you asked him in the fifth century of his life, covered in nappies and baby drool, he wouldn’t tell you anything because the only people he talks to are Kotoha and the baby. There was no meaning in life other than them, and if you observed him for at least a week you’d realize that it was not just Inosuke who was snacking away at the Pongashi. The villagers in Karaizawa see a strikingly handsome young man whose only goal is to protect and serve his family. To this Douma, life was good.
*
The man— for that is all he was now— was hanging laundry in the backyard of their home with his wife as their son dangled from the tree beside him. Inosuke had a surprising aptitude for climbing trees and fighting, like a wild animal, his mother had once mused.
“Ma, that weird kid invited me to the festival tonight.” His son said with a confused sigh, before continuing
“I keep trying to fight him and all he does is smile then headbutt me.” he added as an afterthought before breaking a branch off the tree then proceeding to chew on it.
Douma sighed.
“Hmm… the festival? We could go, my darling.” His beautiful wife said softly.
“I do wonder what the fireworks look like.” She muttered under her breath with a wistful smile as their son fell off the tree, seemingly running off to tell the Kamado child he’ll be able to go to the festival.
All he had gotten from the pair's conversation is that she had never been to see the fireworks.
Douma felt a pang in his chest, then a momentary surprise. He was still getting used to having these feelings, after all.
Even he was forced to go to a firework festival all those centuries ago as a human. His mother had taken him while his father had rendezvoused with other women. He hadn’t enjoyed it back then, he didn’t enjoy anything in those days. Almost everyone, even in the current century, found joy in attending festivals and blushed at the thought of confession-filled fireworks. But for Kotoha never to have seen fireworks…
Well. He had to get to work.
*
Douma, at the young age of five hundred and eighty-two, had found his purpose in life.
Kotoha.
She was stunningly beautiful, dressed in a kimono made of Yuki Tsumugi that he had spent a quarter of his fortune on. He pinned a flower to her hair, a blue spider lily, as they sat atop a hill to watch the fireworks together. They could see Ino in the distance, running around with the Kamado children.
It was at that moment that Douma realized what true happiness was. That the mortals he had deemed beneath him had understood happiness all along.
“Douma,” Kotoha breathed out, her eyes trained on the show of fireworks in the dark night sky.
“Yes, dearest?” Douma replied, his eyes on her.
“It's beautiful. Thank you.” She said softly.
“The most beautiful in the world.” He replied, as his heart beat in an unheard Thank you.
*
Strange, he thought.
Five hundred years of existence, yet only now did he feel as though he had begun to live.
Life had been waiting for him beneath a summer sky, watching their son laugh in the distance while sitting beside the woman seeing fireworks for the very first time.