Khr ain't mine
Warning: there's gonna be a lotta gore and psychological horror in this story
Enjoy the story (I hope you would, at least)
He stared in horror. My bad, it seemed like a mix of regret, disgust, self-loathing and horror. His face scrunched up, his eyebrows furrowed, teeth gritting. He seemed to be sweating profusely, his whole face red. His fists crunched up and dyed in blood. When he tried to check if the other was alive, blood smeared on the other's shirt, mixing with the already red colored shirt and creating a beautiful dye.
But there was no pulse
There was no heartbeat
There were no signs of breathing, the other's chest was still
There was no fluttering of eyes, no pulsing of eyes
There were currently two people on the scene, one alive and the other… in a deep, eternal sleep. At least that's what his hysterical mind screamed, denial engulfing him. The sunset enveloped the two figures, illustrating his feelings of the light going out of his life.
It was an accident, at least, that's what a third person would say. The survivor thought otherwise, it was murder, according to him.
In a lonely street in Namimori, in the transitioning time of light to dark, a murder had occurred. The murderer was currently in the scene, holding the body, making it stand, making it live. Then he proceeded to drag the corpse along the streets. The serene face of the body aroused no suspicion from the few witnesses present in the scene. It also helped that the murderer was in total denial, his face completely calm, his belief lying in the illusion that his only hope giver was just dreaming beautiful dreams. His savior deserved at least that much.
Shuffling along, they moved away from the dark alley and walked in the streets. Crossing a bridge and moving through another alley, a new street was seen. Well, this was the only way to enter and exit the street, eyes seemed to be watching their every movement. They finally stopped in front of an old house.
They moved to a simple looking flat. The boy shuffled for the keys, their journey until here was a quiet one, they were both ostracized by society after all. The house seemed abandoned and the quietness was rather eerie as it was getting dark. The door creaked open giving a musky smell. The room was dusty.
Two skeletons laid on the sofa in the back room.
The room was mostly empty. It had a fridge and a television. Other than those things, it was barren. The color of the floor was blood red. The ceilings were milky white. While the walls had splashes of crimson and tomato red. It was also adorned with scratches.
The boy went inside and dragged the sofa out. He held their wrists for a minute. No pulse. Whispering a sorry, he moved to the fresh corpse.
He then made the body sit. His eyes despairing as he checked for a pulse for the 10th time, finding none, yet again…
He shut the door and knelt down beside the body and spoke, his voice strained.
"I won't acknowledge it… Or else what would I do now?"
Days passed and rumors grew-
'The place near the corner of Namimori seems to be haunted. I heard noises from it the other day. The place has been abandoned, you know. It's been that way for 15 years now'
'that... I knew there was something wrong with .. that. It seems that.. that psycho is collecting bodies in there!'
There were fearing and scorned gazes directed at the boy. The object of attention seemed unfazed. It was a daily occurrence after all.
The boy opened the door and greeted his savior. The room stunk and the body seemed to have begun rotting. Insects lied around the body in different regions of the room. They were killed to have tried to consume the body. The corpse seemed to have yellowed, muscles seemed to be deteriorating.
Yet the scene didn't phase the boy. He wished for an eternity…
Even if he should remain ignorant.
He moved to the skeletons and held their wrists. No pulse.
He went as usual and knelt beside the boy and check for a pulse, none again. He rarely left the house. When he did, it was to get repellants and food.
There were bills and letters stuffed in the door opening. Some of them were for maintenance and room rent. Others for notices to get back to school. The last were death threats…
A week later, the hands of the young corpse seemed to be layering. Its body seemed to that of a bird. Hollowed and holed, the boy thought that his dear friend finally could be as free as one.
He checked for a pulse, yet again. It was a cycle. Check for a pulse, none. Check for the skeletons' pulse, none.
Sadly, even with its upgraded body, it couldn't fly. It was held captive by an overly attached boy, who just couldn't let go.
He went closer and spoke softly,
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I can't let you go… even if it was me who got you into this state. But, I don't want to see you gone from my life. It's a selfish request, but you always did try granting all my wishes. You … really shouldn't have. It's because of me, you lived with your eyebrows scrunched up in worry ."
He chuckled and continued,
"You were always too nice for your own good. You should learn a thing or two from the people in Namimori…"
Silence ensued as his face slowly morphed into panic,
"NO! You have to stay with me! I decided to stay away from the others. Too many have died. I won't let anyone get hurt anymore! So please, I'm begging you, stay with this lonely 16-year-old child!"
Trying to calm down, he rushed to the back room and brought some cards.
He went and carried the other skeletons, treating them like they were more fragile than glass, more precious than his own life. He made them sit in a circle and started cutting the deck.
Pretending to be cheerful, he spoke out merrily, his voice scratchy-
"Let's play old maid!"
The next week, he bought ingredients and made a mixture to preserve the skeletal parts of the body.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I couldn't make the body embalming mixture. It was too expensive. I can't sell my organs, Hib- I'm sorry, I don't have the right to say that name, right?"
He laughed self deprecatedly,
"I'll at least prevent you from turning to dust, like…"
His bangs shadowed his eyes
This was why he never tried to clean his floors or room. So that, they stayed with him
He checked for a pulse, nothing...
The third week, most of the skin had been shed from the body. The hair had been fallen on to the ground.
He stayed the whole day applying the paste to the nooks and corners of the body.
The very next day,
A white haired man sat on the sofa ,greeting the child rather cheerfully when he returned from shopping.
The young boy became extremely hostile and shifted towards the skeleton,
"What do you want?!" he hissed.
"My ,my ,is that how you treat a guest? This poor old man has come to see how his favorite grandchild is faring. I see you've reached a level where you need a straight jacket" the man said, eyes looking quite disgusted at the state of the other's room.
"Don't feed me bullshit. Why .are. you. here?" he gritted out.
"Why, I've come here to give you a reward for a job complete."
The boy's jaw felt cold. He couldn't breathe for air. He screamed out.
"This wasn't meant to happen!"
The other treated his outburst with nonchalance,
"Funny how fate works, right? Don't hold back, no matter how it happened, it's still a job complete."
"KAWAHIRA! Don't test my patience!"
"I see that you're upset, child. Your current style of living makes you useless for me. You're going insane" he said, looking at the skeleton in distaste.
His face immediately morphed into the very epitome of cheerfulness and he continued,
"So I decided to help you. I'll give you a gift" the man said chuckling and smiling gleefully.
The boy looked so lost and so lonely at that moment. He then grew firm and said,
"What's the catch?"
"Oh? You hurt this old man. This old man has no such motive, you see" he feigned mock hurt.
"…" the boy looked distrustful, he didn't want to let the immortal get away with everything he wanted to do.
"Ahem, so getting back to the topic, I'll send you to an alternate universe to reunite you with your friends. None of them survived right? " he said mockingly.
"You're wrong! Hib-" then the boy promptly shut up, realization dawning on his face and tried covering up his mistake.
"The offer you gave, is it actually possible?" he whispered.
"Boy, I don't lie" Kawahira whispered in his ear and passed him a locket.
"Open the locket and touch the picture to move between the two dimensions, 'your world' and their world." He mocked again.
His eyes darkened at the reason for why the locket existed. Snapping himself out of it, he said.
"… Are they alive?"
"Yes, peachy."
"… Is it actually possible."
"Why yes, after all, you don't belong in this world" the man tapped the other in a fake pitying gesture and vanished.
Looking dazedly at the dreamlike possibility of a world where they all lived, he looked at the far distance, eyes dulling at his current situation and whispered,
" Five left. I'll protect them, even if it means avoiding the air they breathe… because at least they can breathe" his voice cracked.
But the tears never fell.
He couldn't be allowed to cry.
He had sinned.
And there was no one who could make him forgive himself.
Chapter one: the death of Sawada Tsunayoshi ,the grounded sky