~𝒮𝒾𝓁𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 ~ [A KNY x Reader/OC Story]

Rumors

Hello! Thank you for clicking on this stupid little story, it means a lot!
Because I've gotten some questions about it, I wanted to clarify right at the start that the character you meet in this chapter IS NOT the main character, Y/N is introduced in the next few chapters :)
Hope that helps!
-PiperHawk

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Dawn.

The small mountainside village of Mishino was waking, the first of many townspeople drearily spilling onto the street to do their morning errands. Shutters opened and doors cracked. Neighbors waved from their windows and porches. Children scurried between legs and dashed over passing carts. Heavenly scents filled the air as the food stalls started their fires. Bells chimed as a slight breeze moved through the main street, the cool air rushing in from the top of the mountain. Laughter rang out from between the buildings as friends met and families gathered.

It was a normal day in a normal town. Every morning began the same way, with the same people and the same sounds and the same smells. Everyone knew everyone, and that's how they liked it. However, normality can be profoundly fragile.

So it was when 24 year old Kodai Hagiwara bid his mother and sister goodbye, setting out for the village market. Every morning, he went to get fresh fish for dinner and a bottle of sake for him and his mother to share. He had other things to buy, of course, like feed for his chickens and a gift for his sister's birthday, but he never strayed far from his path or stayed longer than necessary. Routine was what kept them happy and safe, after all. Of course, that would all change soon with the addition of his soon-to-be wife. He smiled to himself as he thought of her, making his way down the rocky path. She had agreed to live with them as he was the only caretaker for his aging mother and child sister. Kodai could hardly wait for the quickly approaching day in which he would finally have a companion of his own to talk to and laugh with. That did mean he would have to buy more food everyday, but he could push that aside for her. Heck, he would do basically anything for her.

Anything, that is, except sing. It wasn't that he hated singing or hated music. In fact, he loved both of those things, especially the songs that his mother would sing for him when he was young. No, he refused to sing because it would essentially blow his eardrums out. Kodai had always had exceptional hearing, much more than the average person. He was even able to pick up on people's breathing from, say, 20-30 meters away. No one knew why he could hear what he could, but it had it's uses, such as telling when his sister was on her way home or which way that one mangy chicken had run off.

Or, say, if a girl liked him by the way her heartbeat picked up. That one had definitely come in handy once or twice.

The path soon opened up onto a side street on the edge of town. Winding through the buildings, each getting taller as he neared the city center, the salty smells of cooked fish and miso soup hit his nose. Kodai picked up his pace, eager to reach the market soon. A few acquaintances nodded their heads as he passed, greeting each other with familiar smiles and jokes. Soon enough, he turned the corner onto the main street, making a bee-line for the fish and seaweed stalls. The traveling traders came in cycles, a new group each day. His eagerness today was largely because of one trader, a stout older man named Taisei.

Taisei had been bringing fish to the village twice a month for as long as Kodai could remember. His father had befriended the man in his own youth, and had introduced a young Kodai to him as soon as he was old enough to go to the market. He didn't know much about his personal life, or if 'Taisei' was even his real name, but he quickly grew attached nonetheless. Taisei had become something like a mentor for Kodai, and- even though they only saw each other once every 15 days or so- had taught him everything he knew about trade, business and, well, fish. The older man had even taken on a fatherly position for Kodai when his father had passed away early in his teenage years. Put simply, Kodai was as ecstatic to see him as always.