Day was easing into night around their tired, aching bodies as they continued the steep climb up the hazardous mountain steps. A glance backwards was more than enough to keep eyes forward, and hearts pumping with fears of falling to death.
The air was lighter, causing breaths to fall short against chests and signs of delirium to show on faces. If they continued their pace, someone was bound to fall.
"Let's break." Mei-san called out.
Her shoulders were strained from having to support her brother's body with her climb.
No one disagreed. They all found a dry, cool step to sit on and recuperate.
Fortunately, Aiyama-san had packed their dinner before they had left. Yuri and Mei-san had also stolen bread and cooked red beans from their shops. Kou's father had given him some dango for the trip.
"Here, " Kou said as he extended his hand from his pockets.
He held out green cloudy jellies. And smiled when small hands politely accepted his offerings.
"Thank you," said Kei respectfully.
He split his sweet and gave it to the little girls. Rei took his piece to share it with the younger boys.
Shouta handed his piece to Hinata with an innocent smile.
"Please take it." He bowed low with both his hands offering the morsel to the man.
Hinata blinked with surprise. An expression of feeling touched on his face. The boy's gesture made Akira frown.
"I'd like you to enjoy it for me Shouta-kun. Seeing your enjoyment is more filling for me." Hinata politely brushed off the offering, keen for the boy to enjoy it. Young children burned off food quicker than adults, he had come to realize.
His mind wandered back to a middle-school memory of when he had offered a sweet (he had saved up to buy) to Eiji. Back then, he wasn't aware that Eiji didn't fancy sweets. When Eiji had politely rejected the offer by saying that he'd rather watch his enjoyment of eating the sweet instead. Hinata took no offense. In fact, the gesture led to a sprint back to his room and Eiji eating something else on Hinata's body. They made love the entire night. The sweetness of both Eiji's kisses and the candy was a blissful memory.
"Hinata," Akira whispered with concern. He tenderly swept the stray tear from Hinata's cheek.
"Sorry, I found myself lost in thought." Hinata apologized.
"You don't make Hina-chan cry, got it!" Shouta growled at Akira, misunderstanding the tear that Hinata had shed.
"Listen imp. If I make him cry, it's because he's feeling pleas..." Akira cursed at the painful jab Hinata gave his side.
"Don't you think we should push on. Tama-chan's getting too comfortable on the step." Hinata forced through his teeth.
Tama-chan had been gingerly let out of the rucksack. Hinata was sure the cat would've run off, but the cat sniffed the moss ground until it found a spot where he could curl-up in a ball to snooze near Akira's feet.
"Come on you fat cat," Hinata lovely whispered to the ginger tabby as he scooped him up and returned him to his makeshift spot in the rucksack.
When everyone was set, they resumed the climb up the mountain, well into the heart of night. Torch light to guide their way.
Akira and Hinata lingered at the back to make sure they could catch someone if they saw they were about to slip and potentially fall.
The whole time they felt Yuri's tension and cursing about a being a defective man, and more a burden than help, especially when Mei-san was supporting him and carrying one of the kids.
"You don't have to hold up my arm. I can walk myself." Yuri snapped.
"And watch you fall down the mountainside? No thanks. I'd rather you swallow that stupid pride of yours and take my shoulder." Mei-san scolded him.
Kou chuckled, enjoying Aiyama-san's hand as she carefully led him up the path.
Aiyama-san noticed the glare the older Mei was giving her and clicked at what she would be seeing.
"Let me take Little Mei from you." She hastily swapped her hand for the sleeping child Mei-san was carrying.
Mei-san sighed away the crankiness she had been feeling at the sight of her fiancé being nice with other women. "Don't you dare let go of my hand Kou-san."
Kou blushed with understanding. "Sorry Mei."
They walked on with pensive, focused silence until they reached the top of the stairs, which was lit up by glowing Little Tengu boys on stone pedestals, either side of the stairway.
In the formless distance was an outline of a modest Shinto shrine, and building beyond a wide Torii. The subtle glow from the hanging lanterns, around the shrine and building's eaves, made their triangular roofs peak towards the glowing moon high in the sky. Sounds of gently swaying trees, nestling amongst dry leaves and hooting graced their ears. A soothing cool breeze stroked their tired skin.
Hinata's heart slowed with a settled feeling. Akira had led them to a mountain shrine and hopes of a haven.
Akira had them wait near the Temizuya basin. He entered the building's porch and disappeared through a shoji door. A short while later, he returned with the shrine's priest.
Hinata was surprised to see a young man about his age and with a muscly body hinting virility beneath his navy-blue priest kimono. His eyes glossed over the priests features, which was a contrast to Akira's stoic and smooth looks. The priest's face was a true man's with high cheekbones, square jaw and heavy brows, which was the only set of hair on his bald head. He frowned at the over friendliness of the man's arm around Akira's shoulders. Who was this guy?
"Thank you Rocko. I can not express my gratitude enough for your aid, especially at such short notice." Akira warmly thanked the man and yelped at the man's heavy slap to his back.
"Aki! How many times I tell yah?! It's Kudo-sensei!" Rocko playfully reminded Akira.
"Millions of times. Millions of times I fail to take notice." Akira joked.
Hinata's frowned deepened.
"Woah. Yah a looker ain't yah. Lemme guess, new man." Rocko winked.
His attention flicked to the tired kids before Hinata could answer. He beamed a welcoming smile at them. "Let's get yah little ones warm 'en cozy, eh?"
Everyone filed into the building and gratefully found a spot in the main room, which was clean tatami flooring with unadorned fusuma and white rice paper shoji panel walls. The wooden ranma had carvings of tengu-men flying about the heavens. Moonlight streamed through the ranma to cast the image onto the fusuma. Rocko lit a couple of lanterns in the corners to reveal more of the simple room.
Hinata noticed a corridor from slits of a partially opened shoji door one of the lanterns had revealed.
"Nya!" Tama-chan struggled in the rucksack, doing his best to squeeze his fat body through the narrow opening.
"It's okay. Let him out." Rocko reassured Hinata.
Hinata unrestrained the cat, which jumped out of the sack and sniffed around the floors. He gasped when Tama-chan sniffed around Rocko's crossed legs and hopped onto the burly man's lap.
Rocko chuckled. One of his large, heavy hands gently stroked the cat's back. Tama-chan purred contently to the man's touches.
"Small creatures be dah best." Rocko cooed to Tama-chan. He turned his gaze to Hinata, Kou, Yuri then back to Hinata finishing off his observation with a quick look up and down.
"Didn't think I see yah again Yuri." Rocko teased the man.
"Shuddup. Like I had a choice Kudo-tan." Yuri snarled.
"How's it going Mei? See yah finally got yah man." Rocko chuckled at Mei-san's frown.
His chuckle eased into a worried sighed at the sight of Kou.
"Sorry man. Yah want me give blessing?" Rocko asked Kou with genuine concern for his condition.
"Screw your blessings Rocko. I have my woman and my health. Who needs sight?" Kou answered back.
Rocko bowed his head to Hinata, Aiyama-san and the kids. "I'm Rocko the resident priest here. And these guys' childhood friend."
"Nice to meet you." Hinata spoke for everyone. "Can I ask how you knew we were coming?"
Rocko beamed a secretive smile. "Small animals are the best."
Hinata sighed, not understanding the man's words.
"Yah all must be tired. I'll show yah to rooms to sleep in. It get's drafty here."
Everyone stood and followed Rocky through a shoji door and down the wooden corridor where a row of fusuma was covered with a mural of realistically painted Tengu-men in white-blue kimono's flying through puffy clouds and tops of trees.
Rocko opened some fusuma to reveal small, cozy rooms that people could sleep in.
"The futons are in the oshiire. Sorry, I haven't aired them for a while, but can be slept on," he said and further suggested that the girls could sleep in the room near the end. As it was warm with less draft.
He showed a room the boys could share and one for the men.
He held back Hinata's arm when he was about to enter the room with Yuri and Kou.
"Special request." He winked.
Hinata sighed and followed the man's lead into a room where Akira was laying out one double-sized futon.
"Rocko-san." Hinata gave the man a sober expression.
"Not happy?"
"It's not that. I, well, you seem knowing." He chewed his lip with a frown. Not sure about Rocko's easy acceptance.
Rocko leaned in close to Hinata's ear. "If yah weren't Aki's, I'd woo yah. Yah my type."
Hinata gulped at the man's hot breath blowing down the side of his neck.
"That's enough Rocko!" Akira come to Hinata's aid, breaking the man's contact with him.
"Yeah, yeah." Rocko stepped away. "I'll leave yahs be."
Hinata felt his heart racing with nervous tension when Rocko closed the door, leaving him alone with Akira.
"Sorry. Rocko's a childhood friend." Akira's breath warmed the places of Hinata's skin where Rocko's breath had touched.
"He was wild and shameless with girls and guys, so his parents punished him by sending him up the mountain to serve the family shrine until he was aware of his wild ways being wrong. Who knew he'd end up liking it to make it his calling."
"Like I care to know." Hinata frowned, feeling a sickness stir about his heart.
Akira broke out with a goofy smile. He was overjoyed at seeing Hinata's jealously. "You're jealous."
"I'm not. It's just, I'm bothered and tired is all." Hinata brushed off, not wanting to admit that he was jealous.
Akira wrapped his arms around Hinata. "I'm happy. I'll make sure no one hurts you."
Hinata sighed and smiled weakly.
Akira lifted his chin so their lips could meet. He spent the night reaffirming his love for Hinata.