Chapter Text
After about an hour, they found a small house by the beach. When they went inside, they found a small child, with dirty clothes and no shoes. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and was extremely skinny. Akyri immediately rushed over to the child, asking him a barrage of questions.
“Where are your parents?” Was the first thing she asked.
“I don’ know,” He responded, his voice shaking a little. He looked like he was going to cry, so she sat down and held his tiny hand as he sobbed and sobbed.
“Kabuki, can you find some wood? I'll show you how to make a fire.” The puppet nodded and took off, returning a few minutes later with some sticks and leaves, and Akyri took out a match, and taught him how to light it. Then, Kabukimono sat next to the duo, and held her close, soon falling asleep.
The next morning, Akyri got to work on the ramshackle hut. She cleaned and cleaned, until the house practically shined. Then, she found the old stove, and filled it with wood, before lighting it and starting on some breakfast for them. Once she was finished, she started gathering water for a bath.
When the tub was full, she woke up the child. “Hey, little one. I have a bath for you. And some food if you’d like it?” The child only nodded in response. She got him a gigantic helping of food, and watched him eat it, then closed the divider around him so he could take a bath. Meanwhile, she washed his clothes and put them out to dry, before going to the nearby town and buying him some new clothes, and returning in time to toss them over the partition and let him change.
By the time he was done, Kabukimono had already awoken and was helping clean up after breakfast (using the excuse of not needing to eat because he wasn't human) and getting ready to go into town again to see if they could get any more furniture for the barren house, hopefully a bed, or three. They walked into town, and found a nice little thrift store. Inside, they found a comfortable bed, and a dining room table. They bought both, and brought them home, with the child sitting on the table like a palanquin. They set it up in the house, and by then it was time for lunch. They had roasted lavender melons, then fed the rest to the onikabuto in the area. They spent the rest of the day playing games, and watching Akyri’s puppet shows. By the time it was dark, and they had dinner, they fell asleep in a pile on the futon.
About a month later, they had turned the house into a home. In the morning, Akyri would make breakfast with the child, then wake up Kabukimono with a kiss. They would then eat breakfast together, before going into town to find some jobs to do.
However, one day the child started coughing. This wasn't unusual, as the child had most likely inhaled some tatarigami powder.
“Not again…” Akyri said, standing up and getting ready to leave. “I'll go find a doctor. Poor thing.” With that, she left to go find a doctor.
Finding a doctor in the town was easy. Getting him to come over was just as easy. The worst part, however, was when she smelled smoke. She ran towards her house, panicking.
She found the house halfway burnt down, but didn’t hear any screaming or cries for help. She tried to run into the house, but was held back by some of the townspeople. She screamed, and cried for someone to do something, before eventually fainting from not being able to breathe.
When she woke up, everything was gone. There was a single unmarked grave. She gathered her things, left some flowers, and left, vowing to never let anyone else be hurt by her negligence again.