It was a dark but not stormy night. The time being 8 P.M, street lights are casting a dim shadow on the road that leads directly to where Kiku and his adopted family live. Living rather isolated from the rest of the town, the nearest store was four miles away from them. Kiku was extremely scared to go outside at night because of this…he never understood why his adoptive parents, Yao and Arthur Kirkland, decided to buy this house—don't they know that it has bad feng shui?
Inside the house, two certain boys are washing the dishes. There are a total of three kids in the house: Yong Soo, the oldest at 18 years old; Wan, the second youngest of them all and the only girl at 15 years old; and there's Kiku, the youngest at 12 years old. Due to their parents not being at home, the kids decided to choose lots for who should do the dishes. Yong Soo got the lot, but being the irresponsible one that always wanted to drag someone down with him, forced/begged/coerced Kiku to do the chore with him, and Kiku, unwillingly, agreed.
So Kiku is now stuck listening to his brother's ridiculous claims about his home country.
"I swear by my dead grandparents' graves that pizza was first invented in Korea, and then the Italians stole it." Hissed Yong Soo angrily in one of his heated speeches about westerners stealing Korean "inventions".
Kiku gasped, almost dropping a ceramic plate to the ground: "Yong Soo! You must not invoke your deceased ancestors' names in vain! It takes them away from their yellow spring and brings bad luck!"
"And you are the only one that believes in that stuff, Kiku." Yong Soo said dismissively, eyes returning to the pile of dishes he was supposed to wash, "ghosts and spirits don't exist, and they certainly do not come back to haunt you for saying their name 'in vain'."
"Yes they do, Yong Soo. You do not disrespect the spirits and deities and that's the end of it." Kiku hissed, attention now focused on his brother's messy black hair, "And will you please clean that unscrupulous hair of yours? Why is there a curl in your hair? We're Asians… we're not supposed to have curly hair."
"Alright, mother. Did you travel here with the doctor on a time machine or something? Sheesh… you act like an 80-year-old sometimes. I mean, what other twelve-year-old wants to wear a freakin' kimono to school? And all the superstitious stuff, man… it's just not 21st century,dude. Loosen up a bit, dude!" Yong Soo laughed jokingly as he tried to tickle Kiku through his kimono.
Kiku screamed and slinked away from the sink, choosing to wrap his coffee-colored kimono around his lithe body protectively and letting his black bangs cover his eyes as he cowered in a corner. The kimono's loose sleeves are convenient for covering one's embarrassment and shame in situations like this, which is another trait that Kiku liked besides it being traditional Japanese clothing. He was upset that Yong Soo made fun of his "senile" traits again. Being upset, however, isn't a good idea, so he got up and continued to work on the dishes with Yong Soo, who, after seeing Kiku's clearly offended expression, decided to keep his mouth quiet save for a few quiet, whispered words:
"We have to really get all that superstition out of you."
Kiku wasn't sure he heard right, so he decided to ignore it.
"Hey, Yong Soo, Kiku, one of you have to go to the store to get some printer ink." Called Mei from another room, "I have a lab report due tomorrow."
"Kiku, you go" Yong Soo said as he gave Kiku an unfriendly jab with his elbow.
"No! You know I am afraid of going out at night." Kiku said, trying to get himself out of the unfriendly situation, "What if ghosts hunt me down?"
"Ghosts will not hunt you down, Kiku, now go and get me some ink so I can turn in my lab report!" Mei yelled, stuffed some money into his kimono pocket, and ushered him to go to the store. Kiku sighed: ladies should not yell at their male relatives, according to Confucius… but Confucius also says that a person should respect his elders.
Outside, it was as if a dark, gloomy substance of the night covered the usual sunny, blue sky. A bit of sunlight leaked through the mask in the form of the moon, coloring the familiar surroundings a unknown, mysterious, almost dangerous tint. A zephyr howled like an angel of death collecting souls, and it rushed through his body, leaving it cold and defenseless.
Kiku didn't want to move into the darkness; he was almost afraid that it would suck him in. If he went back without getting the ink, however, Yong Soo and Mei would certainly make fun of him, and he didn't want that—after all, he had a man's pride.
So he closed his eyes, and tried to walk down the eerie path. Not being able to see, as Kiku soon realized, only made it worse. The world only felt darker, and he more defenseless. So he opened his eyes. He took a nervous gulp of air, and tried to speed walk to the store.
He didn't know how he made it, or anything else about his journey to the store. All that he can recall is being deathly afraid, and seeing so little people didn't help. The cashier had commented that it was a bit late for a boy Kiku's age to wander on the street, and Kiku only gave a polite nod.
On his way back, Kiku began to think on the cashier's words, as well as Nana's words. Nana was the old lady that had taken care of him back in Japan, and Kiku liked her—she always had food to eat, things to learn from, and stories to listen to. Thinking back, Kiku probably listened to too many of these stories. They always told how a boy was bad and did not obey his ancestors or elders, and ended up getting eaten by monsters. Perhaps Nana's the reason why Kiku always acted a bit more traditional compared to others.
Then Nana died, and he was adopted by Yao and Arthur. Then he met his lovely and sometimes mean siblings.
Now he began to wonder… why are there no people on the street at night? Is it because good children never go out and night, and the bad children were eaten by monsters and never to see their parents again?
A howling sound came behind him, and Kiku turned sharply to see who it is .
No one.
The sound of teeth ripping apart flesh is heard, and Kiku turned to see.
Nothing.
Terrorized cries ringed in his ears, and Kiku scanned his surrounding cautiously, trying to find a hint, some indication of what is happening.
No one, nothing, nowhere.
Suddenly, it felt as if the never-ending darkness was going to suck Kiku in. A bone-chilling, heart-wrenching wind soared through the road, and the boy could hear his own heartbeat. "It's alright… the monsters won't come and get me. I am a good boy; I didn't want to come out in the dark—my elder siblings made me, and one should always respect his elders, right?" Kiku said, almost screeched those words as he held the plastic bag containing the printer ink closer to him, as if the inanimate object would offer him some comfort.
Kiku could see his house now. Good, he thought, if I get into my house, those monsters and ghosts wouldn't scare me anymore.
His blood ran cold as a sharp object came in contact with his neck. He turned around and, to his horror, found a grotesque beast beside his head and his teeth touching his neck. Kiku flinched, and ran as quickly as he can away from the monster.
He ran and he ran and he ran. While running, Kiki realized something strange—his neck felt too light. After reaching the back of the house, Kiku made sure that the monster was out of sight, he tried the find the charm he always had with him. Nana gave him the charm, which was supposed to always protect him against supernatural creatures.
Now he doesn't have it. Does this mean he will be eaten by the monster like so many before him?
Kiku decided to go inside the house through the back door. Inside the house, there are no monsters, so he would be safe. After going up two or three steps, Kiku's eyes detected a familiar object lying on the stairs: Wan's slipper.
Kiku froze. Why is Wan's slipper here? She should be in the house, waiting for the printer ink to print her… Then the cruel reality hit him—his dear sister Wan had been eaten by a monster.
He screamed and broke down in tears, sitting on the cold concrete stairs. He still couldn't accept the reality, even after knowing the truth—Wan (more likely the entire family) was eaten by a clique of monsters, or maybe only by one. If only his family took his words more seriously, if one Yong Soo hadn't made fun of his beliefs… but it is too late now.
Yong Soo and Wan, as well as Yao and Arthur are his family, and he loved them. Now he's going to be an orphan, again.
Curled into a ball, Kiku felt a weight rest on his back. He shrieked again as he saw the weight—a paw of the monster he just saw. Shoving the paw off him, Kiku kicked the monster and ran again. While running, Kiku slammed into another figure. This figure was a creature covered in black cloth, wearing a white theatre mask.
Kiku's eyes went wide. This is… this is the undertaker, the angel of death that comes to take dead souls away. He must have came here to take the souls of Wan and Yong Soo.
Kiku bawled as he fell to the ground. Will the undertaker take him away too? The previously mentioned monster then crept into his vision and closed in on him with the undertaker. "You two have taken away my family, isn't that enough already? Why do you want to eat a skinny, meatless kid like me?" sobbed the boy.
The creatures suddenly stopped in their tracks as if they were stunned, and Kiku took the chance to go hug a tree. He didn't expect to hear Wan's worried voice : "Are you alright? We didn't mean to scare you… well we did, but…"
Then came Yong Soo's voice, also laced with worry: "We didn't expect you to take this seriously and, um, break down in tears."
Kiku looked in the direction of the sounds.
There stood Wan, with a pile of black cloth by her side, and Yong Soo, in a monster custum and holding the head in his hands.
"You… you two are alive?" Kiku asked, and stopped his tree hugging.
"We are alive and well." Yong Soo said apologetically, "We wanted to give you a good scare that's all.
"You two sure scared me!" cried the shocked boy sarcastically as he curled into a ball again.
"Yeah, dude, we're really sorry" Yong Soo replied with an awkward grin as Wan sat next to the crying boy. "But Kiku, now you know that ghost don't really exist, right?" Wan said, trying to be understanding.
Kiku looked up indignantly.
Yong Soo sighed:" Well looks like he won't walk to the house anytime soon… so climb on, little bro!"
Kiku nodded and climbed on Yong Soo's back. Wan said, with sudden realization dawning upon her: "Kiku, why is the bottom part of your kimono wet?"
Kiku turned away his flushed face, and Yong Soo and Wan exchanged awkward glances at each other, both thinking: "Oh Boy..."
"My family is mean sometimes." Kiku thought, "But sometimes they can be nice too."
Lol I cannot believe I made Yao and Arthur the parents without mentioning HK... and as I did some research, I found out the Japan is the youngest of China's "siblings" and Korea is the oldest...surprise surprise surprise...
Thank you for reading my humble fanfiction, and any criticism, flames, or reviews are appreciated!