Out of the blue, there was an explosion of white smoke behind me- at the same that Kōmori-san's weight disappeared onto my back- and a pale hand shot out of it to seize Agasa's hand, stopping it.
We all froze.
'Usually, the womanizer that I am, is incapable of resisting to girls, especially, those with a savage side. However, what I do not tolerate are those girls who bully other ones! Don't you think that it's great time for you to calm down, ladies?'
We stared at the young man there.
He was of my age, tall and rather slender, with paper-white skin. His hair was black, with long emo-like bangs in the front and spiked at the back. But above all, as the smoke dissipated completely, we realized that he was nude!
Letting out a scream, Agasa pulled her hand away brusquely, jerking upright. Cho, Yanagi and her stumbled backward, flushing bright red, utterly mortified, looking like they were going to burst a vessel.
Kōmori-san...
'Wh-Where did you come out from?' stammered Cho.
'In fact, you- you're a guy?!' demanded Yanagi.
'Pervert!' shouted Agasa who slapped him at the face impulsively and the three girls scooted away, having a nose-bleed.
'Ouch, that hurts!' the young man grunted, rubbing his cheek.
He looked at me then and I broke out of my daze and turned away from him instantly, my face heating up in embarrassment.
'Hey, are you alright?' he asked, moving closer to me. I shifted slightly away, pressing my eyes shut; my back still turned onto him.
'In fact, you are a human being?! A guy!'
'You must be taking me for a pervert but I'm not one,' he blurted out. 'That is, it's true that telling you this while I'm nude, on top of the fact that I haven't been honest with you from the beginning and that I prefer to be a bat for I don't like to wear clothes, not to forget that I tend to strip when I have to wear them- okay, I'm just digging myself in deeper- but I swear to you that I'm not the headcase that we might think of me!'
He took a deep breath then and exhaled, 'All this to tell you that you're never going to see me again. It's a promise.'
I heard him shift. He had probably turned around.
'By the way, you have very beautiful hair. And I think that Doc finds them very beautiful too. So, don't let anyone touch them again,' he told me and I blushed, thinking of Tsunan.
When I opened my eyes again and looked around, he was gone.
***
A short while later...
'Shun?!'
My head snapped to the side in surprise and landed onto Tsunan where he was standing outside of his personal clinic.
I had been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings while I was heading back to the house.
The doctor had seemingly come outside to fetch some files in his car.
'Did something happened?' he asked, closing the distance between us. 'Your hair is all wet!'
He cupped my chin, tilting my face slightly upward to examine my face.
'What happened to your face?'
He'll feel terrible if I tell him about the girl's reaction. Also, Cho, Agasa and Yanagi are just very protective about him. I can understand that.
'It-It's nothing,' I replied, looking away.
'Is that true?'
I looked up into his eyes, not answering.
'Come inside! I've got some towels,' he told me and without much ado, I followed after him.
Sitting myself onto the edge of the consultation bed, I toweled my hair.
'Who did this to you?' Tsunan inquired as he examined the bruise I had at the face again.
The blow Cho had given me with her hand-fan had left a long red mark on my cheek. It was going to take a day or two for it to go.
The doctor's eyes went wide suddenly and he demanded, 'Is it Tadashi?'
I stared at him for a minute, astounded, before I lowered my eyes, replying, 'No. No, it's not him.'
'Hatsu told me about what happened during the Obon festival. Don't hold a grudge against Hatsu; he's just extremely worried about you.'
My throat tightened.
'As soon as I find myself in front of Tadashi, I lose all my means. He terrifies me too much,' I confided, trembling slightly, my voice coming out half-choked.
'I'm sorry for not being able to protect you better,' he said, frowning at the ground.
I looked up at him in surprise.
'You wish… to protect me?'
He looked up, meeting my gaze.
'Is it this surprising?' he asked, equally surprised.
I never thought that I'd meet with someone who'd wish to protect me. It brought a smile on my lips. 'Thank you.'
He blinked in confusion. 'Why are you thanking me?'
I chuckled. 'For nothing.'
'Ne,' he said, then, 'Hatsu and I are going to have a few drinks together tonight. Do you want to come with us? I know that you don't drink but we could have dinner there.'
In the past, it was with Naoto that they used to go out with. I considered his proposal as a privilege.
'Can I really come?'
'Of course.'
'Alright, then. I'll be of the party.'
***
On the other side...
'Decidedly, it's really hard to be human!' Heihachi muttered to himself as he searched through the bags of rubbish he had found in a small alley in Shibata neighborhood, the alley forming a dead-end.
'Banzai!' he exclaimed when he managed to find some clothes. They were in a separate bag from the rest of the rubbish. Unfortunately, none were wearable apart from a white kimono.
He put it on. It was quite big but at least, he had something on his back now.
'Tsk! It's so uncomfortable to wear clothes!' he grunted, resisting the urge of stripping himself down again.
This, still left him to find food to eat and somewhere to stay for the night. He truly didn't understand what held him back from turning into a bat. Perhaps, it was his way of punishing himself for having kept a certain redhead in the dark over the fact that he was not an animal but actually a human being who could transform into a bat.
As he rounded the corner, abruptly, he went head-on into someone and fell heavily onto his behind.
'Hey, are you alright?'
Even before he looked up, Heihachi already knew who it was, having recognized the voice instantly.
Hatsu held out his hand at him to help him up, and nervously, Heihachi took it, letting the blond male pull him to his feet.
What were the chances that they come across of each other?
Hatsu took in the boy's appearance, noticing that he wasn't wearing any foot-wears.
'Are you sure you're alright?' he inquired, before he took a glance into the direction the boy had came out from, towards the end of the alley. He noticed that all the bags of rubbish have been emptied on the floor.
He looks Shun's age. Is he a homeless person? Hatsu wondered, bewildered. He has most probably found this kimono in the rubbish. He doesn't have the head of a drug addict or a truant.
'Come with me. I'll give you some clothes,' he said to the younger male.
Heihachi hesitated a minute. He had promised Shun Shutsuki that she'd never see him again and he felt uncomfortable accepting Hatsu Sho's help for the redhead and he were comrades. Also, he was feeling quite uncomfortable over the fact that Hatsu and he had met before and they knew each other, even if the blond was unaware of it.
Finally, Heihachi decided to follow Hatsu to his apartment which was found in the same building at the foot of which he had been searching through the rubbish.
The building was a lot of a skyscraper, the interior sophisticated and chic. Hatsu lived in an apartment with terrace, situated on the tenth floor and it was exactly the way Heihachi had expected it to be. It was glamorous, suiting the blond male perfectly.
Heihachi was a bit surprised by Hatsu's generosity though. He had to admit that he hadn't really thought the blond to be like this actually.
After having taken a good and well needed bath, Heihachi changed into a pair of trousers and a shirt. It suited him quite well since Hatsu and he made nearly the same size, even if the blond was slightly taller than he was.
'You didn't tell me your name, did you?' said Hatsu.
'No. Uh… My name is Heihachi,' he replied, becoming nervous again. If he knew that I am "Kōmori-san"…
The older male noticed that the boy didn't tell him his family name. Was there a specific reason for that?
'I'm Hatsu Sho.'
Heihachi made as if it was the first time that he was hearing this name.
'But tell me, Heihachi, do you have food to eat or a place to stay at least?'
'Actually, no,' the dark-haired boy admitted, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. 'But I'm going to find work!' he exclaimed with zing and determination. His confidence wavered and his voice turned into a mumble as he remembered something then. 'Even if it's going to be difficult for me to find a good job. I've never been to upper high school. I abandoned my studies after grade nine.'
For years, he had been traveling from one place to another, sometimes keeping his human form where he would take small jobs for a living; and at others, transformed into a bat, when it became too hard to survive.
'If you want, I can help you with that. There's a supermarket not very far from here. The owner is a very good friend of mine. He's actually looking for employers. The income is interesting and there are many benefits to obtain. I can talk to him for you.'
'Will you really do that?' he asked, astonished. 'But, you don't even know me.'
'If one day, I leave somebody in the lurch when I know that I could have helped him, I wouldn't be able to able to face myself anymore.'
Heihachi smiled to himself. This guy is amazing!
Hatsu took a glance at the clock then and he told Heihachi, 'I have to go out now. I'm already getting late. Usually, I have a good feeling of people. I don't think that you're a thief. So, you can spend the night here. I'll talk to my friend for you tomorrow.'
***
A while later...
The first time I had come to the Ametsuchi bar, it had been when I had first met Hatsu. At that time, I believed that he was a girl.
Tonight, we had opted for a table to eat.
'Say, Master Kagami has got a daughter?' I asked, casually.
Tsunan and Hatsu stopped drinking dead to stare at me. I almost flinched at their reaction.
Did I say something wrong?
'Who told you about her?' Tsunan asked.
'It was Yama-san. She mentioned her daughter the other day when I went to see Gakkuri,' I replied.
'In fact, she is... dead,' Hatsu informed me, hanging his head.
I was shocked.
She- She is dead?
'It happened a few years ago. Shuda and her were dating. They had a road accident with his bike. She died on the spot. Shuda was lucky to have survived. But he has never been able to forgive himself for what happened. We all know that it was only an accident but I don't know why he believes that we all think it's his fault. He has never ridden a bike again after that.'
It's so... sad. Not only did he lose the person that he was in love with, he believes that it's his fault and that everyone thinks the same.
It must have been horrible for Master Kagami and Yama-san to lose their child too.
I realized that tears had welled up my eyes. I blinked them back.
'I'm sorry. I have killed the mood,' I murmured.
'It's okay,' Tsunan reassured me and Hatsu and he went back drinking, finding their spirits again. 'By the way, Shun, where's your little pet? I didn't see it earlier,' the doctor inquired then.
'You mean Kōmori-san?' I giggled, awkwardly, touching the tips of my forefingers together, humping my back. 'Well, in fact…' There was no point hiding it. 'In fact, Kōmori-san is not a bat. It is a human being. He's actually a guy,' I admitted.
'What?!' shouted Hatsu, and every pair of eyes in the bar zeroed onto us for a minute, before everyone went back to what they were doing.
Pressing my eyes shut, I mumbled, 'Don't ask me how I discovered it!'
I didn't want to go into the details, especially about his nudity or the girls' involvement.
'Well! Well!' said Tsunan, pretty stunned.
'I've always known that there's something uncanny about that small animal of yours!' Hatsu stated, making a face. He lifted the empty bottle of saké on the low table then and called loudly at the waitress, 'More saké here! Don't bother to pour us our drinks! Just bring us the whole bottle!'
'Don't you think that you have drunk enough for tonight?' Tsunan reprimanded him. 'Also, is this how you behave in front of the feminine gender?'
The blond ignored the doctor completely and told me, in a low tone, 'But let me tell you something. I'm not trying to defend him, okay? I'm just basing it onto my own experience. Sometimes when people hide things, their intention isn't necessarily to deceive those around them; they do it instinctively to preserve themselves.'
I contemplated over that for a moment.
When we left the bar afterwards, Hatsu was completely drunk, so drunk that he could hardly stand on his two feet by himself. Tsunan helped him walk and since the doctor had had a few drinks too, he didn't drive; we took a taxi instead.
We went to drop Hatsu at his apartment first.
'Do you think that he's going to be able to find his apartment on his own?' I asked Tsunan after he had put Hatsu in the lift and pressed- for the blond- the button of the floor where he had to get down.
'Don't worry about him. It's not his first time.'
'It's the last time I'm drinking so much!' Hatsu declared, putting a finger up, his words coming out slurred.
The door of the lift closed and Tsunan shook his head, sighing.
'But if he ends up sleeping in the corridor in front of his apartment's door, at least, it'll keep him from abusing too much of alcohol next time.'
I chuckled.
We came out of the building to get back into the taxi waiting for us then and we headed back to the Hitachiin's residence.
I paused under the veranda of the house when I caught a powerful scent floating in the air suddenly.
'What can we smell?'
Tsunan paused down too to look at me.
'My grand-father likes to burn incense. It must be coming from the home shrine.'
The Hitachiin's home shrine was a hut-like building with a household altar in it for the worship of their ancestors. It was situated a good distance away from Tsunan's house.
'Oh, I see.'
The moon attracted my attention at that moment.
It was the full moon tonight. The sky was clear and a small and agreeable wind was blowing.
'The moon looks huge tonight,' I murmured.
'Yes,' he agreed and we stood there for a moment, gazing at the moon together, in the intense quietness.
It was such a beautiful night.
***
On the other side...
During Hatsu's whole absence, Heihachi had been sitting by the window in a ball, gazing outside, his mind tortured.
When the blond male had proposed to find him work, at first, Heihachi had been very enthusiastic about it. But then, he realized that this would mean that he'd have to stay in Toda and he wondered if it was a good idea. After all, he had promised Shun that she'd never see him again. Staying in the same town wasn't the ideal thing to do if he wished to stay true to his word.
He hadn't been able to find sleep because of this.
His head snapped around when he heard the door of the apartment open at that moment.
As it could be expected, it was Hatsu Sho. Heihachi noticed that the latter's hair and clothes were completely disheveled, he was teetering, and even from the distance separating them, the younger male caught the smell of reeking saké.
But even like this, Heihachi found that the blond wasn't less attractive; it gave the latter a boyish look.
He was kind of sure that Hatsu was about to fall into ethylic coma and he started towards the older man, but then froze, when Hatsu asked him, 'Who are you?'
'Me?' Heihachi pointed at his nose, his mouth hanging half open. He's so drunk that he forgot who I am! 'I- I am Heihachi!'
'Oh, yes, Heihachi!' recalled Hatsu, a wide grin spreading over his face.
He was about to fall headlong on the floor when the dark-haired male caught him and helped him walk, taking him to his bed.
Gosh! What took over him to drink so much?!
'You have such an attractive face, Heihachi!' said Hatsu in a slur, cupping the younger male's chin.
The latter flushed up.
He laid the blond down onto his bed and Hatsu turned onto himself, hugging a pillow, mumbling unintelligible words to himself, slowly drifting off to sleep.
Heihachi let out a sigh.
Thank you for reading!