#osamudai

I can’t believe this ended up being 11,447 words…. *lays head on desk*. Lol, I hope you enjoy it! 

What Truly Matters

A long time ago, in the faraway kingdom of Inarizaki, lived two young princes, Miya Atsumu and Miya Osamu. Not only brothers were they, but twins so alike in appearance it was difficult for anyone to tell them apart. With every passing year, however, their personalities began taking on an individuality until they seemed complete opposites of one another. Then it took only a second glance to tell which one was which based purely on their expression. Despite their differences, the two brothers loved each other and got along well. Their parents were relieved at their amiability with each other, but on the other side the brothers had mischievous habits and liked to wreak havoc wherever they went.

One day when the boys were around ten years old, they wandered outside the castle walls and into the surrounding forest in search of adventure. All day they spent running through brush and throwing rocks at the woodland creatures. Eventually they were covered in scratches and mud but didn’t care one bit as they laughed and played.

“‘Tsumu… shouldn’t we be getting back?” Osamu said as he gazed through the trees, the beams of the setting sun pouring through the thick branches in strips of molten gold.

“Not yet, look! There’s smoke coming up over those trees. We should go check it out,” Atsumu said as he stood on top of a boulder, his hand held flat over his eyes to shield them from the sun.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? It could be bandits.”

“Then we’ll spy on them! Let’s go!”

Osamu said nothing but smirked as he followed his brother toward the direction of the smoke. Ahead they saw a clearing and hid behind a large tree trunk to peer around it. In the middle of the clearing was a cottage with smoke billowing from the chimney. Their eyes scoured the area for anything dangerous but eventually dropped their shoulders in disappointment.

“Alright, this is boring. Let’s go,” Atsumu grumbled but froze when the door of the cottage creaked open. An old woman shuffled out of the door, her gnarled hand trembling on a walking stick as she hobbled to her garden. The twins leaned forward to watch as she began to sing a strange song, reaching down to pluck a plant from the earth. The green stems suddenly paled into a pure white and seemed to shimmer in the dying light as she twirled it in her fingers.

“She’s a witch!” Atsumu hissed in Osamu’s ear and gripped onto his shoulder.

“Shh, she’ll hear you!” Osamu whispered as he shoved his brother off.

Suddenly the old woman began to cackle, and her eyes flickered straight to them.

“I did not need to hear you to know you were there, young ones. Come out so I can get a better look at you. A witch I may be, but my eyes are old.”

The boys gulped nervously, but they obeyed as Osamu grasped his brother’s clammy hand.

“Ah, yes, the young princes.”

“You know who we are?!” Atsumu cried.

“Of course! Everyone in the kingdom works hard to pull their weight. But you two whittle away your time with fun and games, paying no attention to the plight of anyone else.”

Atsumu scrunched his face and pouted, but Osamu gazed back at her as he cocked his head.

“We are children though. Isn’t it good for children to play?”

“A little play is good for the soul, but not when ignoring responsibilities. Every child in the village finishes their chores if they are good, and then they have time to relax.”

“We’re not village children though, and we don’t have chores,” Atsumu sniffed back with his nose in the air.

“No? I know for a fact you do, Miya Atsumu! You both ignore your duties and influence each other to do naughty things. I fear for the future of the Kingdom if it continues,” She sighed, shaking her head. Suddenly, she lifted her head with a gasp and stared at them with frightening intensity. “Perhaps now is the time to act while you’re young. Here you two are, alone in my grasp… it must be fate that brought you two here tonight,” She said in almost a whisper, and she hobbled toward them with alarming speed. The brothers found themselves frozen to the ground, unable to run away though their hearts were racing. For a while she stared at them until at last she drew a deep breath, the whole world around them darkening like a shroud.

“You,” She said, reaching her gnarled fingers out to stroke Atsumu’s cheek, “Hold all the fire and pride of the sun. So blinding are you that many can hardly see the truth within you.

And you,” She said as her eyes locked onto Osamu, her hand drifting to his face, “Are like the moon, mysterious and quiet. You drift in the shadows of your brother not because he is lesser, but by choice. Do you wish to eventually fade into nothing? What shall I do with you troublesome children? You feed off each other, so I will separate you.”

Her eyes suddenly glowed like embers and both the boys felt their faces burn where her fingers had stroked against them.

“While one is awake, the other will slumber. For years you will dwell alone, until one of you learns to care for a soul other than yourselves, and that love is returned. Until then, you both shall be cursed to walk the world without your other half. Now begone!” She screeched, and a wind whirled around them so fierce they clung to each other and buried their eyes. When everything was quiet, they looked up and found themselves back in their bedroom in the castle.

“What the hell?” Atsumu whispered as he glanced around the bedroom they shared. “Did that actually happen?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you think we’ll really be– ‘Samu! Your hair!” He cried as he forced Osamu to look at him, peering closely at his brother’s locks as they changed from black to a shadowy grey. Osamu’s eyes widened as he looked at his brother’s hair as well, bursting with golden color like a sunrise.

“Wow. I guess this is part of the witch’s curse,” Osamu mused as he cautiously threaded his fingers through Atsumu’s now blonde hair.

“Hmmm, strange. It’s kind of cool,” Atsumu said as he lifted himself on his toes to look at Osamu’s hair from all angles.

Outside the windows, the sun finally dipped completely below the horizon, and suddenly Atsumu’s eyes closed and his body fell in a heap on the floor. Osamu cried out in alarm and cradled his brother in his arms, trying to wake him. He screamed for help and in moments their bedroom was crowded with guards and servants. But there was nothing else they could do; the curse was set.