Akihito thought his eyes were playing him, that the man that standing meters away from him was just an imagination his mind created. He doesn't want to believe his own eyes but the man was really there. Standing tall with his Armani suit with a lighted cigarette between his candle-like fingers. Akihito was quite far himself but with the lens of his high definition camera he could tell he knew that man. The way he talked, his body movements, his tiny gestures, the way his lips smirked and his eyes; Akihito was so sure that he knew them. Even if it was already years ago he could testify that it was him, the man who haunted him. The man who made him what he is now. The Takaba Akihito that defied his own parents and made his way out to the city; leaving the peaceful and simple life with his tiny community. Yet, Akihito was stuck. Not by any some large things like rocks, walls, cars etc. but with his own body force. The adrenaline he had a while ago had drained him making his lower half paralyzed. He was praying that nobody would have the time to wonder at his location or else he will be busted. It was the scoop he was aiming for for months but how lame could he be that all he could do was to snap some pictures with the limited angle from his point. He was calm alright but his tiny hairs were standing not from the chill of the night but from the memory that suddenly revisited him.

His memories came back from his childhood days where the world was still so vast that it seemed a wide playground. There was this house just the corner of the street that many of Akihito's neighbors avoided. "Don't go in there kid!" "There's a ghost in there!" "There's a living dead inside." "You won't be getting out alive!" Those were just few of the many sayings that he grew up with. Akihito believes and believed maybe some of them but he knew it better than anyone else in his neighborhood. He was old enough now to understand the many things his kid self could not. He has his own judgment, a good one, which could depict what, is true and what is not that all came up from his good upbringing. Akihito was a good kid when he was younger that when he was told to don't go in there, he wouldn't even dare. He was the kid that many of people in his community love.

Opposite of what the resident of the corner house receive.

The house was treated haunted that no one challenges to go near with. Anyone could feel the chill on their backs by just looking at it. The bungalow house was always close that no one, even the old ones, remembered it being open to the public. The plants were dry and no single living specie can be seen around its premises. The whole place was deserted being it dry and very gloomy. The entrance was rusty and squeaky but still functional as the resident doesn't replaced it though the every sound it produced made every resident of other homes froze of their current activity and waited it to finish before resuming. None of the people remembers why it has to be that way; they just grew up with the fear of that place and passed it on to the younger generation. The backyard was spacious that many kids would love to have to play with but none of the crossed the wooden fence.

Yet, there was the 8 year old Akihito; the kid that was full of curiosity that dared his parent's strict order. He knew he wasn't supposed to be there but the little malice on his head kept on telling him to go beyond the gate. To explore the forbidden place. To see what was beyond the rusty entrance. To know why it has to be that way. The voice that kept on getting louder and louder, pulling him into the deepness of his own curiosity every single time as he pass the house going to and from school. He fastened his pace but it was not enough to shut the tiny voice. "Go in there!" "Look!"

Until one day.

A summer day that kept everyone inside their houses avoiding the deadly rays of the extreme sun, but the little odd Akihito sneaked out of his room and quietly traveled the place where he knew his curiosity would be satisfied. He circled the house from the front, to the side until he reached the yard. He avoided staring at the windows because he believedthat if he stared too long, a white lady would appear that would pull his soul out of his body. The stories that circulated the street were enough for Akihito to turn back and run away but he fought it away. He pushed the stories he heard starting from the lady on the window, laughing children on the yard to the crying man on the front door. Akihito braved himself up and made himself at the yard of the house.

The railing on the backyard was old but kept on standing with the help of the crawling bushes of grass. He wondered how it was green in here but dry on the front? That was one of the questions he had when he finally realized it however, he never thought that it was the least of the questions that needed to be answered when suddenly, as in suddenly out of nowhere, a pair of eyes, golden and calm, came looking straight unto him. Akihito froze that he looked from left to right trying to figure it out where was the man came from. He was stunned and immovable. He wanted to run. He also wanted to stay. He wanted to talk. He also wanted to stay still. So many things he wanted to do at the same yet the only thing he had done was not to break the contact he had with the golden eyed man. He never knew how long he was standing there but Akihito was just there; on his lose shirt and short shorts trying to figure it out what would be the best way to deal with his current situation.

The weather was sunny but Akihito felt chilly. Especially when the man started to go to him.

The sound of the grasses being stepped in was the only sound the young Akihito was hearing. Also the wind that slowly blows everything his vision passed. It was not supposed to be windy; it was summer for Christ sake! But Akihito felt the chill crawled up to his nape. "Akihito run!" He told himself with the voice inside his head nevertheless the man kept on walking and Akihito just watched it all with his terrified eyes. His face showed no expression that made it worst with the pale complexion of the man. The man was wearing more for the summer but he was cool with that it looked not so bad enough even with the black color. Akihito was even sweating with his clothes but the man does not have even a single drop.

It was too late to move then finally they were facing each other closely.

"Hello there kid." His voice was deep and rich despite of his young features but it was enough for Akihito to scream and run far away of the place which only he didn't. He stood there glued to the eyes of the man that was getting nearer and nearer. The man was tall, shadowing the younger one, which he even needed to look up to continue looking at the golden orbs.

"What are you doing here kid?" He talked again and still, Akihito hasn't yet gathered the courage and right words to answer him. The pale big hands started to loom over him reaching his head but it stopped by the voice behind Akihito.

"TAKABA AKIHITO!" Akihito doesn't needed to look back to know who it was, it was his mother calling him with her voice panicking with a bit of frightened. Akihito could hear the fast steps of his mother towards him that it was later he was pulled off dragging him away from the man. The strange happening however, was the contact Akihito and the man had did not break. They were still looking at each other seeing right each other. It was then brought mixed feelings into Akihito. The man smiled at him, making an impact that lasted for days. He could never forget the smile he got on that day.

And that was what Akihito remembered when he saw the man on his viewfinder. The nostalgic feeling of how still the man has same aura as if it was always there, never left him even when he aged. "What aged?" He aged?! Akihito could not believe what he had just realized. The man from his summer days was young and the man on his viewfinder was not! Then it hit him, "He was real after all."

A week since Akihito sneaked out from his room and saw the man on the yard went just fine even with an earful from his parents and grandparents. He made it through the week. But it was all different when the second week came after. Akihito would wake up in the middle of the night, sweating tremendously not knowing why. He could not remember most of his dreams – or nightmares, but when he does, it was the worst. Akihito living in a simple manner had a bed on his own but slept with an open window. He loved the breeze of the night washing the hot atmosphere that was left during the day. The cicadas that sung him lullaby were all everything he could ask for up until it all stopped. He did not immediately grasped it, took him a couple of days that the cicadas were all gone. It was still summer and they were still supposed to be there. And that night Akihito could not sleep well. He regretted that he realized what was gone. He was not used to the silent treatment of the night. He was tossing left and right, finding the right position to where he could sleep in. Then an hour of battling his own bed, he slowly creeps in into slumber.

But he was not alone.

Even with his sleeping body and mind, his conscious felt he was not alone. There was someone on the window. A man. A tall man, who was watching him sleep... without eyes. The part of his face where his eyes supposed to be was empty. It was nothing. A black never ending hole. Akihito shivered seeing them. He could see it wish he could not. He was watching his own self sleeping with the man watching him. The 8 year old Akihito could not believe what he was seeing or dreaming but it felt so real. He was afraid. Very very afraid. He tried waking up his self but his hands were slipping through the body and the man on the window was getting closer and closer. The way he was just standing there was all scary for the young Akihito that it made him stunned again. He wanted to burst out and cry but his voice was nowhere to be found. The man kept on looking at him as if he was a baby on a crib. He screamed and screamed and screamed! He screamed his lungs out! Calling for help, not wanting the hand of the man reach him! Until warms hands shook him hard. Akihito opened his eyes and it was his father's worried face he woken up to. Akihito hugged his arms into his father's neck and cried himself all scary and very disturbed.

That still made Akihito shiver whenever he remembers that nightmares from his childhood days but it was not he needed at the moment. He needed some strength to move his legs to stand and make his way out of the abandoned warehouse but no luck at all. He was still stuck and his camera was the only way he could use to see if he was real, real.

Akihito's parents decided to sleep with him on his room but it does not stop the nightmares. The man would still visit him from time to time. Sometimes he would just stand there like he was when he first showed up to his dream but mostly, the man would give out a sinister smile. Akihito would wake up screaming and crying at the same time. His parent's being worried sick even brought Akihito to the hospital however, they could not find anything unusual and would just go home empty handed. Eventually, they grew tired of it. They could no longer tolerate the sleepless nights and just wanted to have a peaceful, quiet sleep which they decided to bring Akihito into a psychiatrist that could tell them what the problem on their child's head was. Akihito being so young could not understand what is what and why is why. All he knew was he was regularly brought up to the city twice a week just to talk to a woman with a pen and a notebook. He would tell the woman his dreams and how the man could now touch him. Akihito would remember the feeling of the coldness of his palms that seemed to love his hair patting him until he fades away. It soothed him. Making more comfortable as he ever had be. He also told her about how his scent calmedhim. It was musky and rich for his age but he loved it anyway. Akihito would survive how scary the man with his scent. He loved it and craved it whenever he was afraid. At first Akihito would enjoy telling the woman about it but after a few more sessions, he realized it was no longer fun to talk to her about it. She does not seem to believe Akihito that she would just nod about all his ramblings and smile and write something on her notebook.

"The kid just has a wild imagination. It was not all true. But it will be gone soon."Akihito heard it from the conversations of his parents and the woman but it seemed it calmed them. Since then Akihito then tried to control his own screams, he doesn't know how but he did actually, just to keep him from going back to the woman.

And all back to normal. The kid would no longer wake up screaming so his parents decided to be back on their own rooms leaving Akihito again on his own. However, little did they know Akihito was just holding his own mouth, stopping his screams and still having his own sleepless nights.

Akihito a few more weeks slowly came back being himself. Being what he used to. The bubbly, adorable but curious kid. He could not stop himself from wandering into the forbidden place and one day, when both of his parents and grandparents went out, he went back into the yard to truly satisfy his own questions.

"You came back." It was what greeted him. It was the same man, all black and still creepy, standing in the middle of the grassy backyard.

"I am not afraid of you anymore. You're not real."

Akihito just watched the man be amused of what he had just said. His golden eyes showed amusement and earned the kid a smile.

"Why you smile differently?" He asked. "In my dreams, you're scary. You smile even if your lips were...ahm...tailored?"

"Tailored?"

"Yep! You have stitches on your lips like my mother used to do on my torn clothes! Why you don't have them now? Is it because it's daylight?"

The man just remained silent and taken back. How on earth he would respond to a kid with dreams like that? All he could do was to have it on his own way. But stitches on his mouth? He never fancied such hobby. No wonder the kid was being brought to the city for check-ups. And since he doesn't have to do anything at that moment, the man showed generosity to the young kid. But he will not set aside what he had just said. "Would you like to come in?"

"Can I?"

"The gate was open."

Difference was that the front gate was squeaky but the back one was not. Akihito just slipped in into the backyard without any noise that could gather attention from his neighbors. And he was thankful for that.

"You look so real!" Akihito just blurted out when he reached the exact location where the man was standing. He even touched him! Akihito tip toed to touch his cheek to see that he was real.

"You're cold and warm...but you're still not real." They were close enough for the man to saw how the little kid was intrigue by his presence. His big innocent eyes were no longer terrified and were replaced by curious ones.

"Are not really real?" He asked again as he was lead in into the house. "Hey, tell me!"

"What do you want to know?" The man knew that a question would not another question hence it'll just make matter worst. The kid would just prologue his inquiries that would not make him stay still. And that was what he wanted.

"My parents said you were not real. Even the woman in the city. She would not believe my stories, my dreams... You were in my dreams. Why would be in my dreams?"

The man was not supposed to be surprise but he did anyway. He stopped midway their path to his balcony letting the rambling kid continue his walking.

"You saw me. How?"

"What?" It was then Akihito looked back. He did know he was already that far away from the man – who again was standing in the middle of everything. The scenery in front of Akihito finally sank unto his mind making him scared all of a sudden. The man made the place small by his existence. Woods, bushes, rocks and walls seemed to be sipped by his presence. He eyes made him dizzy not understanding or realizing what he had gone. He made in unto the house where all from his community tried to avoid. And it was not less scary he concluded. It was scarier than anywhere else. The house was dark and the only source of light was the dim windows. The floor was made from lumber that every step made was creaky and very irritating to the ears. There was no furniture around that made every corner of the house daunting. Akihito wished he could step out and run to his house but the man was already blocking his only known exit.

"You're not real! Stop making it move!"

The man was not doing anything but the kid sees him as if he was doing something.

"Stop moving!" He yelled again. Shutting his eyes and covering his ears made no difference and it only made it worst. There was a throb on his head, making him lose his standing. The floor was moving on his imagination and so does his whole consciousness.

"Kid..." The man called but it was too late. Akihito already collapsed on the floor with his eyes wet from the tears of his own terror.

Akihito did not remember how he got home but when he woke up, a familiar ceiling welcomed him stopping him from panicking. His mind was vague and could not clearly remember what happened but he was so sure he talked to the man on his dreams. They talked and he touched him.

Akihito wished the moving thing he was shouting at his childhood days were his legs now. He could feel them but was not strong enough to support him. His agenda was nearing its end but he hasn't yet got what he needed. He was still on his location reminiscing his past. They had seen each other close enough on his childhood days that Akihito could bet that when he saw him, which he hoped not – well not at their current situation, he could identify him. The man was part of his past and he was sure that he too, was part of his.

Summer was nearing its end and Akihito has still his nightmares. They were no longer as scary as before given the fact that Akihito actually saw the man in daylight and talked to him. However, in his perception he was not real. He was just a part of his imagination that continued to pester him on his dreams. Many would say he was crazy. Seeing someone where everybody else couldn't. Visit him on his room deep night his parent proved not. Telling how the resident of the forbidden house was not frightening as the stories tells. But Akihito kept it all inside him. He would not shame his family by him and by what his mouth tells. He would put it all on his head. All into him. Secrets that became part of him. He may have revisited the place, talked more about the man but he would never tell anyone. It would be between Akihito and his imaginary man.

Until he reached his high school graduation day.

Akihito said he wanted to go to the city. His parents disapproved it not even getting his explanation. They wanted him to remain at their own community like they used to. He doesn't want that. His mind already wandered off his house, off his street, off his community. The man on the haunted house brought him there through his nightmares. And Akihito wanted more. They could go off anywhere he wanted,he wanted. Akihito was no longer afraid of his nightmares as they turned into dreams. Pleasant dreams.

Dreams that turned into reality.

Akihito became free, doing whatever he wanted. Soaring into the sky where no one can bind him to their ideals that are not of him. Akihito left the child who had dreams and became one of it.

But he never saw the managain. Akihito believed that the man only existed in his community. Limited to that place. He left the place and so does the man on his head. He could no longer see him, dream of him, but he could feelhim. Like he was being watched whatever or wherever he was. His city walks, store lunches, movie dates, overtime works, everything! He could feel the man close by. There were eyes all around him tailing his every move yet it does bother him. Akihito even felt safe with the golden eyes following him. He missed him though. The pat on his head, the voice that replaced the singing cicadas whispering him words he never thought that will become important as to him now, the scent that put him into deep slumber. How many times Akihito hoped that he would visit him now that he was in the city. He would love to have him again and so he searched for him.

But it was no luck.

Till he got trapped on his own body. Weak and ill taken. Akihito could not make his own way to the man. They were close just few meters away. Close enough but not physically. He wished he could talk to him again; ask him about his dreams – their dreams. He lured him out in the city. Had his high and low. Did something he never even thought of doing but did anyway. Akihito had his days. Too tempted but he was not regretting it.

All because of the smile he saw back there.

The smile he received the first time he broke the rules of his parents. Making it's all right and he should be more from what he was living. The consolation of his first sin.

Which paid through.

Because in years of wanting, craving, of searching; he finally saw itagain. The menace coming from the deep eyes. The man that put him into ease. The one who took care of him when everyone turned their backs from believing him. The only one who made him not alone.

"Takaba Akihito."

"Asami Ryuichi."

"We finally meet again, kid."

"So you are real." Akihito said landing his head to the strong shoulder, scooped him from the floor and carried out of the warehouse with the overwhelming physique of the man who has now a name. Asami Ryuichi. Who would have thought that he was chasing, behind his camera, the kingpin of all malice in the city was also the same man who made him dream.

"I never said I'm not."

Asami would not ask for anything now that at last, the kid who turned his boring days into an amusing one was now a grown up man, flesh on his side, ready to receive the affections he had kept for so long. Akihito would never see it or know it but it was not Asami who gave out the smile first. It was Akihito. Smiling him brightly and sweetly to a man like him, all creepy and avoided by all of his pack. It was the young kid who gave him sleepless nights, haunted by the wicked smile Akihito gave him as he was dragged by his mother away from him. The one he seeks every day until he couldn't anymore.

Up to Asami visited him himself, watching him sleep from the open window.

The years he had endured to not lay hands on the young man as he waited for the right time. "It was all worth it." He said. And just like the old days, Akihito fell asleep in his arms so peaceful and trusting, giving him his everything - to his man.


Drew some of it...

The Front Gate?

The Yard

Asami on the window


AN:

I knooooow. There were a lot of plot holes but yeah. Hahaha.

Happy Halloween! :)

If you still need of little bit of horror(if you can call that that) you could try this though it was not fan fiction. :)
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