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As the afternoon sun sets gently on the horizon, Keiji finds himself slowly pacing towards his favorite herbal store in town. The gravel beneath his feet crunches with every step and the soft chatter of the locals leaves a comfortable hum in the air. It's crisp, a perfect autumn hour to be out. He smiles softly to himself as he watches a group of children venture around the center square in their world of imagination.
Everything is peaceful, exactly how Keiji loves it to be.
He grew up here, after all. This small town, far outside any major kingdom. It's surrounded by acres and acres of farm land and desolate wastelands and forests, leaving the people here to learn how to fend and care for themselves. Thanks to Keiji and his family line of Protection Witches, this task, burdened upon the town's descendants decades ago, is simpler than it would've been for ordinary people.
A Protection Witch is a rare type. They only come around once every generation, and share some line of blood with the previous, even if not a direct offspring. Keiji is one of the Protection Witches born as the nephew of his predecessor — a male witch is rather uncommon in the history of Protection Witches, but it was obvious the moment he was born, that he would be the next one.
"Back again, my dearest?" The herbalist smiles kindly at Keiji, who enters the shop quietly.
"As always. Have you restocked on raspberry leaf by chance?"
The elderly woman hums and nods, stepping out from behind her counter and slowly pacing towards a specific shelf. Instead of allowing Keiji to scoop his fill of the herb into the linen bags he brings with him, the woman takes the jar off the shelf and hands it to him. Surprise fills his expression as he takes what is offered to him.
"You use this far more than anyone else does. This one is on the house."
Overwhelmed with her generosity, Keiji bows his head slightly. "You shouldn't be so kind, you'll run out of business. Then where will I get the supplies to run mine?"
His tone is lighthearted, having been in cohorts with the herbalist for many years. His family knows her family from all the generations back that this town has existed, so their connection is quite natural. She laughs and grabs a hold of his arm for stability, allowing him to walk her back to the counter.
"Don't give me that nonsense! Your grandmother is rolling in her grave as we speak. Keep the gift and repay me another time."
"Your generosity is always noted. See you again soon."
With a wave, Keiji leaves the shop and wanders back out onto the streets. He fits the jar into his satchel and paces towards the butcher shop to pick up his order before they close for the day. It's a quick affair; his kind greeting and generous thank you along with a payment play out like clockwork for them both. As Keiji continues on his way, he passes by the izakaya and stops in to pay his friend a quick visit before heading home.
A step over the threshold of the izakaya and a wall of warmth and alcohol hit Keiji's senses. His eyes adjust to the light as he scans the room for… Ah, there he is. Over in the corner of the izakaya is sat a petite brunette with shoulder-length hair. It covers his eyes as he slouches and reads the book in his hands, a drink on the table in front of him.
Keiji invites himself to sit across from his friend, reaching into his satchel and pulling out a novel to slide onto the table. Cat-like golden eyes peer at him over the pages in his hands and Keiji smiles ever-so-slightly.
"The newest edition," he says, nudging the book closer.
Just as his friend lowers the book in his hands to grab the newly offered one, a voice from behind them both shouts loudly across the izakaya. "Kenma! Half an hour, sweetheart!"
Keiji chuckles as his friend gives a silent thumbs up in the air and then proceeds to curl back into himself. The man shouting notices Keiji sitting with Kenma and throws him a wave before continuing to draft beers and serve quests down at the bar. His wild, silver hair and sprightly attitude is always the liveliest part about this small town; one of those little pieces that Keiji adores about the people that make up their population.
"Thanks," Kenma mumbles, motioning towards the offered book.
"It's nothing."
The two of them often meet to trade books and eclectic findings — they've been this way since childhood. Only more recently over the past few years have those meetings taken place in this corner of the izakaya, all thanks to Koutarou and Kenma getting married; that was a whole affair on its own, the entire town electing to celebrate for several days. Weddings don't happen often around here, so when they do, it's a big deal. It also didn't help that the entire town had been awaiting the day those two would marry, it was obvious from childhood.
Keiji couldn't disagree and was happy to see his two closest friends marry.
A waitress approaches their table and sets Keiji's preferred drink down in front of him while taking Kenma's away and setting a plate of food down for him. The cat-like man wastes no time in nibbling down the food and Keiji can only shake his head in amusement at how well Koutarou knows his husband. They sit in relative silence until a loud chatter erupts a few tables down.
"That's what I heard! I swear it," one man says.
Another man chimes in, "I heard that no one has ever caught him."
"That's true! And my buddy who just arrived yesterday from his trading route," the man whispers, a bit quieter, "said that he heard they had plans to head this way."
An uproar of voices creates a ruckus that finally catches Koutarou's attention and he moves to interrupt them. "What's all this drama over here? Take it outside, will ya?"
"Listen, we will, but we heard that the masked bandit is headed this way. We've got to tell the whole town to board up! It's the only way to stay safe!"
The man speaks these words loud enough for the entire izakaya to hear and a shocking silence blankets the place. Keiji feels a jolt of energy erupt within his chest: a telltale sign of nearing danger. He does what he can in that moment and helps Koutarou and Kenma clear out the izakaya so they can close up, then sends the two on their way home. He helps spread the word to the locals he passes as he paces towards his own home to prepare, the building before him ever-familiar and standing sturdy for decades with a worn, yet loved, sign above the door.
PERFUMES
Because, of course, Keiji's life can't be so simple: no one except his bloodline knows that he's a Protection Witch.
No one in town even knows about witches, let alone specific types. His grandmother used to tell him stories of the townspeople knowing magical history, but over the years it has all turned into fairytales and fables. His descendants thought it best to keep things this way as a means of protection over the witches themselves, but also over the people within their protection area.
So Keiji lets himself into his small perfume shop, which he does truthfully run as a perfume shop, and takes the narrow staircase hidden behind a door only accessible to him up to the floor above the shop: his home.
It's a home straight out of a novel filled with stories of magical tales. There's tea that starts brewing itself over the stove the moment he steps through the door, candles lighting the home up with a wave of his hand. Keiji's practical magic isn't very advanced; it's only useful for moving and manipulating small objects. His true magic lies within potions. Keiji can create a potion for any occasion, from truth serums to protection potions: that's where his power lies.
Far back within the history of his lineage, potion witches were more plentiful than now. They're born with a special power that allows them to charge any potion made with stronger and longer-lasting effects, sometimes even turn ordinary liquids into something magical with a wave of their hand. As time went on, the art of potion witches began to fade as many became more interested in practical magic, but there was always at least one person a generation who continued this tradition.
Eventually, the practical magic proved to not be as useful when it came to defense, guarding, and care-taking. So the tales tell of witches gathering together from far and wide to discuss the possibility of appointing a guardian: A Protection Witch.
One per region, sworn to pass their gifts and duties down per generation.
That's how Keiji's current situation came to be.
Setting his things down, Keiji retrieves his large brewing pot and places it on his table, moving to the large bookshelf off to the side full of guides and true history on all things magic, witches, and otherworldly things. He runs his fingers along the worn book spines, skimming the titles until he finds the one he's looking for. Keiji quickly flips through the old pages, stopping on the potion he figured would be most helpful tonight.
Memory Erasure.
The evening sun lowers further in the sky and Keiji's innate sense of danger rises simultaneously. His eyes glance up towards a wall next to his bookshelf where he's hung papers of all kinds — specifically, towards an excerpt of a paper the town scribe had written about the alleged masked bandit. Keiji's hands move quicker, familiar with the ingredients listed in his chosen recipe and used to the flow of measuring and stirring.
It's what he's been doing for years, after all.
He checks through the recipe on the worn page once more, the edges of the book yellowing, but gently cared for. Once certain he's used everything included, he gently stirs the mixture together while holding one hand above the pot. Time around him seems to stop as he draws his magic from within himself. The blood in his veins moves quicker as the energy within him swirls and turns, localizing in the palm of his hand.
With a small, barely noticeable move, Keiji's hand jerks downward ever so gently and a magical poof of smoke rises from the pot. His heightened energy subsides, and he breathes in the scent of the potion, satisfied with its final form. It's sweet, but holds an earthiness to it that makes it smell an awful lot like a sweetened green tea.
The sun is nearly gone now; the darkness seeping into Keiji's small home begs for light to break through, but instead, the witch puts out his candles after preparing his potion bottles for use. Packing his necessary items in a small satchel, Keiji shuts and locks all his windows with a wave of his hand and leaves. The air outside is thicker than normal, heavy with an energy not often found here: danger. Keiji can feel it within himself, though he's not afraid.
He paces quietly through the eerily silent town that was bustling only an hour ago. He checks every storefront to see if they're boarded up, then pulls out a small dropper bottle with a blue liquid inside.
Building by building, house by house, he sets a single drop near every doorstep. After each drop, he watches as a protective shield rises and grows, surrounding the building accordingly — something only a witch's eye can see. It's a small town, so it doesn't take him long to set up arrays all over before he's run into anyone. They should wear off with the sunrise too, so no one will sense a thing once they wake.
The damp soil beneath his feet crunches loudly as he walks around, checking and rechecking each array. Once certain that even if a bandit did come, they wouldn't be able to accomplish a thing, Keiji begins pacing towards his own shop. It's only as he approaches the road where his shop stands that he notices he had forgotten to set up an array on his own building. He grunts, annoyed at his lack of awareness when he hears something.
A very quiet, almost inaudible, tap tap tap sound from a roof.
Like feet tip-toeing, feather-light.
Keiji freezes, ducking to hide beneath a nearby storefront with a shaded overhead that keeps him in the shadows. He squints hard along the rooftops… chimney, chimney, wind vane, chimney, person. They're ducked low, but Keiji can make out the shape of a crouched body and obscenely wild hair — they should've covered that up.
Of course, with Keiji's unfortunate luck, the suspect is hunched over on top of his store and home. The only building in town without a protection array.
He quietly moves where he shouldn't be seen, along the edges of the buildings until he's hiding beneath his own store front. Keiji quickly drops his protection array serum in front of his own home and then pulls another bottle out of his satchel, all in time for the mysterious bandit to scale down the side of his shop, planting his feet quietly to Keiji's right. The new bottle in his hand is a bit larger than the previous, the contents looking like swirling red smoke rather than liquid.
His heart beats loudly as the quiet steps grow closer to where he stands from around the corner. Step, step, step, he hears. He white-knuckles the bottle, popping the lid off gently and quickly covering the opening with his thumb. Within a few speedy seconds, the mystery person rounds the corner where Keiji stands. Keiji lifts his thumb to release the red smoke within the bottle, using a wave of his hand to push it towards the person's face.
Coughing ensues — Keiji's muscles are tense as he grips tightly at the spare bottle in his satchel, prepared to fully knock the person before him out if he has to.
He doesn't love the idea of going straight for violence, so Keiji often uses potions and magic to deter situations away from immediate physical altercation. The person before him calms down, and straightens their posture as the coughing comes to an end. Keiji flicks his fingers towards the lantern hanging by his shop door and backs up a few steps.
It really is the masked bandit.
He's tall, taller than Keiji by a few inches with broad shoulders, definitely larger than Keiji in many ways, given his stature and the thickness of his muscles. The hair on his head holds true to the shadow Keiji had noticed earlier and his lip twitches at its ridiculousness up close. Hoping his potion works properly, Keiji waits for the man to say something… anything. He rubs an eye and then focuses in on Keiji, as if he finally just realized he's standing before him
"What's going on?" he asks.
Keiji is tentative in his response. It's not every day he uses a memory erasure potion.
"I should be asking you that question," Keiji states, throwing the ball back in his court.
The man looks around them quizzically, brow furrowed and expression slightly confused. The witch can feel his anxiety ease as he notices that the bandit truly has no idea where he is, nor what he came here to do.
"I- I don't know," he lets out quietly, pulling the mask off his face. "Maybe I was drinking…?" Before Keiji can respond, the man looks at him, honey-colored eyes piercingly bright honing in on him. "But I do know that you're much too gorgeous to be out at night on your own."
Those words nearly send Keiji into heart failure. The man's face transforms from confusion to teasing within a split second — something that Keiji had absolutely not been prepared for.
The bandit continues regardless of Keiji's lack of response. "Can I walk you home? Maybe you can let little ol' me crash for the night, hmm?"
The witch's jaw drops open at the man's shamelessness. Completely unsure of what he should do, knowing the the entire town is asleep and locked within their homes, all he can think of doing is… knocking him out. Keiji's anxiety spikes for a few seconds as he releases the contents of the bottle in his grip, the liquid splashing cleanly against the stranger's face. He is about to speak once more when his eyes loll back in his head and he slumps down to the ground. Keiji catches his head just in time before it collides with the building, but then sets him down immediately.
"What the hell…" Keiji whisper-yells, pacing around the storefront.
The man is out cold, slumped against the outside of his shop. He was flirting with him. The masked bandit who came here to rob the town, lost his memory, effectively the last decade or so, and the first thing he does when he comes into consciousness is flirt?!
Keiji is truly at a loss for words. While it's good news that the Memory Erasure worked properly, he was wholly unprepared for the man to instantly turn to such shameless behavior. He walks towards the man on the ground and crouches before him, finally getting a close look at him. It pains Keiji to admit that he's awfully beautiful. He doesn't look much older than himself, his skin surprisingly smooth, despite his rough nature. His stubbornly wild hair seems like it hasn't been trimmed in months, looking a bit shaggy, but in a terribly charming way.
A shudder runs down Keiji's spine at his thoughts.
He stands to turn around and tap his own cheek several times. "Wake up," he mutters to himself. With a deep breath in, Keiji quickly formulates a plan.
It's obnoxious, something he wouldn't do if this passed out man wasn't his responsibility. It's not that he feels bad for what he's done, but if he had left him there, or shoved him off to the side, he would come running back to Keiji like a lost puppy, considering he has no current memory and no idea of where he is. So instead of those options, he opts for hauling him inside his home and letting him sleep off the potion.
After finding a way to use practical magic enough to help drag the large, very heavy, dead-weight of a grown man up the stairs of the perfume shop, all Keiji can do is stare at the wall with a cup of tea in his hand.
There is a stranger passed out, lying in his bed. Keiji needs to wash his bedding later — who knows where that man's clothes have been.
Keiji doesn't sleep a wink.
As the sun begins to rise, Keiji attempts to wipe the exhaustion out of his eyes as he stands and begins to do some housework before his day begins. Aside from the events of last night, today is just a regular day. Another day of the shop being open, another day of possibly stopping by the izakaya. The only differences about today are that Keiji will be sure to check on everyone he can, while also mentally ensuring the arrays have faded, and also that there is a man sleeping in his bed and no time limit on when he will wake.
Keiji stands at his kitchen counter, chopping some fresh fruit from the morning before as the pot on the stove has okayu simmering inside, a spoon stirring by itself. A shuffling of heavy footsteps sounds behind him paired with a startled yelp. Keiji spins around to see the man from the night before staring wide-eyed at the pot and spoon on the stove. The witch's reaction is instant as he leans over to grab the spoon, effectively stumbling enough seem as if he was going to fall.
The bandit moves with lighting quick reflexes, as expected, and reaches out an arm to catch Keiji. What isn't expected is that Keiji actually needed catching, because while he means to pretend to fall, he almost drops the knife in his hand and then loses his balance. He looks up at the wide honey eyes mere inches from him and his throat closes, rendering him speechless.
But only for a moment, because he's quickly scrambling out of the man's arms and standing straight with his usual aloof expression and poise.
"That was stirring by itself," the man says, pointing to the wooden spoon in Keiji's hand.
"No it wasn't."
"It was, I just saw it."
"You were passed out from drinking last night. It's likely you're still drunk."
It's then that the man starts rubbing his head, forgetting about the spoon and moving to lean against the wall. As he massages his temples, he wears a pinched expression. Keiji refrains from rolling his eyes and instead turns to continue cutting fruit.
"I hate to ask this, but…" he speaks up after a while. Keiji doesn't turn around. "I woke up in your bed. Does that mean we…"
"Absolutely not," Keiji blurts out, slamming the knife down and nearly cutting his finger off.
"Jeez, don't hurt yourself. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it in any type of way. Just asking. I wouldn't put it past myself, you're quite the beaut, honestly."
Keiji feels his blood pressure instantly rise and his skin grow hot all over. He still doesn't move aside from a tilt of his head to the side to glance at the man who is leaning against the wall with his arms folded, a charming smirk accompanying it all. As if possessed by his embarrassment and overwhelm, the usually impassive Keiji channels a jolt of magic through his body and into his hand holding the knife, quickly flinging it across the room.
Because he uses practical magic as he throws it, the aim is precise. It grazes barely an inch away from the stranger's ear, landing clean in the wall across from Keiji. Taking a deep breath in, Keiji slowly swivels around much calmer and collected.
"I lent you a hand; you should be grateful. If it wasn't for me, you would've been kicked out of town by the guardsmen who wander the streets at night. Take the favor and go."
The stranger stares at Keiji with an unreadable expression. Keiji's brows twitches when the man only begins subtly smiling — not an obvious smile, but just enough to be perceived as such. He pushes himself off the wall and backs up a few steps before politely bowing towards Keiji in thanks.
"However will I repay such a savior?" he teases as he stands straight.
Keiji turns towards the door, expressionless, leading the way down the staircase and towards the back door of his shop. He couldn't possibly let the townspeople see a random man leaving his shop in the early morning… talk about humiliating. The man follows behind him silently, but Keiji can tell by his slow and uneven pace that he's dallying, stalling. Opening the back door, Keiji finally turns around to face him as a means to show him out.
"Thank you," the stranger says, far too politely, as he puts one foot beyond the threshold. "Before I go, can I ask a question?"
"Fine."
"Would you mind telling me where exactly I am? I find I'm having a hard time remembering."
The witch can feel the energy within his body shout for joy, the truest confirmation that the bandit's recent memory has been erased.
"Fukurodani. A small town roughly two weeks northeast of Nekoma." Keiji watches as the man grows confused, likely wondering how he arrived all the way over here from the closest large governed city. Feeling an ounce of remorse for the now lost man, he adds a piece of helpful information. "There's an aid post near the entrance of town where passersby often stay to rest and receive help on their expeditions."
The stranger's tight expression relaxes as he finally steps fully out of the doorway. With that same charming smile from earlier, he looks up at Keiji, those alluring eyes staring straight into his own blue ones.
"By the way, my name is Kuroo Tetsurou. Hopefully I get to see your handsome face in the future. Let this not be the last time we-"
Keiji slams the door shut.
He takes back any and all remorse he'd felt over the past twelve hours.
Eventually, Keiji ventures outside — after downing a Relaxing potion. He uses what energy he has left from his sleepless night and rollercoaster morning to have his household chores do themselves while he wanders the streets to complete his final task of ensuring everyone's safety.
First, he visits the izakaya. It's late morning, but of course Koutarou is inside, setting up for the day. He rambles on for a good twenty minutes about how well he slept last night, and while Keiji is very fond of his childhood friend, he finds his sleep deprivation quickly catching up to him just being around the talkative ball of sunshine that is Bokuto Koutarou. With a light-tipped smile and promise to visit again soon, he heads down to the herbalist next. Her shop opens much earlier than most, so Keiji is happy to see her door propped open when he arrives.
"Keiji-kun, you were only here yesterday. Forget something?"
He smiles lightly, shaking his head. "I just came to check on you and your shop. I'm glad all is well."
"Check on me from what? The bandit that never came? A ridiculous person like that wouldn't have been able to step within ten shaku of this old shop," the elderly woman winks.
Keiji lets a gentle chuckle fall from his lips as he notices a shining object off to the side. Its soft golden color reflects off of the noonday sun that shines through the windows, drawing his attention fully as he paces towards it. Upon closer examination, he finds that it's a stone pendant, the gem roughly raw and jagged. It's wrapped in a very thin cord, one likely stripped down to such thinness by hand, and hung off of a thicker cord.
A necklace. The gem is a golden honey color and the sunlight reflecting off of it only adds to its captivating beauty that seemingly pulls Keiji's attention for longer than an item such as this normally would.
"Like it?" the herbalist chimes in.
Keiji glances to the side to see the woman leaning over her counter to get a peak at what caught his attention.
"It's beautiful," he says, standing straight and giving the woman a gentle farewell.
He walks home, pacing down the side of the dirt road and stopping by as many shops as necessary to ensure that the town is safe and he had completed the arrays properly the night before. Keiji also makes a mental note that he doesn't spot the bandit, Tetsurou, anywhere as he paces through the small town — a relieving revelation.
The following days after this event, that to the townspeople was all talk and nothing had truly happened to their knowledge, Keiji follows up each day by taking longer walks outside and also venturing to the outskirts of town where the magical borders lay to make sure they're still strong and don't need reinforcing. The lasting and special protection arrays surrounding the small town of Fukurodani are strengthened once a month by Keiji himself.
A Protection Witch is bound to a specific area for life, if they are to follow their duties to their bloodline. They don't choose their areas of protections, but rather they're gifts to them when they are born.
Typically, the area a Protection Witch is meant to look over is where they are born. Although, every so often, there will be a Protection Witch born to take over a different area, which is often a precursor to their current location going through troubled times and having to relocate for one reason or another. Keiji was born blessed, given this land as a Protection Witch with generations of love, effort, and care put into protecting it and taught how to take over that duty by his line of ancestry.
The morning sun rises gently on the town of Fukurodani as Keiji gazes out the window of his home above the perfume shop. With a tea in his hand, his expression is relaxed and at peace for the first time since he had finalized the protection of the town after the masked bandit's visit. A cool breeze blows across his face, the smell of approaching autumn flowing into his home and accompanying the sweet pumpkin bread that's baking in the oven.
He takes a sip from his warm tea and turns to check on the bread when a knock sounds at one of the doors downstairs.
"What…?" Keiji whispers to himself.
Every once in a while, a townsperson will knock on his doors for some last minute emergency gift for a family member or just with a question before he opens the shop up for the day, but it's been a long while since that has happened. Pulling his sleep robes tightly around his body, he grips his tea mug tighter and descends the steps into the shop when the person on the other side of the door knocks again.
It's not a harsh knocking, but it's obvious that the visitor is insistent on wanting Keiji to answer the door rather than coming back when the shop is open.
Much to Keiji's dismay, the one face he thought had disappeared from town is smiling right at him when he opens the back door. Tetsurou stands tall with a bag in hand from the bakery and Keiji suddenly feels more awake than he has all morning, his blood pressure rising instantly.
"Good morning! I know your shop isn't open yet, but I wanted to stop by and thank you for your help the other night," Tetsurou explains, holding out the bakery bag.
Keiji's eyes flit between the gift and Tetsurou's shining eyes. Feeling a heat rise up the back of his neck, he quickly pushes back against the baked good that smells sweet enough to make Keiji's stomach growl.
"No… thank you. It's alright."
"You're a tough one to crack," he jokes, letting out a low chuckle.
"You," Keiji sucks in a breath, reigning in his emotions as best he can. "Unless you have an emergency, you can leave. The shop will open in two hours."
Tetsurou's eyes trail down Keiji and lock onto his hands, one holding his mug in a vice grip and the other in the pocket of his sleep robes. Gently and without a word, Tetsurou takes Keiji's hand out of his pocket and places the bakery bag in his hold, patting his hand and then standing up straight with smile that boarders on a smirk, but barely noticeable. Keiji can feel his heart beating so hard that his throat closes up, leaving him unable to say anything and unwillingly receive the gift.
"Cranky in the mornings. Got it. I'll wait until later to ask you to dinner, then," Tetsurou winks.
Keiji's speechless and frozen state heats up as the other man gives him a wave and walks off. Once he's out of sight, Keiji's emotional overwhelm sends his magic ravaging through his body uncontrollably and the tea mug in his hand explodes, sending shards of the handmade ceramic mug all over the back entryway steps of his shop. He groans inwardly, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"What a mess," he mumbles.
By the time he gets the mess cleaned up, silently mourning his favorite mug, Keiji trudges inside and back up to his home, collapsing at the table in disarray. The bakery gift that Tetsurou had forced him to take sits only inches away from Keiji's head as he rests it against his arm, taunting him with its sweet smell. He would like to just throw it away, but… that would be a waste. Wasting food is not something Keiji has ever been fond of doing.
Rather reluctantly, he opens the paper bag and his favorite treat from the bakery greets his eyes and nose, the bright smell of the sweet red bean paste and surrounding fluffy pancake making him hum. Imagawayaki. How Tetsurou knew this was Keiji's favorite treat from the bakery is beside him, but Keiji decides that wasting this beautifully and freshly baked treat would be awful.
Tetsurou doesn't end up stopping by the perfume shop later that day and Keiji is grateful for that. He goes about his day as usual, enjoying the cooling weather and unbothered schedule. He visits the izakaya to spend time with Kenma, and Keiji quickly forgets about the morning's incident by the time he arrives home for the evening.
By the next week, Keiji's life as seemingly returned to normal. His regular visits to the herbalist lighten his days as he gathers supplies for perfumes and potions, restocking his home as usual. When he runs out of the sweet pumpkin loaf he had baked the week prior, Keiji finds himself heading to the bakery. Every so often, Keiji will bake himself something sweet to munch on for a time, but he is usually purchasing his sweets and goods from the bakery.
"Akaashi-san, welcome in!" the man calls from behind the counter.
"Good morning," he smiles politely.
"Here for a week's worth of imagawayaki?" the baker asks.
"As always."
"One moment, then!"
Keiji nods as the baker disappears behind the front counter and back into the kitchen. Growing up in this town has put him in great favor with most of the townsfolk, so it's often that the baker has his weekly order ready and waiting for him. The door swings open, but Keiji doesn't pay the new customer any mind as he stays off to the side, admiring the baked goods out on display. Before Keiji can realize that the customer doesn't go straight towards the counter to wait on the baker, a body is suddenly standing awfully close to him, prompting him to slowly turn around.
"Fancy seeing you here," Tetsurou smiles.
Keiji nearly chokes, clearing his throat and staking a step back. "Tetsurou."
"Akaashi-san! Here we are!" the baker calls. Keiji turns away from Tetsurou and steps in front of the counter with his money in hand. "Ah, Kuroo-san! To what do I owe this pleasure?"
Unfortunately, Keiji's quick bakery visit is halted as the baker holds his treats hostage while chatting with Tetsurou. He stands silently and listens for a moment, only to realize that the baker knows Tetsurou, as if he's become a regular. Soaking in this new information, Keiji suddenly feels like he can hardly breathe and interrupts their conversation without a second thought.
"Pardon, I do need to get going," he says.
The baker apologies and takes Keiji's payment, allowing him to run out of that shop as soon as possible and far away from Tetsurou. He quickly speeds across town and almost makes it to his home when Kenma and Koutarou happen to be passing by. Keiji's breath is heavy and his eyes are blown wide, immediately catching their attention.
"What's wrong with you?" Kenma deadpans.
"Nothing."
"Liar! What happened? Something bad? Who do I need to punch?" Koutarou asks, rolling up his sleeves.
"It's nothing!" Keiji explodes. He immediately straightens his posture after losing his composure and bows his head. "I'm sorry… I'm overwhelmed. Just come in."
Keiji turns towards the back of the perfume shop and the couple both look at each other and shrug before following their friend up to his home. Keiji quickly and silently waves his hand a few times out of their sight and they walk up the stairs, halting all the active practical magic behind the door, as well as shift all of the covers of his potion and spell books to average book titles. They all enter his home and Keiji sets his baked goods down in his kitchen before brewing some tea and offering it to his friends who sit at his table.
"So…" Koutarou starts.
"Have either of you met a man named Tetsurou?"
Kenma doesn't hesitate to shake his head, which is relieving for Keiji at least a little.
"Tetsurou…" Koutarou trails off as if trying to remember something. "Crazy, black hair? Charming smile and pretty handsome new guy?"
Keiji sighs, admitting defeat. "That would be him."
"How do you know him?" Kenma asks his husband.
Koutarou shrugs. "Came by the izakaya a few times this week. Not my fault you didn't notice."
"Whatever…"
"Okay, enough. I really don't want to talk about him anymore." Keiji squeezes his eyes shut.
Kenma and Koutarou make eyes contact with each other and then nod silently before changing the subject and continuing their visit with their friend for a time longer until they see themselves out. Keiji doesn't make himself dinner that night, instead choosing to fall face first into his bed and wish the world around him away. A world before Tetsurou waltzed into it and made him the most frazzled version of himself that he's ever known.
He thinks on it over the next few days, wracks his brain for an answer as to why Tetsurou frustrates him so easily. No one has ever made Keiji feel so out of control of his emotions and body; it's infuriating. He reads through his books on magic to find something written on involuntary lack of self-control over his practical magic, but he finds nothing helpful. He only finds a plethora of annoying assumptions about emotional dysregulation due to traumatic life events, strong on-set emotions due to anger or love.
None of it makes sense and Keiji feels beyond frustrated.
Regardless, he hones his frustration into productive energy, making and storing new potions and restocking his perfumes accordingly. One of his customers tells him that the butcher just got a new stock of meats and that Keiji should head there soon to get his hands on the better cuts before they sell out. He thanks the customer and closes his shop earlier than usual in order to stop by the butcher shop.
The sun is low in the sky, dusk quickly approaching as he arrives at the butcher shop, and unfortunately, is not the only person there.
Tetsurou leans against the counter as he talks with the butcher as if they're friends and Keiji nearly pops a blood vessel in his face at the pressure he feels. He's about to turn around when the butcher spots him and calls for him to come inside, effectively catching Tetsurou's attention. A smile grows on Tetsurou's face that sends a heat through Keiji's body, one he frustratingly ignores.
"Evening. Am I too late for an order?"
"You're right on time, actually," Tetsurou answers.
Keiji eyes him suspiciously and the looks towards the butcher who chuckles. "He's right, he's just brought me a load from the farm. Let me take your order down and I'll have it ready in two days."
"Right. Okay."
Following the butcher's request, Keiji allows him to walk him through all the options he has because of Tetsurou's gracious business — something that Keiji is not caught up on and doesn't understand — and then writes down what Keiji would like. He pays up front for his purchase, feeling another pair of eyes on him throughout the entire interaction, no matter how much he tries to ignore it. When the transaction is complete, Keiji gives a few parting words to the butcher and then hears Tetsurou give the butcher the same farewell greeting before trailing out alongside him.
"Are we going to keep running into each other like this?" Tetsurou questions innocently.
"You're the one who's showing up where to the places I typically go."
Tetsurou laughs, keeping up with Keiji's long strides. "Sorry, princess, but other people do live here."
"That's not…" Keiji can feel his cheeks grow hot. "Don't call me that. And stop following me."
"But I like bothering you, it's fun. Your reactions make it so worth-while," Tetsurou smiles innocently.
Keiji tries his best to ignore that Tetsurou is still waltzing beside him as he paces across town towards his home, but he eventually can't shake the question he's been dying thinking about since he had run into him at the bakery. He stops walking and turns towards Tetsurou, who looks pleasantly surprised, but remains silent. Keiji clears his throat as his eyes latch onto Tetsurou's golden ones that seem to shine brighter in orange hue of the setting sun.
"Have you… settled down here?" Keiji asks.
Tetsurou's smile grows a tad wider. "Is Keiji-kun finally paying attention to me? Realizing why I've been popping up all over town?"
Keiji's moment of vulnerability immediately shuts down at Tetsurou's teasing and his expression falls flat. With a huff, he turns and begins stalking off once more, and thankfully, Tetsurou doesn't follow him. Instead, he hears a laugh that sinks deep into his chest and remains there the farther he walks. Once he's about to turn a corner towards the back-end of the perfume shop, Tetsurou raises his voice.
"I'll see you later, Keiji-kun!"
The witch sneers, eyeing him with a deadly expression that only makes Tetsurou smile back. Calling him such a name out loud for the whole town to hear is embarrassing. It's only something a person is called by their elders or their lover, if they so desire. Keiji shakes off the shivers that had bloomed all over his body as Tetsurou had bid him farewell and quickly paces inside his house where he's safe.
Safe from Tetsurou and safe from whatever the hell just happened.
He goes about his evening slower than usual, his mind occupied and taken up by golden eyes and that snarky laugh. Tetsurou, as far as Keiji is concerned, is a complete enigma. He came to town weeks ago with the goal of robbing the damn place, and although Keiji didn't know him before the Memory Erasure took effect, he can only assume that the man has done a complete one-eighty in personality — considering he hasn't gone around attempting to steal at all.
Keiji thinks on this for a long time, long enough that in following days, he forgets to keep tally on his potion ingredients and as he's in the middle of concocting a potion, he realizes he's fresh out of the flower he needs petals from. He groans inwardly and flicks his hand to cool off the potion, setting it to the side and preparing to take a long walk and restock. The flower he seeks is one that's only near the outside of town, close to where he lays the protection array.
He pulls his robes tightly around his body as he ventures outside, following the small, worn walking path he's made over the years of trailing towards the back outskirts of the town. The early afternoon sun glares down onto the fields and would be much more blinding if not for the clouds quickly passing by and giving Keiji some grace. It's not long before he spots the purple flowers, all in a line along his view of the grasslands before him and he smiles slightly at the sight.
His feet pick up their pace and he opens the cloth bag he brought along with him as he begins picking flowers from a length in the stem where he knows they'll be able to fruitfully grow back again. As he picks the flowers and hum quietly to himself, he hears a horse neighing not too far off and it catches his attention. When Keiji looks up to the right, he sees Tetsurou riding towards him on a horse, tall, handsome, and terribly, terribly charming. Keiji sighs.
Tetsurou hops off the horse and meets Keiji where he's now standing. "Keiji, why are you so far out here?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
"Fair," he admits, his eyes glancing between Keiji and the flowers and the bag in his hand. "Collecting?"
It's strange, in this moment, Keiji doesn't feel so on guard against Tetsurou as he normally does. Maybe it's the relaxing atmosphere or the fact that the smell of these flower always calm his nerves, but he finds himself able to answer without such a struggle.
"Gathering. Foraging, if you will," Keiji tells as he opens the bag in his hand.
Tetsurou hums in acknowledgement and then crouches down to the ground where Keiji was previously, running his fingers softly along the petals. "They're beautiful," he mumbles.
Following suit, Keiji crouches back down next to Tetsurou, despite his better judgment, and picks another flower carefully. Tetsurou watches with rapt attention, his gaze heavy and lingering as Keiji moves slowly and the atmosphere grows thicker between them.
"I pull them from here," he explains, gesturing to the stem and plucking one off. "That way it'll grow more eventually. Keiji can't explain why he's telling Tetsurou about his flower picking, but the words seem to flow out of him smoothly and effortlessly.
"Like this?" Tetsurou gently repeats Keiji's actions, successfully plucking a flower from it's stem.
"Just like that."
"I assume you use them in perfumes?" he asks.
Keeping his witch identity to himself, Keiji nods. Tetsurou hums, twirling the small flower between his fingers and Keiji's eyes train onto the rotating flora, following its movements. The air is charged with an energy unfamiliar to Keiji — all he knows is that his chest feels tight and his pulse rises slightly as he suddenly realizes their close proximity. Tetsurou's eyes shine in the sunlight, his skin glowing and his breath shallow as his golden eyes gaze up into Keiji's deep blue ones.
With a subtle smile, Tetsurou twirls the small flower once more before moving his hand to place the flower in Keiji's hair behind his hair. The witch is dumbstruck, unable to comprehend that Tetsurou is staring at him with a strangely fond look in his eyes, even after his hands retract back to himself. All Keiji knows is that there's a feather-light weight behind his ear and Tetsurou is now standing with a smile still lingering on his lips.
"Well," Tetsurou's voice remaining softer than usual, "I'm working right now, tending to the horses on the south farm, so I have to get going. Now you know where to find me. I'll see you later, Keiji."
Just as quickly as Tetsurou had arrived, he's galloping away and out of sight. Keiji reaches a hand up towards his ear to feel the flower that was left behind there and his body fills with heat. His cheeks burn a bright red and he quickly drops the cloth bag of picked flowers just in case it implodes in his hands just as his tea cup had last time. Keiji's overwhelming and unknown emotions eventually melt into frustration as he paces towards the flowers and just takes what he had already gathered before walking home.
Why has Tetsurou so decided to hone in on Keiji and throw his relaxing life for a loop? Keiji finds himself fuming over it, wondering what he had done to deserve this type of retribution.
Not many days pass when a quiet reading session of Keiji's is interrupted by a knocking on the door. He looks out the window and realizes the sun is close to setting and he's been reading the hours away without noticing the time. Keiji rises and pads downstairs to open door, only to be greeted by none other than Tetsurou, of course. His deep blue eyes squint suspiciously at the ex-bandit before him, trailing down his body to see a pot in his hands braced tightly with a thick blanket.
"What is that?"
"Sukiyaki."
"Why?"
"Why not?"
"But you-"
"Listen, I'd love to go back and forth with you like this all day, but this is heavy and I don't want to drop a good haul of meat and veggies all over your doorsteps, soooo, what do you say?"
He looks between those gleaming golden eyes as they all-too-familiarly mush Keiji's hard exterior and he relents, stepping to the side and allowing Tetsurou's entrance into the shop and locking the back door behind them. Keiji pinches the bridge of his nose before turning around and gesturing for Tetsurou to follow him as they head up the stairs. Just as he does when his friends come over, Keiji whisks up his practical magic to hide his potion-related book titles and halts all self-working chores.
With the push of one more door, Keiji leads the way into his home above the shop. Tetsurou is no stranger to being here, but it's been many weeks and that morning wasn't exactly the happiest of memories for either of them. Unlike that morning, the two of them are calmer. The setting sun shines brightly through the windows of his home, illuminating the books on the shelf and the potion concocting supplies displayed neatly next to it.
Luckily for Keiji, it's all supplies to that of a perfumer.
Tetsurou sets the pot of sukiyaki down onto the stove in Keiji's kitchen as Keiji moves to prepare a simple soup base for the food. The two of them move in tandem and it's strange that there's hardly a word exchanged between the two, but it's not uncomfortable. Grievances aside, Keiji knows that Tetsurou is not the terrible, awful person he makes up in his head — no matter how frustrating he is.
As Keiji mixes together a soy sauce and sugar base, he tells Tetsurou where the rice is and they cook. They just cook together, in Keiji's kitchen, without a stressor surrounding them, or an ounce of pressure from onlookers.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're a lot less cranky when food is being offered?" Tetsurou jokes lightly as he washes the rice.
"Surprisingly, yes," Keiji chuckles, keeping his eyes trained on his task.
They eventually get some rice cooking, as well as the sukiyaki simmering and the two of them are able to relax for a moment. It's then that Keiji wipes his hands and turns to lean against the counter and watch his uninvited house guest venture around and observe. Tetsurou is respectful, not touching anything that Keiji has displayed, but carefully looks at everything with eyes that show they're learning everything they can from each glance.
"I shouldn't be surprised that you have so many books, but… have you read them all?"
Keiji nods. "Several times over."
"Doesn't that get tiring?" Tetsurou asks genuinely.
"No. There's enough that by the time I circle back around, the book feels new again."
"Which is your favorite?"
The witch thinks for a moment, only fairly hesitant because his true favorite is one that's disguised. Keiji lifts himself up and pads across the floor towards Tetsurou, effortlessly sliding in front of him to reach up and take out a book from the shelf. He turns around to hand it to Tetsurou, but they're so close that he nearly collides with his chest. In an effort to not break his nose on the other man's jaw, Keiji steps back, pressing his back against the bookshelf as he holds out the book in his hand.
Tetsurou raises a brow, but takes the book from his hands and scans the title. He flips through a few pages, until he's had enough and focuses back up at Keiji, who now feels bare in Tetsurou's heavy gaze. Keiji bears it, though, returning strong eye contact as their breath grows shallow and the sizzling food seems to disappear. Suddenly, Tetsurou's eyes flicker behind Keiji for a moment. Then they redirect completely.
Keiji blinks hard turning his head slightly to see that Tetsurou is staring at the collage of papers hung on his wall near the shelf, seemingly focused on something specific.
The Infamous Masked Bandit
Deep blue eyes trail over the familiar words and a jolt of panic runs through his body. There's no way that Tetsurou actually remembers, right? Is it possible that the potion wasn't as effective as it was supposed to be and the title of the paper is jogging his memory? Keiji feels at a loss, full of worry and anxiety over Tetsurou remembering his past and then taking it out on Keiji — taking it out on his town.
In his state of silent panic, Keiji acts faster than any words can mend the situation at hand. One of his hands fly up to gently touch Tetsurou's chest, sliding softly upwards until it hangs around his neck. Tetsurou's eyes fly back to Keiji in less than a second, rapt attention on his rather seductive actions. Keiji is about to let go, walk away, he feels like he's going to blow something up with the heat running through his body, but letting Tetsurou eye that paper for too long is far more terrifying.
The two men meet eyes and their stares feel more intense than ever before as they lean into each so much that there's only a hair's breadth between their lips. Keiji's breath hitches and Tetsurou breathes in as he closes the gap and brings their lips together.
Keiji doesn't mean for it to be a real kiss. It's purpose was to distract Tetsurou — that's it.
It's not his fault that Tetsurou's lips are soft.
His body is warm and when they kiss it dissipates all of Keiji's anxiety. It's as if the magic within his veins that usually riles up to the very end of their interactions and confrontations and then boils down into frustration is no longer. That height of electricity within him is now lighting up his entire being, taking up residence all around instead of spiking and falling rapidly.
Tetsurou's hands on his waist feel comforting, strong. His lips are soft but sure and take charge, surrendering Keiji to do nothing but take what's given to him — and he takes more greedily than he can even understand.
Keiji drinks in his taste, the way Tetsurou's tongue glides along his bottom lip, seeking entry. He grasps tighter around Tetsurou's neck, pulling their bodies flush against each other and igniting more electricity within him. The grip on Keiji's waist tightens and he gets lost in every touch, every feeling, losing every ounce of reliable logic as the seconds pass. By the time they separate, Keiji's lips feel swollen and Tetsurou's honey-colored eyes are darker and heavier than usual.
The haze of the moment and the electricity within Keiji subside as he catches his breath and realizes the position he's in: embraced within Tetsurou's strong arms, chests heaving against each other. He immediately pushes himself away from Tetsurou, coughing on nothing but air and anxiety as he quickly turns and speeds towards the kitchen.
"The food!" he exclaims, as if to mask the purpose of his pushing away.
Keiji pulls the rice off the stove and begins methodically fluffing it as his nerves begin to calm. He doesn't dare turn around to see what Tetsurou is doing as he attempts to regulate himself and think of anything except Tetsurou and his inviting lips. It's not long before Tetsurou pads into the kitchen area and stands directly behind Keiji, the warmth of his body radiating onto his back.
"You've been fluffing the rice for too long, it'll dry out," Tetsurou says softly, a hint of teasing in his tone.
He places his hands atop Keiji's and gently removes them from the rice pot and paddle. Keiji doesn't say a word as Tetsurou guides one his hands towards the sukiyaki pot, implying for Keiji to lift the lid. When he does, a delicious aroma fills the air, expertly putting to rest any last tension that sat between the two. Keiji sets the lid down to the side and Tetsurou steps back to grab the dishes from the counter and set them at the table.
By the time Keiji sees Tetsurou to the door that night, the sun has long set and night has already graced the sky for many hours. He feels guilty that Tetsurou will have to work the next day without any sleep, but Tetsurou had reassured him that he'd be fine. Keiji lands in his bed with his heart feeling as light as a feather and not a shred of anxiety surrounding Tetsurou and the infamous masked bandit.
A few days after Tetsurou had shown up at Keiji's doorstep with a pot of uncooked sukiyaki, the two begin running into each other much more often — or rather, Tetsurou begins showing face around Keiji more than usual.
When Saturday rolls around and Keiji's shop is closed, he pads downstairs to go out to the herbalist and restock on his necessities. Upon opening the back door he regularly takes in and out of his shop, there lies a small pastry bag on the ground with a handwritten note tied to it. Keiji feels a jolt of his magic surge within him, his heart pounding quicker than it had been moments before as he picks it up to observe it.
A little something sweet to start your day off right. - Tetsu
Keiji's mind flashes back to that night Tetsurou had come over. When Keiji had been convincing Tetsurou to go home in order to rest for work the next morning, his poor act of retaliation was to kiss Keiji, hard. Tetsurou claimed his mouth without an ounce of hesitancy, backing the witch up against the wall near the entryway. Unfortunately, Keiji was at a loss; a loss of willingness to push Tetsurou away.
His warm body and the taste of his lips were far too captivating for him to want to stop. Keiji relented to the intimacy in full, grasping onto Tetsurou's loosely worn robes at the chest and holding tightly. Tetsurou's strong hands grew more confident at Keiji's sudden eagerness, so he allowed them to wander and explore, eliciting all types of sounds out of the witch with pleasure.
His fingers moved from Keiji's neck down his chest, where they stayed for a while as his fingers happily toyed with his nipples through his clothes. Even through the several layers of material — because Keiji is nothing if not properly dressed most of the time — the witch could feel the sensation of stimulation so intensely, he wondered what it would be like bare of any clothing at all. Tetsurou eventually slid his hands further down, making it to Keiji's painfully hard erection.
His fingers teasingly traced circles around the length until Keiji uttered a small, pitiful whine. That sound alone stopped both of them in their tracks, their movements pausing as they stared at each other for a time before diving back in tenfold. Needless to say, Tetsurou didn't leave until nearly dawn the next day because Keiji dragged him to his bed so he could finish what he had started.
"It seems that I've dug my grave." Keiji stares at the note with a chuckle on his lips and a reprimanding shake of his head.
He eats the imagawayaki on his way to the herbalist.
When Keiji arrives at the shop, he greets the herbalist as he usually does and then pads around the small building, gathering everything he needs to the next while. As he wanders, he notices the necklace he had admired one time before is no longer sitting on the shelf where it once was. Instead, there's a new herb in stock in the typical ceramic jars all of the woman's herbs are displayed in.
"Anything in particular you're looking for today, Keiji-kun?" she asks with a smile.
Keiji shakes his head politely, setting down his haul on the counter for her to weigh and charge him. He finds it peculiar that the necklace is already taken down and he wonders if someone was able to actually purchase it, or if the herbalist took it down herself. No one in town has the amount of money for a gem so beautiful and raw, nor would anyone want to walk around town flaunting it, either. Everyone in Fukurodani manages; they all get by with the help of each other, so if anyone has that amount of money, they're using it for other things.
He heads towards the bakery to put his weekly order of imagawayaki in with the baker, and decides he'd like to repay Tetsurou's gift from this morning.
"Akaashi-san, welcome in! I'll get your order in right away. I believe I have enough ready so you needn't make multiple trips."
The baker turns to walk away with Keiji kindly speaks up. "Actually, do you mind doing me a favor?"
"Anything for my most loyal customer and town's greats perfumer," he replies, leaning in close with a smile.
"May I purchase something in advance and have you hold it here for someone when they stop by later today?"
"Oh, no problem! Allow me to write this down."
"Alright. Set aside three manju for Kuroo-san, please. I'll purchase it all together."
Keiji sees the baker's writing hand freeze for a split second before continuing his writing, and then he looks up with a smile. He walks off to the back to retrieve Keiji's order and then charges him for all the items necessary before bidding the witch farewell and seeing him out the door. Keiji feels strangely light after ordering the treat for Tetsurou and he paces across town with a small smile on his face and his bags full of groceries and goods.
He doesn't find out about Tetsurou's reaction to his gifted baked goods until he shows up at Keiji's door a few days later in the evening, with a sack in hand. With a waiting smile on his face, Tetsurou stands there until Keiji shakes his head with a chuckle and lets him inside. After Tetsurou's first visit, Keiji had taken it upon himself to remove the paper on the masked bandit from his wall, now not having a worry about it possibly jogging Tetsurou's wiped memories.
Keiji is brewing a potion when Tetsurou arrives at his doorstep, but he's had years of practice convincing and make-believing that his potion making is really perfume making. No one needs to know that he uses completely different sets of utensils and ingredients, all they know is that Keiji is brewing herbs of some kind in a pot and that he's a perfumer — that's good enough for anyone in town.
That evening, Tetsurou brings Keiji a new type of tea he hadn't tried before. They spend the night drinking tea and exploring each other's bodies.
A while after that, Keiji is out in the fields near the edges of town once more, picking flowers, when Tetsurou rides up on a horse and offers to give Keiji a ride around the area. Keiji finds it hard to say no to those inviting eyes and offered hand, so he quickly finds himself tightly grasping around Tetsurou's waist as the wind whisks around them.
The world feels smaller on that horse, holding onto Tetsurou. Nothing feels so serious or urgent.
Instead, Keiji watches their surroundings whip past as the horse gallops along the edges of town. Keiji leans his head against Tetsurou's shoulder, smiling to himself as an overwhelming comfort washes over him. One of Tetsurou's hands leaves the reins to take hold of Keiji's joined hands on his torso, squeezing them gently. The surges of electricity and magic within Keiji have begun to morph into a smooth buzzing of energy within him, and moments of peace like this make the comforting thrum of magic in his veins spread throughout his entire body.
The next week, Keiji sits at the izakaya in his usual spot across from Kenma as they quietly discuss a book that Keiji had previously lent Kenma weeks prior. They hear the usual cacophony of customers behind them and think nothing of it when a few men shout a welcome and Koutarou specifically calls out a greeting. What surprises them is when someone comes up to their table who isn't a server or Koutarou.
"Akaashi-san," Tetsurou's voice sounds as he bows his head politely to him and then to Kenma.
Keiji looks at him with a questioning look, but goes along with it anyway. "Kuroo-san. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"I was stopping by to meet a new friend of mine. I didn't expect to see you here, but here you are! So I just came to say hi."
"Oh. Well, thank you. Sorry, this is my friend, Kenma," Keiji informs, gesturing towards the quiet man opposite him at the table.
"Pleased to meet you. I'll be going now."
"Goodbye," Keiji nods.
The two quiet friends watch as Tetsurou walks towards the bar of the izakaya and sits down in a seat apart from the other people seated there. Right as Kenma is about to whisper what they're both thinking, Koutarou slides two glasses in front of Tetsurou and then skips around the counter to sit in the empty seat beside him. Keiji and Kenma immediately look at each other with bewilderment on their faces.
"Who the hell is that?" Kenma asks.
Keiji sighs and slouches against the back of his seat. "Just a friend of mine."
"A friend."
"Yes, a friend."
"Okay, a friend."
"You're saying it like you don't believe me," Keiji shoots.
"That's because I don't."
"You don't even know him! If you met him you'd know how much I can't stand a man like him. He's too… witty. Too confident, too sly, too charismatic."
Kenma's expression is full of humorous disbelief as he listens to Keiji ramble on about Tetsurou's different character traits. Once Keiji catches onto Kenma's thoughts, he immediately shuts up. Kenma carries on the conversation, telling the witch that Tetsurou is probably the man that Koutarou was telling him about the other day. Apparently they had met each other at the butcher shop when Tetsurou was gathering payment for the farm's haul of meat and Koutarou was already there trading a few jars of sake for his week's worth of meat — his typical payment.
Keiji wanders home that night with thoughts of Tetsurou becoming a person in town that everyone knows about. Someone who he wouldn't be able to sneak around with for much longer. He thinks about the terribly giddy feelings Tetsurou causes within him when he's around and how awful it is that he is even able to feel that way. It's terrifying because Keiji is scared of being tied to something else besides his witch-work. He's also terrified because he can't continue to get closer to someone without telling them the truth.
The truth.
The truth that Keiji wiped Tetsurou's recent memories.
The truth that he's allowed Tetsurou to fabricate a new existence for himself without any regard for what his previous life was like.
The heavy, burdensome, frightening truth that Keiji could lose Tetsurou the moment he figures it out.
The real problem within it all is that because no one in town knows of his witch identity, telling the wrong person could end poorly — spilling the secret, the townspeople casting the witch out, so many unwanted possibilities. Keiji's immediate family had tragically passed away years prior after he had become a full-fledged Protection Witch, newly tied down with the sworn duty to protect Fukurodani. They went on a trip out of town to travel, leaving Keiji behind for the first time and enjoying the freedom that life brought after the next generation of witch had taken over the daily duties. Word came back to town a couple of weeks later that they were involved in a horse trampling accident and didn't survive.
Keiji had to learn from what knowledge he was given and do what he could from there. He became a recluse for a year or so after the accident, huddling up within his home to read and learn as much as possible. The townspeople had assumed his grief had overtaken him, but Keiji was far more resilient than anyone knew. Regardless, he buried himself in books upon books, searching and memorizing. He practiced and practiced, growing his newly born magical traits into the magnificent power he now possesses.
The single thought of Tetsurou learning the truth behind his entire life the past few months plants a level of grief and fear in Keiji's heart that surpasses his own family's deaths.
After several days of stewing in his spiraling thoughts, Keiji checks the day and notices that he forgot to reinforce the town's protection array. He's not too late on it, so he knows that if he creates his array potion today, everything will be fine until he can venture out tonight after dark to work. Keiji gets to work on preparing his area, flicking his hand to the right which causes a hidden cabinet to open behind one of his bookshelves.
He takes the protection array ingredients out of the hidden cabinet — the one place where he keeps the ingredients that cannot also be used in perfume — and lays them out onto his table accordingly. He's meticulous of each step he takes to ensure the potion is created correctly and infused with the proper amount of magic. Taking a deep breath in, Keiji looks around him and waves to shut the curtains on his windows. Ingredient by ingredient, Keiji hums as his hands move in tandem with the self-stirring pot and the wisps of magic in the air.
Knock, knock, knock.
Keiji freezes.
Terrible shit timing. The person knocks once more and Keiji quickly flicks his hands to shoot the ingredients back into the cabinet, shutting it closed before halting all moving objects in his home and speeding towards the door. He opens the door, about to jog down the stairs when he's met with Tetsurou who is already at the top of the staircase.
"Tetsurou?" Keiji asks confusedly.
He doesn't respond. It's then that Keiji really looks at him and sees that Tetsurou looks as if he's just seen a ghost. He's pale and his expression is fairly blank; if any emotion were showing through it'd be hurt. Keiji silently moves to the side, allowing him entrance. He watches as Tetsurou's steps are slow, hesitant. Gone is the charming and confident Tetsurou that Keiji had come to know.
Tetsurou walks to stand in the middle of the open area, not sitting nor leaning against anything, his guard up high. His behavior is sending Keiji's danger senses off and he feels more terrified than he's ever felt in his life. Surely his worst nightmare isn't about to come true, surely his spiraling thoughts haven't manifested this to happen.
"Is it true?" Tetsurou asks, barely above a whisper. Keiji's heart drops.
"Is what true?"
"It's all fake. My life here, how I got here, all of it. Right?"
He looks up at Keiji, honey-colored eyes holding a level of betrayal that shoots an arrow straight through Keiji's chest. Tetsurou's voice raises with every word, slowly finding its ability to vent out his newly found anger within the situation, and all Keiji can do is bear it.
"Is everything fake, then? All my memories? My childhood, my parents? This? Us?"
The last words out his mouth catches Keiji by the throat and he finally steps forward with a stomp. "No. It's not all fake. I'm not- we're… this," he gestures between them with a hand. "Is not fake."
Tetsurou lets out a pathetic, wet laugh, entwined with disbelief and a pained hiccup at the end — an attempt at holding back tears. He balls his hands into fists and paces towards the seating next to Keiji's windows, opting to sit down and grasp at his hair painfully tight. In that moment, Keiji feels conflicted. Does he comfort Tetsurou? Stay away from him? Does he help alleviate the situation or should he not say a word?
He thinks until he concludes that likely anything he has to say or not will hurt Tetsurou. Keiji's selfish decision of never telling him the truth has led to such a consequence, and it's only fair and right that he holds himself to the truth. With this in mind, Keiji quietly pads towards the other seat across from where Tetsurou sits.
"It's just your recent memories. Likely the last ten years or so, maybe less, the potion isn't specific. Everything else you remember is real, and your life here wasn't fabricated. I- I admit it was my fault, I should have sent you away right after, so I'll take your anger and all the blame," Keiji admits, hanging his head to stare at the floor. When Tetsurou doesn't protest, he continues. "I'm not sure how long you were a bandit for, but I only intended to stop you from continuing that part of your life. I couldn't let my town and my people fall at the hands of a thief who could single-handedly ruin their hard earned livelihoods. Surely, you understand that much."
Tetsurou nods, relaxing a bit more and leaning back in his seat to stare at the ceiling. "You said potion. What do you mean?"
Keiji sighs lightly. He wishes that telling Tetsurou about his abilities wouldn't have to be because of such a damning situation, but he knows it's best to be honest at this point. He has nothing left to hide from Tetsurou, and for all he cares, Tetsurou could run around town today and shout his true identity to the world and it still wouldn't hurt as badly as the look that Tetsurou gave him the moment he stepped into his home.
"I'm a witch," Keiji says cautiously. "A Protection Witch. Born from a bloodline of the same, one is born in each generation with the ability and duty to protect their homeland."
"So I was the bad guy..." Tetsurou processes.
They both move to glance at each other, the heaviness surrounding them slowly lifting as the minutes pass. Telling the truth leaves Keiji feeling better about it all, left only to hope that it's enough for Tetsurou to at least not curse his name and run away with his heart forever. Tetsurou straightens in his seat, holding eye contact with Keiji, which in turn sends familiar shivers down Keiji's spine.
"I was out tending the horses earlier," Tetsurou starts. "One of them got loose chasing some small animal, and by the time I got a hold of him, I had crossed over the borders of the town and all my memories came back. I still feel a bit confused on what is real and not, but yeah…"
"So the potion only works within the bounds of the array," Keiji whispers to himself. "Fascinating."
He makes a mental note to record that down alongside the Memory Erasure potion recipe when Tetsurou continues talking. Keiji listens, he's great at listening. Tetsurou tells him about his memories, he tells him about what came back and what seems fake. He recalls to Keiji why he had first become a bandit; how dire of a situation he was put in with an ill mother and a desperately hungry father. Thieving led them to food, money, a better life. He was ten at the time, only a child, but seeing his parents smile while eating the food he brought home was more than enough to fuel the fire.
"I'm not upset at you," Tetsurou says after a while.
Keiji shoots up in his seat, his heart pounding loudly in his ears. "You're not?"
"You only did what you knew. And you didn't harm me on purpose. It's not your fault I ended up falling in love with you."
"Love?" Keiji nearly chokes on the word as his eyes widen at Tetsurou, who is looking directly into his blue eyes with a surety beyond denial.
"I love you, Keiji. You being a witch doesn't change that. You protecting your people doesn't change that. You have me wrapped around your finger so tightly that even such a revelation couldn't stop me from loving you."
"I- I," Keiji stutters until Tetsurou gestures for him to come over.
Keiji stumbles onto his feet and the moment he steps close enough for Tetsurou to touch him, those large hands grip Keiji's hips and pull him onto his lap. Tetsurou looks up at him, his hands gently moving up and down his sides as they bask in the closeness they've been denying themselves the entirety of the evening thus far. Keiji's hands slide softly from Tetsurou's chest to rest on either side of his jaw, his brow pinched as he tries to understand the turn their conversation just took.
"You think too hard," Tetsurou whispers, brushing hair out of Keiji's face.
"You said you love me."
"I do."
"But I lied to you."
"To protect everyone. And honestly? It saved me too. You saved me, Keiji."
Keiji shakes his head in disbelief. "What do you mean?"
"You pulled me out of the shitty life I was bound to," Tetsurou runs his fingers along Keiji's cheek, admiring his features closely with a softness in his tone. "You allowed me a second chance at life and then made it beautiful for me."
The witch contemplates his words, keeping his eyes fixed on Tetsurou's honey ones as he feels every touch and every breath. The familiar thrum of energy within him has returned and he feels relaxed, renewed — much more so than earlier. Tetsurou isn't angry with him. He repeats those words in his mind several times over, wondering if he's dreaming or not.
The hand tracing down Keiji's face, neck,and collarbones, makes its way back up to his cheek and sits against the supple skin there gently. Tetsurou urges him to move closer, pulling him in without leaving those blue eyes. Keiji's breath grows shallow as their lips inch closer and his heart starts beating like the first time they had gotten this close to kissing.
"Are you gonna kiss me or what?" Tetsurou mumbles.
Keiji doesn't wait any longer, pushing forward and bringing their lips together with a newfound fervency. The dam that had built up between them as they let out the truth and hurt that was tying them together finally breaks and comes crashing down stronger than a monsoon in rainy season. It's filled with a passion that's sizzling with energy and emotion that wasn't there before. Perhaps it's the fact that Keiji is no longer tied to a lie, or perhaps it's due to Tetsurou's confession of love, but it's beautifully intense regardless.
Their tongues dance together as Keiji pushes his body inhumanly closer against Tetsurou, wishing he could glue himself there and never worry about him running off ever again. He'd be perfectly happy to stay by Tetsurou's side for as long as he lives. The thought sends his heart beating rapidly as they kiss and all at once he freezes.
"Is something wrong?" Tetsurou asks quietly.
"I-" Keiji looks at Tetsurou, bewildered. "I love you."
Tetsurou looks up at Keiji and smiles. His smile grows so wide that Keiji isn't sure he's seen such a genuine one on his lips before that didn't hold an ounce of teasing behind it. It makes Keiji's pulse pound harder and his own smile replicate. The tender moment morphs into a light and unserious one as Tetsurou's large smile and onset joy causes him to laugh loudly.
Keiji follows suit, softly laughing as he admires the beautiful man before him. The setting sun peaking through the crack in the curtains of one of the windows shines onto Tetsurou's skin and illuminates its tanned tone. He glows in the sunlight, Keiji always loves to see that when they're outside. His hair is as wild as ever and Keiji can't stop himself from running a hand through it, happily accepting his nuzzling as he does.
"So," Tetsurou starts as their laughter dies down. "No one else knows about the witch thing?"
"Nope."
"Not even Koutarou? And his husband? That was his husband I met the other day, right?"
"Mhm, Kenma. Neither of them know. It's just me after my family passed years back," Keiji pauses. "And now you, I guess."
Tetsurou smirks, his hands trailing down to rest on Keiji's hips, tracing circles into the skin there. "Sounds like that knowledge comes with some perks."
"You're ridiculous."
The witch shakes his head and then brings Tetsurou in for another kiss, relishing in the tight hold on his hips. He shamelessly grinds down against Tetsurou and picks up the speed of their kiss. It quickly turns far more desperate than before, their hands grasping at any inch of each other they can get, not wasting a moment of time or space. Tetsurou pulls Keiji's hips against his and groans as the friction between their erections is enough to make him stand, carrying Keiji along with him.
A yelp escapes Keiji's lips as Tetsurou's hands grip his ass. "Nothing is getting done on that god forsaken chair, sweetheart."
"You talk too much."
"And you love it."
"Just shut up and kiss me."
With a smirk and a spin of his heel, Tetsurou plants kiss after kiss down Keiji's neck as he navigates his way through Keiji's small home until they make it to the bed where they might not leave for the next… couple… of days.