Any serious reasoning behind Kyouhei’s leaving his family could be saved for a later time, when they weren’t sitting in the middle of a coffee shop, Avery figured. For now, he’d much rather spend the time getting to know where he could find his old friend around the city from now on – a rarity for someone who went through friendships like people went through tissues.
“And the coincidences keep on coming,” he chimed, pausing only to take a sip of the drink he’d set aside when the other had first caught his attention. “That’s where I’m studying as well! Though I have yet to figure out any kind of major…”
Avery’s nose wrinkled in distaste momentarily, a phone call from his family asking about his studies flashing in his memory. They were under the assumption their son had travelled to get some education in business or even journalism, but photography was still the only interest he had in mind. It was only a matter of time until he’d have to make some kind of decision, but for now he would gladly sweep it under the rug to dwell on another day.
“Sounds like you have things rather on track. I’m glad!”
The same couldn’t exactly be said for himself. Growing up with a silver spoon in his mouth, Avery was having difficulties adjusting to the less obvious parts of independence. Showing up at a workplace every other day was fine and all, but the basics like handling his own laundry and cooking or paying his own bills was still largely a mystery.
“Tell me, are all the Ouvara dorms so…” Think of a pleasant way to put it, Avery. “Petite? I was planning on moving again to somewhere more spacious, but this might be incentive enough to stay~”
Sorry Kyouhei, as genuinely happy as he is to see you again, meeting like this was a one way ticket to helping him figure out how to get shit done after throwing himself in the deep end – especially now that he knows their dorm building is the same.
“Romance is rather lacking, but I do work somewhere now; as a photographer at a modelling agency, so I’m in no shortage of attractive people to surround myself by~ ”
And that was really all that counted, wasn’t it?
Gosh, Kyouhei couldn’t believe his luck! Or would it be inattentiveness? They were attending the same college and it wasn’t like Avery didn’t stick out, how had the brunet never seen him?
“Ah, choosing a degree, singular, is hard. I mean, money probably isn’t an issue for us, but in general, the whole process is just twists and turns and paperwork, the worst of the three.” Oof, that was borderline rambling, he had better slow his roll.
“It was a difficult adjustment at first, but aside from a few unavoidable missteps I’m getting by.” He could only hope Avery was doing the same. It would be rude to ask right off the bat, right?
“The dorms really are… an adjustment, for sure. Not that I’m complaining, it’s cool that I don’t have to walk too far to classes and back.” He couldn’t help but flush a bit and avert his gaze when Avery added that last bit. Kyouhei wasn’t sure how to interpret it, and so… he tried not to dwell.
Instead, he let the conversation turn to other people, the easier topic.
“I’m jealous! All I get are old businessmen and gaggles of girls. Not that I’m complaining, because they’re the main source of my income, but I wish some cute people my age would frequent, you know?”
“Haha! I guess you’re right, but think about it this way, nothing bad has happened yet, so things are still a’right.”
Mizumachi chuckled to himself at Kyohei’s meek attitude as he drew in closer to him, putting trust in him, an Ayakashi. Well, he didn’t mind doing a good deed every now and again before he goes to do what he normally does, which is tricking humans. That’s the job of his kind, wouldn’t you know?
“No prob! Wanna hold hands or something? Would that help you feel more relaxed?”
The forest was dark and there was a chilly wind that would blow past the forest every now and again. It wouldn’t do Kyouhei any good if he’d accidentally gotten himself separated from Mizumachi, who was actually trying to do a good deed for once.
“You made your way pretty deep into the forest, but it won’t take very long to get back out, so don’t worry. You’ll be out of here safe and sound in no time.”
Mizumachi tried to console the worried little guy the best that he could. It was hard to figure out how to console a human when you yourself were not human.
Did this guy think Kyouhei was a toddler or something?! He went to immediately deny the offer of a hand to hold and then paused to reconsider.
The last time he’d been alone (and not just in a random place, in the comfort of his own home) something had snatched him up and spirited him away. As strange as the situation was….
“I’ll take a rain check on the hand-holding, but… you don’t mind if I walk fairly close to you?” Personal bubbles were weird and personal, Kyou didn’t want to accidentally trample on a societal norm.
“Thank you for your kindness. Assuming this is a forest near to where I live, would you want to come by for some food? I feel like I should pay you back for this somehow.”
The human’s territory was always more exciting in Avery’s eyes, as if every simplistic venture into a town or city was a brand new adventure for the Dragon with an unusual hobby for mingling in with the locals.
A marketplace with rows of stalls selling different foods or odd human trinkets may have appeared mundane to some, but for him it was almost inspiring. Look at them, buying and selling, hurrying about like working ants, with some even in the company of smaller humans who were more concerned with playing than paying attention to anything else around them.
“Do you think they’ve noticed anything different about us yet?” Avery wondered out loud to his companion beside him, eyes the colour of sweet caramel flitting about as if trying to hone in on the market stall with only the prettiest collection of trinkets for him to admire.
Eventually he settled on one in particular, the shine of a certain jewel catching his attention and brightening his expression. Fortunately, he managed to display enough self control to not wander over towards it immediately with zero warning, instead curling one arm around Kyouhei’s to give it a little tug; prompting the other to move with him.
“Everyone here seems to busy to even spare us a second glance.”
As someone who not only appreciated but thrived in attention, it was fair to say he almost sounded a little disappointed at the lack of admiration, even when looking more human themselves.
Kyouhei kept a close on his pink-haired companion while they danced between crowds of people. Festivals were usually his go-to distractions when visiting places, but that didn’t mean casual appearances were against his nature.
Besides, who was he to refuse a request from Avery?
“Well, I would hope they haven’t, dearest. Best case scenario, they’ll think we’re foreigners and not… y’know.” He peered around, double-checking that what Avery was complaining about was actually accurate.
“I’d rather be part of the crowd then thrown out or hunted down. I know you like the drama, but I was hoping for some softer event today.”
Today was one of the days that Engel worked alone. Hiyori had classes and Engel’s other employee had taken a week off for a vacation with their family. He didn’t really mind at all. Since most of Petit Petales’ business was online and large orders that needed to be made weeks in advance, there was actually a lot of downtime in the actual storefront.
That isn’t to say they didn’t have a good flow of customers, it was just that some days ended up being quieter than others. Days where Engel could sit at the counter with his textbooks open and get some of his homework done early. He’d been doing that more lately so he’d have time to experiment at home with his cooking.
Murmuring softly to himself as he read over a passage again to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, Engel almost missed the small chime of bells that indicated someone had entered the shop.
Tilting his head up, Engel pushed his hood back slightly so it wasn’t falling into his face. Oh. A potential customer?
“Ah… sorry,” he slipped his notepaper in between the pages of his textbook and closed it, offering a faint smile to the person that had walked in. He seemed to be quite taken with the large assortment of flowers that filled the open shop.
Engel personally went through every corner of the shop on his own as soon as he got to the shop. Every flower and plant that was on display was carefully taken care of and presented by the red-head. His people skills may have been lacking, but his green thumb spoke for itself.
He took a discreet steadying breath before speaking again, “…Is there …anything I can help …you with today?”
“Oh! Um….” Kyouhei made a variety of hand gestures while struggling to come up with a conversation opener. He honestly hadn’t thought of how exactly this would go down, but how hard could it be.
“Hello, I hope this- that I’m not going to trouble you! I was just wondering if you made smaller bouquets?” If not, he could play it off like he was going to buy one as a declaration of love or something, but… really, he just wanted some flowers.
“Maybe four or five different types? I’m not picky about flower language at all if that’s a factor, I heard this place knew its stuff.”
Avery’s comment about his looks in the hopes of gaining some kind of response had completely flown over Kyouhei’s head, but he was willing to ignore that for now. After all, it had been quite some time since the two had last seen each other, meaning a catch up between them was long overdue.
There was a rare, brief flash of concern across his expression. So, Kyouhei’s being here was more of an escape than anything else? In a certain way, Avery could relate. His own parents were fine in terms of treatment, but the weight of responsibility and breaking in to the business world like his father wanted was a burden he didn’t want to bother with, so promising to do well at university while away from his watchful eye was a decent enough compromise.
And lucky him, just look who this path had led him to.
“But that means you’re staying here, right? In the city?” Avery actually felt somewhat hopeful to keep him around, which was most definitely the reasoning behind the sudden rapid-fire question round; babbling on in his excitement. “So am I! I live not even fifteen minutes from here. Where is it that you study? Have you been here long? What’s your work? You’ll have to let me visit sometime!”
Kyouhei let himself grimace - had that been too open? He did have the tendency to overshare and then back off at the speed of light, so maybe just casually letting the conversation redirect was for the best.
“I’m probably a semi-permanent resident of Ouvara-Danon, yeah.” He laughed, lightly, and folding his arms over his stomach to weigh himself into the chair.
“I’m taking classes at Ouvara U, for majors in Botany and Geology. I have plenty of time and money, so I figured… might as well do what I really enjoy, right? And I don’t think jobs in those fields are oversaturated yet, so…”
The brunet let himself smile, slow and wide and genuine. Every time he was able to consider his existing freedom, it made him glow, inwardly. All warm, like sitting in sunbeams.
“No rush, n’ all. I’m just rooming in the dorms for now, and I work as a barista pretty close to the college. Hey-” Kyou leaned forward, buzzing slightly with energy. “That’s so cool that you live close by! I’m down for visiting each other, I could use some company from an old face… as much as I love new people,” the words tasted sour in his mouth with sarcasm, “familiarity is better.
“What about you? Taking any classes, any romance in your life, or honest work?”
Ah? Did he sensed a bit of… reluctance? He wasn’t sure what exactly was up with Kyouhei’s little hesitation by the end of his sentence, but it gave him a nice chance. After all, that ridiculous muffin was the last thing he wanted to have in his mouth.
“Hmn, but if we cut it in half it’ll get even colder… not to mention the top will crumble and it’ll be a bit of a mess” he said in a thoughful tone, a hand on his chin to add to this illusion “I don’t mind if you take it~ You worked very hard today so you deserve it~ And if you want to keep things fair… I could get two slices of the pumpkin bread instead of one and a half. Doesn’t that sound better?”
“Ah—h, that’s just what I was thinking!” Kyouhei adopted a thinkers pose, jutting one hip out for the theatrics of it. He couldn’t be 100% cute all the time, right? A little variety kept his style fresh.
“If you don’t mind it, I’ll make you a nice dark brew next shift to make us even. I know black coffee can be icky sometimes, but it’ll wake you right up.” He turned slightly and held one hand out to Yaguchi, grinning slightly. “Deal-io?”
Well they were talking about how it was that the castle didn’t fall when you watched movies and such, right? The only viable reason he could think of to prevent the cards from falling even with all the movement on set was tape.
“I don’t think you’ll need glue or tape right now? You could be able to make the card castle without that. It’s just, I can’t imagine they’d want to risk wasting time on a movie set or anything.” He was sure it just took a lot of patience, a steady hand, and patience.
He personally didn’t really understand how such a thing could be used as a de-stressing activity considering it stressed him out to think about the castle falling with just one simple moment, such as accidentally bumping into the table with your foot.
“Hm? What do you mean? I sleep just fine, actually. Did I say something wrong?” The principle was similar to the meaning behind ‘
人
‘. Similar idioms and phrases were often shared between Asian countries, and sometimes in school, you were taught various languages if you saw fit to learn it. Perhaps he got the idiom wrong? He was sure the kanji for ‘person’ was supposed to look like two people who were supporting each other?
“I feel like you nosedived into philosophy over notecards, which is concerning… do I need to pull an ‘it’s not that deep, brother’ over you? ‘Cuz I will, don’t test me.”
While running with this little tangent, Kyouhei managed to balance two sets of two cards next to each other and was reaching for a third set. Turns out, tape and glue were cheaters tools.
“Hm. Maybe I just needed a little less focus? Is this a lesson about my study methods, set up by the universe? I don’t appreciate it.”
Working up to having plants in his dorm was emotionally trying. This put him in charge of an actual living thing, something that needed to be constantly cared for and supported, things he had no experience in.
His childhood homes usually lacked a garden, and when they did miraculously contain one it was cared for by someone else, someone who did not appreciate him trying to nose his way into the process.
So it made sense to introduce himself to having plants around before having living plants around? Or something along those lines.
Sweating slightly due to lurking outside of Petit Petales for so long, Kyouhei entered the extravagant flower shop, eyes bulging out of their sockets at the amount of flowers and the quality of each type.
Kyouhei was right to think that Dongmin meant his words in a general term considering that’s what Dongmin thought Kyouhei meant his words. He soon learned that he was wrong when the other male clarified that he was talking about a stronger like that was closer to lover. By love, he meant in the way you love another person who is a boyrfriend of yours. “Ah… love, huh? Well, I guess it all boils down to me not caring how people see me. It’s on them if they want to assume things.”
Hm, what can they do as a casual hang out? “Well there is a lot to do, like watch a movie, play at an arcade, or maybe visiting a beach. The parks are nice to walk through, or to play in if you like to play sports.” He started trying to recall the different activities one could have fun with if they were to walk around through the two sister-capitals. “Like, what kinds of things do you like doing? We can work around that.” Dongmin was pretty easy going so he didn’t really have much of a preference himself.
Unless fighting was involved. Only if there was a strong fighter in the vicinity, his blood was not going to boil with excitement.
“Hoh, I see what you mean. I’m okay with both myself, but it is important to consider how the person you are confessing to would feel.” Mentally noting that for future reference, he was going to take that into consideration if things ever came down to it. He never really thought much on relationships, so he didn’t have an idea of what he would prefer personally. He didn’t think much of any preference really. Dongmin mainly followed the flow of things after all.
“Sounds good, that’s how it should be.” Dongmin nodded his head with contentment. Saying things like giving your life to someone wasn’t something one should take lightly, so as long as Kyouhei understood that point, he was happy. He reached out to pat on Kyouhei’s shoulder with a playful smile. “Hope you can find someone that you’d be willing to give your life to one day.”
What kind of things did Kyouhei do during his downtime? He struggled to organize his thoughts on the topic and paused an appropriate amount of time to consider it.
“Most of my free time is spent outside… I like visiting gardens and whole-food stores, I guess? That’s kinda weird, now that I think about it.” He shrugged, helplessly. “I like to be where plants and stuff are. What about you?”
He could do this. It was just casual conversation about scenarios that have and will happend. Not a big deal. The whiplash wouldn’t kill him today. After a few soulful breaths, he was ready.
“You also have to consider the worst case scenario. If you do a public confession and they reject you, not only are you embarrassed and heartbroken but they’ll probably be embarrassed and teased about it.” Not that he knew about this firsthand, but he’d witnessed a few confessions and it made him think.
“Not that public confessions are bad, but wouldn’t it be better to have a private confession of attraction and then a public confession of love when the relationship progresses?”
Avery wasted no time in pushing his belongings away from him to the end of the table, laptop lid snapped shut as his work went abandoned in favour of Kyouhei’s company. Pulling out the chair beside him, he pat the seat with an expectant look. You’ll join him, won’t you? Of course you will. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“Ah? I had no idea you would look at me so closely~” He teased, his smile vulpine, though it had faltered ever so slightly upon the mention of his hair. The photographer had taken such care to preserve the lie of it being naturally rose pink, that he’d actually forgotten there were people outside of his family that could recall him being anything different.
“I’ll assume you’re in here for the same reason everyone else is, but Akounri might need a bit more explanation. We’re both rather far from home, after all.”
Now that Kyouhei’s shock at actually finding someone he knew had died down, he could fully appreciate how Avery had gone from a cute little kid to a full-blown beautiful young adult.
It was completely unfair. The comment about looks completely flew over his head while he compared his past friend with the current version, dark eyes narrowed oh-so-slightly.
“That’s true enough.” The brunet conceded and then plopped down into the chair he assumed was offered to him. It was comfortable enough but he still stretched out slightly out of learned habit.
“I’m in Akounri because it’s so far away from where my parents are, to be honest.” It had been a while since he discussed this topic with anyone, but he figured… Avery was safe. Safe to tell. “It was a suffocating environment so as soon as I could leave, I did.”
“And now I’m studying what I want and I have a nice job that doesn’t require me to interact with overbearing rich snobs, so I can’t say I regret it.”
[水] – That was pretty sad to say, but it was true that Mizumachi wasn’t exactly smart. He wasn’t the type to bully anyone though since that was just cowardly. Teasing? Sure, he’s up for that. Just your casual poking at a friend.
He didn’t always think before he spoke so it wasn’t like he was too surprised by the fact that he may have accidentally offended a friend of his. He was going to have to be careful from now on about mentioning height around Kyouhei it seemed like.
“Ahh… well, I’ll be more careful from now on.”
He was going to be careful about what he said in general from now on. He didn’t want to have Kyouhei snapping on him again after all.
It was true that energy and aptitude was important when participating in sports, but that wasn’t the only thing necessary. One also needed to have determination. Some of the athletes he knew from high school were a good example of this. It’s not to say that everyone could get by with determination alone, but it was at least something that could make up for the parts that you were lacking.
“Hm? Well you don’t have to drink it by itself right? You could always drink milk with something else. Make a smoothie or eat cereal?”
Cookies and milk was a good idea too. Mac and cheese? What else can you put milk into? Pancakes? Does milk go into that?
“I think the majority of it is genetics though. My family is full of tall people. Exercise is pretty good for growth too?”
“No—–o!” Kyouhei fake sobbed and allowed himself to drape over the countertop, next to the large cups of inviting smoothie. “I didn’t mean to snap, honest. No need to be sensitive about the topic of height on my part!”
It really wasn’t a big deal, it was all low blood-sugar levels in Kyou’s opinion. A good old sip would solve all his problems. And so he solved his problem with a large gulp of ice cold and delightfully smooth snack.
“I think I just got the short end of the genetic stick. Both my parents are of average height for their uh… their ethnicities, but here I am, not even five and a half feet, and… complaining too darn much about something I can’t fix!”
He wasn’t gonna be a negative Nelly about this. No way. Not on a night that demanded community and work ethic!
Despite the sudden silence that descended, Kyouya could almost feel the moment his companion started to panic. Even if he knew the reaction was only to be expected, he had more or less just turned Kyouhei’s entire world upside down, but it didn’t prevent a frown of concern appearing nevertheless.
He supposed he should at least be thankful that the other was willing to talk with him, instead of just bolting like he had initially been anticipating. There was hope in that at least. Truthfully, he wasn’t entirely certain how this all would pan out and he certainly didn’t expect Kyouhei to deny the family he had always know but… he supposed he did hope that they could establish some sort of relationship between them. It certainly wouldn’t happen overnight, but perhaps one day in the future there would be sibling-like camaraderie between them.
They were almost their destination when his new found sibling broke the silence with his first question, a fairly simple one presumably to ease into the upcoming difficult conversation.
“I stumbled across some information by chance and confronted my father about it. He revealed your existence to me and so I sought after you.”
A brief explanation, one which he could expand upon and disclose in fuller detail once they were safely seated in a private booth. This wasn’t exactly a conversation that could be held out in the open.
Thankfully, the entrance to the cafe was now in sight and leading the way to the entrance, Kyouya called over his shoulder.
“Here we are…”
Kyouhei did his best to be satisfied with the short answer, knowing there was a time and a place for all the ‘how’ and ‘why’ and ‘when’ questions, but it was his logic against his patience and he’d never been a patient person.
What ended up happening was that he practiced the act of focusing all his attention on the surroundings, the cafe they were entering, and resisting the urge to bite his lips. Really, he needed to rip that bad habit out of his life.
“So, um…” He grinned a little too widely, just a little dazed in the face. “Is the food any good here or are we just gonna exploit the privacy bit?”
He meant exactly what he said. The ‘others’ were the other Ayakashi and animals that weren’t very happy to have a human intruding into their space and making a ruckus with the volume of his voice. There were a few who were excited to see a human because don’t you know that some Ayakashi consider humans to be delicacies?
“Yeah? Sounds like you may have been spirited here by a mischievous Ayakashi. You don’t look hurt, so it should be a small prank.”
Maybe another Tanuki? He wouldn’t be too surprised if that were to be the case. It was their job to trick people after all. Even he was tricking Kyouhei by making him think that he was another human.
“I’m Mizumachi. I got separated from my friends. I think they ditched me. I guess when you’re young you want to be reckless, haha! Come on, I’ll help you get out of this forest, just follow me.”
Whether you trusted him or not was up to you, Kyouhei. It would be better for you to do so or another Ayakashi may just ghost you away.
Ayakashi? Wait. Wait, wait, hold up, hol’ on… Ayakashi? Kyouhei felt the word crawl up his back like an adventurous hand, nails long but only ghosting over his skin… And, well, who could blame him?
The idea that he could’ve been hurt meant virtually nothing to him, not compared to the thought of staying unhurt in this situation. He was in a vulnerable position.
“N… nice to meet you, although the circumstances are a bit…” The brunet trailed off and drew a little closer, eyeing up his “rescuer” carefully. Even though he had little to no options – actually, his options were to go with Mizumachi or get lost – he wasn’t about to get snatched up by anything else.
“I’m Kyouhei. Thank you for being willing to lead me to safety.”