Tacuma

There's such a poignant duality to the idea of his mortal death in the eyes of his family and the idea that he's somewhere else with Fuji. It makes me think that his father is seeing it from Tezuka's perspective. I really liked the subtle indications (I hope I read those sections correctly) that Tezuka's father was once tempted to go into the woods himself, but stayed in the human world and "recovered".

On a side note, this story gave me an idea for a piece of original fiction that I've now been planning and plotting and writing notes for all day. Obviously it wouldn't be appropriate for a fanfiction community, but I hope I'll get to share it at some point.