More than the Rabbit in the Moon
TITLE: More than the Rabbit in the Moon
PAIRING: Koya+Shige
RATING: G
WORD COUNT: 3,764
SUMMARY: Koyama saves a little rabbit spirit.
NOTES: Aw, snap!! Double post because it's je_holiday reveals day! In some Q10, Shige said that if he turned into an animal, he'd be a rabbit, because that's his Chinese Zodiac symbol. Also, it's the year of the rabbit.
It's late and the weather is cold, wind blowing in his face and rain dripping down the back of his jacket. He swears and dashes out of the train station. He runs all the way home, cutting through the yard of a little shrine in his neighborhood. His apartment building is in sight, and Koyama smiles - until he hears quiet sobbing and abruptly stops, forgetting about the rain.
It's definitely the sound of crying, and he follows it all the way around to the back of an annex building to the shrine. There's a little boy there, hunched up in a ball, back pressed against the wall, the eve of the building doesn't cover him completely and his feet are stuck out in the rain. He has a knit hat on, but isn't really dressed for this cold weather at all.
Koyama frowns, the maternal instincts his friends tease him for kick-in immediately, and Koyama steps carefully to the boy.
"Hey," he says, quietly, so he doesn't startle the kid. "What's wrong?"
The boy looks up, eyes red and puffy and says just one word: "Mama."
Koyama knows the people of his neighborhood well, but he's never seen this kid before, and he's sure that no one new has moved in.
"What happened? Did you get lost?"
He shakes his head and starts crying again. Koyama isn't sure what to do, but for now, he figures getting the poor kid out of the rain is what his mother would want. Once it's done storming, they can come back out and find her.
Koyama places a hand on his shoulder. "Let's get out of the rain, okay."
The boy nods and takes Koyama's hand.
The rain is still heavy, and they're both already wet, so Koyama picks him up, holding the boy close against his chest and jogs the rest of the way back to his apartment.
He leaves the kid in the hallway by the front door while he grabs towels. He doesn't seem to mind taking off his clothes and handing them to Koyama to hang up to dry, but he refuses to take off the hat, frowning and holding it tight against his head. Koyama doesn't want him to start up screaming or anything, so he lets it go.
"I'm Koyama, what's your name?" he asks later, when they've both got warm tea in their hands and the TV on quietly in the background.
"Shigeaki," the boy whispers, staring at the TV like he's never seen one before. "But Mama always calls me 'Shige'". He presses a button on the remote and shrieks happily when the channel changes.
The storm doesn't let up at all, and when Shige falls asleep on the floor, Koyama debates what to do, and ends up putting the kid to sleep on his couch. He turns off the lights and gently tugs off the hat and hangs it up in the bathroom to dry with the rest of their clothes. Koyama curls up in his own bed, thinking that tomorrow they'll definitely find Shige's mother.
-
Koyama wakes up to screaming, blood curdling screaming. He rushes out into the living room, where Shige is curled up in the corner, crying, again, holding his hands tight against the top of his head.
"Shige, what's wrong? What happened?"
He keeps crying, but Koyama's able to make out the word "hat". He thinks it's a little odd, but goes to get it. It's still pretty wet, and he's weary of having the kid put it on. A lightbulb goes off, and Koyama rushes into his room, grabbing one of his own.
He crouches in front of Shige and holds out the hat. "It might be a little big, but you can have it."
Shige stops crying, blinks the last few tears out of his eyes and gingerly takes the hat. He slips it on quickly, and Koyama swears he saw something odd in the second when Shige's head wasn't covered by his hands or the hat.
"Let's go find your Mom today, okay?"
Shige looks sad, but nods. After breakfast and dressing they head out.
They go all over the neighborhood, Koyama asking his neighbors and the shopkeepers if they happen to know who Shige's mother is. They frown sadly and say no, Shige-chan doesn't look familiar at all. The whole time, Shige holds Koyama's hand tightly and hides behind his legs when people bend down to try and get a closer look at him.
Koyama wants ramen for lunch, but Shige opposes, asking for a salad instead. Koyama thinks it's odd, but finds a little italian cafe and gets the kid a salad. Over their food, he asks Shige what his mother looks like.
"She has big, brown eyes. And her hair is soft and kinda light colored."
Koyama thinks it's an entirely unhelpful description, but figures a kid wouldn't be much help anyways.
After a whole day of searching, they don't find Shige's mother. They're both exhausted, but Koyama gives Shige a piggy-back ride.
"One more stop," he says. "Then home."
Shige nods against his back and naps the whole way to the police box.
"I found him last night in the storm, and now I can't find his mother or his home."
The officer frowns, looking at Shige, who seems very lost in the big chair he's sitting in.
"Shige-kun, what's your family name?"
"What's that?" he asks, looking confused.
"Oh, well," the officer points to badge. "See how it says 'Wada' here? That's my family's name. But my given name is Akira, get it?"
"So, 'Shige' is my given name?"
"Nickname, but basically, yes," Koyama says, in almost a cheering tone. "So, what's you're family's name?"
"I don't know."
The officer clicks his tongue in annoyance. "Every one has a family name, Shige-kun. Once you tell us what it is, we can find your family."
Shige's eyes get very big, and when he talks his voice is surprisingly small. "I can't find them without it?"
"No, Shige-kun."
The boy looks at the table for a long time, like he's thinking really hard to remember it. But, after a long moment, he looks up, tears in his eyes and mutters, "I don't know."
Koyama isn't all surprised that the kid starts crying again. Shige jumps off the chair and runs to Koyama, presses his face into the man's knee. Koyama kneels down, and holds him close against his chest.
"Well, this is shitty," the officer says. "I'll check-in on missing children reports and let children's services know, but for now, please keep an eye on him."
Koyama nods and rubs Shige's back.
-
From everything that's happened in the day, Shige's exhausted and he falls asleep again against Koyama's back; he doesn't wake-up until they get back to Koyama's apartment.
"I bet we could both use a bath, huh?" Koyama says, slipping off his coat.
Shige makes a funny face, but doesn't say anything.
"C'mon, we can wash up and then I'll make dinner."
Koyama picks him up under his arms and carries him to the bathroom, setting him down only because he needs both hands to make sure the temperature on the bath is just right. He turns back, and is openly surprising to find Shige still completely dressed.
"Bath time!" Koyama shouts, smiling, reaching for Shige, who just retreats up until his back hits the cabinets.
Koyama reaches for the hat on his head, and Shige is so startled that his reaction is slow and doesn't catch Koyama's wrist until it's moving back and then abruptly stops.
Shige flushes, face bright red and he tries to cover his head with his hands, but the embarrassment must be too much for him, because he isn't managing it very well.
"Don't look!" He whines, but Koyama can't help it, because poking up, along the side of Shige's head, are two little rabbit ears.
Koyama blinks and rubs his eyes, but they're still there. "Ears," he mumbles, dropping the hat and reaching back towards Shige.
"Stop it!" The kid cries and crouches down on the floor.
"Shige, why do you have rabbit ears? Is it a headband?"
He shakes his head furiously and looks up at Koyama, face flushed again. "I'm a bunny," he whispers.
"A.... bunny," Koyama repeats. He drops his hands and takes a step back, feeling that both of them need some space.
Shige looks lost, scared and worried; he can't figure out what Koyama's going to do, if the only person who has shown him any compassion is going to boot him out of the apartment, or even something worse.
"Is... your Mom... a bunny, too?"
Shige nods and looks up at Koyama through his eyelashes. "But she doesn't have ears."
"Huh?"
"She knows how to hide them."
Koyama sighs. "I guess I know now why you wanted a salad for lunch."
"It was really good," Shige whispers, fidgeting on his feet.
It feels like minutes until Koyama kneels on the floor and stretches his arms out. "Rabbit or not, you're still Shige."
His eyes brighten up and he's across the little room in a flash.
Neither of them get that bath, and Shige's promoted from the couch, to Koyama's bed, where the elder spends the whole night trying not to squish the little rabbit.
-
"Of all my brothers and sisters, I'm the smartest." Shige says in the morning, mumbling through a mouthful of bread and butter, "They're all still bunnies, but I figured out how to turn into a human."
"Almost." Koyama laughs, ruffling Shige's hair.
"It's a lot of work! It takes a genius."
Koyama sits at the table, putting down a plate of eggs, but he doubts Shige will eat any of it. "So, do you have any ideas about finding your mom?"
Shige chews another bite of toast for a while before he says, "I don't know if it's worth it."
Koyama freaks out, knocking over his glass of water and blubbering over his words.
"By the time we find her," Shige continues. "She'll probably have already started cutting my siblings loose. And I probably would have been the first anyways."
"'Cutting'?... You mean splitting up with her kids?" Koyama asks, mumbling, slouching in his chair, "But you're so young. You can't possibly take care of yourself."
"My Mama did."
Koyama frowns, "I'd worry."
Shige perks up, looking at Koyama carefully over the table. "Thanks, but I'm almost six weeks old, so it's not that weird."
"Six.. weeks... old?" Koyama says, blinking like he's confused. "Don't you mean something like six years old? You're a little big for a six year old, but-"
"No, weeks."
Koyama makes a confused face.
"Bunnies are different from humans. We grow up really fast."
"Riiiiiiight," Koyama says, nodding, but the situation still clearly makes no sense to him.
-
It starts to make a little more sense a few weeks later.
Shige doesn't look like such a little kid anymore. His limbs are getting lanky, and almost teenager-like, and he's lost much of his baby fat. He starts having to borrow Koyama's clothes, though pant legs and jacket sleeves all have to be rolled up.
"Um, Shige," Koyama starts one day, "aren't you- isn't this-"
"What?" Shige asks in an exasperated tone.
"... Aren't you growing up... kinda quickly?"
"No."
"B-but..."
"I'm a rabbit," Shige says. "We're not like humans."
"But if you keep aging like this-"
Shige sighs, like he's tired of Koyama's questioning. "You don't trust me much, do you? We age quickly - until we're fully grown - and then it slows."
Koyama smiles and pats his own chest reassuringly. "So, I don't have to worry about you getting old."
Shige laughs. "That's more something I'll have to worry about."
-
In another several weeks, Shige's features mature to their full extent, and he stops growing, settling just a few centimeters shorter than Koyama, though, he's got broader shoulders, a deeper voice, and a face that seems to say that he's seen more than the 20-something-year-old that he appears to be.
Shige's still a strict vegetarian; even just the smell of cooking meat makes him a little sick. Koyama laments that, and will spend minutes on end staring longingly at the meat section in the super market.
"You get lonely if I go out with other people, but I miss yakiniku," Koyama whines.
"I don't get lonely. Who would miss those stupid single lids?" Shige mumbles, but he ducks his head so that Koyama doesn't see him smiling.
-
It's nearly a year they spend together, living together in that little apartment. It should feel crowded, but it doesn't, even when in their exhaustion, they both all asleep on the couch or in Koyama's bed while watching a movie. They're comfortable, and if in the right mood, Shige will show Koyama his real form -- far larger than a normal rabbit, but still soft and serene like the one's people keep for pets -- and let Koyama pet him gently. They don't talk about where Shige should be, or if there's something he's supposed to be doing, and what their friendship means.
-
After his work one day, Koyama comes home to find two young men sitting on his doorstep, looking a little irritated, but not wholly threatening.
"Can... I help you?"
"You're Koyama?" The one asks, and Koyama nods.
"Where is Shige?" The other shouts. "What did you do with him?!"
Koyama isn't going to directly ask them, but he's pretty sure they must have to do with Shige's rabbit spirit thing, because no one else has ever come asking around for Shige.
"Oh, um. I'll call him. Please come in," Koyama says, ever courteous, and opens the door.
The two glare at Koyama, ignoring the tea he gives them, for the next 20 minutes, while Shige hurries home early from helping out a small-lot farmer in the area.
The door clicks open, and Shige calls out, "What's the emergency, Koyama?"
The two practically fall out of their chairs, scrambling over each other and the hardwood floor to get to the entry way.
"Shige, Shige!" Koyama hears them both whining, and he follows after them.
They're both hugging Shige -- one from the back, the other from the front -- grinning and talking a mile-a-minute, and Shige just looks like he's in shock, shoes half off.
"Momma will be so happy!"
"You're coming home with us, right?"
"Shige?" Koyama asks, and it breaks him out of his stupor.
"Oh, Koyama." Shige tugs at their arms, but neither want to let him go. "Um. These... are my brothers. Yuuya and Taisuke."
-
It takes another 15 minutes for them to make their way into the living room, one brother on each side of Shige, holding his arms and still looking at Koyama with untrusting eyes.
"Momma was so distraught when you were lost," Taisuke says. "She had been wanting to send you to the temple, to learn the old magics. She was sure you could have passed all the tests."
"I suppose that wasn't my fate then."
"Once we were old enough, we started looking for you." Tegoshi squeezes Shige's hand in his. "We knew you'd be alive. You're too smart to get yourself killed."
"Get your things, and we'll go back to the other side of the door."
For the first time in a bit, Shige looks up and meets Koyama's eyes.
"What's going on?" Koyama asks.
Taisuke sits up straighter. "Stay out of it, human."
Koyama recoils a bit, looking like he was physically hit, eyes wide and mouth slack.
"Taisuke," Shige snaps, though he looks quite unapologetic. "His name is Koyama, and he's the only reason I'm still alive. Behave."
"We've come to take Shige home," Yuuya says. "To the other side of the door, where spirits like us are supposed to live."
Koyama makes some unintelligible noises, like he's trying to come up with some form of argument on why Shige shouldn't go, why this is the home and why it would be unfair to take him away. It doesn't happen though.
"Get your things," Taisuke says again, poking Shige in the side.
"It's not that easy," Shige whispers. "I've been here so long... this feels like home."
Tegoshi starts trembling. "Do you remember the other side?"
"A little. Like fragments of a dream."
Tegoshi bites his lip and buries his face in Shige's shoulder.
Taisuke turns his eyes, angry and judging towards Koyama. "This is your fault. You held him here instead of letting him find his way home!"
"I only-"
"I would been eaten by the Aobozu if Koyama hadn't come along."
"You should have let him go," Taisuke shouts.
"I'm sorry," Koyama says, thinking that maybe, his anger is just a cover for how devastated the family was over losing Shige. "I tried, but...."
"Please come home with us, Shige," Yuuya mutters, still holding tightly onto Shige.
"It's not that easy for me." Shige tugs Yuuya away, enough to get a good look at him. "I'm glad everyone is safe, but things are more complicated for me."
The air is quiet and tense for a long time -- Koyama worrying that he's going to lose this little rabbit that's become such a part of his life, the younger brothers not wanting to lose their brother again, and Shige, torn between his two homes.
"Think about it," Taisuke finally says, standing and pulling at Yuuya's sleeves. "We'll go now."
Koyama doesn't sleep well that night, and he doesn't think Shige does either.
-
Shige seems to isolate himself, spending a lot of time outside the apartment, and Koyama catches glimpses of him several times praying at their local temple. He wants to help, but feels like there's nothing he can do but wait for Shige to make a decision for himself.
And, that decision is made painfully clear when Koyama comes home one afternoon to find Shige packing a few of his things into a backpack.
"A-are you going somewhere?" Koyama asks, in a whispers, even though he already knows the answer.
Shige stops and looks guiltily over his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize."
"You're going to take this personally though. I know you," Shige sighs. "But... I need to remember who I am, at least a little bit. I think... I've been tricking myself. That because this is where I am, I'm supposed to be human. But, I'm not. I'm a rabbit."
"I know you're a rabbit," Koyama mumbles, slouching against the wall.
"I'm not going to stay long. I don't think I'll be well welcomed anyways."
"I'm going to be lonely."
Shige picks up his bag. "I know, but I need to do this. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."
Koyama bites his lip and pulls Shige, who complains about it, into a tight hug. It's a little odd to think that in barely 18 months, the little rabbit he found is all grown and setting off on his own for a bit, and Koyama thinks this is probably what his own mother felt when he moved out of the family home.
-
At first, it's tough without Shige.
The apartment feels hopelessly large, and there's no one to talk to anymore after coming home from work. Even knowing that he can cook meat in the apartment again does nothing to assuage his loneliness, because he finds he's lost the taste for it.
After a time though, Koyama gets used to it, and presses on his life.
He gets a better job with a travel agency, and even though he could afford to move close to the office and into a better building, he's loathe to, because in the back of his mind, he remembers that Shige said he'd only be gone for a little. And, it would be devastating for him to return and have Koyama inexplicably gone.
So, Koyama deals with the poor upkeep and wakes up early everyday so he can get to work everything, and in the evening, rushes home, because he never knows when he'll come home to find Shige sitting on the curb outside his building.
With everyday that passes, Koyama worries that maybe, something happened on the other side of that door that kept being mentioned. Maybe Shige got hurt, or fell in love with a girl bunny, or couldn't bear to say goodbye to his family. The last one always hurts Koyama the most, because he feels like Shige's family, and doesn't want to be thought of as second-best.
He's thought so much about what's taking Shige so long, and what it'll be like when he finally comes back, that it's almost surreal the day it actually happens.
It's raining, and Koyama's rushing back from the station, trying to avoid the big, dirty puddles that are forming in the potholes. He cuts through the local temple, stepping carefully over exposed roots, and when he looks up, comes to an immediate stop, eyes fixed on the young man by the offery box with such a familiar frame and stance. Koyama nearly drops his briefcase.
He shouts out, in a choked voice, "Shige?!"
And, when the young man turns, it is Shige, looking more mature and not dressed in Koyama's hand-me-downs.
It's like something out of a cliche movie -- an unexpected reunion in the place where they first met.
Shige smiles and takes a step towards Koyama, the rain wicking off him like it knows it's not allowed to make him wet.
omake
"The basic magics came back to me quickly enough, and after that, building up to the intermediate and advanced magics is a piece of cake."
Koyama laughs, his tea sloshing around in the mug. "So, you're still a bunny prodigy."
Shige nods. "But, everyone complained constantly that I smelled like a human."
"I bet that's my fault."
"It's this world's fault."
"... Will you be okay? You won't forget everything again, will you?"
"Speaking of that, I'll have a real job this time around, so let's get a nicer place where I can have my own room. And closer to Tokyo, too."
Koyama cocks his head. "A real job?"
"I got a gig with a couple of other spirits in Asakusa doing purifications and exorcisms, stuff like that. It'll keep me in touch with the other side of the door, so I won't forget anything."
Koyama smiles, thinking about having a full-sized kitchen, and how a place only feels like home when Shige is in it too.
PAIRING: Koya+Shige
RATING: G
WORD COUNT: 3,764
SUMMARY: Koyama saves a little rabbit spirit.
NOTES: Aw, snap!! Double post because it's je_holiday reveals day! In some Q10, Shige said that if he turned into an animal, he'd be a rabbit, because that's his Chinese Zodiac symbol. Also, it's the year of the rabbit.
It's late and the weather is cold, wind blowing in his face and rain dripping down the back of his jacket. He swears and dashes out of the train station. He runs all the way home, cutting through the yard of a little shrine in his neighborhood. His apartment building is in sight, and Koyama smiles - until he hears quiet sobbing and abruptly stops, forgetting about the rain.
It's definitely the sound of crying, and he follows it all the way around to the back of an annex building to the shrine. There's a little boy there, hunched up in a ball, back pressed against the wall, the eve of the building doesn't cover him completely and his feet are stuck out in the rain. He has a knit hat on, but isn't really dressed for this cold weather at all.
Koyama frowns, the maternal instincts his friends tease him for kick-in immediately, and Koyama steps carefully to the boy.
"Hey," he says, quietly, so he doesn't startle the kid. "What's wrong?"
The boy looks up, eyes red and puffy and says just one word: "Mama."
Koyama knows the people of his neighborhood well, but he's never seen this kid before, and he's sure that no one new has moved in.
"What happened? Did you get lost?"
He shakes his head and starts crying again. Koyama isn't sure what to do, but for now, he figures getting the poor kid out of the rain is what his mother would want. Once it's done storming, they can come back out and find her.
Koyama places a hand on his shoulder. "Let's get out of the rain, okay."
The boy nods and takes Koyama's hand.
The rain is still heavy, and they're both already wet, so Koyama picks him up, holding the boy close against his chest and jogs the rest of the way back to his apartment.
He leaves the kid in the hallway by the front door while he grabs towels. He doesn't seem to mind taking off his clothes and handing them to Koyama to hang up to dry, but he refuses to take off the hat, frowning and holding it tight against his head. Koyama doesn't want him to start up screaming or anything, so he lets it go.
"I'm Koyama, what's your name?" he asks later, when they've both got warm tea in their hands and the TV on quietly in the background.
"Shigeaki," the boy whispers, staring at the TV like he's never seen one before. "But Mama always calls me 'Shige'". He presses a button on the remote and shrieks happily when the channel changes.
The storm doesn't let up at all, and when Shige falls asleep on the floor, Koyama debates what to do, and ends up putting the kid to sleep on his couch. He turns off the lights and gently tugs off the hat and hangs it up in the bathroom to dry with the rest of their clothes. Koyama curls up in his own bed, thinking that tomorrow they'll definitely find Shige's mother.
-
Koyama wakes up to screaming, blood curdling screaming. He rushes out into the living room, where Shige is curled up in the corner, crying, again, holding his hands tight against the top of his head.
"Shige, what's wrong? What happened?"
He keeps crying, but Koyama's able to make out the word "hat". He thinks it's a little odd, but goes to get it. It's still pretty wet, and he's weary of having the kid put it on. A lightbulb goes off, and Koyama rushes into his room, grabbing one of his own.
He crouches in front of Shige and holds out the hat. "It might be a little big, but you can have it."
Shige stops crying, blinks the last few tears out of his eyes and gingerly takes the hat. He slips it on quickly, and Koyama swears he saw something odd in the second when Shige's head wasn't covered by his hands or the hat.
"Let's go find your Mom today, okay?"
Shige looks sad, but nods. After breakfast and dressing they head out.
They go all over the neighborhood, Koyama asking his neighbors and the shopkeepers if they happen to know who Shige's mother is. They frown sadly and say no, Shige-chan doesn't look familiar at all. The whole time, Shige holds Koyama's hand tightly and hides behind his legs when people bend down to try and get a closer look at him.
Koyama wants ramen for lunch, but Shige opposes, asking for a salad instead. Koyama thinks it's odd, but finds a little italian cafe and gets the kid a salad. Over their food, he asks Shige what his mother looks like.
"She has big, brown eyes. And her hair is soft and kinda light colored."
Koyama thinks it's an entirely unhelpful description, but figures a kid wouldn't be much help anyways.
After a whole day of searching, they don't find Shige's mother. They're both exhausted, but Koyama gives Shige a piggy-back ride.
"One more stop," he says. "Then home."
Shige nods against his back and naps the whole way to the police box.
"I found him last night in the storm, and now I can't find his mother or his home."
The officer frowns, looking at Shige, who seems very lost in the big chair he's sitting in.
"Shige-kun, what's your family name?"
"What's that?" he asks, looking confused.
"Oh, well," the officer points to badge. "See how it says 'Wada' here? That's my family's name. But my given name is Akira, get it?"
"So, 'Shige' is my given name?"
"Nickname, but basically, yes," Koyama says, in almost a cheering tone. "So, what's you're family's name?"
"I don't know."
The officer clicks his tongue in annoyance. "Every one has a family name, Shige-kun. Once you tell us what it is, we can find your family."
Shige's eyes get very big, and when he talks his voice is surprisingly small. "I can't find them without it?"
"No, Shige-kun."
The boy looks at the table for a long time, like he's thinking really hard to remember it. But, after a long moment, he looks up, tears in his eyes and mutters, "I don't know."
Koyama isn't all surprised that the kid starts crying again. Shige jumps off the chair and runs to Koyama, presses his face into the man's knee. Koyama kneels down, and holds him close against his chest.
"Well, this is shitty," the officer says. "I'll check-in on missing children reports and let children's services know, but for now, please keep an eye on him."
Koyama nods and rubs Shige's back.
-
From everything that's happened in the day, Shige's exhausted and he falls asleep again against Koyama's back; he doesn't wake-up until they get back to Koyama's apartment.
"I bet we could both use a bath, huh?" Koyama says, slipping off his coat.
Shige makes a funny face, but doesn't say anything.
"C'mon, we can wash up and then I'll make dinner."
Koyama picks him up under his arms and carries him to the bathroom, setting him down only because he needs both hands to make sure the temperature on the bath is just right. He turns back, and is openly surprising to find Shige still completely dressed.
"Bath time!" Koyama shouts, smiling, reaching for Shige, who just retreats up until his back hits the cabinets.
Koyama reaches for the hat on his head, and Shige is so startled that his reaction is slow and doesn't catch Koyama's wrist until it's moving back and then abruptly stops.
Shige flushes, face bright red and he tries to cover his head with his hands, but the embarrassment must be too much for him, because he isn't managing it very well.
"Don't look!" He whines, but Koyama can't help it, because poking up, along the side of Shige's head, are two little rabbit ears.
Koyama blinks and rubs his eyes, but they're still there. "Ears," he mumbles, dropping the hat and reaching back towards Shige.
"Stop it!" The kid cries and crouches down on the floor.
"Shige, why do you have rabbit ears? Is it a headband?"
He shakes his head furiously and looks up at Koyama, face flushed again. "I'm a bunny," he whispers.
"A.... bunny," Koyama repeats. He drops his hands and takes a step back, feeling that both of them need some space.
Shige looks lost, scared and worried; he can't figure out what Koyama's going to do, if the only person who has shown him any compassion is going to boot him out of the apartment, or even something worse.
"Is... your Mom... a bunny, too?"
Shige nods and looks up at Koyama through his eyelashes. "But she doesn't have ears."
"Huh?"
"She knows how to hide them."
Koyama sighs. "I guess I know now why you wanted a salad for lunch."
"It was really good," Shige whispers, fidgeting on his feet.
It feels like minutes until Koyama kneels on the floor and stretches his arms out. "Rabbit or not, you're still Shige."
His eyes brighten up and he's across the little room in a flash.
Neither of them get that bath, and Shige's promoted from the couch, to Koyama's bed, where the elder spends the whole night trying not to squish the little rabbit.
-
"Of all my brothers and sisters, I'm the smartest." Shige says in the morning, mumbling through a mouthful of bread and butter, "They're all still bunnies, but I figured out how to turn into a human."
"Almost." Koyama laughs, ruffling Shige's hair.
"It's a lot of work! It takes a genius."
Koyama sits at the table, putting down a plate of eggs, but he doubts Shige will eat any of it. "So, do you have any ideas about finding your mom?"
Shige chews another bite of toast for a while before he says, "I don't know if it's worth it."
Koyama freaks out, knocking over his glass of water and blubbering over his words.
"By the time we find her," Shige continues. "She'll probably have already started cutting my siblings loose. And I probably would have been the first anyways."
"'Cutting'?... You mean splitting up with her kids?" Koyama asks, mumbling, slouching in his chair, "But you're so young. You can't possibly take care of yourself."
"My Mama did."
Koyama frowns, "I'd worry."
Shige perks up, looking at Koyama carefully over the table. "Thanks, but I'm almost six weeks old, so it's not that weird."
"Six.. weeks... old?" Koyama says, blinking like he's confused. "Don't you mean something like six years old? You're a little big for a six year old, but-"
"No, weeks."
Koyama makes a confused face.
"Bunnies are different from humans. We grow up really fast."
"Riiiiiiight," Koyama says, nodding, but the situation still clearly makes no sense to him.
-
It starts to make a little more sense a few weeks later.
Shige doesn't look like such a little kid anymore. His limbs are getting lanky, and almost teenager-like, and he's lost much of his baby fat. He starts having to borrow Koyama's clothes, though pant legs and jacket sleeves all have to be rolled up.
"Um, Shige," Koyama starts one day, "aren't you- isn't this-"
"What?" Shige asks in an exasperated tone.
"... Aren't you growing up... kinda quickly?"
"No."
"B-but..."
"I'm a rabbit," Shige says. "We're not like humans."
"But if you keep aging like this-"
Shige sighs, like he's tired of Koyama's questioning. "You don't trust me much, do you? We age quickly - until we're fully grown - and then it slows."
Koyama smiles and pats his own chest reassuringly. "So, I don't have to worry about you getting old."
Shige laughs. "That's more something I'll have to worry about."
-
In another several weeks, Shige's features mature to their full extent, and he stops growing, settling just a few centimeters shorter than Koyama, though, he's got broader shoulders, a deeper voice, and a face that seems to say that he's seen more than the 20-something-year-old that he appears to be.
Shige's still a strict vegetarian; even just the smell of cooking meat makes him a little sick. Koyama laments that, and will spend minutes on end staring longingly at the meat section in the super market.
"You get lonely if I go out with other people, but I miss yakiniku," Koyama whines.
"I don't get lonely. Who would miss those stupid single lids?" Shige mumbles, but he ducks his head so that Koyama doesn't see him smiling.
-
It's nearly a year they spend together, living together in that little apartment. It should feel crowded, but it doesn't, even when in their exhaustion, they both all asleep on the couch or in Koyama's bed while watching a movie. They're comfortable, and if in the right mood, Shige will show Koyama his real form -- far larger than a normal rabbit, but still soft and serene like the one's people keep for pets -- and let Koyama pet him gently. They don't talk about where Shige should be, or if there's something he's supposed to be doing, and what their friendship means.
-
After his work one day, Koyama comes home to find two young men sitting on his doorstep, looking a little irritated, but not wholly threatening.
"Can... I help you?"
"You're Koyama?" The one asks, and Koyama nods.
"Where is Shige?" The other shouts. "What did you do with him?!"
Koyama isn't going to directly ask them, but he's pretty sure they must have to do with Shige's rabbit spirit thing, because no one else has ever come asking around for Shige.
"Oh, um. I'll call him. Please come in," Koyama says, ever courteous, and opens the door.
The two glare at Koyama, ignoring the tea he gives them, for the next 20 minutes, while Shige hurries home early from helping out a small-lot farmer in the area.
The door clicks open, and Shige calls out, "What's the emergency, Koyama?"
The two practically fall out of their chairs, scrambling over each other and the hardwood floor to get to the entry way.
"Shige, Shige!" Koyama hears them both whining, and he follows after them.
They're both hugging Shige -- one from the back, the other from the front -- grinning and talking a mile-a-minute, and Shige just looks like he's in shock, shoes half off.
"Momma will be so happy!"
"You're coming home with us, right?"
"Shige?" Koyama asks, and it breaks him out of his stupor.
"Oh, Koyama." Shige tugs at their arms, but neither want to let him go. "Um. These... are my brothers. Yuuya and Taisuke."
-
It takes another 15 minutes for them to make their way into the living room, one brother on each side of Shige, holding his arms and still looking at Koyama with untrusting eyes.
"Momma was so distraught when you were lost," Taisuke says. "She had been wanting to send you to the temple, to learn the old magics. She was sure you could have passed all the tests."
"I suppose that wasn't my fate then."
"Once we were old enough, we started looking for you." Tegoshi squeezes Shige's hand in his. "We knew you'd be alive. You're too smart to get yourself killed."
"Get your things, and we'll go back to the other side of the door."
For the first time in a bit, Shige looks up and meets Koyama's eyes.
"What's going on?" Koyama asks.
Taisuke sits up straighter. "Stay out of it, human."
Koyama recoils a bit, looking like he was physically hit, eyes wide and mouth slack.
"Taisuke," Shige snaps, though he looks quite unapologetic. "His name is Koyama, and he's the only reason I'm still alive. Behave."
"We've come to take Shige home," Yuuya says. "To the other side of the door, where spirits like us are supposed to live."
Koyama makes some unintelligible noises, like he's trying to come up with some form of argument on why Shige shouldn't go, why this is the home and why it would be unfair to take him away. It doesn't happen though.
"Get your things," Taisuke says again, poking Shige in the side.
"It's not that easy," Shige whispers. "I've been here so long... this feels like home."
Tegoshi starts trembling. "Do you remember the other side?"
"A little. Like fragments of a dream."
Tegoshi bites his lip and buries his face in Shige's shoulder.
Taisuke turns his eyes, angry and judging towards Koyama. "This is your fault. You held him here instead of letting him find his way home!"
"I only-"
"I would been eaten by the Aobozu if Koyama hadn't come along."
"You should have let him go," Taisuke shouts.
"I'm sorry," Koyama says, thinking that maybe, his anger is just a cover for how devastated the family was over losing Shige. "I tried, but...."
"Please come home with us, Shige," Yuuya mutters, still holding tightly onto Shige.
"It's not that easy for me." Shige tugs Yuuya away, enough to get a good look at him. "I'm glad everyone is safe, but things are more complicated for me."
The air is quiet and tense for a long time -- Koyama worrying that he's going to lose this little rabbit that's become such a part of his life, the younger brothers not wanting to lose their brother again, and Shige, torn between his two homes.
"Think about it," Taisuke finally says, standing and pulling at Yuuya's sleeves. "We'll go now."
Koyama doesn't sleep well that night, and he doesn't think Shige does either.
-
Shige seems to isolate himself, spending a lot of time outside the apartment, and Koyama catches glimpses of him several times praying at their local temple. He wants to help, but feels like there's nothing he can do but wait for Shige to make a decision for himself.
And, that decision is made painfully clear when Koyama comes home one afternoon to find Shige packing a few of his things into a backpack.
"A-are you going somewhere?" Koyama asks, in a whispers, even though he already knows the answer.
Shige stops and looks guiltily over his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize."
"You're going to take this personally though. I know you," Shige sighs. "But... I need to remember who I am, at least a little bit. I think... I've been tricking myself. That because this is where I am, I'm supposed to be human. But, I'm not. I'm a rabbit."
"I know you're a rabbit," Koyama mumbles, slouching against the wall.
"I'm not going to stay long. I don't think I'll be well welcomed anyways."
"I'm going to be lonely."
Shige picks up his bag. "I know, but I need to do this. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."
Koyama bites his lip and pulls Shige, who complains about it, into a tight hug. It's a little odd to think that in barely 18 months, the little rabbit he found is all grown and setting off on his own for a bit, and Koyama thinks this is probably what his own mother felt when he moved out of the family home.
-
At first, it's tough without Shige.
The apartment feels hopelessly large, and there's no one to talk to anymore after coming home from work. Even knowing that he can cook meat in the apartment again does nothing to assuage his loneliness, because he finds he's lost the taste for it.
After a time though, Koyama gets used to it, and presses on his life.
He gets a better job with a travel agency, and even though he could afford to move close to the office and into a better building, he's loathe to, because in the back of his mind, he remembers that Shige said he'd only be gone for a little. And, it would be devastating for him to return and have Koyama inexplicably gone.
So, Koyama deals with the poor upkeep and wakes up early everyday so he can get to work everything, and in the evening, rushes home, because he never knows when he'll come home to find Shige sitting on the curb outside his building.
With everyday that passes, Koyama worries that maybe, something happened on the other side of that door that kept being mentioned. Maybe Shige got hurt, or fell in love with a girl bunny, or couldn't bear to say goodbye to his family. The last one always hurts Koyama the most, because he feels like Shige's family, and doesn't want to be thought of as second-best.
He's thought so much about what's taking Shige so long, and what it'll be like when he finally comes back, that it's almost surreal the day it actually happens.
It's raining, and Koyama's rushing back from the station, trying to avoid the big, dirty puddles that are forming in the potholes. He cuts through the local temple, stepping carefully over exposed roots, and when he looks up, comes to an immediate stop, eyes fixed on the young man by the offery box with such a familiar frame and stance. Koyama nearly drops his briefcase.
He shouts out, in a choked voice, "Shige?!"
And, when the young man turns, it is Shige, looking more mature and not dressed in Koyama's hand-me-downs.
It's like something out of a cliche movie -- an unexpected reunion in the place where they first met.
Shige smiles and takes a step towards Koyama, the rain wicking off him like it knows it's not allowed to make him wet.
omake
"The basic magics came back to me quickly enough, and after that, building up to the intermediate and advanced magics is a piece of cake."
Koyama laughs, his tea sloshing around in the mug. "So, you're still a bunny prodigy."
Shige nods. "But, everyone complained constantly that I smelled like a human."
"I bet that's my fault."
"It's this world's fault."
"... Will you be okay? You won't forget everything again, will you?"
"Speaking of that, I'll have a real job this time around, so let's get a nicer place where I can have my own room. And closer to Tokyo, too."
Koyama cocks his head. "A real job?"
"I got a gig with a couple of other spirits in Asakusa doing purifications and exorcisms, stuff like that. It'll keep me in touch with the other side of the door, so I won't forget anything."
Koyama smiles, thinking about having a full-sized kitchen, and how a place only feels like home when Shige is in it too.