The incident with Yama's father had scarred Kei far more than he would have liked to admit. Even after two years of friendship, Kei had not realized how important Yama was to him. Finding the human bruised and defeated in the toadstool ring had only proven that Yama was the most important person to Kei, second only to his brother. His brother, who had patiently and without asking too many questions, walked Kei through the best ways to comfort a distressed human friend.
It was no surprise then, that Kei's admiration and respect for Akiteru had also spilled over to Yama. In the months following the unoriginally named Incident, Yama took an even greater interest in Kei's idyllic family. Not wanting to disappoint his best friend, and not wanting to pass up on a chance to brag about his life, Kei humored him. More often than not, Kei would find himself proudly relaying fantastical stories that his brother had told him. Every day, Akiteru would come back from his adventures and recall them, in brilliant detail, to Kei, who would, in turn, pass them on to Yama.
Whenever Yama seemed to need a break from the toils of his life, or when Kei was feeling exceptionally smug and wanted to brag for a bit, he would launch into tangents about his brother. His brother, who had bravely purified an accursed spring in the far south, slain a cruel dragon from the north that had intended to burn down the forest, and had mastered every form of innate magic and tricked wicked humans into handing over their names so he could make them perform good deeds. That last story was the favorite of both Kei and Yama, for obvious and personal reasons. Eventually, though, Kei grew tired of simply retelling the tales of his brother's glories. He never quite did them justice, as Akiteru was always the better storyteller. One evening, several months after the Incident, Kei finally managed to badger Akiteru into telling his stories in person.
And so began Kei and Yama's second favorite tradition, right after eating ill-gotten sweets together. When he got back from his lengthy travels, Akiteru would go to the circle with Kei and masterfully narrate his adventures. Kei couldn't think of a better way to spend his evenings than with his two absolute favorite people, eating sweets and trading stories. Akiteru's stories also sparked a new discussion topic for the boys. A topic which Kei was both excited and terrified to think of.
"Hey, Tsukki? When you reach the age, will you go on adventures like your brother?" Yama's question came out of nowhere, but it hit Kei just as hard as the snowballs he was forming.
"Of course I will; adventuring is the coolest," replied Kei. He spoke with confidence but knew what Yama really wanted to ask.
"I suppose I won't see as much of you then, when you start traveling," Yama didn't look at Kei as he asked the question, focused instead on making snowballs.
Kei stopped packing snow and thought for a minute, it hadn't fully occurred that adventuring would mean leaving Yama by his lonesome. No one ever said he would have to adventure alone though, and if others could travel in groups then there was nothing to stop Kei from taking Yama with him. Kei decided to pitch the idea of traveling together in the distant future then and there. "Nonsense, if I am to go adventuring then you'll come with me. Human knights do it all the time, so you can too."
The finality of Kei's statement seemed to give Yama pause. Finally, after a tense few minutes, which made Kei think he had been too presumptuous, Yama nodded and tackled Kei into the snow with a hug. In retaliation Kei shoved a handful of snow down Yama's coat, thus starting the snow war they had been preparing for prior to the conversation.
After speaking with Yama, Kei took it upon himself to shadow Akiteru on his adventures. Unfortunately for Kei, his older brother would have none of it. Every time Kei asked to tag along with his brother, even just to observe, Akiteru brushed him off. Every attempt would yield the same comments from Akiteru, 'you're too young,' and 'I'll get nervous if you're there'. Kei took every opportunity he could to grumble his complaints about this development to Yama, who was equally disappointed. Still, though, there were always Akiteru's stories.
To make himself feel better about not being allowed to tag along, Kei started telling his brother's stories to the few fae his age he could begrudgingly call friends. Kageyama and Hinata were not fae that Kei particularly liked. In fact, he mostly hung out with them to make fun of them. Still, though, the hummingbird spirit and ice nymph had somehow wormed their way into Kei's life. Which was why, when Yama wasn't around, Kei turned to bemoan his troubles to his lesser friends. It was through these lesser friends that Kei's perfect perception of his brother began to crack. Kei had only gotten halfway through his brother's latest adventure before Hinata saw it fit to interrupt.
"But that can't be right, the Little Giant just returned from his quest, and that's what he did!" Kei stopped his story to glare at Hinata. There was no way Akiteru hadn't been doing what he said he was, right? Kei was half tempted to tell Hinata that he was wrong, but the hummingbird spirit's obsession with the Little Giant made that near impossible. Instead, he simply scoffed and lectured Hinata about how people could go on similar adventures. It was clear, though, that neither fully believed Kei's words.
Kei still believed his brother's tales, or at least wanted to, but as time went on, he became more wary. So much of Kei's persona had been based on the objective superiority of his brother. Akiteru was everything Kei wanted to be and more. The insinuation that his favorite person was living a lie was more than enough to shake Kei. So, of course, he took the only logical course of action; complaining to Yama.
Yama listened to Kei's worries with the sage wisdom of someone used to being unsure of themself and offered up a solution. "Well, if you want to confirm the truthfulness of your brother's adventures, you should just follow him on his next one."
Kei huffed in exasperated annoyance, "I've already asked to be allowed to watch his journeys, he says no every time. Too worried for my safety, I suppose."
Yama shook his head, "No, I mean follow him without letting him know. Think of it as a... a stealth mission. Yeah, a stealth quest!"
Kei furrowed his brow as he mulled over the idea. Akiteru would be mad if he found out, but then again, if all went well, Akiteru would never know. Kei could choose not to go and could continue blindly believing his brother, but he didn't enjoy being wrong, and now that the idea was in his head, he needed to know. Resolute in his determination, Kei agreed to the plan and, as the early spring breeze blew by, Kei and Yama brainstormed the perfect scheme. They would have to wait a few weeks until Akiteru came back, and Kei found himself restless with excitement. Not only at the prospect of seeing his brother again, but also from the anticipation for the plan to go underway.
First, Kei would have to convince Akiteru to take a short trip. He had no desire to follow his brother around for weeks on end, after all. Then, once Akiteru was thoroughly convinced, Kei would sneak out and follow his brother from a distance. Kei was rather proud of his stealth skills, he was able to move quicker and quieter than the other children his age, and he knew he could outwit his brother, who always lost the games of hide-and-seek. From then, Kei would simply have to observe the adventure so he could rub it in Hinata's face later. Maybe, just maybe, Akiteru would even be impressed by Kei's skill and would allow him on the next short mission. Nothing could possibly go wrong, and for the first few days, nothing did.
Then, four days into the stealthy journey, Kei's dreams were shattered. Instead of going to check up on the purified springs like he claimed he would, Akiteru stopped at the village on the other side of the forest. There, waiting for him, was a human woman, likely the same age as Akiteru. The woman was dressed in the garb of a warrior, so Kei assumed that she was the first person Akiteru had tricked out of a name. The reality was far, far worse. As Akiteru went up to greet the well-endowed warrior, Kei heard her delightedly squeal one word, Akiteru.
Disappointment and fear instantly welled up in Kei's chest. His brother had never tricked a female warrior out of her name, and judging by the way he disguised himself and entered the village, he clearly had never gone on any adventures. No, instead of relying on tricks and going on grand adventures, Akiteru had traded names with a human woman. Maybe he had even fallen in love with her, their embrace upon meeting sure indicated so. The thought made Kei want to vomit. How? His brother had lied to him. For so long, everything he ever told Kei was lies.
Kei sat in his hiding tree for an entire day, horrified and crushed. He hadn't even realized that a whole day had passed until Akiteru came back with his woman, walking hand in hand into the forest. When the warrior woman called Akieru by his first name again, Kei couldn't help but flinch. In doing so, he lost his footing on the branch and started to fall. The sudden noise attracted the attention of both Akiteru and his human lover, and as Kei fell from the tree he met his brother's eyes. In them, he saw shock, fear, and disappointment. Then Kei's head hit a rock on the ground, and everything went black.
When he finally woke up, Kei was in the infirmary. Although he knew what he had seen was real, part of him couldn't help but hope it was all a cruel dream. It wasn't, though, and Kei had to sit and listen as his parents explained what Akiteu had been doing all these years. Apparently, Kei was right in assuming the human woman was his brother's lover. When his parents finished their explanation, he finally noticed Akiteru was nowhere to be seen. It was then that he learned that his brother had run off with the woman. Away from the fae world, away from his family, away from everything, never to return.
Kei wanted to blame the woman for her beauty, Akiteru for falling for it, Yama since he had thought up the plan that led to their exposing, anyone but himself. But deep down, he knew, Kei knew that it was all his fault he would never see his brother again. When he told Yama, the human boy was almost as devastated as Kei.
For the second time that year, Kei and Yama spent the night in the faerie ring. Except that this time it was Kei who was crying.
