The Seven Cycles of Reincarnation
Chapter Four – Teahouse
[AN: This fic is going to be longer than originally anticipated because I want to explore more aspects of the yokai world.]
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On the cusp of Shintaro's fourth life, Kazunari was woeful.
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At the end of Shintaro's life as a toymaker, Kazunari had a grim epiphany that smothered him in terrible emotions. He knew it was quite soon after Shintaro's death that he had this revelation of the ages. He could see it in the people who walked idly past; blissful to the world of supernatural peculiarities right next to them. Kazunari could see it in the way they talked and dressed and acted that not much time had passed since Shintaro's last breath and now.
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Kazunari had this epiphany on an unremarkable night. The moon was a silvery-white crumb and there was a dewy coldness in the lazy breeze. It appeared to be early spring as the peach tree was only just beginning to burgeon with tiny, sweet-scented flowers.
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Whenever Shintaro died, a fate no human could evade, a bad taste would linger in Kazunari's mouth. He couldn't wash it out or replace it with the juice of peaches. He was sitting beneath his beloved tree, thinking about Shintaro – in conjunction to the bad taste in his mouth. It was just a meandering thought. It was the type of thing that could be described as "one thing lead to another". Kazunari couldn't retrace his steps. He was stuck at his new destination.
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He was in love with Shintaro. He felt romantic inclinations for a human. It was ridiculous and absurd. Kazunari harrumphed at the idea yet it brought him to tears. He tried to ignore them but he couldn't. They pierced his eyes and weakened his smile.
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It felt good to be honest with himself. The realisation of being in love with Shintaro was a huge weight hefted off his shoulders. It was a weight he didn't even realise was there because he didn't think he had been lying to himself about his feelings towards Shintaro but perhaps, it should have been obvious. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all or so it was quipped.
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He felt terrible because he just wished the lines between the platonic and the romantic weren't so blurred. Why did he feel that his platonic feelings towards Shintaro were so weak? He didn't like it. Especially because that's all he could ever be towards Shintaro.
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And for the first time in his life, Kazunari felt the need to go drinking. He felt the need to let loose, get drunk and to awaken in the morning of a new century with a hangover. By the time he moved himself from the trunk of his peach tree, the morning sun was strong and vibrant in the sky. He got up and tracked down Kerosuke.
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Kerosuke had been basking in the sun, near a trickling creek and the shade of wiry juniper. was more than amused and shocked when he saw the tanuki lumber towards him with a mopey expression of self-pity. His eyes were red and bloodshot. His demeanour was wounded. 'Well, well, well, what have we here?' Kerosuke asked. Kazunari slowly explained his predicament and was the met with what he expected: taunts and laughter. 'That doesn't surprise me in the least though.' Kerosuke mused. 'And what do you want me to do about it?'
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Kazunari shrugged. 'When's the next drinking party in the yokai world?' he asked.
'Tonight... or tomorrow. Perhaps right now. I'm sure we can find something.' Kerosuke said and Kazunari followed him as he leaped away from the tiny creek.
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The boundaries separating the human world and the yokai world were nearly imperceptible; even to Kazunari however to Kerosuke they were obvious as he had crossed them many times in his short life. The boundaries took the shape of triangular, silk patches strewn across translucent. They ducked in between trees and over ponds and around rocks. A peculiar aura of reverence was present wherever they criss-crossed the mortal coil of the human world. The hum of psychic energy and loud voices intermingled beyond the lines. As Kazunari crossed the boundaries, he saw the hidden districts of a secret civilisation emerge.
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Kerosuke led Kazunari to a teahouse where hostesses wore grubby yutakas and fretted about dropping heirloom plates or whether or not their grotesque mouths where their exposed teeth jutted out from broken, scarlet flesh made them pretty or not.
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Kazunari watched. He felt out of place here. He had never been in a yokai teahouse before; he hadn't even been to one for humans before. He felt vaguely suffocated here. He didn't like that the ceiling closed in on him. He felt like the walls were going to shrink and choke him. Kerosuke was indifferent Kazunari's discomfort as he invited yokai to their table.
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The hostesses poured out green tea and told tales of their lost loves. Most of the hostesses had been humans before they had begun serving tea and sweets here. Their stories were tragic. They had all been betrayed by a mortal man and he was the reason for their death. He had slashed her face or had played cruel tricks on her and driven her to insanity.
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When the hostesses had thoroughly stunned Kazunari with their grisly stories, no details spared, and had watered him with more tea than necessary, other patrons began sharing their stories on how humans and yokai don't mix romantically. Kazunari was studied by the other patrons. All yokai enjoy yarning about their heroics and mishaps with humans and the theme of "love" only enticed the worst in them but they all pitied Kazunari. It was obvious what had happened to him, despite his best efforts to hide the fact he was infatuated with a human.
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Many kitsune boasted about how they had impregnated silly women who had fallen into lust with them and a tiny Zakishiki-Warashi talked about the violence that went on behind closed doors in houses shared by toxic spouses. Amazake Baba talked about foolish young men she had tricked into kissing when they were intrigued by her offer by a "sweet surprise". The conversations descended into madness and chaos from there. A common theme emerged from it all. Relationships between humans and yokai were doomed to fail in the most heinous and tragic ways.
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However, through it all, a sympathetic yokai moved forward towards Kazunari under the guise of irritation towards humans and their notion of fickle love.
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The only yokai in the teahouse who was sympathetic towards Kazunari was a gorgeous Furutsubaki no Rei. Her name was Aika and she loudly bemoaned about the many times she had been seduced and how malcontent she was with her many, many suitors – she particularly groaned about the male humans who had fallen for her. However, she quietened down when she sat next to Kazunari. She took his tea pot and refilled her own cup. A curious twitch was on her rosy lips and affection was in her black eyes.
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Aika took a sip of her green tea and smiled. 'I miss how Sakiko would make tea for me. Would you like to know a secret, Kazunari?' she asked. Her smile was solemn and gentle. Kazunari wondered why he couldn't have fallen in love with another yokai.
'Sure.' Kazunari said.
'I'm in love with a human too. Nothing will change my heart for this one... I will love her until my host tree is destroyed and my spiritual body is eliminated as well.' Aika's words were destructive yet delivered with such grace it was like beauteous poetry. 'When Sakiko was on her deathbed, I put a curse on her so that in her next life, we would be connected. How well versed are you with using your psychic energy?'
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Kazunari grunted. He learned a few tricks and tips when he was Shintaro's vassal during his second life but he hadn't learned to do anything grand. He learned to hide his tanuki ears and tails but that was about it. He also learned to identify psychic energy and how to accurate guess who was producing it.
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'Well, I can teach you how to do with the same with your human. I can show you how to establish a psychic link with him that way you two will never be apart.' Aika leaned in and her lips were mere millimetres away from Kazunari's ear lobes. He listened intently and committed what she was saying to memory. Kazunari hoped that he would never have to resort to such a thing.
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'What's the drawback?' Kazunari asked.
'A yokai's thoughts can easily send a human to madness.' Aika replied.
'How terrible.' Kazunari said. He definitely didn't want to know how to do that. He wouldn't ever want to do such a thing to Shintaro.
'I know but... at least,' Aika glanced at one of the hostesses, one of the many Bancho Sarayashiki, 'we can have this.'
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Kazunari's stomach knotted. He observed the hostess. If he recalled correctly, then she had called herself Chiasa. She was small and scrawny. Her body was as twisted as a dying sapling. Her hair was greasy and tangled. Her eyes were unfocused and twitchy. She agonised over her nine plates as she was unable to find the tenth. Her clothes were a grey, sopping mess.
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The story of a Bancho Sarayashiki was well known, even to a tanuki who never ventured further than where his companion wandered. Kazunari thinks he might be able to guess why she was drowned in a well; her love for Aika had driven some young warlord to murderous jealousy.
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She looked mad. Was a depraved state like that, Shintaro's destiny if Kazunari tried to pursue him?
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'Am I an idiot?' he asked.
'We're all fools when it comes to love.' Aika philosophically mused. Her dulcet voice was pricked by regret and a darker meaning surface.
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Kazunari drank the last of his tea. It had gone cold and offered him no solace. The feeling of being squished in by the room never faded. He couldn't wait to get out of the teahouse. He didn't belong here and in the world of the supernatural. It was under his peach tree where he belonged.
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It was there where he felt like he was perfectly fine, even though that was a lucid lie.
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[I don't know how well versed you guys are with yokai so I'm just going to tack a glossary.]
Amazake Baba: old women that, depending on the story, either sell amazake (which is weak, sweet liquor) or ask for it. In this fic, our Amazake Baba was selling it.
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Bancho Sarayashiki: Maidens who rebuked the romantic advances of a man (usually for unknown reasons) and were punished for it by being tricked into thinking they lost an heirloom plate of the man, an act that can be counteracted with marriage but should she refuse, she will be drowned in a well by the man she rejected.
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Furutsubaki no Rei: The spirit of a camellia tree that lived to one hundred years or more. They are associated with death and strangeness.
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Kitsune: Malicious fox spirits that are often depicted with nine tails. They are known for being tricksters and shape-shifters. There are stories of them spiriting away mortals silly enough to fall in love with them.
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Kuchisake Onna: Beautiful women who hide their mouths due to being terribly disfigured up. Her disfigurement is punishment for being unfaithful to her partner.
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Shikigami: A yokai made of paper or similar substance that has been summoned by an Onmyodo. *I've skewed lore from here on out in order for things to work in this fic so what's next is pure bullshit. They are often looked down on by other yokai as they are "domesticated" and "synthetic". It is extremely rare for one to accidentally be created, let alone "go rogue".
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Tanuki: The well-intentioned counterpart to kitsune, are also perceived as symbols of wealth, due to their role in early gold-smithing, and liquor. I theorise that the reason the Japanese words for "testicles" and "gold" are so similar is because of tanuki yokai.
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Tsurube-otoshi: A spirit, of unknown appearance, that drops quickly from trees. Kerosuke claims that he is one and that's how he does his frog leaps form out of seemingly nowhere.
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Zakishiki-Warashi: A small child-like spirit which brings good luck to the household it visits; and a little bit of mischief as well.