Chorus

“What’s this for?”

Naoya stared suspiciously at the small box Senya held outstretched in his hand; he knew Senya had no ulterior motive for giving him a gift but Naoya immensely disliked receiving gifts, so much so that everyone who lived in Senya’s burrow knew not to give Naoya anything for any reason.

“Don’t give me that look,” Senya replied in the voice reserved solely for giving orders as an oyabun. “You’re going to take this and not argue about it.”

It was extremely rare that Senya pulled rank on Naoya in their personal life, however, Naoya knew this was a special occasion since he did so.

Naoya sighed taking the box from Senya, taking notice of a light clinking sound coming from within.

“It’s not material or something you would think of as useless, I promise you’ll like this,” Senya reassured gently.

Naoya’s expression softened further at his partner’s words.

“Just be gentle when you open it,” Senya grinned.

Naoya narrowed his eyes at the other man, once again suspicious.

He untied the silk ribbon, dropping the strip of fabric to his lap before removing the lid. Inside sat a beautiful glass wind chime, the color of it reminded him of celadon; Naoya’s interest was piqued at masterfully crafted glasswork, mentally commending the craftsman who made it.

“A fuurin?”

While it was something Naoya liked, he was a bit confused as to why Senya was gifting him one in such a manner when they had many fuurin decorating the garden around their burrow, as well as having many in Naoya’s shop.

“We have plenty of these. What’s so special about-”

Naoya startled harshly when the fuurin suddenly zipped into the air to gently float eye level with him; he quickly darted his eyes to Senya demanding an explanation.

“It’s called a Chimelody, it’s a new imp in Quince’s shop.”

“Please tell me you did not pay full price for this.”

“Absolutely not,” Senya sorted with a laugh. “I know better than to go in there without having a wagashi on me.”

Naoya sighed as he reached to gently stroke the imp’s head; it leaned against the touch, causing its tag to ring against itself and emit a lovely chime.

“Sumi is not going to be happy about this,” Naoya spoke, unable to stop the soft smile that began to tug at his lips.

Sumi was Naoya’s Fidelia, and true to its nature, it was fiercely loyal to him, however, it got jealous when Naoya gave his attention to others, especially imps. Most times Naoya found the behavior endearing, he liked to think it was a reflection of his devotion to those he held dear, especially Senya.

“It’ll be an adjustment period but Sumi will get over it,” Senya laughed.

Naoya hoped Senya was right.

__________

Sumi, in fact, did not get over it; at least, not as fast as Naoya would have liked.

Masato was sweet to everyone in the burrow, including all the imps. The Chimelody quickly figured out that Naoya was its new owner and that Sumi belonged to him too, so it frequently tried to play and bond with Sumi but the Fidelia was having none of it. Naoya had a stern talk with the virtue but was unsure if it had taken his words to heart, which had led them to where they are now.

Naoya was sitting in the garden with Masato and Sumi, essentially forcing them to play together; well, forcing Sumi, Masato was overjoyed to be outside spending time with them in the garden. He could tell Sumi was not happy about it but all it took was one stern look from Naoya to keep the Fidelia from acting out too much.

After watching them for some time, Naoya began to see why Sumi didn’t enjoy being around Masato; the Chimelody was easily excited and often got into other’s personal space. While Naoya and most of the others didn’t mind it, Sumi became quite agitated with Masato always getting in its face.

“Masato,” Naoya called, reaching out to gently cup the imp in his hand and bring it close. “I know you’re excited but Sumi doesn’t like you so much in its personal space like.”

Sumi floated up to press itself against Naoya’s cheek, hugging him; he reached up to gently pet the virtue clinging to him.

“Sumi needs time to get used to you, ok?”

The Chimelody floated up from Naoya’s hand to sway side to side happily; the imp moved closer to Sumi but kept a respectable distance.

Naoya smiled softly at his imp and virtue, relieved to already see progress in their interactions as they moved around him in contentment, all of the enjoying the gentle breeze that blew through the garden with a gentle chime holding so much happiness carried by the wind.