I'm so sorry I died for such a long time. I know it doesn't amount to much but I apologise by posting the last two chapters within a week of each other. Err, that sounds really insincere. Well, here's chapter 5 and I really hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 5 – Hitsue and the Peach Valley

It was like all his blood froze solid and turned to rip a hole in his heart. It hurt, but Aichi couldn't even tell how. Kai's words seemed to have turned his consciousness inside out, slicing up his thoughts until he didn't think he could feel anymore.

The face was from the past; Kai's wild hair, crystalline eyes and gloved hands. But the voice – his voice – was so new yet matched him so flawlessly, the past that he thought he knew so well was reduced to a fracture shard, lingering but not belonging to the present.

Maybe Aichi had been much too eager to frame it as his brightest memory, hanging the picture so high and watching the light played over the glass and thought it was magic. But the artist was short-sighted and weak-willed and none of the lines looked right now.

His eyes hurt. His head hurt. Something in his chest hurt too. He tried to reach for Blaster Blade but it was no longer where it had always been. His damp palm met his own trembling fingertips and he felt pathetic tears behind his eyelids.

The hand on his shoulder shocked him out of his empty thoughts.

He focused to see blond hair and clear grey eyes. Kai's companion looked at him curiously. "Are you alright?" He asked.

Aichi nodded. His face felt tight, like he tried to smile but couldn't. He vaguely remembered that this person had asked him the same question not long ago.

"So, hmm…Aichi," The stranger said. "I'm Miwa Taishi. Where are you going now?"

The question was rather unexpected. Aichi momentarily overcame his welling self-pity.

"I, eh…" He was about to answer when Kai's cloak fluttered in the corner of his vision as he turned away. Whatever Aichi was thinking before disappeared in a single, painful heartbeat. He flicked his sight to Kai's back behind Miwa and his tongue fumbled clumsily. "T-to, um…"

Miwa glanced at Kai, then lunged to pull him to a stop. Kai turned, annoyance written all over his face. "Let go."

Miwa released him. "Fine, just don't go yet," He turned back to Aichi expectantly. "Yes?"

Aichi dodged his gaze. It was too direct. "I'm going towards Hitsue."

Miwa grinned. "How convenient! We're go–" He quickly grabbed onto Kai's cloak, when the latter started to leave again. "Kai and I are heading to Hitsue too. Let's go together." Kai jerked the material out of Miwa's hand with a glare and stalked off.

Miwa straightened with a half dramatic sigh. He patted Aichi reassuringly. "Don't mind him, Aichi. He's always like that."

Aichi watched Kai's back. "Always?"

Miwa hummed. "Yeah, well, most of the time."

"Oh."

Kai's murky green-grey cloak shifted around him fluidly, his scarf sat in a dark red slash across his neck and shoulders. The wind ruffled his hair, which shone and caught the sunlight and made Aichi dizzy.

When both are so brilliant, would you trust the present or the past?

"Let's catch up to him, shall we?" Miwa asked.

Aichi exhaled quietly and smiled. "Mm, yeah."

Hitsue – or more accurately, Village of the Oracle Guardian as how it was written on the map – sat in the Southwest of the Empire, not too far from the capital. It has a population into the thousands, being a tourism favourite for its scenic views, unique cuisine and most of all, the peach forest on the outskirt of the village. That being the case, but among the general folks it was still considered rural and so, in Miwa and Kai's employer's opinion, was count as a breath of fresh air from the overcrowded capital they usually worked.

After hearing that Aichi had in fact live in the village behind Hitsue his entire life, Miwa appointed him tour guide, based on their new-found friendship. That made Aichi feel quite honoured, but a bit scared at the same time. He did know Hitsue inside out, but he really couldn't think of anywhere particularly worth visiting.

Hitsue was a large producer of crops, he explained to Miwa on their several kilometre walk to said village. Most locals were farmers, and the colourful shops and markets only came in the last ten years, as a result of the new carriage route that opened over the mountains. Aichi had never gone that way himself, but it was said to be flat and wide but long and tiresome, winding all over the place, and some travellers would rather take the more treacherous way of climbing higher just to save the extra distance.

With the sudden influx of traders and other rich wanderers illuminating the village, Hitsue's popularity grew like a fire; every spring was flooded with people, many coming to admire the peach blossoms that the reclusive Lao Brothers wrote their famous tag-poems on, others to taste the famed peach cuisine that took the gourmet world by storm. This artistic significance, coupled with the town's natural agricultural prosperity, took Hitsue to new heights that the previous generations never knew about.

But that was two years ago. Now, Hitsue was no longer its fresh, vibrant self.

Growing towns are weak, and historians said that all cities must fall to time. However, Hitsue was a newly uncovered country town that was still at the exponential stage of its glory, it was much too early to take time into account. Whatever had caused it to buckle could be nothing short of supernatural. And it was, in a way.

The problem lay with the village's namesake, the Oracle Guardian, Red Eye. Two years ago, it stopped raining. The rice paddies thinned out, wheat lost their shine, even the well water seemed grittier than before. That autumn, Hitsue only managed two thirds of their usual harvest. Only the peach trees stood strong, but even poets lose their appetite when presented with peach stew day after day, differing only by the arrangement of peach petals on top.

To outsiders, it was just an unfortunate weather change. But to the villagers who had worshiped their earthen deity for as long as their home had stood, it was downright rejection. They prayed and offered vehemently at the harvest festival, lighting a brighter bonfire than ever before, hoping the Guardian would respond. But Red Eyes' statue stood impassive under the rainless sky, promising nothing.

The following year's harvest turned out even scarcer.

All villages have the potential to become a city; Hitsue just happened to crumble under bad luck.

Aichi stopped there, because Kai had dropped back to walk beside Miwa, and the tips of his hair were extremely visible in Aichi's peripheral vision.

"What is this Red Eye?" Miwa asked, unconcerned about Kai's presence. Why would he?

"Um," Aichi swallowed. "It's the local guardian deity that people worship. Every year they dedicate a festival to her in the middle of autumn. This year's celebration is tomorrow. There will be promotional events by shops throughout the day and a bonfire at the gate in the evening." He dared a miniscule glance at Kai, whose eyes seemed to narrow slightly. "So y-you might find it interesting, a-and—"

"You talk like you don't belong here," Kai voiced flatly.

Aichi's breath caught. "Th-that's because I live in Peach Valley, it's behind Hitsue and we don't worship Red Eye like the towns people."

Miwa pushed Kai away with both hands and hook an arm over Aichi's shoulders. "Shoo, we're having our bro-talk. Go shoot your daggers somewhere else."

Kai hmphed and moved ahead. Aichi bit his lips nervously. Miwa grinned and leaned closer conspiratorially. "So, Aichi. Here's a real question: how did you know Kai?"

Aichi was startled. For some reason he thought Miwa knew already.

"I-it was quite a long time ago," He looked down self-consciously.

"I know," Miwa let go of him. "I could tell."

"Y-You can?"

"Yeah, it's the way you looked at him."

The way I looked at him… Aichi chewed his lips. Did he come off as overly zealous? Creepy? Stalkerish? Panic seeped his system. Maybe it wasn't normal to recognise somebody when you had only met him once, at night, and that was years and years ago.

"I could tell you were looking at the Kai before he changed," Miwa continued. "Not many people knew him."

Aichi blinked. "I was?"

"Yeah. He became a completely different person around three years ago. That's not too long, I know. But people tend to forget he used to be much happier and friendlier."

They both watched Kai's back, sinking into their own thoughts for a moment. The sun beat down on the dirt ground but there was no warmth. Hitsue's colours rose steadily in front of them.

For some reason, Aichi was relieved. The Kai-kun with the blue twinkle in his eyes was real, just different. Blaster Blade was real. Aichi was real. It was just that people change, and Aichi could only hope that things would continue to change for the better.

"What happened?" Aichi asked, breaking the silence.

Miwa grimaced. "A lot of things, all of them really bad. You don't want to know."

Aichi opened his mouth and shut it again. He was prying, he knew. He had an overwhelming thirst to know more about this new Kai, to understand him, and maybe then…

What Miwa meant about his not needing to know, was really that Kai didn't want him to know.

And then maybe I could look at him in the eye, Aichi thought a tad miserably.

"Anyway," Miwa turned to him. "You haven't answered my question, Aichi. How did you meet Kai?"

"Uh," Aichi thought hard. "It was almost seven years ago I think. Kai-kun and I met in the forest behind Hitsue."

Miwa raised his eyebrows. "I thought your village was behind Hitsue?"

"The forest on the north side of Hitsue, next to my village," Aichi explained. "It has expanded a lot since last year, so now it almost covers the northwest edge of the town. Some people think it's Red Eye's power."

"Okay," Miwa nodded. "Go on about Kai."

Aichi tried to think of the best way to tell the story without sounding like he cared too much. "Kai-kun saved me from the cold. It just snowed at the time, so it was really wet and he gave me his gloves. He lit a fire with Overlord, and he gave me Blaster Blade. He did that, even though he probably didn't have a spare pair."

"I see."

"He left before I could I could give them back though."

For some reason, it didn't turn out how he had wanted it to sound. Miwa must thought he had some sort of glove fetish. He really didn't though, even if he kept Kai's gloves in his bedside drawer. But if he mentioned it now, Miwa might think he was lying.

"You," Kai interrupted from in front, his voice tinged with annoyance. "We're here."

The familiar dull red, painted stone gate greeted Aichi. His hearing adjusted itself to the bustling square; vendors and peddlers littered all over the streets, bright red and orange paper decorations lined the eaves and windowsills of houses, seeping autumn's colours into the normally white and brown atmosphere.

He welcomed the wave of fatigue that washed over him. The anxiety throughout the trip back home left like the tension in his shoulders, but returned full-scale when his eyes hesitantly landed on Kai again.

He did agree to take them around the place. And since he had just returned home, it wasn't like he would be busy either. But the thought of walking around the festival with Kai and Miwa didn't feel inviting anymore. He could imagine so many things going wrong. He didn't think he could survive a day of not making a further fool of himself in front of them.

"Hey, Aichi. About the tour guide thing," Miwa said. "I was just joking."

Aichi's shoe scratched the dry dirt ground. "Oh."

Miwa chuckled. "Me and Kai will work things out since we've all the time in the world. You're probably busy anyway. So—"

"Actually I'm not. I'm not busy at all," Aichi said quickly. "I mean, Miwa-kun and Kai-kun doesn't know the place well, so maybe I… I mean, if I could…"

"Gotcha," Miwa grinned. The heaviness in Aichi's stomach lifted, leaving behind a bundle of restless embarrassment, and he suddenly wanted to kick himself. His mind seemed to be a giant knot since Kai appeared.

"Wow," Miwa swivelled his head around contently. "This is pleasantly surprising. I'd have thought such a small town would be quieter and, hmm, duller."

"All the townsfolks are preparing for the festival tomorrow," Aichi said. "The orange paper flags and stickers are to celebrate this year's harvest, and the red ones represent our gratitude to Red Eye."

This was one of his favourite time of the year. He remembered his mother taking him and Emi around the town, watching everyone trot up and down the street in their best clothes, greeting one another and generously handing out their homemade dried specialties. It was the one day where no one's eyebrows were marred by tomorrow's worries. Last time he was home he had promised Emi that he would take her to her favourite restaurant again when he came back, but from the look of absurdly cheap menu, it was unlikely they would be able to get a seat inside.

"Aichi!"

Huh? He thought he heard Emi's voice. Aichi shook his head a little. No good. A man should not miss his little sister after not seeing her for only two weeks.

"Aichi, over here!" Aichi snapped his head to face the direction of the voice, and there was Emi, sitting on a high stool outside the sweets shop, arms folded on her lap and smiling at him.

"Emi!" Aichi couldn't stop the large smile from breaking over his face. "Why are you here?"

"Waiting for you, of course, you dummy," Her face pulled into a chiding scowl. "You said you would be back this morning! I've been here the whole day."

"Uh, I'm sorry," Aichi said guiltily, awkwardly rooted to the ground and hyperaware of Miwa and Kai's presence next to him. Thankfully Emi hopped off the stool with a bounce and made her way towards them.

Miwa waved amicably. "Your sister?"

Aichi nodded. He darted a glance at Kai, who was looking around with an unreadable expression.

Emi introduced herself with a sweet smile. "I hope Aichi wasn't being an idiot."

Miwa laughed. "My name is Miwa. This is Kai. We met Aichi just outside of Hitsue."

"Miwa," Kai cut in. "It's almost time."

"Oh, that's right," Miwa smiled apologetically. "We have an appointment to keep, I almost forgot. See you later, Aichi?"

"Ah yes," Aichi said, feeling a bit of disappointment mixed in with relief. He watched Kai and Miwa turn. Kai's back was straighter than a door sign.

Sorry sorry sorry for leaving you guys hanging and

Next chapter: Festival, Part I