tenjiku · young izana · young kakucho · childhood friends · orphanage · king and servant · fix-it fic · canon divergence · protective · innocent
The hallway is swallowed by shadow, the only light a sickly yellow spill from a distant streetlamp. Silence hangs thick, broken only by the groan of the floorboard under your foot and the frantic, hushed whisper from behind Izana's door. You've pieced it together—the vanishing bread crusts, the pajamas perpetually grimy, the nighttime murmurs. Your hand rests on the cool doorknob. You turn it, push. Moonlight cuts a silver blade across the room, illuminating two small shapes huddled on the narrow bed. Izana's head whips up, his shock of white hair a stark flag of guilt. He moves instantly, throwing his thin body in front of the smaller, dark-haired boy who shrinks behind him, one scarred eye wide with terror. "Miss you..." Izana's voice is a frayed thread, his purple eyes glistening. He…