Chapter 4: Aftermath

"Come on. Wake up, kid."

A rough but worried voice roused me from my sleep, softly grating against my sensitive ears. Somehow, I was laying down on my back, a soft futon cushioning my stiff body. My ears picked up the sound of a running stream and birds chirping as well as the sound of the wind brushing through leaves, informing me that I was still on the mountain, or at least a mountain.

A sore pain echoed throughout my body as I regained some control of my movements. Lifting a hand up, I felt around myself and touched the warm and heavy blankets on top of my body. Under me was soft padding of some sort underneath me.

Must be some type of flooring.

Coughs roughly forced themselves out of my dry throat as I took a too-sharp inhale.

A relieved sigh cut me out of my thoughts, causing my body to tense up in surprise. "You sure gave me one hell of a fright there, little boy." Large hands helped me sit up, and a cup full of liquid was placed in my hands. Gently, the stranger moved it towards my mouth. "Drink some water, boy. It'll do you some good."

Hesitantly, I quickly sniffed the liquid and took a small sip. It was water, just as he said.

I compliantly took a couple of more sips until my stomach couldn't handle any more liquid and handed it back to him. There wasn't any more of that copper smell and my body didn't feel dirty or crusty, so that meant that the blood was somehow cleaned off.

Seeing me feel around my body, the man chuckled in poorly hidden amusement. "Oh, don't worry about the blood! The seals may prevent anyone from taking them off, but the blood rolled right off with a bit of water."

Good to know the seals on my body were self-cleaning. The more you know I guess.

"The ceremonial garments you had on were a lost cause, so I lent you some of my own from my youth." He added, hand scratching at his cheek.

How thoughtful of him, although I don't think the raggedy robes I wore before were meant for ceremonies. Feeling the hand-me-downs, I could tell the kimono top was made of sturdy and warm material, able to withstand wear and tear. The loose pants were a tough fit due to my young age but were comfortable. It was a vast difference from the ragged clothes I had been given since birth.

Curious about the situation at hand and the weird stranger, I pointed to him and then tilted my head in a questioning motion, hoping the stranger would get my cues. Some seconds passed by with no answers from him until he chuckled sheepishly. "Aha, sorry. I should probably introduce myself shouldn't I?"

I could only give him a shrug. My interactions in this life so far have been weekly verbal abuse from servants who delivered food to me, and a very frustrating haggle of food for some (poorly made, I know) flower crowns. The point is, I knew nothing about the etiquette they implemented here. I just wanted a name.

"Well, my name's Hijikata Osamu." The stranger informed him. "What's your name?"

"..."

Silence filled the room as the apparently named Hijikata waited for his answer.

"Oh, right, the seals." He reminded himself with an awkward laugh.

"Anyways," he continued, as if nothing embarrassing happened, "I live on this mountain as a simple farmer and my perimeter seals had warned me of a large group of cursed spirits migrating near the river for some reason; so, I had followed to observe their suspicious behavior." He shifted a bit to get more comfortable. "It wasn't long before I saw them enter a clearing, so I hid behind some trees to see what was going on."

My head perked up a minuscule amount in interest despite the throbbing ache I received right after. I had never actually remembered what had happened besides waking up.

"So it was to my surprise when in the middle of the clearing they were surrounding was your small body. You were covered head to toe in seals and soaked in blood—it was like they were setting up an offering to a god." Hijikata shuddered, obviously disturbed by the image he brought up. "I'd have thought you were going to be eaten, if not for the fact that they were sitting—as if waiting for something." He recalled to himself.

How ominous indeed. Now I just need to know what the hell a cursed spirit is.

"By chance, do you happen to have any idea why they took you? Not that you have to answer or anything like that if you're not comfortable!" Hijikata rushed out, obviously reluctant to question him with his questionable involvement. Since I was the victim (or was I?) it'd be a given that I would technically not be ready to share my experience.

I felt a bit guilty for inconveniencing him though, so cooperating with him was the least I could do.

Seeing me shake my head, the man let out a disappointed sigh. A bit let down for finding no leads to the mysterious event. "Well, no use worrying about that now." All of a sudden, Hijikata's head shot forward towards mine, body not flinching when he was now nose to nose with me.

"What I want to focus on right now is getting you home."

Right. My mind flashed through the memories of last night, a bit blurry throughout the confusion. I was to be transferred to another container by a group of students of some sort. We were halfway up the mountain when the group leader had decided to stop for the night.

The phantom taste of meat lingered on my tongue as I remembered the bowl of food Kenji exchanged with me.

My shoulders gave a shrug. I really did have no clue as to where I was from. Aside from the servants who brought in and took away the food, no one came by. They always mentioned me staining the reputation of the clan if I was found out, so I expect that they were of high status or something.

My thoughts returned to the boys escorting me. I hope they were alright. Because, while they were my guards to another cage, they were just doing what they were tasked to do. They didn't really warrant any reason to die a gruesome death. So no hard feelings against them, I suppose.

(Then where did the blood come from?)

Hijikata's next question caught my attention.

"How old are you anyway?" He mumbled thoughtlessly.

I'd never actually thought about it. On one hand, I'm technically three years old; on the other, I was thirty-nine when I was living a normal life, making me about forty-two years old. It's really strange now that I think about it.

Contemplating about it a bit longer, I raised up six of my fingers towards Hijikata's direction. It wouldn't hurt to lie about my age; it was easier to be differentiated from the three-year-old boy they were no doubt hunting down.

"A bit small for a six-year-old aren't you?" Humming in thought about my age, Hijikata stood up.

"Well," he grinned, "There's no merit in thinking on an empty stomach." At the mention of stomach, a loud grumble came from said organ, as if reminding me it was still present and demanded food. How greedy, I just ate a lot last night and had lasted for far longer than that.

The bitch .

My stomach growled again in defiance against my mental scolding. How juvenile.

I suppose if Hijikata is offering, it wouldn't hurt to accept. If it was poisoned, dying would be the worst that could happen. I'm actually kind of banking on that. Then I wouldn't have to be in this situation anymore and the world would be rid of me, curse that I apparently am. The young man would be doing humanity a favor actually.

Nodding my head, I started pulling the sheets off before Hijikata could stop me. However, I didn't account for the length of my pants. My foot snagged on the edges, causing me to tip my balance as I fell face down on the ground.

"Mmph."

Hands quickly moved under my arms, picking me up into the air as Hijikata asked if I was alright, his moderate volume practically a shout to my ears. (Which almost rendered me deaf due to how sensitive they were.) Why was he so concerned either way? He literally just found me in a clearing, lying in a puddle of blood surrounded by 'cursed spirits' or whatever those things were. I could be the antichrist or something.

(Did Christianity even spread here yet?)

He's an odd person that's for sure.

Wonder if they'll try and find me.

I mentally scoffed at that thought. Yeah, there was no chance of that ever happening. They'd probably celebrate or something.

His rough voice rumbled through his chest as he tried to hold back a laugh. "How about I just carry you eh? I can't imagine you'll walk around very easily in an unfamiliar place."

Point.

My hands found themselves pressed against Hijikata's broad chest as he pulled me into his arms. A bit hesitant, I leaned against Hijikata's chest in a more comfortable position. It was a bit weird being carried like this but I made do. Injured person that I am.

Seeing me relax in his hold, Hijikata started walking to where we would apparently eat; each step measured as if trying not to jostle me around. As he carried me, he talked about everyday things like work or things he liked to eat. Eventually after what felt like an eternity of winding hallways (just how big was his house?) we came to a stop in front of a doorway.

The smooth slide of shoji doors filled the white noise of Hijikata's mindless chatter as he slid them open; the smell of something delicious slowly filled my uncovered nose as the man walked in and placed me down on the ground feet-first. My mouth couldn't help but water at the delicious scent as it filtered through his wrappings.

Gently, a rough hand pulled me towards where the table was; soft touches carefully guided my sore body down on a cushion to sit. I was a bit surprised when Hijikata seated himself down next to me instead of on the other side of the table where I expected him to sit.

Pulling my hands out, palm up, Hijikata placed a bowl of hot liquid in my hold.

"Careful, it's hot so take little sips so you don't burn your tongue." He warned, slowly helping me hold the bowl of something up to my lips.

I honestly do not care if this is poisoned or not—it smelled like heaven and I'm going to consume it. Fuck my life and sensitive stomach: worst-case scenario, it's laced with poison; best-case scenario, it was just some soup. I've been deprived of some good old-fashioned sustenance and care for three years. So it doesn't even matter to me if it was poisoned. I'd at least die happy.

Sue me if I sound a little too eager to forfeit my life over a bowl of soup from a stranger who found me soaked in blood; a stranger who might also have a couple of screws loose going by his strange talk of seals and curse spirits.

(But the immediate drain I felt when the chains were placed on me was not my imagination. So why would the seals he was talking about be one? The voices in the clearing weren't fake, no matter how impossible it was for a human to sound that distorted. The voices were completely coherent. Hijikata was a strange man who spoke of strange things hinting at a bigger picture despite his humble status as a farmer.)

Tilting down the bowl, I took a sip of the most mouth-watering soups I've ever had in both my lives. It was herbal and light, just the right amount of seasoning too. However, because my senses were extremely sensitive, the taste was like a punch in the mouth.

I couldn't hold back the choke and gag as my body rejected the rich food. The force of my reaction caused me to double over against the table, slapping a hand over my mouth to prevent me from upchucking my food. With great effort—and a comforting hand rubbing circles into my back—though—I forced the food down and waited until I was sure nothing was coming up again.

The rest of the mealtime was a quiet affair, with Hijikata helping me eat the rice and mackerel he had cooked, as well as the pickled radishes. Unfortunately, my stomach couldn't handle a large amount of food yet so we sadly had to stop when I was barely halfway through the meal.

Sleepy, I barely noticed when Hijikata picked me up again and carried me back to the room I had woken up in. My body was gently laid down and tucked into the futon; the man's every movement was cautious, as if afraid of waking me up.

Sitting back in silence, he watched my breath deepen and slow down as I crept onto the verge of sleep. Hijikata quietly chuckled after a moment.

"Damn it, Osamu, only half an hour with him and already soft." He murmured deprecatingly to himself.

"If only-"

Too exhausted to stay up any longer, I didn't hear his next words as my consciousness faded into the warm and comforting darkness. I almost missed the way other murmurs joined his worried tones carried throughout the room.

"It sure took a lot out of him. I'm worried."

"Ya shouldn' 'ave left 'im covered in blood, ya idiot. Wha' if 'e caught a cold!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But at least the human found him!"

Something cold landed on my head, carding through my hair soothingly as a mother would to her child. A gentle whisper made its way to my ear as I subconsciously tilted my head against the comforting feeling.

"Don't mind them and focus on recovering."

Cold air touched my forehead, as if imitating a kiss.

"Oyasumi, my Lord."