Light of the Dragon's Eye

Shira Chapter

HELLO EVERYBODY!!!

So, as I said before, I will be doing both of the requests I received. The last one was by @-wriiter and this next one is from @AnimeCorner for a more platonic view of Shin-ha x Akira.

This takes place when Akira and Shin-ha are just getting to know each other as children, only a little bit after the flashback in Chapter 16, so if you forget anything, I'd suggest you go back and look at the chapter.

Okay, so enjoy!

AKIRA'S POV

"Shin-ha! Are you there?" I call out desperately for the blue-haired boy, but to no avail. He has completely disappeared inside the tunnels.

I only started living here about three weeks ago, and I have to say that it has been rather unsettling in various ways. The villagers all wear creepy masks over their faces, and I've gotten lost in the tunnels twice due to a lack of light and terrible sense of direction.

These tunnels all look the same! UGH!!

Both the times I've gotten lost, Shin-ha managed to find me and bring me back to the room where he stays, but both times, he only guided me by my hand and then disappeared into the caverns again. I haven't been able to speak to him since the night I found him, the night I gave him his name.

I think he might be afraid of getting to know me. Or maybe he just doesn't know what to do in these situations. The way those sorry-ass villagers talk about him leads me to believe that he's never had a true friend before. Everyone always runs away from him, but I've yet to figure out why.

I jolt as I sense the presence of three people just around the corner. I press my back against the stone and slowly edge toward them, stopping just out of their line of vision.

It's three small children, but two of them look slightly older than the young boy they're with. The girl speaks to him urgently. "Don't ever go near the Seiryuu, Kang! You might get hurt!" The small boy, Kang, sticks his thumb inside his mouth thoughtfully. "But why, Onee-chan?"

The older boy answers instead. "If you do, his eyes will turn you to stone! Beware!" For effect, he put his hands up and sneers at Kang, as though imitating a bear.

Turn to stone? How brain-dead ARE these people?

"Nngh..." Kang's eyes water, and the girl quickly pulls him into her arms as he burst into tears. "Takashi! You didn't have to make him cry!" She scolds the older boy angrily.

"What? I'm just warning him! Besides, remember when we used to be able to play outside? It's that monster's fault that we have to live in this stupid bunch of rocks!" The sound of him kicking angrily at the walls resonates through the cave for a long time.

"There, there. Kang, it's okay. We won't let the monster boy get to you," the girl murmurs in a soothing voice to the sobbing child. Takashi, that older boy, pipes in as well. "Yeah! If he goes anywhere near you, I'll beat him up! I've been wanting to for a long time now, anyway."

"Takashi! Aiko! Kang! Where are you?! Get back here right now!" A woman's angry tone flows from a nearby tunnel, causing the children to flinch in guilt.

"Coming, Mother! We were just playing!" The girl picks Kang up into her embrace, and the three children leave through another tunnel.

I slump against the wall in a mixture of shock and disgust. Why would they think Shin-ha would turn people to stone? From what I've seen, he's far from a monster.

My stomach flips in uncertainty.

But...how was he the reason that they all lived down here?

***