Koujaku gulps, and then raises a foot and steps into the house's-what it looks like-living room.
Testing the waters, he taps the floor with his foot, as how one would test a hanging bridge's sturdiness before walking on it, because that's exactly what it feels like right then. As if the house's interior-living room-would suddenly crash back into something that is not what his eyes are telling him at the moment.
Because how can a house so old-and abandoned at that-can look something so simple, so normal?
It's as if someone actually lives in here.
Even the broken windows he saw when he was outside seems like a faraway dream. The windows in here were even decorated with yellow curtains.
When a couple of taps did nothing to dissolve the view, he completely stepped in.
"Uh, hello?"
Somehow, Koujaku forgot that this a man-eating house, and maybe calling out for someone could wake the-maybe-sleeping predator and so he calls.
Maybe someone is actually living in here, and whatever kind of magic or technology-or even witchcraft-they used, they're doing a good job.
It can also be that the house is indeed alive, and is currently feeding Koujaku wrong information about its interior so it can lure him to enter deeper. So it can eat him, like what the kids told him.
Either way, again, he called out. For someone.
Anything, even.
He doesn't understand why he's doing it instead of making a run for it while he still can-like how any regular person would at this point-but his instincts told him-which were never wrong-something will happen if he does. At least, it was nothing bad.
Nothing bad for someone not regular like him, anyway.
"Who are you?"
He heard a voice.
It was small, it was meek; if he was not imagining things, he could say it also had a hint of tears behind it.
The voice comes from behind him, where a staircase lies. Koujaku can make out a silhouette of a child, maybe a few years younger than him—actually, they look a bit close to the boy who lost his ball.
Koujaku knows something is definitely wrong with the house the moment he stepped in, but to get an actual proof of seeing a living being inside who could be residing in this place did not seem to raise warning flags in his head.
He decides to follow his instincts.
"Hello," he said, waving an arm and makes his body language as approachable as possible.
A bucket of regret washed over him when he saw the silhouette flinch further into the back of the stairs. The child must be not too fond of new people then.
"My name is Kouajku, I'm just wondering if you noticed something that could've broken in your house, maybe a few minutes ago? Something like a ball, perhaps?"
He got silence.
This is awkward, his mind supplied.
Koujaku thought it was easier to talk to someone he could see, but at least he knows he's not entirely making an idiot of himself since the silhouette is yet to leave.
The awkwardness came over him in strong waves, the feeling actually made him nauseous he wants to leave the place already and hope the darkness made the child have a clear view of his face, to save him the embarrassment. Its kind of funny though: a scary, man-eating house he can handle. Inside a room with a child with filled with awkward tension, he'll be bolting to the door before you know it.
"I just need to get the ball then I'll leave, I promise." He tries again. If he gets no answer, then he'll run to the door, and away from the kid waiting for his ball. He'll feel sorry later when he get home, and hope he'll never see the kid again.
His thoughts were brought to a halt when he heard something slamming on the wooden floor and he looks up to see a ball bouncing towards his way. He presumes this is the ball the kid lost. He can't help but sigh and wipe the beading sweat on his brow as he lean down and grab the thing, muttering a grateful "thank you" under his breath.
He was about to open the door when he heard a pleading "Please don't go," and was surprised when small, cold hands grasped his warm one that wasn't cradling the ball to his chest.
He looks down and instantly regrets the decision when he finally sees who is behind those stairs.
It was a little girl, and he was right-she looks like the ball's owner's age.
The little girl was crying.
It was a little girl, and she's crying.
Koujaku can't leave girls crying.
So he lets his free hand fall to his side and returns the little girl's hold on his hand. Firmer.
He allows a smile flash across his face, turning his head a bit to the side to let his bangs slide away from his other eye and give the little girl a proper look in the eyes.
"What's wrong, little girl? Where are your parents?"
The little girl did not seem to notice his smile and shake her head vigorously at his question. Her hands started to shake in his and he had to strain his ears to hear what she was saying because her voice was so low and its as if talking is too hard for her throat.
"Grandma…"
"Hmm?"
"My Grandma…she said she'll be back soon, but its already…"
The wails started.
"Hey, hey! There's no need to cry about that…"
He tries to get her hands around his off, but her hold only grows stronger. He knows he can easily rip her hold off, but he doesn't want to hurt her so he bends his knees and gets on her level. He puts the hand she's holding on her shoulder, and the action makes her hold grow slack and slide towards his arm. She's not really planning on letting him go.
Koujaku takes a deep breath through his nose, and talks to her in the calmest voice he's got. "Maybe she just got caught on her work or something, she couldn't leave you,"
"But what if," she sniffs. She looks like she's about to scream.
"Trust me, she will. No one could ever leave their family behind, right?"
"But,"
"Trust me, okay…uh," He didn't know her name.
She must've understood his pause, because she scrunched her brows and glared at the ground.
"Aoba."
"Ah, okay, Ao…ba…?" Wait, isn't that a boy's name?
"I'm Aoba."
The topic flew off his head when the little mentioned she's an Aoba, so all he could do at that moment was dumbly nod his head at her.
She moves her glare to his face, and with the sternest voice a crying child could muster, she said, "I'm a boy!" Her last word was a scream, and the scream must've been overwhelming for her throat because she started crying again.
Koujaku makes some startled noises and brought by panic, the only solution his brain gave for him was to hug her tight and pat her back.
"Ahahahahaha! Yep! Aoba's a boy! He's a boy! Boy! You're a boy, of course you are!"
Another wrong decision because the hug increased Koujaku's physical contact with her and now she's grabbing him too tight than normal.
"Please don't leave me here alone!"
"Aoba, please, I promise you won't be alone!"
He said it as a moment-kind-of thing, and he was surprised to feel the hold on his grow slack and away immediately.
Silence.
He cracks his eyes that he unconsciously closed and sees the boy, Aoba, stand in front of him, tears gone. His eyes doesn't look like he even cried for a long time, even.
"You promise to stay with me then?"
The question somehow made him pause. Warning bells started ringing in his head violently for once ever since he stepped foot into the premises.
He was still on his knees so he can talk to Aoba eye to eye, but he straightens himself to properly observe the other before he responds "Stay with you?"
He nods, "Always."
He runs his tongue across the back of his bottom lip, then swallows. Something feels off with the question.
He needs to think of his answer properly, or something bad may truly happen to him.
Aoba patiently waits for him, and he shows no expression whatsoever when Koujaku finally does.
"But I need to go home now."
Koujaku thinks its better to leave it vague, a no would definitely be not welcome. He doesn't want to see what will happen if he did, because there's no way he'll stay in this place. He heard the story. About the people entering the house. Getting lured.
Lured.
His thoughts stop.
He gives the ball on the ground that fell from his arm when Aoba hugged him back a look from the corner of his eyes.
Was he lured here?
He rolls his eyes back to Aoba, his expression still blank. He doesn't seem bothered with his answer so far.
But how far until he would be?
He can feel his blood start to run cold.
Aoba opens his mouth.