lost and found

[haremim]

Hachiko Square, a reminder of a touching story. One that resonates within Yasuharu's heart.

He turns his gaze beside him as he stands behind the statue. Right by his side is none other than his most loyal retainer and friend Ietada, eating his fruit sandwich with mirth glimmering in his eyes. His shiba inu-esque tail wags fast as he takes in the taste of the food, humming in contentment. Such a sight brings a giggle to Yasuharu's lips. "You seem a little too enthusiastic about a sandwich."

As soon as Ietada swallows his portion of his food, he pivots towards the other boy, a wide-eyed grin gracing his face. "Why wouldn't I be? This has strawberries. Strawberries! You know how much I love strawberries!" He starts to laugh, taking steps towards Yasuharu and drawing his smiling expression closer to his. "You're the best, Yasu-sama! This is why I love you so much!"

Yasuharu cannot help but smile softly as he watches Ietada be immersed and joyful about the little things in life. It's silly, but it's also cute. As people, we tend to forget being grateful about the simpler things, and for Yasuharu, Ietada was his reminder to keep doing that, no matter what.

It's also cute, heartwarming even, how much Ietada says those three words so much. I love you. It brings him to look at the statue once more, and recall the story of unwavering faith. And for some reason, he can't help but ask a what-if. "If I were to be gone for years suddenly, would you wait for me regardless, Tada?"

Ietada swallows his next bite of his sandwich before replying. "Well, our lives are bound, and if you die, I do too. So do I even have to wait?"

That's true, though it's not the type of answer Yasuharu was exactly looking for. "But let's say, it's not the case," he says, "If we never had our pact, and that happens, what would you do?"

With that addition, Ietada starts to pause his eating and ruminate, his gray eyes gazing upon the statue as well. If Yasuharu were to be like this dog's owner in the story, what would he do? "I guess I'll be the same as him, right here," he answers as his gaze towards Hachiko turns somber. "If you took that train, I'll be waiting for you everyday, too. And I wouldn't even be able to stop even if you never come back."

Yasuharu looks in worry as the sound of plastic wrapper fills his ears, with Ietada's fingers gripping the sandwich wrap tighter. Then he starts to turn away, his voice higher-pitched. "Nevermind, I hate you, Yasu-sama." He sniffles. "I hate you so much."

"I'm… sorry…"

"I wasn't supposed to be this emotional today, I thought this was a lighthearted date! You've betrayed my trust! I gave you my heart and you shattered it into pieces!"

"I said I'm sorry…" Yasuharu scratches the back of his head, then puts his hand on Ietada's shoulder, prompting him to turn around and look him in the eyes. "Look, what would make you feel better? I can make it up to you."

"I don't… I don't know." Ietada looks down. "Maybe some chocolate treats…?"

"You've got to be kidding me, aren't you a dog?"

"But I'm in human form! I'll be fine when I digest it in human form!" Ietada starts to jump over and over like a frustrated child. "Besides! I'm still here, alive and kicking, even when I ate your Toblerone from the fridge!"

What the—?

"Wait, that was you?"

"Yeah!" For whatever reason, Ietada stops crying in a split second. "See? I'm still here."

Are you serious right now?

"I was kidding by the way. It was Natsumi-sama who did." He points and laughs. "I just love the look on your face! It's so cuteeee!"

You little— okay. Yasuharu sighs as he lets go of Ietada's shoulders, dropping the conversation and instead looking through his bag to check through his phone, checking for their next destination. Yet all of a sudden Ietada starts to tense a little and dig through the bag as well, as if sensing something's wrong.

And there is. Ietada pulls out the three 4KEYNAGI puppets, and one of them is nowhere to be found. And worse, it's Natsuhisa who seems to be missing. "I knew something was up."

Yasuharu starts to shake, the speed of his heartbeat rising. For the love of the kami above, out of anyone, it had to be that puppet. A remembrance of a brother he lost. Though he shakes his head as he tries to lull himself down a little (the pact does help a lot with that regard), his body turns towards the way where he and Ietada were last time.

"That way, I think," he says. "He was still in my bag when we were there."

Ietada sniffs, and nods. "Maybe," he says. "We should check. Maybe you just dropped it. Maybe someone has it and is just trying to look for you."

Hopefully so. Yasuharu nods as well. "Well, we should go. Let's try not to rush, though, as— I just said not to rush. And you've turned into a dog in front of a lot of people here." In the end, he sighs as he trails behind Ietada, his footsteps growing quick as he attempts to catch up with his running dog.

[mermalaide]

Thankfully the day had not been too busy. It was breezy and nice, still teeming with life as Hachiko Square and it's station usually are. The feeling that today had a sense of deja-vu written all over it did not faze Tatsu. As of late, she felt like that a lot. She could not place her finger on it, but she had been in this situation or feeling rather before. A little doll or puppet had seemed to fall in the street near a green area where people liked to gather with street food. Today she wore dress casual clothing for university, and not the big red hakuma pants from the temple.

She knelt down carefully to retrieve it, as people had almost knocked it into a drain. Thankfully it was only a little damaged. Usually, when she saw something discarded on the street, she did not retrieve it. There were always stories about cursed objects, yurei and the like. Which, even in her field, was a big no thanks. She bought a tea, and sat down with the little guy, brushing him off.

"Poor guy.. I wonder who dropped you." She spoke to no one really, and people hustled by. She had a mending kit in her bag and checked him for tears. His arm was a little monched, and so Tatsu sat patching him up. She had some clear thread she used for stockings in a pinch, that stuff was useful! Typically, you could use it to sew stitches on people as well, and this wouldn't be seen, which was nice. It was 'mending silk' even though she was pretty sure there was no silk to it, just polyester.

There was the sound of the chime in the square going off, and the sound of the walk/don't walk, though the park insulated a little bit of it. It was such a cute doll! Maybe a little kid dropped it? She looked around and saw no kids, but about now many of them were either on their way home or somewhere else, likely tutoring. You usually saw business people coming back from lunch. High schoolers weren't usually out, unless they were skipping maybe. She sighed. "well, I could always look around a little before heading back. You never know." An old man feeding pigeons looked at her funny and went on his way.

Tatsu sat drinking a bit o-cha, which came out of the vending machine sweet and cool. She looked up at the breeze blowing through the trees behind the vending machine. Her skirt fell to her knees nicely, and her sweater was light for the day they were having.

[haremim]

Yasuharu pants hard as his steps grow quick, trying to catch up to the swift, running dog. And by god, his time as an idol did not train him well enough for this; he’s not catching up well with Ietada’s speed. It’s true that he opted to put him on a leash, but oh, you know. The guy has the tendency to turn back into his human form out of nowhere. Imagine having a human on a leash out there in public and the assumptions that people could make. Wouldn’t that be a weird thing to witness?

Wait, Yasuharu, why are you thinking about leashes—just follow the damn dog! Yasuharu groans while he continues sprinting, bumping against and making a fool out of himself in front of thousands of people until finally. Oh, thank the kami, finally. Ietada stops in his tracks and starts barking at… a nice young lady sitting down and having tea? What on earth did she do to h—oh? Well there’s the puppet, sitting on the table next to her tea. That’s why. But it’s not good to jump to conclusions right away, right?

“Hey, hey now, calm down, boy,” Yasuharu bends down a little to pat the black shiba inu, attempting to lull him from his wariness. He can’t help but sigh after that; he’s a little relieved that well, at least Ietada didn’t jump at her right away. That’s good, he’s learning restraint.

“Bark! Bark! Bark!” (But she has the puppet! Did she steal it from you or something?! Huh?!)

“Now, now. Just… calm down, alright? I’ll try to talk to her.” After Ietada relents, grumbles and huffs through his nose, Yasuharu straightens his position, approaching the lady and clearing his throat. “E-excuse me, miss. I think that’s mine…” he says, then tilts his head. “Mind if I ask where you found it?”

[mermalaide]

"Oh!" Tatsu was startled a little, she had been lost in her thoughts, mostly stemming from the classes she had. "Sure. I found this on the ground over there. I was hoping to find who it belonged to, but it got a little beat up, so I thought I would take out my kit and fix it." The little sewing kit was in her lap. It looked like a little drawstring purse, and had simple repair things in it. "Would you like me to fix it first?" There was plenty of space on the bench now that people had thinned a little. The old man across the way was still feeding and talking to those pigeons, and they seemed pretty spoiled by the look of it, and fond of him, which was endearing.

"Oh! It's your friend's there?" She motioned to the shibe."It looks like it's well loved." Her expression was kind and quiet. The sounds of birds and breeze moved throughout the little park. She set the puppet down and looked through the little bag to find a thread that wouldn't be seen if she could mend it. "It shouldn't take me too long. I am a quick mender." She had a demeanor that was calm and big sister like. They was a little bit of sadness to her eyes, which were almost silver. Her long black hair, which was curled at the ends was pinned back. "Sorry, I am distracted, which is rude." She looks up and smiled at the two. "I'm Tatsu, Tatsu Soma." She thought about giving out a card for the temple. It was generally how people found help or medicine, but she withheld that for now.

"What's yours?"

[haremim]

Yasuharu is simultaneously relieved and saddened by the woman’s response. It’s frustrating to learn that it was dropped when he and Ietada were strolling around, but it’s also a good thing she found it and seems to be willing to try and fix it. “Yes, of course. Thank you.” Yasuharu nods, giving her permission to mend the small puppet for him.

Normally, he’d return home to ask his aunt Shion to repair it for him, but if there’s an opportunity that doesn’t require him to travel long distances, what’s the reason to say no? Sure, blindly trusting a stranger may not be the best decision. However, his intuition tells him that there is nothing to indicate that he is in danger; this is what he concludes as he watches the woman mend the puppet—calm, sincere, cool like the breeze but warm like the sun.

Which is how he’s able to let his guard down a little as soon as they make their introductions. “A pleasure to meet you, Soma-san. I am Kuroda Yasuharu.” He bows in return, and after that he gazes upon his shiba companion who seems to be sitting down and pouting. “And this is Ietada. He’s a fun, loyal one, but he can be rather… wild…?”

Poof! Two blinks later, the transformation smoke disappears, revealing a young man dressed casually with long indigo hair, sitting on the ground and hugging his folded legs. His gray eyes are fixed on Tatsu and the puppet before squinting. He doesn’t say anything, but he points two fingers in front of his eyes before aiming them at Tatsu and puffing up his cheeks again.

“…And unpredictable, as you can see. Seriously, when will you ever stop transforming out of nowhere?”

[mermalaide]

"It's good to meet you, Kuroda-san."

The sudden transformation got a smile and a laugh from Tatsu. Well, imagine that! "Oh! It's fine, I work at a shrine, we have all kinds there, from little boys who can wield thunder to old grannies who are definitely not what they seem." Her hands were careful and she made sure she was handling the doll with care. It must have been a very favorite doll, so it stood to reason that she would be extra gentle when she mended it. There was a bit of invisible mending to do, tiny stitches in white thread, which would be near impossible to see, unless you pulled the fabric. "It will be okay, Ietada, your friend here wasn't torn badly, it's just a touch worn there. But, we can make it a little stronger, for next time."

"You know Diaso has little mending kits for a yen or two. It might help if there is an emergency."

She seemed to roll the needle between her fingers when she worked. "This place is a hub, you can get to about anything really, and it's usually the safest." Shinsengumi were patrolling a lot more these days, especially with collectors about and the incident with the gaki, although the later had been cleaned up. "That should do it." She tied off the thread before tucking it back into the doll and snipping. Tatsu looked it over one last time and held it out to the pouting man on the ground. "Good as new."