Chapter Text
Emma feels pure happiness bubble up inside of her as she stares at the sprawling landscape of tall city buildings before them. They’ve made it. They’re in the human world.
They never have to worry about being eaten by demons again.
“Norman,” she chokes out, tears spilling out of her eyes. “Ray.”
Norman reaches out and grabs her shoulder. “We’ve made it, Emma.”
She smiles at him through tear-streaked lashes, ignoring the fluttering his touch brings her, and reaches for Ray.
Emma freezes as her hand grasps empty air and panic overwhelms her.
“Ray?”
On a snow-covered mountain in Japan, a boy with orange hair and kind eyes is straggling towards the wooden hut at the base of the mountain. His breaths come out in frozen mist, but they abruptly pause when he sees a shock of jet-black hair, leaning against the wall.
“SENSEI!”
Ray’s eyelids feel heavy. His thoughts are muddled, moving at the pace of honey, with the clarity of mud. Around him, hushed voices are having a conversation.
“I don’t know, sensei, I just found him outside when I was going back from the mountain course. He wasn’t there when I left, that’s for sure. A survivor from a demon attack, maybe?”
An older voice harrumphed. “Unlikely. His body bears no wounds, and his scent does not carry any demon rank. Let us wait for him to wake up, and then we can ask questions.”
The first voice stays quiet for a little. “His backpack has a photograph,” they say. “Among other things. One from… Outside. It looks like there is enough room for three people, but only his face shows up.”
“Strange. It seems that someone has attempted to make sure there is no trace of his former family.”
Ray struggles to open his eyelids. Finally, they flutter open blearily and he sees a red tengu mask waving in and out of his sight.
“Ah, you’re awake.” The red mask gently helps him sit up. “We found you outside, in the snow by my hut. Do you remember how you got out there?”
Ray’s eyes flicker around the room. It’s a relatively small hut, simple, with a kettle boiling on top of a fire in the room. Next to the man, a boy with bushy orange hair sits patiently, dressed in a hexagonal green haori. Then he remembers he was asked a question.
“I don’t know,” he answers easily. Then he blinks. Shouldn't he know?
“What about your parents? Any family you have?”
This time, Ray hesitates before answering, again, “I don’t know.” Panic begins to mount.
He gets the feeling the tengu man is frowning, but he doesn’t say anything other than, “Do you remember your name?”
This time, Ray opens his mouth confidently – surely he must know his own name – but nothing comes out. He chokes on the air and tries again before he realizes, “I– I don’t know. I… don’t know.”
His breathing grows panicked and he clenches his fist tightly to prevent himself from having a panic attack. He doesn’t remember anything. His head is just a blank expanse of white, not unlike the white snow outside the hut. He has family, he knows he does, but their faces evade him no matter how hard he tries. Flashes of orange and white dance across his vision, but disappear just as fast.
“Hey.” A hand waves in his vision. “You okay?” The voice is laced with concern, and Ray concentrates on slowing his breathing. The orange and white slowly fade back into his mind and he unclenches his fist.
“Yeah,” he says hoarsely. “Thanks.”
“Of course. Ah, I realize that I have not introduced myself. How unbecoming of me as a man! My name is Sabito, and this is my sensei Urokodaki Sakonji.”
The tengu man nods at him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he says gruffly. Ray mumbles an agreement.
“And before you say anything else, please be assured your memory problems will not be a problem,” Urokodaki continues. “You may stay here until your memory comes back or you find a place you wish to stay.”
“Oh.” Ray stares at his hands, suddenly uncomfortable. “Okay. Thank you.”
There is an awkward pause until Sabito hands him a bowl of… some sort of soup.
“Miso soup,” he clarifies when Ray raises an eyebrow. “I don’t know if you’ve had it before. But we don’t know the last time you ate, so we’re starting with something small.”
Ray nods and takes a sip, eyes widening in surprise. “It’s pretty good,” he mumbles. He doesn’t think he’s had this before… or has he? He doesn’t remember, of course he doesn’t.
Urokodaki studies him for a long moment before heaving himself onto his knees with a grunt. “Get some rest,” he orders, glancing at Sabito who immediately understands and leaves the hut. “I’ll send a crow to town to see if there is anyone looking for you there later.”
Ray nods slowly and lays down on the futon, the white expanse of his mind creeping up to his consciousness until he falls asleep in a restless dream where faceless people call his name (his real name, what could it be?) and beckon to him.
He tosses and turns, until suddenly, he is dropped into a blurry dream, with a large white blob in one side of his eyesight, and a large black blob in the other. Both emanate an aura of power.
“ONNEEEE!” The black blob whines, and Ray blinks. The childish attitude seemed… unfit for such a powerful aura. “Can I PLEEAASSEE borrow one of those children you’re sending over here? One of my stories has been messed up and I’m missing a character!”
The white blob speaks. “All, come on. Surely you can find another one? I’m rather fond of the orange one, and I know she’d be devastated if any of her friends would be taken.”
“Oh, come on, One!” The black blob protested. “I’d return them! If anything, it’s good entertainment. And angst when they reunite, I know you love angst. Besides, you won’t break the Promise! They’ll be in the human world!”
One hummed. “Which one are you planning to take!”
“The snarky one!” All declares. “With black hair! He’s not a perfect fit for the one I’m missing, but he’s close enough, and I think he’ll be perfect for the role, at least.”
“Well, it doesn’t break the Promise, and it’s not the orange one, so go ahead. Make sure he doesn’t die before they reunite, though.”
All beamed (Ray thinks? He’s not sure, but the general vibe is a beam). “Thank you, Onesie! This story is gonna be my best one yet! And don’t worry, I’ll give him back his memories eventually.”
It fades into an all-encompassing black. Later, when Ray wakes up, he will stare at the ceiling, feeling like he just heard something important. But rack his brains as he might, he just can’t seem to recall.
It’s probably not anything super important, if he forgot. He seems to do that a lot, these days.
He goes back to sleep and doesn’t dream any more, other than that odd flash of orange or white.