𝖬osiac || 𝖲𝖵𝖳 𝖠𝖴

Boneless (pt. 2)

   The light reflected across the pond.

   With a groan, Seungcheol turned to his side and sighed. Even though the clouds covered away the earth from the light, it still made its way to the ground. As a result, he couldn’t help but sigh as he was sunkissed.

   The vegetables will be on sale today. He thought as he sat up and stretched. Although the morning breeze of winter worked hard to get him back to sleep, he knew he needed to get to the market before it stocked itself with people. So with hazy eyes, he stood up and immediately began to wander back to the village, until, that is, a sudden sound came from behind him.

   Startled, Seungcheol turned back and looked for the sound source. However, all he found behind him was the snow covered forest.

   He shrugged, then set forth once again, the crunching noise of the snow being the melody to his ears. But as he continued walking, he couldn’t help but feel a presence close behind him. And filled with confusion, he turned around and jumped towards the being.

   Seungcheol smiled. “Caught you little-” He paused. Underneath him laid none other than a tanuki (*).

   He frowned, then pushed away the creature. However, as he looked closely he couldn’t help but sigh in relief (**). The being wasn’t a yokai.

   “Stay here, if you follow me you’ll most likely be run over by a rickshaw (***)” He turned around and waved. “I’ll make sure to buy you an apple or something, ok?”

   Seungcheol smiled as he heard the tanuki screech in agreement from behind him. He walked down the path, into a road until he reached a bunch of houses, and waved at a couple of Gran Takahashi’s neighbors whom he knew a bit of. As he reached the market, he was surprised to see it half empty, considering it was already noon. However, the atmosphere was as cheerful as always, with a few housewife’s gossiping on one side, children playing on the other, and some sellers screaming their lungs out about their products. Seunghceol smiled, life in the countryside was and had always been relaxing.

   “Cheol!” A seller called out to him. “Come ‘ere boy!”

   With a smile, he walked up to the stand and slightly bowed. “Good afternoon Mr. Katsuki”

   “Good afternoon to you too boy! Say, the fruits are way cheaper today than yesterday. Would you like to take some?”

   “No thank you, I’ll-” A screech interrupted his sentence. In irritation, Seungcheol turned around and sighed as he saw the tanuki behind him. "..what are you doing here?" He crouched down. "Didn't I tell you it'd be dangerous?"

   "Is that your pet Cheol?"

   "Not at all, just.." He narrowed his eyes as the creature stared back at him. "..a random tanuki I guess"

   He flinched as the tanuki began to rub his head on his leg causing the seller to chuckle. "Doesn't seem like it at all boy!"

   "Right…" He groaned. "I guess I will take an apple or two"

   "Great choice my son!" He said and began to get the bag ready. As the seller did that, Seungcheol facepalmed as the tanuki walked over to the stand. And after buying the apple, he threw it towards the creature and gave him a slight smile.

   "Go home you, if you get run over I'll be sad you know"

   However, his warning was futile. The tanuki had already disappeared into the crowd with an apple in its mouth.

   Seungcheol sighed, then turned around and continued on with his shopping. But as the afternoon began to arrive, fatigue ran all over him. And as he headed back to the woods, he decided it'd be best to leave everything at Gran Takahashi's house.

   That is, until a sudden yell thundered across the field.

   "Cheol!" Said a voice behind him.

   He turned around and was surprised to see Mr. Takuya, a neighbor of Gran Takahashi, run up to him breathlessly. "Good afternoon Mr. Takuya, is there anything I can help you with-"

   "The house!" He yelled. "Gran Takahashi- she-"

   Seungcheol frowned. "She..?"

   He gulped. "Her house! It has been burned!"

   At this, Seungcheol widened his eyes. He immediately dropped his bags and ran all the way up the path. Once he arrived, there was a big fire coloring the view. And yet, the crowd that stood before it just stared and whispered among themselves, not bothering to move an inch to try and stop the fire.

   "What happened?!" He panicked.

   A few ladies beside him shook their heads and looked down as they spoke. "Apparently, the Aizawa Family, those nobles who always ask us for money, got tired of waiting for them to pay back their debt" She sighed. "If we had known they were in such a situation we would've helped them. But..oh well, it's not like they had much to live anyways"

   Her remark made him grit his teeth. "..Where is she?"

   "Hm?"

   He held her shoulders and shook her in place. "Where is Gran Takahashi?!"

   She yelped. "We don't know! The others are looking for her but there's no sign of her or her husband anywhere!"

   At this, Seungcheol pushed her out of the way and walked up to the fire. As the flames began to get bigger, the people around him ran from one place to another with buckets of water. And yet, as they all finally began to calm down the fire, Cheol knew it was too late. The smell of burned meat filled the air.

   As soon as the bright warm colors turned into black, tears began to run down his eyes; his vision was blurred. The pain in his chest increased by the second.

   Suddenly, the sound of a rickshaw was followed by a yelp. And as he turned to his side, his eyes widened.

   The tanuki from earlier was torn in half.
  

[ (*) Tanuki : racoons dog]

[ (**) Why was Cheol relieved?

Well my dear readers, if you search up a painting of a tanuki Yokai you'll see them carrying giant sacks. These are actually their testicles. They help them protect themselves from the rain or even fish by folding them into a net. Quite peculiar ain't it? ]

[ (***) Rickshaw : a cart pulled by a person. This method of transportation has now been banned in many countries and instead, replaced by the cycle or the auto rickshaw. However, the rickshaw tradition has stayed alive in Kyoto and Tokyo’s geisha districts. ]