Part I
The new guy shows up at six o'clock in the morning at the ass crack of dawn, the same time Kirihara gets home from work and Yukimura is making his coffee. Yukimura knocks on his door and Marui rolls out of bed to wander into the living room in his boxers. It's still an hour too early for pants of any form.
"Coffee?" Yukimura offers.
"Screw you, Mr. Sunshine," Marui mutters.
Yukimura laughs softly.
Kirihara is draped precariously across their broken sofa, his butt lost somewhere in that gap they've been meaning to shove a pillow into. Yukimura sips at his coffee and sits on the kitchen counter; Marui begins to wonder if the new guy has any chairs because all they have is the sofa and a stool with a broken leg. Marui shoves Kirihara's feet to the side and sits down.
The three of them have known each other for, well, ever. Growing up, Yukimura was the kid next door to Marui and Kirihara was the annoying brat from down the street that he used to babysit. Yukimura and his family would show up at the Marui residence for small holidays and Friday night pizza night, a tradition the two still carry on. Kirihara would follow Marui around and when Kirihara got too old to need a baby-sitter, Marui became his tutor.
As they got older and wanted to move out, it only seemed natural to get a place together. It worked for awhile. Yukimura got a job at a big-shot magazine after graduating from university, Marui worked at the bakery Jackal started up, and Kirihara got a late night shift at a fast food joint.
But Kirihara is still in university, and Jackal's place isn't doing as well as hoped, and Yukimura can only write so many stories a month, and they need money. So they set out on what Marui refers to as the Great Roommate Search, which led them to a freak who decided to move in at six o'clock in the fucking morning.
Marui's never met this new guy. Yukimura handled most of the process. They weren't asking for much rent, just enough so they can get their hot water back and maybe some food that isn't made in the microwave.
"When's this guy gonna get here?" Kirihara says. "I've got class in, like, three hours and I need to sleep."
"He texted me saying he would be here and would need help," Yukimura says.
"What's his name again?" Marui asks.
"Niou," Yukimura says.
There's a knock at the door and Yukimura goes to let their new roommate in. Marui has known Yukimura for twenty-two years now and still does not understand how the man can be so damn chipper in the morning. Kirihara shifts on the stained sofa, propping himself up to get a look at this guy.
"The fuck?" Kirihara says.
Marui agrees. The guy looks like a bit of a freak. He's got white hair and startling blue eyes, and he's wearing jeans with more stains than the couch and a long sleeve shirt. The only normal thing about the guy is his luggage—nope, wait, that's weird too.
His messenger bag has several buttons on it, like a recycle button and a few more with Harry Potter references, which is where the normal stops. The bag has a bunch of weird symbols on it that Marui doesn't recognize. Things like moons and circles, stars, and some weird curvy lines.
Niou follows Yukimura into the apartment, dragging a moving dolly with a large black chest and several boxes on it. The chest has the same weird symbols as his bag.
"That's Marui and that's Kirihara," Yukimura says.
"Yo," Niou says.
"Is this all you have?" Yukimura asks.
"I have a few more things in the hall," Niou says. "Where's my room?"
There are exactly six rooms in their apartment. There's the main room, which is an open room containing the kitchen and the living room, the four bedrooms and one bathroom. Niou's room is the smallest and the furtherest from the bathroom. There's a window that leads to the fire escape.
Niou sets his things next to the mattress on the floor—there is no frame—and shows them where the rest of his things are. There's four more boxes that feel like they're filled with rocks, or very heavy books, and another luggage bag.
"Takeout menus are in the Lucky Charms box next to the microwave—we do pizza every Friday," Yukimura says. "We put our work shifts on a calendar on the fridge. We take turns going grocery shopping. Did I miss anything?"
"Whoever picks up the mail puts it in the Fruit Loops box," Kirihara says.
"Anything you don't want eaten, put your name on," Marui says.
"Knock when going into the bathroom," Yukimura adds.
"Don't fuck a screamer," Kirihara says.
"That's all I can think of at the moment," Yukimura says, not commenting on Kirihara's addition. He reaches into his pocket and hands Niou a key. "This works on the front door. The individual doors lock, but the key got lost and the landlord hasn't gotten around to giving us a spare."
Yukimura is the first to leave since he has to catch a train to work. Kirihara follows seconds later to shower and sleep before his class at nine. Marui has work at eight and needs to leave around seven forty, and there's no way he's going to be able to go back to sleep with Niou banging around right next to his room. Marui clicks his tongue and wishes he had a piece of gum.
"You need any help?" Marui offers.
Niou looks around at the boxes and his bags, then says, "I think I'll be fine."
"I have an old bookcase I don't really use anyone if you want me to bring it over," Marui says. "That way you don't have to go out and get one."
"Alright."
Marui goes into his room, decides he needs to do laundry when he spots a pile of dirty clothes, and wiggles the empty bookcase out of the corner. It's got six shelves and is surprising light, most likely because it's a cheap piece of crap, but maybe Niou can get some use out of it. Marui grabs a piece of gum and slides the bookcase into Niou's room.
Niou is unpacking his many boxes of books, stacking them in some order. Marui squats next to the largest stack that's a mixture of paperback and hardback books. He sees The Hobbit, the Lord of the Ringstrilogy, every Harry Potter book, and some more that Marui doesn't recognize but assumes are fantasy based. Then he looks at the other stacks and Marui is reminded of his initial impression of Niou:
This guy's a freak.
He picks up an old book that looks like it's about to break at the spine called Fungi and Herbs: Household Uses. He exchanges it for an old tome with the name Tarot Reading written in elegant gold. Essential Crystals and Stones; Mandrake Root Revisited; Astronomy for Beginners. Marui picks up book after book, each more peculiar than the last.
He reaches for a large tome. He recognizes the symbol on the front from Niou's bag and chest. He reaches for it, but Niou's fingers wrap around his wrist and stop him. His hand is surprisingly warm.
"Don't touch that," Niou says. He releases Marui's hand and goes back to pulling out more books—101 Uses for Animal Bones; Numerology in Nature; Casting Spells: Five Hundred and First Edition.
Marui stops looking and tries to convince himself that he's suddenly lost the ability to read and all of these books are completely, one hundred percent normal.
They're not.
.
Marui works every day except Friday from eight to eight at Jackal's bakery. He decorates the pastries and places them in neat rows or stacks in the display cases, then works the register as people begin to come in at nine. Jackal spends the day running between the front of the shop where he helps Marui and the back where he bakes. On weekends, Urayama comes in and helps with the register.
It's not much—just a little one-story shop wedged between an ice-cream parlor and a bookstore, but it's Jackal's dream. Marui's known Jackal nearly as long as Yukimura and Kirihara. They met in high school and have been planning the bakery ever since. They got a small loan and practically built the place from the ground up. They have a small profit.
"Register checks out," Marui says as he comes into the office from the shop. He puts the cash box into the safe. "Wanna come over for dinner? Seiichi's bringing home Italian. Akaya's got a date so we're an odd man out."
"Sure," Jackal says. He finishes whipping down his work station and takes off his flour-covered apron. "I finally get to meet the new guy you've been talking about all week."
Marui groans. Every day, he seems to forget that they have a forth roommate. Niou is quiet and keeps to himself, something Marui appreciates when he has a roommate like Kirihara, who likes to have Chinese food runs and movie marathons at four in the morning. He hasn't heard any animal sacrifices or seen any billowing smoke coming out from under Niou's door like he had initially expected.
Marui tallies the books and takes inventory of the baking supplies while Jackal closes up the front shop. They leave at eight, even though the shop closed at seven. Marui nearly forgets his sketchbook of cake designs.
Jackal's pastries are small things, like cupcakes and cream-puffs, but occasionally he'll make a cake and Marui goes wild. He's always had a talent for art and cake design is the best because he gets to eat frosting and design at the same time.
Yukimura's still at work when they get to the apartment. Niou is standing in the kitchen, lazily stroking a tabby cat sitting on the counter as it drinks from a saucer of water. The cat has short brown fur and stops drinking to stare at Marui and Jackal like they're intruders. It hisses.
"Calm down," Niou says.
"I didn't know you had a cat," Marui says. The apartment allows pets, but Niou never mentioned anything about a cat before.
"I don't own him, but I am his master." The cat nips at Niou's fingers. "Bad choice of words," Niou admits. He strokes behind the cat's ears as it begins to drink again.
Marui gestures to Jackal. "This is Jackal. We work together. He's staying for the night."
"Hey," Jackal says.
"Yo."
"So what do you do for a living, Niou?" Jackal asks. Marui looks at Niou and wonders why he hadn't thought to ask that earlier. He's seen Niou's work hours on the calendar but never bothered to figure out where he went.
"I work in a tea shop," Niou says. "You two work at the Doubles Bakery, right? I've seen a lot of boxes with that name in the fridge."
"We own it," Jackal says.
"He owns it," Marui corrects. "I just work there."
The tabby jumps off the counter and scurries towards Niou's room. Niou sighs heavily, doesn't give Marui or Jackal a second glance, and goes to open his room. He disappears inside with the cat.
.
Marui knows things about his roommates that have no real meaning or importance. He knows that Yukimura takes his coffee with two cubes of sugar, Kirihara doesn't drink coffee, and Niou prefers loose leaf tea. Yukimura dresses business casual, Kirihara is lucky to change into clothes at all, and Niou wears long sleeve shirts all the time. Yukimura eats pepperoni pizza, Kirihara will eat anything, and Niou eats plain cheese.
He could go on and on—the type of music they listen to (Niou listens to white noise, if that counts), favorite movie genre (Niou likes fantasy), favorite weather (Niou seems like be in a slightly better mood when it rains). In just about a month, Marui thinks he knows everything there is to know about Niou Masaharu.
Kirihara comes back the day after a date looking very pleased. Marui is eating leftovers at the window in the living room and sketching the city view. Niou's tabby cat is sitting on the fire escape to the left, nibbling at a potted plant Niou put there. Marui figures it's catnip.
"Hello," Kirihara says with a shit-eating grin. "Guess how my night went."
"You got laid. Don't rub it in."
"Yes, yes I did."
"Guy or girl?"
"Girl."
"Hooker?"
"Shut up. That was one time and she didn't even ask me to pay her." Kirihara's grin won't go away. He sits next to Marui on the floor, looks out the window, then look at Marui's sketchbook. "That's good. Can I have it when you're done?"
"Sure," Marui mutters. Sketches aren't his best. His best medium is oil paint, but it's expensive. Cake is a close second. Sketching calms him and gives him something to do on his days off.
"There's this guy in my Intro class you'd get along with," Kirihara says. "I can give him your number. Maybe you two can hook up and do the horizontal hooky pokey."
"You are so annoying after you've had sex."
Kirihara laughs. "You could fuck Niou."
The idea isn't appalling. Behind the weird white hair and startlingly empty blue eyes, Niou isn't a bad looking guy. He's tall and alluring and his skin is pale enough to mark easily, something Marui likes very much. He's little lanky and a bit skinner than Marui's normal hook-ups, but everyone has their faults.
"No thanks," Marui says. He erases a tower he made too tall and begins to redraw it. "But give that guy my number, okay?"
"'kay," Kirihara says. "You think Niou's gay?"
"Dunno." Marui pauses his hand and frowns. He hasn't heard Niou bring anyone home and as far as he knows, Niou comes home every night after work. Kirihara throws out a more ideas—asexual, bisexual, and a few more—but Marui quickly looses interest in the topic.
.
Marui ponders the meaning of irony when the morning after his conversation with Kirihara about Niou's sexuality, he sees Niou standing in the kitchen with a man dressed in only a towel. Niou is pouring hot water into a mug from a kettle, dropping his loose leaf tea dispenser into the mug.
The strange man is in Niou's very close personal space but not touching him, just talking in a hushed tone. The man has neat brown hair and is wearing wire glasses. His skin is still pink from the shower. He stops talking and stares at Marui when he comes out of his bedroom in his pajamas.
"I thought you had work," the strange man says.
"Jackal's sick so the shop's closed for the day. Who are you?" Marui asks. The man does not move from Niou's close space, even as Niou begins to drink his morning cup of tea.
"A friend," Niou says, bored and practiced. His blue eyes met Marui's, offering no further explanation. If eyes are the windows to the soul, then Niou has no soul. "Hiroshi, this is Marui."
"Hello," the man says. "Please call me Yagyuu."
Marui nods, moves into the kitchen to take some pastries leftover from the bakery out of the fridge, then sits up on the counter. The man has not moved away from Niou, who is now leaning with his back to the counter, slowly sipping his tea.
"Are you two together?" Marui asks.
"No," Niou says.
"It's not a big deal if you are—"
"We're not," Niou says, firmer this time. He inhales deeply into his tea. Yagyuu is closer than before and Niou seems to calm slightly. Yagyuu does not seem to care that he is only in a towel and neither does Niou.
"Alright," Marui says. "So do you have any plans? You have off, right?"
"We're going shopping," Yagyuu says. "Niou needs to restock on some things and I found a new shop we want to see."
"Cool. Seiichi's making his mom's lasagna tonight. Yagyuu should stick around."
Marui tries to gauge their reaction, but can't because there isn't one, unless you count Niou's blue eyes flicking up from his mug. Marui notices that Niou's hand has crept around Yagyuu's body and seems to be sitting somewhere on Yagyuu's bare back. They both act like it's a natural, normal touch.
"Perhaps," Yagyuu says.
Niou pushes away from the counter and leaves to go to his room, taking his tea and Yagyuu with him. Yagyuu doesn't stay for dinner.
.
Things don't work out with Kirihara's friend. Marui comes home from his disaster of a date, rubbing at the soda that spilled all over his pants and trying not to cough up a lung. He's fairly certain he got lung cancer from kissing that guy. How many packs did he smoke a day to taste that nasty?
Marui collapses onto the sofa, hears a soft meow, and looks down at his feet. The tabby cat Niou owns is staring at him with human-like curiosity. Marui pats the sofa next to his leg, the cat jumps up, and he turns on the television. Yukimura joins him when he comes home from work.
"Good kitty," Yukimura coos, scratching the cat's back near its tail. The cat purrs happily and rolls towards Yukimura's thighs. "I think I like having an animal around."
"As long as I don't have to buy it food or clean up its shit," Marui says.
"Hmm. How'd your date go?"
"Disaster."
"That's a shame." Yukimura flips through the channels, eventually settling on a nature documentary. Over the sound of screeching orangutans, Marui hears Niou's voice from his room.
"Hiroshi?" Niou calls. He opens his door and stops when Marui and Yukimura turn to look at him. "Have you seen my cat?"
The tabby jumps off the sofa and runs into Niou's room. Niou shuts the door without another word. Marui frowns at the primates on the television.
"Something wrong?" Yukimura asks.
"He has a friend named Hiroshi," Marui says.
"He probably named the cat after his friend."
"Yeah. That makes sense."
.
Niou disappears. Not literally, but in a sense he does. He has no hours at the tea shop the entire week and no one has seen him leave his room to get anything to eat or drink. Kirihara and Marui sit and debate whether or not he's dead.
"Ten bucks says he is," Kirihara says.
"He isn't dead," Marui says.
"Then make the bet and go into his room."
Marui thinks it over. Kirihara has a challenging look in his eyes, the same he used to get when Marui would babysit him and he refused to brush his teeth. Marui recalls winning by tackling Kirihara and holding him down.
"Well?" Kirihara says.
Marui holds out his hand and Kirihara shakes.
Marui hasn't been inside of Niou's room since the first day he moved in when it was all empty walls and dusty floorboards. Marui knocks on the door, receives no response, then goes inside.
Niou's room smells faintly of lavender and sweet smoke. Gray puffs of smoke drift up from an intricate, bronze incense dispenser sitting on top of the chest with the weird shapes. Fresh air blows in from the open window where there are pots of herbs and small flowers: sage, thyme, aloe, and others. Dreamcatchers hang along the walls next to tapestries.
The bookcase Marui had given him is filled to the brim and surrounded by several more stacks of books. Strings of glowing lights give off a soft yellow light which is reflected off of crystals scattered throughout the room on every surface—amethyst chunks the size of his fist, small quartz clusters, blue ones that glow green, purple ones with yellow streaks, and dozens more that he cannot recognize.
Worst of all, there are the objects on the chest. Next to the incense dispenser is a wide bowl full of herbs like a mortar and pestle. There are colored jars of different shapes and sizes labeled mandrake root, snake skin, eye of newt, chicken feet, and pig blood. There's more jars behind the first row that he can't read.
Definitely weirder than he expected and he was expecting some really freaky shit.
The mattress is still on the floor, shoved near the window and sticking out into the middle of the room. Thin fabric is draped down from the ceiling, encircling the bed like a curtain or a giant blanket fort. Marui hazardous a guess that Niou's inside the curtains and parts the fabric, looking down at the mess of blankets and white hair. The tabby cat is curled between his legs.
Niou groans, turns, opens his eyes. For a moment, Marui swore he saw red instead of blue, but it must have been his imagination.
"What?" Niou grumbles. "I'm sleeping."
"You've been sleeping for a week?"
"Yes."
"That's not normal."
Niou closes his eyes slowly. "So?"
"Akaya thinks you're dead."
"I'm obviously not."
Niou covers his face with the sheets. Marui knows he should probably leave. He doesn't know Niou the way he knows Yukimura and Kirihara, and tugging the sheets off his body is probably crossing an arbitrary line but he does it anyways. Big mistake in retrospect.
Niou's arms are covered in the most complicated, beautiful tattoos Marui has ever seen. Black ruins spiral down his arms from his shoulders and tapper off at his wrists, saying things in a language that Marui cannot read. There are alchemic symbols between the rows of writing and other symbols Marui recognizes from his bag and chest.
Niou sits up slowly, his blue eyes staring vacantly at Marui. The cat stirs between his legs. His eyes flash red and this time, Marui can't write it off as his mind being creative.
"What do you want?" Niou asks.
"What the hell are you?" Marui asks. He steps back, trips over a stray tome, stares at the man on the mattress. "Are you some devil worshiper or something? I was debating calling the cops when I saw the jar labeled pig blood, but now I am seriously freaking the fuck out!"
"Why did you come in here?"
"Answer me!"
"Answer me first and maybe I'll answer you." The cat is hissing now, but it stops when Niou places a hand on its back. "Calm down, Hiroshi."
"And why the hell is your cat named the same thing as your friend?"
Niou blinks slowly and tilts his head to the side a fraction of an inch.
Marui panics and says, "I was just making sure you were alive! We haven't seen you in ages and Akaya thought you were dead and paid me to come see if you're okay or not."
Marui tries to stand, wants to run away because Niou is more than weird, he's terrifying in ways Marui cannot begin to explain, but he can't move. Niou gives him a level look and says:
"I'm a warlock."
.
Marui feels like he's Harry Potter when he finds out that magic is real. Niou does not explain much and Marui does not want to know more than he already does. He knows that warlocks exist—rather, magical creatures exist—and Niou is one of them. Marui honestly didn't hear half of what Niou said after "I'm a warlock," but he caught enough to know that he wants a new roommate ASAP.
But how can he tell Yukimura and Kirihara all of this? They won't believe him and he doubts Niou is going to have a coming out party. And Niou isn't a bad roommate when you ignore the jars of pig blood and chicken feet and the whole warlock thing. He pays his rent, keeps his things clean, and stays to himself. He's a heaven sent compared to what they could've been stuck with.
Only he's a fucking warlock.
A week ago, Marui never would have believed he'd have a thought quite like that.
And, for some reason, Marui believes him. He does not think Niou is out of his mind, insane or delusional. Marui has never believed in magic, but when Niou told him, he suddenly did. No questions asked. Magic is real.
Now that he knows, Marui begins to notice things he didn't before. Like how Niou smells faintly of lavender or smoke from the herbs and incense in his room. After some research, he identifies the symbols on his bag and chest; they're all Wiccan marks—triquetra, triple goddess, blessings, witch's knot, and others that boggle his mind.
Marui throws himself into his work and does not talk to Niou. Urayama comes into the bakery on Monday to help Marui and Jackal with the books after the shop is closed. Kirihara and he play Xbox for six hours on Wednesday because Kirihara doesn't have work. Yukimura and Marui work on the bills on Thursday, deciding electricity comes before hot water.
He's almost able to forget his conversation with Niou until he finds Niou and Yagyuu in the kitchen on Friday.
Yagyuu is fresh out of the shower but is dressed this time. Niou rubs absently at Yagyuu's hip as he reads a Tolkien novel over a cup of tea. Marui does not notice that Yagyuu is purring until that soft, warm sounding buzz stops along with Niou's hand.
"We need to talk," Niou says, not once looking up from his book. He turns the page and sips at his tea. "Is there anything you'd like to know? We'll answer to the best of our ability."
"Are you a witch too?" Marui blurts out. Yagyuu adjusts his glasses.
"No," Niou says. "Anything else?"
Marui has a million questions—is Niou going to sacrifice him, what did those ruins on his arm mean, how can witches exist in the twenty-first century—but nothing comes out of his mouth.
"I will not sacrifice you, the ruins mark me as a warlock, and there are many more things than witches in the twenty-first century," Niou says. "Also, I'm a telepath. Don't ask me to move things, that's telekinesis and it's a cheap trick. I'm not what you think of when you think of witches."
"If you're not what I think, then what are you?"
"Complicated," Niou says, "but peaceful. You don't need to worry about anything. I keep my business to myself. And with Hiroshi, I suppose."
"Why does your cat have the same name as Yagyuu anyways?" Marui asks because that has been bugging him for ages.
Yagyuu's pupils dilate then retract into slits and turn yellow-green. Marui watches in awe and horror as Yagyuu shrinks down to the size of a cat—the same tabby that's always with Niou. He jumps up onto the counter and rubs his head against Niou's hand. Niou pets him.
"Any more questions?"
"No. If you need me, I'm going back to my room to pass out."
.
Yukimura and Marui sit on the sofa while Kirihara sits on the floor next to the pizza boxes. Kirihara brought home some cheap beer to celebrate his raise a work and Yukimura's newest story which made the centerfold. They watch bad late night television and laugh obnoxiously loud at the bad jokes because they're borderline drunk by that point.
"How did you get away with that without her slapping you?" Marui laughs.
"I have no idea!" Kirihara says.
Yukimura rolls onto his side, laughing until no sound comes out.
Niou comes out of his room holding cat-Yagyuu, stroking his fur absentmindedly, and goes into the kitchen. He shifts Yagyuu into one arm and begins to open the cabinets in search of expired cereal or cheese balls that are about to expire.
"Niou, come here," Yukimura says. "You have to hear what Akaya said on his date last week."
"I can't say it again without laughing," Kirihara says.
"Come on, it'll be fun," Yukimura goes on. "There's still some pizza."
Yagyuu rubs his head against Niou's stomach and Niou comes over to sit next to Marui. Yagyuu jumps to the ground and sips from a can of beer, which Marui finds strange but Kirihara and Yukimura find hilarious. Niou picks up a piece of pizza and sits with them for the rest of the night.
.
Jackal comes up with the idea to supply local, independent businesses with muffins to sell. The profits will be split and it will get their name out in the open. The café across the street agreed immediately, as did the bookstore next door. They close down the bakery an hour early on Monday and head towards the tea shop a few blocks down.
The shop is called Cauldron and is at the corner of the street. Marui walks past it every morning to get to the bakery but has never been inside. It seems to be a fairly standard shop with several tables inside and outside with a long counter for orders. As Marui and Jackal get closer to the counter and can see the objects behind the counter to be purchased, Marui realized it's not a normal tea shop.
There are boxes of bagged tea packets for sale, as well as bags of loose leaf tea and a variety of tea infusers. But there are jars labeled wolfsbane, mandrake root, juniper berries, alder, and other strange things that do not go into tea. Weirder yet are the crystals similar to the ones in Niou's room and small wooden chests with Wiccan carvings on them.
"Welcome to Cauldron," the man behind the counter says. The name tag on his apron reads Shiraishi. "How can I help you?"
"We're from Doubles Bakery," Jackal says, obviously not seeing what Marui is seeing. "I emailed the owner about selling some of our products here."
"Oh, yes, please wait a moment," Shiraishi says. He disappears into the back room and several minutes later, returns with a man in a sharp suit. The man comes around the counter, introducing himself as Atobe Keigo, the owner of Cauldron.
When Marui shakes his hand, he feels as though he's been dipped into ice water. Marui shivers and Atobe chuckles deeply.
"I apologize. I've been told I'm quite cold-blooded," Atobe says. Jackal laughs. "Now, in terms of what we discussed in our prior correspondence..."
Atobe and Jackal begin to talk business. They haggle terms and numbers, profit cuts and supply numbers. It doesn't take too long for them to settle on a morning delivery of two dozen muffins Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and a seventy-thirty profit cut with the bakery getting more.
Atobe shakes their hands once more and when Marui looks at his eyes, he swears he sees faint scales growing out like crows feet and his black pupils dilate to the size of plates. But when he looks again, Atobe's skin is smooth and flawless and his eyes are perfectly human.
"We'll be in touch," Atobe says, then turns and disappears into the back room.
"I'm going to need some help in the back making all of this stuff," Jackal says, thoroughly ecstatic. "I'm going to make some calls to the local culinary schools and see if they can suggest anyone. I'll see you later."
Jackal hurries out of the store, already on his phone, leaving Marui to himself. Marui turns to Shiraishi. He notices that on the name tag, next to his name is a triquetra, a symbol on Niou's bag and chest and arms.
"Does a man named Niou Masaharu work here?" Marui asks.
"Yes," Shiraishi says, "but he has the day off. He works tomorrow from nine to five."
Marui thanks Shiraishi for his time and leaves the store. It takes him a moment to comprehend that Jackal and he just entered a business deal with a magical shop. He doesn't even know why he's surprised anymore.
.
Marui is sitting by the window in the living room with his sketch book when Niou walks up to him, holding cat-Yagyuu in his arms. There's a cup of tea floating near his elbow and it should surprise Marui more than it does.
"I thought you said telekinesis was a cheap trick," Marui says.
"It is, but it has it's uses," Niou says. He sets cat-Yagyuu down and picks his cup of tea out of the air. "Stay away from Cauldron. It's a magical shop for magical beings."
"Shiraishi looked normal," Marui says.
"He's an alchemist," Niou says. "Atobe is a dragon, Miyuki does voo-doo, Yanagi is a seer, and Kikumaru is a familiar like Hiroshi."
"A familiar?"
"An animal that watches over witches and warlocks," Niou says with a bored expression. "Familiars have the ability to turn into humans. Most are cats or dogs, but some are bats or reptiles. It's a very close relationship bound by magical compatibility."
Marui thinks about how Yagyuu is always at Niou's hip in his human form and sleeping between his legs in his cat form. He wonders if Niou and Yagyuu have slept together.
"I told you before, we're not together," Niou snaps, annoyed. He sips at his tea and seems to calm. Marui assumes it's either some good camomile or has some magic in it; maybe both. "Promise you'll stay away from the store."
"Why should I do what you tell me to do?" Marui asks.
"Because Atobe will eat you if he has the chance."
"Oh." Marui can feel himself paling.
"If you understand , stay away from Cauldron," Niou says. He retreats to his room, cat-Yagyuu following.
.
They hire a girl around Urayama's age who goes to a local culinary school. Her name is Sakuno. She shows up on time and helps Jackal with his baking, quickly picking up on his special additions that make his food better than anyone else's. Every morning, Marui takes three dozen muffins to the café, a dozen to the bookstore, and another two dozen to Cauldron three times a week.
Sometimes Niou is working behind the counter, brewing tea for customers or bagging items from the shelves. Other times, Niou disappears to the mysterious back room and comes back with a black bag for a customer. On these occasions, Niou goes to the back room without being told to do so and the customer leaves without paying. Marui does not want to know what is being exchanged.
"Two dozen with five extra pumpkin. Jackal wants to try out a new recipe," Marui says.
He sets two large, blue and brown boxes on the counter. Niou begins to stack the muffins in the small glass display at the end of the counter. When he notices that Marui hasn't left, his blue eyes flash red. Marui thinks they change color based on his mood, but he's only ever seen red and blue.
"Why are you still here?" Niou asks. He has made it very clear that he dislikes Marui's presence and the first time Niou was at the counter when Marui delivered muffins left Marui feeling scared for his life. "Leave."
Marui thinks rather than speaks: Is everyone who comes here magical?
"Not always," Niou says. "Some people don't know and think this is just a tea shop. Most of our clients are magical, which is why you should stay away."
Are you worried about me?
"Some werewolves have a fetish for human boys."
Werewolves?
"And lions and tigers and bears," Niou says sardonically.
Oh my.
Niou smirks. Something about that little twitch of his lips fills Marui with a sense of pride.
Niou flicks his blue eyes to Marui, no doubt having heard his internal ah-ha! of victory, and says, "Don't you have a job to get back to?"
While the idea of staying and pestering Niou is appealing, Niou has a point. Marui leaves the tea shop and heads to the bakery.
.
Kirihara has to work extra hours to help cover the bills. Yukimura runs his resume to every convenience store within walking distance. Jackal tells Marui he can take a raise and a bonus and he nearly cries tears of joy—nearly. When Yukimura asks Niou for an advance on his rent, Niou takes up extra shifts at Cauldron.
They're all exhausted and pushed to the point of hysteria.
Marui curls up on the couch after work, completely oblivious to the fact that Kirihara is already sinking into the hole. At some point, after Kirihara has draped an arm over Marui and Marui has started using Kirihara's other arm as a pillow, cat-Yagyuu jumps up and sits next to Marui's legs.
Yukimura comes in from work and chuckles. Marui is aware enough to hear this and flip him off. He hears a soft Marui and thinks Yukimura is mumbling to himself out of lack of sleep. Then cat-Yagyuu digs his claws into Marui's hip, waking him fully. Yagyuu jumps off the sofa and runs to Niou's door, scratching at the wood.
Marui, he hears again.
Niou?
Come to my room.
Marui wants to tell Niou to fuck off, but he doesn't. He rolls off the sofa and opens Niou's door. Kirihara is dead to the world and Yukimura is back in his room so he doesn't have to answer why he's going into Niou's room. He doesn't think saying it was a telepathic request is acceptable.
Yagyuu runs inside, changing into a fully clothed human once the door is closed. Niou is lying across the floor in front of his chest where thick black smoke rises from the mortar and pestle. Yagyuu turns Niou onto his back and he groans.
"What happened?" Yagyuu asks. "You've done this spell before. Was your lavender dead?"
"Don't know," Niou croaks. His irises have gone black, which is the creepiest thing Marui has ever seen in his life. "I can't move."
"Help me," Yagyuu says.
Marui nods. Yagyuu hooks his arms under Niou's arms and Marui grabs him by the feet, and they move him into his curtained bed to place him on the mattress. Niou turns into Yagyuu's touch. Yagyuu cups his head gently in his hands, thumbs rubbing circles. They look like lovers.
"It's not like that," Niou says. "How many times do I need to tell you that?"
"Stop reading my mind," Marui says. He doesn't deny that he just thought they were together. "And if it's not like that, then how is it? Familiars and their charges are cuddle buddies or something?"
"My magic can flow into him through physical contact," Yagyuu says. "I'm correcting his body's magic so it does not kill him."
As he talks, Niou's irises begin to turn blue.
"So what were you doing?" Marui asks. "What spell?"
"A protection spell," Yagyuu says. "For you three. Things in our world are not well and he was concerned for your safety. I told him to not perform it until the full moon."
"Too long to wait," Niou mutters.
"I'm going to get him some things," Yagyuu says. "Can you stay with him?"
"Sure," Marui says.
Niou reaches up to wrap his fingers around Yagyuu's wrist and stays still for several moments before nodding. Yagyuu slides away, his eyes dilating then contracting, and rears down onto all fours as he turns into a tabby cat. He jumps up into the open window and runs down the fire escape.
Niou's head lolls to the side. Marui doesn't know what to do so he does what feels right: he takes Niou by the hand and waits for Yagyuu to come back.
.
Niou sleeps for three days. On Friday, when Kirihara is at class and Yukimura is out grocery shopping, Yagyuu helps Niou venture into the kitchen and make a cup of tea. Niou leans against the counter, slowly sipping his tea and exhaling deeply after every sip. He's pressed up against Yagyuu.
"Are you feeling any better?" Marui asks.
"Hmm," Niou says.
"His pig blood was not harvested under a new moon so it corrupted the spell," Yagyuu says. That sounds about as reasonable as anything else as of late.
Niou tilts his head onto Yagyuu's shoulder. Yagyuu guides the cup to Niou's mouth and murmurs, "Drink. It will adjust your levels."
Niou does not look too happy as he lifts his head with great effort to drink. Marui takes a box from Doubles Bakery out of the fridge and puts it on the counter. He takes one of the cream-puffs and jumps up onto the counter.
"You should eat too," Marui says. "Humans need to eat. You are human, right?"
"Witches are warlocks are human—some more so than others," Yagyuu says. Niou is eyeing the box of pastries with tired interest. "A warlock's life force is tied to their magic. If their magic is strong, they can live far past a normal human. They die when their magic burns out or is blocked by things like bad pig blood."
Niou reaches for the box of pastries, even though it is several feet away. The box does not shift or float towards him. Niou frowns. Yagyuu sighs and retrieves a large cream-puff for Niou.
"So what's wrong in the magical community that made you want to protect us anyways?" Marui asks.
Yagyuu purrs, which is really freaky because he's still in his human form. Niou shakes his head and Yagyuu purrs again, louder this time. Niou takes a sip of tea as Yagyuu begins to rub his back.
"There's talk of coming out to the human population," Niou says, slowly like it takes great effort. "Warlocks and witches, then other creatures over time. Some are opposed to this. Humans who know of our existence and support the movement are being killed. If people found out you know, they may kill you, or all three of you."
Marui remembers his reaction to discovering magic. He panicked and thought Niou was going to kill him, then he accepted it. Magic is real and it usually brings no harm. But there are people out there who would not think the same way. They would call Niou a demon and demand his head on a stick—or worse.
"How do you feel about coming out?" Marui asks.
"I don't know," Niou says. "I'm undecided. It's not a new topic, but the amount of people who want to is... startling."
Yagyuu purrs again, strokes Niou's neck, has him take another sip of tea. "Cauldron is becoming a place for those who want to reveal our existence to the public," Yagyuu says. "Atobe is leading a large movement to come out and a pureblooded dragon like him has a large sphere of influence. People are beginning to take notice."
"So that's why I should stay away," Marui says. "If I get too close to Cauldron, people will think I'm supporting a magical reveal and I'll be killed."
Niou nods.
"You need to sleep," Yagyuu says softly to Niou.
Niou begins to walk towards him room, Yagyuu following close behind in case he falls. Marui finishes his cream-puff, puts the box in the fridge, and goes to get his sketch book. He plans on spending the day at the park drawing flowers for references for when he makes cakes.
He's half way out the door when he hears, Bring me more cream-puffs.
.
The café begins to sell the cream-puffs and croissants, something Sakuno taught Jackal how to make. When the café and bookstore begin to request more muffins every morning, they hire a third baker named Tooyama, who helps Jackal perfect his sourdough recipe. They three bakers begin to talk about putting in another oven when they begin to sellout of banana bread, melon bread, and monkey bread nearly every day.
Marui restocks the shelves and decorates more cupcakes than ever before. Jackal suggests selling the sugar flowers Marui makes. Marui buys a bouquet of roses to sketch during his break at the bakery. He comes home from work with a cramp in his hand but he hasn't been this happy in years.
"Did you get laid?" Kirihara asks when he sees him.
"No," Marui says, not bothering to wipe the stupid smile off his face.
"That is your post sex face," Yukimura says.
"Shut up," Marui snaps.
The two laugh and go back to killing zombies on Xbox. Marui goes into the bathroom to shower only to find Niou washing crystals in the sink. He's not wearing a shirt and Marui stares at his tattoos for far too long. He seems even skinner than before, his ribs showing at his sides, his muscles slimmed but still present.
"What?" Niou snaps. His eyes are red. "And you forgot to knock."
"Sorry," Marui says. "Everything okay? Your eyes are red."
Niou takes in a deep breath and on his exhale, his eyes turn blue. "Frustrated is probably the better word," he says. "I can't get this amethyst clean and I need to scry for something."
"Scrying is looking for something, right?"
"Yes."
"So what are you looking for?"
"True hallow ground. I need soil for my new protection spell. This one doesn't use pig blood."
"You know that we can take care of ourselves," Marui says. "I'm sure if you told Akaya and Seiichi, they would be careful and—"
"No," Niou says. "This way is safer. It's easier."
Marui reaches out and places a hand on his shoulder. "Niou, we're fine."
Niou takes his crystal and leaves.
.
If Niou's new spell works, Marui can't tell. He doesn't feel any different and when he asks Kirihara and Yukimura, they give him strange looks and say they feel the same. Marui continues on as if nothing had happened, making the bakery's delivery to Cauldron when Sakuno or Tooyama can't. Whenever he sees Niou, they do not talk, which is probably another way of protecting him.
Marui's walking home from the bakery when he sees Niou exiting a butcher's shop. Marui jogs across the street and walks alongside him.
"I doubt you got a bag full of meat," Marui says. "Magic stuff?"
"Chicken feet, pig feet, and pig blood harvested at the correct time so I don't die."
For some reason, Marui smiles. "Good, because I don't know what I'd tell Seiichi or Akaya if I found your body in front of some alter with bad pig blood."
"Very funny."
"I thought so."
Niou cracks a small smile, then they fall into silence. Marui wonders if Niou is reading his thoughts and decides to scream mentally to see if he is. When Niou has no reaction, Marui decides his mind is safe. Is telepathy something that can be turned off and on? Marui cannot imagine hearing Kirihara's perverted thoughts all day long.
.
Marui smells smoke coming from Niou's room and knocks on the door. He hears Niou's voice in his head, something he has grown accustomed, telling him to come inside. He spots incense burning on the chest, sweet flowers and spicy herbs mixing together in the perfect harmony. The crystals are reflecting light over the walls like stars and the curtains around Niou's bed are glowing.
Marui parts the fabric. Niou is sitting cross-legged in the center of his bed. In front of his feet is a crystal ball radiating soft, warm white light. His eyes are closed.
"What are you doing?" Marui asks.
"Meditating," Niou says. He breathes in deeply then exhales through his mouth, golden spirals like visible wind tumbling past his lips. "Expending magic so it doesn't become too overwhelming for my body. Is there something you needed?"
"I was just wondering what the smoke was," Marui says. "You burn incense all the time, but it's stronger."
"It's my magic." As he speaks, more gold rolls out of his mouth. "It makes everything... more."
"Can I stay?"
Niou nods.
Marui sits across from Niou, taking on his meditative pose. He closes his eyes and breathes in deeply. He feels waves of warmth wash over his skin as Niou breathes in and out, his magic pouring out of him like its alive. His skin begins to tingle and his mind races with so many thoughts he can't distinguish them from one another.
He opens his eyes to stare at Niou, at the ends of his tattoo on his wrists that are barely visible, at the golden magic leaving him, at the aura he seems to be emitting. He is gorgeous, like pure magic.
My magic is affecting you, Niou thinks. Don't let it control you.
It's hard to breathe.
You're not used to direct magic exposure. It can be overwhelming.
Did you always have magic?
No.
How do you deal with this?
Breathe.
Marui can feel his blood in his veins. He can hear colors and see sounds and it is the strangest, most amazing sensation. He tastes herbs on the tip of his tongue and wonders if it's the incense or Niou's magic. He wonders what Niou's lips taste like.
Niou opens his eyes and they're golden like the sun.
Marui surges forward and cups Niou's face in his hands. His skin tingles where it touches Niou's. His lips burn when they slide against his. Niou reaches up, grasping Marui's wrist and electricity runs into his bones.
Marui is somewhere between euphoric and scared stiff because it's him, it's Niou, the warlock who turned everything he knew on its head. It's his lips moving against his, his tongue prodding at the crease between his full bottom lip and thin upper lip, and his magic that's consuming him.
Perhaps Niou comes to his senses because he breaks the kiss, leaving Marui's mouth ajar as he nudges forward for more. But Niou doesn't move for more. He stays still.
"It's only the magic," Niou says. He rubs his mouth against Marui's cheek, lips that taste like tea leaves and cream-puffs dragging slowly, teasing. "You don't feel this way."
Their noses brush and Marui wants to go back to kissing. Come on, he thinks, come on, come on, come on.
Marui nips at Niou's upper lip and slides his hands into Niou's hair, grasping for a tether to reality as magic flows into his body. He dips his head, reels Niou's closer, connects in another kiss in search of something more.
Magic wraps around him like a cocoon of warm blankets. Niou breathes out when Marui breathes in and Niou's most intimate secret pours into him. He wants more, more, fuck, he's losing his mind.
He hears it before he's able to make sense of it. A low, deep vibration of sound that grows in volume. He releases his grip on Niou's hair only realizing how tight it had been when his fingers feel empty. Marui looks over Niou's shoulder at the open window where the tabby cat sits.
Yagyuu hisses.
You should go, Niou thinks. His lips drag along Marui's cheek. Marui tilts his head again, wanting more, but Niou shakes his head. Go.
He doesn't want to, but he leaves anyways.