I Feel You - Gyomei Himejima

Chapter 1

My siblings and I were born to irresponsible parents. All Mom and Dad cared about was having money to purchase their luxury, not leaving anything for us. The food they gave us was scraps from food, the doors kept us locked in the house unable to see the sunlight. The windows were always closed, there was nothing I could do but look out at the sky that I longed to touch.

I once begged for them to let me go to school but all I got was a piercing slap. They yelled, 'It's expensive, you think we have that kind of money?! You're better off here taking care of your siblings!'

It was only a matter of time until my father accidentally left a window open one night and I didn't hesitate to leave despite the blizzard.

"What if Papa gets mad?" My younger sibling, Hami, asked, looking up at me as we walked through the snowy forest. My feet dug through the two-foot-high snow on the ground, giving way for an easy path for Hami to walk through.

"We'll be fine. I'll make sure they never find us." I say pulling her closer to my side. The youngest of us tree was only a few years old, Mito, and I cradled him in my arms tightly. Protecting his small body from the harsh breeze of winter. He grabs unto my collar with his small chubby fingers, nuzzling his head against my left shoulder.

We continued walking until the sun rose, I carried Hami on my back whilst Mito was on my front. The heavy weight I carried didn't register through my brain, with each step I took all I thought was to run away.

Run away.

Keep them safe.

Live.

Early morning, we settled near a river, the sun slowly melting away the snow. Mito has been crying for a while now, saying he's hungry. I need to find food. I silently stride through the forest alone, making sure my footsteps are quiet as I try to search for fruits. As I reached out to grab a piece of apple from a tree, a noise from a bush caught my attention. I immediately turned and saw it was a little girl carrying a basket of herbs.

I raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing?" I ask as I grab the apple and then stuff it in the pockets of my cloak. Climbing down from the branch.

"Hello!" She greets me brightly.

"We're out in a forest. Some bears roam around here." I warn, squatting down to her eye level.

"I know, there's one right behind you, but Mister Gyomei protects us!"

I gasp and turn around, seeing the two-foot-tall bear slash its claws as big as my head at me. I managed to catch its claws in mid-air with my two hands, trying to push the monstrous creature back.

"RUN!" I yelled at the little girl.

The bear pulled its hand back and lunged its entire body at me. I didn't have time to dodge and it rammed me against a tree. I felt my chest burn from the pain of the impact. I pulled out my pocket knife and wedged it through its eye, cutting straight into its frontal lobes. The bear roared, stepping back as it tried to rub off the knife stuck on its face, instead, it retreated and ran away.

I slide down on the ground against the tree, breathing heavily as blood seeps out of my mouth. My vision began to blur, and the last thing I remember was a young man lifting me off of the ground. And the faint voices of my younger siblings, screaming my name, "Hamito-nee-san!"

Where did I go wrong?

I woke up, sitting up as I caught my breath, looking around all I saw was a rundown room, the only source of light was the sun that peeks through the holes of the roof.

I looked down on my body covered in a blanket. I didn't wear a shirt, only a bandage that wrapped around my torso.

"Are you awake?" A young man enters the room with a wooden tray, on it is a cup of water and a bowl of hot porridge. He was skinny, wearing a simple shirt and pants, he adorned a gentle smile and his eyes...

He is blind.

"Who are you?" I ask, keeping on high alert as he kneels in front of me, setting the tray nearby.

"My name is Himejima Gyomei... I found you in the forest, injured, it seems you have a few broken ribs, but you killed the bear that had attacked you."

"Gyomei... you're the person the little girl talked about-- Wait what do you mean I killed the bear?"

"After I brought you and your siblings here, I went on to search for it, I only found it's corpse not far from where I found you. I believe this belongs to you?" He pulls out a knife.

"Yeah, it does..." I grabbed it from him and checked its condition, it was still intact, "Where are my siblings?"

"They're in another room, playing with other kids."

I struggled to get up, as the stinging pain across my torso kept me down.

"You shouldn't be standing up yet... the bandage could tear and the healing herbs will fall! I only have very few left..." He says in a worried tone.

"You.... You.... wrapped this around me?" I asked the thought of him touching my body scars my mind.

He bows his head against the floor, "Yes, I'm sorry, I had no choice. I needed to treat you as fast as possible."

"Ah... it's fine." I still had a hard time trusting him, he seemed like he was around my age, "Can you help me up?" 

He nodded, grabbed a blanket, and wrapped it around my body, gripping my arms and pulling me up with him as he stood up. He had an arm around my body, while my arm wrapped around his shoulder. He guided me to the next room where kids played and screamed. Some were running around and some played with dolls carved out of wood.

"These were orphaned children... they were either abandoned or their family were killed by demons." Gyomei says, "I used this rundown temple as a shelter for them to grow up and live a second chance."

My younger siblings looked up from playing and ran up to me, hugging each of my legs.

"You're okay!" Hami yells as she nuzzles her face into my thighs.

Mito holds his hand up in the air, asking to be lifted, "Up!"

"I'm sorry Mito." I ruffle his head, "I'm hurt. I can't carry you yet."

Mito pouts and instead shows me his stick man.

"Yes, yes... it looks wonderful," I say before wincing in pain, my hand going over to my rib. My knees weaken as I breathe heavily.

"You still haven't recovered, you should rest." He says as he picks me up in a bridal form. Despite his skinny figure, he was definitely strong. He carried me back to my room and settled me on the floor.

"Thank you..." I sigh, "Your kindness will be repaid....once I have recovered."

"It's fine. You don't have to repay me." He grabbed a clean towel and dampened it with a warm bucket of water, he began lightly tapping the towel over my arm.

I grab his wrist tightly, glaring at him and he stops. I look into his eyes, but I can't see anything that goes through his mind. I sighed letting go of his wrist and grabbing the towel, "I'll do it."

"Very well... may I know of your... story?"

"You can call me Hamito. I ran away from our home." I say indifferently, sitting up and leaning against the wall as I clean my face, "It was a harsh environment, an environment I don't want my siblings to suffer for longer than I have."

"I see... you're a brave person. I can sense how you care deeply for them." He smiles softly.

I look at him at the corner of my eyes before looking down at my hands, "Yeah. They're the only reason driving me to live."

"We share one thing in common." He chuckles lightly.

My gaze met his, although he was blind, it felt like he could still see me, I wasn't sure what to feel about it.

"It's getting dark, eat your porridge and drink water. I'll be back in a while. I need to set up Wisteria Incense to off demons." He says standing up and making his way to the door.

"Thank you."

He stops on his track, turning his head, "You're welcome, Hamito."