x
From birth, Takumi had known that he was an anomaly.
An unforeseen occurrence.
A glitch in the system.
He was supposed to be dead.
After a painless death, his eyes had opened to an entirely new world. A different language, a different society, a different world. He realized this when he turned one year old, and the revelation was enough to shock him into near silence.
His only saving grace from the terrifying situation was the woman who cared for him, Yeri, his mother. Yeri was a beautiful lady with rich, wine-colored hair and bright hazel eyes. She seemed to glow with beauty, grace, and confidence and was very kind to him. Takumi also knew that his mother was talented in a variety of musical arts and etiquette: zither, calligraphy, kokyū, singing, tea ceremony, and dancing. She would often sing him comforting lullabies as a young child during the occasional restless night when he would be plagued with nightmares of a previous life.
His current life was, strictly speaking, not terrible. In fact, it was more than enough.
From birth, he had a roof over his head, food to eat, and people who were willing to care for him. All of these things would have been unexpected from a brothel, but he was grateful nonetheless. It had taken Takumi some time to accept what his mother did for a living, but he came to appreciate her role in society. Though oirans could be crudely reduced to a prostitute, they were still more than that. They were trained in cultural and social etiquette and were therefore inheritors of a civilization's culture. Takumi learned that his mother's various talents stemmed from years and years of training and he wasn't unfamiliar with what was required of entertainment games, so he respected all courtesans. The other workers of the brothel also deserve much praise, for without them, their business wouldn't run as smoothly as it does now. Under the strict guidance of the terrifying head matron, the house ran like a well-oiled machine, never in disorder and always controlled.
When the surrounding adults soon understood that Takumi no longer required constant supervision, he grew aware that once he became older, he would have to pull his own weight in the house. He was another mouth to feed and he'd have to earn it.
That's why he had begun creating things. It first started off with simple bracelets, which then grew to cheap pieces of hair ornaments, and more simple crafts that regular peasants could afford. Most jewelry in Kouka could only be afforded by people living well. In Kuuto, the capital city of Kouka, most families had a set of precious heirlooms that were handed down generation to generation, but those weren't worn often. Takumi's cheap bracelets, necklaces, and hair ornaments allowed anyone to wear them as much as they'd like without fearing it breaking or getting stolen. They were cheap, colorful, pretty enough that anyone could enjoy wearing them without worrying. It was a good market target, and the brothel earned considerable profit when other workers joined Takumi in the manufacturing process. Travelling merchants bought packets of them in bulk and sold them in villages far away, quickly growing to be a hot commodity.
Besides 'creating' things, Takumi simply lended his energy with various chores around the brothel, given some tasks by Nana, a lively and responsible servant girl, other male workers, or the head matron herself. The work itself was not entirely too troublesome since he learned more about the world he lived in that way. Chores usually revolved around washing laundry and dishes, fixing things, fetching food or items from stores, running errands, helping busy servants, and cleaning the house. Yeri could only spend time with him during the mornings and was usually occupied in the evenings for guests. If other oirans had free time, sometimes they'd give him a lesson or two on one of their specialty trades since every one of them was the best in their own respective talents. He was more or less now familiar with the full set of expected skills of a courtesan, his favorite being the koto. If there was one thing that he was grateful for his rebirth, it was that he had retained a musical ear and talent for music.
In his free time, when he wasn't needed anywhere, Takumi liked to wander the streets, either from above on the roof or among the crowd. The chatter of other humans, the busyness of trading and bartering, the jingle of coins all kept his mind at bay and gave him a sense of ease. However, for today, Takumi had another agenda other than people-watching and kept his gaze down as he discreetly surveyed the passing strangers until he bumped into a middle-aged man dressed in rich green robes.
The disgruntled man was about to snap at Takumi when the boy pressed his palms together in apology and bowed, exclaiming, "I'm so sorry!"
"Tch, watch your step, boy," the man grunted as he walked away. Takumi kept his tilted down until the man left out of sight and then slipped into one of the back alleys of the west district. Opening his hand, seven silver coins gleamed in the dim shadow. Considering how he was still a novice at pickpocketing, it was an acceptable result. Takumi slipped the coins in a small drawstring back, tying it shut tightly to prevent it from clinking together when he moved, and put it in his pocket. He continued down the alley, unperturbed by the intimidating figures loitering around every corner, and navigated through the maze-like walls, reaching a slum full of wandering children.
"Where is she?" He asked a disheveled child in tattered clothes who pointed across the dirty street to a young woman feeding a little toddler pieces of fruit.
"Mother Teresa," Takumi called out. Barely twenty-one years old, Mei was a former shrine maiden-in-training, who had been cast out along with all the other priests, priestesses, and servants of the temple under the order of General Yu-Hon, now deceased. She was young at that time, but hadn't lost her determination to serve the will of the gods and dedicated her life taking care of orphans in Kuuto. It was currently her biggest dream to open the first orphanage in the capital city of Kouka. 'Mother Teresa' was a nickname Takumi had given her after hearing her story and dream; the actual Mother Teresa would have been proud to see someone carrying out such charitable work.
Though 'Mother Teresa' was not her real name, Mei turned around and smiled at Takumi. "Takumi! What brings you here?"
Wordlessly, he tossed her the small pouch of coins. Suspecting its contents, Mei opened the drawstring and sighed when she pulled out the silver coins.
"Takumi, you mustn't pickpocket, how many times have I told you?" She said in a despondent voice. "You're going to get in trouble if you get caught, or worse, if it's someone who you really shouldn't be stealing from."
Takumi looked away, feigning indifference. She always said these words whenever he handed her stolen money, but nothing she could say would change his mind. Mei would never resort to underhanded methods to gain resources, but still desperately needed money to provide for orphans, so Takumi had decided that he would be the one to steal as a way of pickpocket practice. It killed two birds with one stone. He also always made sure to target people who didn't go to Kuuto's markets often; living in the city long enough has allowed Takumi to recognize the difference between locals, frequent travelers, and first-time visitors.
Mei held out the coins. "I can't take this," she said.
Takumi looked at her uncaringly and turned away. "It's not even that much, you might as well throw them into the gutter. I'll be going now."
He didn't have to turn around to know that Mei shook her head at him. Takumi climbed to the roof and headed back to the main street of the west district, but instead of mingling among the people, he watched from above.
It'd been nearly more than two weeks since the incident of the princess' kidnapping in Kuuto. The aftermath drama buzz had died down and things returned back to normal. Takumi usually visited Ogi around once a week just to check on news and recent gossip to stay on top of things around the area and castle. Perhaps it was time to drop by today. With that in mind, he started his short trek to the east district, glancing down at the crowd below him every once awhile. He was halfway across the east district when something, or a little someone, caught his eye.
Takumi dragged out a sigh at the sight of a red-haired girl.
Was she dumb?
Reluctantly, he trailed behind the little girl, keeping a sharp eye tagged on her small figure as she got hopelessly lost and overwhelmed in the bustling swarm of bodies. Takumi could see the panic on her face grow to the point of tears when no one would stop and notice her troubles. Out of desperation, the princess ran left into a little alley, curled up against a little crevice in the stone wall and began leaking large tears like clear gems.
Takumi tilted his head back and let out an even more exasperated sigh, continuing to watch the scene from the roof behind her like an uncaring fairy godmother. His hazel eyes didn't even waver when the girl sobbed and squeaked out cries for help.
"Dad? S-Soo-Won? H-Hak? M'Joo-Doh? A-anyone, p-please," she blubbered. "Home, I-I want to go h-home."
What a pitiful sight of Kouka's princess.
It didn't take long for the girl to fall asleep out of emotional exhaustion and shedding so many tears. Once Takumi was sure that she was softly sleeping, he jumped down and crouched down in front of her, studying her face.
Yona's violet eyes were closed, reddened and slightly puffy from the flow of waterworks earlier, fiery red hair framing her round face in a curly rings. Takumi cynically thought that she would have fetched an insane auction price at any Kai slavery trade; her features were incredibly rare and she was already cuter than most little kids her age. Cuteness did not equate intelligence though, that was for sure. Why the little princess would wander back into Kuuto, managing to evade her escorts, was beyond Takumi. She couldn't have possibly had to guts to come in here by herself, especially if she was forbidden from leaving the Hiryuu Castle. Why was she here?
Taking great care to not wake her, Takumi picked her up onto his back, piggy-back style. As he looped her arms around his neck, he felt her shift.
"Hn, Hak?" Her voice was small when she spoke up.
Ah, she must have thought he was the Wind Tribe boy based on his hair, not seeing Takumi's face.
"You grew," the princess mumbled as she drifted back into sleep. The courtesan's son breathed a sigh of relief, hefting her up, and carried her out into the streets of Kuuto. He was careful not to jostle her along the way to the gate located at the bottom of the short elevation where Hiryuu Castle sat. The walk took about ten minutes and thankfully, Takumi found someone trustworthy to hand over the princess.
"Excuse me," he said to catch the attention of Captain Joo-Doh. Or at least, he was trustworthy to the princess for another ten years or so.
Stress seemed to drop off the captain's shoulders like weights when he recognized the little girl Takumi was carrying on his back. Approaching the boy himself, Joo-Doh stooped down and picked up the princess, accidentally waking her in the process.
"Mm, where?" She murmured, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Fluttering her violet eyes open, Yona came face to face to the unflinching stare of a vexed Captain Joo-Doh.
"Yona-hime," the older man growled. "What did we tell you about leaving the castle? Alone?"
Unfortunately for the captain, the princess ignored him and looked straight to Takumi, who looked back at her, unimpressed.
She pointed at him, recognizing his face. "Ah, not Hak."
"I'll be going now," Takumi told the captain.
Joo-Doh held out a hand. "Wait, how do you know this girl? Did you do anything to her? How did you know to bring her here?"
Takumi almost wanted to chuckle at the protectiveness the captain exhibited over Yona, it made him wonder what exactly did Soo-Won say to convince Joo-Doh that it was acceptable to chase her out of the castle?
"She's the princess who got kidnapped by Kai traders about two weeks ago, I kind of helped that day," he drawled. "Saw her walking around Kuuto by herself, figured she probably wasn't supposed to." Predictably, Captain Joo-Doh did not take the sarcasm well, but it did remind him of who the boy was, the black-haired one who ran across the roofs and even took down one of the kidnappers (albeit quite roughly). Personally, he thought the strange boy could be the evil twin of Hak, General Mun-Deok's grandson, though Hak would also be the evil twin, therefore two evil twins. It wasn't a pleasant thought.
"And how did you find her this time," he asked tiredly. He had spent the entire morning searching for her, but Kuuto was a maze and he was tired from the search and stress. If Joo-Doh had known that royal brats were going to be such a handful, he wouldn't have stepped up as Captain of the First Imperial Squad so readily.
"Same way like last time, from the roof," Takumi replied easily. "If that's all, I'll take my leave."
Before he could turn around, Yona cried out, "W-wait!"
Takumi tilted his head back with a questioning glance.
"T-thank you!" She said shyly. "Can I see you again?"
Captain Joo-Doh was already in the middle of berating her as to why she couldn't see him again when the boy walked away from the gate.
"I hope not," Takumi muttered softly as he waved good-bye.
The boy tried to not to think too much as he weaved through Kuuto's dying crowd, making his way back to the west district. It was almost time for dinner, so he should head back to help the chef prepare meals for the house if the help was even needed. And like that, Takumi tried to busy his whirring mind with idle thoughts, continuing to think of unimportant things. He also tried to take in his surroundings, the streets of the town.
Deals being made, haggled, bartered, cheerful and strained voices. The smell of food cooking in stalls, sold as quick meals or snacks. The boisterous voices of vendors, attracting ears with tempting prices and items. Wooden carts bumping over the rocky ground, horses snorting and neighing.
Chatter.
People going about their regular lives. Working for a living. Going through the motions of life.
Takumi's legs unconsciously halted as he calmed himself with the familiar sights and sounds of Kuuto. Kuuto was his hometown, where he had grown up all these years. It was familiar. Takumi's roof travels had allowed him to discover the numerous nooks and crannies of the town, though he was sure to find more once Yeri would let him stay out longer.
He could recognize faces, he knew some people's weekly schedules, he could figure out the tides of the economy in the kingdom, he could hear gossip and rumors of a lot of people. The brothel was the heart of the west district, a place where people came and go not just for sexual pleasures, but also to greet friends and acquaintances, discuss business, and make connections. This was all familiar and familiar meant comfort to Takumi and there was nothing more than comfort that he wanted from this world. His birth was already troublesome, he didn't need any problems to put a damper in his life; Takumi only wanted some more peace for another lifetime, one that would be untouched by red-haired princesses, prophecies, and dragons. He wanted to stay far away from all of them because of his past memories.
He knew what was going to happen to the princess on her sixteenth birthday.
Takumi was hoping that by the time Yeri would trust him enough to venture alone, he was going to leave Kuuto and go far, far away. Maybe even cross an ocean or two. Travel to the unknown. Anything to stay in his lane and avoid plots.
Almost mechanically, Takumi's legs began moving again and his feet took him home.
x
Thank you for reading! I'll be time skipping a bit now.
Also, Takumi's hair color is purple-ish. It's not neon purple, but a deep burgundy shade. And a reminder that he currently dyes his hair so it is ink-black right now.
