Eichi opened the door and entered the room with a phony smile. He approached the boy that rested on the floor, Aoba Tsumugi. Tsumugi looked at the blonde haired boy, who extended a hand towards him offering a small bowl full of water to his contrary. Tsumugi let out a small sound half-cheep, half-cry. Eichi sat besides him, staring at him with a sad facial expression.
"Still unable to talk, as I see." He murmured, talking to himself, "Poor Tsumugi."
Tsumugi was drinking with difficulty, pecking the water with his lips instead of how a normal human would do. He wasn't a normal human, clearly, and so his only option was to be like he was.
Everything started one year ago. Suddenly, Tsumugi had turned into a bird. No one knew why or how, but he was a bluebird with beautiful feathers and animal behavior and mind. There was almost no trace of Aoba Tsumugi since his human faculties disappeared. However, someone –Eichi Tenshouin– noticed this change on the boy, and was able to return him to his human form. Again, no one but him knew the methods he used. The bad part of everything was that, even when his body was back, Tsumugi's brain didn't return back to normal fully, and he remained behaving like a bird.
Eichi was certain that he would come back to acting like a human sometime, but he needed to get used to it first. It was like taking care of a baby. A baby with bird features.
"¡Ei!" Tsumugi squealed in an attempt of calling his name. It was a great progress nevertheless, and Eichi smiled proudly.
"What is it?" Eichi hesitated while Tsumugi pushed the now empty bowl aside, indicating that he had finished drinking. Eichi picked the object up and left it with the rest of eating tools. After this, he gently patted his contrary's head. "I promise I will get the human you back. Everyone misses you.", he muttered, even if he knew that his words couldn't reach Tsumugi.
Eichi carried Tsumugi to a lot of different places and tried to teach him how to behave properly. Tsumugi was fairly more intelligent than a normal bird, which was a great help to his learning. He also learnt many simple words, and he learned not to try flying and jumping off windows because he could get injured.
Although Eichi worked hard to look composed and praise him when he behaved correctly, it was painful to see his friend in such state, but this only made his determination to help him bigger.
Nevertheless, just saving Tsumugi wasn't enough for the Student Council prideful President. He wanted to solve the mystery with his own two hands and discover why did Tsumugi turn into a bird in the first place. Not many people should have been able to do so, and even Eichi himself would struggle to do it. He knew how to turn people into animals and vice versa, that's why he could return Tsumugi back into a human, but he didn't know of any else who could. His parents, maybe, but why would they do something like that? It was totally futile. It was worth it to investigate a little. It wasn't like he had a completely zero idea of who could be the culprit, but it was still hard to determine one exact person.
The days passed and Tsumugi started improving a lot. He was able to almost speak perfectly, except for some squeaks, and almost everyone could tell he was a normal person by talking with him. The only thing that didn't seem to come back was his personality. He still didn't remember who was his friends and family, he didn't know his likes and dislikes, and he forgot his hobbies. Because of this, everyone in Yumenosaki knew something was wrong with him.
Eichi decided to talk with Natsume Sakasaki, who seemed to be a friend of Tsumugi. A weird one, Eichi soon understood. Once they were face to face in a school hall, Eichi didn't loose time to ask, "Do you know anything about Tsumugi's condition? I am doing my best to help him, and your help might become useful."
Natsume laughed at those words, making Eichi stare at him puzzled. At least in his opinion, nothing to make fun about was said, but Natsume clearly thought differently.
"Do you really think I know anyTHING? And even if I did, that I was going to tell YOU?" Natsume said in a mocking tone. The President wasn't in mood for jokes, but kept his smile on face and tried to look composed.
"Oh, yes, I think you do.", he said. "After all, you have most knowledge about magic than anyone else, as you spend most of you time reading odd books about it on the library, or doing weird experiments. Plus, you are close to Tsumugi and you constantly make fun of him. Isn't those valid reasons enough?"
Another busted laugh from Natsume. "Come ON. You have no right to say tHAT, when it was you who manipulated Tsumugi as a tool some years AGO."
Eichi clenched his fists, offended by those words. He didn't want to remember his past, when he wasn't able to see people as nothing more than mere objects to get his objetives. He was different now, as he learned how to trust each other and love people.
"Natsume, I want to aid Tsumugi, and I need to know the culprit for that. No much sanction will be provided to you, maybe an expelling, but Tsumugi is suffering much more than you will. He doesn't deserve this, so please." Ugh, Eichi was more than disgusted to plead to Natsume like that. They could never get along, as they were too different. Almost like opposite poles. Maybe they were the same, but they disliked each other.
"Okay. If you're not willing to answer, I'll ask somebody else." Eichi muttered, walking away while Natsume just continued grinning. Eichi was sure of it now; Natsume was the culprit. However, without solid proof, he couldn't do much. That's why he needed to find some. As Student Council President, it shouldn't be too difficult, but Natsume was a stundent surrounded by mystery and anyone knew anything about him. Not even Sora, his best friend, or Keito, who had a bunch of information of each student. Really, the red-haired boy was way too odd. The nickname Oddball fit him way too well. Eichi thought it was almost a shame that the Five Oddballs disbanded years ago, but he wished to forget all that incident, as the guilt inside him was too big to bear.
Tsumugi was also working hard by himself while Eichi was busy researching. He still had the mind of a bird, yes, but he wasn't an idiot, and he realized something was wrong with his blonde friend. He didn't know how to help him, but he wanted to improve his mood, because lately, Eichi looked always serious and troubled. But what could a bluebird do for a human? He had to find something that would relieve Eichi as much as possible. Anything. What could be good? He couldn't remember what Eichi liked or what would bring him happiness. He had to find his own way to show how much Eichi mattered to him, and how much he felt worried about him. Almost as God had heard his voice, Eichi came back to the house in that exact moment with a tired look on his face due to lack of sleep. His health was only getting worse with his efforts, but he didn't care.
"Eichi." Tsumugi called him, approaching his friend and taking his hands between his. "Is something wrong?" Eichi was amazed at how Tsumugi managed not to stutter while talking. It was the first time he spoke so fluently, Eichi felt like crying, but he didn't, since that would be too embarrassing. "No." Eichi lied with a faint smile, "I'm okay. Are you hungry?" Tsumugi ignored the question and strengthened the grip on his hands, again surprising his contrary. "Eichi, please rely on me." He begged, his voice soft and slightly trembling. Eichi's lips twitched as he struggled not to cry.
A few seconds passed in complete silence, until Eichi managed to talk again. "You are right, and you have the right to know." After this, he explained everything to Tsumugi, all involving him and his curse. Yes, because being turned into an animal couldn't be called anything but a curse. Tsumugi listened to him without interrupting. He already suspected something was wrong about him, since all humans behaved different from what he thought would be natural to, as a bird, so he wasn't shocked to hear Eichi's words, but a little upset. To know the reason of his friend's pitiful state was his own condition... he felt guilty to what he was doing to Eichi.
"Sorry.", he muttered as an apology, although he felt that wasn't nearly enough. Eichi smiled while he softly petted Tsumugi's head, also caressing his hand. "It's okay. I will save you. No matter what..."
Okay this was extremely difficult to write like,,, what the fuck is even this idea? Kinda stolen idea, I took it from a prompt generator so, but still a lot of original content will be provided and also prepare for future angst and plot-twists.