the owl's wish

chapter 1: once upon a time

At this moment, there are three things that Bokuto is absolutely, totally, completely sure about.

1. His name is Bokuto Koutarou.

2. His memory has almost entirely disappeared.

3. The stranger standing over him had seen him fall out of the tree.

The third thing is the most concerning.

Bokuto wonders, briefly, if he can just lie back and pretend he is just relaxing. But no, one of his wings is crooked at too odd an angle to be comfortable. Tangerines are scattered around him, vibrant against the soft grass and red leaves. One of them has rolled to a stop by the stranger's shoe.

They speak at the same time.

"Are you alright?"

"Do you want a tangerine?"

Now that Bokuto is looking up at the stranger's face, he can see the other boy blink slowly in response to this. He doesn't look as old as Bokuto had expected. His face is round and smooth. His shoes had been so strange and serious, though. Dark and neat and only slightly scuffed. They had looked like old person shoes. Bokuto squints back up at the boy just to be sure.

"What?" He says, and he is definitely not an old man. Even if he is bundled up under a thick cloak like one. And giving Bokuto a weird squinty expression he doesn't know how to place.

"Do you want a tangerine?" Bokuto pushes himself up onto his elbows.

The boy contemplates the orange fruit near his foot.

"Okay," He says, after a while, folding his knees to kneel in front of Bokuto. "But are you alright? I saw you fall. You shouldn't try to carry so many tangerines at once. Are you hurt?"

"Nope! I'm okay," Bokuto hands the boy a tangerine. As he reaches to take it, something flashes on his sleeve. "Woah, what's that?"

The boy frowns, looking from Bokuto to his sleeve then back again.

"A button?" His lips make a flat line for a while before he asks. "Are you from the countryside?"

"Maybe," Bokuto shrugs, peeling a second tangerine for himself. "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I can't remember!"

"You can't remember where you are from?" The boy pauses, pulling at the tangerine peel thoughtfully. "Can you remember falling out of the tree?"

"Yeah! I can remember lots of other stuff too! Just not. Way, way back."

"Do you remember your name?"

Bokuto nods vehemently. "Bokuto Koutarou! What's yours?"

"Akaashi Keiji," The boy, Akaashi, responds casually. "Do you remember your parent's names?"

Bokuto shakes his head, popping a piece of tangerine into his mouth.

"Do you remember their faces?"

Bokuto shakes his head again.

"Do you remember how old you are?"

"Yeah! I'm thirteen," Bokuto says, then, because he has to know: "How old are you?"

"Twelve," Akaashi answers, decidedly not noticing the smug look Bokuto shoots at him. "Is there anything else you can remember?"

"I can remember when I knew more than I know now, so now I know that now I don't know everything that I knew then. Wait, I'm confused, let me restart. I know for sure that at one point I knew things that I don't know now. Wait, no." Bokuto scrunches up his face.

"So you forgot something."

"Yeah!" Bokuto beams, then frowns. "I think I was looking for something..."

"Tangerines?" Akaashi offers, and Bokuto can't tell if he's joking.

"No! Well, yes, but also something else..."

Akaashi waits patiently as Bokuto mulls it over. His eyes idly track over the dark, rustling trees, their leaves fluttering gently to the ground. A white butterfly flits lazily over the curling red spider lilies. The sun crests in the center of the sky, highlighting everything in a gentle golden glow. It settles in the folds of Bokuto's kimono and catches in the green of Akaashi's eyes. Akaashi is gathering their tangerine peels in his hands when Bokuto snaps his fingers.

"Oh! I know! I was gonna go to the Lady of the Yellow Springs! Wanna come with me?"

"Yellow springs?" Akaashi's eyebrows furrow and his hood tilts to the side.

"No!" Bokuto waves his hands wildly. "Well, I mean like, yeah! Probably! But I'm sure it's way prettier than it sounds!"

"To be honest, the physical appearance is the least of my concerns." Akaashi says this slowly, meticulously picking through his words. "I've never heard of anywhere with yellow springs, let alone the lady who lives there."

"Don't be concerned, Akaashi!" Bokuto grins."It's going to be awesome! I heard she's super pretty and nice and kind! And! She can grant wishes!"

Even Bokuto can tell this gives Akaashi pause. The boy glances up at the clouds, but his eyes are lost somewhere far more distant. Bokuto's wings rustle impatiently.

"You should come with me! Even you have to have a wish."

"I don't know," Akaashi is looking at the tangerine peels, now. "I've read stories about wishes. They never seem to end well. People always wish for the wrong thing."

"We won't, though, Akaashi! We'll have lots of time to think about it on the way!" Bokuto gets to his feet and offers Akaashi his hand. "C'mon! Come with me! Please, Akaashi? It's not like you have anything better to do."

Akaashi allows himself to be pulled to his feet.

"No," He says, so softly Bokuto almost misses it. "No, I suppose I don't."