Chapter Text
The students were given a few hours to go explore by themselves the morning of their second day in Iwakuni.
After arriving the previous day, they'd had lunch at the inn they'd rented and visited the local castle. It mostly showcased various types of swords, which some found boring. But there were still a lot of unique things otherwise.
Everyone's spirits were lifted upon re-entering the courtyard after the tour, and they found themselves in the middle of a reenactment.
Some had plastic swords, shields and daggers thrusted into their hands while others had been given more mundane items to play the role of civilians. It had been one big chaotic but fun mess, which they didn't want to leave when the time ended.
At the moment, the friend group was at the local shrine, where they just finished praying for success in their studies, romance and the rest of the trip.
“Alright! What do we do next?” Kaminari asked.
“Hey, Mei-kun.. Why don't you get one of those charms this shrine is famous for?” Qingming said, giving his friend a sly smile.
Hiromasa immediately had a sense of foreboding as he wondered what charm that was. But unexpectedly his name rang out loudly, momentarily distracting him.
“Minamoto-saaan~!!”
Hiromasa cringed and wished the ground would swallow him up when he recognised the voice.
The group all turned in the direction of the voice, and saw a few girls heading towards them, led by Fujino's girlfriend.
Fujino smiled at them. “Surprise!”
“...!”
“Um.. What's going on?”
“Our school decided to come here too!” Orihime-chan said, her eyes on Hiromasa.
“Usagi-chan!” Tomei's voice revealed his excitement and she approached him. “Why didn't you tell me you guys were coming too?”
“Then it wouldn't be a surprise," she smiled cutely.
Hiromasa's mood suddenly soured. It was bad enough they had to travel in groups where he couldn't go anywhere alone with Tomei, but now this…
Qingming sensed something off and looked at Hiromasa with confusion in his eyes. Did something happen to him? He didn't get to ponder it for long as two of the girls rushed over to him.
“Wow, Qing-kun! You're even more handsome than I remember!”
“It's true!”
"He lives up to his title of being the Fairy Prince!"
Qingming laughed a little uncomfortably. He wasn't close to these girls but they seemed to have misinterpreted his kindness for something else.. But he didn't want to make a fuss. He would leave that to Hiromasa, who just reacted as if he'd received an electric shock when a couple of the girls went over to him suddenly and asked to go somewhere together.
“Um.. I need to go to the restroom. I'll see you in a bit..” Hiromasa quickly walked away.
Qingming forgot his earlier thought of not creating a fuss. Less boys, meant more girls to deal with. “Oh, me too! I'll go with you, Minamoto-san.” He gave a small apologetic smile then took off behind Hiromasa's retreating figure.
“While we wait for them, why don't we go check our fortunes?” Fujino suggested.
Meanwhile, Hiromasa was walking aimlessly around the shrine deep in thought for a few minutes now.
“...hear that this shrine is famous for! They say, if you confess to your crush with one of their love knot charms while on a trip, then you'll be happy together forever!”
The others around the speaker squealed in delight and crowded the window.
The words had stopped Hiromasa in his tracks. His heavy heart suddenly felt a spark of hope. Though he wasn't one to believe in such things, the words intrigued him and he thought it couldn't hurt to try.
He hadn't stopped for more than ten seconds when someone bumped into his back.
“Oh, I'm sorry!”
He looked around to see Qingming who looked just as surprised to see him. Had they been walking one behind the other all along??
“Oh, Minamoto-san.. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Well, goodb-.”
“Hello there!” a bright, cheery voice greeted them.
A young woman in the traditional garb of a miko was standing next to them. They hadn't even noticed her approach.
“Oh, hi..,” Qingming greeted with a little bow.
“You two seemed interested in our love knot charms,” she said.
Hiromasa said nothing but Qingming shook his head with a little laugh.
“No thanks,” he said courteously. “I'm afraid that's not for someone like me.”
That brought Hiromasa's attention to him. “What do you mean by that?”
But Qingming only shrugged and was about to excuse himself when the girl spoke again.
“Never forget, we all deserve to be loved. But if not that, maybe I can interest you in a private tour of our main temple?”
“I thought that was closed to the public,” Hiromasa said sceptically.
“We make special allowances from time to time..,” the girl said with another mysterious smile. She looked from him to Qingming as she spoke. “You look like someone who needs some direction, and you look like someone in need of faith. Maybe you can both find some inspiration as we go along..”
The main temple was well preserved and properly maintained inside compared to the weathered look on the outside.
The two students were kneeling before fire pit in front of a large statue, holding sticks of incense as they tried to clear their minds. The miko had told them to spend some time in meditation before writing down their prayers on the strips of thin rice paper she'd provided.
Once that was done, they burnt the papers in the flames of the fire pit, while she collected the ashes of the burnt incense into a small dish then added water and stirred.
“Use the second brush and write just one character which expresses your heart's truest desire for your future,” she said, placing the small ceramic dish between them.
After thinking for another moment, the two suddenly felt inspired and reached for their brushes at almost the same time. They glanced at each other before setting about their individual tasks.
“Ok,” Qingming said after a while. “I think I'm finished.”
He sounded quite pleased with himself.
The miko nodded and told him to close his eyes and to keep folding his sheet of paper until he felt like stopping. Hiromasa was directed to do the same a short time after.
When they finished and opened their eyes, there were two small, patterned pouches before them.
“Put the folded paper in your pouch and tie a knot. When the time is right, give it to someone special. If they're able to open it, it means they truly understand your heart and will be the one to help make your wish come true.”
Qingming looked at her sceptically with raised brows.
“That is the true power of our temple’s knot charm,” she smiled. “But for it to work, you can't force it. You have to be certain beyond a doubt when you gift it to someone. Most people who follow that simple rule, ended up finding love with the person they gave their charm to, as did those whose wish was about finding love. So, over time they came to be known as ‘love knot charms’.”
…
As they walked towards the gate of the main temple in silence, the two looked at their own sachets and pondered the miko's words.
“I hope to see you both again someday!” they heard her call out to them.
Turning around, they gave another bow then continued on their way.
“So cute,” she smiled to herself.
She opened her palms and in each was a folded piece of rice paper. Holding them up, she brought them together and their folds fit perfectly together forming a shape.
Stepping back inside the temple, she walked to the fire pit before the statue.
“Let's see how long you take to unravel,” she said, dropping the now single piece of paper into the fire.
But instead of becoming ash, it just floated in the middle of the flames and remained unchanged.
…
The two teens silently walked towards the last place they left the group, each thinking about the words of advice the miko had imparted while they'd been meditating. The things she'd said had been very personal, and each felt a bit embarrassed about the other person hearing, that they didn't stop to think how she could have known..
Hiromasa had already put away his charm, but Qingming kept perusing his while lost in thought.
“Qing-kun! Hiro-senpai!”
They both snapped out of their daze at the sound of Tomei's voice calling to them.
Without knowing why, Qingming quickly shoved his charm into his pocket. “Mei-kun!” he gasped.
Only now did the two think about how long they'd been gone.
“How come you're back so soon? Whatever, it's fine. We were just getting our fortune.”
“Huh?”
Qingming looked over at Hiromasa, who looked just as confused as he looked to Tomei. They'd spent quite a long time in that temple, so what did Tomei mean they'd come back so soon? But when they checked their watches, it seemed only about 30 minutes had passed since they left the bus at the entrance of the shrine. It took them a little over ten minutes to walk to the place they prayed as a group, another ten minutes to wait their turn and then they'd met up with the girls right after…
That would suggest the two had been gone less than five minutes, which was much too short to have gone to the restroom on the other side of the property, waited in line and come back.
Hiromasa finally looked at Qingming, disbelief on his face. He saw Qingming touch his pocket, as if confirming the charm was there which would prove their encounter had been real.
However, they didn't get a chance to think about it much as the others had also come over and started talking.
Somehow, it ended up with them splitting into two groups and exploring the rest of the shrine until the boys had to rejoin their classmates for lunch before heading out to enjoy the festival celebrations.
…
That second night in Iwakuni found them relaxing in their room in the inn.
“Hey, let's go to the onsen!”
Hiromasa had been going through his backpack when he heard the suggestion and froze. He looked over at Tomei and felt anxiety creeping in. It had been years since they'd seen each other naked. And though he didn't feel strangely about the others, Tomei was his love interest after all. So the thought of seeing him naked made him feel somewhat shy..
However, Fujino gave him a reprieve and made him worried at the same time. “Mei-kun, a girl is asking you to meet her in the garden.”
“Oooo…” the other guys teased.
“They were buying a lot of love charms at the shrine today. Looks like she doesn't want to ruin her chances and decided to go for it!"
Hiromasa's heart sped up and he unconsciously felt around his bag for his own charm.
“I'll wait for you,” he told Tomei.
But the boy shook his head. “That's fine. You guys go on ahead and I'll catch up.”
Hiromasa was intent on staying but Tomei gave him an exasperated sigh.
“I'm not a fucking child. Just go already.”
The tone was evidently frustrated, so Hiromasa said nothing further and gathered his things and left with the others.
Tomei sighed and headed to the area he was told to meet the girl.
…
In the garden, the girl sat on a bench, playing a game on her phone.
His heart started beating a little faster all of a sudden. Though he would get gifts from girls on occasion, none had ever confessed. In fact, a lot of them who approached him only did so in relation to Hiromasa, the 'Dark Emperor' they were too anxious to approach directly. He told himself he didn't resent his best friend, but sometimes it was frustrating that Hiromasa had so many people wanting to get closer to him, but the athlete always remained aloof.
The anxious feeling turned sour as Tomei wondered at this girl's true intentions. After all, this was their third year in the same class, and she's never looked his way.
With a sigh, he cleared his throat so she would know he was there. When she looked up at him, her eyes were neither warm nor shy. They had a hint of disappointment in them and that only further upset him.
She walked over and held out her hand, revealing one of the love knot charms that were being sold at the shrine.
“Listen, I'm sorry but -.”
“Give this to Hiromasa-senpai,” she said bluntly.
“What?”
“He won't take it if it's coming from me. But he will if it's you. Just hand it to him.”
Tomei almost scoffed at her callous tone. What gave her the confidence to think she could boss him around?
But, he wasn't going to cause a scene. He didn't need to. He'd already suspected her intentions and had decided he wouldn't help her.
Before he could speak again, she shoved it into his hand and left.
After leaving the garden, Tomei sat in the inn's common room to think. He placed the charm on the table before him and wondered if he was being a bad friend. If it were Hiromasa, he would have supported him. So shouldn't he do the same?
Tomei recalled what he'd seen just before leaving the room.. He'd accidentally kicked over Hiromasa's open knapsack and a charm had fallen out. It was different in colour and design from the ones they'd all bought, but was certainly from the same shrine. Tomei had quickly put it back.
Now he wondered if another girl had given it to Hiromasa, or… did Hiromasa buy it to give to someone?
Tomei felt conflicted on what he should do, and didn't notice the time going by.
When the other guys came bumbling through the common room after leaving the onsen, was when he got pulled from his thoughts.
“Hey, where have you been?” Hiromasa asked, sitting down beside him.
“Ohhh!” Fujino exclaimed. “She really gave him a love charm!”
But Tomei's nonchalant shrug made him calm down.
“Actually, she wanted me to give it to Hiro-senpai..”
“Aw man… that ain't cool.”
Hiromasa looked annoyed even though inside he was relieved. He was relieved that Tomei didn't get a confession, but was upset by the girl trying to get him to accept her love charm by using his friend. However, Tomei would probably get upset if he said what he really felt about what she did, so he pushed it down.
“Leave it there,” Hiromasa said, getting up. “You should go wash up before they close off.”
Tomei looked up at Hiromasa and felt a warm feeling inside. Of course he shouldn't have felt guilty about not wanting to do what the girl asked. Hiromasa wouldn't accept such a thing.
“Ok,” he said. Then he looked around. “Where's Qing-kun?”
One of the guys answered. “He said he wanted a chance to enjoy the onsen without us teasing him so he's still there.”
“Teasing him?”
Fujino laughed. “It's just, his body is so perfectly toned.. and when he flexed, we saw his muscles. We never would have guessed it!”
While Tomei nodded in understanding and separated from them, Hiromasa's face felt warm. He had been just as stunned as the others. It made him realise Qingming hadn't only been dancing for many years, but also worked out in other ways to achieve such a physique. Without meaning to, Hiromasa started thinking about that night he saw him in the private room and tried to picture him doing the choreo in the too short shorts..
…
The guys had brought a gaming console, which wasn't exactly allowed. But they were teenage boys, so who could blame them?
They were in the middle of a heated game when the guy on lookout hurried by and told them their homeroom teacher was coming to do rounds.
There was a sudden scramble as they hurried to unplug the console, hide all the paraphernalia and put the TV back in its correct place. They could hear their neighbours doing the same.
It was all the more tedious yet comedic, because they had to do it all with the lights out.
As the man's whistling reached their ears, they randomly dived under the covers on the tatami mats to pretend they were asleep.
When Qingming felt himself land on a body instead of the mat, he realised he'd chosen a spot already occupied. He was about to move when the person wrapped an arm around him, holding him in place. He didn't know what he found more scandalous, the way his body reacted being held by this person, or the fact that he felt that way even though the other person was also a guy!
Just two seconds later there was a sliding sound as the door was opened by the teacher.
His lantern cast a dim light on his immediate surroundings as he slowly moved between the 'sleeping' bodies to check for contraband.
When the teacher came closer to where Qingming was, the dancer wanted to use the illumination to find out the owner of this paragon of sin. He slowly moved his head to look up, but the guy's other hand stopped him.
The teacher had just passed them and the teen might have given himself away had he followed through in his actions. Qingming quietly inhaled to take a deep breath and was filled with a nice scent. Though it wasn't anything discernable like a bath soap or lotion, it was nice.
After another minute, the light withdrew and they heard the door close. They didn't immediately make any movement as the other rooms the teacher was checking were on either side of theirs. It was a traditional inn, so the walls were literally paper thin and therefore not soundproof in any way.
Qingming unwittingly relaxed into the body beneath his, wondering who it belonged to and why it felt so comfortable?
Though there had been many students in same sex relationships at his old school, he'd never been attracted in that way to a guy. And even more confusing, was that he couldn't imagine developing those kinds of feelings for anyone in this group!
Maybe he was just still feeling the emotions that the temple visit had brought up earlier.. the words of the miko came back to him in that moment as he laid there and he began to think of days gone by...
By the time they were in the clear and could move again, Qingming had already fallen asleep.
…