Disclaimer: I do not own the Getbackers series. This was written purely for entertainment purposes and not profit.
Warnings: (not so much in the first chapter, but will appear later, if I ever get that far!)
Fantastical Hermaphroditism, Sex, Violence, Bad Language, Death, Gore, Sexual Harasment, Rape, Implied Incest, Mpreg. SPOILERS for Getbackers anime and manga: up to and including episode 48 for anime and up to and including volume 36 for manga. May contain some vague spoilers for volume 39, but only references. Will be AU-ish, with a stretched out timeline and some different plot points.
Pairings: YAOI, Juubei/Kazuki, Toshiki/Kazuki
X
Chapter 1:
At the age of seven, Sakura was capable of giving Juubei a complete thrashing whenever their playtime games turned rough. Always emerging red-faced with triumph, she would never fail to pin him into a heaving, wriggling pile and rub his face as hard as she could into the ground. Pinches and furious little bites wouldn't deter her from straddling him, planting her bottom in the middle of his back, and twisting his arms and hair until he howled.
"Say that I win!" she would yell, and twist harder so that Juubei, with angry tears running down his face, would shout as loud as he could, "Alright, alright! You win! I give up!"
Sometimes, after she released him, he would dart away to a safe distance and shout back, "You're a nasty girl, Sakura, and you'll grow up into a nasty old witch and I hate you!"
A furious shriek would follow and, most likely, a chase that lasted until she caught him and thrashed him again.
Later, they would both get smacks from their aging caretaker for being so rowdy, and then a stern lecture from either Mother or Father about discipline and self-control. Shame-faced, Sakura was always the one to apologize first, and they both forgot about the fight quickly enough after a good night's sleep.
But ever since the first time she had bested him, Juubei had made a solemn, childish oath that he would grow stronger and bigger so that he would one day be able to take revenge. He wanted to be the one twisting her fat little arms behind her back and making her howl. It was a matter of regaining his honor.
And as the seasons passed, Juubei did grow stronger and broader and heavier. He grew wider in the shoulders and was able to boast an inch or two higher than he was before.
But to his horror, Sakura grew soft and pretty. Instead of growing into the nasty old witch he had declared her to be, she grew into something far worse in the eyes of a vengeful little brother: a girl.
Her hair became long enough to tie into ribbons and he just couldn't hit someone who wore ribbons. Her skin, which had always been reddish from sunburn, became smooth and pale like milk, and he just couldn't pinch bruises onto someone with such nice skin. And no matter how much she might have deserved it, Juubei just couldn't bring himself to pound her face into the floor, not when she smiled so sweetly at him and batted her lashes against her lightly freckled cheeks.
And even if he could bring himself to take vengeance on pretty, smiling Sakura, she had no time for him now. Sakura had become elegant. Sakura had become sweet. Sakura had grown up into the type of creature known as a "young lady."
"I'm sorry I can't play with you, Little Brother," she would say. "I don't have time for games anymore. I have to start learning to be a lady of the Kakei house." And as she turned away, Juubei would notice that her ankles, which were always bumpy with mosquito bites from running through the grass in summer, were now covered up by the hem of her long kimono.
Juubei never did regain his honor.
And with the loss of his playmate, there was a period in his childhood when he was quite lonely. All the other children in the Kakei clan were either too small for his rough games, or big enough that they didn't dare to roughhouse with the young heir for fear of accidentally hurting him.
As he grew old enough for his Father to enforce stricter rules on him, yet remained young enough to itch for the excitement and freedom of the outside world, the endless days spent indoors at his lessons were unbearably stifling. He wanted friends and not tutors. He wanted playmates, not pale, courteous acquaintances that shied away from him whenever he wanted to wrestle.
Then, one hot, golden summer, Juubei was taken on a visit to the Fuuchouin house. Sakura sat across from him during the ride between their estates, and the carriage was filled with the scent of her powdered ribbons. She had her hands folded primly in her lap, but her toes were tapping an impatient rhythm and Juubei knew she was as excited as he was.
"Remember," said their mother, who was with them, "we are honored guests here and must remember to be respectful. Our clans have had centuries of history together. Our bond of loyalty was forged in ancient times and has lasted to this day, and has ensured generation after generation of peace and safety. Someday, it will be you two who will continue that tradition. You must behave yourselves while you stay here and not do anything to disgrace our family name."
But traditions and family names didn't matter so much to Juubei. He was a child, and the sun was shining onto a beautiful summer day. It was his first visit to somewhere wonderful and strange, and all he cared about was for the carriage to stop rolling so he could dash out into the fresh, exotic air of the Fuuchouin family grounds.
When they finally arrived, he was dazzled by the whiteness of the stone-paved walkways and the green of the swaying bamboo trees. He rushed off, thrilled to be free from the confines of his own family's propriety and went on a mad dash through the manor grounds, relishing each moist caress of leaves against his face, each thud of his feet on the brown earth.
It was there, in the heart of the Fuuchouin estate, that Juubei met the doll-like child called Kazuki. It was there, on the warm green Fuuchouin land, that they spent the most blissful summer of their lives. They romped and played and snuck off into the coolness of the surrounding woods to explore. They climbed trees and wrestled in the springy grass. They waded through muddy streams and peaked into birds' nests, where the little eggs were warming under the sun.
As children often do, they became the best of friends, as quickly and as naturally as a kingfisher snatches up its prey.
That summer, as the fruit fattened on the branches and the river ran clear and cool, Juubei felt his loneliness melting away like ice. He grew used to Kazuki's chiming laughter and wondered how he had ever lived without hearing it everyday. That summer, round-limbed, baby-faced Kazuki was his constant companion and his favorite playmate.
They grew golden under that bright sun. They adored each other. They loved each other.
They fought each other and for the first time, Juubei let someone else win. He would put on a show of fighting back, but in the end, he would let Kazuki pin him to the ground without complaint. When Kazuki squeezed his round knees into Juubei's sides and declared solemnly, "I win! Give up and say I win!" Juubei would smile and say, "Yes, yes. Of course you win, Kazu. Always."
And when their daytime games were over, and after they had to endure lessons and supper and baths, Juubei would find some way to sneak out of his guest's bedroom and make his way towards Kazuki's quarters so that not even bedtimes could separate them.
When Juubei lobbed pebbles at Kazuki's window, Kazuki always rushed to throw it open and lean out, blinking owlishly through the dark.
"Is that you?" he would always whisper down to Juubei, and then dart from the window without waiting for the answering "Yes." He would reappear with a sheet that he lowered down to his friend, and Juubei would climb up like a clandestine lover with Kazuki half-pulling him along.
At the top, Kazuki would let go of the sheet in favor of grabbing onto Juubei's shoulders in a scrambling embrace. They would tumble down into the room and clap their hands over each other's mouths to stifle the giggles.
Nights together were splendid. Juubei loved the hours and hours of dream-like happiness, filled with moonlit card games, star gazing, shadow puppets made with a stolen stump of candle, whispers and muffled laughter. It was as if the things they muttered to each other were more magical, more secret because it was nighttime. They always dozed together, tangled up on Kazuki's futon, to start awake at the arrival of a rosy dawn.
Sometimes, when they were both bundled into the thin summer comforter and Juubei was drowsy with sleep, he would peak at Kazuki's doll-like face to check that his friend had drifted off first. As gently as he could, Juubei would run a finger down Kazuki's cheek, marveling at the way the moonlight set Kazuki's skin glowing like a pearl. Like a curious puppy, Juubei would press his face close and sniff the warm dark hair, rub his own cheek against the collar of Kazuki's pajama shirt.
"You are my best friend," Juubei would whisper into the darkness, as he breathed in the scent of Kazuki's velvety hair. "You are my best friend and I swear, I will protect you forever. I will protect you with my life."
X
One day, while Juubei was outdoors on the Fuuchouin grounds practicing with his needles under the shade of the bamboo trees, Kazuki came to him in a flurry of excitement.
"Guess what, Juubei?" Kazuki panted, pink-cheeked and smiling.
Juubei's halted, surprised when he detected a whiff of perfume. His eyes flicked to the ribbon around a lock of Kazuki's hair. In an instant, he recognized the color and the soft, powdery scent that Sakura favored. A prick of jealously needled him when he realized that Kazuki had been making friends with Sakura, and his answering "What?" was gruff.
But Kazuki was taking him by the hand and pulling him along, with such a sweet, mischievous look on his face that Juubei's resentment didn't last long.
"Come on, come on!" Kazuki said. "I want to show you something!"
"What is it?" Juubei said, laughing and tucking the needles back into his wristband. It was impossible not to be affected by Kazuki's happiness, not when he was like this.
"I snuck away early today and went exploring, far away from the house. I found the prettiest lake in the whole world! It's so shiny and clear. And there's the loveliest green grass growing all around and I wanted to take a swim so badly, but I didn't because I wanted you to see it with me first!"
"That's wonderful!" Juubei exclaimed. Kazuki's joy was infectious, and Juubei felt his own elation rise as he jogged after his friend, stooping down to avoid low branches, sneaking past the roaming servants and household members, clinging to the low stone walls at the edges of the property, and then breaking into a run once they were free with nothing but the earth and the grass before them and a blue sky above.
Kazuki led the way, stepping lightly through the woods and along the river, humming a merry tune. Juubei was happy enough to follow, but gripped Kazuki's hand worriedly when they headed farther than they had ever explored together. The trees were becoming unfamiliar and Juubei felt nervous, being led away from the comforting gurgle of the river and deeper into the woods.
"Are you sure we ought to go this far?" said Juubei. "We could get lost."
"Oh, don't worry," said Kazuki, tossing his head. "I already came this way once. Look, here we are!"
The boy started to run and Juubei, still holding onto his hand, followed. They broke out into a field, leaving the quiet coolness of the woods behind. Juubei sighed in pleasure as he felt the warm sunshine on his face.
Kazuki was right. The view was breathtaking as they walked, hand-in-hand, over the lush green grass and the rounded hills. The lake in the distance was shining like a slab of glass.
"Isn't it lovely?" Kazuki breathed. "It feels like we're not even on Fuuchouin land anymore. It feels like we're in a completely different world, just the two of us."
"Actually, I don't think we are on Fuuchouin land anymore," replied Juubei, feeling the tug of worry again and looking around for any familiarity, finding none. "Kazu?"
Kazuki, not listening, was already stripping off his rose-colored kimono and bending down to peel off his socks.
"What're you doing, Kazu?"
"I want to swim," said Kazuki, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. With a tug and a swish, the remainder of his pretty clothes fell into a heap at his feet. He took more care in untying the ribbon from his hair and folding it, tucking it into one of his shoes.
"Come on, Juubei!" Kazuki urged, and took off running down the hill, naked and laughing.
Juubei watched him take a tumble in the grass first, like an itchy horse, and then splash carelessly into the clear, cold lake.
"Wait a minute!" Juubei called out. "Are you sure it's safe?" More cautiously, he made his way down the hill and to the grassy bank.
Kazuki's plump buttocks stuck out of the water as he swam around in a circle.
"This feels great," sighed Kazuki, turning onto his back to float out to the middle of the lake. He splashed some water in Juubei's direction. "Don't be so serious, Juubei. It's fine to come in."
Still hesitating, Juubei toed off his shoes and made his way to the water, where Kazuki was floating like a plump, contented fish sunning its rounded belly. Carefully, Juubei slid off the wristband with his needles and laid it out on the grass, then rolled up the legs of his trousers into bunches.
He waded out a few steps. The water was cool around his ankles and Juubei wiggled his toes in the sandy bottom.
He smiled and gave a little kick, watching how the movement made golden ripples appear on the surface.
"See how nice it is?" said Kazuki.
"Yeah," Juubei agreed, grinning.
With a swooping motion, Kazuki dove headfirst into the lake and disappeared from sight. Worry prickled at Juubei when his friend didn't reappear immediately. He peered into the water, but couldn't make out Kazuki's form in the greenish-blue depths. Not a ripple could be seen.
"Kazu?" Juubei called out. "Kazu! Please come up!"
No answer.
Just as Juubei was about to dive in himself, he felt playful fingers close around his ankle. He smiled and resisted the tug that would have sent him sprawling if he hadn't known Kazuki's mischievousness so well.
A second later, Kazuki burst from the water, giggling.
"You thought you could trick me?" Juubei laughed, and splashed some more water at Kazuki's already dripping hair.
Juubei stopped when Kazuki suddenly gasped and stared hard into the distance behind him. Kazuki's face, which had been rosy and smiling just a second ago, went white with fear.
"Oh, no! Bandits!" Kazuki cried, and pointed.
Juubei whirled around and fought the tug of water around his legs, scrambling up with fists at the ready to face whatever danger that dared make Kazuki cry out.
At the curved hilltop, where Kazuki had so carelessly let his clothes fall, were two lanky men. They had the pretty pink kimono in their hands and were shaking out the expensive fabric, appraising it with their shrewd eyes. It was obvious they had heard and seen the two boys, but the bandits only gave the white-faced children a long, indifferent look before bunching up Kazuki's clothes like stolen goods and turning for the woods.
"Oh, no!" Kazuki cried out again, his voice high and shrill. "Stop them, Juubei! Stop them!"
"Scoundrels!" Juubei shouted, clambering barefoot onto the grassy bank and snatching up his wristband. He drew two glinting needles and tried to take aim, but they were too far away.
"Stop! Stop right there, you scoundrels!" Barefoot, he ran after them up the hill. They turned and looked down at him, watched him slip on the grass, red-faced with anger. One of them chuckled lowly and muttered something in an unfamiliar language.
They easily dodged the needle Juubei flung and laughed in low, husky voices.
"Give it back!" Juubei demanded. Blinded by anger, he rushed at them, only to find himself knocked off-balance with a gentle little kick and sprawled out ungracefully on the ground.
"Oof! H-how dare you!" He was unhurt but winded, and struggled to get to his feet. The bandits had gone, disappeared into the line of trees. Juubei made to follow, but Kazuki's wail stopped him in his tracks.
"Oh, Juubei!" came Kazuki's plaintive little cry. The boy was curled up on the bank, arms wrapped around his naked body.
Instantly, Juubei forgot his own stung pride and rushed back down to his friend's aid.
"Are you alright?" he asked breathlessly. Kazuki looked up at him with large, miserable eyes.
"Oh, Juubei, what are we going to do? What am I going to do? I can't go home like this, or Mother and Father will be furious with me! They'll know I snuck away again and they warned me not to do it, they warned me, Juubei!"
"H-here," said Juubei, unfastening the light shirt of his jinbei. Kazuki's panic was setting him on edge. With shaking fingers, he draped the shirt around Kazuki's damp shoulders and urged the boy to stick his arms through the sleeves. "Please don't worry, Kazuki! We'll think of something. We'll just tell your mother we went out for a short walk, and we got lost, and…"
Kazuki surged to his feet so quickly that Juubei took a step backwards. There was a fierce, frightened look in the boy's brown eyes. Juubei gulped, recognizing that stubborn blaze, despite the fact that Kazuki looked a bit ridiculous in the oversized shirt, the hem barely coming down far enough to cover his privates.
"We have to go after them!" he declared. "We'll make them give me my kimono back. We can fight them, the two of us! Oh, Juubei, please tell me you'll help me go after them. Please say yes."
It was that look. It was the way that Kazuki widened his eyes so that they glistened like wobbly brown puddings. It was how Kazuki said "Oh, Juubei!" in that soft insistent tone, all breathy and miserable, as if he must have what he wanted at that moment, as if nothing else in the world mattered so much.
Oh, Juubei.
"Yes, yes," Juubei found himself saying, nodding eagerly as if he were agreeing to some treat and not a foolish, dangerous mission. "Of course I will, Kazu. Always."
Gripping Kazuki's hand, as if to reassure himself, he led the way up the hill and into the woods.
Neither of them knew how to track, but the bandits hadn't been too careful in hiding where they were going. There were fresh footprints in the earth and a trial of broken twigs. They found a scrap of pink fabric caught on a low branch and Kazuki made a low whine of dismay.
"Oh, they've ripped it! Now Mother will know for sure that I've been out in the woods."
They continued on, deeper into the woods where the trees grew closer together and the roots were gnarly. It was dark beneath the dense foliage and the bark was rough beneath their small hands as they touched the tree trunks to steady themselves.
It was foolish, of course, for two small children to be wandering into unfamiliar woods, one of them half-naked from the waist up and the other half-naked from the waist down. But they were driven by their eagerness and were confident in their own naïve belief that they were going to reclaim what was theirs, and surely, no harm could befall them for that.
Juubei, with Kazuki's hand tucked firmly in his own, led the way through the trees and over rough ground. Soon, after much panting and struggling through the terrain, the trail brought them out into a clearing.
The gentle ripple of voices and the smell of smoke greeted them, and Kazuki darted behind Juubei with a nervous little squeak.
There was a merry bonfire in the middle of the clearing. Pale canvas tents were set up for a rudimentary camp. About two-dozen brightly dressed people were milling about the camp, the two thieves among them. There was a wagon loaded with goods and an old, brown mare, who kept scuffing the ground with her hoof. A few fat chickens were pecking at the ground.
"Look!" Kazuki breathed, and clutched hard at Juubei's bare shoulders. Close to the crackling fire was a little girl, probably younger than either of them. She had a round face and large brown eyes, and her hair was dark, like Kazuki's.
She was wearing Kazuki's clothes. The kimono was too big for her and the hems pooled on the grass like the tail of a pink fish. The sleeves hung over her little hands and her feet were too small for Kazuki's embroidered shoes.
A man with graying hair was seated next to her, and he had a kind, wise wrinkled face. At Kazuki's short exclamation, he looked up at them, but not in surprise.
"Ah, look who's here," he said in a drawling, accented voice, as if he and his camp were expecting the two boys. He stood, unraveling his tall, wiry body, and Juubei recognized the colorful beads around his neck and the braids in his hair.
They were a group of wanderers that sometimes came to the village near Juubei's home, selling their wagonload of oddities and playing strange, exotic music to anyone that danced to it. Where they came from and where they traveled was a mystery, but Juubei was always charmed by the smell of spice on their clothes and their lilting language. The "bandits" were not known to do harm, but they were a different sort of people that said what they liked and did what they liked, and had their own code of justice that was beyond the quiet little cloistered village of Juubei's home.
"Are you lost, boys?" said the man, who Juubei thought must be the leader of the company. His voice was warm and husky.
Juubei felt Kazuki stir from behind him and take two tentative steps to the left, peering his peach-round face over Juubei to stare at the so-called bandits.
"I am Kazuki Fuuchouin, the heir of the Fuuchouin family and the heir of this estate. You have stolen something that belongs to me. You are trespassers."
It was the voice of a coddled boy, a boy that was adored all his life. It was the voice of a milk-fed boy that had been brought up in expensive cotton swaddling. It was the voice of the Fuuchouin heir.
Kazuki's words may have sounded sweet and proud while echoing off the paneled walls of his house, but here in the forest, under the sun that shone equally for everyone, his voice was thin and insubstantial.
"Trespassing, eh?" said the Leader, seeming oddly amused and not at all offended. "That's interesting of you to say. How can I be trespassing on my own land?"
Kazuki stamped his foot on the grass with all the indignant pomp of a six year old. "This isn't your land! I just told you, I'm Kazuki Fuuchouin and this is my family's land!"
The Leader, somehow regal in his homespun clothes, waved his arm around in a lazy gesture. "These are my tents. I set them up for my family. We built this fire. We will eat at this fire and sleep in these tents and walk on this ground. We will take what fruit we need from the earth and the trees, and maybe pay it back by planting some of our own. Of course this is my land. Our land. And when we leave tomorrow, it will no longer be our land, but just another part of the forest."
Kazuki blinked. His eyes flicked to Juubei, as if asking for help. "But… but…"
"So, you're Kazuki Fuuchouin, eh?" said the Leader, as if he only acknowledged the boy's impressive family name as an afterthought. He walked languidly over to them and reached out a hand, as if to pat Kazuki's brown head.
Immediately, Juubei tensed. "Stay back!" he snapped and reflexively drew his needles. With a flick of his wrist, he threw them at the acupuncture points that would render the man unconscious.
To his surprise, the man simply raised his hand into the air and closed his fingers. When he opened them again, Juubei's needles were gathered neatly into the palm of his hand like harmless trinkets.
"Need more practice, kid," he said, and smiled. Juubei gulped.
Kazuki made a delighted little murmur and clapped his hands, forgetting his own flustered anger. "Oooh, that was amazing! I've never seen anyone catch Juubei's needles so quickly before."
The man responded with a roguish wink.
"B-but wait a minute!" said Kazuki. He pointed at the dark-haired little girl, who was now nibbling on one pink sleeve. "Your people stole my kimono! You must give it back to me. It's mine!"
"Oh?" said the man. He walked back to the fire and ruffled the girl's hair in a gentle caress. "This is my daughter, Plum Blossom. And these clothes are on Plum Blossom's body, so they belong to her. When her brothers took these clothes, they found them on the ground. If things are precious to you, then you shouldn't leave them lying around."
"But…!"
Plum Blossom interrupted Kazuki with giggle. Her open mouth revealed missing baby teeth and a little pink tongue. Her eyes were bigger and rounder than Kazuki's, which Juubei hadn't thought was possible.
"Besides," continued her father, who was now looking at her affectionately, "I'm sure you have many kimono, Little Fuuchouin Prince. Let my Princess have this one. She likes it very much."
He held out a hand to her. She took it and twirled, pirouetting on one little foot.
Juubei watched Kazuki frown a little, and then flush. "Well, alright," he relented, and nervously tugged down the hem of Juubei's shirt. "But I want my ribbon back. She can't have that because it was a gift from my friend, and gifts always belong to the person who got them. Everyone knows that."
The Leader nodded solemnly, pursing his lips as if he were considering something far more serious than a child's pretty possessions. "Fair enough," he said, and reached over to lightly tug the ribbon from around Plum Blossom's hair. She watched it go with a little whine of dismay.
He approached Kazuki, Sakura's ribbon held out like a peace offering. "I shall tie it around your wrist, Little Prince."
"Yes," said Kazuki. He moved away from Juubei and bravely stepped forward was if he were about to be knighted. He held out his arm and Juubei's stomach clenched with worry.
"Kazu, maybe you shouldn't…" he started, but Kazuki ignored him.
Ever so gently, the gray-haired Leader looped the scented ribbon around Kazuki's wrist and tied a smart little knot. Then, to Juubei's surprise, the man removed one of his own beaded bracelets and slipped that onto Kazuki's wrist as well.
"There. That was a gift. Now, it'll always belong to you."
"Thank you," said Kazuki.
Then the man reached down and took a playful pinch from Kazuki's cheek.
"No!" Juubei gasped, and rushed forwards, throwing himself in front of Kazuki with fists ready for fighting.
But Kazuki was giggling and pushing him out of the way. "It's alright, Juubei! Don't get so worried. It didn't hurt at all, see?"
He tugged at Juubei's arms and smiled that bright smile, and only then did Juubei lower his fists and stop glaring.
"My, my," said the Leader, smiling warmly at Juubei. "You're quite the protector, aren't you? And now, it's probably time for you boys to go on home. The sun's setting. Would you like one of us to escort you, Kazuki? Back to your land?"
"Oh, that's alright," said Kazuki. He tossed his head again, smiling majestically, and Juubei got the feeling Kazuki thought himself very gracious indeed. "We can find our way. Let's go, Juubei."
Arm-in-arm, they turned and left the warmth of the campfire behind. The beads on Kazuki's wrists felt cool to the touch as Juubei gripped Kazuki in a relieved half-embrace.
The woods were even darker and seemed denser than before, but they were able to pick up the trail they had left before and headed steadily home.
It wasn't until a few minutes later, as they were making their way through the thickness of the foliage, that Kazuki suddenly stopped and gasped aloud.
"What is it Kazuki?" Juubei asked.
"Oh, no," Kazuki whimpered, and clasped his hands over his mouth. He blinked rapidly as if he was coming out of a dream. "Oh, no. Oh, no. We just talked to strangers, Juubei! Mother said never to talk to strangers!"
"W-what?" Juubei stammered. There was an unpleasant feeling in his stomach, as if he had eaten something nasty but only realized it after the fact.
"Oh, Juubei, this is terrible! We're going to be in so much trouble. No, I'm going to be in so much trouble. I snuck away for hours and hours and didn't even tell Mother where I went. And then I swam in a lake with no grown-ups around to watch me. And then I went into the woods with almost no clothes on and I talked to strangers! And now I still don't have my clothes back and Mother will just know that I've been bad and she'll never, never forgive for being so bad today!"
He ended the tirade on a choked-off sob and flopped down on the ground, looking pale and miserable.
"H-hey, you're not going to cry, are you?" Juubei asked, horrified.
"No," Kazuki replied, but dragged a sleeve across his suspiciously red eyes. "And I banged my foot," he added.
"Oh, don't cry!" Juubei urged, trying to fight down his own rising dread that they were indeed going to be in disgrace when they finally got back. Perhaps Lady Fuuchouin would be angry enough to have them soundly whipped and sent to bed without any meals. In fact, judging by how late it was, they may have already missed dinner anyway and could expect to be hungry for the rest of the night.
If that's the case, Juubei thought fervently, then I'll tell Lady Fuuchouin it was all my fault and that I dragged Kazuki out here. Then they can whip me all they like, but they won't punish Kazuki. It's alright. I can handle it! I'll protect Kazuki no matter what happens.
"Don't worry, Kazuki!" he said firmly, and started to tug on one of his friend's arms. "It'll all be alright, I promise. We'll hurry and go home now and everything will be alright. Please get up now, or your bum will get cold."
Kazuki giggled weakly at that and got to his feet. He wiped his face again and pressed close to Juubei as they started walking again.
It rained and got darker as they walked. The forest grew damp and hot, and then damp and cold. They were both soaked through before they were halfway home and clung to each other out of fear. The forest, which had been so bright and inviting in the daytime, now seemed too dark, too treacherous, and their young imaginations made up an army of monsters for every shadow.
Juubei took big steps, trying to stamp down his fear. He tried to tell himself that there was nothing to be afraid of, and that he was strong enough to protect them both, that he would brave the forest as well as the double whipping for when they got home. He felt Kazuki's arm trembling in his own and he stroked it like he would a frightened kitten.
Once or twice, Kazuki whimpered and Juubei noticed that his friend was limping. When Kazuki started stumbling more and more, Juubei knelt down and hefted Kazuki onto his own back. He grunted under the weight and winced when stray twigs scraped his feet or when wet branches slapped him in the face and he no longer had free hands to wipe them away.
"Don't worry," he kept repeating, though he was tired and hungry and sore, and not at all sure if he could withstand two whippings anymore, one for himself and one for Kazuki.
After what seemed like hours, they finally saw the familiar sight of the Fuuchouin house. Juubei felt like his back was breaking, but he tried to stand tall as he trudged up to the gate.
The house was alight with lanterns and a crowd of worried people greeted the boys.
"They're here!" someone shouted as they approached the courtyard. "Call off the search party! They've returned!"
Juubei saw Sakura among the household members, her face pale with worry, her handkerchief wrinkled with twisting. "Oh, Juubei!" she said, her high voice carried to him over the clamor of everyone else asking questions.
Then, Lady Fuuchouin herself was pushing through the crowd, heading toward the boys, her face hard and mask-like. Juubei shivered as he looked up at her. She was a tall woman and as she reached out her arms, he could see that her fingers were strong like steel.
"It wasn't Kazuki's fault! Please punish me!" Juubei tried to say, but it came out in a pathetic little squeak. His throat was so dry.
Before he could try again, Kazuki was sliding off his back and running to his mother's outstretched arms, barefoot and bare-bottomed and not caring. With his face scrunched up as if he really was going to cry, Kazuki ran into the folds of her warm silk kimono and she swept him up in her arms as if he weighed nothing.
Juubei watched, stunned, as she buried her face into Kazuki's dirty, grimy hair and her little boy smudged her gown with forest dirt and sobbed for all his hurts. She was gone in an instant, disappeared in a whirl of rose-colored silk, headed steadily for indoors, holding the grimy, dirty, sobbing boy in her arms like treasure.
The household followed her like a royal procession. No one reproached Kazuki. He needn't have feared at all.
"I…"
The words stuck in Juubei's throat. No one stopped to scold him for being bad. No one stopped to deliver the whipping that Juubei had been ready to take. No one cared that he stood there, aching and cold and hungry, and that he had carried their Little Fuuchouin Prince through the woods on his back, and that he was ready to fall over with weariness.
"Mother, may I have a boiled egg?" came Kazuki's quivery little voice as he was carried into the house like a returning prince.
And Juubei stood there, awkward, confused, hurting and aching, until Sakura came and took his arm, steered him towards the side door. She marched him up towards their rooms like a shamed criminal and only when the door had clicked closed did she speak.
"Oh, Juubei," she sighed. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, Sister," he said numbly.
"I'll send for a tub and some hot water. You're all dirty. What in the world were you doing? Do you have any idea how worried we were?"
Juubei caught his reflection in a nearby mirror and winced. His face, chest, and arms were covered in little cuts and bug bites. There were leaves stuck in his dirty hair and his trousers were ripped and filthy.
He rubbed at his eyes and felt like crying. He felt ill treated and awful, like he was sick.
"Please don't nag, Sister."
"Here. Wipe your face." She handed him one of her soft, scented handkerchiefs and he sniffled into it for a while.
"You're going to be in so much trouble," she said. "Mother will be angry. She'll probably never let you come back here and see Kazuki again."
And that hurt worst of all.
"Oh, be quiet!" he snapped, and hot tears were now pouring down his face. "Leave me alone, Sakura. I don't want to talk to you."
He turned his back on her and plopped down on the clean floor, not caring that he was soiling it. He heard her sigh, heard her slide the door open again and walk out, heard the click of the door shutting.
Juubei felt miserable, like a knight that had been abandoned by the prince he was sworn to protect. He curled up on his side and brought his knees to his chest, rolling up like a ball. He was so tired, so he closed his eyes and let the sweet, heavy feel of sleep slowly overcome him. He wanted to dream.
But the sliding of the door roused him only minutes later. Juubei heard the soft whisper of a kimono's hem sweeping the floor and he thought it was Sakura again.
"Go away," he said. "You're so annoying. Go away and let me sleep."
Someone cleared her throat behind him and Juubei turned to see the Lady Fuuchouin standing in the room. Quick as a flash, he sprang up and bowed as deeply as he could.
"I'm so sorry, Lady Fuuchouin!" he gasped. "I didn't know it was you, honest!"
"It's alright," she said softly.
Tentatively, Juubei raised his head to look up at her.
The wife of the Fuuchouin clan leader was tall and broad across the shoulders. Her hair was dark against the whiteness of her face, and she possessed a hard, unyielding loveliness. She had donned a white haori since she had met them at the gates, and the sleeves billowed out like eagle's wings.
She seemed too large for his little room. She seemed too imposing, too regal.
"Poor boy," she said, noting every bruise and cut on Juubei's body with one scrutinizing glance. "Poor boy. You are not hurt too badly, I hope?"
"N-no, Madam." He was suddenly too aware of the state he was in. He could feel the sweat and the grime on his face and hands, and the filth in his hair. He looked down at his feet and saw that the legs of his trousers were stained with damp earth. Ashamed, he scuffed his toes on the floor.
To his surprise, she reached out one elegant white hand and cupped the side of his face. Her touch was cool and comforting and he instinctively nuzzled her hand, as if she were his own mother.
"Perhaps I should send a nurse to have a look at you?" she said.
"Oh, no. That's all right. I'm not very much hurt and I wouldn't want to trouble you," Juubei said politely.
There was a smudge on the front of her kimono. It was brown and in the shape of Kazuki's small handprint. At the sight of it, Juubei suddenly remembered Kazuki and the mantra that he had been repeating to himself.
"Please!" he burst out. "It wasn't Kazuki's fault that we were in the woods. Please, please don't punish him. It was all my idea and I made him come with me, and then we got lost in the woods. Please punish me instead. I can take both our punishments and I promise not to cry or w-"
"That's enough," said Lady Fuuchouin and Juubei shut his mouth so fast his teeth clacked together. But his fear was abated when he saw that she was smiling. "Juubei, I think the two of you have been through enough today. Whatever punishment can be discussed tomorrow, after you've both had a good night's sleep and a good breakfast in the morning, don't you think?"
"Yes, Lady Fuuchouin," he replied, wide-eyed. From the tone of her voice, it seemed like he wouldn't be whipped after all. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, if "punishment" was just a lecture or extra calligraphy practice.
"And there's no need to take all of the blame either. That's honorable, but unnecessary. In fact, I came to thank you. I am very grateful, Juubei, that you have brought Kazuki home safe."
Juubei felt his face growing hot with the praise and he fought the urge to rub the blush away. "Oh. There's no need to thank me, really. I was only doing my duty as a member of the Kakei family. I am Kazuki's protector, after all."
She smiled warmly at him. "Yes, you are," she said. "You are very loyal, aren't you?"
"I am!" he said, beaming. Unconsciously, he puffed out his naked, bug-bitten chest.
"Good," she said, nodding her dark head. "Good. Kazuki is… a very special child. I'm glad he has you as a protector, and a friend. He will come to need you more and more when he's older."
Juubei nodded back solemnly, and then asked shyly, "Is he alright now? I think he banged his foot earlier."
"He's perfectly fine. In fact, he's asking for you. He wants to share his egg with you. Would you like to see him?"
"Oh, yes! But…" Juubei hesitated and looked down at himself. "I'm all filthy."
"Then go and wash, and when you're ready, go to Kazuki."
"Yes, Lady Fuuchouin!" Juubei said, and bowed respectfully to her as she left. Then, he dashed off to quickly clean and dress himself.
Kazuki was waiting for him when he finally arrived. Pink-cheeked from washing, sitting pertly on his futon with his foot bandaged up, Kazuki looked very much like a prince, inviting Juubei to his chamber like a loyal courtier.
"I saved you half," Kazuki chirped, and pushed a dish towards Juubei. There was decidedly less than half, and Juubei recognized the little teeth marks where Kazuki had probably nibbled the egg down in his impatience while waiting for him.
But he took the scrap of egg from Kazuki with a sigh of longing and gratitude, as if his prince had gifted him with something far greater. He spooned broth from Kazuki's soup bowl onto the little dot of yolk and ate it all in one gulp.
"Would you like to play cards?" Kazuki asked happily, as if there had been no weary trek through the woods, as if he had been sitting there the whole time, smelling clean and sweet in his yellow pajamas.
"Sure," said Juubei, smiling back.
Kazuki pulled aside the comforter and Juubei snuggled in next to him. Kazuki's body was warm and soft and Juubei pressed close for comfort. They laid the cards out on their laps and played a messy game. Occasionally, Juubei would reach over and tuck an errant strand of hair behind Kazuki's ear and run his fingertips over Kazuki's cheek, relishing the freedom to do so. Had his mother been present, he would have received a sharp smack for being too familiar.
They fell asleep as they always did, all over each other with their limbs tangled up in the bedding, cards stuck to their faces and hanging limply from their fingers. When a servant came later, carrying a second tray with soup and tea and sweets, she found them sprawled together and sleeping soundly. She did not disturb them, but drew the curtains against the breeze, tucked them in, and left as quietly as she could.
X
The leader of the clan of Travelers was sitting by the fire when his son returned. It was already evening, and Plum Blossom was dozing nearby, smudges of dirt on her face and the smell of smoke in her hair.
A nod and a grunt was their only greeting, and the Leader raised a gray eyebrow when he noticed his son carrying a fat brown rabbit as well as two trout on a string. Without a word, his son plopped down on the leaf-strewn ground and set to work on the rabbit with his curved knife.
They were quiet for a while, while the fire crackled and the camp buzzed with sleepy conversation and the clanging of utensils against pots.
"So," the Leader spoke up, "did they make it home safe?"
His son shrugged, unsmiling. "I suppose. I followed them until the edge of the woods. Didn't care to trail them anymore after that. The smaller one bruised his foot and whined like a baby about it, but they were fine."
"Good," said the Leader, nodding. He stared pointedly at the butchered rabbit and the fish. "I thought we agreed on no poaching?" he said gruffly.
His son scrunched up his face in disgust, then hawked and spat on the ground. "Who cares," he grumbled. 'The Fuuchouins are gentry, aren't they? They've got more than they need. They won't starve just 'cause we've got meat for our pot tonight."
He flicked blood from his knife and nodded his grimy head at the sleeping, contented girl. "She'll need to take off that pretty gown, before it wrinkles. It'll need to be cleaned. How much d'you think we'll get for it in the market?"
X
Kazuki and Juubei were made to stay indoors for the next two weeks. Neither of them were whipped or even spanked, but they were kept for long hours in a stuffy classroom to recite their lessons. They were kept away from each other to prevent more mischief, but they found ways to be together during the day, sneaking off into the storage cellars to share a handful of raisins or climbing onto the rooftops to bask in the sun.
Neither of them ever told the adults about meeting the Travelers in the woods, and Juubei felt wickedly delighted whenever Kazuki winked at him from across the dining hall as if to say, "We have a secret, you and I. It belongs to us and no one else."
Kazuki hid the beaded bracelet in a patch of cloth on the inside of his kimono and sealed it up with string to hide it from the chambermaids. Whenever they huddled together in the coolness of the cellar, hands cupped around the flickering flame of a candle, Juubei could feel the round bumpy beads through Kazuki's clothes.
When the confinement ended, they were back to running free through the Fuuchouin grounds, climbing trees and licking drops of rainwater from the pointy leaves. And though they were watched more closely by Kazuki's guardians, no one could stop their wildness, their endless chase for pleasure and play, their bright young joy.
Eventually, the long hot days grew colder and drier, until they were on the edge of summer, about to tumble into a cool, crisp autumn. Thicker clothes and comforters were rolled out for airing and the kitchen staff boiled down pots of sugar to make hot syrup.
Kazuki took a sudden flighty interest in gardening and begged a child-sized set of tools from his father. While the other children of the household hung around the ripening orchards, Juubei was dragged on Kazuki's "hunting trips" through the surrounding woods.
Any wild flower or fern was treasure to Kazuki and he would collect cuttings and pods wherever he went. Juubei followed with armfuls of ceramic pots and damp cloths while Kazuki sated his desire for anything green and growing. They would return to the house late, arms laden and covered with mud, and Kazuki would later plant the seeds and roots in the little dirt patch under his window.
"This is my garden," he said to Juubei. It was inexpertly dug and planted, with all sorts of odd things shoved under the earth together, but Kazuki was as proud as a mother awaiting a newborn. "My very own garden. I'm going to grow all sorts of lovely things, like fruit and flowers and cucumbers and great big pumpkins. But no carrots! They're horrible. And when my fruits grow up, I'll give the first ones to you, Juubei. You'll have the first harvest from my garden."
"Thank you," Juubei replied, and didn't bother to tell Kazuki that autumn was fast approaching and his garden would probably die of cold.
One chilly day, Kazuki donned a peach-colored cloak and woke Juubei up early to go "hunting" for plants. The air was dry and pleasant as they walked, hand-in-hand, towards the forest and its wonderful, green treasure trove.
"What're you looking for today, Kazu?" Juubei asked, stifling a yawn.
"Well, Mother always looks sad this time of year, so I'm going to cheer her up with some wildflowers. I'll plant them into pots and put them in her room."
"That's nice."
They walked until they came to a grassy clearing. The sun was shining down like a beacon onto a patch of pale, creamy flowers and Kazuki immediately went about unpacking his satchel of tools.
Juubei perched on a nearby rock and watched Kazuki kneel down and dig through the earth with his little trowel, carefully uprooting one of the flowers. He yawned again and rubbed his eyes before looking back up.
That was when he saw it. There was a shadow over Kazuki and on the patch of ground where he was kneeling.
Confused, Juubei looked up into the sky. It was a cheery blue and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. He looked around, thinking that one of the trees had blocked out the sun, but there were none that grew close enough.
He stared at Kazuki, who was cheerily dumping damp earth into a ceramic pot. Kazuki didn't seem to have noticed.
Juubei thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He stared harder until his head ached, but there it was, an ugly gray shadow over Kazuki that seemed to come from nowhere.
He blinked. It was gone.
Kazuki was as bright as always and the sun was shining down like a bolt of gold. There was no shadow. There was no shadow.
"Oh, bother," Kazuki muttered. He had torn one of the flower's dainty roots. "I think I've killed it."
X
Juubei's grandmother was doing poorly and Sakura was sent to fetch him from the Fuuchouin house. They rode home together on the chilly, bumpy road.
He had spent so much time away from the Kakei family home that it felt like he was returning to a strange house. His mother greeted him with affection and complained that he was hardly home anymore. His father was as cold and strict as ever. They had a quiet family supper together, simple and meatless, without music or sweets afterwards.
It was late in the evening when Juubei appeared before his grandmother. He knelt on the tatami in her room and bowed his head respectfully.
The room smelled of medicine. Sakura was boiling herbs in a clay pot over a small charcoal brazier, for their grandmother's cough.
Juubei lifted his head and looked carefully at his father's mother. She was old and wrinkled, with long white hair that was left untied. She looked small, bundled up in her futon.
"I am very glad to see you, Lady Grandmother," Juubei said. "I am sorry that you are sick."
Juubei's father had no sisters. His daughterless grandmother had not been able to pass down the Kakei Maiden Tapestry technique for a generation, not until Sakura was born. She was Sakura's mentor, and Sakura was utterly devoted to the aging, white-haired matriarch. Sometimes, Juubei felt as if his sister loved their grandmother more than their own mother.
He watched Sakura carefully strain the herbal tea through a fine mesh and into a porcelain cup. She adjusted the silk robe around her waist first before bringing the cup to her grandmother.
"Have you been obedient, Juubei?" Grandmother asked in a creaky voice, holding the cup in trembling, old hands. "Have you been dutiful and good?"
"Yes, Lady Grandmother," he recited like a songbird.
"I heard that you've been visiting the Fuuchouin house."
"Yes, Lady Grandmother."
Sakura was now wetting a towel in a basin of warm water. She wrung out the water and shuffled over again to kneel behind Grandmother. Ever so gently, Sakura lifted the mane of white hair and started to bathe the wrinkled neck.
"Juubei loves it there," Sakura chimed in. "He's always so happy when we go visit, and he begs to stay longer. Mother sometimes leaves him there for an entire week. He's become such good friends with Kazuki. They're completely inseparable."
The old woman glanced up sharply and stared straight into Juubei's eyes. "Kazuki Fuuchouin?" she demanded. "The son of the Fuuchouin Clan Head? You are familiar with him? Close to him?"
"Yes, Lady Grandmother," said Juubei.
Her gaze was suddenly fierce. She tapped at Sakura's wrist and waved her off. She sat up tall on her futon and Juubei flinched back. She had been a beautiful, formidable woman in her prime and Juubei could still see that pride in her, that power in the line of her shoulders.
Grandmother leaned forward towards him. "You should not spend so much time with Kazuki Fuuchouin," she said, slowly and clearly.
"L-lady Grandmother?"
"You are his protector. Nothing more. Do your duty, but distance yourself from him. In fact, you are not to spend so much time at the Fuuchouin house. I forbid it. Distance yourself from them, Juubei."
Juubei and Sakura stared at each other, stunned.
"Oh, Grandmother!" gasped Sakura. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing good can come from them," said Grandmother, and there was an odd, eerie ring to her voice, like music.
"But the Kakei family have been their protectors for generations!" said Juubei. "It's tradition that we befriend them and protect them from all harm. It's tradition that we should be loyal."
"Yes, and it will destroy us!" snapped Grandmother. That set her off on a coughing fit, but she raised her hand to ward off Sakura's concerned fluttering. "The Fuuchouin House is like a tree that's rotting away at the roots, but still trying to bear fruit. They are rotten, corrupt, inbred, slowly being torn apart by their own warring factions. They are barely held together these days. You two wouldn't know, but they are dying from the inside out, and all the while trying to polish themselves on the outside, like shining a false coin. And we are rotten too, as long as we are connected with them."
Juubei bit down on his lip to stop a cry of protest. He remembered the cool, soft caress of Lady Fuuchouin's hand on his face, and how regal and beautiful she had been .He remembered the white sleeves of her haori fluttering like eagle's wings and the elegant sweep of the silken kimono hem as she walked. How could someone like that be rotten?
"Stay away from that boy," said Grandmother. "He is one of them. His fate is darkened, just like the rest. Stay away from him or you will suffer. You are still young, Juubei. I know. I know things about Kazuki Fuuchouin that would make your skin prickle."
"They say he is special," whispered Sakura, staring down at her hands. "They say he is… gifted."
"A gift?" spat Grandmother, looking as if she had tasted something nasty. "It's a curse. It's a terrible, freakish curse that will bring him nothing but pain."
"Kazuki is not cursed!" Juubei cried out, unable to hold back. "He's my best friend! What do you know about him? You've never even met him!"
He could have bitten his own tongue off. He had never spoken out so rudely to Grandmother, and he felt sick with guilt right afterwards.
"Oh, Juubei!" Sakura hissed at him, glaring. But to his surprise, Grandmother didn't seem angry. Instead, she seemed a little sad.
"My boy," she said, and came closer to him. She reached out a gnarled hand and laid it on his head, over his eyes. Her hand was hot and heavy, like a bear's claw and Juubei fought not to fidget under the weight of it. "My poor boy. You don't understand yet. If you become too attached to the Fuuchouin heir, he will cause you more pain and sorrow than you can possibly imagine. You will lose everything, more than you thought you even had. You will die if you continue to befriend him, if you continue to love him. There is a shadow over his life, and it will swallow you up if you don't stay away."
Juubei gasped. She spoke like a prophet. She spoke like a seer from the old legends.
All of a sudden, he shivered at the memory of the inexplicable shadow that had fallen on Kazuki that beautiful, sunlit day.
"I met the boy once," said Grandmother. She lifted her hand from Juubei's face and shuffled back to her futon. She lay down, as if she were very weary. "I met him once, when he was just a toddler. I knew the moment I saw him that he was as rotten and dark as the rest of them. Stay away from him, Juubei. He stinks of misfortune. He stinks of death."
She sighed and coughed again. She waved her hand in the air, as if shooing away a fly. "Go now, the two of you. I'm tired. I'm so tired."
Juubei stared at her, numb, until Sakura came and pinched him hard in the arm.
"Let's go," she whispered, and pulled him to his feet.
They went out as quietly as they could. Like thieves in the night, they both stole away from their grandmother's chambers and tiptoed to Juubei's bedroom. They lit a lamp and sat on either side of it like campers at the bonfire.
Sakura broke the silence first. "Grandmother is ill. She's not herself these days. She doesn't know what she's saying."
Juubei nodded mutely, unhearing.
It wasn't true. His grandmother was wrong. Kazuki, doll-like Kazuki with his pink mouth and his soft hair, who smelled of milk and breakfast porridge as Juubei slept next to him, wasn't rotten and he didn't stink of death.
But the image came to him, unstoppably, of the shadow on the Kazuki's face, the shadow on the grass that spread outwards like a stain. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists in his lap.
"Perhaps," ventured Sakura, "you should stay home for awhile. Just to please Grandmother. Stay home until she gets better, so she can see that you're not so obsessed with Kazuki. You've been away from home far too much this summer, anyway. You weren't even here when she fell sick."
There was an edge of accusation in her voice, and Juubei bowed his head in a show of contrition.
"Alright," he mumbled. "I'll stay home. For awhile."
Sakura nodded and twisted a strand of light brown hair around her finger. "Good. That's good." She took his hand and clasped it across the table, as if they were shaking on a deal. They sat, hand-clasped, for a few silent moments, watching the lamp flicker. Sakura's eyes seemed sad in the orange glow.
Juubei felt very weary, and was glad when she released him and gathered her robe around herself.
"Good night," she said softly, and left.
Alone, Juubei laid out his futon. He undressed, lay down, and wrapped himself in the comforter. He tried to lose himself in the soft, sweet comfort of sleep, but he was restless. Several times, he tried to lull himself asleep by imagining Kazuki curled up next to him, the air smelling faintly of clean hair and the drops of rosewater that the Fuuchouin maids sprinkled on Kazuki's pajama collars.
But when he closed his eyes, he would see on the backs of his eyelids the shadow that had fallen over Kazuki like an omen of death. And his memories would play strange tricks on him and he would imagine that the shadow scorched the grass beneath Kazuki's white hands and sucked away the sweet summer air like some evil void. And Juubei would shudder and start awake, and draw his comforter tighter around himself.
X
Notes (with spoilers!):
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Thank you so much for reading! The inspiration for the certain elements of this story came from volume 39, when the nature of the "alternate timeline/multi-verse" was explained. Since the world that the Getbackers live in was created to be an alternate world, I'm assuming that other alternate worlds are also available and possible. I thought it was interesting that in the original world, Kazuki was biologically female, while biologically male in the Getbackers world. It inspired me to explore the idea of a world where it's possible that he's both. Please note that the related biology is purely fantastical and does not represent any real world medical or scientific cases.
Please feedback and let me know what you think!