Beginning Beyond The Horizon

"Early in the morning, the father bird kissed the mother bird's forehead and said: 'My dear, you wait for me as usual. If you leave this marked tree, when I come back, I will not find you and our children. Once I find the first worm, I'll come back to you'."

Hajime felt his head resting on someone's lap. The warmth coming from the lap made Hajime curl up into a fetal position. At this time, Hajime knew that it was already early in the morning, and the first ray of sunlight in the morning burned his eyes, but Hajime felt too comfortable now and didn't want to open his eyes and get up, so he continued to close his eyes. The voice continued to speak.

"But Mother Bird waited all day, and Father Bird didn't come back as promised. She waited until the next morning, and then the next day, and Father Bird still didn't come back as promised," the voice continued. "Hajime, do you know why?"

"Because he ran away and eloped with another female bird." Hajime whispered. Hajime felt his forehead being kissed.​

"Because he was captured by farmers and his wings were clipped, he was unable to fly back to his beloved."

Hajime opened his eyes and saw a blurry face looking down at him. If he remembered correctly, the person looking down at him should be Kenji, but why is Kenji's face blurry. "Kenji?" Hajime whispered. When he mentioned Kenji's name, Kenji's face seemed to brighten.

Hajime found himself lying in Kenji's lap while they sat under a blossom tree. Pink petals float slowly in the air. Hajime seems to have been here before. He continued to listen to Kenji's reading. He remembered that in his other life, there had been a time when Kenji and he had done this very same thing. If this is the past, then sitting under this pink blossom tree must be a dream and not real.

"Should I continue reading?" Kenji asked with a smile.

"Kenji..."

"Um..."

"Why?" Hajime asked. He felt tears moisten his eyes. "Why did you show up when I didn't need you? I was hurt when you refused to answer my calls. I was hurt when I ran out that door." He sobbed softly, curling up into the fetal position posture. "As I lay dying alone in that dark alley, I was in so much pain. Every time they hit me; I was in so much pain. Where were you when I was in so much pain?"

Hajime felt his body begin to ache, but Kenji didn't seem to pay attention to what he said and continued reading Hajime's favorite book. The more pain Hajime felt, the more distant Kenji's voice seemed. He was afraid that he would wake up in the hospital bed, so he covered his ears with his hands and thought of Yul.

Seeing Hajime's body getting tighter and tighter, curled up into a ball, Hajime kept whispering that he was in pain, Yul was worried. He was afraid that the voice Hajime whispered in his sleep was true, so he gently patted Hajime's back like a mother coaxing her child to sleep, wiped away the tears from the corners of Hajime's eyes, and slowly shook Hajime, trying to wake him up.

"Hajime," Yul said. "Hajime, wake up...Hajime..."

Hajime softly sobbed, "I'm in so much pain..."

"Hajime," Yul said louder, shaking Hajime harder. "Wake up. Wake up now."

Hajime slowly opened his eyes and found that he was crying in his sleep. Hearing Yul's voice, Hajime realized that what he had just seen was just a dream. He turned slowly and stared at Yul.

"Yul..." Hajime whispered.

"Where do you feel pain?" Yul asked worriedly. "Meiji...Did Meiji kick you again?"

Hajime shook his head. 

Yul touched Hajime's face with his hand and asked, "What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

"Indeed," Hajime whispered, then turned around and lay on his side. "But I'm okay now. I dreamed I was in pain." He turned around and lay flat on Yul's lap. He looked up at Yul, who was looking down at him with a smile. "How long have I been out? I only remember seeing Xun's back, and I don't remember anything after that."

Yul shook his head and said with a smile, "You have been sleeping for three hours."

Hajime asked, "Are we still on the riverbank?"

Yul said, "Yes."

"Xun and the others?" Hajime asked.

Yul replied, "It seems that they did not come back after they left, so we decided to wait for you and Fufu to wake up before continuing to Maka City."

"Fufu? The woman riding with you?" Hajime asked.

Yul nodded.

"She was injured?" Hajime asked.

Yul nodded.

"Is her injury serious?" Hajime asked.

"Kinda," Yul said, looking down at Hajime. He slowly helped Hajime up. "Don't use your power for the time being. Remember what Master Yuuto told you. The phoenix egg in your body consumes ninety percent of your energy. Using a large amount of internal power at one time will make you faint." He looked down at Hajime with a dissatisfied expression on his face. "Have you forgotten your promise?"

Hajime said, "I still remember my promise to you that I will only use my power at critical moments."

Yul sighed and said, "We are almost at the mountain pass. This is not enough reason or critical enough for you to use too much power."

Seeing that Yul was not satisfied with the situation, Hajime sighed and moved closer to Yul. "I know I promised you in the past, but Yul," Hajime said. "For me, if anything threatens your life or the life of our friends, I have to do whatever I can to help. Seeing those arrows being fired at you and others, to me, is crucial." He reached out and hugged Yul. "I promised you before that I would not use my power unless absolutely necessary but saving you and others is what I must do, and I would rather pass out for a few hours than see you get hurt." 

Yul sighed and said, "No more next time."

Hajime kissed Yul on the chin and said, "No more next time. I promised."

Yul sighed heavily.

"I can't believe there are so many different kinds of berries in this forest," Abrafo said excitedly, continuing to pick the berries and used the end of his robe to hold the picked berries. "Hajime would be very happy when he tastes these sweet berries, haha..."

Bong sighed in annoyance as he watched Abrafo happily picking up berries. "Do you think Hajime would be more grateful if Yul picked up those berries?" Bong rolled his eyes at Abrafo in annoyance.

Abrafo dropped a handful of berries into his mouth and began chewing. "I don't see any difference if I picked it, or if Yul picked it, Hajime still appreciates it." He saw Bong's gloomy expression. "What's wrong? Are you injured?"

Hearing Abrafo's answer, Bong became even more angry. In a fit of rage, he threw the berries directly into Abrafo's face. "You can go to hell," Bong said through gritted teeth. "Continue wearing your green hat." He turned and walked away.

Abrafo quickly caught up to Bong and grabbed Bong's arm. "Hey, this is the second time you've given me this attitude. Green hat? Beside me, who did you messing around with?" Abrafo said doubtfully.​ 

Bong looked at Abrafo angrily, "I don't know why I would be angry on your behalf when you don't even care."

Abrafo said, "Now tell me clearly, whose green hat am I wearing?"

Bong said, "Yul!"

Abrafo scoffed in disbelief, "Yul?" He took two steps away from Bong. "Then when did you and Yul get together?"

"Wait... What?" Bong looked at Abrafo in confusion. "Me and Yul getting together?"

Abrafo said, "You said it yourself, so when did you and Yul get together?"

"Hold on a minute... wait... me and Yul?"

"Ah-uh..."

"No... Hajime and Yul," Bong said.

"What about them?" Abrafo asked. "What does Hajime have to do with you and Yul being together?"

Bong didn't want to tell Abrafo the news, but Abrafo seemed too stupid to realize that his lover was cheating on him. Bong sighed and decided to tell Abrafo the truth, so he said, "Hajime is carrying your son and Hajime cheats behind your back with Yul." He stared at Abrafo's sad face, waiting for Abrafo to shed tears.

 Abrafo couldn't help but laugh when he heard Bong talk about this topic so seriously, and then he suppressed his laughter and felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He knelt down and covered his abdomen with his hands.

Bong sighed and squatted in front of Abrafo. He asked, "Are you okay?"

Abrafo looked at Bong's worried expression and laughed. "Hahahaha, I wanted to pretend for a while, but I couldn't hold back my laughter anymore. Hahahaha..." He looked at Bong and continued to laugh. "What the hell is going on... Hahaha... What's wrong with your mind." He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "Hajime, my lover...hahaha..."

Bong quickly got up and kicked Abrafo's leg. "You've laughed enough," Bong shouted angrily.

Abrafo laughed again. After laughing enough, he stood up and asked, "So, do you think Hajime and I are together?"

Bong said, "You said it yourself that Hajime is pregnant with your son."

"Look, Hajime and Yul are married. It's a royal marriage known throughout the Kingdom of Tanzang," Abrafo explained. "Besides, Hajime loves Yul too much to have anything to do with me. That kid may be Yul's, but he's also my godson."

"But you said that night that your son and lover will have enough...food..." Bong said, looking at Abrafo, suddenly realizing that the lover Abrafo was talking about that night was not Hajime, but himself. "Oh...I see... should we continue picking berries?" He shyly walked to the berry bush and started picking berries.

Abrafo looked at Bong and continued to laugh. "Aiya... what a mess." He chuckled.