Chapter Text
“Hey Mamoru, what’s this color?”
“You know I don’t know what colors look like.”
“That’s a shame, maybe if you knew what red looked like, you could see your face properly.”
While the rest of the world lived in color, Ishikawa Mamoru lived in shades of grey. His eyes had been cursed since the day of his birth and many looked down on him for being abnormal. How could a person not see color? Had the gods hated his existence and chosen to give him this issue? Why had he of all people been given this fate when there were worse people who probably deserved it more than he did? This bitterness consumed him all the more when others continued to point this out, but he could only suffer through the obnoxious comments while pitying himself for being this way. Mamoru despised it, yet he could do nothing about his condition aside from pretend it didn’t exist.
But he desperately wished to know what everything looked like. What exactly did the sun look like when it shined down on his face? How blue were the waves that cooled him down on a summer day? What colors had the fields been painted when he ran through the bundles of flowers growing in its space? He needed to know. It was necessary to the experience of living.
So here Mamoru was, sitting in the field just outside Inazuma City, trying to read through a book on the different shades of color. He squinted his eyes multiple times, forced them to their widest, blinked again and again, but nothing came through. Despite the description of the shades in the book, it did nothing to help him differentiate between any of the colors decorating the field. It was all still the same grey which plagued his memories. He was about ready to quit.
“Hey, whatcha doing?”
Mamoru flinched, holding up the book in self-defense at the sudden visitor. When he glanced up, he was even more alarmed to see it was an oni. “Please go away! Don’t hurt me!”
The oni frowned, seemingly hurt. “I wasn’t going to take your money, I swear I was just walking around!”
Rumors had been going around about a tall kid taking money and supposedly, this kid also had horns like the ones the oni had, so Mamoru held the book up higher. “You’re going to take my money?!”
“Please calm down,” he replied, putting his hands in front and shaking them to try and dissuade him from yelling more, “I am not going to hurt you, okay? I’m a good guy.”
“Then what do you want?!”
“I just want to know what you’re reading and why you’re reading it out here!” The oni slapped his own face and sighed. “Look, I can go if you want.”
Mamoru slowly lowered the book to get a better look at the oni. Tall, intimidating, but his face was well-meaning. Maybe he could stay. But what if he makes fun of me? Would he bully me like the rest of the kids?
“Hello? Teyvat to book kid? I don’t have all day here.”
He blinked. The oni had been waving a hand in front of his face.
“Sorry, I got lost in thought.” Mamoru glanced down at his book. “I was trying to read about colors.”
“Colors? Why read a book on that when they’re all around you?”
Hesitation overtook his mind. However, the oni’s face held no signs of judgment, only genuine curiosity. Gulping, he replied, “I…can’t see color.”
It was the oni’s turn to blink. When no response came, Mamoru stood up and sighed, tucking the book under his arm as he prepared to leave. He didn’t dare stick around for what was next. Every conversation turned out the same anyway.
“What does the world look like without color?”
He froze in place. Only one person had asked that question before and she was long gone now. Mamoru didn’t wish to raise his hopes, but it didn’t stop him from turning back to see the oni’s face. The light in the oni’s eyes glimmered with interest.
“It’s…very grey. Light greys, dark greys, black and white.” He scratched the back of his head and flattened his lips. “Not exactly colorful. Just plain.”
“That sounds pretty interesting.”
“It’s not, it’s awful. I can’t see anything the way you do.”
“You sure about that?”
“Are you here to mock me or something?” he snapped, grabbing the book again and prepared to throw it if necessary. “It’s a curse! I struggle to see anything properly without color. I can’t see how yellow the sun is or tell the difference between a ripe Lavender Melon and one that’s still sour.”
“That makes you think it’s a curse?”
“It has to be, everyone says so.” Mamoru lowered the book again. “My life is terrible because I can’t see color.”
“Forget what everyone else says,” he waved a hand and rolled his eyes, “what about you?”
“I think my life would be better with color instead of just greys.”
The oni folded his arms, smiling. “Granny says everything can be beautiful, even something we think is bad.”
“But how can you enjoy a world without color?”
“You just enjoy what comes with it I guess, like the warmth of the sun on your face and the cool waves on a hot day, or even tasting Granny’s famous soup. That always hits the spot on a winter day.” He lifted his head and Mamoru became almost mesmerized by the way the sunlight hit the oni’s face just right. “Life is only terrible when you decide to be a stick in the mud about it. You don’t need color as long as you can still enjoy the world around you, that’s what makes life colorful.”
He could still feel the warmth of the sun melt away the cold spots on his body. He could feel the gentle breeze cool him down when the sunlight grew too much. He could still feel the dampness of the grass against his feet. There was no color, but Mamoru could still experience the world just fine. The oni was right.
At that moment, his world suddenly found its color.
~~~
“Mamoru, I labeled the containers for you!”
“Thanks Genta!”
“Anytime bro!”
As he prepared to do his share of the work, Mamoru took in one deep breath of the autumn air of Inazuma. It smelled of cinnamon and butter. No doubt Granny Oni was coming with one of her special treats to encourage the boys to work hard.
In the distance, he could hear the shouts of Shinobu as she scolded Akira for his behavior toward one of the kids. Shivers ran up his spine and mixed in with the coolness of the air, leaving him a bit cold. He’d remind himself to bundle up soon as possible to avoid coming down with chills. (And he’d make sure he did this job correctly or Shinobu would come for him too.)
Nearby, he could feel the warmth of laughter from Itto, who was chatting it up with Genta as they filled up a few more boxes for work. It would all be done within an hour, Itto promised, and they would be able to go get some ramen as their dinner for the day. Genta commented he could practically taste the saltiness on his tongue, which got Mamoru tasting it too.
He glanced up at the grey sky and smiled. Life was full of color, even in this colorless world.