Tada Kimi ni Aitai 4

Tada Kimi ni Aitai
Elle Doki
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Cyril pulled out of the kiss after a moment. He looked up when he heard a bird chirping overhead. “I must go to the summoning. I’ll return for you soon.” He patted Luvos’s cheek, then left from the shade into the sun.

Luvos stood there in shock.

He was too stunned to look to see where Cyril had left to, or even move for a few moments. Slowly, his jade eyes looked around. Without a word, Luvos returned back to his apartment.

He nodded not seeing his brothers there, already gone hours before to school. He just flopped down into the rocking chair at the window. In a daze, Luvos began to rock the chair, looking up out the window next to him.

“You think he’s dead?” Ryu asked Jake when they got back. Ryu had settled down his bags and had wandered over to stare at Luvos.

“Is he breathing?” Jake asked him, shutting the door.

“Yeah, but he’s not moving.” Ryu answered.

Jake put his stuff down and began to pull out his homework, “Just leave him alone then.”

“Biati at school says birds die when their sad,” Ryu said, going to the table.

“He won’t die.” was all Jake said.

Luvos sighed, not longingly or sadly. Just sighed, like he had too much air in his lungs.

The two looked over at him, then just started to do their homework. At dinner time, Ryu waved a plate of ramen-turned-pasta in front of Luvos. He didn’t eat it. The two waited quietly for a moment to see if he’d move to do any thing, and when not they just settled down to sleep for the night.

Luvos looked to his brothers after they turned off the light, then back out the window. “Jake, you awake?”

“Hm?” came Jake’s very tired grumble.

“What’s chat courant mean?”

Jake rolled onto his side, thinking a moment. “Running cat.”

“Thanks.” Jake nodded. Luvos looked back up into the dark sky high above, staring up toward the stars he couldn’t see. “Letters of interest…” he mumbled to himself softly.

Luvos only spent a few more minutes thinking about it before he settled down to sleep in his futon.

He woke up the next morning as energized as the previous morning. He wasn’t going to let some odd encounter ruin his mood. He woke up his brothers and headed out to get to work. The day consisted of little nothing jobs, but it was money that he needed.

One day passed, then the next, and then a week passed. Still Luvos saw Cyril no more. It was like he’d up and vanished for some reason.

That morning, Luvos left down to the stone lookout area with the fountain. He smiled, walking over to the princess sitting there. “Morning, Princess!”

“Morning!” she smiled, turning to look at him. She gestured to a woman with long white braided hair and golden eyes standing next to her. “This is Veen,” she said, “She’s my new ayakashi guard.”

“New?” Luvos tilted his head to the side, coming closer. He nodded to the ayakashi, “What are you wearing?”

“Traditional clothes,” Veen answered with a nod. “Of course a princess would dress in such a simple summer dress in summer to come see the common folk.”

Luvos laughed, “I meant you.” He pointed at Veen. “What is that?”

“On earth they refer to it as a ‘shinto’s priest outfit’.” Veen explained. She pointed at the baggy deep navy pants and then to the white shirt that was folded over itself in the center. “All ayakashi wear something like this- or should.”

“I’ve never seen Cyril in it.” The Princess said.

Veen nodded, “Cyril’s become very strange since he’s met those humans and became a model. He says our outfits ‘aren’t stylish enough’ and ‘don’t show off our beauty’.”

Luvos stared, chuckling, “Well that’s stupid. You look rather pretty in that to me.”

“Thank you.”

“And I don’t?!”

Luvos waved at the princess, smiling at her. “Of course you’re beautiful!” She smiled, accepting the compliment. “Is your father still busy with those letters?”

“Yes,” she frowned, looking over the edge of the railing. “He says he’ll allow only twenty humans at a time to come up here, but even then… I don’t think they’ll understand the true beauty of our home.”

Luvos looked out over the edge, “I guess Cerulean’s really unique to them. Isn’t it?”

“The only island that floats in the sky and upon it live humans and spirits.” Veen nodded. “It’s something unfathomable to them.”

“You mean,” Luvos looked to her, “Ayakashi and mononoke don’t live down there?”

“They do,” Veen nodded, “But no one can see them. Rather, no one has been able to in hundreds of years.” She frowned, “They seem to think that if they come up here where there are so many, they’d be able to see them.”

“Will they?” the princess asked.

Veen smiled to her, patting her hair. “You needn’t worry. Whether they can see us or not isn’t the case, truly.”

“Then what is?” Luvos asked. He backed up a bit when he noticed a glare from her.

“Humans can take an interest in ayakashi.” she said, “But for an ayakashi to take interest in a human is forbidden.”

Luvos gulped a bit, tilting his head to the side, “You mean as a love-interest?”

“Correct.” Veen nodded. “Come, Princess, before more common folk come asking the same idiocy.”