ヒカリ の シイド
Hikari no Shiido
T H E S E E D O F L I G H T
Kanji and Aisu went bright red. “W-what?!” they stammered in shock.
“I asked you if this is your child,” the man repeated.
Kanji reddened more, as did Aisu. “I-I-I think you’ve m-misunderstood!” exclaimed Kanji. “W-we aren’t married or anything!”
The man frowned. “Oh. Well, I must have the wrong camp. Let’s go, Fujin-kun,” he concluded.
“H-hey! I never said this was the wrong camp!” shouted Kanji angrily. “Get your mitts off of my brother!”
The man looked down at Fujin. “Is this who you were talking about earlier?” Fujin nodded shyly. The man let go of Fujin’s hand and gently shoved him toward Kanji. “Go with your big brother.”
“No! Zutto-san, I wanna stay with you!”
Matsudai shook his head. “No. He’s your brother, and you should stay with him.”
“No!! He’ll hurt me!”
Matsudai was puzzled. “Why would he hurt you?”
“Because… he…” Fujin sniffled. “He… he hates me…”
“That’s silly, he couldn’t hate you,” said Matsudai. “But, I guess I could stay for a while.”
Fujin smiled. “O-okay…”
Kanji scowled and put his arm protectively around Fujin. “No, it’s not okay! He’s not staying!”
“Let go of me!” Fujin wriggled out of Kanji’s grasp and hid behind Matsudai. “Stay away!”
Kanji sighed frustratedly. “No, Fujin, I’m sorry! I don’t really hate you! I was trying that reverse psychology stuff!” Which clearly doesn’t really work…
Fujin was unsure. “I… I… I guess so… but… I want Zutto-san to stay.”
“Fujin-kun, the rest of your family has to say that it’s okay,” Matsudai said gently.
“Oh, they aren’t my family, except for him-“ Fujin gestured at Kanji. “And her-“ He gestured at Yuni. “The others are my friends, Kotoba Aisu, Kakera Mizu, and Kogasu.”
“F-fujin!” exclaimed Kanji. “Don’t tell him everything about us! He could be a murderer or something!”
“Kanji’s right, for once!” agreed Yuni. “You barely know him!”
“Fujin- wait, what do you mean, ‘for once’?!” demanded Kanji.
“That doesn’t matter right now, what matters is that Fujin needs to realize that this person could be dangerous!” replied Yuni.
“I’m not a baby! I can take care of myself!” protested Fujin.
“No, Fujin-kun. They’re right. For all they know, I could’ve hypnotized you or tricked you,” said Matsudai.
“But, you didn’t!”
“I know I didn’t. Listen, if they let me stay, then I will for a while.”
Fujin looked pleadingly at the group. “Please, can he stay?”
Kanji sighed. I really can’t resist him, can I? “Fine, I guess so, as long as we keep an eye on him.”
Mizu eyed Matsudai warily. “I don’t like the look of him…”
Aisu smirked. “You sound like an old woman!”
“Like you!” remarked Kogasu.
“I’m only twenty-one, you stupid boy!” exclaimed Aisu.
“Ugly old hag!”
“Stupid boy!”
“Quit it!” snapped Yuni. “Listen, Fujin… I don’t want him here. I don’t trust him.”
“It’s only because of how he looks, isn’t it?!” protested Fujin.
“Well, I say that he should stay,” commented Kogasu. “No reason for him not to.”
“Yuni, you’re outvoted,” Kanji said gently. “He’s staying for now.”
Fujin let out a shout of happiness and began talking happily with Matsudai.
* * *
It was midnight, and Fujin was still talking with Matsudai, a fire crackling in front of them. “So, Matsudai-niichan… how old are you?” Fujin wondered aloud.
“I’m nineteen. How old is your brother, anyway?”
“Same age! That’s funny!” exclaimed Fujin. Then, completely changing the subject, he said, “Wow… such long hair… I’ve never seen hair like that on a guy, not even when oniisama went two months without cutting it! Can I pull it?”
Matsudai laughed. “Sure, why not?”
Fujin took a handful of Matsudai’s soft hair and pulled. He toppled backwards out of his chair with a crash. Fujin gasped. “Oh! I-I’m so sorry!”
Matsudai laughed again. “It’s fine,” he replied from the ground. “It’s good to be strong!”
Fujin helped Matsudai up. “Matsudai-niichan… you don’t look like someone who would be nice. Why do you dress like that?”
“I actually don’t know. I guess I’m just attracted to this sort of clothing,” he answered. “I’m glad that you gave me a chance. Most people wouldn’t, like your friend… Mizu, was it?”
Fujin laughed, smiling impishly. “Yeah. She sounded like an old lady, didn’t she?”
Matsudai smiled. “A bit.”
“Fujin!” called Kanji, an edge in his voice. That Zutto... I can’t stand him… “Time for bed!”
“Um… oniisama, five more minutes? Please?” begged Fujin.
“I gave you ‘five more minutes’ a half hour ago! Time for bed!” replied Kanji.
“Fine… just a second…,” sighed Fujin. “Matsudai-niichan, will you be here tomorrow?”
“Maybe. If I feel like it.”
“Oh… okay…,” Fujin said, disappointed. “Oyasuminasai, Matsudai-niichan!”
Matsudai smiled as Fujin entered his tent. Kanji exited and sat down beside Matsudai.
“I’d best be going, then,” said Matsudai, getting up to leave.
Kanji pulled him back down. “No, you aren’t. We’re going to talk.”
“About what?” asked Matsudai. “I see nothing to talk about.”
“Who are you? It can’t be just a coincidence that you happened to run into Fujin.”
“It was just a coincidence.”
“Cut the crap and tell me who you really are!”
Matsudai sighed. “Fine. I’m a guardian of the forest and look out for everyone who enters it,” he replied sarcastically.
That little…! Angrily, Kanji punched him in the face. “Who are you?” he demanded.
Matsudai got up, rubbing his nose. He hesitated, then spoke. “Well… I guess you could say that I’m psychic. I have… visions. It’s hard to explain, but I had one in which I saw a child in the forest, in danger. When I saw Fujin-kun, I knew that he was the child I needed to protect.”
Kanji said nothing.
“I sound crazy, don’t I?” asked Matsudai.
Kanji shook his head. “No. I’m used to strange things. But, answer me this: why didn’t you just tell us?”
“Because I’d sound crazy, just randomly saying that I’m psychic, let alone anything else.”
“What do you mean, ‘anything else’? You have other powers?”
Matsudai winced. Shouldn’t have said that! “Yes, I do. They… well…. My other powers all seem to deal with darkness. I don’t know why, if it means something about me, or what… but, please, don’t tell Fujin-kun. I don’t want to scare him.”
“Darkness…? But… that must mean… you’re the Dark Elemental!” exclaimed Kanji.