The Witch's Husband

by LostInTheMystery

Twin brothers, twin problems, are faced with the issues of a food shortage and dark intent that lurks around them. Left alone in the woods, they face death when they come upon, of all things, a witch – in a house made of candy. Is this a blessing to the starving village or is the witch looking for more?

6. In my Skin

Chapter 6: In my Skin

Saguru wanted Kaito safe but he had no idea how he could trust her still. "I... I have no idea what to do."

It didn't surprise him that they two of them felt the same way. He looked from Saguru to the witch. They liked it there. It was nice there. Saguru was happy there. Here, mom had punished them both for something that wasn't their fault. Leaving her seemed wrong, but keeping Saguru here seemed just as wrong, and neither of them wanted to leave one another. Kaito took in and let out a big breath. "Well, lets vote. I say we go back to the forest."

Saguru looked at Kaito, knowing he would be better off there and maybe, with them away, mother would calm down. "I am going with you." He sort of wanted to leave a note, either for mother to not worry because he knew Kaito would think she would, or for father if he returned before they found him themselves.

"That was a lot of talk about nothing. Here. We don't want anyone to see you. Meet me past the tree line." Akako went over to both of them, tapping them on the head and watching as a pale white kitten and a black one took their place. She turned herself into a cat after, jumping to the window and leaving.

Kaito blinked a few times, everything much bigger around him and his eyes felt funny. He looked down at himself and then over at Saguru, turning around. He was... a cat! He was a cat! That was so cool! He didn't think cats could grin but he was grinning, feeling the new way his fangs went over his lips.

Saguru almost backed away from the giant cat when it showed his teeth until he realized he was on all fours. He looked at his hands and saw paws instead, realizing he was a cat too. 'This is impossible. We are not witches... ' He tried to convey it to Kaito but had no idea if he understood or not.

Kaito paced around. He was still him, which he knew well enough because his leg and backside still hurt, but walking on fours was a lot easier than walking on two legs. He tried to say something to Saguru but meowed, his eyes widening. He looked towards the window where the witch went, tipping his head toward Saguru.

Saguru knew it was small but he used his claws to scratch a few words in the floor since he could no longer write on paper. He hoped she saw it or that someone did and let father know. He tilted his head and looked up when Kaito stopped walking around and meowed at him. He nodded, going over to Kaito and trying to resist forcing his tail to stop moving because it was very distracting and he wanted to hold it down. The window was way higher now and even though he knew cats could jump, he had no idea how.

Kaito didn't know and didn't care much what Saguru was doing. He knew they'd have to get out the window though, and the sooner the better. Who knew what mom would do when she found cats instead of them. He looked up, backed up a bit, his brain telling him to lower himself to the floor. He felt his tail swish behind him before he jumped, his front paws making it but his back paws scraping the side of the wall. He hurt and he tried not to meow or whatever it would be if he were to make a noise, scurrying to get himself up.

Saguru winced as Kaito struggled and tried to call out encouragement but it was meows too. He would wait until he was up but he backed up more, thinking a running start would be better since Kaito was always more athletic than him.

Kaito think cats panted but that's what he did once he was up, his heart racing. Being a cat was cool but trying to work out how to be a cat while injured was not. He stared down, his mouth open as he tried to smile, his tail moving a bit behind him as he watched Saguru. He'd call him a chicken if he could or, better yet, a scaredy cat.

Saguru felt his tail going again, swearing it had a mind of its own, but ignored it and ran toward the window, jumping and falling shorter than Kaito had, grateful he landed on all four paws but needing to shake his head. He would do this. He backed up again and looked up at Kaito-kitty. He was going to do it this time, running and snagging the lip, kicking his back legs to move upward.

Kaito didn't know why he did it. He'd seen a few cats before, thought like some of them, but he hadn't picture himself leaning down and biting Saguru behind the neck to help him get up. It was funny to watch and, while he normally would have been laughing, some weird new instinct kicked in instead. He let go of his fur once he was up, hoping he hadn't hurt him, and turned to the brighter world outside. Wow, cats had good vision.

Saguru batted Kaito to thank him but noticed he had looked outside already. He followed Kaito's gaze and blinked. It was amazing, that was for sure. Sight and sound and smell overwhelmed him and he tried to place everything, sniffing and turning his ears to pick out different things. He heard and smelled the chickens in the coop. The grass and woods had their own smells and he could tell that no one but them had been near here lately. There was also a faint scent in the air he did not recognize but he did not like it much and turned his ears back before sneezing.

Kaito tried to laugh. Some weird breaths came out instead. Cats, it seemed, couldn't laugh. Saguru sneezing as a cat though was funny. He wasted no more time sitting up there, as much as he liked the height, and jumped down into the grass. It was a much softer landing than he expected, and the grass didn't leave much of a feeling on him, where it normally would have itched his arms and legs. He looked up at Saguru, bounding off into the woods before waiting for him. It was so nice to be running again, even if it was slower than normal and still hurt a little.

Saguru shook his head and looked back one last time before jumping down, the grass and ground far more forgiving than the hard floor. He stepped a little more gingerly at first, his own inquisitive side wanting to investigate everything, smell each flower again and maybe find those chickens. He kept reminding himself of Kaito and the fact they were both kittens to get him to follow.

Kaito spotted Akako, no longer a cat, just a few feet in. He turned a little, running around her and playing in the grass. He saw Saguru behind him and went at him, jumping at him. This was so much fun.

Saguru expected a lot of things but Kaito jumping at him was not one. The fact his reaction was to move upright onto his feet, or back paws, and try to fend him off meant they ended up almost locked together when he overbalanced. He tried to yell at Kaito but it came out as a loud meow.

Kaito noticed early on that his claws worked just like his fingers. He either used them or he didn't. It was like batting Saguru with his palm and he didn't mind rolling over, pushing at him with the pads of his feet, jumping on and off of him.

Saguru stayed on his side, eying Kaito and batting back when he got close, trying to gauge when to strike but it still went back and forth.

It was no fun messing with someone who wasn't moving. Kaito quickly grew bored with Saguru, pawing him a bit more before turning to the dark woods. There were a lot of noises that were kind of scary and kind of interesting.

Saguru got up and followed Kaito, now he had the advantage, staying low to the ground and creeping quietly. This was payback for the surprise attack earlier. He was about to spring when Kaito's tail waved in front of his again and drew his eye. He jumped, wrapping his front paws around Kaito's tail and nipping it before he realized what he was doing.

Kaito made some kind of weird yelping noise when something pinched him. He had new mass he wasn't used to having. He pulled back, spinning and seeing Saguru, automatically jumping at him and trying to get him by the neck.

"Alright, enough you two." Akako had to chase now the two new kittens. She grabbed them both, pulling them apart and tapped them, turning them back to normal. "It's getting late and even I don't want to go up against the animals here."

Saguru shook his head and blushed. "Sorry, it was hard to adapt." He looked at Kaito and then behind him. "Those tails are distracting." Although the sting from their punishment had come back.

"Hard? That was fun." Kaito had had fun as a cat. "Can we do that again?"

Akako sighed. "Maybe later. Come on now. It's dark." Kids. Well, they'd grow up soon enough.

Saguru shook his head but he had enjoyed it too. He was still puzzling about the bad scent but shrugged it off for now and looked over. "Do we need to ride again?"

Akako tipped her head. "That's what I was planning on. Why? Something wrong with that? You liked it just fine coming."

"No, it was fun, it just, really hurts to sit now." Saguru blushed and shifted, looking at Kaito.

Kaito didn't even want to see a chair for the next few days. He nodded, Saguru looking embarrassed. He'd gotten punished enough that he'd had to share it with others when he didn't want to sit, so it was nothing new to him. "I don't think I could even if I tried."

Akako had to think on this. Standing while flying was dangerous, riding required sitting, and being animals in the woods at night would get the other creatures attentions. "Okay then. How do you feel about rabbits instead? Try not to move too much." Akako went over and touched them both again, making them as small as she could, now in the form of little furry rabbits. The extra fur would give them cushioning as she picked them up and went back to the fawns. She could ride one handed just fine and they were small enough she wasn't afraid she'd lose them.

...

Kaito was human again as they arrived back in the candy house and the witch put them down, changing them back. He looked over his hands. Being an animal was so cool and he wished she'd given him a chance to check out what being a rabbit was like. Maybe he could ask her tomorrow. "Thanks, for bringing us back and all and waiting with. Sorry things didn't work out."

"I wasn't expecting them to. You have more faith in your own kind than I do. It's getting late. Are you both going to be alright?"

Kaito was in a lot more pain human, and had to think Saguru was too, but it wasn't like they could just stay animals... could they? No, he wouldn't be able to talk then. He looked at his brother. "Mom did kind of go far tonight. Are you okay?"

Saguru had not really wanted to comment in front of Miss Akako so he shifted and tried to circle it, replying softly. "I may use your idea for the next night or two."

Akako smiled. She wasn't a fool when it came to how humans treated their children, and she did have a good idea. She held up her hands. "If you pull your pants down I can put something on your skin that will make it feel better."

That embarrassed even Kaito but he wasn't sure if he wanted to turn it down or not.

Saguru knew his face was bright red and had no idea if it was more embarrassing to do it or refuse and eat the pillow each morning. He tried to form a word of some kind, maybe suggest she give them it and they could do it themselves but he was really tongue-tied.

Akako grabbed Saguru first, turning him around. "There, now I can only see your back. If I put it on with you as an animal, it won't work as well. Take off yoru pants and both of you cover yourselves up as much as you can. I'll be right back with the ointment."

Kaito watched the witch leave the room and put his hands over the front of his pants, looking at Saguru. "Mom is fine but..."

Saguru cleared his throat and nodded. "Maybe we can ask if she can leave and… I would even be alright with you doing it but, it would be... " There was no word for it, or too many really.

Kaito wasn't sure if he wanted Saguru touching his butt anymore than he wanted the witch. He debated those images for a second before deciding that he would rather her do it and started taking off his clothes. He could at least get himself covered while she was gone instead of having her watch him try and cover himself once she was back. "I'm sure it won't take long."

Saguru really thought this was weird but maybe if he closed his eyes and didn't think about it, he'd be fine. He pulled down his pants, taking his shirt off so he could use it to cover himself.

"Thank you, Miss Akako." Saguru could not face her to say that as he was trying hard not to think about anything, imagining himself as a bunny again and going through the route they had taken so he was not thinking about the cold stuff coming.

"Akako is fine. I'm not that much older than you." Akako put the cream on Saguru's wounds as well. She had to wonder if all humans dealt with their kids in this manner. For witches, it was a little different. That was her own secret though. "There," she said when she was finished. "That should take away any pain or itching. You should both get to bed."

Saguru hastily pulled up his pants. "Thank you again. Good night."

"Goodnight." Akako wouldn't be sleeping for some time, but the kids needed it.

Kaito went over to Saguru once he was dressed, feeling a lot better, if not a bit chilly still. "That's pretty cool. Food and medicine. She's amazing." He was avoiding a more important topic though. "Mom was kind of right but she was mostly wrong. If dad comes back and we're not there or sends word, I don't want to miss him. He might not know how to contact us or that we're even okay. I didn't get the chance to ask mom where he was. I don't want to get her in trouble, but I don't want to be left behind. What should we do, just wait and see if Akako can find him?"

"I did carve out a small thing in the floor so that they know we will meet up with father. I did add 'feel better' to mother, in case you are right that it is because father is gone."

"She wasn't like that before, and I guess I can be a bad kid. I just didn't think I was that bad. With little food and dad gone... She was trying to take care of everything all of a sudden. That would scare me too. I don't understand anything, and it hurts and I'm sacred of her, but dad being back will probably fix everything."

"We both could have earned food together, like before. I agree with you though, father will sort it all out." Saguru tugged a pillow down to the middle of the bed, wanting to give everything time to work. He tugged a piece of it off and started sucking on it, just to calm down a little. "Good night, Kaito."

Kaito was remembering now that they hadn't eaten since breakfast. He didn't think a piece of the pillow was enough. He turned aside from the bedroom and went to the kitchen. Akako had all the food in weird places and it took him a while to find a few apples. The knives were easier and he cut the apple in half, going back to the bedroom and getting in bed, handing Saguru half. "Here. I like candy too but you have to be as hungry as me."

Saguru smiled and accepted the piece. "I actually forgot about it with everything going on." It only occurred to him when he had the pillow in his hand and by then, he had not wanted to get up again. He took a bite and sighed. "Thank you."

"Mmm." Kaito ate a few bites, tired all of a sudden. He was sure he's slept that afternoon, after they were punished, but it was a long day and only part of the pain was gone. He had to hope dad would be able to find them, or they find him. He needed to get back to mom and make everything better.

...

Saguru shifted and woke slowly. He glanced out the window and realized it was much later than he usually woke. Most of the morning was gone. He noticed Kaito still there and reached over to see if he was awake yet too or not. "Kaito?"

Kaito had woke a few times and gone back to bed, so it was easy for him to notice Saguru getting his attention. He felt tired still. "Yeah?" Actually, he felt like he needed a hug. He didn't know why his brother was waking him but he curled up around him, noticing the pain was a lot less than he expected to wake with.

Saguru was surprised but buried himself into his brother's hold, almost ashamed when he started crying into Kaito's chest.

Kaito was still pretty out of it but Saguru crying got him crying too. He had his brother, he had his dad - somewhere - and mom would... get better. Right now it was nice to be back here though. He felt safe here, and he was happy again that Saguru had followed him, that he wasn't alone in this, even if it had gotten him hurt. He stayed there, feeling tired and upset and sore, for a little bit, before backing up and wiping away Saguru's tears with his hand. "Hey, you okay?"

"I just... " Saguru blinked at his brother and sobbed. "It is all my fault. If not for me, we would have the cow, father would not have had to leave and mother would not be acting this way. I am so sorry."

"If not for you we wouldn't have had milk today. Food was hard to come by and we didn't need milk as much as water and a lot of other stuff. Dad would have left anyway, to help us. Mom's just upset right now, like you are, but she can't cry. I don't want no 'sorry's." Kaito had a few tears in his own eyes still, but wiped away what few more Saguru had. "We're okay and we got to meet a witch. How many people can say that? We have food and shelter and dad and mom are still alive. We didn't starve. That's nothing to apologize for."

Saguru managed a weak chuckle but could not quite meet Kaito's eye. They had met a nice witch but he wished it had been because they got lost on their own, not because mother could not handle father being gone and cracked. "I just want things to go back to normal."

"Me too." Kaito hadn't expected Saguru to mirror his emotions so perfectly. That did cheer him up though. "And I think they can. We just need dad back and everything will be fine. You and me are can't help her but I'm sure dad can and everything will be fine. We might even be better off if we can tell dad now that we have food, but I don't think we can do that."

"Maybe someone read the scratches and will pass the word on. Otherwise, maybe Akako can get in touch with him like she said."

"Yeah, we can ask her about that today." Kaito stretched a little, doing so slowly even though he wasn't in pain. "Been morning for a while, huh? We should eat and make a plan today. It'll be nice to stay here but yeah, dad needs to know where we are some how, and we can't tell mom like I thought we could."

Saguru pushed himself up but ducked his head when his stomach reacted to Kaito mentioned eating and tried to keep his mind on the other part of the conversation. "That sounds good, maybe he can talk to mother."

: Kaito nodded. They weren't in trouble and mom was, in her own way. It was better to tell him he needed to come back and help her. They could get help from Akako and at least be able to have food. Kaito got down, offering his hand to Saguru. The apple wasn't much to eat and they had only had breakfast the day before. "Come on, I'm hungry."

Saguru jumped down, shifting to something he could change and that was food. He stopped and pointed at two new piles of clothes. "It looks like she gave us new outfits too."

Kaito looked down at his current ones. They were nice and he liked the vest but they had gone through the forest in them and then slept in them as well. It wasn't enough to make him feel overly dirty but they were guests and smelling like a sow wasn't going to help, so he paused a moment, peeking out the door to make sure the witch wasn't coming down the hall, and changed into the new clothes. He touched them, the fabric smooth. They seemed even nicer than the ones that he'd just taken off. "Now I'm not going to want to go outside and get them dirty. I guess she can always just fix them with magic or something though."

Saguru shook his head as he put the new ones on too. "If I go outside, I am putting the others on." These were far too nice and he would feel guilty treating them that way. He noticed he had red again and wondered if it was his eyes that made her give him this color instead of Kaito.

Kaito was tired of being sad and sick of being scared. He could probably get a roundabout location for dad and look himself. Sitting here wouldn't do him any good, though he had to do that as well to win the witch's favor or they'd still have food issues. His stomach turned, hungry enough that it seemed to turn on itself as he smelled something like bread and spices he couldn't make out.

Saguru made a small sound when Kaito's stomach let them know it was hungry too. He would admit, whatever was being made smelled good. They stepped into the kitchen and saw the witch cooking again. "That smells really good."

"We don't seem to eat much differently, and breakfast isn't as varied, so I figured I'd keep cooking. You're not bad but you don't live here, know where my things are, and you're a boy. I'd rather do it myself." Akako had a knack for knowing the future. She was pretty decent at fortune telling, always had been, and had known when to start cooking. She handed the plates down, still not liking her shorter stature all that much though. "Here. It's done."

Kaito wasted no time getting the first plate. It smelled kind of like the oatmeal, though it looked nothing like it. He waited, bouncing a little on his one leg for the other two to start over to the table. While he was hungry he did have manners enough to know he shouldn't start eating before the other two.

Saguru set his plate down and turned to go to the fridge. "I can pour your drinks if you tell me what you want."

"Thank you." It would save her the trouble. "I have some apple juice."

Kaito put his plate down but he was feeling better than yesterday and a lot had happened to distract him from his leg. It was hurting but not as badly, and he went over to the fridge to have a look himself, ending up grabbing the orange juice to balance out the sweetness he could smell from whatever it was they were eating. "I'm good."

Saguru poured the drinks for himself and Akako, placing them on the table before putting the pitchers away and climbing into a seat.

Kaito settled on eating right away. He was hungry and he needed the food and he felt great once he was no longer ready to kill someone to have at the meal. He let out a breath, slowing his devouring. "I'm sorry about yesterday. Thanks for helping us, again. Can you, maybe, help us find our dad? You said you need to know what he looks like or something, but can we do one better? If you can help us get there, can we find him? We need to talk to him."

Akako didn't eat as fast as Kaito but she did slow down more when he asked her that question. "You're still injured and both of you are only okay right now because you aren't feeling your wounds today. Tomorrow ask me again. Right now neither of you would like the ride if we left."

Kaito was disappointed but he knew that she was probably right and he nodded, pushing around some of his food. It was one day. That didn't seem so bad.

Saguru felt bad that he sort of was the cause of that but he supposed an extra day for them both to 'recover' would be alright. Kaito's foot would also be able to heal better too, so when they saw him, it would be easier to walk. "Thank you, for everything."

"No problem. Since both of you need to recover and sitting wouldn't be good, how about tonight you follow me somewhere. I have something I think you'll both like, and I can keep the animals well enough away once I've had time to prepare."

Saguru looked up again, his curiosity piqued at the thought of something new. "That sounds interesting."

Kaito still had food in his mouth but nodded. Anything a witch had to show them would probably be very cool.

Saguru finished eating and was more than content to grab a book, the same one Kaito had been reading to him the first morning they had been there. It was a reminder of that time, when they had not yet known how far mother was gone. "Hey, Kaito, did you want to finish this with me?"

The book was pretty big and he didn't think they'd finish it, but he nodded away. "Sure. Lay down. I can lay down with you and it will make it easier." There was the main room with the couch and chairs but it was easier to read like that in the bedroom.

Saguru climbed into the bed, using the pillows to prop himself up and laying down so he could read along. Maybe that evening he would resume reading nonfiction but right now, this was nicer.

Kaito read it aloud even though Saguru was looking over his shoulder the whole time. Like before he felt when his mouth was getting dry. Even if it wasn't late in the day, the reading was making his eyes tired and he laid down comfortably on the book, stopping the story from progressing for both of them. "Ah, so much time in doors. I'm dying."

Saguru rolled his eyes and nudged him. "I could have grabbed a book on history but I bet you would have fallen asleep before the first chapter was finished."

"Probably." Kaito got up and rubbed his eyes. "Hey, want to see if Akako will let us run around as cats or something again? I can kind of run like that and it'll be fun." They were in a house with a witch with real magic. Why were they reading a book anyway?

"If I accidentally bite your tail again, remember, it was your idea."

Kaito let out a breath and got up. "Why did you do that anyway?"

Saguru paused and thought before shrugging. "I think I almost attacked mine too. It was something about the way it moved, I think it was annoying or something and wanted to grab it and try to hold it still."

Kaito snorted. "Come on. Maybe we won't be cats then. I want to climb the tree so maybe she can make us squirrels." He didn't really care. The idea of being an animal temporarily again was awesome and Saguru was taking forever.

Saguru jumped down and followed Kaito out the door. "A squirrel? Next you will ask to be bird so you can fly out of them."

"A bird would be cool too. I just don't know if she wants us to do that being hurt." Kaito chuckled. The bracelet was still on him and he had to ask her to leave again, so maybe they could be birds.

Saguru shook his head but with Kaito, his natural ability to climb and jump would help him no matter what animal he asked her to become. He was still a little weirded out by the actual change but he would admit, experiencing the world with the senses of another animal had been amazing and something no one but the two, or three, of them had done. He and Kaito had to be the only two non-witches at least.

Kaito went around looking for Akako but he didn't see her. He did find the door that lead downstairs though and remembered her warning. He knocked on it, not daring to open it. "Hello? Did you go down there? Me and Saguru want to ask you something."

Akako let out a breath, having just started work to keep the forest animals away. She went back up the stairs and opened the door. "Yes?"

"We've been inside an awful lot. Can we go out and like, have some room to explore? And, um, can we turn into animals again?" Kaito's eyes were glowing. This sounded like so much fun.

She stared at them both for a moment. There didn't seem to be any harm with that, but if they came across real animals there would be some confrontation. She finished getting up, closing the trap door behind her. "Sure. I'll go with you. You do know there are actual animals in the forest as well. What, exactly, were you looking to accomplish though?"

Accomplish? Kaito didn't think there had to be something at the end of the road for this kind of thing. He shrugged. "Like I said, we've been inside a lot and it sounded like fun."

Akako looked between them, remember again that they were kids. "Three miles around the house is the new limit." She waited while the spell accepted this. She came up to both of them, touching them lightly on the arm as she smiled. "Then let's have fun." In a second there were three small wolf cubs, her own fur a purple while the other two were very different shades of brown. "Nothing should bother us this way."

Kaito was afraid first. He was expecting to be something like a cat again. Instead he had to calm his heart rate when everything was not only much bigger but much more foreign. He'd never seen a wild animal up close and it looked like that's what he was now. He chased his tail in a circle, looking his body over, and trying not to get overwhelmed by how sweet he house smelled.

Saguru knew this time the room would get bigger and he stayed watching Kaito so he knew what he looked like. It took some of the shock out; enough that he was suppressing a laugh when Kaito actually did start chancing his own tail. He looked forward to getting out of the house with the overwhelming scents in there. He was able to identify almost everything in every room by the different smells, mint, chocolate, vanilla, peanut butter, caramel and a bunch more things he had no name for but know knew by scent. He snorted to clear his nose and headed to the door, ready to leave even if he had to chew his way out.

Akako had to nudge Kaito and dash to get ahead of Saguru. "Both of you still be careful. While most of your brain is still fine and yours, you have a very small part of it that's now like a wolf's, in order to keep you sane and walking correctly." She paused at the door and sat, facing the other two. "You can't blame that part on not listening to me. If there's danger, I'm going to tell you to run to the house, and you do it, even if you can't see anything, okay?"

Kaito padded up to the other two and nodded. He made some weird dog noise when he tried to talk and it made him, apparently, start wagging his tail.

Saguru tried to say yes and it came out sounding like a 'yip'. He nodded his head as well, just to be sure, and wondered how she could talk with an animal mouth.

Akako smiled, tapping the door with her tail and telling it to open. "Have fun." She made sure she got up and out of Kaito's way first, licking Saguru on the nose with her new tongue before he could leave as well, sitting down.

Saguru had started moving too fast to get out of the sweet house when what just happened hit him. He blinked and let himself walk toward Kaito, still trying to figure out if Akako had just licked his nose. Maybe there had been something on it and she was cleaning it off, like he had seen dogs and cats do to each other. It was still strange and he could not help using one paw to wipe at it, just to make sure.

Kaito bounded around in the grass. It was so nice to be free. He almost wished it was one of hands that had been hurt and not his leg, as he ran slower with his back legs, but he didn't care. He rolled over, loving the feel of being outside again and loving even more that he didn't have to care about getting yelled at or getting dirty.