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KAZUHA
The difference between Tomo and my own musical skill was almost comedic. Actually, it was comedic. Tomo glared at me as I tried to muffle my giggling. Considering I am an anemo user, how much I was struggling to breathe was embarrassing.
Taking some of my weight off my friend, I put my hand on his.
“If you’re struggling to keep a consistent rhythm, try tapping your feet. Although that may disturb Ryuka.” I said.
Ryuka purred upon the mention of her own name. Tomo gave her a small pat. After a short moment where the only things you could hear were distant villages, the rustling of the wind drifting through the leaves, the splashing of the sea and our breathing, Ryuka settled back down. I reached out a hand to smooth her.
After a few minutes, I removed my hand and continued resting on Tomo. I could feel his shoulder blade moving to play his drumalongs. He had straightened out his legs a bit so his feet were soaked in the water below. The sound of his drums filled the air. This time more on time than before.
Ryuka stretched her legs a little before sitting between us and making herself comfortable. I gave Ryuka a light pet.
After a few hours of playing with occasional pointers from myself, Tomo had improved. I summoned a light gust of wind to blow a leaf from a nearby tree towards myself. Raising it to my lips, I blew out a gentle tune to the time of Tomo’s drumalongs. He made brief eye contact with me and smiled softly.
This was nice. The moment seemed to go on forever. I didn’t mind.
RYUKA
All I could see were sharp purple fingers clawing through the air. They glowed with power and curled around each other, plummeting to the ground and towards my Tomo. I couldn’t tell if something was wrong. Those enchanting lilac sparks–Tomo used to play with them all the time. They would dance around his fingertips and sometimes parade in small circles, daring him to try and catch them. I touched them once. It was horrifying. They ran through my entire body and my fur shot outwards. It made my whole body tingle. Tomo only laughed.
Slowly my eyes adjusted to the divine brightness, and through the purple mist, a figure stood. She was raising her hand elegantly, fixing her gaze on my Tomo. Purple ribbons of hair fluttered gracefully behind her slim body, flying with the wind and escaping the fixed plait that was barely there any longer. A blinding burst of light tore through the woman’s eyes, leaving everything she gazed at with a lavender-coloured aroma. Her fingers twined downwards, demanding the sky to obey.
Tomo looked up with emotions I couldn’t understand. He didn’t move. Instead, he watched the glow slice through the air before him, tensing up, clenching his fists, tightening his jaw.
I didn’t know what my Tomo felt in those moments. But what I could tell was that the woman didn’t feel what he did. She relaxed her arm, which was limply pointing downwards, and the sides of her lips curled into a trait of pleasure.
I felt a knotting sensation in my chest, and before I knew it, a shriek of repent burst out from my mouth. My jaw split open, releasing a sound of anguish similar to that of a long, thin rip in a sheet of silk. The purple glow dimmed and the woman’s head turned to me, looking at me directly in the eyes. I could feel my skin crawl like she was slowly brushing my fur the wrong way. Then she turned sharply, the lingering fear in the sky subsided, and the wind slowed.
My Tomo was no longer there.
I cautiously padded my way across the tattered land, scarred with shoots of blazing flames and damaged with burns that spread in patterns throughout the grass. My Tomo was still gone. Where had my Tomo gone? As if to answer my question, a light breeze kissed my face, carrying miniscule specks of dust with its path. My head bent downward, observing the mess which was somehow so unlike the rest.
A slight mauve spark called out to me from beneath the grey. It reached out, telling me to free it. I found myself clawing at the ground, brushing away the strange substance from atop the dying light. I uncovered a circular jewel. It looked like the one Tomo always wore, except it had no colour. It was merely blank. Uninteresting. The last glimmer of light emerged from the trinket, desperately flying upwards. It caught my nose, causing me to sneeze.
My ears strained and pulled away from each other. They bent backwards, turning to an ugly muffled sound behind me. Maybe that was Tomo. Eagerly, I stood and turned around to face the human noises. But it was not my Tomo.
I did not know this one very well. But I liked him. He smelled like Tomo, so he was trustworthy. I observed him for a while. That’s when I noticed tears were relentlessly streaming down his cheeks. My heart sank a little at the state of him. The human staggered forward slightly, eyes fixed open, staring at the pile of dust in front of me.
“Where is Tomo?” I asked.
His gaze fell on me, and he leaned downwards slightly, laying out his arms and inviting me to jump into them. I did not move.
“Where is my Tomo?” I yowled again.
The human fell. He smoothed out his hands against the dust, watching it fly about in the air. Then he reached for the amulet. Bandaged fingers wrapped slowly around the object as he moved it closer to his face. He shut his eyes tightly, forcing out the last of his tears, and pressing the lifeless device to his bleeding forehead.
I let my paws lead me towards the man who was much like my Tomo. Tomo always smiled when I cleaned him. He needed cleaning a lot. So why not clean this human?
I poked a little bit of my pink tongue out of my mouth, then stretched it and leaned into the man’s arm. A small red patch was noticeable on his porcelain skin, and I instinctively started grooming there. He noticed, but did not smile. Instead, he pulled me into his arms and held me very tightly, which I normally would have fought, but he looked too upset to be tampered with. So I slowly blinked at him, tilting my head as a sign of affection, and pawing my way deeper into his chest.
RYUKA
I slipped in slowly through the catflap for the fifth time that day. It felt like a punishment being forced to wander back to this abandoned place. I curled up sitffly and wrapped my tail around my body until I felt safe. My Tomo’s smell was gone. The only place where the fragrance of herbs and ash still lingered was atop his favourite chair, and I wasn’t allowed to sit on it. So instead I lay next to it, pressing my weight onto the side of the feather-filled seat.
Rhythmic patting made its way across the floor in fast scuttles. I spotted a long pink tail slink around the corner. I was hungry–My Tomo wasn’t there to feed me. But I could not get up to catch this imposter. Instead I lay back and shut my eyes.
A small rumble started in my chest. Soon it was vibrating softly throughout my whole body. It calmed me a little. The sounds of nature seeped in through the window, and golden sunlight highlighted the dust which had gathered inconspicuously over the days.
A slight noise from outside rippled through the air. I sharply lifted one eyelid, perked my ears up a little, and silenced my purring. More sounds.
“Look, I’ll get the cat for you– just don’t go in there. For Archon's sake, Kazuha, get back here, please!”
Outside the window a mixture of yellow, red and black hovered behind another human, trying to pull it back with him, but the other person refused. As they approached I recognised the unique white hair embroidered with layers of amber and sparkling flaming eyes that only Kaedehara Kazuha owned. He whispered something to the other man, whom I did not recognise, and firmly pushed open my front door.
I sprung to my feet and watched him eagerly as he approached. The human avoided looking at anything, keeping his head bent and eyes averted. He seemed troubled merely by his surroundings. I didn’t like it.
I weakly padded into the hallway, observing him as he traced his palm along the stairs bannister. I tried to muster a small ‘mew’ but my body refused to cooperate due to lack of food. The man slowly spun around, his eyes weary and scared, then he noticed it was me, and softened his gaze a little.
“Have you seen Tomo?” I coaxed.
Kazuha smiled slightly and kneeled down, wiping a tear from his cheek again.
“Hello, Ryuka.” The human muttered quietly. Then he scooped me up and carried me away with him.
It felt nice being held again. I actually had a nice reason to purr now. As Kazuha led me towards the other man, I realised I had seen him before. He was often with Kamisato Ayato–who was also a friend of Tomo’s.
“Thoma,” Kazuha whispered. I jumped, immediately opening my eyes. Tomo?
But no, Tomo was still not there. Why did he leave me alone? The white haired man looked down at me again, and patted my head lightly realising I had been startled. Then he pressed his mouth together tightly. He said something slowly to the other human, but I could not hear over the comforting sound of vibration.
I thought I was beginning to quite like this human. Maybe he could keep me safe while Tomo found his way back home.
The human wearing the black headband looked a bit concerned for Kazuha. He kept saying something to him and Kazuha kept saying something back, but I wasn’t really paying attention because I had seen a pigeon nesting in a tree not far off. I wanted to catch it but my legs felt too unsteady. And last time I gave Tomo a bird he shrieked and kicked it across the living room. Actually, as I recall, Kazuha was there. He wheezed at Tomo and threw the bird out for him.
Yes. Kazuha was friend. My new friend tightened his grip and nodded his head firmly. The other man just sighed and led him away from the house. The pigeon was still staring at me, and I stared back at it, until I found myself drifting to sleep again.
KAZUHA
Unlike myself, Tomo owned a house. Well- before his death he did. And unlike myself, he also owned a cat. A cat who now had nobody to look after her. I decided that it was best to find someone to look after her.
Thoma was quite good with animals- as shown by how well he got along with Taorumaru. So I decided to find him and offer him a cat. A cat who I did not know the location of. The only places I could think of where Ryuka might be was in Tomo’s old house and by his death scene.
It was probably best to ask Thoma if he even wanted a cat in the first place.
***
It had been a while since I had been at the Kamisato estate. Hastily, I walked to the gate. I looked through to find the nearest member of staff; the nearest one just so happened to be the one I was looking for.
“Thoma!” I called out, “It’s been a while.”
“Oh hey Kazuha! Did you need anything?”
My eyes teared up slightly as I thought about what to say next. It wasn’t exactly easy to explain without mentioning my recently deceased friend.
“You know how Tomo died recently?”
Thoma nodded solemnly.
“Well, he had a cat that needs looking after. Would you like her? Her name is Ryuka.”
Thoma sighed.
“I was worried that you were going to do something reckless like going after the Shogun for revenge. Of course I’ll look after her! Where is she?”
I was relieved to hear Thoma’s enthusiasm to look after Ryuka. She was quite a spoiled cat so for her to become a stray would take some time to get used to.
“She’s probably near Tomo’s house.” I explained.
“Lead the way!”
And that’s what I did.
***
The house which my friend used to live in stood in front of us. The house which I visited so often. The house I was invited to stay in but denied. I had so many good memories of that house- of Tomo and Ryuka that it hurt. It hurt knowing that I’d never approach it again after this. It hurt knowing that I’d never see Tomo’s excitement as he saw me. All of a sudden, it felt as if the masterless vision on my back had become heavier.
Thoma must have been able to tell I was upset. I started walking towards the door.
“Look, I’ll get the cat for you– just don’t go in there. For Archon's sake, Kazuha, get back here, please!” He said to me.
I smiled, though my vision was blurry and Thoma couldn’t see.
“Do not worry about me. I’ll get her.”
Thoma tried to stop me, though he wasn’t able to. I was already at the door.
I tugged on the door handle. The door didn’t open. It was locked. Of course it was. To top it all off, the key was cut to pieces when the Raiden Shogun used the muzou no hatchi on Tomo. The good news was that Ryuka was inside. I could hear her gentle purring.
“Thoma, may I borrow your polearm for a moment?”
Confused, Thoma gave me the weapon.
I inserted the point into the lock and twisted it. The door should be unlocked now. I handed the polearm back to Thoma. I gave the door a firm shove and it swung wide open, the hinges creaking concerningly loudly.
I looked to the floor. Everything was so familiar. But every familiar thing was attached to a bad memory. Every familiar thing reminded me of watching my friend turn to nothing but a pile of ashes and a vision.
The only thing leading me to Ryuka was the sound of her breathing. I refused to look up. I couldn’t look up. It was all too painful.
I stubbed my toe on a stair. I would usually be hurt by this but the pain of death drowned the physical pain of a stubbed toe out. I rest my hand on the banister.
Ryuka approached. I was too distracted by my thoughts to look at her. She let out a smal, muted mew to get my attention. I turned to look at her. Ryuka meowed at me once more.
I smiled. Bending my knees until I was squatting low to the ground.
“Hello Ryuka,” I said.
I scooped up her frail body and gave her a smooth.
Ah. I was taking a while, wasn’t I? Thoma was probably still waiting outside. I turned and made my way to the door, still refusing to acknowledge my surroundings. My whole attention was fixed on Ryuka. She purred.
“Thoma,” I greeted, my voice nothing more than a whisper.
Ryuka clearly made the same mistake the author made in mistaking Thoma for Tomo’s name. She jumped in my arms. Poor cat.
I lightly petted her head. I recall Tomo telling me that Ryuka wants near constant attention, as long as it wasn’t too much attention.
“Actually, I’ll keep Ryuka.” I said, “Sorry for troubling you to come find her with me.”
I knew it wasn’t the healthiest to desperately cling onto the past. I had to move on eventually. Ryuka needed an owner though. Whilst Thoma could take on this position, I was a lot closer to her. She is all I have left of Tomo. No. I wouldn’t attach her to the memory of Tomo. She was her own individual, not just some remnant of my friend.
Thoma looked at me with concern.
“Are you sure? About keeping the cat, I mean. You’re still getting over Tomo’s death aren’t you?”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“If you’re sure… and, there’s no need to worry about troubling me. We’re friends, aren’t we?”
I nodded.
Ryuka moved slightly. I could hear a bird behind us, she was probably looking at that.
“Come on, let’s get back to the Kamisato estate, I’ll treat you to some tea!” Thoma said enthusiastically.
For the nth time that day, I wiped my tears.
“Let’s go.”
I tightened my hold on Ryuka and followed Thoma back.