Submission (#2139) Approved

         There's nothing that Kawa (should have) loved more than his hometown. The roads were paved a lovely shade of grey that always managed to highlight the brilliant colors of the autumnal leaves as they made their final journey down towards the ground. Villagers always wore warm smiles, a seemingly seamless blend of species existing together without any sort of discord. Every day was idyllic—and at some point, the routine just became a little bit too boring for his tastes. Perhaps he should be more thankful, after-all the small town really had no obligation to take in such a charity case as himself, but Kawa never asked them to watch over him either. And while Kawa is well-aware that he likely wouldn’t have had such a comfortable experience if he were on his own…he would have at least appreciated the illusion of choice before he was unceremoniously shipped off to Bellmoril. Not even to someplace interesting like Il’durahn! Nope, instead he’s stuck here, in an all too tiny town that simply does not have enough space to spare for all his wildest dreams. The small silver lining is the simple existence of his pomu—Iwa has been a welcome companion for the otherwise restless kittom; but, with miasma season in full force Kawa has been resigned back to dragging along a hastily thrown together lantern. Which is a much nicer way of saying that sticks, mud, and leaves is anything other than ‘crude’.

         So, he continues on his path, paws crunching the small leaves that have dried and withered from tall trees, and dutifully ignores the amused chuckles and gentle smiles tossed his way from the residents he passes by. Instead, he puffs out his chest a bit more and tugs on the rope (he still won’t admit where he found such an item) preventing his pomu cage-turned-lantern from drifting too far away (he needs to make sure he can at least show it off first). As he nears the outskirts of town there’s an unsettling accumulation of sweat forming on his palms, so he transfers the rope briefly to his mouth in order to wipe the offending substance off on his clothes instead.

         “What’re you doing Kawa?”

         His cry of shock is muffled by the material caught between his teeth and his face begins to flush when he hears the soft giggle chime from behind him. Miyuki looks as beautiful as always, something he laments internally, because something like that comes so naturally for her while he has to dedicate a few extra hours each morning to make sure every hair and crease of clothing is picturesque. Kawa wants to hate every strand of hair of hers. From the soft-spun silken platinum blonde down to the subtly curled coral ends. But he doesn’t. Because he couldn’t. Not when its worn so elegantly, swept up into a ponytail that has him feeling somewhat envious of the delicate floral hairclip affixed securely in place. Some loose strands have made their escape and Kawa wonders if she would be offended if he were to reach out and hold them. Speaking of holding…

         “I was just on my way to meet you!” He sputters out a reply hastily, removing the rope from the clutches of his canines and instead transferring the (now somewhat wet—let’s not think too hard on that, Kawa) strand back hands, this time his left. Because Kawa always likes to keep his right hand free. Miyuki smiles, eyes crinkling, and cheeks rounded as she takes his right hand into her left. Some things just feel a bit better this way. Kawa wastes no time in dragging her along once her hand has been secured in his grasp. The tint of the sky between the sunset and the night.

         When they finally reach their destination, a small clearing sat upon a hilltop, Miyuki takes the time to stare in awe over the pomu lantern. The sky has darkened considerably and now the soft glow of orange and blue give a mystic allure. Leaves turned semi-translucent; outlines of veins create a patchwork of patterns that make her feel slightly wistful. Kawa grins at her expression, since she had been unable to meet her pomu this year he’s taken it upon himself to make sure she doesn’t feel all that left out. How gracious of him, he’s sure. And as the sky begins to twinkle with starlight, Kawa can’t help the words that freely escape his mind.

         “Let’s stay like this—together.” Because while Kawa had always loved to gaze at the stars with his little shadow...he thinks that Miyu manages to be the brightest light in his universe.

Hey…you see…those words from back then…?

(Our time together, so covered in patchwork, shall we put an end to it?)