(A/N First off I want to say thank you to Zaru for letting em adopt this fic and helping me out immensely by providing me notes and ideas he'd had for the story. As well as thank him and omniXenderman for helping me with revision. I'm embarressed to admit but when I first finished the rough draft it was a case of much excite very wow writing much wow. As painful as that is their help was instrumental in writing this and I couldn't take all of the After Zaru made some incredible revisions in the last batch...Considering how bad I was it made me feel bad. Live and learn though. Now then a quick explanation behind a few things. This with help from others is my Take of Zaru's The Giver. Talking with him he'd told me he was kind of sad how he couldn't complete it and how it was a bit rushed when he was writing it. But it was a good story And I felt it needed to be expanded upon and of course finished. So we're going to have a couple of nice filler chapters. To expand upon character relationships and backstories. Disclaimer Hiroshi Kaneko and Souji Kamikawa belong to Zaru, Connor Wellesley and Duke belong to me. All others belong to the author of Shiki.)
Giving Salvation.
Chapter one. The outcasts of Sotoba.
Being different is never easy no matter where one finds themselves. Especially for those who are physically different. Medical conditions or just Foreign in origin. Or how one outwardly dresses in adversity and kinship outcasts gravitate towards one another in one way or the other. Kaneko Hiroshi couldn't have been gladder to have found that out after he'd left the city.
Hiroshi being Albino was quite clearly different from the other kids in middle school being an Albino and having skin and eyes hypersensitive to sunlight. Now one would think that being in a city with such a condition as albinism wouldn't be an issue and it wouldn't if Hiroshi were an adult and dealt with adults. Chidlren were a whole different animal entirely, and they are cruel to those different from them. Being in middle school the childish wonderment from his classmates when he was in elementary school turned into harassment, fear, and ridicule now.
On top of his troubles at school his parents weren't having a good time of it at work steadily reaching closer and closer to bankruptcy due to the economic recession so on top of being different he was also poor. Two things that generally mark someone as different. It was during these circumstances of chance that his mother talked with his father about sending him to live with his uncle off in the countryside to complete his schooling. Desperate to escape the ridicule from his classmates he agreed snatching on the chance when he learned that his uncle was a substitute teacher for the village's school system and would home-school him in the evenings.
Sighing irritably Hiroshi tried to refocus his mind on the book in his lap, as he traveled by bus to his uncle's residence in Sotoba. The books was actually a translated work of vampire fiction, something he found a perverse guilty pleasure in due to his own nature of being as white skinned as the bloodsuckers he reads about. Because he'd been ostracized by his peers in middle school by being different he slowly embraced it more or less. After all words and rejection still hurt any being that had feelings and emotions. So Hirioshi took solace in stories of the occult all manners of the occult every myth and legend he could get his hands on, the most enjoyed subject he read about were vampires whether they were the bloodthirsty monsters of horror or the mysterious figures of seduction and romance. He found joy in the lore and fiction of vampires. Escape even. So he sat and passed the time on this long bus ride to the countryside to his new life in Sotoba. For the life of him though Hiroshi being Nocturnal to avoid sunlight couldn't stay awake for the trip and soon fell asleep bundled up in school blazer. Wearing sunglasses to protect his hypersensitive eyes, open book in his lap he didn't rouse once during the entire trip.
When the buss finally stopped in Sotoba it was the last bus to the village that day. Letting out a small yawn, the young Albino gathered his things from the overhead rack with some difficulty due to his smallish size. With his burdens he slowly stepped off the bus and took the slip of paper with directions to his uncle's house as twilight fell upon the quaint mountain village. Feeling the burn of the suns fading rays on his unprotected face save his eyes soured his somewhat good mood and grumbled the entire way to the house his uncle lived in, on the outskirts of the village. Pausing only slightly to consider the odd single story western brick house a little ways from his uncle's, hearing the sounds of a baying hound coming from that direction.
Shrugging to himself he dropped his bag next to him and knocked on the door waiting for his uncle to answer. When the man did finally answer he paused to get a good look at his guardian during the last of his middle school years, then the full of his high school years. At a first glance he look like the typical middle aged teaching type a little bit of Grey around his temples an intelligent gleam in his eyes. A slightly dour look on his face most likely from dealing with rowdy children.
Upon seeing his guest he smiled and held out his hand. "You must be Ayame's boy. I'm Souji. I hope you didn't have any trouble finding the place?" His uncle asked with some concern. To which Hiroshi blinked after taking his uncles hand and gave a brief firm shake.
"No trouble really other than the normal trouble I have with sunlight." he said somewhat shyly. It's hard to be confident when one was considered a freak by past friends and peers after all. Taking a breath Hiroshi looked over his shoulder. "Uncle Souji?" he started his voice full of question as he gestured with his head over towards the brick house and the baying dog which had yet to quiet down. Its deep howls and barks echoing in the forest and mountains that surrounded the town.
Understanding silently Souji only shrugged. "Some eccentric foreigner author keeps hunting dogs he brought with him from the states, all in all an alright if odd sort." he acquiesced. "Come along let's get you sorted in the guestroom Hiroshi-kun." his uncle finally stated reaching forward to pick up his nephews bags.
The house from what Hiroshi could tell at a glance fit in with the local houses being a mixture of classical and modern if rather nondescript. In all honesty something that from what he could tell of his uncle would suite his needs perfectly. The dining/living room had a couple bookshelves with various works. He paused and looked at his uncle.
"Ummm… Uncle Souji, would it be possible for us to get some bookshelves in my room when the rest of my things come in the mail?" he asked thinking about his collection of books.
Blinking for a moment Souji nodded "It shouldn't be a problem to get a few."
Unpacking, Hiroshi's things that he'd brought with him didn't take too awful long. It was just unpacking a few sets of cloths and his four pairs of shoes and one pair of slippers. And then stacking a few of the books he brought with him in a neat pile next to his futon which his uncle brought out of storage. Since it was coming to the ending of term Souji had to work at the school and so had to get up early in the morning so he'd told Hiroshi to take it easy this night and try not to make too much noise after he'd heard the young lad had slept almost the entirety of the trip.
So Hiroshi spent this night like he spent most nights when most normal people were asleep in their bed in the realm of Morpheus, he spent his time reading with a light dimmed low so as not to bother anyone listening to music in his portable CD player with ear-buds, losing himself to the calming sensation that came over him whenever he did this. When the break of dawn came around Hiroshi having made himself something simple and easily made in quiet, decided to make some breakfast for his uncle and dinner for himself. The meal was entirely comprised of breakfast foods and Hiroshi normally considered breakfast dinner and dinner breakfast by this point.
Blinking a couple times in shock, an awake Souji frowned when he saw this though grateful for it he didn't exactly like that his guest was doing this and mentioned such. The young Albino only shrugged. "It'd be a hassle for you and I'm up at this time anyways." he said shyly. Souji shook his head and sighed. "At least alternate with me then on chores and meals." the older man sighed.
Hiroshi embarrassed conceded with a yawn as bid his uncle a good day and went to sleep. To escape the worst of the sun's heat with painfully hopeful dreams of acceptance and understanding for his new home. The realm of sleep though is often muddled and murky with strange twists and turns.
In his dreams he saw glowing red eyes from the edge of the tree line.
A monk with prematurely gray hair.
A doctor with a bad smoking habit.
And a red haired foreigner with a hound bounding next to him.
(X)
As the Albino slept, another oddity in the village arose from his slumber rolling off of his couch to the whines of his hound asking to go outside. "Hold on ya blasted dog." The man grumbled as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Having done that he grabbed a pouch of cinnamon pipe tobacco and his long stemmed churchwarden pipe. Packing the pipe while grabbing a box of matches and his dog's leash. Lighting the pipe and the pungent smell of cinnamon mixed with tobacco entered the house, he hooked the leash to the tricolor basset hound. Opening his door the man smiled and clucked his tongue around his pipe clenched between his teeth.
"C'mon Duke old boy let's see about today's 'venture." And proceeded along the road towards town.
'Still getting strange looks after having spent a year here'. He let out a smoke filled sigh. This man happened to be the author of a book filled to the brim with as many shades of Grey as possible; vampires and humans both good and bad with bright glowing characters and the inky black almost reminisce of the star filled sky at night. His name is Connor Wellesley.
Now to say a red haired man of European descent stuck out like a sore thumb is this sleepy little Japanese village was an understatement and he still got looks of wonder and some of suspicion, he took it all with a smile and a grain of salt. It was odd he admitted that he made the choice but it felt right to make a long story short he'd been rather fascinated with differing cultures, especially eastern ones and chose to emigrate for those reasons. While writing and doing odd jobs to make his way. So far he'd managed to make himself friends somewhat with the owners of the local lumber mill and the young priest and next head of the local temple. Conner could consider his neighbor somewhat of a close acquaintance as well. His relationship with the owners of the lumber mill came from him working part time there and out in the surrounding forest. While his friendship with the young priest was one of both two peers talking about their respective works as authors and in the form of the Foreigner seeking spiritual guidance. Often times the two of them holding confession of a sorts in lue of a proper catholic priest.
Back to the present with Connor and Dukes current mission. Gathering groceries and a trip to the liquor store, then to end his eventful dropping in on the temple to converse with Seishin Muroi up at the temple, situated on a small mountain. After dropping his groceries off at his house, he paused in his walk drawing Dukes leash taught when the hound didn't realize his owner had stopped. Turning around to see what interested his master so Duke let out a slight whine of his excitement to being out for a walk. Connor paused to regard the construction going on up on Kanemasa.
From what he could tell it was a massive, and if he were honest, gaudy undertaking. He let out another smoke filled sigh having cashed his pipe in that last hit he gently shook the ash and unsmoked tobacco out of the bowl. "And people say my house doesn't fit in." he grumbled to himself before turning back and without another thought continued his walk into town. Which in his opinion is what Sotoba was.
His arrival to the Ookawa liquor store was met with a hearty greeting from the proprietor Tomio Ookawa, a great bear of a man with an equally great beard. Connor found him odd not particularly in his mannerism's but in his great size, Connor being rather short standing at five foot six which for a man in the western world was short.
"That you Wellesley-san? Hows' work up at the lumber mill doing!?" The large man asked with as much enthusiasm as he normally did. Connor smiled and gave a so-so expression with his free hand. As he tied Duke up outside the shop the dog lazily laying down in the sun for the time it would take for his master.
"Oh Well enough Ookawa-san well enough, ya know I saw that Kamikawa-san had a guest last night. From what I remember the last I spoke with him, his nephew'll be living with him 'till he finishes high school at any rate." Connor said giving his contribution to the Village rumor mill for the day as he made his choices in purchases.
It was rather expensive to buy the whiskey here in Japan being an Irish import, but he'd never really grown accustomed to the local spirits. Besides, Irish and English alchohol is the closest thing to home he could have. "You know I heard in regards to that boy, Kaneko-kun I think his name is, anyways I think he'd had a rough time of it for one reason or another in the city and came out here to try again." Connor handed the money for his purchase while Tomio took it.
"Well if someone like Souji can raise him up then he will be good in my books. Sometimes Wellesley-san it's good ta get new blood in the Village 'long as they follow the rules." he said chuckling for a moment. Though it was more like a belly laugh considering everything was over the top with the large liquor store owner. Connor only chuckled and left with a wave of his hand.
"Yes well I think I'll stop by tonight and mention that to Kamikawa-san and Kaneko-kun on my way back home. Have a good'n Ookawa." he finished after untying Dukes leash and off towards the temple.
When he arrived at the temple he smiled and gave greetings to the helpers and monks asking one of them where Seishin was. Finding his friend at work on his next novel he let his dog lay down in the sun as the hound was known to do. "How's this'in coming along?" he asked by way of greeting to Seishin. To which the young silver haired priest replied with a so-so gesture which he'd gotten from the foreigner. Chuckling Connor nodded. "I might have been a bit of a bad influence on the prim and proper young priest. Better call in the katanas and pitchforks!" Seishin sighed at the antics.
"Yes well this is only an essay on a few wondering thoughts for a travel and cultural magazine in regards to the Village." Nodding his head Connor gave a light snort of amusement.
"I guess I can understand how that is. How does one remain unbiased towards hearth and home yet still do it justice." Reaching forward the redhead pat the priest on the shoulder
"If I know you it'll be fine in the end. After all you've a way with words." Connor sighed for a moment.
"You know Muroi-san I'm rather glad to have come to this place in my travels." Seishin raised his head from his work.
"Oh? And why's that Connor?" He asked.
Connor got a distant look on his face. "I've always had this love and interest in differing cultures from my own especially eastern ones." He started. "Inexplicably it feels as if this place calls out to me." he said shrugging. Seishin looked thoughtful for a moment.
"That women again Yoshie was it?" Connor nodded.
"Just this nagging feeling that comes and goes." He said. Looking outside at the light in the sky.
"I'll let you back too it Seishin. I'll see you next week." He said, calling Seishin by his first name as he went outside, packing a fresh bowl of his cinnamon tobacco into his pipe. Whistling for his dog, Duke awoke and lazily walked towards him. He hooked the leash to Dukes collar, puffed his pipe, and set off to home.
Almost home, the red-haired man stumbled into the young pink haired Shimizu Megumi. "Oh hullo there Shimizu-san." he said pausing for a moment noticing he'd gotten her attention. As his dog walked up towards her and gave a few inquisitive sniffs. "What brings you out this way if I may ask?"
The young pinkette blinked for a moment "Hello Wellesley-san I was just asked to bring some school work to Kamikawa-sensei's for his nephew Kaneko-san." she said with a thoughtful look on her face completely forgetting her usual abrupt and brusque way she handled him. Once she'd learned he didn't much care for the city despite being traveled and foreign things that from his brief interactions with her he knew appealed to her.
Connor shrugged. "I was just going to stop by there and introduce myself and Duke to the young lad." He said. Looking up at the sky and noticing it was becoming twilight. "We may want to hurry it up Shimizu-san don't want your parents to worry now do we." He didn't notice the dark look when he'd mentioned her parents.
(X)
Earlier that day at the local school Shimizu Megumi sat in class silently fuming about the village which she abhorred with all her will. It was announced that they were going to have a new student that couldn't attend normally for medical reasons. The day passed by boring and uninteresting except for the new gossip over the transfer student wondering and speculating. What he was like? Where was he from? Why he couldn't attend school normally? Things like that.
When the end of the day came she was asked to bring the new students work to him since she happened to live closer to him than anyone else. Megumi was excited to learn this, much like anything new to the village coming from outside of it interested her. Given her nature she began to fantasize on what he would be like.
Some dark and mysterious city boy come to take her away when the time was right before shaking her head.
'Lets get to see him first before we go down that road Megumi,' She thought to herself and began walking towards her destination with a purpose ignoring the greetings she got along the way while she held the packet of school work and her bag close to her chest. But she did keep an ear out on the gossip despite how much she despised how nosy and intrusive everyone was she heard a thing or two like how the foreigner went on another walk with his dog and the construction up on Kanemasa Hill.
Megumi growled thinking about the foreigner. 'He didn't know how good he had it in the city. In Tokyo, Osaka, Narita. To abandon that and come here? He's as stupid as the rest of them.' she thought to herself irritably. Not really knowing how unlikely it was for her wish to be a model or an idol was despite how pretty she was. Nor just how difficult it could be to make it in the city depending on which city one lived in. still like everyone else she was curious and wanted to know about this new person in the village and hoped he wouldn't be as boring as everyone and everything else in the stupid village.
She was almost to the place now when she heard a deep throated bark behind her. And a greeting. She turned around to find her least favorite person: the foreigner. She didn't dislike him per say, it was more she was scathingly disappointed in him. Hearing his question she answered with her reasons for being there remembering that he lived in the small brick house a little further away than Kamikawa-sensei's.
Letting out a sigh she continued on quickly with Wellesley-san towards the house making good time with the older man and his dog they both stopped noticing that Kamikawa-sensei wasn't home. Stepping in front of the gaijin, Megumi knocked on the door to the small two story house that Kamikawa-sensei lived in. They waited, noticing twilight coming upon them and the sun fading as they did so. Knocking again more urgently resulted in faint movement behind the door before it opened and they saw who stood in front of them. Megumi gasped at the sight.
He was short and covered up completely in clothes that must have been stifling with sunglasses and a hat covering his eyes and head. He looked ghostly pale with almost paper white skin "Yes?" Came the somewhat timid reply from the boy.
Nodding to herself Megumi smiled and held the packet of schoolwork out towards him. "Since you can't attend school normally I was asked to bring you the packet of what we went over today." The pale boy retrieved the packet with a quiet 'thank you.'
They stood there awkwardly for a moment before Mr Wellesley decided to pipe up. "And I'm Connor Wellesley. And this Mangy dog beside me is Duke." he introduced himself. "I'm your neighbor now or should I say your my neighbor now?" the man had a thoughtful look on his face The boy was taken aback for a moment probably from Connors lack of reaction to how he looked, while Megumi was somewhat stunned he looked kind of creepy almost ghostlike.
She found herself conflicted in that moment to either be intimidated by his appearance or learn more about him. She decided to quash down her momentary unease and introduce herself as well. In just as bold a fashion as she normally did everything else, unless she felt embarrassed. "And I'm Shimizu Megumi I could help you go over what we're working on if you want. Help you catch up." She said in a kind way. A facade would do for now. Least until she knows this person.
The boy still looked stunned "Kaneko Hiroshi." Came the quiet and unsure reply.
Connor noticed as he stood behind the two the man smiled for a moment and nodded. "Well I just wanted to introduce meself I'm just down the way I'll see you around." he said before departing his dog following behind.
Left by themselves Hiroshi and Megumi stood awkwardly for a few moments "Thank you again for bringing my school work to me Shimizu-san… I'll be sure to take you up on your offer some other time. But as I just woke up and it's a bit late so tonight's not good plus I'm not sure how uncle Souji would feel about guests he didn't know about." the boy spoke shyly.
She felt slightly disappointed in his uneagerness to be more social and not be like those… lemmings at school, but couldn't argue his points.
"Fair enough" she couldn't quite hide the disappointment in her voice despite what she thought before turning away. "I suppose I'll see you around then." Megumi drawled as she made to walk away daydreaming about this new boy for a moment. Just wondering what he really was like in the way only a teenage girl could. Though her fantasies weren't in any way about whirlwind romance she was just curios.
Her walk home was made with a thoughtful expression on her face the entire way. When she got home she told her parents that she had to take the days assignment to a new student who couldn't attend school normally and even described the kid to her mother and father before she went up to her bedroom after dinner to work on her own school work and to study for what was coming up next in school. She finished up a little bit before nightfall in its entirety and went to bed with thoughts of the future glamorous dreams of being a famous model in magazines and fashion shows.
(X)
Hiroshi closed the door before turning around and slowly and silently made his way back to the living/dining room. Setting his packet down he grabbed a pencil from a nearby cup full of writing implements and looked through the packet having received books and assignments in all. Quickly skimming the pages and beginning to work while he waited for his uncle to get home. With vague thoughts of a pinkette dancing around his head; she being the first person in his age group that didn't outright reject him in a long time. He had a slightly good feeling about her though having been met with rejection and ridicule for the past two years had given him healthy dose of cynicism to temper his hope.
He found himself relatively ahead in his courses due to being able to take things at his own pace, as well as going over again things he didn't necessarily get easily. He was still at work when his uncle got home and began to make dinner, making small talk about how they're days went respectively in this case Hiroshi's was only just starting really. And Souji's was coming close to a close. They both went over some of Hiroshi's coursework while they ate dinner. Which Hiroshi mentioned to his uncle his meeting with the Pinkette and their neighbor.
Souji nodded for a moment "That pink haired girl is Shimizu Megumi, but you know that already she's… well from what I gather anyways in the case of the village an Odd one always wanting to go to the city and always dressing up in a bold and flashy way. I don't really think she likes living in the countryside all too much. She's rebellious." he surmised in his normal way. He was a man of few words by choice unlike his nephew.
They went over a little bit more on certain things before coming up to the English coursework. "I'm not exactly the greatest at English Hiroshi, so you might want to go and ask our neighbor Wellesley-san for some help if he doesn't mind, mind you. Which shouldn't be too big of a problem considering some of the odd hours he keeps." Souji stated while Hiroshi timidly gave a nod not having really taken much from his brief meeting with the man.
Though he did sense that he might be able to get along with him in the sense of outsiders seeking each other for camaraderie and companionship. Seeing how shy his nephew was Souji sighed.
'children can be so cruel' he thought to himself he never heard about the trouble when Hiroshi was an elementary school kid but as soon as he entered middle school that changed
(A/N To forewarn I'm not sure how fast updating this story will be. So I don't make all of Us involved in recreating The Giver as Giving Salvation embarrassed. So revision and editing will be key even if I manage to whack out a rough draft in a day. Like this chapter I finished it Monday evening with all the free time I had and it's Thursday night now, future chapters may take longer so bear with Me and the others.)