Chapter 25: Hatching Connections

“I’m off.” Akari waved goodbye before heading to her student council meeting. Sakura returned the wave before finishing packing up her things. Nearby, Hina leaned against her desk while waiting for Yamaguchi-san to finish packing his bag so they could head off on a date.

“See you later.” Sakura smiled at the pair as she left, answering a few other farewell calls along the way. She passed Mimomo-sensei in the hall.

“Ah, Sakura-chan, good afternoon.” As usual, Mimomo-sensei looked bright and chipper. Rather than scowling as she might have in the past, Sakura replied in kind.

It seemed so long ago that she would have made this walk in absolute silence, her nose in the air if she passed anyone. Since meeting Hina and Akari, she’d started to forget to wear her cold mask of disdain, and now it was just too much trouble. Maybe her classmates were responding to that. Or maybe they just liked Hina and Akari too much to go against their becoming her friend. Either way, it made the school feel warmer, and the days didn’t drag on like they used to.

Near the lockers she spotted Koga-sensei, his hands behind his back as he watched to make sure no one loitered in the halls. Because of a cold, he hadn’t been at school Friday or Saturday. She smiled brightly and waved to him. “Glad you’re feeling better. See you tomorrow!”

His hands fell to his sides as his mouth gaped open. “Uh, um, yes, thank you. Good afternoon.”

She could barely keep from laughing as she continued on to her locker. After exchanging her school slippers for her street shoes, Sakura headed outside. The sky was overcast, but no rain was in the forecast for the week, only more cautious talk of potential snow, the same first snowfall that had been “coming” for three weeks now.

“Yo!” Karasu leaned against the wall near the school gate, his hands clasped behind his head.

“Karasu-kun, you came to get me today?” She wondered where Kazuki was. They had sometimes come together to get her from school, but Karasu had never come alone before.

“Yep, thought it’d be a nice change of pace. Disappointed?”

“Of course not!” She smiled. “It is a nice surprise, thank you.”

Though he seemed nonchalant, something was happening, she was sure of it. If anything bad had happened to Kazuki, there was no way Karasu would be so calm, so it must be something else. She wanted it to be something good, like Kazuki’s father or his brother coming home, but surely Karasu would be acting all excited if that were the case. Her unease made her babble about whatever random things came to mind about her day. He walked beside her, his hands in his pockets, listening intently as if she were telling him global secrets.

They were in the park, the same park in which she’d run into Akari, when he stopped. She’d gone a few steps before noticing.

“Karasu-kun?”

His hands were out of his pockets now, and he stared hard at the ground. “He’s not there.”

“What?”

“Master Kazuki. He isn’t there, waiting I mean. He’s gone. He went home.”

“Home…back to your world? He’s…” She looked back over her shoulder toward the direction of her house. Her foot lifted as if her body was ready to give in to the urge to run there, to prove it was a lie. He wouldn’t have just left, without even saying goodbye?

“Something happened. He had to go back. He didn’t want to, but he said you’d understand.” She turned back to Karasu. He was bowing deeply, a letter held in his outstretched hands. “He left this for you.”

She took the folded pages, her vision blurring for a moment. With mechanical steps, she walked over to the swings and sat down. The movement set the swing into a shallow sway as she unfolded the letter and read it. She could understand his leaving because of Aya’s death; she would expect no less of him. Not that it made the words any easier to take. He was gone. Her Kazuki was gone.

Wet drops discolored the trembling paper as she read his final words again.

Never have I felt so great a terror as I do now, at the thought that something will happen while I’m gone and that I will return to find you have left me. Please, my love, mind your health and let Karasu aid you in my place. Until I can return to you, I pray you will wait for me.

Eternally yours,

Kazuki

The letter fell to the ground as she looked up at the sky, wishing it was a terrible joke. But it wasn’t…He was gone, just like that. With nothing more than a letter to say goodbye.

With a sob, she buried her hands in her face and cried. Karasu’s arms wrapped around her shoulders as he leaned his head against hers, whispering an apology even as his own tears dampened her hair.

After her tears ran dry, she hugged Karasu tight. “Are you okay, staying behind, I mean?”

“Well, yeah.” Karasu sniffed as he swiped at his nose with his sleeve. “Master Kazuki loves you. If he’s worried about you being alone, it will just make him get things done that much quicker and come back sooner, right?”

He turned his head away from her, but looked back at her from the corner of his eye. “Besides, if I left too, you’d just cry even more. Crying isn’t good for your health, you know.”

A small laugh sneaked out despite her pain. “I suppose you’re right, it isn’t.”

Karasu relaxed a bit and pushed a tissue into her hand. After drying her face, she reached down and picked up Kazuki’s letter, running her hand over the surface.

“Can I write him back?”

“Yeah, just give it to me when it’s done, and I can send it to him just like how we sent letters to Reito.” He swiped at his face again. “Don’t worry, okay? It shouldn’t take too long. With the time difference, he’ll probably be back by the weekend.”

“That’s true…” She folded the letter carefully and tucked it into her pocket. It wouldn’t do to sit around moping. Even if he had stayed to say goodbye, she knew he was right, she’d have told him to go. While she loved him being with her, she wasn’t so selfish that she’d keep him here when his people truly needed him.

Kazuki doesn’t love some weak girl who throws a tantrum at him taking care of his duties, some girl who can’t stand on her own. I have to be strong. It isn’t like he’s gone forever, and I still have a few months left.

Karasu watched Sakura warily. She’d cried a long time. He hadn’t meant to cry himself, but then she’d started going, and next thing he knew, he’d been bawling too. Now she was looking at the ground after putting Kazuki’s letter away, her toe occasionally giving the swing a push.

“You going to be okay?” he asked quietly.

She nodded and looked up at him, her expression resolved. “Yeah.” Her face softened in an affectionate look. “Besides, you’re still here with me, so I’m not alone.”

He tried not to blush at her sappy remark. “Yeah, yeah, I’m not going anywhere. Wanna head home? I’m getting hungry.”

“Karasu-kun, I understand why he left, but it still rather bugs me a bit. It doesn’t seem fair, you know?” With a slight smile, Sakura stood from the swing, but she didn’t start walking. “What about you?”

“Yeah, a little.” In truth, he hated being left behind, hated not knowing what was going on, but he knew why Kazuki hadn’t wanted to leave her alone. He just hoped her health would hold out. She’d been noticeably weaker since the Day of Buckets.

“So let’s splurge on dinner tonight and go to Shabu Shabu[54] Kirari.”

It took him a moment to recall the name. “Wait, that place from the TV Master Kazuki was going nuts about wanting to try?”

“Oh, is that where I heard of it?” Her smile grew bigger as she gave him a wink.

Karasu grinned back as he caught on to her scheme. It sounded like a fitting way to pay Kazuki back for leaving them both behind. Of course, they both understood why, but as she said, it still sucked. “Yeah, that sounds good! Let’s do it!”

Located in a hotel, the restaurant was a more expensive place than they usually went to, so they returned home first to change. Sakura put on a long blue dress with a dressy-looking pair of boots, and Karasu took a picture to give Kazuki later.

He was able to get away with wearing one of the nicer pairs of pants she’d bought him and a long-sleeve shirt. The bow tie at his neck, borrowed from Kazuki’s clothes, was itchy, though it was still better than wearing a full necktie. He hated having nooses around his neck.

They rode the tram there and soon had a small pot of boiling dashi[55] broth sitting between them, along with plates of locally grown beef, Chinese cabbage, onions, carrots, and shitake mushrooms. Bowls of tart citrus ponzu[56] sauce for dipping and individual servings of steamed rice took the last of the space. She showed him how to cook the meat and vegetables to go on the rice.

It was a relaxing meal, the silence as they enjoyed their food a companionable one. Learning the truth about Sakura’s health and getting over his childish jealousy of Kazuki’s feelings for her had turned out to be a freeing experience. Without the stress and self-generated angst, he could enjoy his time in the human world and better understand Kazuki’s fascination with it. He’d even gotten used to sleeping in the attic, though he did miss being out in the open—having walls around him was just too confining. Given a choice, he would still rather be home, but being alone with Sakura now wasn’t the burden he would have considered it a few weeks ago.

“You know, we’ve never really had a chance to talk before, have we? Just the two of us, I mean.” Sakura tilted her head as she gazed at him from across the table. “It’s like I know lots about you, and yet it’s also like I know nothing at all.”

It was true. He hadn’t deliberately avoided being alone with her or anything. It just tended to work out that way because Kazuki had wanted to spend as much time with her as he could. “So what would you like to know?”

“Well, I know Kazuki said you were like a brother to him and you’ve been together a long time, but how did you meet? And what about your actual family?”

“The answer to both questions is kind of the same.” He set down his chopsticks. “I don’t have a family, not anymore. I mean, I had parents who made me, but they aren’t a part of my life now. Master Kazuki and Master Yuji are my family in the ways that matter.”

“Oh.” She didn’t ask him to explain, no doubt wanting to respect his privacy. But thinking of her history, of how she came to be in her current state, he decided he wanted to tell her.

“Tengu parents have multiple children at once, just like regular birds do. I was born as part of a clutch of four, but none of my siblings lived even five years. I don’t know why. Maybe they were born sick or they got sick later. Either way, they just drifted off one by one. Because I was the only one to survive, my parents blamed me. Said I stole their food or that I tried to kill them on purpose, all sorts of lies.”

“How could they blame a baby for something like that?”

He shrugged. “Maybe losing so many kids so close together warped their minds or something. Or maybe I was just a convenient target for their pain. Whatever the reason, they would sometimes ignore me for days, leaving me hungry or cold. If they did pay attention to me, it was usually to insult me and smack me around. Then, one day, my mother picked me up, flew far from our home, and dropped me.”

She gasped, tears forming in her eyes. It didn’t surprise him, not anymore. When it came to those she cared for, she was almost too empathetic.

“I was only ten at the time, so I couldn’t fly yet. We can’t assume our other form until we’re fifty. Somehow, I only ended up with a broken arm and some bruises. I knew if I went home, they would probably just kill me, so I went to a town not far from where she left me.”

At the time, he hadn’t known it was the main city of Throklana, the one where the royal castle was housed. He just knew it was large and that people there would likely care nothing about a small child on his own. “At first I begged for food, but I would get so little that I stayed hungry. It got worse and worse, so I started stealing. Usually I went for stuff that no one would buy anyway, like meats that were getting too old, stale bread, stuff like that. Since they were just going to be tossed, it wasn’t watched as closely. Sometimes it made me sick, but it helped keep the edge off. Then a shop keeper caught me stealing some molded fruit from his stand. Even though it was trash, he was furious and chased me. Some other people joined him. I’ve never been a fast runner, so they caught me and beat the gizzards out of me. They left me lying in some alley. I thought I was going to die then. I kept waiting, almost hoping for death to come.”

She gave a slight nod, a sad, understanding look in her eyes.

“A few hours later, Master Kazuki found me. He took me back to the castle and treated my wounds. He stayed with me the whole time I was healing, with Master Yuji helping. They were the first people to show me any sort of kindness. Once I was healed, I was allowed to stay at the castle with them, and we’ve been together since.”

“It must be pretty hard on you, seeing them fighting like this.”

“Yeah, I wish I knew what was going on. Master Yuji has always had a more even temper than Master Kazuki…You actually remind me of him a bit. He almost never gets angry or yells. So him being so furious that he would leave home? It just makes no sense.”

They paused the conversation while she paid for their dinner. Outside, they arrived at the tram stop just in time to catch the next one. Once they were in their seats, he quietly told her about the meeting he’d had with Yuji.

“That really does sound odd. They both seem to want to end this dispute, but they think the other is angry and refusing to listen.”

“Yeah. And unless he’s really changed since he left home, Master Yuji is a horrible liar. So I believe he was telling the truth when he denied having anything to do with the attack.”

“We must be missing something.” She crossed her arms, tapping one finger against her upper arm. “Could either be under some kind of spell?”

“I don’t think so. That kind of magic is hard to work, even on a low-level animal. To do so against royalty of levels like Master Kazuki and Master Yuji and have it last this long would require someone with crazy abilities. As far as I know, even the king can’t do that kind of spell.”

They got off the tram at the usual stop and began walking the two blocks home. Sakura put her arm around his shoulders as the wind picked up. “I read once that a single misunderstanding can cause people to forget the many things we love about someone, that it’s like a poison that clouds our minds.”

Her words made sense. In a way, the two had cast a spell on themselves, making them view everything the other said and did in a negative way, continuing to fuel the very misunderstanding that started it.

“If we could get Master Yuji back to the castle, we could just take both of them and lock them in a jail cell or something until they got it all out and started listening to each other again.” Karasu chuckled as he pictured the scene he described. “As stubborn as they both are, even they couldn’t hold out more than a year or two.”