Death Unites Us

Chapter 1

In some sense, they are like mirrors. Neither machines nor dolls, reflecting the love that they receive from their owners, they grow up.That is the Hybrid Child.

"Tetsu! Where are you? Tetsu!" The man shouted, his desperate voice resonating and dissipating into the wind pathetically. His kimono slapped harshly against the violent typhoon winds as he struggled not to trip on his own feet while running along uneven rocks.

He slowed down to catch his breath, leaning against a tree that hadn’t been knocked over by the wind to shade himself from the raging downpour. Anxiety gripped his heart as his chest tightened.

He looked up, and saw…

It was terrible. I hadn’t even seen your angelic face for two years, and now that I have the chance, your pallid face greets me from beneath the mirror of your coffin? Tetsu, you’re too cruel.

These were the thoughts that ran through Yukio Motegi’s mind as he wept in despair of his friend’s - his secret love’s death. He had just gotten back from studying in Tokyo, and was giddy about meeting his childhood friend again that he went straight to the Houjou’s residence as soon as he got back - but now Tetsuya was no more.

"Yuki-kun, welcome back…" Tetsuya’s mother approached him. Her sad eyes has wrinkled at the corners with what must have been her incessant weeping before. She clasped the raven-haired man’s hand. "Our son… no, Tetsuya ha always thought of you as a very good friend. He would always talk non-stop about you, and how he was so proud of you for making it to college by your own strength. He was really excited to see you again…"

Yukio wiped his tears off pale green eyes. “Me too… I wanted to see him too.”

They embraced for a while, comforting each other until the mother pulled away. She kissed his black locks once more as a final comfort, and left.

As soon as she left, someone knocked on the door. “Yukio? Can I come in?” A familiar voice called from the other side of the door.

"Uncle." The door slid open, revealing a man in his 30’s. They shared a short, brotherly hug.

"Will you come and chat with me at my room? I haven’t seen you in so long." They went to the said room, leaving Tetsuya who remained at peace in his coffin.

Uncle Yuuji was Yukio and Tetsuya’s closest friend, who they could talk to about practically anything. He was the brother of Tetsuya’s mother, and still brimming with youth, he was the one who the two could relate to the most. He was the type who you could never lie to, who saw through every “I’m fine.” of Yukio and even found out his secret admiration for Tetsuya, even when the boy never told him anything.

"Yukio, there’s also one thing Tetsu told me to tell you when he was sick," Yuuji said, his tone seeming to weigh the situation cautiously first. Pale green eyes looked at him attentively. "He’s entrusting his Hybrid Child to you."

The door slid open slightly, as if on cue, and grey eyes peeked through the gap. Yuuji got up and slid the door all the way open, urging the little boy to come inside.

Yukio gasped inaudibly, the sight of the boy’s appearance making him feel conflicted. Dark brown hair framing gentle grey eyes on a pale face, and a look of joyful innocence - the spitting image of Tetsuya. Yukio realized something. “Is he…?”

"A Hybrid Child is like a mirror: neither a machine nor a doll, it reflects the love that it receives from its owner."

Yuuji saw the look in the younger man’s light green orbs and immediately understood: How could a man, who lost somebody he loved dearly and didn’t even get the chance to express his feelings, suddenly take care of a child with a face identical to his loved one? He nodded silently, wanting to say something in consolation but he couldn’t find the right words. “Tetsuya insisted that he be given to you… But if you want, I can take care of him for-“

"No. I’ll take him in." Yukio interrupted, his voice seemingly resolved. If Tetsu wants me to, then I will, he thought. He knelt in front of the little boy, green orbs looking into grey softly. “Tell me your name.”

The hybrid child looked back, eyes glinting with a mix of distrust, curiosity, and disconsolation. He averted his eyes. “…Tetsuo.”

As the angelic voice leaked from Tetsuo’s mouth, Yukio decided that the boy truly was a perfect copy of his deceased childhood friend.

—at least until he came to know him more. When they began to live together, Yukio discovered that Tetsuo’s personality was the complete opposite of Tetsuya’s. The affectionate Tetsuya was nowhere to be found in Tetsuo’s obnoxious attitude. The optimism of the late master was nothing like the pessimism of the hybrid child - and Yukio soon discovered why.

"So… Tetsuo, what was Tetsu like while I was in Tokyo?" he asked one day, brushing the hybrid child’s head gently while the brunet sat between his legs.

Their gazes met through the mirror, and Tetsuo averted his eyes - a habit he had whenever they talked about Tetsuya. “He was… the kindest man I knew. He was gentle, but strong. And he treated me like his own human son.”

"Do you miss him?" he questioned further. Tetsuo remained motionless, staring at the ground in silence. Yukio tousled his brown locks reassuringly. "I miss him too."

At first, Yukio thought he would never bring himself to look at the brunet without seeing Tetsuya, yet as they conversed everyday, lived under the same roof and ate together, he only felt sorry for the hybrid child. Tetsuo had shut his heart away from everybody else because of the grief of losing a loved one, and this was the main reason that his personality suffered and turned bitter.

But in the end, he really did see Tetsuya in him. “Hey, do you mind… if I call you Tetsu?” Yukio said, a bit reluctant as he finished fixing up the brunet’s hair.

"…Do whatever you want." Tetsuo replied, masking the faint pain in his chest. "A-Anyway, what’s with this outfit today? Isn’t this a girl’s dress?"

He grinned playfully. “Aww, Tetsu-chan, you want to try crossdressing? I was thinking the same thing, but for you yourself to suggest it- ow!”

"I’m not suggesting anything! And what’s with the weird nickname?!" Tetsuo pouted. I know I said to ‘do whatever you want’, but… “So this isn’t a girl’s dress?”

The raven-haired master giggled. “It’s called a kimono, dumbass. Men wear it too. See?” He brought out a larger one from the closet that matched the other’s design, holding it against his body. “I’m going to wear this so I can match Tetsu-chan!!”

"Oi, stop calling me that!" The hybrid child complained.

And just like that, their days passed by with their bickering and fooling around somewhat distracting them from each other’s mutual lamentations.

—or at least, those were the events during the day. At night, especially on Saturday nights after offering prayers to Tetsuya’s shrine, when the light of the moon was shrouded by darkness and did not illuminate the rooms of the temple, a muffled sobbing would pierce through the silence.

Tetsuo would awaken in the middle of the night, touch his own wet face, and realize that he had been the one crying. On the first nights when this happened, he would lay awake and anxious until dawn approached and he’d finally lose consciousness because of fatigue.

Sometimes he’d dream of his master comforting him, entering his room silently and laying himself beside Tetsuo’s quivering, curled-up form. He’d tread his slender fingers along chocolate locks comfortingly, lovingly, as he cradled Tetsuo in a way excruciatingly similar to how Tetsuya held him that he almost sobbed harder.

Finally, when he’d calm down, his cries would cease and his consciousness would slowly be laced with sleep. He’d feel the arms around him loosen, and the faint feeling of something soft would touch his forehead right before his mind and body would finally take its rest.

When morning wove its way to the sky, Yukio’s warmth was nowhere to be found.