Because of some unseen miracle, my family never asked about Gin; they just let him rest in peace in our tiny little guest bedroom. My aunt boasted to her fellow nurses at work that her shy niece found a boyfriend. Though it was embarrassing, I guess I did. I smiled to myself as I dabbed a damp towel on Gin's forehead. My aunt deduced that Gin had probably always been of a sickly disposition and had suggested I call his parents. The problem was Gin's lack of parents.
"What was Gin like when he was human?" A umbrella spirit (Kasa-Obake) echoed my question thoughtfully as it gazed up at me with its one big red eye. I nodded simply, "Yes, do you remember anything...?"
The Kasa-Obake hopped around on its one foot in a circle.
"It's been so long, Hotaru... all I really remember is that he was an infant when we found him."
Kaafu was nice enough to escort me around the forest, but by the end of the day the information we gathered about Gin just wasn't enough to put two and two together.
"Kaafu, don't you know of anybody else?" I groaned, my voice a little too exasperated; sweat was trickling down from my forehead and I had bug bites in some of the most obscure places on my body. Needless to say, I wasn't in the best mood for slow progress.
The wind spirit looked sheepishly at me, "Well, there is one more person we could ask..."
"Who?"
Kaafu nodded his head towards the path that lead higher up the mountain.
"The Mountain God."
It took me a while to register what the young wisp of wind said; instead, I stood still with my feet planted to the ground with my neck arched backwards so I could gaze at the peak of the mountain. The forest dubbed "The Forest of the Mountain God" was, in reality, a small collection of separate forests around and about a mountain. Though the mountain was not exceptionally tall (as mountains go, that is,) a trek to the top would probably take me at least half a day to reach the peak and the other half to get back down again.
I laughed nervously, "Surely there's someone else before we go talk to a god."
"No!" a wind-blown, messy mop of blonde hair shook madly in front of me. Kaafu was acting uncharacteristically stubborn at my proposition; I even found myself giggling when the young boy stopped shaking his head and wobbled around, almost tumbling over himself from dizziness.
Kaafu pouted and then suddenly whined, "I'm tired this, Hotaru; I want to play~!"
I let out a sigh. Even if he was a spirit that didn't pardon him from being a child; I should have known Kaafu would become antsy sooner or later.
"I'm sorry, Kaafu," I cooed as I ruffled his already messy mane, "But, this is really important to me."
The little wind spirit giggled; the sound of his laughter was so innocent and clear, like a medley of silver bells ringing. Every time the little boy laughed that sound was almost enough to forget everything worrisome. I almost felt guilty for not playing with him... spirit or not, he was just a little boy.
"Come on, let's go home!" I scooped up Kaafu; the wind spirit let out a tiny shout of surprise before spouting a thousand bubbling giggles. I tickled his tummy and gained a loud roar of laughter in response.
"St-Stop, Hotaru!" Kaafu panted. I relinquished my hold on the little boy and beamed down at him.
"We can smash a watermelon open when we get home."
"Really?! Alright!"
AN: I'm so sorry for my lateness, as you read this I'm writing the next chapter. Thank you for those who have sticked around this long.