Work Text:
When Tetsurou’s mother asked him to go out the country and take care of his grandmother for a while he had no problem agreeing. His mother would have done it but taking any extended amount of time off from her job would not work. She had fought long and hard to get her nursing license and managed to get a job in an ER. Tetsurou had just graduated college and didn’t have any future prospects besides mooching off his mother and trying to find a job. Plus Tetsurou loved his grandmother and hadn’t seen her in years.
Tetsurou’s mother had gotten pregnant at 16 and her parents had helped raise Tetsurou until he was 10 and they moved to Tokyo. Tetsurou’s grandfather had passed away a year prior, a sickness took him before Tetsurou or his mother could even make it back out the country to say their goodbyes. He knew his grandmother took it the hardest, though she’d never admit to needing help. The Kuroo’s were all stubborn like that. She had taken a hard fall and needed help around the house and small shop she owned.
Being back in the country after 13 years in the city was odd. He had visited several times over the past decade or so, but they had always been brief visits. He had new friends and he liked the buzzing of the city. Akari, Tetsurou’s grandmother, had kept the small bedroom he had when he was a child basically the exact same. It was like walking into a time capsule of when he was a child.
The bedding was new, no more Star Wars comforter set for him. But the wooden desk his grandfather had made him was still there, sturdy and darkly stained. The several shelves his grandfather had put up were there, along with his old knick knacks he hadn’t brought with him to Tokyo. An old blue first place ribbon, a broken robot toy, a jar full of colorful rocks with a flower crown around it.
Tetsurou lifted his hand to the flower crown, remembered when he was younger and had to stand on his tiptoes to put anything up on the shelf. His childhood memories sometimes felt fuzzy, but he guessed that’s what happened when over a decade of time had passed. He remembered a wedding, surrounded by faceless old friends and a boy with a gentle smile. Tetsurou almost laughed out loud, remembering that he had gotten married when he was seven years old. He couldn’t believe he had forgotten.
Akari must have replaced the old flower crown with a fresh one. She had a lush garden and there is no way a flower crown would look that perfect after 16 years.
When Tetsurou touched the crown it moved and something fell down between the wall and where the old shelf had warped, leaving a small gap in the back. Tetsurou knelt down to the ground and picked up a worn piece of leather with a ring attached. It was just a simple band, or it would have been except it looked like it was made out of resin with tiny blue and white flowers stuck inside.
His wedding ring.
Tetsurou stood up, examining the ring and wondered how a 7 year old could have gotten a hold of it. He couldn’t even remember the name of his husband, though it was on the tip of his tongue. Tetsurou guessed the other boys parents had made them the same way his grandfather made him a wooden sword to play with and his grandmother made him treats to take with him.
“Always bring fairies gifts when you visit them Tetsu, they particularly like sweet things.” Tetsurou blinked at his grandmothers voice in his mind, reminding him about the fairies who lived deep in the forest that surrounded the small country town. Tetsurou grinned as he pulled on the necklace, tucking it inside his black tank top. He had forgotten how much his grandmother believed in a magical forest, though his younger self had eaten up every story she had told him.
“Grand-” Tetsurou’s train of thought about fairies and childhood husbands were cut off as he saw his grandmother struggling with a box. “Let me get that.”
“You just got here and you must be very tired from your travels,” His grandmother said but allowed him to take the box from her. She was tall and willowy, just like Tetsurou and his own mother, but years had stooped her back and carved soft wrinkles on her face.
“This is what I’m here for, where does this need to go?” Tetsurou said with a grin, bending down and allowing his grandmother to kiss his cheek before putting him to work around the house and shop.
The next couple weeks passed in a quiet and peaceful manner. Tetsurou wasn’t use to that, hadn’t really had a calm moment since he had started college. It was all rushing around, writing papers and studying for tests while trying to have a social life and practicing hard to be a proper member of the swim team. Tetsurou had survived off of cat naps and an unhealthy amount of energy drinks.
“Grandmother, do you remember any of the other children I hung out with when I was younger?” Tetsurou asked as he finished up his sweeping of the store. He had tugged in a comfortable chair for his grandmother to sit on when he first started working in the store and she refused to go sit down and rest. “I don’t remember any of their names and I haven’t seen any of them around town.” He touched the ring that was hidden underneath his shirt, not sure why he continued to wear it except that it was a pretty thing.
“No I don’t imagine they would be walking around town.” His grandmother said with a grin that reminded Tetsurou of his own. A bit sly and mischevious, full of ‘I know something you don’t know’ which is all well and good when he was the one who knew something but not so much when other people were keeping it from him.
“What does-”
“Ah, that will be Hana, please go grab her package from the back Tetsu.” His grandmother turned happily to converse with the older woman who entered the store as Tetsurou went to the back to get the package.
The town was peaceful for the most part but there were odd things that Tetsurou kept noticing. No one ventured out into the woods, not even children which struck Tetsurou as very weird. His childhood memories might but fuzzy but he remembered running through the trees quite often. Everything shut down when the sun set, which wasn’t that strange for a small country town but no one left their homes at night, not even to enjoy the nice weather in their own backyard.
The edges of his grandmother's garden started to wither and wilt. Tetsurou stared at it through the window and even offered to help pull out the dead flowers but his grandmother wouldn’t let him near it. Tetsurou remembered getting a small plant from his childhood husband and planting it in the clear dirt. The next day an entire array of different flowers were there. Tetsurou knew it must be his imagination as a kid, an entire garden didn’t pop up from one seed.
Then a little girl went missing.
Tetsurou put on his shoes near the door, grabbing his old worn flannel and tying it around his waist. It was too warm for the flannel now but if they were out very late he might need it when the sun went down. He also grabbed a torch, flicking it on and off to make sure it worked properly, before shoving it into the small bag he had which already had a water and some treats, along with his cell phone.
“Tetsu-” His grandmother’s hand clenched tightly to his tank top.
“I’ll be careful, plus I use to go through those woods all the time when I was a kid.” Tetsurou smiled, kissing her on the forehead to try and soothe her worry.
“Things are different than when you were a child.” His grandmother was constantly saying things like that, but whenever he questioned her she always changed the subject. “Don’t go too far into the forest, don’t stray from the path, and take these.” They were little candies his grandmother had made, he put them in his bag as he remembered that fairies liked sweet things. He wondered if his grandmother had thought a fairy had taken the girl.
“I’ll be fine.” Tetsurou hugged her carefully before he trudged outside and jogged over to the town center where the search party was assembling itself.
They began their slow search, calling out the little girl's name and waiting for an answer that never came. They stayed on the path in the woods, though Tetsurou thought that was a bit odd. He had never stayed on the path as a kid. His companions got stiffer and more anxious the further they went in, and it was Tetsurou who was doing most of the yelling for the girl.
“Hey what’s that?” The two men and one woman with him jumped and turned towards where he was pointing. Off in the distance, nearly hidden by a bush was something long and yellow. The picture they had been shown of the girl had her with a yellow ribbon in her hair.
“We shouldn’t go off the path.” The oldest of them spoke up as Tetsurou took a step towards it. Tetsurou almost sympathized with them. There was something dark and ominous about the woods right then, something in his hind brain was telling him to leave. He hadn’t remembered ever being afraid in the woods when he was a kid.
“I think that might be her yellow hair ribbon.” Tetsurou might sympathize with them, if a little girl wasn’t missing. “Yachi!” Tetsurou shouted as he moved towards the ribbon, leaving the trail and his companions behind. It’s not as if anything dangerous existed in these woods and the little girl could have fallen down and was hurt.
“Yachi!” Tetsurou tried again, nearing the ribbon now. It was a little frayed and dirty but it was about waist high, which should be around the size of the girl. “Yachi, can you hear me?” Tetsurou yelled as he stopped by the ribbon and reached out to grab it.
“ Gotcha .” Someone whispered in his ear before his whole world went dark and upside down.
Tetsurou grunted in pain as his shoulder was slammed against the ground, his feet swept from underneath him and it took him a moment of sheer panic and confusion to realize he was in some sort of sack. Tetsurou was horribly confused because he was neither a small or light man, he was tall and weighed quite a bit, especially since his grandmother kept making him homemade meals and treats.
Tetsurou yelled and struggled with renewed energy. His shoulder throbbed but now wasn’t the time to worry about it. He was jostled around and he hit a couple things but he knew he was moving. What kind of monster could pick up a fully grown man and lug him around like nothing?
As suddenly as Tetsurou was grabbed, he was dropped. His head bounced off the ground and he lost track of time for a moment before the sack was ripped away.
“Look Kenma! I did good, right? I came up with the plan all by myself!” A too loud voice shouted as Tetsurou tried to regain his bearings. He felt like he was swimming through fudge.
“What did you do now Lev?” There was a shuffling sound and then a sharp inhale. Loud boistirious laughter had Tetsurou sitting straight up but that really was a mistake. “Lev you absolute idiot! They are going to string you up by your toes!”
“What? No! I did good!” The first voice shouted, petulant.
“He’s bleeding,” A soft voice interrupted and everything went quiet before a face was shove directly into Tetsurou’s. “I wouldn’t do that.” The same soft voice warned. Tetsurou gathered his leg back and kicked out, directly into the guy's chest. The guy went flying, which would have been funny under any other circumstance.
“Forget being hung up by your toes, the King is going to skin you alive.” Tetsurou forced himself to focus, making out the three people around him. He must have taken a harder hit to the head than he thought because these people had feline ears and tails and claws-
“I think I’m going to throw up.” Tetsurou put his head down, shutting his eyes tight before peeking up at them. Nope, ears and all were still there.
“I didn’t know humans were so fragile!” A tall, far too tall, man walked out. His eyes were an unnatural shade of green and slitted down the middle like a cats.
“You try being shoved into a sack and bounced along the ground and see how well you do!” Tetsurou shouted, grabbing a branch and whacking the tall feline-human-thing with it. He howled and jumped back. The guy with the mohawk howled with laughter. Somehow it was familiar.
“We should get him to Suga,” There was the quiet one, smaller than the rest and almost hunched in on himself as if he was trying to make himself even smaller. Something tugged on Tetsurou’s mind but it was so scrambled from everything going around him that he wasn’t sure he wanted to pull on that particular thread.
“No Kenma, I don’t want to be skinned alive!” The tall one shouted, whining loudly. Tetsurou threw the branch at him and was satisfied when he let out an oof when it connected.
“Like hell I’m going anywhere with you!” Tetsurou shouted, which only hurt his head more.
“Kuro,” Tetsurou was shocked at the nickname as the small one knelt next to him. His eyes were amber in color, slitted down the middle and his two-toned hair fell in his face. Something tugged at Tetsurou’s mind and he bit down on the urge to lash out at this one the same one he had hit the tall one. “We need to get you patched up, Suga will help.” Tetsurou watched with interest as the guys tail wrapped around Tetsurou’s leg, once, twice and something relaxed inside of him.
“I was friends with a Kenma when I was little,” Tetsurou said softly, unsure. Kenma smiled, just a small twitch of his lips.
“If it helps, a couple people will most likely hit Lev when they realize what he’s done.” The man with the mohawk knelt next to Kenma, a little protectively but grinning widely. “It’ll be funny, especially when Yaku gets ahold of him.”
“Don’t tell Yaku!” The one called Lev pleaded from the spot where he was pouting. “I was only trying to help.” He said quieter.
Kenma reached out to help Tetsurou to his feet, but Tetsurou cringed when his shoulder was touched.
“How much damage did you do him dumbass?” The mohawked one yelled, storming over to Lev to dig his knuckles into Lev’s silver head of hair in a painful looking nugee.
Tetsurou managed to get to his feet but he feel woozy.
“Night falls soon.” Kenma said softly, his eyes full of worry as he looked over Tetsurou. “Whistle, maybe he’ll come.”
“Or he’ll attract something else with all the bleeding he’s doing, I’m Taketora incase you forgot.” His mohawk was blonde, which matched his twitching ears that had a string of gold hoops through them. Tetsurou wasn’t sure why he was listening to them, why he was standing there chatting amicably with what was either a hallucination or fairies. Fairies, damn him for stepping off the path.
Tetsurou whistled because he wasn’t quite sure what else to do and he wasn’t really all that surprised when nothing happened.
“Wait,” Kenma said, as if he could read Tetsurou’s mind. His left ear twitched, shifting back and Tetsurou couldn’t even believe he was getting use to seeing feline features on a human-looking man.
Something cantered through the trees. Tetsurou jumped and then cringed in pain before he could clearly make out the creature. It was a deer, one the size of a large horse with a wide head of bone-white antlers that were covered in moss and flowers.
“You were at my wedding,” Tetsurou said before he could really think about it. The deer stepped forward, bending down and Tetsurou realized he was being bowed to, by a mythical looking deer. Tetsurou reached out hesitantly with his good arm, was surprised when the deer pushed his large head into Tetsurou’s palm.
“This is touching and all but we should really be going.” Taketora helped Tetsurou onto the back of the deer. Riding him made his shoulder throb but the forest past by in a blur.
Tetsurou didn’t understand what was happening, even as part of him accepted in whole heartedly. He didn’t believe in magic or fairies, did he? He thought the fogginess of his childhood was normal but maybe it was more magical than he thought. The deer had been smaller when he was little, his antlers just little stubs on his head. Tetsurou couldn’t believe he had forgotten that he use to play with a fawn when he was little.
“Suga!” Taketora hollers loudly when they come to a stop. Tetsurou slides off of the deers back, keeping a hand on the animals legs to keep himself upright as he stares in awe at what he can only think of as a town around him.
Some of the houses are little more than wooden shacks while several are rather intricate. Some roll out of the dirt like little hobbit holes, covered in grass and dirt. Tetsurou follows Taketora’s line of sight, startling when he realizes there are houses in the trees. Huge wooden buildings that seem to blend in with the foliage, long wood and rope made into a bridge connecting them all.
“Tora why are you yelling?” A pale man swings down from the tall trees with ease. Huge beautiful white wings spread out behind him. He looks delicate and strangely dangerous in the way most exotic birds do. Something pulls at Tetsurou’s mind and he doubles over, groaning and holding his head as his shoulder throbs. “Why have you brought a human here?”
“Lev kidnapped Tetsurou.” Taketora said without remorse as Lev wailed in the background.
“What?” The pale man asked, voice strained.
“Please don’t tell Yaku!” Lev pleaded.
“Tell me what?” Another voice asked but Tetsurou couldn’t look up, his head was killing him. A gentle hand rubbed at his back.
“What did you do Lev?” The pale man was closer now, leaning down and prodding at Tetsurou’s wounds, which did not help at all.
“Suga stop!” Tetsurou was shocked when he grabbed Suga’s hand, more surprised when he actually knew who the winged man was. “How do I- why-”
“This is exactly why human adults aren’t allowed here Lev,” Suga scolded.
“You brought a human here!” A voice shouted, angry.
“Not just any human, hello Tetsurou, it’s been quite a while for you, hasn’t it?” Suga’s smile was soft but there was something hard in his eyes. A deeply buried hurt that was threatening to drown him. Tetsurou wasn’t sure how he knew that. “I can heal you quite easily but first I have to pop your shoulder back into its joint.”
“That sounds like it’s going to hurt.” Tetsurou sat down fully on the ground.
“No, not at all. Hardly feel a thing.” Suga grasped Tetsurou’s arm, his grip surprisingly strong. He pulled suddenly and Tetsurou passed out.
Tetsurou didn’t think much time had passed, though he was on a pile of soft blankets and pillows and definitely inside. There was a roaring fire and despite it being the beginnings of summer, it wasn’t too hot inside the small house. For some reason Tetsurou was sure it belonged to Kenma, and he was partially glad for that since he would be several stories up in the air if he was in Kenma’s house.
“You lied.” Tetsurou croaked out, his throat dry but he did feel a lot better. His head was no longer pounding and there was only a slight soreness in his shoulder.
“The fair folk can’t lie.” Suga said, which wasn’t exactly a lie.
“European fairies maybe.” Tetsurou remembered his grandmother saying that Asian fairies loved to lie, especially to foolish humans who only believed in the European myths and thought they applied globally.
“I’m sorry you got pulled into this.” Tetsurou thought that Suga was being untruthful again, or at least he wasn’t completely sorry. Tetsurou sat up and shook his head at the tea cup offered to him, Suga grinned fully at that and sipped at the tea. Don’t accept gifts from fairies .
“You were my friend when I was a kid,” Tetsurou said slowly, carefully as if he wasn’t quite sure if it was the truth but Suga nodded in agreement.
“I was at your wedding, though most of us attended it.” Suga stretched his wings, just a little before he leaned forward, resting his chin on his fisted hand. Up close Suga looked even less human. His eyes were an ever changing shade of gray, his features soft and unearthly beautiful.
“Why did I forget all this? How could I?” Tetsurou asked in wonder, running a hand through his hair and finding it slightly damp. They must have washed it to get the blood out.
“Human minds are so interesting, especially those of adults, you stop believing in magic so you blocked out anything that had to do with us.” Suga didn’t sound offended. Fairies are ancient , his grandmother's voice whispered in his ear. He wondered if a decade was nothing to them.
“Something's wrong.” Tetsurou said carefully. Suga leaned back, his smile going stiff.
“You were always amazingly observant.” Suga’s wings twitched as if in agitation. “Something has happened to our King, we are connected to him and he is connected to the forest. He has shut himself away to protect us all but something dark is taking over the forest.” Suga looked down at his hands, which were long and thin.
“No one has tried to go to him?” Tetsurou asked, he felt a strange sense of indignation at that though he wasn’t sure why. He didn’t know the King, did he?
“Many have tried and none have returned.” Suga’s shoulders slumped and Tetsurou suddenly felt awful, knew Suga must have lost someone close to him. For some reason Tetsurou was sure Suga was close to the king himself.
“More and more of our kind go missing everyday.” Tetsurou jumped, turned around to see two people standing there. Though using the term people wasn’t quite right. Unlike Suga, who appeared human from afar apart from his wings, these two could never be considered human. Their legs were those of a birds and their wings looked like they were attached to their clawed arms. Feathers curled up their necks and into their hair line.
“Hey hey hey Tetsu.” The black and white one grinned, but it was a half hearted thing. Tetsurou stood up and against his better judgement, embraced the creature. He felt the sharp claws against his back but they didn’t puncture skin.
“Bo,” Koutarou was his name, though Tetsurou had always called him Bo. His childhood best friend, the first fairy creature he had met when he had lost his way off the path that first time when he was just five years old. Koutarou had led him home, cracking jokes and holding his hand in his tiny claws. Tetsurou’s mother had been a crying mess, shouting and hugging him tightly when he got home.
“His memories are coming back,” The creature who had first spoke said, though it was directed at Suga. Koutarou and Tetsurou pulled apart, both their eyes were glossy.
“Kenma said he trusted him from the beginning.” Suga said. Kenma had been his close friend too, quiet but full of snark.
“This is Keiji, he arrived after you left.” Koutarou explained. “Are you going to go? Are you going to save Da-”
“Koutarou, please, this isn’t his responsibility.” Keiji chided him gently, pulling Koutarou away from Tetsurou. “He is human, he needs to get back to his own people.”
“A girl, a little girl was taken-” Tetsurou suddenly spoke up, though his instincts were telling him none of his old friends had anything to do with it but he still had to ask.
“We know, we went out searching for her but-” Koutarou made a soft sound, almost like a sad hoot. “The darkness is growing stronger.”
“Please Koutarou.” Keiji spoke up.
“He might be able to help!” Koutarou whined back.
“I agree with Koutarou.” Suga said and everyone looked over at him. “He might be our last chance. If the darkness has grown strong enough to take a human child it won’t be long until it’s overtaken us and the human village.”
“Will someone please explain what’s going on?” Tetsurou spoke up, a little aggravated. “Lev obviously brought me here for a reason, he thought he was doing a good thing and it has something to do with this spreading darkness. My grandmother lives in that town, if there’s something I can do to keep her safe than I’ll do it.” Never make a deal with a fairy. It was far too late for that advice.
“Some of us think you can get close to the king, close enough to help him.” Koutarou pushed close, his heavily lidded eyes almost luminescent in the low lighting.
“Why would I be able to get close to him when none of you can?” Tetsurou asked.
“Because of this.” Koutarou pulled gently on the leather necklace, making the ring pop out from beneath Tetsurou’s tank top. Tetsurou closed his eyes, saw a gentle smile on a chubby face. “Do you remember?”
“Daichi,” Tetsurou whispered softly.
“The Crow King, our King.” Suga said from behind him.
“But we were just children! Kids fake weddings all the time.” Tetsurou really didn’t know if fairy children pretended to get married or not but he knew it couldn’t possibly be binding, could it?
“If you’re going to pull him into this, you should tell him the whole truth.” Keiji advised.
“Tetsurou, the truth is you could possibly walk to the dark forest and die there like many others before you have.” Suga gently tugged Tetsurou around to face him. “Which would mean there is nothing left of our king and we are all dead anyways, but if you can get through then you might be able to help him.”
“But why me?” Tetsurou asked, a little breathless as the prospect of his muddy future.
“Weddings are simply ceremonial but even as little ones you and Daichi shared something that connected your very souls together, or did your adult mind block that out too?” Suga asked, gently teasing him. Did Tetsurou still feel that way?
“How long has this been happening?” Tetsurou asked quietly.
“Time doesn’t really flow the same here as it does for humans.” Suga said, a little hopelessly.
“A little over a year.” Tetsurou wasn’t even all the surprised that Kenma was there, hiding as small cat beneath some covers.
Tetsurou had felt an itch beneath his skin that he could never quite scratch. He had just thought it was because he was scheduled to graduate college and had no idea what to do with the rest of his life. He had been restless, agitated constantly, and he was lucky that he could even pass his classes because his concentration was shot. He had spoken to his mother and she had said it was normal.
But what if it was something more than facing an unknown future? Tetsurou had known the Crow King when they were just small things, and he had felt at ease around him almost instantly. Perhaps the reason why his childhood self had never followed the rules his grandmother taught him for dealing with the fair folk was because he knew Daichi would never let anything happen to him. There were those who didn’t like a human child passing through the forest with ease but nothing bad had ever come of it. From the moment Tetsurou had met him he had trusted him. He had believed that was just how Daichi was, the boy who acted older than he looked who had shown him the spirits who danced amongst the fireflies and ran through the forest with him.
“How do I get there?” Tetsurou asked because what else was he suppose to do? Go home and wait for the darkness to swallow his childhood friends?
“I’ll show you.” Koutarou offered easily.
“Koutarou no.” Keiji pulled at him but Koutarou shrugged him off.
“Don’t worry Keiji, he’ll be safe with me!” Koutarou grinned before he nuzzled Keiji’s neck, gentle and intimately. “We’ll get your family back.”
They waited until the sun rose to head off. Tetsurou spent the time mostly sleeping, waking up to Kenma using his head as a pillow. Tetsurou wasn’t surprised when Kenma jumped up onto his shoulder, still in cat-form, and came with Koutarou and him on their journey.
“So Keiji, huh?” Tetsurou elbowed Koutarou gently, who flushed but let out a big grin.
“He was out gathering herbs when his flock was taken by the darkness, we found him wandering around.” Koutarou’s clawed hands curled into fists. “He thinks he’s hiding it well, but he’s always sad.”
“How do you know if we save Daichi that the people who disappeared will come back?” Tetsurou asked, crawling over a huge fallen tree.
“I believe in you,” Koutarou grinned once more, flying gracefully over the tree and landing several meters away from Tetsurou. “And I think our king is fighting this with everything he has.” Tetsurou can’t help but wonder if Daichi ever thought about him after he left, if he was upset or sad that Tetsurou never visited, had forgotten almost everything about him and this place.
“And what if he’s mad at me?” Tetsurou couldn’t help but ask as the forest grew colder, darker, more threatening. Vegetation began to die off, the trees became warped. Kenma pressed closer to Tetsurou’s neck, his soft purring had gone quiet a while ago.
“Why would he be mad at you?” Koutarou asked, genuinely confused. “Oh for leaving? We knew you’d come back, we were just waiting.” Tetsurou felt sudden warmth fill him despite the chill in the air. Koutarou never doubted him, believed in him completely even though he was just a regular human.
“How are we supposed to get through that?” Tetsurou asked, frowning deeply as he stared at the layers of thick black thorne's blocking their path. It seemed to spread high above them and go off in both directions.
“This um- wasn’t here the last time-” Koutarou fidgeted, clawing at the thornes before hopping back over to Tetsurou when it accomplished nothing. Suddenly Kenma jumped down from his shoulder, hissing off to the left. “Tetsu move!” Koutarou pulled Tetsurou out of the way as something barrelled out of the trees.
It looked as warped as their surroundings. Flesh was falling off of it, and it looked like a wolf on steroids. Its eyes were empty sockets, teeth sharp and bloody. Koutarou let out a screech at it, meeting it dead on when it lunged forward. Kenma yowled, body shifting until he was quite large, long incisors poking out making him look like a sabre tooth tiger, or something that ate sabre tooth tigers. He attacked a second hellbeast but a third lunged at Tetsurou.
Tetsurou tripped backwards, heart pounding wildly in his chest before he had realized he was about to make a very painful connection with the thorn vines. Tetsurou tried to grab for something but there was nothing but air before he fell hard onto the ground. He quickly scrambled back as the creature circled around for him but the vines filled up the space Tetsurou had fallen through.
“Bo!” Tetsurou shouted as the creature tried to get to him but was stopped by the thick thorny vines.
“Go! We’ve got this!” Koutarou shouted. Tetsurou turned around, came face to face with more vines and swallowed down his sudden rush of fear. He carefully crawled forward, shocked when the vines pulled back and made a path for him as he left the fight behind.
Tetsurou felt like he crawled for a long time but suddenly he was free and clear of them completely and stood up to look at his surroundings.
It was a nightmare scene, everything look twisted and warped. Fear made Tetsurou’s steps heavy, made his breathe come out in short gasps. For some reason he clutched at the ring on the leather cord, he wasn’t sure why it made him feel a bit better but it did.
Something moved to Tetsurou’s right, making him jump and almost run away but he took a closer look and recognized the person.
Asahi looked drained, his skin a sickly yellow color, his eyes surrounded by dark bruises. He was hunched over a smaller body, curled up almost protectively around it even though it looked like a strong wind would break him. Something black was oozing out of the ground, crawling up around Asahi’s body. His wings looked broken and diseased.
“Asahi-” Tetsurou rushed over.
“Don’t.” Asahi wheezed out and Tetsurou winced at the sound. “Touch.” It seemed to take every last ounce of Asahi’s strength to say the words. The black substance crawled a bit further up him. “Help. Daichi. Please.” He bent further over the body in his arms, collapsing on the spot.
Tetsurou backed away slowly, reluctantly as he realized that what he thought were rocks and dead things around the blackened clearing were actually bodies. Some he recognized but some he did not. He tried to help others but they all said the same thing.
Everything was dark and twisted in this area, except for one thing that was bleached bone-white and made all the more terrifying for it. It was a horrible looking castle and all of Tetsurou’s instincts told him not to go in there, so of course that’s where he headed. He tried to ignore the nightmare inducing things he passed on the way. The creatures that roamed the area looked like horrible ghoulish creatures, all decaying flesh and dead eyes. They watched him hungrily but never came close.
Tetsurou tightened his hold on the ring, hoping this was some sort of sign that there was a small part of the old Daichi left and it wasn’t some kind of trick.
Something black and most assuredly alive was crawling over the walls and ceiling inside the twisted castle. A small path was clear, it led up to a raised throne made out of what looked like sharp black glass. A huge monstrous feathered creature sat on the throne, shoulders heaving with heavy breaths.
Tetsurou walked closer, found it hard to breath as his eyes darted around looking for Daichi, not wanting to believe what his heart was telling him. He didn’t believe until he stood right before the creature.
The black feathers covered him from head to clawed feet, they were molted and matted. The soft brown irises Tetsurou remembered were swallowed by black, even the whites of his eyes were an unseeing black. His fingers were tipped by sharp claws that matched the sharp teeth in his elongated mouth.
“Daichi,” Tetsurou whispered, felt the blackness on the walls shift and move with agitation. Daichi’s breath stuttered out before the blackness stopped moving once more. Tetsurou carefully reached out, touched the ring with the little flowers caught in resin on a leather cord around Daichi's own neck. “I’m sorry it took me so long.” Tetsurou felt something wet slide down his face, was surprised to find himself crying. He had ignored the feeling, the urgent need to get out of Tokyo and now it might be too late.
Tetsurou ran his fingers gently over Daichi’s feathered cheek, watching as the monstrous head leaned into the touch. Something of Daichi was still alive in there, it had let Tetsurou have a safe passage to him, it was holding back the darkness from swallowing everything whole.
“Tell me how I can help you.” Tetsurou whispered urgently. Daichi’s black eyes closed, huge head resting against Tetsurou’s trembling hand. Something caught Tetsurou’s attention, down near Daichi’s lap something was different.
“No!” Daichi growled, grabbing Tetsurou’s hand as he went to touch the object. The clawed hand was huge, it could easily have crushed the delicate bones in Tetsurou’s wrist, as easily as those clawed tips could ripped through his flesh but it was a merely strong grip, not bruising or hurting.
“That has to come out.” Tetsurou wasn’t sure how he knew that, just that he knew with complete certainty that the foreign object that was stabbed into Daichi’s side needed to come out.
“Kill you,” Daichi’s voice was a low rumble, it cracked and rasped as if he hadn’t spoken in a while.
“If I touch it, it’ll kill me?” Tetsurou asked just to make sure he was understanding correctly. Daichi’s head jerked in a nod, his breathing labored. “How do you know?”
“Went- went to your house. For help.” Daichi tugged on Tetsurou’s wrist, there was something terribly broken about his monstrous face. Tetsurou’s brain scrambled, trying to fit the pieces together.
His grandmother had known what was going on, that much was obvious. She had probably known since he was a kid. His grandfather too, now that he had thought about it. The wooden sword he had made for Tetsurou had been made of ash wood, strong against fairies. His grandmother's huge garden, the fresh vegetables and fruits and herbs left on the porch, the sweets she always made him carry around.
Daichi had gone to Tetsurous grandmother’s house for help. Kenma had said that all of this had started a little over a year ago. Tetsurou’s grandfather had died from a sudden sickness a year prior.
“My grandfather tried to take it out.” Tetsurou felt a sob get caught in his throat. The darkness buzzed around them, pressing close. Daichi pulled Tetsurou closer, wheezing out a blood filled cough.
“Sorry-” Daichi whispered, voice broken.
“Shh.” Tetsurou was able to press his forehead against Daichi’s because he was bent over so much. “I won’t touch it, not directly.” Tetsurou didn’t blame Daichi for his grandfathers death but he knew that thing had to come out now, that Daichi was close to losing the battle against the darkness.
Tetsurou pulled off his flannel and wrapped it carefully around the shard stuck in Daichi’s lower abdomen. It was hard to see anything with the lack of light and all the feathers, but he did his best. His hand burned when he tightly clenched the shard, Daichi groaned in pain and the darkness screeched around them.
Tetsurou braced one hand against Daichi’s stomach and pulled with everything he had.
Tetsurou wasn’t sure how he ended up halfway across the hall and flat on his back, though he did know every inch of him hurt, his hand especially. He groaned and raised his head, saw the darkness pulling together in a vaguely humanoid shape, saw it approach Daichi’s slumped over form at the bottom of the raised dais.
“Daichi!” Tetsurou screamed, tried to roll to his feet but suddenly the darkness was on him, pushing him down. Everywhere it touched burned Tetsurou.
“ You ruined everything. ” Hundreds of voices spoke as one, Tetsurou screamed in pain.
“You do not touch him!” A deep voice thundered out right before a sudden brightness engulfed the whole room. The darkness screeched, a hundred voices screaming in agony. Tetsurou’s vision faded to black quickly after that.
Tetsurou woke with a start, fighting wildly before realizing he was in his own bed at his grandmothers. He would have believed it was a dream if it weren’t the the fresh white bandages around his hand that had gripped the shard.
Tetsurou pushed out of his bed and searched down his grandmother, which wasn’t all that hard since she was on the back porch looking out at the garden. The dead spots were gone and it looked lusher and spread even wider than before.
“What happened?” Tetsurou asked, his throat a little scratchy.
“You went off the path, tripped and got yourself a bit banged up.” His grandmother replied easily, a smirk playing over her mouth.
“And the real story?” Tetsurou questioned.
“I think only you can answer that one.” She patted the spot next to her on the bench and Tetsurou sat down with a quiet groan. He felt sore all over.
“Did you know what happened with grandfather?” Tetsurou asked softly after a couple moments of silence. Akira reached over, placing her hand over his trembling ones.
“He had always liked that husband of yours more so than your old friends but they aren’t quite like the others of their kind, are they?” Akira sighed, squeezing his hands gently. “Here, take these. Always bring a gift when visiting fairies.” She handed him a clear mason jar full of little star shaped sweets. Tetsurou kissed her cheek before pushing himself up and walking off towards the forest.
His grandmother was right. They weren’t like other fairies. They were his and he wasn’t going to allow them to get rid of him that easily.
Tetsurou walked straight into the forest, not taking any particular path but just knowing the forest would lead him where he needed to go. As Suga had said, the forest was connected to the king.
It was only about 15 minutes of walking before Tetsurou came across a wide clearing full of flowers. Tetsurou remembered this place easily, he had gotten married here after all. His husband sat on the ground, where a little natural hill rose him above the flowers. The lowering sun paid tribute to his dark skin and played beautifully over his inky black wings.
“Here.” Tetsurou used the jar to flick lightly at Daichi’s ear. Perhaps he shouldn’t be teasing the Crow King but Tetsurou felt he was safe. Daichi reached up and grabbed the jar, turning it around and grinning over as Tetsurou sat next to him. Despite the grin there was something undeniably sad about his handsome features.
“You came back.” Daichi said softly as he took the top off the jar and tossed some of the star shaped treats towards the flowers. Tiny creatures danced out from the cover of the flowers, excitedly grabbing up the treats and running back where they had come from. Several of them squeaked and hummed and bowed towards Daichi and Tetsurou.
“I don’t blame you for what happened.” Tetsurou clarified. He didn’t think Daichi was responsible for the death of his grandfather, knew that Daichi blamed himself enough for the both of them.
Daichi turned and looked fully at Tetsurou for the first time. He was breathtakingly handsome, though Tetsurou might be a bit biased. He had grown up so beautifully and he was glad to be staring into the soft brown eyes again.
“Everyone who was-?” Tetsurou didn’t quite know how to phrase it, wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the answer.
“Everyone is safe, back to their usual selves.” Daichi smiled fully, big and warm and happy as he leaned forward. Tetsurou happily pressed his forehead against Daichi’s, remembered how they use to do this as children constantly. As a sign of comfort and friendship and unconditional love. Tetsurou hadn’t known it back then, not when he was too little to really understand love but it was there all the same and he could still feel it then. Warm and soft in his chest.
A feeling of coming home.