Trails of intertwined stars: Chapter 30

~Chapter 1: The Oiwa's~

The two got off at their stop, following behind a short old lady, dressed formally. Tokumei stepped off first, holding no bags; whereas Zero followed with two bags in hand, and a backpack restricting his wings slightly.
"Why are we here?" Zero frowned.
Tokumei did not respond immediately, too busy reading the station sign under his breath; scanning over each platform. His finger stopped at Kushiro, so that must have been where they were.
"We're staying with some people," Tokumei responded.
"Why?"
Tokumei did not respond, the boy walked off into the station; the entity following behind slightly irritated. The station was small, only one room. Nobody was present at the reception desk, and there was very few people at the waiting area. The floor's were a strange browny-tiled pattern; and the walls were painted a medicinal green. Zero grimaced. Tokumei stopped, his gaze landing on two people; who stared at the floor, bored out of their minds.
"That's who we're staying with," Tokumei stated.
Both adults seemed in their fifties, and opposite to each other. The man was skinny, with stubble and his hair tied into a small ponytail; with a maroon bandana upon it. His clothes were the same shade of navy blue, with his shorts rolled up; wearing sandals. The woman, drifting asleep beside him, was much chubbier. Her hazel hair was styled into a messy pixie-cut; wearing a loose orange t-shirt and an emerald skirt.

The man glanced up, a smile pulling onto his features as he stood; tapping his wife awake.
"Oh, here he is."
The woman gasped, waking up; standing up with a smile and wave as though she wasn't tired.
"Zero."
Zero blushed at the call of his name, the boy pushing him forward with a smirk for the entity to introduce himself to the couple. Clearly the boy was already well acquainted with them, since they hardly seemed to notice him.
"I'm Zero Voidsoul," Zero introduced, a blush still creeping on his features as he glanced back at Tokumei for support," I hope I'm not too much trouble. Thank you for having me."
The woman seemed quite taken aback by his politeness, yet the man was barely fazed. She hummed, a smile regaining onto her features.
"It's our pleasure. I'm Setsu Oiwa and my husband is Kiyomasa Oiwa."
Zero blushed, nodding again. The sense of feeling socially awkward seemed to burden him.
"Here," Kiyomasa laughed, grabbing the two bags off the entity before Zero could argue otherwise," We'll go ahead and put this in the car."
Zero nodded, Kiyomasa and Tokumei walking ahead; whilst Setsu tried to hang back with Zero and create some form of small talk. Zero had noticed that Kiyomasa and Tokumei didn't exactly speak, they just seemed to enjoy each other's company silently. It was bizarre.
Stationed in front of Kissakibetsu, the train station, was a box-like red car. The paint seemed to peel off and mud gathered at the bottom of it, even though its engine wasn't on; the entity already could guess its noise.
"Hop in," Kiyomasa hummed, opening the door for the two," Sorry it's a bit of a clunker."

The car drove out into the slightly busier road, the quaint village with scarce shops was slightly attractive in a remote way. Zero and Tokumei sat at the back of the car, cramped between boxes of shopping and random items. Somehow, Tokumei wasn't fazed by it, and continued to stare out at the village. Kiyomasa sat at the front, driving; Setsu beside him, shopping on top of her lap. She glanced back, an awkward smirk on her features.
"Sorry, it's a bit cramped in here."
Zero shook his head," I don't mind at all..."
Kiyomasa whistled, looking out of the window," This area's changed since I was last here. All these new shops."
Setsu hummed," Where we're headed is a nice, relaxing place."
The car rumbled out of the highway, down a remote path with no cars at all.
"Ugh," Kiyomasa sighed, tapping the wheel slightly as he drove," Ever since that highway was built, less people stopped coming here. Actually, most people in the Devildom don't even know this place."
The car drove over a bridge, the stream of sea was gorgeous; a few boats perched at the foot. Zero stared out entranced, more sea coming into view. It was rudely interrupted by the car bouncing, a box bursting open and a melon landing in his hands.
Kiyomasa groaned," They still haven't fixed that pothole!?"
Setsu burst into a cackle of laughter, clearly amused by her husband's puzzlement.

"Anyway, the air here is great. It'll fix you up in no time," Setsu sighed, wiping tears away from her eyes.
The car accelerated forward, the sea much closer than before. Zero felt his gaze shift to Tokumei, the boy still staring out at the scenes almost lost in a foggy dream.
"Nice place, huh?" Kiyomasa hummed, glancing at Zero for approval.
Zero frowned, looking forward, something catching his eye in the distance.
"What's that over there?"
Both adults leaned forward, trying to catch sight of what the entity was talking about. On the cliff was an abandoned tower, it's stone weathered and mossy.
"Ohhh, that's a silo. It's for storing feed for livestock. Hasn't been used for decades, though. Now the village kids use it for dares."
Zero couldn't help but stare at it, hardly noticing Kiyomasa's evil smirk and chuckle.
"They say there are ghosts there~!"
Setsu groaned, slapping him playfully," Dear, please! Sorry, he loves stories like that."
"Anyway, best to stay away from there."
Tokumei stared out of the window, watching as three boys ran out of a post office; laughing mischievously. Zero couldn't help but notice how his gaze seemed sad. In the distance was a house, set in front of a plot of forest trees. The house was upon a hill, the road on the hill, yet surrounded by grass.
"Look," Kiyomasa hummed," That's our house over there."