User blog:Gremoria/WWYD: Stowaway to Zipangu

 A response to user   TheTrueYeng's   WWYD scenario : "Stowaway to Zipangu"

Author's Note: ''Truth be told, this wasn't even on my radar, I saw this linked on a thread and it piqued my interest and I decided to write a response to it. I do hope you enjoy this one.''

Well, I made it out of that oppressive hellhole, finally I am free.

Yes… free…

Now, what am I going to do.

Sure, sneaking aboard that ship seemed like a clever idea, but I’ve no money, no skills, no roof over my head, no discernible talents, no food. I had not thought this through and now I am stuck in a strange place. Why am I such an idiot?

As I walked through the town, everyone seemed… happy, even content with their lives, it truly was a positive change of pace from where I was born. Even the mamono seemed nice, vastly different from what the Order preached.

I do not know how long I had been wandering for but eventually fatigue and hunger settled in, and I slumped myself against the wall of one of the buildings. Great, so this is how I die? Instead of being cold and hungry under the iron hand of the Order, I was going to die cold and hungry as a stranger in a strange land. What was I thinking?

“A better life? Freedom? Doesn’t do me any good when I’ve nothing to my name!” I shouted to myself.

I felt myself beginning to cry, knowing there was nothing I could really do for myself. This is what I get, I guess.

“Excuse me?” a girl’s voice called out.

I nearly jumped out of my skin, startled, I glanced over, doing my best to wipe clean my tear-stained face. Standing just feet away was a young raven-haired girl that looked to be my age, tied into twin tails, she had fuzzy ears of the same color, save for the white tips, red eyes, and adorable smile, all wrapped in a red… what looked to be a bathrobe. Her most notable feature, I noticed, were the two black furred with white tipped tails she had behind her. The girl approached me, frightened, I scooted myself back with what little strength I had.

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you!” the girl would say with a sweet smile, giving a small bow, “My name is Toshiko! What’s your name?”

Still frightened at having been discovered, I tried to slowly back away, which caused Toshiko to frown a little. I was told, growing up where I had, that mamono are only interested in turning everyone into monsters like them and I was not about to take any chances. My fear was intensified by an older woman’s voice from around the corner, with a taller woman, entered my view, same raven colored hair, white-tipped ears, red eyes, and dressed in a similar garment to Toshiko, only her hair was dressed in a fancy bun atop her head and instead of two tails, she had five.

“There you are Toshiko, what are you doing outside, it’s time f-“, the woman paused upon laying her eyes on me, the confused and frightened boy who probably looked like he was going to start crying again, “…oh? Why hello there, are you lost young man?” the woman asked.

Again, I did not answer, I could not even manage to find the words to say, it was then that my stomach made an audible growl, to which my already red cheeks deepened in color, embarrassed.

“Oh, you poor thing, you must be hungry.” The woman approached me slowly, I could not help by feel a motherly warmth coming from her, “It is alright, why don’t you come in? We’re just about to have some dinner.” She knelt to my level, opening her arms to me.

Fear and hunger were battling in my head, but as I looked into the gentle eyes of the woman before me, my choice was already made. With what remaining strength I had, I found myself crawling into her arms, uncontrolled sobs slipping out of me, I felt loving arms wrapping around me, her voice hushing me.

“Shh, it’s alright…” she whispered.

I felt another set of arms hugging me, looking up, I heard the cooing of Toshiko, who decided that she also, wanted to help me feel better. The woman released me, taking Toshiko’s hand and my own before we headed inside where the most delicious smell wafted into my nose. I had no idea what it was, but I was so hungry that it did not matter. As we entered a human male sat knelt at the table, eyeing me, in-particular. When asked about who I was, the woman would reply she had discovered me outside their residence and that I was hungry. Through this conversation I would learn that the woman’s name was Fumize Okujima and that she was an Inari, a fox mamono native to this part of the world, as was her daughter Toshiko, the man Toyotaro. The conversation grew heated for a moment before Toyotaro relented, not exactly while about having a strange boy they knew nothing about in their residence. Fumize assured her husband that I was just a boy and bore no ill-will.

Once things finally settled down, I was invited to sit at the table, before Toyotaro cleared his throat, eyeing my shoes, gesturing for me to take them off at the door, telling me that it was rude to wear them at dinner. I did not understand what he meant, that is until Toshiko took me by the hand and guided me toward the front door, showing me where and how to place my shoes in the front entrance. What a strange place this was, but I was not about to be rude to my hosts, so I obliged them. Toshiko then brought me to the table and sat down and we ate.

I did not know what exactly this was, perhaps beef? Nevertheless, it was delightful, and I may have eaten more than I could manage, as before long, the meal had me stuffed.

“Oh my, you truly were hungry?” Fumize chuckled.

After dinner, Fumize and Toshiko began to clean, while Toyotaro decided to pry about where I had come from. I could not tell him the truth about what I had done to get here, what I was running from and most importantly about the Order. But what could I say? Thinking quickly, I fabricated a story about how I lost my parents and my home in a neighboring region and that I managed to make it here on foot. Fumize had re-entered having overheard the conversation. It was agreed, I was going to be staying with them, though it was hastily planned, I was going to share a room with Toshiko.

We had all settled in for bed for the night and all I could do was wonder what divine intervention would bring these people into my life? Was it the Chief God? I did not know, but whoever it was, I was grateful for having my life saved by this family.

The next morning, finding Toyotaro and Fumize in the living area, I would politely thank them for taking me in and told them my name: Quinn. They quirked a brow at me at such an odd sounding name, deciding to give me a name of their own, if I was going to be staying with them, one that I took proudly, as my first step in shedding my old life: Akiharu.

Over the years, I grew up in the Okujima household along with Toshiko, I had developed an interest in cooking, especially the first dish I had on the day I arrived. I learned that Toyotaro, was quite an accomplished chef in a small restaurant here in this small town and I learned under his strict tutelage. The lessons were hard, but I persevered, becoming adept at the culinary arts. I would also learn from Fumize as well, who was not anywhere near as strict as her husband but nevertheless never gave up on me. Toshiko sometimes joined in on these lessons, even getting into friendly competition with me at times, which she almost always won. Despite the many defeats, I was not about to give up, in fact in only drove me to become a better chef like the man who raised me. I had grown to love the lifestyle, the land, and its people. I was relieved to know that what the Order taught, was a lie, not all mamono are out to turn humans into monsters, in fact, I had made friends with some here in town.

Toshiko and I bonded as well, becoming as close as siblings, with the occasional troublemaking, food fights among other things. She grew up to be a beautiful young woman, adopting much of the same mannerisms as her mother. In addition, she gained the same hourglass shape of Fumize, save for her breasts, which had grown fuller, to the point where she had to wrap them especially tight to keep them in place. In our teens I noticed her looking at me differently, I could not begin to tell you why. We were close already and she was getting to the age where she was starting to get suitors. I paid it no mind and further focused on my culinary training.

On my eighteenth year, I could not help but feel a sense of guilt, I had lied to the people who had took me in and raised me, despite having little, themselves. I felt like it was time to tell them the truth about me and where I had come from, about the Order, everything. I approached them one morning as they were preparing to head out to the restaurant, sat with them and told them everything, knowing what this could mean, but I could not hide it any longer.

Initially Toyotaro’s expression was one of anger but eventually settled into one of relief, Fumize looked at my surprised, but looked at me with the same motherly expression she always did.

“I had suspected as much.” Toyotaro began, “Your clothing, the lack of burn marks, it all sounded suspicious. Nevertheless, we took you in out of the goodness of our hearts and we are proud of the man you have become.”

Fumize nodded in agreement, giving me that same warm loving smile she always did.

“Words are not enough to express the regret at having deceived you for all these years and I will understand if you wish me to leave the household.” I said, frankly.

This surprised Toyotaro and Fumize, who rose from their seats.

“Don’t be absurd!” shouted Toyotaro.

“You are our son!” cried Fumize who wandered over to embrace me, “I’ve always believed that our meeting was fated to happen, and I am grateful to have you in our lives.”

Fumize…

You were always so kind to me, raised me like one of your own, but I could not bear lying to you or Toyotaro any longer. I hugged to her tightly, crying as I did when we first met, I loved this woman so much. They assured me that just as I was welcomed into their home, that I had become apart of them as well.

I decided: I was going to leave tonight.

That night after everyone had gone to sleep, I slipped outside where I had planted a small knapsack and stick with what I could carry. Thankfully, the streets were quiet, as I wandered out onto the street, I looked back at the house one last time, silently I thanked them for all their years of love and care they have given me before slowly walking away.

I did not even make my way halfway through the town when I saw Toshiko, who seemed to have been waiting for me.

Shit… I was in trouble now.

“So, you’re leaving?” she would say to me, gazing at me with a hurt expression.

I nodded, “I’ve been living a lie Toshiko, I lied to your parents.” I would look up into her deep red eyes that had always looked at me so lovingly, “I lied to you.”

“You think they care about your past? Do you think I care?” she started to shout, “We love you, Quinn!”

Quinn…

I had not heard that name in a long time, nor had I gone by it since I started living with them. Before I could even react, Toshiko’s arms wrap around my waist, her face buried in my chest.

“I love you!” she would weep into my chest.

With the hand that was not carrying the stick with my things, I wrapped an arm around her in response, which only caused her to hug to me tightly.

“I love you too, you’ve been a great sister.” I replied.

Her look up at me, her eyes welling up with tears.

“Not like a sister, you idiot!” she said between sobs, “I love you, as a woman to a man!”

This caught me off guard and I dropped my stick, sitting there in stunned silence, she continued to stare at me, I raised a hand to brush away the tears off her tear-stained face.

“But why though?” I would ask.

“You’re the only one who has been so nice to me, the other boys in the village, they don’t compare to you!” she sniffed, “I rejected all of them, because it was you, I wanted to be with.”

“Toshiko.”

I looked into her eyes and before I could say another word, I felt her grip on my yukata as she stood on her toes and kissed me on the lips. The bliss would be all to brief as I heard her spoke again.

“You would leave me and a family who loves you behind, just because you weren’t really from where you said you were?” she asked.

“How did you know?”

“You’re such a dummy, I’ve known for ages! But I did not care, I loved having you as part of my family and I love you even more now!” Toshiko said, “Don’t leave me… please…”

We stood in the middle of the quiet town for a while, locked in a loving embrace, cried together, I had made Toshiko cry as a kid, more times than I could think of, but it was nothing like this. We walked back to the Okujima household and stood outside for a moment before I felt her kiss me again.

Toshiko curled up beside me, that night, I held her as she slept. It was then I realized that I loved her as well. I had come to love the life I was given, thanks to her family, but I also had something more, the love of the sister I had grown up with but this time, I decided I was not going to leave it behind.