Chapter Text
Takashina was a tiny village situated between everything, and just off the road to everywhere. Those that made it out never came back, and the rest…well they never made it past the mouth of the valley where their little dirt path connected to the main road.
Denki refused to be one of the ones stuck in the backwards little hovel of a place. Thankfully for him, ever since the day his magic had manifested itself as sparks across his fingers his parents had been adamant that he get out into the world and make something of himself, since there was certainly nothing for him in Takashina.
He was the only child to a couple thought well beyond child bearing years, living on the furthest edge from the mouth of the valley on the very fringes of the village. From his front door it was exactly eleven minutes, 3,261 steps and one hop over the trench running horizontal across the path. They refilled it every year, and like clockwork it was all washed away with the first flood of the season. He knew the path well as he walked it regularly throughout the day guiding their goat Yuki and her little wooden cart back and forth.
“Kami! Kami! Kami!” Akio, a little brunette boy bounced up and down in his spot beside the well in the middle of the village. His yelling drew the attention of everyone present and Denki waved at the little boy guiding Yuki over to a patch of grass and unhooking the cart.
“Morning Akio!” He called, grabbing his two empty buckets and heading towards the well.
“Sparks! Sparks!” He clapped his hands, eyes wide, still bouncing on his toes.
It took moments for the handful of kids in the village to surround him, abandoning their chores to watch him do tricks. Well versed in the attention spans of children with something interesting to see, the adults simply sighed shaking their heads in exasperation.
Unperturbed by the looks of disapproval, Denki set down his buckets and took a few steps back, keeping lots of space around him free just in case. It didn’t take much effort to call the sparks forward, letting them dance across his hands and arms brightly. The gathered children laughed and clapped talking amongst themselves about how cool it was.
“Can you do anything else yet?” Hanta, a good friend of Denki’s called out, nudging Kyouka at his side with an elbow and shooting her a knowing look.
Denki let the sparks fade, one hand coming up to rub at the back of his hair as he laughed. “Nah, not yet but I’m still trying!”
“Boring.” Kyouka muttered, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest, attention shifting to some distant point on the horizon.
Denki’s smile dimmed somewhat and he dropped his gaze to his abandoned buckets. “Yeah, it’s kinda tough though. I tried to make them a different color the other day but I haven’t figured out the trick yet.” While he spoke he absently shook out the hand not tangled in his hair.
“Still more magic than you can do Kyouka.” Hanta snickered, quickly stepping out of the way of the sharp elbow aimed at his solar plexus.
“Haven’t seen you do any either Hanta.” She sniped before turning on her heel and stalking away.
Hanta rolled his eyes. “Ignore her Denki, she’s just jealous.” He called the last word louder over his shoulder in the direction she’d gone.
“What did you just say?!” She yelled back.
Hanta shot Denki a smile before taking off in the other direction, Kyouka chasing after him a second later.
By the time he made it home later that afternoon his hands were tingling something fierce and he couldn’t feel all of his fingers. He frowned down as his hands noticing the faint tremor they held and shook them out again as he made his way inside.
“Denki is that you?” His mother’s voice called out from the kitchen.
“Yeah, I’m back.” Denki called back, attention still fixed on his hands.
“What’s wrong honey?” She asked, standing in the doorway to the main room, brow wrinkled as she studied his tense frame.
He shrugged, glancing briefly up at her and dropping his hands to his sides. “Nothing, my hands are just a little tingly. It’s fine.”
She eyed him for a moment longer. “Alright honey, but you know you can always talk to me.”
Finally he smiled meeting her eyes. “Yeah mom, I know.”
“Well then, how about you help me finish up dinner before your father comes in?”
Denki nodded, following her into the kitchen and getting started chopping the remaining vegetables.
Later, after dinner had been eaten and cleared away, Denki had spent some time playing around with his magic while his father read and his mother knit in front of the fire. It had only been a few minutes before Denki cried out as a cramp formed in the palm of his left hand. He curled it against his chest, bitting down on his bottom lip as the muscle spasmed for a few long minutes before releasing, leaving a tingly numbness in its wake.
“Denki? Honey what’s wrong?” His mother’s alarmed voice filtered through his ears and he looked up to see both his parents attention focused entirely on him.
He winced, dropping his eyes to the floor. “It’s fine, i-it was just a cramp, it surprised me. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”
“Are you sure son?” His father’s quiet voice held only concern.
Denki shook out his hand flexing his fingers a few times and putting on a smile. “Yeah, it’s ok now, it’s gone.”
“Does this happen often?” His father asked, brow furrowed.
Denki bit his lip again, mentally debating the pros and cons of lying.
“Honey?” His mother’s worried voice pressed.
“When I use my magic for a long time it makes my hands all tingly and a little shaky sometimes. But,” he rushed to assure them. “It only really happens if I use my magic a lot at once…usually.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
Denki sunk down in his seat, refusing to look at either of his parents as he mumbled quietly. “I didn’t want to worry you, or for you to make me stop using my magic.”
“Oh honey.”
He looked up when he felt his mother’s arm wrap around him, hugging him against her side as her free hand stroked through his blonde hair.
“Why would we make you stop using it?” His father asked curiously.
Denki frowned at him. “Because it hurts me sometimes.”
“That’s just because you don’t really know how to use it yet honey.” His mother reassured him softly, pressing a kiss to his brow. “I’m sure we can find someone to teach you how to use it properly.”
“Really?” Denki asked, glancing hopefully between his parents.
“Of course son.” His father relaxed back in his chair, book forgotten on his lap. “I’ll write to some friends of mine and see if they might know anyone.”
“See? How does that sound?” His mother smiled warmly, giving him a squeeze. “We’ll get it all worked out in no time, just you wait.”
Denki nodded, relaxing further into her embrace and closing his eyes. “Ok mom.”
Weeks passed and they heard nothing of much use back from his father’s friends. None of them were familiar with magic as volatile as Denki’s seemed to be, they couldn’t help. His parents kept up a brave face, telling him repeatedly that there was plenty of time to find someone who could help him out in the great wide world. He pasted on a smile and nodded along despite the growing flicker of unease that he couldn’t pinpoint a reason for.
“Honey? Could you make sure the barn is locked for the night?” His mother called out. “It looks like there’s a storm rolling in.”
The blonde called back an affirmative, trotting out the door into the yard. The dark ominous clouds blowing in from the east told him all he needed to know and he picked up the pace, running across the field to the little barn where Yuki was kept at night. He made a quick trip around the outside swinging all the shutters closed and latching them tightly.
Yuki perked up when she saw him, ambling to each window he appeared in, bleating softly at him.
“Hey girl,” he smiled crouching down inside once he’d finished with the shutters. “No need to worry, it’s just a storm. Don’t want you getting all wet and cold from the rain.” He ruffled the stiff fur between her horns as he straightened up. “I’m going inside now, see you in the morning!”
He pulled the heavy barn doors shut before he left, leveraging his full weight against them to get them moving. The latch rattled loudly as he secured it just as the first sprinkling of raindrops began.
Yellow eyes peered curiously up at the sky, hand held out as he noted the strange quality to the air. With a shrug he sprinted back across the yard towards the house as the rain quickly picked up intensity. His clothing was soaked through by the time he slammed through the door, throwing it loudly closed behind him as he shook out his hair.
“Everything alright son?” His father asked, appearing in the doorway to the kitchen.
Denki nodded, shoving wet hair out of his eyes.
His mother tsked when she saw him gesturing to the living room. “Go get changed and dry off, quick before you catch a cold.”
He nodded again, already starting to peel off his vest.
“And make sure you hang your clothes by the fire!” She called after him as he scampered down the hall to his room.
“Okay mom!”
The storm grew louder as the night progressed, rain thundering down against the house and lightning brightly illuminating the room as it flashed.
Denki found his eyes often drawn to the window, almost without conscious thought all evening to the point that he left his bedroom curtains open when he crawled in bed.
The prickly feeling usually confined to his fingers and hands was also present, stronger and more widespread than usual which was odd as he hadn’t used his magic that day at all. His fingers were still stiff and faintly burned from a few days prior when he’d overused his magic on accident.
As he burrowed beneath his blankets curling up to preserve warmth, he wondered how long the storm would last and if the trench in the road would flood to much to cross with all the rain.
It took much longer than usual to fall asleep that night. Every time he would be on the cusp of finally tipping into unconsciousness thunder could crack, or the rain would get heavier and start him back to wakefulness again.
He groaned, rolling onto his back as the shutters outside his window smacked loudly against the house, leaving him once more suffering the sudden adrenaline spike. He stared up at the dark ceiling trying desperately not to think about how late it must be, and how many more hours he had until he’d need to be up to start his chores.
Somewhere in the lull of the storm during the very early hours of the morning Denki finally drifted off to sleep between sleepy thoughts of flooded fields and concern for Yuki.
Denki came to slowly despite the howling wind and thunder so loud it was like the mountains themselves were cracking apart and falling into the valley. No, instead he came to from the tingling in his fingers and toes rapidly creeping towards his torso. The feeling was much stronger than it had been the evening before he’d fallen asleep.
His brow wrinkled and he rolled slowly onto his side, pushing himself up after a few failed attempts. He shook out his hands, fisting and releasing them carefully in an attempt to get feeling back. He winced as instead the tingling abruptly evolved into sharp pins and needles spreading in waves all the way up his arms to his shoulders and up his legs to his hips.
Denki snapped fully awake as a crack of thunder shook the house. His gaze straying to the tiny window in his room, only then realizing that not only was the storm still raging, but as he licked dry lips he could taste the tang of static and magic in the air. He looked back down at his shaking hands, and blinked slowly, fighting past the fog of sleep to figure out what to do. The pins and needles continued to ramp up, making the fog even more difficult to navigate in his tired state.
Something in his chest snapped audibly and not a moment later pain unlike anything he’s ever experienced rippled through his body, stealing the breath from his lungs as every muscle seized at once. Light exploded around him and he forced his eyes shut just before the air shimmered and thunder cracked. Denki’s world faded to black, the soft thump of his body hitting the bed silent in the cacophony of splintering wood and shattering glass.