The Doll Maker

Prologue

Kunikuzushi was sad, angry, distressed.... He lacked the necessary knowledge to identify the weird feeling in his chest. 'Is this how humans feel? I don't like this feeling at all. The weird water is coming out of my eyes again... This was why Ei hated me! Why was I a failure? A disgrace! Why did he betray me? Did he... not like me? Did he LIE to me? Why did he leave me?'

As Kuni drowned in his negative emotions, he had unconsciously walked a long distance. The number of humans pointing at him whilst screaming was annoying.

Kuni frowned, feeling extremely irritated, and looked around. "Oh.", he had been walking underwater for some time. It was no longer a surprise why they had started screaming. After all, Niwa had mentioned that humans needed to breathe constantly.

Kunikuzushi waited patiently for night time to come so that the humans would go away. He didn't need attention on him after all. The humans' constant stares sobered him from his derailing thoughts. 'What to do now? Niwa's blacksmith village should be nearby.'

He sat among the seaweeds and braided them patiently. The humans stood for a few more hours, bowed and screamed whenever he moved and left a few items. 'Humans are so strange.' He thought to himself as he picked the black and purple haori the humans left for him as well as some fruits.

From the seams, he could tell it was quickly made. He could fix it on his own if he had a sewing kit with him. After all, he was the one who took care of the sick child all by himself. He wrapped up the fruits and his doll in the haori and carried it with him underwater.

He slowly combed through the depths of the sea, looking for a familiar environment. 'Ah! Isn't that the electro barrier he set up before? Then it must be in that direction.' Kunikuzushi grasped the items in his hands tightly and began sprinting. Tears of joy dripped down his face as he ran to the place he once knew well.

'The Tatarigami gas from before came back again.' Kuni thought to himself as he inspected the area. 'My barrier was also weakened and some of the gas was spread outside. I should probably fix the barrier if I'm going to stay here.'

He trailed into the little barracks that once had talented swordsmiths and blacksmiths living in it. "Nagamasa! Wake up! It's almost time to start today!" "Kabukimono, are you ok being so close to the fire?"

"Niwa and Kabukimono are on their usual patrols again!" "Don't hog Kabukimono all to yourself now!" 'The weird water was back', he thought as he wiped his face with his drenched haori. "It's all my fault! Niwa, don't leave me!" Kunikuzushi wept and clung to his clothes in regret. This was made just for him. But the maker would never make another outfit for him.

Kunikuzushi walked into the once-beautiful house Niwa lived in, right in the middle of Tatarasuna. He placed the doll and haori on the table and began cleaning.

'Niwa will definitely come back. He'll come back. He'll come back. He'll come back. He'll never leave me.' But a tiny voice at the back of his mind whispered to him, "But he didn't come back before when we waited for him. Why should he come back now?"

Kunikuzushi knew how to be patient. He would wait for Niwa to come back to their home. Their home. Just him, Niwa and the sick child.

Author's note:
Scara this chapter: Delulu is solulu 😎👍