The Song the Owl God Himself Sang

by Einyora

Hajime is a human kid that spends his summers at his grandmother's village every years, but when a decade-old secret is revealed we must accept that not everything is immutable. Particularly when it's about Tooru.

Hello !

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't stressed about presenting this fic. Anyway, here's a little introductionwhich doesn't reveal much. The characters are : The owl god (the one who's singing), the littlehunter, a boy and the one he's running away from.

The poem does not belong to me. It's a translation of Chiri Yukie's, from the book The Song theOwl God Sang : The collected Ainu Legends of Chiri Yukie.

The story is deeply rooted in Japanese culture, along with Yōkai and many other creatures fromJapanese folklore. I'll try to be as accurate as possible and hopefully not make any mistakes.

And a big thanks to Safwane who translated this!

Disclaimer:

_ The Song the Owl God Himself Sang is Chiri Yukie's

_ Haikyuu doesn't belong to me. We must thank Haruichi Furudate.

_ This AU is based on Lissa's Yokai AU ( ichigomaniac on Tumblr). A special thanks to her forletting me write about her universe. You should totally check it out! This fic follows the major plotbut might change from times to times. (Did someone say a fanfic of a fanfic?)

Enjoy!

The Song The Owl God Himself Sang.

(thousand years ago)

"Silver droplets fall fall all around me

Golden droplets fall fall all around me." So singing

I went down along the river's flow, above the human village.

As I looked down below

paupers of old have now become rich, while rich men of old

have now become paupers, it seems.

By the shore, human children are at play

with little toy bows with little toy arrows.

"Silver droplets fall fall all around me

golden droplets fall fall all around me." So singing

as I passed above the children

running beneath me

they said the following:

"A beautiful bird! a divine bird!

Now, shoot that bird,

the one who shoots it, who takes it first

is a true valiant, a true hero."

So saying, children of paupers of old now rich

fixing to little golden bows little golden arrows

shot at me, but I let the little golden arrows

pass beneath me and pass above me.

Amongst them, amongst the children

one child carrying a plain little bow and plain little arrows

is mingling with the rest. As I look

a pauper's child he seems, from his clothing too

it is clear. Yet a careful look at his eyes

reveals that he is the offspring of a worthy person,

a bird of a different feather he mingles with the rest.

To a plain little bow he fixes

a plain little arrow, he too aims at me.

Then the children of paupers of old now rich burst into laughter

and they say

"Oh how ridiculous

a pauper child,

that bird, the divine bird

doesn't even take our golden arrows, one like yours

a pauper child's plain arrow of rotten wood

surely he'll take it all right

that bird, the divine bird."

So saying they kicked and beat

the pauper child. Not a whit minding

the pauper child aimed at me.

Looking at how it was, I was touched with pity.

"Silver droplets fall fall all around me

golden droplets fall fall all around me." So singing

slowly in the big sky

I was making a large circle. The pauper child

one foot far out and the other foot close by

biting his lower lip, aiming awhile

let it go. The little arrow flew

sparkling toward me, so I extended

my hand and took that little arrow.

Circling around and around

I whirled down through the whistling wind.

Then, those children ran toward me

stirring up a blizzard of sand, they raced.

The moment I fell to the ground

the pauper child ran to me first and took me.

Then the children of paupers of old now rich

came running from behind him.

They said twenty bad things, thirty bad things

pushing and beating the pauper child:

"A hateful child, a pauper's child

what we tried to do first you did ahead of us!"

When they said this the pauper child covered me

with his body, firmly holding me under his belly.

After trying and trying, finally from between people

he leaped out, and ran and ran.

(today)

I was running as fast as my legs could carry me. What was all this about? How… Shit! Ten years. Was it all a lie? I didn't even know what to do. I just had to run, again and again, trying not to remember, not letting my memory calling back to me. Otherwise I knew -Oh yes I knew it- I wouldn't be able to hold back coming back again. Even when I was rushing down the stairs, I could see us sitting there, in the recess, when we were twelve, or here, between these two lanterns, while he was showing me his alien mask which he was so proud of.

Once downstairs, I collapsed in tears.

I can't just forget him. I can't run away from someone who's already part of me.

See you soon