Mysterious omens, faces hiding in reflections, and a mysterious aging potion. Time is running short for the Hiroki as his life is reversed and he slowly begins to age down instead of up, doomed to age himself out of existence. Can the curse be broken before Hiro disappears forever?
Hello all! This is my second Junjou fanfiction, this time featuring your favorite Egoists! It'll be a little less serious than my last one and hopefully comical as well. So buckle your seat belts and get ready, it's going to be a bumpy ride! OvO Also, sorry if a bunch of you got Email spammed by this story. D: It seems that FF was having some trouble so I had to delete and re-add it to the system. ;A; Forgive me for the inconvenience!
A man growing old, becomes a child again. -Sophocles
Hiroki couldn't imagine the night could get much worse. He had let Nowaki convince him to go to a New Years festival (AKA: Bribed him with lots and lots of sex.) and the giant had even gotten him to wear a purple kimono. (Nowaki had sworn up and down it was more blue than purple, but Hiro just couldn't see it.) To make things even more dire, they had gotten separated and the brunette was lost in the giant expanse of their local shrine.
The night air was growing cold, brought to a stir from a light breeze. The thin material of the man's kimono offered little protection, the slit allowing a draft in that was quickly freezing his calves. His sandles were causing his feet to grow chilled as well, to the point that they were aching and Hiroki was sure that any moment his toes would change color and fall off.
"I swear, when I find you Nowaki, I'm going to string you up buy your-..."
"Someone's got their nuts all in a twist." An unexpected voice caused the professor to jump, head jerking around in search of the owner of the voice. Other than the old buildings and the trees, there appeared to be no one else in the shrine with Hiroki. He was about to shrug things off, decide that he had just imagined the voice, when it spoke again. "I'm over here. In the well."
"The-... Well...?" It was only then that the brunette really noticed it, a beautiful stone well, built right below a large and very ancient tree. It had been constructed with great care and looked as if it was well cared for, free of any weathering or moss. Adding to the charm of the old well, hung up in the branches of the old tree, were dozens of tiny paper cut outs of rabbits.
The scene was ethereal, the way the rabbits swung in the wind, the light glinting off the polished stones of the well, the quiet lapping of the water against the edges. Curious about the cut outs, as well as the mysterious voice, Hiro could feel himself being pulled in. When he finally arrived he could see his reflection in the clear water, a full moon framing him from behind.
"Hello...?" The man dared to lean closer to the surface of the water, glaring at himself as he did so. What was he thinking? It was only him in this part of the shrine. The voice had been a figment of his imagination. Frustrated at himself for being so foolish, he was about to turn and leave again, when once more the voice beckoned to him.
"It's like this every damn time. People come to my well and they think they're going crazy or something." As the voice spoke, Hiroki's reflection, now shocked rather than annoyed, changed into that of a copper haired boy. Sprouting from the top of his head were two long rabbit ears, one straight and the other slightly flopped over. "I told you before, I'm right here, in the well."
Hiro blinked hard, then rubbed his eyes. There had to be some kind of logical explanation for what he was seeing. Perhaps Nowaki had been too rough with him in bed. Maybe he had, had a bit too much of the New Years sake that his partner had served with dinner. Or worse yet, he was going senile and starting to imagine things.
"Will you stop making that horrible face? You're going to make me lose my appetite." The rabbit crossed his arms over his chest, snorting so hard that the surface of the well water shook. "You're not dreaming, this is reality. Believe it or not, seeing me like this only happens on New Years Eve when there's a full moon."
"But-... Who are you?" Again, Hiroki was running through the list of things that could be clouding his judgment, all the while scolding himself for indulging his insanity by speaking to some imaginary rabbit in a well.
"People around here know me as Tsuki No Usagi, but I like to go by the name Hazel."
"Hazel... As in... The spice?"
"You got a problem with that, old man?" Narrowing his eyes, rabbit ears twitching in annoyance, Hazel glared up at the still shocked Kamijou.
"Don't talk to me like that brat! You're not really there anyways, so why am I bothering?" Snatching up a rock from the ground, the Devil of Mitsuhashi dropped it down into the well, watching as the ripples faded the rabbit away and turned his reflection back to the way it was supposed to be. "See? Told you it was all in your head."
I really need to not make a habit of this whole talking aloud to myself thing.Ready to be done with his illusion, the brunette turned on his toes, more determined than ever to find Nowaki so they could head home. His body didn't have time to get started, as it ran into an incredibly tall and stiff body. The professor was about to scold his lover for not announcing himself, when he realized with a start, that it wasn't who he thought it was.
"You ought not to insult me." Now freed from his well, the rabbit Hazel was even more menacing than ever. His body was nothing like one would expect of a bunny, instead of being thin and lithe, his was well muscled and possibly larger and taller than Nowaki's. His hair was wet and plastered to his angered face, amber-eyes flashing in the moonlight.
"What the hell are you?" Kamijou choked, staggering back, his legs hitting the well and knocking him off balance. He would have fallen into the water if Hazel hadn't caught the front of his kimono and yanked him forward.
"I told you. Tsuki No Usagi. I prefer Hazel."
"You mean the rabbit that sits up in the moon making mochi?"
"I don't actually make it. That's why you're here, it's my offering, so hand it over." Releasing Hiroki, the auburn-haired boy held out both of his hands, a sweet smile spreading across his face.
"Look, I don't have anything to give you. I need to be getting home." Pushing the rabbit's hands out of the way, Hiro started once more to find his missing typhoon.
"I wouldn't just walk away if I were you. I could get very angry if you do."
"So what?" Glancing warily over his shoulder, the professor saw that Hazel looked more ravenous than ever. His teeth were more canine than rodent and he sneered in a way that made Hiroki's blood run cold.
"I show up on earth once every full moon, only on New Years. I haven't eaten since the last time, so you better find me something." Using one of his strong hands, Tsuki No Usagi gripped the front of Hiro's kimono and thrust him towards the well. Just before the smaller man fell in head first, he caught him around the back of the neck. "Tell me Hiroki Kamijou, what do you see?"
"In the water?" The professor swallowed hard, trying to keep his voice steady. His was heart pounding painfully inside his chest and though he would never admit it, he was beginning to feel unnerved. The pressure on the back of his neck increased and his head was pushed closer to the surface of the water. "I see my reflection and the moon's, but not yours."
"That's because I'm out here instead of inside the well." With another shove against Hiroki's neck, the rabbit let out a small laugh. Despite being so dangerous, the taller man's voice was silk. This only served to upset the professor all the more. Where was Nowaki? "Is that all you see? Maybe you should look closer."
Hiro inhaled deeply, straining his eyes to see beyond his own face, maybe there was something at the bottom of the well. The more he looked the clearer it became. There, at the bottom of Tsuki No Usagi's well were bones, human bones. Eyes bulging at the site, the brunette began to struggle, desperate to break free of the creature holding him.
"What are you?" Hiro's voice was hoarse from distress and his fighting only seemed to make the pain in the back of his neck worse.
"I'm sort of like a cross between a demon and a god, only so much cooler."
"I don't know about 'cooler'. You just seem extra bratty."
That's right Hiroki, piss him off. Get yourself killed. Brilliant plan!
"Don't worry Kamijou, I'm not going to kill you." Hazel's breath was now hot against one of the brunette's ears. He sounded even more dangerous when he whispered, his voice taking on an even darker tone. "I'm going to suck out your soul."
"My soul." Breathless and in terror-stricken awe, the professor's eyes couldn't seem to find anything else to look at but the bones in the bottom of the well.
"That takes time though, so don't worry. I'll release you for tonight."
"How very gracious of you." Refusing to let go of his pride, even in a tense situation, Hiroki couldn't help but offer a terse reply. "How do you intend to take my soul from me?"
"I'll use my Mirror Curse." Speaking as if he spoke about curses every day, Tsuki No Usagi's voice took on a bored drawl. "I'll steal your reflection and use it to slowly absorb you and pull you into my world. The World Of The Moon."
"How does that work exactly?"
"You'll have to wait and see, Hiroki Kamijou."
The brunette opened his mouth to spit out another retort and as he did he felt the breath being sucked out of him. His eyes caught sight of two hands swimming up through the water in the well, headed straight towards him. He wanted to get away, break free of the rabbit and flee, but his limbs, as well as the rest of his body, were suffering from a sudden bout of paralysis.
All he could do was watch as the ghostly hands came closer and closer, until they were at the very surface of the well.
They launched themselves like snakes up out of the water, their boney fingers reaching right through Hiroki's flesh, hooking in his ribs. Lungs deflated, the professor couldn't cry out or utter a sound, but he could feel. The fingers were stroking his organs, pressing against his stomach, tangling themselves in his arteries, squeezing his heart until it felt like it would burst.
The brunette's eyes could no longer see, his vision had gone black, but still the hands continued to tease him. They swung from his ribs as if they were monkey-bars. They drummed on his spine, causing the man's arms and legs to jerk awkwardly in some kind of mocking dance.
Make it stop.
"And to think, all you humans have to do to prevent all this is bring me mochi. It's really sad." Hazel's voice was the last thing that Hiroki heard before finally, he lost consciousness, and was freed from his torment.
Having a WTF moment? :) Can't help it, I like starting with a bit of a bang. I'm not really good at writing horror, any tips would be appreciated. Not that this story is going to be like this the whole way through, but I still wouldn't mind some feedback on this.
Thank you for reading and stay tuned to find out what the evil Hazel has in store. And yes, I know, Hazel is hardly a threatening enough name for some guy who is supposedly this bad-ass, but my lovely editor allowed me to borrow him and I wasn't about to change his name. That and I think it's amusing. It's like naming small dogs things like 'Killer', it's just too funny! :D
