The Light and Darkness Chronicles
Chapter Eighteen - Tale
"Something's on my head!" Hikaru shrieking, breaking the morning stillness of Haneko Village. She yelled and shrieked, waving her hands above her head to try and dislodge whatever it was. It appeared walking to the park was dangerous business.
"Oooh! Lemme see!" Hajime bounded over to her, fishing through her hair. Hikaru was above to turn on him and yell in his face to stop messing with her hair, when whatever it was finally flew away. "Awww, a moth! Cool!"
"How are those evil critters cool?!" Hikaru yelled (by this point, a few people had poked their heads out of their front doors or windows to see what the commotion was about), covering her head with her arms as if it protect her aqua hair from any more insects.
"Moths are cool" Hajime insisted.
"Hajime, you lost me between 'moths' and 'cool'. Normally these two words do not belong in the same sentence" Tsubasa sighed.
"Hey, moths are awesome!" Hajime pouted "They're, like, gay butterflies!"
"Hajime Aimura! You get back here and do not leave me with these two struggling brats!" Taro yelled from a few metres in young for them, where he was being dragged along by Kazuki and Sachiko. Now the twins were here to entertain, the kids seemed to have decided Hyoma just wasn't fun anymore and were seeking attention from them on their way to the so-called 'park'.
"Coming dear!" Hajime called teasing, bounding back to the front to free his brother.
"Are you sure they're related?" Hikaru questioned "You know, not jus tweeting identical masks or something."
"If Taro wore a mask, it would be so he could stop looking like Hajime - not to look like him" Tsubasa corrected her.
Hikaru grumbled something, whipping a comb out of nowhere and proceeding to tame her ruffled hair.
Tsubasa looked over at Hyoma, who was trudging along beside them with his hands in his pockets and eyes on the ground. He was quiet - or quieter than usual at least. Like he didn't want people to notice him.
"Hyoma?" Tsuabsa reached across and nudged Hyoma's shoulder, making the fourteen-year-old look up at him with tired eyes. Tsubasa winced - Hyoma really needed more sleep. Maybe they should invest in sleeping pills. "Where did you go?"
"Just thinking about something" Hyoma answered as vaguely as possible.
"What" Tsubasa's voice was so flat, it would simply be a crime to put a question mark there.
"Nothing! It's just...nothing" Hyoma insisted, hands in his pockets, eyes back on the ground.
"This have something to do with what you asked me last night?" the silver-haired boy asked. Hyoma stiffened. Bingo. "It is to do with last night."
"You looked it up" Hyoma said. It was more of a statement of fact than a question.
"Yeah, you were right" Tsubasa explained "All of us had ancestors from Koma, Haneko or Nanami Village and all our beys came from those villages."
Hyoma just nodded, but it was as if he already knew the answer to the question and a as just asking for confirmation.
"And that has something to do with this, because?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow in question, eager to get to be a part of this.
Hyoma suddenly contorted his features into a snarl at Tsubasa. "You told her?! Thought about telling anyone else, huh?! What a problem I am?!"
"Since when did I call you a problem?" Tsubasa stopped that train of thought right there, firmly. "And we're a team, Hyoma. Hikaru had every right to know."
"Darn straight I did" Hikaru put in "C'mon Hyoma, what's on your mind?"
This time Hyoma chose not to answer, his gaze returning it's safe place on the ground, and he gave off the air of someone desperately pleading to be left alone.
"Look, I know you're used to putting other people's problems before your own, alright, I get how that feels" Tsubasa tried to reassure him "But we're really worried about you, Hyoma."
That appeared to get through to him. He slumped his shoulders and tugged his chin in even further, looking beyond uncomfortable. "I was trying to work out if I was dreaming about Zebrus."
Both Hikaru and Tsubasa frowned. "Come again?"
"Well, if Aquila, Aries and Aquario all came from the villages in the legend, and I was dreaming about Zebrus, then it would make sense why they were attacking me in my dreams, right?" Hyoma suggested "Now it seems likely they were those three beys, I'm guessing the dreams I'm having are Zebrus' memories."
"Hold the phone, why would you be having dreams about the memories of an evil bey?" Hikaru looked at him as if he was insane. Which he probably sounded.
"I dunno" Hyoma shrugged "Maybe because of all the darkness in my life, maybe it decided to was attracted to that or something."
"L-Drago did that to me, but I certainly didn't dream about its memories" Tsubasa pointed out "There must be something else. Did you disturb it somehow?"
"When I didn't even know it existed until I met up with the pair of you - unlikely" Hyoma replied "Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it isn't Zebrus."
"Hey, tell you what" Tsubasa offered "When we get back to the cottage, I'll look up Zebrus for you. See if it has any reason to bother you or for you to have it's memories. Okay?"
"I'll help if I can" Hikaru added "That means Hyoma here can busy himself with running Daycare 101 with our hosts. Hopefully those tykes 'll tire you out so much you won't dream, eh?"
Hyoma shot them both a small smile, his voice quiet. "Thank you. I'll make it up to you guys someday for this, I promise."
Hikaru smirked. "Sure you will, right after Kenta beats Ginga in a hamburger-eating contest."
Tsubasa rolled his eyes and cricked his neck whilst Hyoma chuckled.
Up ahead, Kazuki and Sachiko laughed as Hajime moved on from the duck noises he'd been making for them to train sounds.
"Do you think those two know what trains are?" Hikaru asked "I mean, the nearest railway is miles away."
"So's Koma Village, but there isn't a villager there who doesn't know what a train is" Hyoma shrugged, hands in his pockets "We even have a legend about one."
"Is there anything Koma Village doesn't have a legend about?" Tsubasa asked, rather sarcastically. Hyoma pointedly ignored that.
"We call it the Star Carrier" he explained "It's our belief that if you really want someone close to you to come back, the Star Carrier will bring them back to you."
"Well that's a—" Hikaru froze mid sentence, tensing her whole body.
"What's the matter?" Tsubasa asked, stopping and turning to face her. Hyoma did too.
"Something's on my foot" she said, very slowly frowning. Hyoma squatted down and parted the long grass around Hikaru's feet. He shook his head with a sigh as he stood upright again.
"Relax, it's just a lizard" He held out his hand and showed a little brown lizard crawling across it. "You really hate nature, don't you?"
Hikaru wrinkled her nose at first, but then smirked. "Hey look Tsubasa, it's your ex-girlfriend!"
Tsubasa rolled his eyes "Real mature. Real mature."
Hikaru wouldn't drop it, her face lit up in utter glee. "Sarcasm is the refuge of losers."
Tsubasa's face contorted into the deadpanliest of deadpan looks ever. "No. Too easy."
"I have to agree with him" Hyoma spoke up "You were setting yourself up for that, Hikaru."
"Oh and you're so grown up now, huh?" Hikaru sniffed "Still having nightmares and keeping stuff from us, but such an adult."
"I thought sarcasm was the refuge of losers" Tsubasa piped up.
Hikaru's glare had the word 'Die' written all over it - in capital letters and with exclamation marks surrounding it. "Shut up."
"When you said park, I imaged swings and playsets and, I don't know, benches!" Hikaru informed Tsubasa, who was at present moment leaning against a tree whilst sitting on the ground, his eyes closed as his tanned skin soaked up the sun's rays. "Not a field with some flowers and insects in it!"
Tsubasa laughed. "City kids."
Hyoma, who was in the same position right next to him, laughed also. "You're telling me. Nothing appeases them."
Hikaru scowled. "Well what do you expect me to do?! Run around like lunatic with them?!"
She pointed rather over-dramatically at Hajime, who appeared to be taking part in a revised game of 'bulldogs' only with a four and a five-year-old. Occasionally one of the kids would trip and send flowers flying everywhere.
"Taro offered for you to walk back with him, but look who refused" Tsubasa pointed out.
Hikaru snorted. "Like I was going to give you two that satisfaction. If I hear one more jibe about 'city kids' I will actually kill you!"
"Why don't you sit on the ground and polish your bey?" Hyoma tried, desperately wanting the loud voice to go away so he could get some peace and maybe some rest in the event one of his nightmares struck that night.
Hikaru wrinkled her nose in disgust. "On the ground! In my shorts?!"
"Sit on your jacket" Tsubasa suggested.
Hikaru gave them one last look of disgust before turning on her heels and storming towards the driest patch of field she could find.
"I didn't think a field of flowers could be so threatening" Hyoma chuckled.
"If you're Hikaru, nature in general is threatening" Tsubasa pointed out "She must really care about you to come out all this way into the wilderness."
Hyoma bolted upright, staring at Tsubasa in what looked like shock. "Really?"
Tsubasa was about to reply, but was stopped when he heard Kazuki yell:
"Ow! Haji! That hurt!"
"Don't make me come over there!" Tsubasa called to them, determined to break up the game if it got too dangerous for the kids. From what he could see, it looked like Sachiko and Hajime had just commence a plot to trip Kazuki over. Tsubasa inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
"He started it!" Hajime complained back.
Tsubasa growled a bit. "I don't care who started it! I'll finish it!"
Hajime stuck his tongue out at him, only to be bashed on the head by a stick in Kazuki's hand that was almost a a big as the child himself.
Tsubasa sighed and called over to the thirteen-year-old. "You're an embarrassment to nature, do you know that?"
"Does he care?" Hyoma pointed out.
"Probably not" Tsubasa shrugged.
The two shut their eyes again, trying to absorb the peace and quiet and ignore the sounds of the increasingly more violent game taking place at the other end of the field.
"Oma! Oma!"
Tsubasa and Hyoma turned their heads to where the others were. Hikaru was (reluctantly) sitting in a patch of white flowers polishing Aquario, Hajime was playing with Kazuki and his long stick (they didn't dare ask Kazuki where he had got the stick from) and Sachiko was running towards them in a flood of tears.
"Sachiko!" Hyoma gasped as she tore into his harms, burying her head into his T-shirt and staining with her salty tears "Sachiko! What happened?!"
"Haji pushed me over!" Sachiko cried into his shirt. Whilst Hyoma rubbed circles on Sachiko's back with his palm, Tsubasa sent Hajime a disapproving look. However, he doubted Hajime received it because he'd just been conked over the head by Kazuki's stick again. Tsubasa shook his head, silver hair brushing his shoulders, and sighed.
"Haji and Zuki mean!" Sachiko looked up at Hyoma with teary blue eyes, still clinging onto his dull-red shirt. He sighed.
"What do you want to do Sachiko?" Hyoma asked.
"Story! Story!" Sachiko chanted, her eyes brimming with hope. Hyoma looked over at Tsubasa.
"Um...you gonna tell her a story?" the lilac-haired boy asked.
"I think she wants to hear it from you" Tsubasa told him. Hyoma looked down at Sachiko uncertainly.
"Well, what kind of stories do you tell Yu?" he asked.
"Yu?" Tsubasa had to think about this "Well, he likes stories about animals. And legends. And beys."
Hyoma's purple eyes lit up with hope.
"Okay, thanks" he smiled, then looked down at Sachiko "Alright Sachiko. I'll tell you a story."
"Yay! Story! Story!" Sachiko turned so she was sitting on Hyoma's lap and leaning against him. He gently put an arm around her and rubbed his rough hand up and down her upper arm on a comforting manner.
"Sachiko, have you ever heard of Lightning L-Drago?" he asked. Tsubasa raised an eyebrow in surprise and Sachiko shook her head.
"No" she answered.
"Well, L-Drago was a bad bey. A very bad bey."
"Very bad?"
"Yes, very bad. L-Drago destroyed many things and hurt a lot of people."
Tsubasa saw an unreable expression come upon Hyoma's face and realised he must be working hard not to think about how his parents had been killed by L-Drago. He was surprised Hyoma had chosen this story to tell. There was a tense moment or two before Hyoma shook his head and smiled warmly down at Sachiko again with kind lavender eyes.
"L-Drago was asleep for a long time. But it was woken up by a person named Ryuga." Both Hyoma and Tsuabsa shuddered on instinct at the name.
"Ruga?"
"Yes, Ryuga. He stole the bey and used it for evil. But he was stopped by a boy called Ginga and his bey Pegasus."
"Inka and Egesus?"
"Ginga Hagane and Storm Pegasus. Ginga was very brave. He and Pegasus took L-Drago on in battle and defeated it. The evil in L-Drago was destroyed and Ginga and Pegasus became heroes."
"Inka was very bwave?" Sachiko asked.
"Yes" Hyoma answered with a gentle sigh "He was very brave." He exhaled, and Tsubasa wondered what about his childhood friend he was thinking about.
"Oma very bwave too" Sachiko said out-of-the-blue. Hyoma blinked in surprise at this.
"Achi!" Kazuki beamed, stopping a few steps away from them "Come on! Let's jump on Haji when he asleep!"
Tsubasa snorted at the fact 'asleep' probably translated as 'unconscious with serious head concussion'. He was starting to like these kids.
"Coming!" smiled Sachiko, forgetting Kazuki had been the reason for her running to Hyoma in the first place. She gave Hyoma a hug. "Bye-bye and thank you, Oma nee-san!" She then raced away, leaving a very stunned Hyoma in her wake.
"N-Nee-San?" he stuttered. Tsubasa shrugged.
"Yu calls me that all the time" he explained "It's means older brother."
"I know what it means!" Hyoma snapped. Then he sighed "But why would Sachiko call me that? Kazuki's her older brother."
"You don't get it, do you?" Tsubasa sighed.
"No, I don't!" Hyoma snapped again "And I wish people would give me a straight answer for once!"
"Alright, calm down Hades" Tsubasa folded his armd behind his head and leant back against the tree "You've real anger issues, you know that?"
"Meh, I probably do" Hyoma shrugged, also leaning back against the tree "Still doesn't stop me from being the bestest friend ever though."
"Hmph" Tsuabasa snorted with a smile "Whatever floats your happy soul."
And he left Hyoma to doze in peace, diverting his golden-brown eyes to the cerulean sky.