A/N: UPDATING TO COVER UP THE ERROR I MADE THAT HAS BEEN LYING THERE FOR A FUCKING MONTH GODDAMMIT
ALSO THIS CHAPS IS UNBETA'D BECAUSE I HAVEN'T EVEN REREAD THE ENTIRE THING I'M SO SORRY FOR THE ERRORS BUT ENJOY
YES I AM SCREAMING
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.
"Tomorrow?"
"Huh?" was his well-thought answer. This was not what Koujaku was expecting to get.
Aoba's face remained impassive.
"Will you come stay with me tomorrow?"
Koujaku didn't know what to say.
He carefully worded out his thoughts, "I can't do that, Aoba."
Aoba's eyebrows scrunched together in an expression Koujaku cannot decipher whether it was confusion or upset.
"…Will you come back tomorrow?"
He swallows again.
Then slowly nods.
He just wanted to go home now.
Go home and never look-
"Will you promise me?"
-back.
"I promise."
"I'll wait for you, then."
He nods at him.
"Yeah. Do that."
What is he doing? His mind screamed protests.
Aoba's face brightens into a warm smile-that of a temporary farewell.
He flinches when he hears something creak behind him. It was the front door opening, which was strange, because he remembers barely twisting the knob.
He looks back at Aoba who raises an arm in a wave, somewhat reluctant, "See you, Koujaku.".
He nods and stands up; shrugging off imaginary dust off his kimono as he slowly makes his way outside. He didn't bother taking the ball with him. His gut tells him he doesn't need to anymore.
He walks out of the house, never looking back at the boy waving him goodbye.
The next thing he knows, he's already outside the house, standing in front of its rusting gate, staring at its rotting handle, his hold on his umbrella tightening into a grip that his knuckles turned white.
He looks around him and was not surprised to not see the kid waiting for his ball.
He walks home.
At home, he get's scolded by his mother for going home late. It was a little bit past six when he got home.
Koujaku takes note of the time.
Koujaku chose not to return to the house the day after, and the day after that, too.
Or what he told himself, because he it was an early afternoon and he ditches his friends again to go stand in front of the cursed house he promised days ago he would never return to.
He keeps on telling himself he doesn't have a lick of an idea what he is doing in there at that moment, but deep inside, a voice was telling him otherwise. He hisses at it to shut up, and buries the voice down, down, down, deep into his mind. Hoping it'll never resurface again.
Because what the voice was saying was ridiculous.
He does not have such thoughts, because only cowards who cry only think like that.
A blink and he sees darkness, then a child-a few years younger than him whose face horribly resembles him. The child was on the ground, clutching his belly. The pain and the feeling of helplessness makes it hard for the little boy and his endurance hits its limit. His small form that became smaller as he curls into himself on the floor starts shaking as he sobs, tears and snot dirties his face. He sees in his peripherals the way his father sneers at his pathetic self and he cries more. Whether it was from anger or frustration or maybe both, he does not know anymore. So many emotion happened at the same time at that moment and all he felt like doing as he writhes in pain when a strong kick aimed at his middle again was to cry. Cry and sob like the pathetic thing he is, his father says.
Another blink and Koujaku was back in the present.
He's no longer the snivelling coward his father used to call him, and he's standing in front of the house to prove it. He'll show the old bastard who's the real bastard here.
He looks at the ground and thinks about how he should do this.
Just, knock and call out to him or should he just open the gate and enter with no warning? But won't that be disrespectful? But then again, this house is no ordinary Japanese home, so maybe formalities does not matter in this case? How did he enter the house again the first time?
"Koujaku!"
A small, meek voice called out, not too far away from where he was standing called out his name and it breaks his string of thoughts. The voice was louder than last time, but he can still distinguish its owner without looking up to see who it is.
Its Aoba.
Its definitely him.
He proves himself right the moment he looks up and looks towards the gate-that was now opened- that leads to the front door of the house. There just right outside the main door's entrance, was the enigma of the house, his face flushed and a small smile decorating his face as he had both his arms wide open-as if permitting Koujaku to go jump to his arms and never let go.
"Koujaku! You came back! I've been waiting for you, what took you so long?"
Koujaku gulps.
He had been stalling, to be honest.
The fact that this child is here and real scares him.
He does not know what this child can do so far but he's not willing to risk more people falling victim to this curse-be the disappearances true or not. He's willing to sacrifice himself, if that's what it costs it. No more innocent people had to fall into this horrible trap.
He notices how Aoba does nothing but smile and reach out his hands at him. He's not doing anything to approach him at all. If Aoba wants him that badly, then why isn't he rushing towards him by now?
He glances down at Aoba's feet and confirms the child is not losing a limb or two. He was completely standing on the concrete but not stepping out of the house. Why is he not stepping out of the house?
"Koujaku!"
Koujaku jumps. That voice…he gulps again.
It was different, the voice. What is that?
He tells himself he's doing this to learn more about the house. He's doing this for the greater good. He's helping everyone. The moment he finds a weakness about this so-called curse, he'll end it.
There is just something strong and sinister that lurks within the little boy that looks at him with that strange light in his yellow eyes that seemed to glow under the afternoon light. Something sinister and not so innocent at all.
Whatever Aoba is, he's going to stop him.
So he smiles and laughs, apologizes for taking it so long for him to come back and visit him. He tells Aoba that he's got so much errands to do his mother won't let him leave the house.
The way Aoba's eyes suddenly loose it's childish, innocent sheen as he listened to Koujaku's supposed nagging about his mother brought shivers down Koujaku's spine.
He decides topics regarding his mother are a no-no unless he wants to never see her again.
Aoba patiently watches him as he takes a slow, cautious step into the house, this time having the memories of actually stepping in.
The moment both his feet are firmly settled on the hard wooden floor, his back slams on the closed door behind him as Aoba's weight pushed at him as he was hugged tightly by a ten year-old in the brink of tears.
"I thought you'll never come back," he heard him say.
Aoba tells him that he can go to whichever part of the house he fancies, but never-he said with emphasis-ever enter the last room in the end of the hallway upstairs. He asks why, but Aoba says he just can't.
After that, they play.
They play a lot of games; usually hide-and-seek, but they also play tag and wrestling. Koujaku always wins at wrestling and playing tag, but Aoba is better at hiding. Koujaku muses that its because Aoba knows the house at the back of his hands and his small figure.
One time they were playing hide-and-seek again and Koujaku was the one who seeks. He swears he's been looking around the house everywhere but Aoba is nowhere to be found. He almost pulls his hair in frustration, his patience can only run for so long.
He was about to scream in frustration he sees the last door at the end of the hallway in the second floor. He remembers Aoba that it was off-limits.
Despite that, he thinks, could Aoba be hiding in there?
He remembers the grim expression Aoba made the time he was being told how he should never ever enter the room, as much as even approach it. It's just forbidden and Aoba refused to relay anymore details than that.
But then, he reasons to himself, Aoba is nowhere else to be found.
He stands there for a minute, then angrily stomps down to the first floor and re-checks everything.
He comes back to the end of the hallway, panting, for running around the house researching every nook and cranny looking for the little boy, but failed and tells himself again-the logical one-that this is the last place he have yet to check.
There is no point in announcing his defeat out loud-Aoba hated quitters.
So he steps towards it, surprised at himself for the lack of feeling guilty or nervous for breaking a rule.
He was about to grab the door knob that shines a shiny gold, as if tempting him to hold it in his hands and twist it open when he hears a snarl not too far behind him.
He stills, and then he slowly turns his head.
He gasped at the sight.
A man was standing not too far from him, his eyes white due to the absence of the pupils and his mouth shaped into a snarl as his teeth that was too long it looks like a set of fangs-like that of a wolf-was bared for him to see and fear upon.
It appears to be angry and growling, its gaze focused on only him.
It roars and runs towards him, fast.
But Koujaku was faster.
He managed to slip under the space of the man's feet and made a swift run for it.
The rest blurs and all that mattered after that was that he was on the ground, facing the house's opened entrance, panting like a dog as he takes one shuddering breath and another. He waits for the beastly man to come running towards him, he's readying himself to run again if the situation arises and decides that after this he'll never come back. A week of playing house with a creature like Aoba who manipulated the house into his little play house was not an information enough to destroy whatever it is Aoba is.
He closes his eyes, body trembling and aching. The sudden run must've stretched his muscles, the adrenalin pumped into his system the only reason he was out of the horrible place in a matter of minutes when he hears it.
The growling. He opens his eyes to see the man-beast crouching low by the door, his pupil-less gaze focused on Koujaku intently. He emanates the air of murder, but doesn't seem to do anything to run towards him with his claws open and bare.
Just exactly like Aoba a few days ago.
He realizes something, and thinks about testing his theory. He gulps and with trembling legs, he slowly raises himself up and moves to approach the snarling being when Koujaku stops in his tracks.
The beast snarling at him moments ago was gone, and strangely enough, the person standing by the door was replaced with a crying Aoba.
He was sobbing the moment Koujaku falls on his knees again, his shaking legs gave out right away due to shock. Too many shocking things are happening in front of Koujaku at the same time it was too much for his young head-and body-it seems.
"I told you not to enter the room," he manages to say in his sobs. He was shaking harder than Koujaku.
Koujaku's legs are still too weak to help him stand, he resort to crawling on his hands and knees to get to the crying boy. He kneels and holds him, tight and sniffs his blue hair that smells like something he can never tell but sweet and horribling familiar nonetheless and comforts the boy with words.
Aoba cries louder and hugs him tighter. Making him promise never to enter the room again.
He promises that he'll never ever do that anymore, and they play again, like nothing big happened until the clock stroke six.
Koujaku came everyday to come play with Aoba from then on.
And a few more days with him, Koujaku hated to say that he actually enjoyed Aoba's company.
But he'll be lying if he didn't either now, is he?
E/N: I HAVE A LOT TO DO BECAUSE ITS ALMOST THE MIDDLE OF MY SEMESTER AND I HAVE LIKE 6 EXAMS
I HAVE AN EXAM TODAY AND I HAVEN'T SLEPT YET
I NEED TO BE UP 4 HRS FROM NOW
GOD HELP ME((Also please go vote on my poll in my profile thanks!))