A New Friend
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|| CHAPTER 22 | A New Friend ||
"What do you feel when you made a new friend, Little One? Excited? Or are you happy? Maybe, you feel conflicted deep down?
"Even possibly, you have this warm feeling bubbling up inside of you. Or maybe, there is this feeling that made you want to do anything for them–– wanting to give up everything you have for the companions you made and trusted.
"You can even feel this feeling that the friends you newly made are someone you should cherish wholeheartedly–– just like a treasure, precious to you.
"However, must you know that not all things last eternally, including the bonds you build."
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The male didn't move an inch when she ruffled his long black hair. She called his name gently as she looked at him sideways.
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"Seimei-san..."
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The boy-looking Keeper slowly lifted his black-stained head, looking at the girl as Shizuka, too, returned his gaze.
His eyes were only drawn in white, messy circles. The textures of crumpled paper and broken pencils hid within. Not to mention, they were drawn messily, too–– his whole face, that is.
But the platinum-blonde-haired girl easily recognized him as the unconscious ghost spirits she met back in that simple, white Magic Space of his.
"W-Who... are you...?" Seimei asked slowly between his sobs, not bothering to stand up or even run away from her. His hands trembled subtly from his crying state, unable to stay calm whilst he kept his gaze steady on the Spirit Wielder before him.
"... Shizuka. My name is Ichijou Shizuka," the girl answered gently, smiling at the boy, known as Seimei no Seigyo-ki. She grinned wider. "Nice to meet you again, Seimei-san."
The subconscious form of the Keeper ignored her introduction and focused on her name instead. It sounded familiar, yet unknown to him.
The hidden meanings behind her identity and the way her name was spelt, he knew full well that deep down, she was the same as him. A part of that cursed tribe he's been wanting to escape for as long as he could remember.
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Stuttering, he gathered his courage and asked:
"Ichijou... Shizu... ka...? How do you write that...?"
The question wasn't all that weird to the female. A side of her expected for him to ask such query, even though Seimei, himself, was a Spirit Wielder once in the past.
Seeing the chained state, he's in now was all the more reason for her to accompany him.
"Hmm...? Ah, it's written like this..."
Shizuka stuck her tongue out a little as she grabbed his hands, placing them side by side. The female Ichijou wrote the letters of her name in the language of the Sun Tribe, writing down the symbols of her name on his palm with her slender fingers.
"See? These two characters are spelt 'Ichijou' while the other two are 'Shizuka.' Gaia, that was difficult to draw," she finally admitted: Her given name was a little bit harder to write.
Seimei tilted his head, paying her struggle no mind. "... 'Shi... zuka...?' Is that... how it's said...?"
"Yep," Shizuka chirped at the male. The male looked back and forth between his hand and the girl, tracing back the words that she's written there on his black-tainted palm.
"Then... you're from the same tribe as me...?" Seimei asked cautiously.
Soon realising she's from the same tribe as him, he began to back up a little.
"Yes, I am actually," the blonde admitted bluntly and dusted her clothes from the imaginary dust as she stood up. The male jumped a little at her action.
"Seimei-san... "
'How did she know my name...?' the male asked himself as he eyed the girl suspiciously. She had been calling for his name for a while now.
"... Fret not. I'm here to free you."
Shizuka offered her right hand to the boy who was sitting on the floor. He looked up at her with his white drawn eyes.
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'... Free... me...?'
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His messily-drawn eyes brighten up at the thought of freedom. Ecstasy was written clearly on his black-coloured face. For as long as he could remember, the liberty to fly freely was an act he could never achieve.
The female chuckled at his expression quietly so that only she could hear. Breaths of relief escaped her lips as she smiled softly.
Exhaling, Shizuka began, "So... What do you say, Seimei-san?"
"I... don't know..."
He looked down at the floor, tears forming in his eyes. With blurred vision he glared at the ground, stinging and itching as he rubbed the corners of his eyes red.
The mark of where his hands and his skin rubbed against each other alerted the female greatly.
She didn't think that the Keeper would burst into tears like this.
"U-Uh, Seimei-san...?! Don't cry...!!" Shizuka comforted frantically, waving her hands in a panic while thinking of a way to comfort the much older male.
And by the word 'older,' Seimei's more than ten thousand years old.
He said so himself.
The male lifted his head and looked up at the girl with his teary drawn eyes. He chuckled in amusement at the sight of Shizuka panicking.
"... Huh?"
Wiping his tears away, he looked at her again. This time, the corners of Seimei's lips curled up into a soft smile.
"... Thank you, Shizuka-san..."
Shizuka blinked once, then twice. Her head bobbed subtly as she began to process what Seimei just uttered.
"... Eh? For what?" the female finally inquired in apparent puzzlement, tilting her head to the left. Seeing the evident question marks floating about around her amused the subconscious form of Seimei. He smiled wider at her.
Seimei grinned brightly with closed eyes. "For worrying about me, of course..."
Shizuka was a bit taken back by this, obviously not expecting the male to thank her for that.
"But, isn't that normal, Seimei-san? That's what friends and comrades are for~!" Shizuka cheerfully responded with a grin, earning the same shocked look from the male, just like the girl before.
"... Friends...? Comrades...? I never had any of those–– what are they like...?"
"'W-What are they like?'" She scratched her cheeks as she hummed. "Well, it's a bit difficult for me to explain what they're like, Seimei-san..."
The female Ichijou sweat-dropped, attempting to figure out how to explain so that the male could understand. She stuttered, "U-Umm, well..."
Seimei's black-tinged figure waited patiently for her answer. Excitements rushed in his veins as he got on his toes.
"Ehmm... You get this–– err... fluffy sort of feelings in your chest when you're with them. Um, a-and your whole being felt umm, warm? I don't even know what I'm saying anymore..."
Shizuka slouched right after.
It sounded more like she's the one asking rather than explaining.
Nevertheless, Seimei seemed satisfied with her short and vague explanation (it was a bad explanation if he was being honest). Putting his hands on his hips, Seimei shut his eyes while smiling in content.
He imagined what it's like to have friends and comrades Shizuka spoke of.
"Seimei-san," Shizuka called out for him.
When the male opened his white drawn eyes, they were locked with, not crystal-blue ones, but gleaming gold-chromatic visions. Shizuka had another foreign colour replacing her blue ones, just like before.
'Her eyes... They're a different colour...'
"I'll ask again, Seimei-san."
The cheerfulness in her from before was gone, substituted by seriousness. Despite that, Shizuka maintained her gentle smile towards the older individual. "Would you like to sign a contract with me? If you do, you'll be free from this place."
Doubt filled his mind as he hesitantly replied. However, bitterness soon traced behind from the words he spouted.
"But... isn't that the same as being bound to you, too?"
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Silence loomed for a minute before Shizuka finally replied, "True... However, even if I free you from this place without a contract, your spirit will wander between this world and the spirit realm. You will forget about yourself and can never go back to either side until you understand yourself."
Shizuka's words made the Keeper think twice about his decision.
It wasn't an easy decision for him to make.
Her tow-toned eyes glowed dimly while still locking with his white, drawn ones. "Are you sure you want that, Seimei-san? You'll be much better with the Ichijou Clan and my family."
"Oh...? The Ichijou Clan? Your family? Not with you, Shizuka-san?"
A fit of giggles was heard from the girl. Seimei could see the way her head slowly shook in disagreement with what he stated.
"Well, any friend of mine is surely a part of my family, are they not? That's what I always believed in anyway," she admitted truthfully.
He was convinced by her response. Seimei gave a determined look on his face as he looked at her in the eyes, seemingly ready to answer.
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"Well, what do you say, Seimei-san?"
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She offered her hand again to the sitting boy, a soft and gentle look plastered on her fair face.
The winds made their way into the pure, white Space they stood in. With the drawn corners slowly cracking open, more of the gods' gales blew soft kisses to their skins.
Silence took over the atmosphere, a comfortable one.
It's been a while since Shizuka experienced such tranquillity. And it's also been a while since she had ever offered anyone a contract.
Seimei returned the female's peaceful look and smiled.
He took her hand as he stood up, the unchanging curl remained tender upon his lips.
"I've decided: I'll accept your kind offer, Shizuka-san..."
Shizuka shook his hands and the white-painted room with no colour was shattered into pieces.
It seemed to them as if a storm had broken through the barriers of emotions Seimei built.
With the walls of white disappearing into the void, all that's left was the void and emptiness. Raging winds and howling silence filled the air–– however, they didn't feel ominous for some reason. Even though the darkness had always been one's worst nightmare.
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Seimei closed his eyes, afraid of what's coming next. But what WAS to come, wasn't what he had expected.
The area around them was bright blue as they were standing on a still, clear water surface. Ripples of millions echoed beneath the soles of their feet.
With the mirror-like water reflecting the vast blue sky above them, decorated with fluffy whitish-yellow clouds, a gasp of wonderment was breathed out. Behind the male stood a big willow tree made out of light.
Vines with heart-shaped leaves dangled down each branch with the sways of the wind that came out of nowhere. The bright blue sky didn't make the place too hot nor cold. It was breezy, to say the least. They felt comfortable just standing there.
It was a simple yet beautiful place.
It was indeed a humble place with nothing but the sky and a single tree to accompany them. Nothing more than the white silhouettes swimming and running about beneath the surface of the water they stood on.
Seimei looked around and turned. Behind Shizuka was a crowd of silhouettes, full of unknown individuals.
She grinned happily towards the taller male as she let go of his held hand, opening them while speaking softly, "Welcome to the family, Seimei-san."
The Ichijou gave him a closed-eye smile.
"I hereby welcome you–– Seimei no Seigyo-ki–– as my contracted spirit, comrade, friend, and family. You are now allowed to access this Magic Space whenever you want."
Shizuka maintained her gentle smile to the older male as she knelt in front of him, closing her eyes and putting her right hand to her chest as the other on the surface of the water.
"I, Ichijou Shizuka, promise you as my contracted spirit, to treat you equally as a normal being and assure your happiness. I will protect you and you will protect me."
She continued, "The chains that once bound you and your position as a Keeper will now disperse. You are no longer the old spirit you once were, but one that is reborn through a contract made and a promise spoken."
The platinum-blonde-haired girl kept kneeling as she finished her declaration.
Seimei felt nostalgic being at this scene, as he was a Spirit Wielder once, after all. He never thought the day where he would become someone else's spirit would come.
The former Keeper smiled to himself as he said the next line, "I, Seimei no Seigyo-ki, former Grand Spirit Wielder and Grand Summoner, hereby promise to spend the rest of my life serving you as my master. I'll follow your orders until the very end."
He bowed down in front of her, still in his black form.
"With my duty laid down and my vow carved to the bones of my body, I will give you all my blood and soul–– until the time comes where we will meet once again beneath the rain of the cherry blossoms."
The platinum-blonde-haired girl stood up and both of them stared at each other in silence.
But the silence was a warm one.
Seimei cut his right wrist as Shizuka cut hers. The crimson liquid flowed from their cut areas as they formed a circle, linking with each other's ends. They turned white and the bleeding stopped.
Both their wrists healed completely like nothing ever happened.
"Contract complete~! Welcome to the family once again, Seimei-san!! Also, glad you're back to normal," Shizuka cheerfully said to the older male as he completely transformed into his normal form.
Seimei's long yellowish, white hair flowed down to his knees as his purple-coloured eyes were back. His face looked more alive than before, his long white shirt and pants were spick and span.
The chains that he usually used for attacking was replaced with sharp, crystal-clear stones attached to silver braided strings.
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"Yes, I am. Please, take care of me from now on... Ichijou Shizuka."
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"Pleasure to have you with us, Seimei no Seigyo-ki."
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|| CHAPTER 22 | A New Friend - To be continued... ||
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