Hello dear readers! I've been wanting to write this AU for a long while now. Since I'm fairly busy, my writing may not be as edited or polished as it normally would be, but this is a more self-indulgent project anyway.
A few things before you start reading:
-please make sure to check the warnings I put at the top of each chapter.
-Pennywise will work a little differently in this fic (but don't worry, the big things like scaring and killing are still very much present).
-the only main pairing is Miki/Aya. All others will be implied or in the background (and will be added in the tags as needed).
I hope you enjoy!
Warnings: blood, violence, bullying, homophobic language, death
"…high schooler with green and red hair. He was last seen leaving school on Monday afternoon. If anyone has any information regarding his disappearance, please call the emergency hotline…"
As the newswoman switched to an economics report, the young man watching the dim colors of the old boxy television set crossed his arms. He rolled the plastic toothpick between his lips from one side of his mouth to the other as his pensive frown deepened.
"Why can't I shake off this bad feeling…?" he mumbled. He leaned back on the box he sat on and stretched out his legs, one of which gave a familiar twinge. Absently rubbing his knee—the old injury had ached especially fierce all day—he made sure to avoid bumping his foot into one of the many boxes strewn about the tiny break room.
Logically, the connection between four years ago and this incident was fragile at best. Yet last night's nightmare flashed across his mind again: the agonized screams ripping out of his own throat, razor-sharp teeth gouging into his knee, the burn of his back scraping against tree roots and uneven ground as claws mercilessly dragged him across the forest floor—
His lungs stuttered with quickened, distressed breaths. Holding his head between his quavering hands, he forced himself to focus on the grounding habit of chewing on and restlessly toying with the toothpick.
Bite, chew, roll. Bite, chew, roll. Bite, chew, roll.
It soon poked the top of his mouth; he must have bent it. But it served its purpose. Just calm enough to string together coherent thought, he spat it out onto his palm and surveyed the damaged stick.
Thanking the fact that his younger sister wasn't there, he resolved to avoid falling into flashbacks again. The best he could, anyway.
Turning off the television, he cast aside his suspicions. The nightmare had put him on edge, and his brain was making links that weren't there. That must be it.
Yet he knew that he'd be keeping a closer eye on the news from now on.
Standing, he tossed the toothpick into a nearby trash can, picked up the little container sitting on top of the TV, and shook out a new one. After placing it between his lips, he left the room and closed the door behind him.
"We're going to do a group project starting today. Make groups of three to four people, and then I'll give you the assignment."
Shoes scuffed against the floor as students rose from their desks and chatter filled the air. Onoda stared at the artificial wood grain of his desk, and his heart thumped at the prospect of working with potentially uncouth classmates. Since he was not close to anyone in this class, he hoped for the best case scenario: a few stragglers would find themselves wandering to his desk, where they could awkwardly divvy out the work and not speak to each other until the day it was due.
"Onoda, right?"
He looked up as two boys stopped in front of his desk. The one who spoke he recognized as Teshima, an intelligent upperclassman with dark wavy hair. Beside him stood Aoyagi, a far quieter yet subtly strong presence. While Onoda rarely spoke with them, they had never showed hostility toward him in the past, so he heaved an internal sigh of relief.
For a moment his gaze was drawn to the white bandages peeking out from underneath Aoyagi's bangs, which covered most of where his eye would normally be. A week ago the boy had come to school like that, with the area above his right cheekbone swathed in gauze. And if he was quiet before, then he was nearly silent now. Everyone also took note of how the already close pair were now inseparable, as if Teshima feared letting the other out of his sight. Countless rumors were still running through the halls about them: they're totally dating and a jealous ex of Teshima's attacked him, I heard Aoyagi lost his eye by falling on a railroad spike, maybe he stabbed himself and Teshima's making sure he doesn't do it again.
Whatever caused the injury, Onoda made sure to not let his gaze linger too long and looked back at Teshima. "Yes, that's me!" he responded with a tad too much force.
Luckily the two didn't seem fazed, and Teshima offered him an easygoing smile. "Can we join you?"
After meekly nodding, the pair pulled up chairs, slid them in front of his desk, and sat down.
"We'll probably have to make some sort of slide show for one of the books we read," Teshima guessed.
Aoyagi gave a thoughtful hum in response.
"Oh, good point. She did say she wanted us to at least one speech in this class."
Onoda glanced between them in confusion. How did he get that from Aoyagi's hum? "A-Ah, well, I hope it's not a speech. I'm terrible at those."
"Don't worry, I can give you pointers if that does happen. And we won't have to talk up there alone at least," Teshima reassured.
Despite his misgivings about public speaking, he had to admit that the other's words managed to ease a sliver of his worry.
When Aoyagi placed a phone in front of him, Onoda blinked at the "new contact" screen several times before he realized what the other was asking. "…you want my phone number?" He tentatively picked up the phone, added his full name and number, and then handed it back to Aoyagi, who checked the screen and gave a satisfied nod.
"Just in case we have to talk outside of school," Teshima elaborated. Before he could say more, the teacher started handing out their assignments—it was just a slide show project, thank god. The students would be listlessly staring at the slides instead of being forced to focus to focus on him anxiously slogging through a speech.
The three spent the rest of the period discussing their topic, and Onoda was eternally grateful that his partners seemed amiable and easy to work with.
Exiting the classroom with books and folders held against his chest, Onoda glanced down at the Love Hime bookmark sticking out of a textbook. On the glossy paper, a purple-haired anime smiled brightly back at him while soft pink bubbles covered the background. Somehow it had almost fallen out of the top of the book; he pinched it between his fingers and slid it back between the pages.
Just as he started to lift his head, he collided with a solid torso and stumbled. His books tumbled from his fingers.
Panic flared in his chest and tightened his throat. "I-I'm so sorry!" Hastily dropping to his knees to pick up his scattered belongings, he was all too aware of the eyes on him that he couldn't bring himself to face.
"Ugh, it's that weird guy." An unfamiliar voice scoffed to his right. Onoda bit his lip to stop it from trembling. "I bet he was too busy thinking about kinky cartoon shit to look where he was going."
"Oi."
He flinched at the sharp voice directly in front of him—that second one must be who he bumped into. Keeping his terrified gaze firmly on the floor, he snatched up the last paper with shaking hands. Squeaking out another "s-sorry!" he scrambled to his feet started rushing down the hallway.
A hand flew out and grasped his shoulder.
Inhaling sharply, he jerked away from the touch and accidentally slammed himself against a locker door. Past the ringing in his ears he caught another voice.
"Onoda! Onoda, it's us, it's okay!"
Naruko. Instantly his shoulders slumped with relief, and he released a jittery sigh. Finally lifting his gaze, he caught the redhead's concerned expression. Miki and Aya, standing on either side of Naruko, also cast him worried looks.
"Did something happen?" Miki gently questioned.
Aya started rolling up her sleeves to reveal leanly muscled forearms. "Did someone pick on you?"
"No, no, it's fine, just a little uh," he quickly rambled. The moment had been horrific, but he had gotten off with only a couple insults. It could have been a lot worse. "I bumped into someone. I was so scared that I picked up my things and ran off! That's all."
"You sure that's all? Because Aya and I can go find the bastard and beat him to a pulp," Naruko promised, resolve sparking in his red eyes like embers ready to catch fire at the slightest gust.
Seeing them worry over his wellbeing and rise to his defense never failed to stir warmth in his heart. Even so, he smiled gratefully and shook his head. He had no desire to harm—it had been his fault the altercation happened anyway—and he didn't want his friends to get themselves injured either. Naruko and Aya were persistent, fiery fighters when they wanted to be. But even they could only do so much against bigger bullies who always moved in packs, as proved by the blotchy bruise on Naruko's thin arm.
"I'm sure. Thanks." Noticing one of their usual group members was absent, he glanced around. "Where's Manami?"
"He wasn't in class," Miki recalled.
Aya rolled her eyes. "Like that's any surprise. He only shows up half the time."
"I'll text him in a minute. He might still want to hang out with us later," Onoda said.
Naruko slung an arm around his shoulders, and he flashed a toothy grin. "Speaking of that! Miki, you said your brother is tossing out the expired snacks today, right?" Miki's brother ran a convenience store, and whenever he built up on expired stock that he couldn't sell to customers, he left it to her and her friends.
"Yep!"
"Sweet! I call dibs on the hot Cheetas."
Out of the corner of his eye, Onoda noticed someone walk up to the nearby bulletin board adorning the opposite wall.
"Is there something new on there?" Naruko asked as he and the others looked over as well.
"I don't think so…but someone's looking at it," the bespectacled male responded.
In the center of the board, surrounded by the lunch menu and flyers discouraging drugs and sex, was a missing poster. The disgruntled expression of a slim, angular face with green hair faced the passing students. A corner was slightly creased; the paper had hung there for a month now, so it was a wonder it hadn't received more damage. Yet the person surveyed the poster as if he might find something new by searching long enough.
"I think that's Toudou. I've seen him looking at the board a few times, but usually in the mornings." Even though there was no possibility Toudou could overhear them, Miki lowered her voice nonetheless.
Unable to see his face, they watched his thumb tenderly smooth out the crease on the poster.
"They still don't have any leads, do they?" Onoda morosely mumbled.
Aya shook her head. "Not that I know of."
Receiving the distinct feeling that they were intruding upon an intimate scene, despite the students talking and milling about the open hallways, they were about to look away when several students approached Toudou. Like a mood switch had been flipped, his mouth morphed into a charismatic smile as he said some smug, flirtatious remark that left a few people swooning.
"…hey."
Onoda's heart missed a beat. That voice…and it's close…!
He took a deep breath. His friends were beside him, everything would be all right, and no punches had been thrown yet. Those were all good signs. Probably. Maybe he just wanted to warn him not to bump into him again?
Turning with his pulse pounding, he faced the tall male looking directly at him. Before he could wilt under the stern gaze, Miki stepped forward to divert the other's attention.
"Hi," she calmly greeted. Her sunny smile worked as a soft barrier against possible animosity; whether the gesture grew genuine or turned into a steely frown depended on the stranger's next lines.
He glanced away and rubbed the back of his neck. While his mouth remained in a set, stern line, the actions almost made it seem…like he felt awkward?
"I saw this on the floor after you left. I'm assuming it's yours." He held out the Love Hime bookmark.
Onoda hesitated in surprise. "I…yeah, that's mine." He gingerly accepted it and slipped it between random pages of his math textbook.
The subtle tension in Miki's shoulders dissipated, and in turn so did Aya's. Naruko still eyed the other distrustfully.
"What's your game?" Naruko demanded. "I recognize you. You're that popular hotshot Imaizumi, aren't you? Did someone dare you to come over here?"
"Nothing, yes, and no," Imaizumi coolly answered. "Are you done interrogating someone twice your size?"
"What did you just say—"
Aya placed a hand on her hip. "Can't blame us for asking. Most people who walk up to us don't have good intentions in mind."
"Actually, I think I recognize you too. You're in my art class," Miki realized.
Imaizumi nodded. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he checked the screen. "I have to go."
"Wait!" The outburst left Onoda's lips before he thought better of it. Sheepish at Imaizumi's raised eyebrow, he swallowed and continued. "Ah, thank you! For giving my bookmark back. It really means a lot."
His gaze flicked away again. "…you're welcome. And that asshole I was with…ignore everything he said."
Without giving them time to respond, Imaizumi turned and headed down the hall. Still uncertain what to make of the exchange, the group turned back to each other.
"He seemed nice," Miki remarked.
"I dunno about that…something about him rubs me the wrong way. But he did give Onoda's thing back, so he's not on my immediate shit list," Naruko grumbled.
Aya abruptly, if lightly, smacked Onoda across the back of his head, and he gave a startled yelp. "Ignore everything an asshole said? So someone was mean to you!"
"A-Ah! Um, there was some mean stuff…but no one physically hurt me, I swear!"
"And it's over with now," Miki assured her, and she grasped the other female's hand. Aya clicked her tongue at the obvious attempt to calm her, but she curled her fingers around Miki's hand nonetheless. "And Onoda says he's okay. But next time you will tell us if someone hurts you again, right?"
"Yeah," Onoda agreed, and he hoped he could stick to that promise. He appreciated that his friends would defend him, he really did; yet sometimes words stuck in his throat, and he'd rather ignore the bad stuff that happened than talk about it.
Naruko hummed in satisfaction. "Good! We gotta watch out for each other. And it's not like you're the only one who needs help; I know Aya would beat the hell out of anyone who tries to touch me. Not that there's no one I can't fight myself, but that's not the point!"
"Damn straight I would," Aya confirmed.
"Oh! Sorry to change the subject, but I just realized what time it is," Miki commented, glancing at her phone. "We should hurry before my brother starts wondering where we are."
"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!" Naruko led the way, and the other three had to quicken their steps to catch up. Once through the doors, he slowed to a walking pace due to Aya and Onoda's complaints.
Onoda fell into step beside Naruko, while Miki and Aya led the way, hands still joined. He shot a quick text to Manami about where they were going and stuffed his phone back in his pocket.
A random student that strode by them loudly whispered to another student. "There go the lesbos; can't believe they're still hanging out with those boys. I thought all lesbos are manhaters."
"Piss off," Naruko growled, even though the aggressors were likely out of earshot. Aya scowled and flipped the bird to their backs, and Miki threaded her fingers through Aya's instead of letting go.
Onoda's grip on his books tightened. Outrage simmered, yet he didn't know what to do with it. Aya and Naruko usually channeled their aggression into fights and spitting insults, but the bespectacled male had all the strength of a baby bird. Miki countered with passionate, silver-tongued rebuttals of defense. However, he was terrible with keeping composure. Maybe he could act more like Manami? Manami deflected slurs like he couldn't care less what others thought, but the second hate was directed toward a friend he would gain an almost unstable gleam to his eyes that scared off many. Too bad Onoda was as scary as a hamster.
He wanted to help, wanted to protect his friends, and he despised that he was so useless at it. All he could do was take hits meant for them when possible and support them in the aftermath.
Naruko was talking again. Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Onoda smiled back and responded. The four left the school grounds without further incident, and thanks to their amiable conversations he found his mood lifting.
A few blocks down the street stood a small retail store. The outside was tan brick and tall windows. Across the top in bold blue paint read "Kanzaki Konvenience."
They entered through the front door. Miki's older brother, Kanzaki Toji, waved at them from the register.
"Yo," he greeted, the ever-present toothpick moving as he spoke. "The stuff's in the backroom for you all to go through."
"Awesome! I'm getting those hot Cheetas!"
"Fine, but you better not get in between me and the Sour Batch Brats!"
Aya and Naruko rushed to the back. Onoda and Miki gave fond, amused sighs as Kanzaki chuckled.
"Good to know their appetites are healthy," Kanzaki commented, tone light with sarcasm. "So, did you all have a good day at school?"
Both teenagers hesitated.
Smile diminishing with empathy, Kanzaki ran a hand through his hair. "Not so great, I'm guessing."
"It could have been worse," Miki piped up.
Onoda nodded. "That's true…I did meet three nice people today. There are these two guys I have to do a project with. One of them is quiet, so I never know what he's thinking. But some people are just quiet, ah, kind of like me when I get scared. Anyway, the other one's nice and good at schoolwork. Then the third guy, Imaizumi. He gave me back my bookmark…looking back on it, he was so cool, facing Miki like that…!" His giddy smile had widened with each fond sentence.
She grabbed his arm, her grin matching his. "He really was cool! Especially the way he answered Naruko like that."
The muffled squeaking of a plastic bag being yanked open came through the cracked door.
"Hate to interrupt you two, but you should get back there before all the snacks are taken," Kanzaki advised.
"Right! We'll let you get back to work," Miki said over her shoulder as she went into the backroom.
"One more thing, Onoda."
"Hm?" He paused right before he reached the door.
"When you go home from here, you use the road with the Tadokoro bakery, right?"
"Yes?"
Kanzaki plucked the toothpick from his lips and held it between his fingers. "The Tadokoros adopted two big dogs today. I'm sure they'll stay in the yard, but I wanted to let you know."
Dogs. Onoda could handle the little ones, as uneasy as they made him. But the loud, booming barks and massive size of larger canines never failed to set him on edge. No matter how well trained they were, he couldn't ignore how easily such animals could maim him if they chose to.
He nodded gratefully. "I-I'll keep that in mind."
With that, he left to join the others. Haphazardly piled onto the floor and on boxes, various expired snacks waited patiently for their stomachs. Naruko finished gorging on a bag of hot Cheetos before grabbing more bags of chips with his cheese dust covered fingers. He then stuffed them into his ratty backpack. He always gathered more than his friends; he would divide it up at home amongst himself and his family.
Miki and Aya sat shoulder to shoulder, and Onoda plopped down right next to a stack of chocolate bars, one of which he promptly opened and bit into.
Miki curiously checked the ingredients on the back of a box of Watermelon Bop-Tarts. "Dextrose, malic acid, xanthum gum, red 40 lake…I wonder how they come up with these names."
"They sound dangerous for something we're supposed to eat," Onoda nonchalantly commented. He then bit another chunk off his chocolate and, when she opened the Bop-Tart box and handed a package to him, he accepted it without the slightest hint of concern.
"It's a risk I'm willing to take!" Naruko moved his fingers to his mouth, about to lick off the cheese dust, when a packet of wet wipes lightly smacked into his arm.
"You touched stuff with those fingers." Miki nodded her head at his backpack. "Don't put them in your mouth."
"Fine, fine," he grumbled and moodily cleaned his fingers with a wet wipe.
The door opened once more. They looked up to see Manami, who sported his usual airy grin. A few leaves stuck to his wrinkled shirt, and a twig was caught in his hair.
"Manami!" Onoda happily greeted. "We were wondering where you were."
"You look like you just climbed a tree," Aya remarked.
Sitting between Onoda and Naruko, Manami plucked a wipe out of the packet sitting on the redhead's lap. "I did."
Confusion flashed over the others' faces—only for them to shrug it off a few seconds later.
"I didn't know you were good at climbing trees," Miki said.
Manami thoroughly sanitized his hands before dropped the used wipe on the floor. "I wanted to see what the forest looked like from higher up."
Onoda cast him a wide-eyed, worried glance. The closest forest was on the border of Sohoku, and it was off limits! What if the bear that hurt Kanzaki four years ago came back?!
The blue-haired male noticed his look and cast him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I only climbed a tree at the very edge of the forest. It was fine."
"Besides, nothing can kill a crazy bastard like him," Aya reminded. Naruko nodded in agreement.
"Ah ha…I feel like there could have been a better way to put that…" Manami abashedly tugged at the collar of his shirt.
Still unconvinced, Onoda struggled to prevent his mind from falling into thoughts of what terrible events could have happened.
"Why don't you tell us about the newest episode of Love Hime?" Manami suggested.
Catching on, Miki nodded. "I heard it was really intense."
Onoda instantly brightened, all fear banished, and he excitedly clasped his hands together. "It was! It started off with a flashback to episode eleven, when…" He babbled on until he had gushed over every detail of the episode. While he caught his breath, the others struck up another silly conversation and started cleaning up wrappers. Then they gathered their piles and headed outside.
Right before they parted ways to head home, Onoda was relieved to hear Miki asking Manami to be more careful. The bespectacled male's house was in the opposite direction of everyone else's, so he walked home alone.
The familiar path presented no anxiety until he reached Tadokoro's bakery. He made sure to stay on the opposite side of the narrow street. Even so, through the tall fence, which had gaps in between posts, he spotted wide canine noses curiously snuffling. No deep barks were directed his way, thank goodness. Hurrying past, he didn't notice he was holding his breath until he was well away from the building.
He was grateful Kanzaki warned him beforehand; knowing they were there had allowed him to brace himself.
The rest of his walk went without incident, and soon enough he retreated into his house and joined his mother for dinner.
The next day, Teshima and Aoyagi weren't in class.
While the other students moved back into their groups, Onoda checked his phone.
He hadn't received any texts from them. However, they could just be busy with something else or sick and had forgotten to contact him.
Since they had his number but he didn't have theirs—he should have asked for it in hindsight—he had no way to ask them where they were.
Oh well; they still had plenty of days left to finish their project, and they would likely be back tomorrow or the day after.
So he slid his phone back into his pocket, took out the assignment, and started working on his part while the other groups gossiped around him.
Two days later with still no word, Onoda woke to the abrupt, grating sound of a phone alert. Reluctantly rolling over, he patted his nightstand until his fingers found hard plastic and thin frames. In the dark of early morning, he slipped the glasses on and squinted against the brightness of the device's screen.
His burning eyes shot wide open.
EMERGENCY ALERT
SOHOKU MISSING CHILDREN ALERT
Shock numbed all sensation except for the foreboding churning in his stomach.
His thumb hovered over the screen. He didn't know how much time passed; the phone went dark from inaction.
As the sun's rising rays peeked through the blinds, he finally opened the alert's details and confirmed his premonition.