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For as long as he can remember, Atsumu has had Osamu beside him.
Osamu is his identical twin in every sense of the word: he looks like him, acts like him, talks like him. But while a young Atsumu had bumbled around, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and tripped over his words in a rush to get them out like all easily excitable toddlers, Osamu was all extended periods of silence, empty eyes and an unsmiling face, like he did not quite know how to express human emotion.
In fact, their parents love to regale them with tales of how when they were both nine-month-old babies, Atsumu was already babbling and walking and creating all sorts of chaos in the house, while all Osamu did was just sit calmly with his pacifier in his mouth, perfectly content to watch Atsumu causing mischief from his crib. Now Atsumu is almost seven years old and it doesn’t escape him that his parents seem to be alarmed by Osamu’s “slower development” (their words, not his), which is apparent from the way they often have hushed conversations after dinner about “bringing Osamu to see a doctor”. He’s the only one who overhears these conversations though, because Osamu always holes up in their room immediately after dinner to complete those jigsaw puzzles he seems to be captivated by.
He’s content with letting his parents’ words wash over him and drift out of his consciousness once the conversations are over, because he thinks they’re being worried and paranoid over nothing. Atsumu is the older twin, so obviously he’s going to be more “developmentally advanced”, and so what if Osamu doesn’t speak very much? He communicates with Atsumu through his gazes, nods and gestures just fine. Maybe it’s their twin telepathy allowing them to read each other like an open book.
However, as the definitely more mature and well-behaved older twin, he can see where their parents are coming from (not really). Osamu really behaves strangely at times: the way he almost never speaks unless he was spoken to first, the way he never participates and only ever watches Atsumu play with other children from the sidelines, the way he always seems to be looking for something in the vast looming forest their house borders when he thinks no one is around to catch him in the act. Atsumu never lets these quirks bother him too much, so he doesn’t see why everyone else, adults and children alike, are so disturbed by them.
Over the years the number of children willing to play and make friends with the Miya twins have dramatically lessened until there are now none, mostly because Atsumu stubbornly refuses to play nice if Osamu isn’t included, but the other children find Osamu “creepy” and don’t want him around. He really doesn’t understand why everyone is acting like this because his twin makes for perfectly good company and a great playmate.
Osamu always gives him his candies when Atsumu asks for them, despite looking very put upon. Osamu also joins in on Atsumu’s pirate ship and treasure hunting roleplay and allows Atsumu to be the captain every time, himself taking on the role of first mate or whatever it is Atsumu asks of him. Rarely has he ever complained about how Atsumu seems to be selfishly keeping the most fun things for himself, and for this Atsumu is grateful for his brother although he would never admit it. As a treat he always graciously acquiesces to Osamu’s periodic requests for them to watch nature or folklore documentaries on television after a few minutes of pretending that he’s not interested, although he falls asleep halfway through almost every single time.
Elementary school soon rolls around and Atsumu finds himself more relieved than ever to have Osamu by his side. Exactly because the town they live in is small, both of them already recognise and know all the students in their class on the first day of school, which means that they have no chance of making any new friends. As expected the twins are mostly left alone; hardly anyone dares to interact with them on a friendly and regular basis despite Atsumu’s best efforts.
Isolation makes Atsumu feel small and ugly so he compensates by learning how to take up more space in the room than the average person and mastering the art of drawing attention to himself; he becomes insufferable during the process. Osamu carries on as usual and appears only mildly frustrated with his twin’s antics in the classroom, for he always shows up to save the day when Atsumu gets into verbal spats that escalate into a teacher hurrying over to broker peace between a crying student and his unapologetic twin.
At least we’re in this together, Atsumu regularly thinks to himself. What would I do without Osamu there to say the right words to get me out of trouble and pin the blame on someone else?
Things continue on like this into middle school: Atsumu makes sure he is an unforgettable presence in school, riling everyone up with his snarky quips and mocking comebacks, except for Osamu who never really rises to take the bait. Schoolwork is a breeze for the most part, and they either dabble in volleyball or goof around in their back garden to pass their free time every day after school ends. Osamu still seems to be oddly captivated by the forest beyond the hedge, but Atsumu brushes it off as something Osamu just naturally likes, similar to his growing fascination with culinary-related things. Atsumu reasons that it’s not that different from his own love of volleyball, but he asks about it anyway.
“What are you looking for?”
Osamu startles a little, shaking his head as if to clear away fog. “What?”
“You’re always staring at the forest, so you must be looking for something.”
Osamu freezes. At first, perhaps due to a trick of the light, or perhaps because he is truly puzzled by Atsumu’s question, Osamu’s face is an unreadable canvas, disconcerting in its blank untranslatability, but then this empty expression is replaced by a benign smile as he meets Atsumu’s eyes.
“I just think there must be a lot of cool animals and stuff in the forest.” He now has a thoughtful look on his face. “Like the foxes you love. Do you want to go with me to look for them? We could go sometime soon, like next Tuesday.”
“Foxes?” Atsumu grins. “Hell yeah! There’s nothing to do at home alone anyway, you know that.”
It’s true. He does not recall a time when he has ever been separated from his twin for more than an hour. Osamu has always had an uncanny ability to find Atsumu, one that Atsumu doesn’t dwell on too much, for he sees no point in trying to figure out the inner workings of their special twin connection.
When they wake up the next morning with no activities planned for the next few days, Atsumu suggests that they go to the town library after a quick breakfast; Osamu offers a shrug and dutifully follows after him. That has always been the way they do things after all: where one goes the other will not be far behind. Their parents are out at work during the day and only return around sunset, and so they have all the time in the world to do whatever they want.
The local library is an imposing, antiquated work of architecture, but not out of place among the surrounding buildings. Atsumu has heard that the town in which they live has been around since ancient times; the centuries worth of history are apparent in the weathered foundations of each cobblestone road. In spite of this the place is actually quite boring and easily forgettable, its only redeeming feature being that it is situated right next to that great unnamed expanse of forest, rumoured to be even older than the town itself.
The twins agree to wander off on their own to browse the different selections of books available before reconvening in two hours’ time, since Osamu prefers reading non-fiction as opposed to Atsumu who naturally gravitates towards fantasy. The inside of the library is almost labyrinthine in nature and soon Atsumu loses himself among the maze-like shelves. After a few more rounds of useless searching he gives up on finding this latest fantasy novel he has heard rave reviews of and stops to take in the exact section of the library he has stumbled upon.
In large letterings the shelf next to him neatly spells Section F, Fae and Faeries; this must be the section dedicated to myths and legends. Maybe he’ll try reading something on display here. He picks up the nearest book in his periphery, a bulky tome titled Changelings and the Fair Folk, and carries it over to a table he spots in the corner. Sliding into a chair, he flips it open to a random page and begins from there.
Nine pages in and he can take it no more. He shuts the book in one swift violent motion, with much more force than necessary, and almost knocks the chair over in his haste to get away from what he was seeing on the pages.
It can’t be.
Shaking slightly, he cautiously makes his way back to the book and opens it back up to the page listing a concise summary of changeling traits. He absorbs the words with rapt attention and they plant themselves firmly in his mind. He reads it again. And again. And again. There’s no doubt about it: according to the list, Osamu displays every trait of being a changeling.
Like all humans confronted with the face of the unknown, Atsumu begins to feel a little afraid, then laughs a little hysterically. What is he even thinking? This must be a random coincidence, there’s no other scientific explanation for it that would make sense. With trembling fingers he brings the book back and slots it back into its shelf before hightailing it out of there. Things like the Fae and changelings and elves and goblins are not real, he mentally chants to himself as he speed walks away. They do not exist. They do not exist. They do not—
So disturbed is he that he doesn’t even notice where he’s going until he almost collides with Osamu.
“Woah, watch it,” Osamu says, then frowns at the state of him. “Why are you looking like you just saw a ghost?”
A shaky laugh dislodges itself from Atsumu’s throat as he exhales, his mind racing as to what he should answer with. Osamu cannot know about what he had just read.
“I thought I did too, but turns out it was nothing,” comes his breathless response. “Don’t you dare go around telling people about this!”
Osamu gives him a funny look but wisely chooses not to comment any further. “I’m done looking through the non-fiction section so I came to find you. Are you still looking for anything?”
Atsumu would never admit to it, but he was still reeling from his accidental discovery. It must be apparent on his face that he’s in no mood to stay further in the library, for Osamu follows up his question with a simple “nevermind, let’s go home.”
A few days pass without fanfare and Atsumu is beginning to think he is going insane.
On one hand, he’s desperately trying to convince himself that there is a reason why the book he read in the library is in the section labelled myths and legends, but on the other, a traitorous part of his mind is whispering about how it wouldn’t hurt anyone if he started recording down every single strange that Osamu has ever done so that he can cross-reference to what he dubs ‘The List’, which is now permanently burned into his brain.
He wouldn’t go so far as to call himself superstitious, but there are just some things about Osamu’s behaviour that cannot be logically explained. If anything, the list he’s making should only serve to disprove the silly notion that Osamu isn’t human, right?
So he starts the task of figuring this mystery out. He perversely catalogues every single sign and instance of Osamu’s unnatural behaviour, just so he can fiercely prove to himself that there is nothing wrong with his twin. It helps that they spend all their waking hours together, with Osamu wordlessly following Atsumu around in their daily activities, giving Atsumu plenty of opportunities to observe him.
Unfortunately, the list only proves that everything is indeed wrong with Osamu. It goes a little like this:
- We’re identical twins, but his eyes are a different colour from mine and there is a greyish tint to his brown hair.
- When I asked Ma why she gave me a stiff smile and told me to stop imagining things. I think she’s the one imagining things.
- He stares at the forest far more than the average person.
- One time I caught him whispering to some bees on a flower in the garden. He immediately stopped and denied this when I asked him what he was doing.
- He either doesn’t speak at all or only speaks in full proper sentences.
- Our teachers often complain to Ma and Pa that he doesn’t talk at all in class but he actually speaks a lot to me when we’re alone?
- He hates iron and will do anything to avoid coming into contact with it. When questioned he said it makes him feel uncomfortable.
- Is it even possible for people to be allergic to iron?
- The List says that this is the most conclusive sign of identifying one of the Fae.
Atsumu is pretty sure Osamu knows he is being constantly scrutinised, yet he lets Atsumu play detective regardless, as if he’s humouring him. It just makes Atsumu even more determined to get down to the bottom of this mystery.
Atsumu would like to say that he’s compared the list he made for Osamu to The List at least five times and he panics a little more each time he realises they correspond perfectly. And as some wise man in a trench coat he once saw on television said: “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”
But Atsumu still can’t accept it. Acknowledging that Osamu is a changeling raises far too many questions about the existence of the mythical and fantastical world, like the Fae and whether or not they have magic. Or elves. Or goblins. So he decides that he’s going to gather up his courage and test out his hypothesis first before confronting Osamu about anything. He doesn’t want to seem like a lunatic in front of his twin; he’ll never hear the end of it from Osamu, and the last thing he wants is for gossip about how a very mature and grown-up thirteen year old like him is still a firm believer of fairy tales to spread in their town.
He surreptitiously arms himself with their fireplace poker and sneaks up to their shared bedroom. If the poker really is made of iron like it claims it is, Osamu will definitely have a reaction to it provided that he’s an actual changeling. If not… Well, Atsumu isn’t sure how he’s going to justify poking his twin with a dangerous stick either. Just as he is about to enter their room and demand that Osamu hold out his arm for a science experiment, Osamu himself pipes up beside him. He almost drops the poker in fear as Osamu’s warm breath fans over his right ear. Since when did he appear next to him?
“Silly Tsumu. I bet you were going to ambush me with the iron and see if I burn. You could have just asked me, you know? I know you’ve been watching me, and I would have told you everything you wanted to know. Or perhaps,” Osamu whispers, sounding oddly thoughtful, “you’re scared of finding out the truth, so you try to delay it as much as possible.”
Atsumu is too stunned by Osamu’s uncanny words to reply, no snarky comeback on the tip of his tongue. His grip on the poker tightens and he whirls around to meet Osamu’s disinterested gaze. “So it’s true—”
“Put the poker back first. Then we can talk.” Osamu’s tone leaves no room for argument, a stark contrast to the way he usually indulges Atsumu with slight exasperation.
After Atsumu is done, he finds Osamu leaning back against his beanbag chair in their room, arms crossed expectantly.
“Do Ma and Pa know?” Atsumu croaks out from the doorway, afraid and hesitant to approach his twin who’s really not his twin.
Osamu must have noticed this for he looks up sharply and straight into Atsumu’s eyes. There’s something strangely entrancing about them, Atsumu thinks distractedly as he stares back. Any fear he previously felt is slowly melting away the longer he looks back. He’s—not afraid. He can no longer think of any reason why he should be.
“Won’t you sit back down first?” The voice Atsumu is now hearing drips pleasantly like honey.
Right, right, he really should. He can’t remember why he was afraid in the first place, how silly of him! He allows himself to relax and plops down onto his bed. Osamu looks away, and Atsumu is left with a strange feeling that something has just happened, because his head feels like it’s stuffed with cotton wool and he only vaguely remembers walking to and sitting on his bed. He rationalises that he must have zoned out or something, body functioning on autopilot after such a big shock, and with a vigorous shake of his head these thoughts too evaporate into the air, never to be recovered again.
“Of course they know,” Osamu finally answers, like he was deliberating his answer. “You were supposed to be an only child. They weren’t expecting another to pop out of nowhere.”
Astumu is not sure what he’s supposed to feel regarding this information. On one hand he’s relieved that he has gotten confirmation for something he’s suspected for a while but never knew how to label, but on the other, what do you do when your twin tells you he’s not so much your twin as an imposter doppelganger not of this world, unceremoniously left and abandoned in your household?
“Wait, so you’re not a changeling right? Because there’s no one you’re replacing. You’re just, like, my adoptive brother who’s one of the Fae.”
A strange look flits across Osamu’s face, one that Atsumu only catches the tail end of, before his expression smoothens over and he smiles, probably at the fact that Atsumu got it right. Atsumu is certain the strange indecipherable look doesn’t mean anything; Osamu is probably just unused to hearing himself be called an adoptive brother. He decides then and there that nothing about his relationship with Osamu and the way they interact with each other need to change. They’ve been each other’s best friend since forever and there is no need for him to lose the only friend he has left just because his brother is not a biological one but an adoptive one. The questions are much more forthcoming now that his shock is wearing off and they bubble to his lips.
“How did you find out if no one told you? Are we even the same age? Do you have magic, is that why you look just like me although we’re not related? What about that time you were speaking to the bees can you teach me—”
Osamu sighs loudly to cut his ramblings off. It’s such a characteristic move of his that Atsumu can’t help but let out a laugh. This is indeed still his twin; all the tension in the room immediately dissipates.
“Alright, alright,” Osamu says. “Let’s go to the garden. I’ll tell you more, yeah?”
The two of them find themselves there in no time and settle onto a patch of grass in the middle of the garden, with Atsumu sprawled out flat on the ground watching the clouds drift by overhead and Osamu sitting cross-legged. A few curious bumblebees soon nestle themselves into Osamu’s hair and Atsumu listens intently as his twin’s lips move around words in a language he doesn’t recognise. After a few moments a sole brave bumblebee shyly flies over and lands on the tip of his own nose. Atsumu giggles, tickled by its fuzzy little body. He glances over. Osamu’s expression is neutral like how it is most of the time, but from the slight narrowing of his eyes, Atsumu knows he’s deep in thought.
“I realised it when we were four,” Osamu starts. “Not sure if you’ve ever noticed but Ma and Pa have always treated me differently. Like they’re scared of upsetting me.”
Atsumu thinks over what he’s hearing. He does recall how their parents seem unusually tense whenever they have to interact with Osamu alone, although they do try to cover it up with smiles and laughter that don’t always come out quite right. They’re getting better at it though, sounding less and less nervous and more and more relaxed. There’s also the fact that Osamu always gets off way more leniently than him whenever they both get into trouble, which he always chalked up to them being worried over Osamu’s stunted emotional development or something. He does remember wondering why they were so concerned about it when he was younger.
Huh. All this while and he’s never suspected a thing. Now, he finally knows it’s because his parents have known that Osamu was a changeling all along, hence their different, more cautious treatment of him. It all makes sense now.
“It’s not like there’s any reason for them to be scared anyway,” Osamu continues. “Who knows. Maybe they’re worried one day I’ll steal you away into the Otherworld. Not that I will.”
“The Otherworld?”
“The realm of the Fae. There’s a passage leading there somewhere in this forest.”
Atsumu is struck with the sudden realisation that Osamu can probably go to places he will never see for himself. What if he gets bored of him and leaves? Alarmed, he sits upright and frowns. The bumblebee, frightened by the sudden action, floats away onto a nearby daffodil.
“Are you planning to leave me? Is that why you keep staring at it?” He demands.
“Of course I’m not leaving! I’m perfectly happy here.” Osamu shoots him a look that reads you’re so stupid. “There’s really not much to this whole changeling thing, so quit thinking so hard about it and save your brain cells for something else.”
The jab has Atsumu squawking in faux indignation, but a smile dances on his lips. See, he tells himself fiercely. Things don’t have to be different just because Osamu is one of the Fae. That's unimportant. He’s still the same person. Feeling reassured, Atsumu sinks back onto the loamy soil and Osamu joins in beside him. They lapse into a comfortable silence. The grass is impossibly soft and the sky is impossibly blue. Atsumu feels an urge to capture this moment in time forever. Them, brothers forever.
Later that night, they stand side by side, facing the big standing mirror located in the hallway. Their father is at the kitchen table nursing a cup of coffee, while their mother is upstairs taking a nap. From those vantage points, none of them can see what the twins are doing.
“Try again. God no that’s terrifying, you look like one of those crazy serial killers right now. Can you crinkle your eyes a little and stop stretching your mouth so widely? Like this,” and Atsumu demonstrates.
Osamu gives him an unimpressed look through his reflection in the mirror.
“You make it sound so easy,” he retorts, but does as instructed anyway. His face looks more like a painful grimace than a smile, but well… at least he put in the effort.
They are helping Osamu to practise his facial expressions, as per Atsumu’s insistence, so that he stops getting uneasy looks when he tries to emote in front of their parents. Emphasis on tries. Atsumu has no idea what emotions Osamu can even feel or how intensely he feels them, but he’s doing such a piss poor job at expressing them in a way that won’t alarm people that Atsumu is not sure if he wants to find out.
Osamu has always been difficult to read, irritatingly calm and collected most of the time, a refreshing counterpoint to Atsumu’s rash burning brilliance, but it is precisely because of this trait that Atsumu appreciates him all the more. There’s a deep steadiness to him that makes Atsumu feel steady too.
“Better,” says Atsumu after a moment of consideration. “You should practise smiling more though. Sooner or later it’ll feel like second nature to you.”
“And what would you know,” Osamu replies dryly, but Atsumu is already moving on and contemplating which emotion they should try out next.
He decides on surprise, a relatively common and easy one to imitate. He tries it out for himself first, pulling his eyebrows up and widening his eyes. A slight parting of the lips to maximise the effect of looking gobsmacked. Satisfied with what his mirror self is displaying, he flashes a silly grin at Osamu who is still watching him.
He restarts his task of explaining which facial muscles to work, this time on how to recreate an image of surprise: “so here’s what you need to do…”
Tuesday soon arrives and they go into the forest as planned. In hindsight it occurs to Atsumu that it may be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea to go into a Fae-infested forest without adult supervision, but then again Osamu is the one who thinks things through carefully between them. And Osamu is the one who came up with the idea and suggested that they do it, although this was before what Atsumu now calls The Big Reveal, but Atsumu trusts Osamu with his life, so he’s sure they’ll be fine. His brother has done so much for him over the years; from giving Atsumu extra food from his plate to comforting him after he gets a nightmare, he’s done it all. There’s really no need to worry about going into the creepy forest at all if Osamu says it’s safe.
The forest is separated from their house by a mere hedge and a back gate at the edge of their garden. In the morning light all the inanimate trees and spaces, conspiratorial at night, have become a toy set of innocence, sapped of intentionality. The twins unhook the latch and begin heading towards their destination. Atsumu especially is excited to go frolicking in the woods and check out the various cool things that one can apparently spot in there, like those foxes Osamu promised would be there.
However, the forest is nothing like he had imagined it to be. Its exterior image gives an impression of a light-filled space, but in reality the interior of the forest is unsettlingly dim and darkens the deeper they go. The air in the densely-populated and shady undergrowth feels still and stale, and not a single breeze of wind passes them by. There is the sense that the entire place seems to be holding its breath, like the calm before the storm.
Thinking about rain and storms, Atsumu looks up. The crowns of the trees have completely covered the sky, and all that he can see is leaves stretching out in every direction. He tries to distract himself from the mounting feeling of fear by keeping a lookout for any signs of small creatures on the forest floor, but this is a futile exercise for the forest has been entirely devoid of life since they stepped foot into it. He just doesn’t understand. He’d been promised a fun day of birdwatching and animal spotting even by his parents so where are they—
—He almost jumps back. Up ahead, on a low-hanging branch, a crow has fixated its beady little onyx eyes on him.
He swears it wasn’t there a moment ago.
Beside him, Osamu is a perfect still picture of serenity, seemingly oblivious as to the unnerving things happening around them. Atsumu gulps, feeling very out of his element. How come Osamu is so calm while he’s freaking out? He’s convinced that a forest should not be this silent, but seeing how unfazed his twin is, he decides to keep his opinions to himself and bravely forges on ahead.
Another few minutes of purposeless wandering later he can take it no more. Ever since that first crow appeared, more and more of them have joined in, popping out of nowhere and converging on the branches around them. He distinctly recalls that crows have always been bad omens in fantasy stories and he can’t shake off the feeling that there are eyes on him everywhere in this forest, eyes that don’t just belong to the crows. Nerves jangled and high-strung, he turns to Osamu and voices out what is plaguing him.
“Is it just me, or are we being watched?”
Osamu gives him an unreadable look.
“You’re imagining things.” He replies shortly. “There’s literally nothing around us, what are you talking about?”
“Are you not seeing the crows? They’re right there—” Atsumu cries, before cutting himself short.
The crows are not there and they’re all alone again. Except it’s not really possible for a murder of crows to disappear into thin air, is it? So what’s happening? Has he been hallucinating this whole time? Is he becoming delusional from fear?
Osamu is beginning to get concerned, eyebrows pinching into a frown as he watches Atsumu’s lips start to wobble. He sighs.
“Look, how about we go back,” he says placatingly. “We can come back another day to find the foxes when the weather is better. It does look like it’s about to rain.”
Atsumu is too upset and close to a breakdown to verbally reply, so he nods instead in assent and turns back on the spot. The only thing that’s stopping him from running back home is his pride and dignity; he can’t have Osamu realising that he’s currently terrified out of his mind. Again, it strikes him how glad he is to have his brother with him, a solid, reassuring presence by his side. They briskly walk back in the direction they came from, retracing their steps imprinted on the forest floor. Their surroundings are already beginning to lighten slightly; Atsumu takes it as a good sign that they’re getting closer and closer to the forest edge, and back into their house where his fear can no longer haunt him.
The crows are completely gone as well, ceasing to show up when he expects them to. It’s great, really, and he’s feeling better and better by the second. Maybe Osamu was right after all and he was just imagining things; perhaps he didn’t sleep well last night? He turns to his left and opens his mouth to tell Osamu that they can come back here tomorrow—
—Only to find Osamu gone. All progress he had just made in calming down is instantly erased and paralysing fear slams back into him full force.
Rooted to the spot and too afraid to move lest he loses his way or his twin, he tries rubbing his eyes, hoping that will bring Osamu back.
It doesn’t.
He can’t hear anything that would suggest Osamu’s footsteps anywhere near him; it is just him and the sound of his own heavy breathing, as if Osamu was never there in the first place. He just barely stops himself from hyperventilating, knowing that nothing good will come out of giving in to panic. He considers his immediate environment again. There is now a spine-tingling electric feeling in the air and pressure in his ears that he didn’t notice before, too caught up as he was in his own thoughts.
With a sharp intake of air he steels himself, and almost screams when he turns around to find a little clearing that was not there a minute ago, complete with the outlines of two blurry humanoid figures perched on a large rock. He blinks and suddenly their faces are clear to him, but he’s sure that something’s off and not quite right about how they look—and then Atsumu isn't really aware of them doing anything, but suddenly the shadows in their faces are less stark, less predatory, the features more balanced in a way that doesn't make his spine tense.
Now he knows for certain that he is in the presence of two of the Fae, and this only alarms him even more. He’s completely in the dark regarding the etiquette involved in appropriately greeting the Fae without accidentally promising them his firstborn, or agreeing to marry them, or inducing a terrible offence that will get his family cursed for ten generations. But running away is also not an option, because he doesn’t want to risk their ire and provoke them into attacking him or something.
He really just wishes Osamu would reappear soon.
The faeries—Atsumu doesn’t quite know what to call them—had tilted their heads to the side and are now scrutinising him with their glittering jewel eyes.
“You really do look just like him.” The one on the right with round eyebrows and hair framing his face like a halo of honey giggles, voice tinkling like bells. “Identical twins! Humans never cease to amaze me.”
His companion with glossy dark hair rolls his eyes, almost fondly, before speaking.
“Anyway, we finally managed to get the pesky changeling out of the way to have a private word with you.” His eyes flicker lazily over Atsumu who’s still frozen where he is like a deer caught in headlights. “When you see your twin again, tell him that he should consider his debt repaid as long as he visits us from time to time. That’s all.”
Round eyebrows grins, but to Atsumu it looks more like a baring of teeth. “You can come and see us with him too!”
Atsumu is stupefied and at a loss for words. His fear has ebbed away slightly now that he has ascertained that these Fae are not out for his blood, but his confusion is increasing by the second. Who are they and since when has Osamu met them? What is this debt they’re talking about? But he’s too afraid to ask, so he nods vigorously instead, hoping they’d end the conversation there and leave. He has a brother to find after all.
They tut disapprovingly at something in his expression.
“The changeling has him totally fooled. I’m actually impressed,” the dark-haired one says, then in a flash of bright light that Atsumu instinctively shies away from, he finds that they are gone and that the clearing has disappeared along with them.
But in their place are the awful crows again, staring menacingly from the branches. Alarm bells ring in his head. He places a foot in front of the other, then another, hoping to inch away from them without triggering them to take flight, because those claws of theirs look lethally sharp and he did not come into the forest today to get mauled by them.
Unfortunately it was for nought. He lets out a shrill shriek as they suddenly start swarming towards him without warning.
This really is his final straw. He scrambles for purchase and sprints away for dear life knowing that the crows are hot on his heels, adrenaline fueling him. His only consideration is getting out of the forest. Finding Osamu can wait after he’s out of imminent peril. He swears to himself that he is never coming back to this godforsaken place as he tears through the undergrowth. He has a strange feeling that he’s somehow being herded out of the forest by the crows, their raucous cawing and flapping of wings forcing him to travel in the opposite direction from where he originally intended to go, but this is such a ridiculous thought that he brushes it off almost immediately.
Up ahead, he can gradually see the hedge of their garden come into view in the distance, and he has never been so glad to see such a sight before. With a final burst of energy he crosses the boundary between forest and civilisation, and collapses onto the ground next to the exterior of the garden hedge, panting like a drowning man gasping for air.
He stays curled up in a fetal position for the next few minutes until his breathing evens out, too exhausted to move or to laugh hysterically at the fact that the crows have dematerialised once again. At least he’s out of nightmare land now. The worst is over; there’s just one last thing to do.
“Samu?” He calls out weakly before trying again, much louder this time. “Samu! You better get out from where you’re hiding right now. It’s not funny to scare me like this! Samu—”
An unexpected gust of strong wind suddenly blows past him and threatens to bowl him over. He teeters for a moment and almost topples over before regaining his balance. There is the distinct sound of something crashing through branches while this happens, and when he looks back up, his twin is standing at the edge of the forest, looking every bit as shaken and roughed up as he is, thorns and brambles stuck to his clothes that look markedly different from what he left the house with this morning.
“Tsumu,” Osamu breathes out, eyes shining and wide as saucers. “I’m finally back. I’m finally back home.”
Atsumu jubilantly disregards the clothes.
“Samu,” he says, relief flooding his voice. “Don’t you ever do that to me again!” He can feel the waterworks waiting to happen. “I-I was so scared and alone and terrified after you disappeared! Then I met two of the super creepy Fae and a bunch of crows chased after me! I almost died!”
“Yeah?” Osamu laughs brightly. “Tell me about it later. Let’s go back into the house first.”
Atsumu feels the tension slide off his shoulders as he dips his head in agreement. His brother is back, and all is well again. He prepares to turn around and lead the way back in, past the garden gates. Then he hears an eerily familiar voice that isn’t coming from the Osamu in front of him and freezes. A few trees away, another Osamu has burst onto the scene, covered in scrapes and bruises, eyes alight with animosity at the sight of his doppelganger.
“You,” he snarls. “You’re dead. You’re going to wish you never escaped the Otherworld.” Then his fierce gaze softens slightly as it lands on Atsumu. “Tsumu, get away from him now!”
The warmth that was trickling through Atsumu’s veins has frozen over into icy shards that claw at him from the inside out. He looks on with growing horror and takes an involuntary step backward, all the while muttering to no one in particular. “No, no, no, this can’t be. What the fuck. What the fuck.”
The Osamu nearer to him, the first one that had appeared, now wears a grim expression on his face. “Man, I was really hoping he’d be stuck in the forest forever,” he says as if commenting on the weather. “This is going to get ugly, Tsumu. You should look away.”
“What? No. Stop, the both of you.” Atsumu snaps, the sudden fury igniting within him making him quiver with its sheer intensity. “Someone had better start explaining to me what is going on. Now!”
Without missing a beat, the Osamu farther away immediately seizes the opportunity to speak: “He’s dangerous, he’s got magic and he’s not afraid to use it. Don’t listen to anything he says. I’m the one you grew up with. He purposely separated us in the forest and he’ll separate us forever if you trust his words,” he hisses. “I’m going to skin him alive once I get my hands on him and make him die a violent death. Don't worry though, I’d never hurt you.”
He finishes with a smile directed towards Atsumu, but his eyes are sharp and sharper are the teeth that he shows.
“You liar,” nearer Osamu counters heatedly with just as much vitriol. “You were the one tricked me into making a deal with you all those years ago and then abandoned me in the Otherworld. And now Tsumu doesn’t remember me at all because of what you’ve done to mess up his memories!”
Other Osamu snorts, a harsh ugly sound. “Are you hearing yourself? You sound absolutely ridiculous. And you’re calling me the liar here? We all know that the Fae cannot lie.”
“But greatly skilled in all manners of trickery and deception, things that can be accomplished without lying. Admit it, you never intended to keep your end of the bargain to bring me back, so how does it feel to see me again?”
The two Osamus have begun circling each other now, completely disregarding Atsumu who is now shaking like a leaf a distance away, unable to wrap his mind around what he’s hearing. Just last week Osamu had confirmed that he was adopted into the Miya family after his Fae parents abandoned him on their doorstep, but now this other Osamu is claiming that he was conned into the Otherworld and replaced by an imposter. Who’s telling the truth? His head hurts.
Wait, but didn’t just one of them say that the Fae cannot lie? That means last week’s Osamu was telling the truth—but then again he didn’t explicitly say anything along the lines of “I was adopted into our family” or “mum and dad know that I am one of the Fae”. Atsumu was the one conjecturing and Osamu had just let him continue without any corrections. Oh god, does that mean the original Osamu was deceiving him about being adopted? Do their parents actually know about him being one of the Fae? But what if he’s really telling the truth instead and this new Osamu is actually trying to trick Atsumu into something evil and dangerous? All these mental gymnastics are making Atsumu’s head spin, so he refocuses on the two Osamus before him.
Dread instantly shoots up his spine. They’re interlocked now and there’s something animalistic about the way the two of them fight: wrestling and grappling and swinging and rolling over so much that he can no longer tell who’s who. They’re completely identical in appearance and the sight of them tangled together is so disconcerting that it sends another wave of dizziness throbbing through Atsumu’s head. Then he smells ozone and starts seeing bright pinpricks of light and literal sparks flying, the both of them furiously wielding magic to gain the upper hand; at one point he’s convinced that one of them has summoned a mini tornado while the other is trying to bury his opponent alive with a dense mound of soil.
Atsumu wants to do something to stop the conflict that appears to be escalating in lethality, but he’s terrified out of his mind by the raw display of power he’s witnessing so he remains immobile, crouched on the ground and trying to avoid getting hit by flying debris. What can he do in this situation anyway? Trust and pick one Osamu over the other while yelling for them to stop fighting and hoping that no one gets killed?
As it turns out, they decide for him.
The Osamu that was at the bottom and underneath the other but who is now on top finally manages to pin his identical counterpart onto the side of a tree. A few whispered somethings in the same language that the Osamu last week had used to communicate with the bees later, he lets go and steps back. Calm and quiet has returned to the area again now that their fight has ended; the other Osamu is bound and gagged by shimmery gossamer-looking threads and struggles futilely against his restraints, glaring daggers at his identical counterpart all the while.
“Don’t worry Tsumu, it’s almost over!” The Osamu that isn’t bound to the tree calls over his shoulders cheerfully. “You should really look away now. It’s going to get very ugly.”
As if on cue, the sky above them cracks open with a mighty clap of thunder and the bright light that precedes a lightning strike. Atsumu is never going to forget what happens next, the image searing itself forever into his brain and giving him nightmares for years to come.
The Osamu tied to the tree is backlit and incandescent with white light. He gazes straight into Atsumu’s eyes and smiles a haunting little smile, blood dripping down his split lips as the flames consume him whole and swallow him out of sight.
It is over in less than a second. All that’s left of that Osamu is a scorch mark where he once stood.
Atsumu lets out a garbled, strangled sob, one muffled by the roaring of the rain pouring down over them in thick sheets. Both he and the ground are now soaking wet, so he sinks to his knees without a care in the world and buries his head in his palms. He tries to cease his shivering. And while he’s barely holding himself together, he thinks he hears a clearing of the throat.
“So,” the only remaining Osamu says thoughtfully. “Would you like to go back into the house now?”