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There is a human in his forest.
The boy is young, no more than 10 years of age, with neatly parted hair that reminds Eichi of the leaves on his beloved rose apple tree.
He's wearing little silver frames that perch on his little nose and the sunlight glints off of his face in a way that makes Eichi tilt his head in fascination.
He has pleasant features for a human, but the sharp and inquisitive look in his bright green eyes as he takes in his surroundings makes Eichi wary as well.
The boy is very clearly lost, but there is a confidence in his steps that makes his wandering seem purposeful. He strides towards Eichi's rose apple tree now and Eichi startles from his hiding spot in a bush adjacent to the tree.
"Who's there?" the boy asks, immediately on guard.
"A powerful deity," Eichi responds, "whose wrath you risk invoking after entering my blessed sanctuary without so much as an offering or a prayer."
The boy's brows furrow.
"I left a pack of rice crackers at the entrance."
Eichi makes a strangled noise.
"How old are you anyways?" the boy asks, blatantly ignoring Eichi's threat. "You sound about 10."
Eichi can't believe this human's audacity.
"I am a deity!"
"A child deity," he says flippantly, "who is hiding behind a bush. Please come out so I can see you, oh powerful one."
Eichi gets up from behind the bushes, ready to show this presumptuous human what little bit of wrath he has, but the boy gasps at the sight of him.
"What is it?" Eichi demands.
The boy stares at him, fascination lighting up those bright green eyes. He looks caught by surprise at the mere sight of Eichi.
"I believe you," he says finally. "But you still look the same age as me."
The boy's name is Hasumi Keito, 10 years of age, and he had wandered away from his parents while they were visiting a buddhist temple in the countryside. The Hasumi family ran a temple themselves, back in the city, and Eichi supposes that explained why Keito was able to get past the wards around his forest, which had accepted him as someone who could be trusted.
They had spent the next few days after their initial meeting talking. Keito left his forest just as the sun set, with promises to return the next day. Eichi cannot name the emotion he feels the first time Keito returns to his forest, offerings of human snacks in hand.
Eichi listened intently to Keito's every word as he told Eichi about himself and the human world once he discovered Eichi rarely set foot outside the temple grounds.
"Are you able to leave the grounds at all?" Keito asked.
"I don't know," Eichi said. "I was told I didn't have the power to leave just yet. That I had to become stronger."
The thought left a strange feeling in his chest. For a deity, Eichi was very weak. He felt like he was more likely to die alone, a forgotten deity fading into the mud, than to grow powerful enough to leave the temple grounds.
"You're only a child," Keito mused, startling Eichi out of his thoughts. "It's only natural you'll become stronger as you grow older. And when you do, you'll be able to leave this place. And I'll be able to show you the human world."
Eichi could only stare at him in amazement.
"You really will?"
"Of course I will! We're friends now, aren't we, Eichi?" Keito smiled brightly at him and Eichi's chest tightens for the first time with an emotion other than pain and loneliness.
"Yes," Eichi confirms. "We're friends." He grasps both of Keito's hands in his own and smiles back, his expression equally bright and beautiful.
Keito's honest words spark a brand new feeling in Eichi's heart - a mix of hope and happiness all at once and Eichi can only pray that it'll all come true one day.