a/n warning this sucks I'm sry and it's long and it is has been written so badly with varying degrees of ability because this is actually something I started like way last year when I was like 14 and even the stories I've written when I was 13 have better pacing than this *sweats*
I can't write fantasy without making it really shitty and what's worse is that this is somehow super long and I haven't I don't even intentionally? usually when I try making something more than 1,000 words it's like the poison for kuzco. the poison chosen specially to kill kuzco. kuzco's poison. and then you add a really bad incestuous plot twist in the background that's like nononononono it's like all the horrible other things I've written that have exceeded more than 1,000 words aghghghghhghhghhgggh (you see how I work now?)
I hope I turned you off now before you waste you're life reading the biggest cancer like I even went to the effort of doing an author's note at the beginning of the story
This isn't how it's supposed to be.
His sister's once lively and vibrant eyes—filled with tears of pain and despair. Her glowing, rosy skin is now the colour of death. No longer are her plump lips curved up into her cheeky grin—they're now lines, just moving, gasping and hoping for life—life that he can't just simply give. The boy lets out a cry of loss, bowing over her, reaching out to pull her close to his chest.
No. He can't lose her. He can't. She's his. She's his sister and his sister can't die. They don't die. So why… why…?
Blood stains his fingertips. Its metallic smell hits his nose and his insides cringe. He wants to scream, he wants to puke, he wants to purge of every sin inside his body. He's gross. He's disgusting. He should die. Why… why did he…?
The boy presses his lips against her forehead and lays her back down on the blood-covered ground gently, smoothing his fingers through her golden, matted locks.
He watches as she takes her last breath—her last breath of life.
I'm sorry.
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heaven's crows
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"Rin! Rin, where are you?"
Her mother's voice rings out clear and resonant from the front porch. A blonde mop of hair emerges out of the garden on the sound of Rin's name been called. "Oh, there you are! I didn't see you. Lunch is ready, so you should come inside now and take a break," her mother, Lily, says, on seeing her daughter's head pop up. Rin nods briefly, patting off her dirt-stained dress and wiping the sweat from her face, dropping the spade onto the dirt. She stops to examine her work—she's planted several sunflower seeds, as well as roses and marigolds in hope they grow for her amusement. But they probably will die, since the weather is awful.
The girl gives a harrumph in triumph at her work, before quickly hurrying inside to her cosy home afore Lily appears again and gets upset. She doesn't notice her favourite ribbon dropping from her golden locks and disappearing amongst the luminescent blades of grass.
A hand quickly reaches out and retrieves it, unnoticed.
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Her crystalline blue eyes search the grey sky outside the window. Honeyama never has sunny, blue skies or nice, warm, summer weather. It's just cold, grey and cloudy. And white in the winter.
Rin's shoulder is prodded by one of her friend's fingers. "Rin? Hey, Rin?" one, Miku, nags. Rin turns her head slowly to face her friends, blinking her eyes sleepily. They seem to all stare at her, wondering why she isn't being so sociable and contributing to their gossip session.
"Mm?" she replies.
Miku twists a strand of teal hair around her finger, glancing back at her other friends gingerly. "Have you heard of Karasushounen?" she asks.
Rin tilts her head. "Karasushounen? Hmm, no…"
Her friends' mouths drop open. "Really? I thought you would've, since you live closest to Hane Forest…" another friend, Luka, reasons while frowning, "…and apparently Karasushounen hides there."
"Who is he?" Rin queries, quirking an eyebrow, disinterested. "What's so important about him? Is he best friends with crows or something?"
Her friends shake their heads simultaneously. "It's rumoured that he's cursed… He's a cursed boy with wings… He's immortal—lives forever—and apparently raped and killed his sister," Miki mentions. "Whoever goes into that forest alone, he goes absolutely skitzo and eats their brains. And sometimes rapes them if they look like his sister."
Rin can't help but force out a laugh of amusement and disbelief. It sounds like one of those scary stories you tell when you're at sleepovers, trying to scare the living daylights out of their friends. Additionally, Miki tends to exaggerate things too much anyway… and this 'Karasushounen', she's never heard of him—or seen him—and she's supposedly gone past the border of Hane Forest before. Miku, Luka and Miki all frown.
"You guys… That sounds a bit too much of a tall tale. If there was such thing as him, I'm pretty sure he doesn't eat people's brains. It's impossible for human's to have wings, anyway." She smiles dismissively at her friends, who shake their heads at her furiously in disagreement.
"No way! There have been sightings of him and everything! There are even records of him being alive—his sister, too—and apparently, they're– uh, he's the last of their kind, 'winged people' or Alati," Miku argues. "Seriously, go to the library—they have heaps of books on that stuff."
Rin shrugs her shoulders. She finds it weird everyone else knows about this thing… but her. "Fine, I will." Psh, it's probably like, those fake documentary kind of things—similar to what they do with fairies and all that stuff…
And she does go to the library eventually, because if she doesn't her friends will chuck a hissy fit.
She finds herself immersed in books of books, reading away in the library on Friday afternoon. Maybe she's ignorant or just plain stupid for not hearing of these 'Alati' people; because there's so much information about this kind… it's hardly believable. Fake documents or not—the books are filled with photographs, diagrams, interviews, scientific explanations and paragraphs and paragraphs of the Alati and she finds herself staying until six o'clock, when she finally gets kicked out of the library because it has to close.
The walk home is brief and quiet, since Honeyama is such a small town. It's relaxing in a way, and Rin likes it—she likes the quietness and cosiness of it all. It's much more relieving, as opposed to the frantic streets of Tokyo or Osaka.
When Rin approaches up the stairs of the front porch of her house, she notices something white tied around the railing, gently fluttering in the breeze. Her fingers reach out and grab it, before she recognises the white ribbon she lost on the weekend. Strange. She doesn't remember tying it around the railing… and how could she have not noticed that before?
Ignoring the confusion, she sidles inside, with an eerie feeling that someone—or something—is watching her.
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Rin's asked and asked about him, she wants to know who he is—if he's really 'so bad'. Maybe he's just lonely. Maybe it's all a misunderstanding.
For one, he apparently has blonde hair and piercing blue eyes—he's attractive, very attractive—which is what deceptively lures people into the forest. His twin sister's body was found by a traveller—apparently she had been stabbed multiple times. And she was naked. (Maybe Alati don't have clothes?) Their parents were murdered in the Alati Revolt seventy years ago—which has been covered by the government to try and supress people from finding out information about them. Both siblings had changed their names after that and had taken refuge in Hane Forest to hide away from humans, fearing they'd both be killed. Rin can't help but feel sorry for them.
—For him. He's must get… so lonesome.
She wants to find him. She's fascinated. But he hasn't been sighted in five years—and there are more rumours saying that he was captured and murdered, or he committed suicide. But something tells her he hasn't. He's still alive—just hiding for his own safety. She's determined to catch him once—to meet him. Not because she wants to get raped, though—hopefully she looks ugly enough it's the last thought on his mind.
Rin finds herself venturing closer and closer to Hane Forest every day as she walks home from school, hoping she can get a glimpse of him—or find evidence of his presence, like the supposed shimmering, white feather from his wings.
At the same time, she notices her flowers are growing—weirdly enough, considering it's been cloudy for at least a month straight. Maybe there are some magical nutrients in the soil. Or maybe something else is allowing them to grow.
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Her feet are sitting just on the border, about to step in. She hesitates. It's still dangerous, going into Hane Forest alone. There are other things, besides Karasushounen, that can harm her (not saying that Karasushounen would harm her, it just might be a bunch of poppycock)—for example, snakes or spiders... And she doesn't need another lecture from her mother to avoid entering the forest—that's if, she comes out alive again, anyway.
Rin sucks in a breath and strides into the woodland, immersing herself into the tall trees and earthy smell. Her hands are clammy and her stomach is fluttering nervously. Her deep, azure eyes flit across her surroundings for any trouble as she progresses cautiously. Soon, the opening of the forest is gone, and it's just her—alone, in the forest—with the creepy-crawlies and god-knows-what else. A few leaves rustle nearby and she jumps, whipping her head around to see it's just a lizard. She breathes a sigh of relief she didn't realise she had been holding.
Eventually, her legs grow tired and she stops, crouching down. She doesn't know where she is—or what she's doing—and she's lost. She's lost. Great. She'll probably die here. Just what she wished for. Man, she never gets her motives or anything such.
Rin finds her eyes pooling with tears and she whimpers, wiping her face quickly with her sleeve. What has she gotten herself into? This is pointless. Alati and Karasushounen don't exist—and everything she's read or ever heard of is a big load of bull. As if people have wings, for god's sake!
She pulls herself together and stands up, clenching her fists. She's read about survival instincts before—like when she's lost—and apparently she's supposed to get to high ground so she can find the nearest exit. Her eyes fall on a very branchy tree nearby and she nods, as if approving it, before progressing towards it hastily.
Climbing trees has been something Rin has never bothered taking an interest in—mainly because she suffers from a phobia of falling and bugs—but her life is in danger, so she needs to do it… or else.
Just as she wraps her arms around the lowest branch in reach and hoists herself up, the sound of movement from behind her makes her pause. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice remarks from behind her and she frets, quickly dropping—almost falling—from the branch, turning to see a boy with blue hair standing behind her.
Her blood runs cold when she notices the scar running across his cheek—and the pure white wings on his back.
Could he be…?
Rin flushes. "W-w-what–" she stutters, "W-who are you? And why n-not?" She finds herself backing up against the tree's trunk, her heart pounding in her chest.
The blue-haired boy stares, frowning. "Well, firstly, you were about to face-plant the bees nest above. And secondly, he would probably get upset if he saw you climbing that."
She notices that he didn't answer her first question. Not that it was very important, but… "U-oh… who's 'he'?" she asks in a small voice.
"Well, it depends on what you're asking," the boy states. "Are you asking for his name or who he is?"
"Isn't that the same thing?" Rin squeaks.
He scowls. "No."
"Uh…" Rin can't help but feel stupid. "Then… what's his name?"
"Len."
"Oh." She looks down at her feet, wondering why that name sounds so familiar. "Um… is he… is he like you? An Alati?"
The boy sighs impatiently. "Do idiotic humans like you come into the forest often?"
She tries her best not to look offended, rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably. "No… they're all scared of… uh…" Her voice grows quiet, "They're scared of their brains being eaten by … uh, Karasushounen." When she looks back up at the boy, his eyes have gone wide and his skin has grown pale. Rin frowns. "Um, do you know Karasushounen?"
Her question is left unanswered. The blue-haired male backs away slowly and at the same time, there's movement in Rin's peripheral vision. She turns her head just to see another boy—only slightly taller than her, with light, flaxen hair and sharp sapphire eyes—and he has wings. He has wings—large and beautiful, white wings—that stretch out from his backbone and span out, curling around the top half of his body defensively. Her stomach drops. Long, dark lashes flicker to her as she gasps, but they quickly refocus on the other boy.
It's him… it has to be him.
'Karasushounen' parts his lips to speak and asks, "Kaito, why is she here…?"
Shivers run down Rin's spine. His voice is mellifluous—beautiful and mysterious.
'Kaito' swallows. "She… she came in here by herself. She was about to climb that tree when I stopped her."
"That's a stupid reason," the boy states bluntly, glancing over at Rin again and studying her carefully, "Why are you here, if I'm supposedly to eat people's brains?" He had heard the last part of their conversation. So he is Karasushounen.
Rin struggles to find a voice. "I-I-I… was curious… and stupid…" She adds mentally, 'Please don't hurt me.'
Karasushounen—Len—stays silent, still scrutinising her. His penetrating gaze makes her feel as if she's being seen naked—like he's reading every thought, every memory, every feeling that's a part of her at this moment. Kaito clears his throat awkwardly. "Len, do you know her?" he asks into the silence.
Len moves his gaze from Rin, frowning. "I know her, yes, she lives by the forest. I don't think she's harmful to us. Look at her; she's trembling like a frightened puppy." He gestures to her arms and Rin blushes, biting her bottom lip. Should she run? They seem to be talking about her like she's their dinner. And Rin… would prefer not to be anyone's dinner. Not tonight, anyway.
Kaito nods slowly. "Do you want me to take her back to the forest exit?"
The blonde boy's gaze hardens. "No, I'll do it myself. Just check the forest perimeter for me, if possible, and call the others in." 'There are others…?' Rin wonders, widening her eyes slightly. The other boy nods again and disappears almost instantly, leaving Rin slightly confused.
The two teenagers stand together in a silence as the trees about them rustle. It's grown dark—and Rin wonders if her mother is looking for her. Will she even see her mother again? Should she trust this strange 'Len' boy, rumoured for being a murderer and a rapist, as he wants to escort her from the forest? She frowns, rubbing her arms. The hairs on the back of her neck prickle and she grows anxious, the butterflies in her stomach increasing.
"Are you alright?" It's his voice again—softer in tone from the last time he spoke. She turns to see he's moved closer, but still keeping a reasonable distance from her, while gazing at her with a concerned look in his eyes. "Did he say or do anything to you?"
Rin shakes her head. "I-I'm fine," she squeaks. "Just… I'm in trouble for doing this, aren't I?" The question slips from her mouth and her eyes widen, a deep shade of scarlet etching across her features. Len stares, a strange expression on his face.
"No. But I do not understand why you came here, if there are so many rumours about the threats in this forest. And your mother—she must have warned you about not coming here, no? The forest is dangerous to venture alone." A nostalgic expression flashes in his eyes, but it quickly disappears and he steps forward again, reaching out his hand for her to grasp. "And you don't even know your way around."
"I-I wanted to see… whether Alati existed or not. And I wanted to see… if you did, too," she replies, hesitantly placing her hand in his palm. He stares at her.
"Why, because I'm apparently the son of the devil?" he asks with a cold smile. It makes Rin regret saying anything.
She gapes a bit. "W-well, yes, but I wanted to know whether you were actually that bad or not, because…" She shrugs, feeling her ears turn red. "Because I'm interested in you," she splutters hastily, looking away. Len says nothing as he starts to lead her through the forest, weaving in and out of the trees.
"What makes me interesting?" he asks after a while.
Rin bites her lip. "Well… you have wings…" she points out awkwardly and the corners of his lips twitch. "And I didn't believe you were a murderer, or ate people's brains, or you raped and killed your sister, for the matter…"
He drops her hand like it's on fire and stops walking, snapping his head to her. His eyes are narrowed into slits, the blood draining from his face. "Raped and killed…" he whispers, "my sister…?"
Rin freezes, feeling her blood run cold. "I-it was a rumour. My friends were probably just exaggerating, but… there were reports that you had a sister, right?"
Len's jaw clenches. "Yes?"
"And she apparently died, am I right?" He nods stiffly, his eyes searching the ground below their feet, "Well, there was another report… that someone had found your sister's corpse naked –"
"I didn't rape her," he spits harshly. "I found her that way, moments before she died. Someone else had attacked her and taken advantage of her illness." Len shoots Rin a look that almost reads, 'You should know that.'
"She was ill?" Rin echoes in a small voice.
Len nods, not saying a word.
"So that's why…" Rin continues awkwardly, "People assumed you raped her or something."
Her words are followed by a great length of silence as Len starts to move again, his head bowed down. Rin can't help but feel guilt and regret. Maybe she should have just kept her mouth shut—or lied to him—for the better. She's startled out of her shame when Len starts to speak again. "I killed him," he mutters.
"K-killed who?" she asks, blanching.
Len lifts his gaze, a pained expression on his face. "I killed the man who hurt her in revenge out of pure anger in front of her," he states. "But that did not make me feel any better. What matters is that… I have his and her blood on my hands… and I have sinned. I sinned and I should die. I'm not worthy of white wings, or anything." His voice softens and he closes his eyes, allowing a few tears drip down his cheeks. Rin has the urge to hug him, but stays put, watching him quietly… because that would be really weird. "She saw me kill someone just before she died. She saw me with her very eyes. She must think I am disgusting, I am fowl. I am fowl."
Rin reaches out and touches his arm without thinking. He flinches slightly, like he felt a strange electrical spark rush between them. "She would have understood, wouldn't she? It would hurt so much… to lose someone you love…" she says gently. Len's eyes flicker to hers and they stare at each other in silence.
"Why do you have to pity me? Should you not be disgusted?" he asks.
She frowns. "Why would I be disgusted? That was the past, wasn't it? It's none of my business to judge."
"Yes…" he sighs, "But… I am disgusting. Can't you see it? The sin, tainting me?"
Rin blinks, scrutinising his features. "Well, if I can see it, sin must be pretty attractive." There she goes again; firing off stupid remarks with her mouth. She's an idiot.
Len's ears turn bright red—even she can see it in the moonlight—and he looks away, shaking his head. "She… the sin, even before that, it was there…"
She tilts her head. "Did you kill someone before then?" Rin asks innocently.
His dark, sapphire eyes narrow as he turns to her hastily and places a hand on her shoulder, gazing very intently into her eyes. "My love for her was immoral, Rin," he hisses. "I loved her wrongly and her death was my punishment."
Rin's mouth runs dry, but not because of the fact he just stated. "How do you know my name?" she asks, her voice going unusually high. She doesn't remember telling him anything about her…
Len's hand falls off her shoulder and he stops abruptly, ignoring her as he gazes into the distance. "There's the exit. You should go, because I believe your mother would have called the police by now… and we do not need them following into the forest after us."
Rin frowns. "O-okay. Thank you, er…"
"Len," he corrects, before hesitating. He hastily grabs her hand and lays a kiss on the tips of her fingers. "I know your name because I heard your mother calling it one day."
With that, Len drops her hand and disappears into the darkness, leaving her standing alone.
Her heart is beating strangely.
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Her thoughts seemed to be occupied with Len, keeping her from concentrating too much on the weekend. Strange, she knows. Being obsessed over a claimed serial killer with wings isn't the average thing a teenager like her should be interested in. But then again, he isn't really a serial killer… he's just a kid in mourning.
Her mum wasn't very impressed when she arrived at half-past seven—claiming to be on the verge of calling for the police. Rin had to fish out an excuse of losing track of time at the library and getting a snack from the convenience store; which wasn't the best, but she managed to get away with it, just scraping the surface of her tooth.
Rin finds herself doodling people with wings in Maths class on Monday. She sits at the back anyway—the teacher doesn't really take notice of her. And when class finishes, her friend Miku comes bounding over to try and stick her face into her business. Rin scrambles to cover up the page, blushing madly.
"Ooh, whatcha drawing there, Rinnie? Your boyfriend?" Miku asks, trying to tilt her head to see past Rin's hands.
"N-no," Rin stutters out, feeling as if her face is on fire.
Miku grins, nudging her as she closes the book hastily. "Who's the lucky guy?" she whispers, wiggling her eyebrows.
"There's no lucky guy!" Rin exclaims.
Miku pouts at Rin's embarrassment, following after the flustered blonde as she moves to her locker. "You're going to have to tell me someday, Rinnie," Miku says to her. "It's inevitable. Word gets around in this town quite quickly, I say." Her friend wiggles her eyebrows once again.
Rin bites her lips.
"For example, I heard you were late home on Friday," Miku continues. "You may say it's something different, but you were rendezvousing with your secret boyfriend, weren't you? Hitting the bedroom for some sexy fun?"
Rin almost laughs at Miku's absurd ideas. "Miku, I'm sixteen," she states.
"Exactly," Miku says. "Half of our grade has done the frick-frack, Rin."
Rin just shakes her head at Miku. That girl is something desperate.
Usually on Monday afternoons, Miku comes over to Rin's house or Rin goes over to Miku's house to hang out since neither of them has club on Monday. This week it's Rin's turn to have Miku over. Rin did want to do more research on Len and stuff, but she would feel bad turning down their traditional study session for that reason.
As they're passing the edge of Hane forest, it piques Miku's interest and she leans into to Rin, whispering, "So did you look up that stuff on Karasushounen?"
Rin frowns. "Yeah, a little," she says. "Why?"
"So what do you think?!" Miku asks, excited.
"I don't know, the documentaries in the library seemed ludicrous," Rin lies, glancing at Miku.
"Ludicrous?! In what way?! They were written by a famous scientist—what's his name, er -"
Rin cuts Miku off. "I mean, it's like I was reading those child, mock-documentaries—like the one about dragons," Rin pauses, before putting on a deep voice like the one they use in educational TV shows, "This sparkly gem is the remains of a dragon's faeces, and next to that is the last scale left from a dragon 700 years ago -"
Miku rolls her eyes. "Alright, alright, so you don't believe it," she mumbles. "Gosh, you're such a party-pooper, Rin."
They walk in silence for a while, before reaching Rin's driveway.
"I never said I don't believe it," Rin mentions offhandedly. "Those documentaries are just full of lies and misunderstandings."
"Alright, super genius RinRin, how about you write a correct one, considering you know oh-so much about Karasushounen and his companions," Miku replies, her voice dripping in sarcasm, as they began climbing the stairs to the front porch of Rin's house. Miku pauses, though, her eyes catching something. "Hey, are those fake?"
Rin follows Miku's gaze and sees her looking at the garden, where Rin's flowers seemed to be growing exponentially. "Oh, them? No," Rin says. "I think I planted them over some ancient, magical dragon shat or something." Miku just pulls a face and Rin raises her hands at her friend, wiggling her fingers, while mouthing the word, "Magic."
"That's so weird," she says, sighing.
Trust me, Rin thinks, I know.
Once they get inside, Miku makes herself at home underneath the kotatsu in Rin's bedroom. Rin makes some tea and returns. "Man," Miku says. "I am not looking forward to this year's winter. Apparently it's going to hit record lows. Global warming my ass."
"Don't they say that every year?" Rin asks, pouring the green tea into Miku's cup. "It gets so cold I can't tell the difference anymore."
Miku exhales, stretching her arms out. "Beats me," she murmurs. "I just hope every year I don't freeze to death walking to school."
Rin shakes her head, smiling to herself. "You won't." Miku just needs to wear more clothes—she has a habit of underdressing all the time.
They start by doing their English homework, which is a pain in the backside. Every now and again a small conversation might start up, but then die down as they are buried with concentration. After about an hour and a half, Miku starts, "So there's this guy…"
Rin lifts her head slightly, to see her friend blushing a little.
"I ran into him the other day. Literally—he seemed to be in a rush for something. But he was so cute; I'd never seen him before, actually. Maybe he was from out of town, visiting a relative? I don't know… but man, was he a dreamboat."
"Did you get his name?" Rin inquires.
"Uh yeah, I did. We started talking a little, but then he had to rush off, saying he had to go meet up with his friends or something. His name was Kaito," Miku answers.
Rin freezes. She has a feeling…
Nah, that wouldn't be him. Probably a coincidence. After all, he would have wings.
Miku notices Rin's silence. "What's up? Do you know him or something?"
"Oh, no," Rin denies, maybe a little too fast. "Sorry, I just lost my trail of thought."
Miku raises her eyebrows, but brushes off her suspicion. "He was tall and sort of buff—but not too buff, you know? I wanted to talk more with him. I saw him heading off in the direction of your suburb, I was just wondering if you knew anything about him—like he might be staying here or something."
Rin thinks, tapping her pen against her chin. "I haven't heard anything about a Kaito. What does he look like?"
Miku bites her lip in thought. "Like I said—tall, buff-ish… he has like, blue hair and dark blue eyes -"
"Blue hair?" Rin echoes, feeling her stomach drop.
Her friend looks at her curiously. "Yeah? What, have you seen him around?"
Rin hesitates. "Maybe…" In Hane forest, she mentally adds. But how…?
Miku seems to get this burst of excitement, sitting up straight and leaning over. "Where? Where about? Have you talked to him? Do you know where he might be staying?" she questions.
"No?! I think I've maybe seen him around town in the distance," Rin lies, leaning away from Miku, who's growing too close.
Miku's shoulders sag. "Aw man," she sighs. "I was hoping I could stalk him or something."
Rin snorts at the remark, but says nothing.
Their conversation seems to end there.
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Miku convinces Rin to go out on the weekend to the cinema, when in reality; she's probably just finding an excuse to find the suspicious… 'Kaito'. Rin hasn't been to the forest in over a week, nor heard anything about the Alati—she's a little disappointed, in a way she wanted to see Len again and maybe talk more, but that was dangerous and unlikely.
She's forced to see one of those soppy romance movies with Miku, who sits there and wails most of the time, making it impossible for her to hear what's actually happening on the screen. Eventually, it wraps up by killing one of the main characters, as they do, which makes Rin even feel a little depressed. They leave the cinema in down moods, and decide to head off to a restaurant for some lunch.
Just as they decide a noodle restaurant, Miku grabs Rin's arm abruptly and screeches, "It's him!"
Startled, Rin looks over in the direction Miku's staring—or more, ogling—to see… surprise, the exact Kaito Rin had met over a week ago. But how the heck does he have no wings? Rin frowns, confused. Miku immediately starts dragging Rin over to Kaito, who seems to be walking away, his hands full of… grocery bags?
Abruptly, Rin stops walking, causing Miku to almost fall over and face-plant the ground. "What are you doing?" Miku exclaims. "We're losing him!"
"He looks busy," Rin mentions nervously. She doesn't want to have to engage in conversation with him… in case he says a thing and Miku finds out something she shouldn't. "Maybe he has something to do, Miku—we shouldn't get in his way."
Miku groans. "Can we at least follow him? For a while? I might get to find out where he lives!" she reasons.
She'll be surprised when she finds out he lives in a freaking forest, Rin muses. And he's also a mutant angel. Reluctantly, Rin says, "Fine. Only for a while. I don't want to get caught or anything."
The tealette is ecstatic with the response and continues to drag Rin through the town, following after a fast-paced Kaito. After one stop at a convenience store on the same road that leads to Rin's house and past Hane forest, he takes a detour down a quiet park with a few children playing in it. On the opposite side of the park are houses that back up against Hane forest. He goes straight in that direction.
"So he lives down here?" Miku whispers, as they ducked behind various house's fences and bushes, trying to be quiet. Suddenly, he turns down a small gravel path, which inevitably leads to an opening in the forest. Rin notices Miku frowning. "I never knew they had houses literally in the forest. Wouldn't that be… creepy?"
Rin doesn't respond, chewing on her bottom lip nervously. Soon they're immersed by tall trees and plants, and Kaito disappears into the woodland. The gravel path they were following has disappeared into the plant matter covering the ground.
Miku seems insistent on continuing, but Rin stops again, holding her ground. "We shouldn't go any farther, Miku," she says. "I can't even see him anymore."
Her friend grimaces. "We probably took a wrong turn—maybe if we go back we might find another path and he might've gone down that one," Miku insists.
Rin shakes her head. "It's dangerous—it isn't worth the risk of getting lost trying to find your dream guy." She glances around warily. She has a feeling someone's watching them. "I'm hungry, and my toes and fingers are so numb I feel as if I'm going to get frostbite."
Miku sighs reluctantly. "This blows," she mumbles. "Alright, let's head back."
They turn around and start heading in the direction they came from. "Maybe you should ask him where he lives next time you see him," Rin says. Miku just pouts.
"It's sort of weird that he lives in the middle of Hane forest," she says. "Like, do you think he's a scientist studying the you-know-what's? That would be so cool."
Rin raises her eyebrows. "You-know-what's? Dragons?"
Miku hits her in the arm playfully. "You know… A…"
"Yes, yes," Rin waves her hand dismissively, already knowing what she meant. "Let's just hurry and get out of here. This place is freaky."
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She's there, in amongst it all. In her mouth she tastes blood, and a warm liquid seeps through her fingers as they clutch at this pulsating, gaping wound in her chest. Her mind feels fuzzy, probably from the cold, causing her body feel numb from head to toe. In the dim light she sees him, to her right, screaming and punching and kicking and stabbing.
Somehow, she's not afraid. Because he's here. And that's okay.
He stops once the writhing body goes limp, the life gone. It's silent, mostly silent—the only sounds she could now hear are her frantic breaths, dimmed out, and his sobs. He moves over to her side, this look of fear in his eyes, as he moves her hands away from her chest to examine the wounds.
"Fuck," she hears him curse. If her mouth weren't so full of blood, she would've lectured him.
His hands cover the largest wound, hoping to stop the blood—but it just keeps coming out. It hurts, it really hurts, and every intake of breath makes her body shudder from the pain. But what hurts the most is his expression, he looks so scared, so worried, so unsure—and she knows he's just as afraid as she is.
"Len," she whispers his name, cringing from the pewter taste in her mouth. She wants to smile, to tell him everything is okay. She knows it isn't. He knows it isn't. "Len, don't cry."
But he does. He whimpers this small noise. She's never seen him this way—this way since their parents had died. He'd always acted tough and arrogant and would at times be obnoxious towards her. But now all she sees is his panic.
Maybe it's the bitter cold, but the pain starts slipping away, becoming numb, like everything. Black spots begin to hover in front of her eyes, and she starts to feel dizzy, like she's going to pass out.
He sees this, her faintness, and starts to freak out, reaching out to cup her cheek in his hand. It feels warm, very warm, almost like he's on fire. "No, no, no, no," he mumbles. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no…" He leans forward, burying her face into his chest.
Warm, yet it seems so far away. It's like time itself is slowing down, everything narrowing down and stretching out and becoming distorted. She can't feel her limbs anymore, just nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing.
He pulls away, staring at her. His expression hardens, his hand touching her face—or, or somewhere, she doesn't know—as his mouth starts moving. She can't seem to hear it though. She can't hear what he's saying.
His mouth, it keeps moving, moving, repeating the same word. What… is it? In?
…in?
…in.
…Rin.
…Rin?
Rin!
I'm sorry.
Rin!
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
"Rin!"
Rin's eyes shoot open. Miki is crouching over her, and man, her head really freaking hurt. Her friend's face is painted with worry. "Rin… you're finally awake," she says, sounding relieved.
"What… happened?" she mumbles, trying to sit up.
Miki pushes her back down. There are other curious faces peering over at her. She spots Miku's, too. "You just passed out in the middle of the corridor. Like, you just dropped down all of a sudden. It was really scary."
In the background, she hears someone yell, "I called a teacher!"
That's right… Rin was walking with Miki and Miku, and then all of a sudden… nothing? Her head ached. Well, she did feel a little off-colour today and assumed it was nothing—she didn't think she would actually faint.
Her cheeks feel hot, but the rest of her body feels cold. Strange. She must have a temperature…
A teacher comes and helps Rin to the sick bay. She gets sent home in the end, so for the rest of the day she sleeps, but feels not-all-there, her thoughts jumbled and the room spinning. It isn't like Rin to get sick… but luck mustn't be on her side this time.
For the remainder of the week, she stays in bed and sleeps.
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"Rin, what are you looking at?" someone asks.
Rin lifts her head from her hand. "Uh…?" She has a feeling there is a decent amount of drool smeared right across her face. Her mother stands behind her, frowning. Rin's assuming she's been in this position for at least an hour; sleeping in the chair on the porch, that is. "I'm sorry, I just… I was looking at the garden, then I…?"
Lily smiles. "Is sleeping becoming your new hobby now? I don't even know how you managed to fall asleep in that position."
Rin blushes. "I can't help it…" Truthfully, she can't at all. For the last few nights, ever since she was sick, she's been having strange nightmares that'd make it almost impossible to go back to sleep after. She doesn't know why it's happening, or what the nightmares even mean—she just wakes up to find herself crying, confused, unable to make sense of her horrible feelings.
If it can't get any creepier, Len keeps appearing in the dreams. It just… It doesn't make sense. All she wants to do is sleep soundly for once.
Her mum sighs. "You shouldn't be outside sleeping when it's so cold… You could get sick again, Rin," she lectures.
"I know… I'm sorry. I'll come inside in a moment," Rin says. The fresh air out here is the only thing that seems to keep her mind clear.
"Alright." Her mum disappears back into the house. Rin rubs her eyes, yawning. Her wrist and neck feel stiff from sleeping in such an awkward position.
She stands and packs away the books she had been reading before—some more studies about the mysterious Alati and their history she found the other day. As she's stacking them, ready to take back inside, she checks the garden, still wondering how on earth her flowers are growing. The word magic mocks her in her mind and she smiles to herself slightly. Psh, magic.
Rin turns to head back inside, barely missing a face peering at her through the trees across from her house—it disappears almost immediately. But she shakes it off, blaming it on her lack of sleep.
Hopefully she'll stop having those nightmares and be able to sleep in peace for once…
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Snow.
It drifts down lazily over the front yard, covering the ground in a cold, white sheet. Rin sighs, pulling on her jacket. Winter seems to have arrived early. That usually happens every year, though. The only thing separating the early winter from the actual winter is that you can't seem to walk more than five metres outside without drowning in snow.
She likes the snow, but sometimes she just gets bored of freezing her butt off constantly.
"I'll be back around four," Rin calls over her shoulder, tightening the scarf on her neck and slipping her feet into some boots.
Her mother pokes her head around the doorway of the kitchen. "Okay. Keep safe and don't stay out in the cold too long," she tells her. "Call me if there's any trouble."
"Will do." Rin smiles reassuringly, even though her heart's thundering away in her chest nervously. She lied to her mum earlier saying that she was going to go to the library—but she very well isn't. It's taken over a month to summon up the courage to do this. And there's no way in hell she's going to back down now.
She slips out of the house and into the bitter cold air. Carefully, she makes her way down to the front gate, past the garden where her flowers had inevitably frozen, and unlatches it, stepping onto the footpath smeared with small piles of snow.
Rin isn't so sure about whether this is a good idea. She isn't so sure about how he'd react, but she desperately wants to talk to him—she isn't so sure whether she's infatuated with the Alati itself, or just completely mental—but regardless, she's going to risk it and venture into Hane Forest on her own, hoping he would show up.
Her nightmares had stalled a week or so ago, but she still has a few brief ones every now and again, where she would find herself wide awake, staring at the ceiling, feeling like her chest was being squashed by an invisible weight. They're still weird as per usual, and Len is occasionally in them, staring at her with his penetrating azure eyes. She has a feeling, maybe if she talks about it to Len, maybe they might just disappear, like her mind has just been collecting all these dark things, and speaking about those things would set them free.
Rin shivers, crossing the road to Hane Forest, checking over her shoulders to make sure no one's watching. If people saw her taking regular visits to the forest like it's no big deal, surely some sort of rumour would likely get out, getting her into trouble—and she really despises being lectured by her mum. Nevertheless, even if no one is present to see her, she constantly feels like a pair of stern eyes is keeping watch on her.
Ah, paranoia.
She steps into the trees, carefully weaving her way through the obstacles of fallen branches and rocks and whatnot. Occasionally, she scratches a mark into the trunk of a tree for referral when finding her way out. About ten minutes pass and a thought strikes her as while she progresses deeper into the woods—how actually is she supposed to find Len? Or… anyone? Do they have a secret call or does she have to stand there in the cold and wait forever until someone comes across her? She stops walking to dwell on that thought, suddenly being confronted by the twisting and turning of her stomach. Man, this… is a stupid idea. What was she expecting to happen? For Len to just be waiting for her? For him to be able to read minds?
Rin shudders from the sudden rush of cold due to her lack of movement. Her eyes glance back and forth between the trees hanging over her head, scanning the mist which makes it impossible to see more than six metres ahead. This… was a really, awfully planned idea indeed.
Trying to stop the chattering of her teeth, she takes a careful step back, ready to turn and head back home when—
A scream escapes her lips as she crashes into someone's chest. She stumbles backwards slightly, her eyes coming across an abominable… Kaito? The said boy frowns at her as tears of relief start to blur her vision.
"What'd I do?" he asks in confusion, rustling his grocery bags, as she whimpers, wiping her face.
Rin just laughs gingerly from humiliation. "Nothing… I just got a fright. I thought you were a stalker or something," she says.
Kaito just frowns again. He sure does frown a lot. "Speaking of which, why are you here alone? Again?" he queries. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Not to mention, it's really cold."
She feels her cheeks turning pink. "I-I could ask the same thing." She hopes he can't hear her teeth clacking against each other.
The blue-haired boy lifts up the bags he's holding. "I do shopping every Sunday afternoon for us," he explains.
"Us?" Rin echoes.
"Yes, us," he responds, looking a little confused. "Um… you know, what's that name you call us? Amani?"
Rin makes an 'o' shape with her mouth. "You mean Alati? You buy the groceries for everyone? …So you guys like, eat human food?"
Kaito gives her a very unimpressed expression. "Our diets are exactly the same as yours. Minus the takeaway food you 'humans' tend to worship." He does the bunny ears with his fingers. "What did you think we eat? Soil?"
Ashamed, Rin looks down. Human brains. "Um, I don't know," she says quickly. She glances back up to see him frowning once again. Immediately, she notices something out of place. "Wait… where are your…"
"My…?" Kaito raises his eyebrows, not catching onto her lead.
Tentatively, Rin gestures to her back. "You know… your things," she mutters. (Their wings, Rin. Just say wings.)
Kaito's eyes widen immediately. "Oh my gosh!" he exclaims, glancing over his shoulder. "They're gone?!" Rin isn't sure whether he's kidding or not. She stands there, slightly panicked about his reaction, chewing her lip.
He then sighs. "You're supposed to freak out, too," he tells her.
"Sorry?" Rin answers in confusion. "But really, what happened to them? Do you just make them disappear when you don't want people to see them?" That must be the trick—some sort of illusion, or something?
"Didn't the books ever tell you?" he inquires.
"What books?"
Kaito shakes his head quickly. "Never mind. We don't have to… you know, walk around with wings constantly, if you get me." Rin must have a blank look on her face, because then he hurriedly continues, "Uh, only some of us—Salami?—can really do it effectively, like me. It's kind of like how you humans can be good at putting on makeup—kind of. We can reverse the process of the wing's growth, by manipulating the muscles and bones in our backs to allow the room for the wings to sit in special pockets, so it appears we look human. Basically the process looks like our skin is devouring our wings. I would show you… but it's kind of gross and I don't really like doing it in front of females."
Rin nods slowly, feeling slightly lightheaded from the description. "No, that's fine… I might pass out if you do it. But that's… pretty cool. I guess."
"Yeah, well it really comes in handy for something like this, because I gather you humans won't take it too well if we go striding around the town with a pair white things hanging out of our shoulder blades. I guess you can call it a survival mechanism or whatever," he mentions.
Rin nods again, thinking about it. "I see what you mean… I guess we learn new things every day," she says.
Then Kaito frowns again. "So why are you here?"
"Oh…" Rin blushes. "Well, um… I was just kind of… uh…" Kaito tilts his head, raising an eyebrow. "I was kind of hoping to run into um… Len… I-I guess."
She expects Kaito to be all like, "No! No! That's forbidden against our Lord! You must make an appointment!"… or something, but instead he makes an interested ah sound instead. "What, did you to hit it off before? Are you going to go confess to him?" he asks, grinning flippantly. Rin feels her body heat up and she starts stuttering out a deny, but he quickly adds, "I probably shouldn't joke about that. I'm kidding—did you want to talk with him about something?"
Rin laughs nervously. "Yeah, well, I just wanted to ask him a few things about… you know, you guys. I guess I sound kind of weird but I'm really interested with this whole thing—I don't know, discovering new information about the Alati is becoming a hobby of mine -"
"I can't guarantee Len will be absolutely overjoyed to answer questions regarding us so you can write some story about us since he's such a killjoy," Kaito interrupts, scratching his chin. "But seeing as you're freezing and came this far to come see such a mopey guy like him I can take you to him and try to manipulate him—but still, I can't guarantee he'll be in as such a good mood as he was last time you were here. Lately, he's been really snappy."
"I see," Rin says. "I mean if he's not very approachable at the moment I could wait—I mean this stuff isn't really much of my business, me being a human and all. But thank you anyway."
She goes to step past him, but Kaito holds his hand up and stops her. "He might be in a good mood today—I haven't talked to him yet—so we could at least try." The blue-haired boy smiles encouragingly, and Rin bites down on her lip.
"…All right then," she agrees uncertainly.
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woops better translate some stuff;;;
kotatsu - it's like a little low table (sort of like a coffee table?) with heating underneath and a blanket and it's so fugging awesome I loved them I would live under one if I could but unfortunately there's no such thing as winter where I live sooo...
karasushounen - directly translates to 'crow boy'. I thought I'd use a Japanese name instead of an English one since this is typically set in a non-existent town in Japan because 'crow boy' sounded kind of lame but so does this name I'm srry?
wow ok. this is actually surprisingly long for how rushed and crappily written it is so I'm splitting it into two;;;;; ;-;
I'm sry I can't write fantasy genre without it sounding totally lame (seriously I try so hard but to no avail EVERYTHING SUCKS). boo me. boo me very much.
sorry also if there are mistakes or parts that are sloppily written or parts where my writing style is NOTICEABLY DIFFERENT (I tried to fix those parts god help me). I have reread it several times but I'm to the point of NOPE DONE NOT DOING ANY MORE because every time I read it THERE'S SOME PART I DESPERATELY WANT TO REWRITE BECAUSE I JUST CAN'T CONVEY IT PROPERLY and it's DRAGGING ON FOREVER.
I doubt anyone would read something this long anyway considering you guys struggle to even read my short stories *shifty eyes* as if I have anything to lose people don't usually review my suckiness anyway sigh
edit: fixed a few mistakes edit: fixed some parts where the wording was a little weird and some more mistakes another edit: even more mistakes I missed when will it END
