Birds of a Feather | Soul of Yokai AU

That's Why I Seem So Cheery

"It's here!" Sakuya beamed, "Ahem. Welcome to the location I wanted to see, Nami!"

Sakuya soon gestured to a staircase which was surrounded by large trees. We both walked up the staircase and I soon saw an enormous and tall tree with a shimenawa wrapped around it.

"Woah!" I exclaimed, "This is amazing! No wonder you wanted to go here!"

"Yeah... Do you know what the story is about this tree?" Sakuya asked.

"No, I don't." I smiled, "Could you tell?"

"According to the legend, this particular tree served as a gods' gateway. They utilised it to travel between worlds and grant the wishes of their worshippers. Over time, the gods' strength accumulated here and was transformed into the fruit that grew on the trees. They were full of flavour and were said to be able to cure any illness." Sakuya told, "And back then, people would approach them in bunches in an effort to harvest them to heal their sick relatives that couldn't be healed. The branches, however, are really high up as you can see. So we would have to fly up to grab them for the people." 

"We?" I said, "Oh right, you used to go here. But who was that other person who came?" 

"Karasu." Sakuya answered.

"Really?"

I soon remembered that Karasu wasn't so bad before and that he did everything with Sakuya. But still, it was hard to picture Karasu doing all of that. All I could imagine him as is the bloodthirsty man that had it out for humans.

"Oh right, you did say he used to be a kind person." I responded.

"Yeah..." Sakuya sighed, "He was empathetic and caring, not like the way he is now..."

I soon saw a sadness lurking in Sakuya's eyes.

I looked sympathetically at Sakuya, "Are you alright?"

"I am just wondering..." Sakuya lamented, "Are we able to bring him back to the way he was? I don't want to make myself have to dispose of him again. I want to see my brother that was calm and serene not violent and fierce."

I soon put my hand on Sakuya's shoulder, "I don't know... I would like to think we can. But... whether we actually can is the question..."

Sakuya didn't reply.

We stood there, silent. Whispers of birds and rustling of leaves filled the air.

"Do you..." I took a pause, "Want to go somewhere else?"

"Sure..." Sakuya replied, "Over here."

Sakuya soon led me to a narrow path behind the tree. It had a balcony and you could see off into the distance. The view was gorgeous.

"Wow..." I stared in awe, "I never would have found this by myself!"

"Yeah." Sakuya commented, "The only people who knew about this location were my brother and I. Karasu and I would come here and unwind after getting the fruit for the humans. Well, I would also assist Karasu in cleaning himself."

"Really?" I raised a brow.

"Yeah. I never got my arms and clothing drenched in the fruit juice, although Karasu would frequently do so." Sakuya told.

"How did that happen?" I smirked.

"I don't know." Sakuya reminisced, "That's the thing with my brother, he was always was a mysterious one. I don't really think I'd be able to tell you why, we were just picking out fruit not trying to juice it."

"But it seems you two really helped out the humans." I stated.

"Yeah..." Sakuya replied, "We were quite the team."