December 1st, 2018
Kasama, Ibaraki
Red.
What a beautiful colour. So bold. So full of life.
It was life. The very essence of it, in fact.
He had always loved it, especially as a child. His mother grew such beautiful flowers, their garden would be a neverending crimson sea during spring and summer. He was always particularly fond of the carnations.
Once upon a time, it had felt like love to him.
"Mama?"
Her form was still, her arms bent in uncomfortable positions as blood pooled underneath her body. Her face was hidden from the world.
Perhaps it was better that way.
"Mama? Get up, Mama."
The pink bookbag weighing him down felt like it held the world, so he tossed it down into the sanguine ichor underneath him as he stepped forward. The blood didn't make the sort of noise he would expect.
It wasn't hollow like the 'splishing' and 'splashing' of water. No, this felt dull and heavy, like the liquid sucked at his shoes with every step, holding him back from what he would see.
There was someone else in the room. He knew who he was, but in this moment, the only person he could see was his mother.
Her fingers were bent upwards, the skin on the back of her hand a sickly purple mottled with dull red splotches. Her dress was tattered from the several slashes crossing together, as if they too wished to weave together a piece born of morbidity.
"Get up, please. It's still early, we can't sleep yet."
He cradled her head as he struggled to lift it.
His eyes lost all light with a single glance upon her face.
Her nose had been pummelled so far inwards, the surrounding skin had become stretched taut towards the center of her head. There was bruising around her neck.
"Owari."
No, now wasn't the time. This was his time with his mother. She was doing silly faces.
A slow chuckle began from the boy as he cradled her body by the neck.
If he laughed, maybe she would stop.
Maybe she would smile, and this game would be over.
He wasn't having fun, but he didn't want her to be sad. She was always so sad already, he would make her happy.
"Owari!"
Now manic cackling erupted from the boy.
"This is funny, Mama! Stop it, Mama, do a different one!"
His arms tightened around her neck as he held her closer. He could hear his father's footsteps now approaching. Was he coming to play as well? Would he do something silly as well?
"Papa, we're doing silly faces! Mama always said our face would get stuck if we did them too long, she's trying to scare me!" Owari lifted his gaze from his mother's auburn hair that he had buried his face in.
Had he been crying? It seemed awfully dark in here, he could see the glint of liquid on his face as he got closer.
There was that colour yet again.
Red.
Staining his skin. His clothes. The knife in his hand. The amalgamation perched upon his shoulders.
It was doing a funny face too. He had never seen anything smile quite so large, or have such a giant mouth. It only made Owari laugh even more. It was holding onto the top of his father's head just like he would often do when riding on his shoulders.
This must all be a dream then. His mother always said he had too much imagination for his own good.
Then maybe if he laid down and closed his eyes, he would wake back up.
He had often seen little things flitting around school, and scurrying in the darkness of the streets and the woods, but nothing quite like this.
Perhaps he had too much chocolate before bed. His mother was going to be so mad if she found him with his face smeared in it again.
Closing his eyes, he laid down beside his mother despite the blood soaking into his oversized shirt that hung only slightly above his knees. "I'm going to wake up now, Papa! I'll see you in the morning!"
Placing an arm over his mom, he smiled as his breath slowed. He would wake up any moment now.
He just wished he had a blanket. His mom was so cold. He wanted her to be warm.
"Lay down with us, Papa! You're always the warmest!"
As he opened his eyes for only a moment, he could see the swing of metal as his father sank the blade downwards towards his side.
Suddenly, he felt warm.
And then very, very cold.
His father's crouched figure lingered, draped over both Owari and his mother's body. The horrible blob of a creature upon his shoulder smelled awful. Like his classmate who had gotten sick and vomited over himself in class. He was so close to it, suddenly…
It didn't feel like a dream anymore.
He couldn't move under the weight of his father's body.
No.
He couldn't move under the weight of reality crashing into him.
The blob stretched impossibly from his father's shoulders towards his mother's lifeless corpse. Its clawed hands reached through the slits upon the back of her dress, her flesh squelching around the fingers that scraped away at her body.
It tossed scraps of flesh and gore into its mouth with reckless abandon, satisfied moans echoing from it.
Owari's left arm squirmed and wrenched free from underneath his father, who seemed to be in a daze.
Seemed to be.
The instant his arm had moved from its position, his father harshly ripped the knife from Owari's side, plunging it into his arm. The blade easily cleared through the other side of his limb, anchoring it into the wooden floor below.
His vision grew blurry, his eyes trained upon the creature that had resumed devouring his mother.
"Leave…"
Owari's head grew light and fuzzy, as he felt himself falling asleep.
Maybe this really was a dream. Maybe he would wake up after all.
"Leave Mama alone…" The words weakly exited his mouth as his right arm reached up, smacking the squishy creature with all the force of a feather. Yet, he knew he could get rid of it. He knew that he could take it away. He knew he could make his mother safe.
As he made contact with the horrid being, his body seemed to react. The muscles within his arm tensed to the point where it felt as though the fibers would snap, his bones felt as if they would break, and his body lurched uncontrollably against the now struggling form of his father, who had let go of the knife to push down on his son with both hands.
It felt as if something was crawling into his arms, like when he would watch maggots burrow into dead lizards before being told to get away from them.
But his mother was safe as the blob was nowhere to be seen.
Its absence was filled with an undying rage deep within Owari's stomach.
Everything felt so strongly at the moment. The rage at his father. The sadness for his mother as reality had finally taken root.
His father, on the other hand, reeled back in confusion. "It's…not there anymore?" Looking down at his family, he could feel his vision going in and out of focus. His hands slowly raised in front of his face, examining the blood and viscera upon them. "It made me feel as if I could do the things I always wanted to do."
His empty brown eyes glanced upon Owari, who seemed to froth at the mouth as his breathing grew rapid. Seven years he had raised this festering tumour on his failed relationship. Given everything he had to something he never wanted.
All because he felt obligated to do it by his family. All because of a stupid mistake he made as a teenager.
But if he wiped the slate clean here. He could start everything anew.
Looking at the knife in Owari's arm, he knew what he had to do.
A fresh start.
Grabbing the knife, the man twisted it out of the young boy's flesh, unflinching at his momentary cry of agony.
What was concerning, however, was the sickly green flesh that seemed to fill the hole he had left and the boy's nails growing to appear more like claws.
And his face…
What a funny face. He had never seen his child smile quite that wide before.
"Why, Papa?" The words barely escaped Owari, choked out between harsh sobs. His voice was uncannily deep and reverberating, as if two voices echoed from his chest. "Why would you do it? Mama was so sad all the time, she just wanted to be happy."
Tears rolled down his malformed face, mixing with the blood he was bathed in.
His father raised the knife once again in his right hand, looking down on Owari. His face was one of disgust and contempt, his eyes devoid of life as he answered.
"Because I never wanted you." His lips curled into a sneer. "Because I have wasted the past seven years of my life. All because of you." He paused to enunciate every word of his final sentence.
Bringing the knife down, his sneer slowly faded. His fair, bloodstained skin was suddenly decorated with a new spray of ichor.
Not his child's, but his own.
Where he had been holding the knife was now reduced to a stump of a limb, his hand falling limply beside Owari, whose hands were raised with the clawed fingers outstretched.
'It's…my fault?' Owari had barely understood what had happened. 'Mama is dead because of me?'
He slowly moved to his feet beside his stunned father, who could only stare at the disembodied appendage in shock.
"I'm sorry, Mama!" Owari choked out, his tears falling on his mother's lifeless body. His breath hitched in his throat, rasping harshly. "I'm sorry!"
His father's head slowly turned to look at his child, nearly level with him from his crouched position. He had always felt that Owari was like him in that he could see curses, given how much the boy ranted to his mother about seeing strange creatures.
He had always been told not to "talk crazy" about seeing nonsense, so he did the same and told Owari that it was just his imagination.
But the energy he was feeling from the child right now…
It was just the same as a curse.
He could feel the negative emotions practically wafting from his child, and those physical changes were no coincidence.
His left hand carefully reached for the knife in his disembodied limb. He would have to do this in one swift move if he wanted to stay alive. If he wanted that blank slate.
Feeling his fingers tighten around the handle, the man swung the blade directly towards Owari's throat.
Instead of a spray of blood, the ringing of metal shattering filled the space as Owari's sobs came to a halt.
'He…bit the blade in half?' Owari's father couldn't believe his eyes as his son let fragments of the blade fall from his oversized mouth.
"Papa…" Owari's tone was little more than a whispered whine. "I'm sorry, Papa."
Before his father could respond, four distinct claw marks raked across his throat. Owari's face was immediately showered with blood. The man turned to crawl away, quickly knocked over as his child threw his body onto him.
"Owari…" Straining the words out, his father could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks.
The last thing he witnessed were the mournful amber eyes of his son as he began to tear into his innards.
As Owari eviscerated his father, he thought only of their garden and his mother walking amongst the blooms.
Owari had always loved the colour red.
June 17th, 2027
Kasama, Ibaraki
Owari's eyes watched the clock intently. His auburn hair fell in his line of sight for only a moment before he blew it out of his eyes. Ten minutes remained in his last class of the day, then he could walk home with Jinsei Bikeiro just as he had done since he moved in with his mother's sister.
But today, he would finally ask her to a date. He had talked to himself in the bathroom mirror for a week now, practicing the events in hopes of getting it perfect! No stuttering, no hesitating, only confidence!
"Gappei-kun." A stern voice came from up front. "Are you with us?"
Owari blinked rapidly, suddenly becoming aware of the eyes staring at him. A pit began to grow in his stomach. "S-sorry, Chiba-sensei! Can you…repeat the question, please?"
Sanjou Chiba took a deep breath, eyes burrowing into the boy's skull. "It's okay, we'll allow someone more focused to contribute." Turning around, he resumed his discussion of home economics, his voice gradually growing mute in Owari's mind as he felt he could melt away from embarrassment.
He had often tried to stay in the background of that class. More often than not, he could hear the whispered comments of others in the class. All about how it was ironic to teach him about family and home life when he never had a good example to start.
He had lived with the comments.
Being found unconscious with two stab wounds that were almost completely healed over next to your mother, who had over thirty wounds herself and her skull bashed in, with only your father's hand found at the scene tended to make the news.
He didn't remember much from that night. He only remembered coming to being drenched in blood and being carried by his aunt.
He also remembered feeling more full than he had ever felt before. He didn't eat for days afterwards, although everyone said it was likely due to being in shock.
He lived with a reminder of that night though. It didn't speak much, but when it did, it was always the same thing.
"Hungry."
It always seemed that no matter how much he ate when it would start speaking, it wouldn't shut up. It just took time.
He did have a good thing going with his aunt though. Even though her husband was particularly against the boy living with them, wondering why he couldn't have gone to live with his father's side, his aunt stood up for him every time.
It was after moving in with her and switching schools that he met Jinsei. They had known each other for almost seven years now. He remembered thinking she was the prettiest girl around, and she was always smarter than him in everything to the point where he would just shut up and watch as she got passionate about whatever topic she was ranting about.
She was the only person who never made comments about how it felt "creepy to be around him."
It often felt like she was the only person he had close.
A muffled squelching began to draw his attention to the floor, coming from a slowly crawling creature. He saw them often throughout the day, either flying around the school or moving in classrooms. They were just like whatever was in him now, but they normally moved away from him. He had long since accepted that they were not creations of his imagination, but he had yet to find anyone else who could see them as well. At least, no one who would admit it.
This one, however, was simply moving at a snail's pace between desks.
He also still had that…knowledge in his mind. He knew if he grabbed them, they would go away. He never did it, but yet, he had the bare intuition that it would happen without fail if he tried it.
Right on the dot, the bell chimed to signal the end of class, with Sangou dismissing them quickly before sitting down and pulling out a box of prepared foods. He barely raised an eyebrow as Owari bolted from his seat at an alarming rate, swinging his pink backpack onto his back in a fluid movement.
He was also wholly unaware of the boy kicking the slow creature with tremendous force directly into the front of his desk.
"What a strange boy…"
Racing down the hallway, the smile only grew on Owari's face as he rounded the corner to where he knew Jinsei would be.
The instant his eyes met hers, his face was split from ear to ear. "Bikeiro-chan! You ready?" As he stood beside her, there was a notable separation as the incoming crowd of students split to walk a fair distance around them.
"Let's go, Gappei-kun!" Jinsei excitedly responded, posing like one of their favorite anime characters, earning a similar response from Owari before they began to cut through the crowd.
They had remained silent for the most part as they got out of the school building, only opting to talk once they had arrived on the residential streets that would eventually lead to their houses not far from each other.
Jinsei was the first to speak, nudging him with her elbows. "How were your classes today?"
Owari had, admittedly, been rather dissociated throughout the entire day. He had only been thinking about the fact that he was going to ask her on a date later that day. "Oh, well I got called on in Home Economics when I wasn't paying attention at all, and I felt so embarrassed as everyone stared at me for not knowing what was going on."
"Jeez, you've been zoning out more and more lately!" Jinsei reached up to the taller boy and lightly hit him on the head. "I keep hearing from people that you've been muttering to yourself a lot lately! You aren't going crazy on me, are you?"
Shit.
He had thought he had been doing well at remaining unnoticed when he would talk to himself about the plan.
"No, no! I just have been practicing for the play that is coming up! I want to audition." Owari quickly retorted, reassuring himself that he had come up with a genius excuse.
"Liar. You hate theater. Also, there's no play coming up, I have friends in the drama club." Jinsei deadpanned.
How had he messed up that badly?
Sighing, Jinsei locked her fingers behind her head. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to hide something from me."
Owari felt sweat bead on his forehead. 'Shit, she's on to me!'
"N-no, I just don't want you thinking I was going crazy!" Owari nervously smiled.
Humming to herself, Jinsei looked to her side at the boy. "Then why didn't you say that instead of coming up with a lame excuse?"
"Uhm..I, well, I just- You see, I had to-" Owari began to stumble over his words, eyes searching around for anything to answer with, his heart beginning to race.
Stopping abruptly, Jinsei forced him to come to a halt as well by grabbing hold of his sleeve. Admittedly, when he started getting really nervous like this, he had this inexplicable ability to put off an unnerving aura that tended to make everyone else feel uncomfortable as well. But she had long since learned to tolerate it when it arose. "Gappei-kun, it's okay. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I'll understand either way."
Owari took a deep breath, feeling himself calm down. So much for all the confidence he had falsely convinced himself of having. "The truth is, Bikeiro-chan, I was wondering…" He felt a knot form in his stomach. Harshly swallowing the weight that had appeared in his throat, he continued. "Would you want to go on a date sometime? With me?"
Jinsei's eyes grew wide, taking a moment to respond. "We can definitely see about going on one eventually!"
There was a momentary rush in Owari's mind as he realized she hadn't outright said no, before everything came to a sudden stop as he realized what she had actually said. He grew silent, accepting the hesitation she had at first to say anything. "If you don't want to, I completely understand, I won't be hurt."
"It's just…I really value your friendship, Gappei-kun." Jinsei started. "And I don't think a relationship with me, or anyone right now, would really be best for you."
Owari looked blankly at the ground below him as they walked. "You think so?"
"I think you have a lot you need to accept about yourself and what you've gone through that you never really did." She was doing her absolute best to be careful with how she let him down, not wanting to ruin their friendship. "Like sometimes, when you get really emotional, it sort of puts others on edge, and I just feel like it would be best if you work through everything first."
Owari nodded, dryly gulping again as he made sure not to cry or look too defeated. She thought he was creepy to be around at times. She just never said anything to spare his feelings. How could he have not seen it? "You're right. Others can't accept me if I don't accept me."
"And I do accept you, Gappei-kun. I just would rather you get help and find happiness and acceptance in yourself rather than anyone else." Jinsei carefully spoke. "Besides, you're a good looking guy, once you get to a better place with yourself, you'll pull someone no problem!"
She was right. In fact, she was saying everything he needed to hear for a while now. It wasn't the worst kind of rejection, but it did still hurt. He had no one to blame but himself though, he was the one who got his hopes up over the mess.
"Thanks, Bikeiro-chan." Owari gave her a smile, looking ahead to the upcoming mailbox of her house. "Walk to class tomorrow morning?"
"Duh! Jeez, do you think we can never talk again since you asked me on a date?" Jinsei laughed, which caused Owari to nervously laugh as well. At least it didn't seem like he had ruined anything. "If you aren't here at the same time as usual tomorrow, I'll personally find you and drag you to school!"
Owari held up his hands, giving a smile. "Okay, okay, I'll be here. Make sure to eat dinner, don't forget to. I'll text you when I get home."
"You'd better!" Jinsei called back as she headed up her stairs.
Owari continued to walk in silence, opting out of putting in his headphones knowing that he would be home in a few minutes.
Maybe he should talk to his aunt about going to therapy. He had put it off for some time, but it would probably do a lot to help him. Maybe he'd make more friends then as well, that way Jinsei wouldn't have to deal with him constantly asking to hang out since he had no one else.
Arriving at the Kiro household, he lazily made his way up the stairs and entered. "I'm home! Houyou-san, Nagashi-san"
Houyou Kiro was the first to greet him. She resembled her sister a fair amount, making things difficult for Owari at times. Her auburn hair was far straighter than his mother's, and she had deep brown eyes. She had once been younger than her sister though, now being the same age she was when she died. She had aged more since taking him in, getting age lines as well as her hair growing lighter at the roots.
He often worried that the stress of everything with his family had taken an extreme toll on her. Often times, he would hear Nagashi voicing that same opinion to her.
Nagashi Kiro was her husband, and an Inspector of the Ibaraki Prefecture Police Agency. It was no secret how much he disliked having Owari there, but Houyou refused to let the last piece of her sister be thrown out into the streets.
He had apparently been the first person to arrive on the scene the night his mother died. The neighbors had reported hearing screams earlier in the night, but only called once they had heard a later set of screams from what seemed to be a man's voice.
Owari could only wonder what he had seen. What he had thought.
"Go on and wash up, dinner will be ready soon!" Houyou shouted, Owari simply nodding to himself as he headed into his room. He gently set down his backpack before opening up his closet to find something other than his school uniform.
His ears, always quick to pick up on hushed voices, did him no favors yet again.
"Houyou, we should talk to him about it tonight." Nagashi's curt voice could be heard from the kitchen.
"He's had a long day at school. We can do it in the morning." Houyou retorted quickly, as if she had been waiting to use the response.
Nagashi could be heard sucking his teeth. "He'll have school tomorrow as well. Then you'll say he should get to enjoy his weekend. You can't shelter him from it forever, Houyou."
"But I can shelter him from it for now." Houyou replied again, a slight waver in her voice.
"He is sixteen now. He is grown up enough to help us fill in the blanks. It won't be anything bad, just an attempt to fill in what we don't know." Nagashi continued prodding. "Don't you want to know what happened to your sister?"
A slam of a knife onto a chopping board. Owari could make out the strained exhale from Houyou. "It was nine years ago. I have accepted that she died. We know everything we need to know. Gappei Yunsei murdered my sister and tried to murder his child as well. He ran away and is probably off living somewhere guilt free of what he did."
"How does a man lose his hand, have the weapon he used be shattered, and then flee a scene without any blood trail?" Nagashi snapped back. "Too many things are just too strange with it, and we need the case filled in. You said it yourself, Owari's breath reeked of death and it felt like you were carrying a grown man when you carried him. If Yunsei is not actually a missing person, it would be good to know, and it would be good to know if the child we have living in our home is a danger to everyone around him."
The silence from the kitchen filled the entire house, thick enough to swim in. "Do you understand what you're insinuating? It's insane."
"Stranger and stranger things have happened ever since that craziness in 2018. Everything that was talked about, true or not…Nothing feels impossible anymore." Nagashi put forth the statement with finality.
In his room, Owari felt the weight of the world on his chest. He sunk to his knees and cradled his head in his hands as he struggled to fill his lungs with air.
Was that the full feeling he had felt for days after the incident? Was that what that thing demanded when it said it was hungry? Was he a monster? Had he eaten his father for what he had done?
He began to hyperventilate, digging his nails into his scalp.
He wasn't a monster, he wasn't.
He was just a kid.
He had loved his parents. He loved his mom.
He could feel the warmth of blood on his fingernails.
It wasn't true, none of it, they were just saying things!
"Stomach…hurts…"
Not now. It needed to be quiet, it was only making things worse.
"Hungry."
Shut up. That night ended with his father running away.
"Rare. Raw."
"Shut up!" Owari yelled out, tears beginning to flow before he realized he had spoken out loud. His eyes shot to the now approaching footsteps from the kitchen.
Nagashi was the first to say something, "Did you hear that, Owari? I promise it won't-"
Owari wasn't interested in listening, his mind was filled with ringing as he barely comprehended his own actions. His mind began to fill with the memories of that night.
The feeling of his lips stretching to the sides of his face. The bottomless cavern of his stomach. His nails growing and hardening like talons.
He quickly grabbed hold of his pink backpack, flinging it around his shoulders before opening the window in a flash.
By the time Nagashi entered his nephew-in-law's room, the only presence was a cool breeze.
As a child, Owari had often gone on hikes with his parents to Mount Wagakuni. They lived on the very outskirts of Kasama, so it was often a quick drive. His mom carried him most of the time.
He remembered the last time they went. It wasn't cloudy in the slightest, and it felt as though you could see into forever. Everything there to be found.
They went at least once a month, but ever since he lived with his aunt, he had yet to go back.
He would rectify that though.
As he began to reach the limits of city living within Kasama, coming face to face with the trees that acted as a threshold.
Once he stepped through, he knew he would commit to it.
He couldn't hurt his aunt.
He couldn't hurt Jinsei.
He didn't want to hurt anyone else.
If what Nagashi said was true, then he would be better off found dead at the summit of Mount Wagakuni. Houyou and Jinsei would be hurt, but they would be okay. They each had plenty of people, he wouldn't mean a thing to them in a few years.
Holding the strap of his fuschia backpack tightly, Owari took a deep breath before stepping forward. With his entrance into the forest, it felt as though the trees blocked the way back. The only way to go now was towards his destination, no bailing out.
All he had been seen as was a creepy guy who lost his parents.
The boy who made everyone uncomfortable.
The one with an aura that seemed to put everyone else on edge.
Was he ever truly human after that night, or was he simply an abomination playing pretend and trying to blend in with society?
How many times had that same conversation between Houyou and Nagashi played out? How many times had she protected him? How many times had Nagashi wanted to pull the curtain off what he had done?
When his body is found, whether it is fresh or decayed, there was no doubt in his mind that Nagashi would come out with the truth of that night. His ashes would not be placed with his mother's at their family grave. He wondered if he would even be given a proper rest, or if he would be left to the elements.
That all was hinging on him being found.
Perhaps he would waste away, with the search for him being called off and his disappearance simply becoming a superstitious tale spread about Mount Wagakuni among drunk teenagers.
The wind whispered to him among the trees, but he shook his head despite the goosebumps rising up his spine. There was nothing to fear there.
His eyes scanned his surroundings, noting all of the small creatures and abominations that stared into his soul as they ducked behind trees. Their snickering laughter was carried through the forest, letting Owari know he wasn't alone even in this tranquil place.
In a way, it lit the smallest of fires within his soul. Companionship even at what felt like his lowest moment.
No matter how much he wanted to be alone…he detested loneliness.
As he walked in silence, the company of that laughter brought the faintest smile to his face.
He had lived a life. He couldn't say if it was good or if it was enough. But he had lived. He got an authentic experience. Ups and downs. Trials and tribulations. Everything he had often heard his aunt and uncle talking about what made someone mature and lived.
He had spent his time. If there was reincarnation, he hoped that he would come back as something more free. Less shackled by rules.
Like the crimson flowers of his mother's garden.
He couldn't help but enjoy the idea of being a beautiful flower that bloomed every year without fail. Always admired at the same time, and waited upon solely for his sanguine petals.
Perhaps if there was no afterlife, if he wasn't found, his body would decay and nourish the forest. Nature would reclaim the energy it had expended to bring him into the world, it was only right to return to it.
And in a way, if it all was true, his father would finally be put to rest along with him, even if the man didn't deserve it.
The growl of Owari's stomach alerted him to his own needs, but he knew that he had nothing to eat. His backpack was filled with books and an empty container for his lunch. He had no reason to bring it with him.
Well, he had one reason.
It was the last thing his mother had ever bought him. His aunt had to clean bloodstains out of it, which caused the splotched marks upon its bottom, but he had kept it even since he was a child. He had added new straps to it roughly a year ago, having grown out of the old ones.
Starving wasn't exactly how he wanted to die though. He didn't know how he wanted to die if he was being honest. He hadn't actually thought that far ahead. He dreaded the thought of having no food in his stomach until he began to waste away. Maybe his mind would begin to tune out the feeling, but he doubted it.
His silent trot through the forest soon began to come to a halt as his ears perked up at the sound of gentle footfalls behind him.
Turning slowly to the intruder upon his final walk, Owari's brow furrowed. It was…a woman, as far as he could tell. Although things were uncanny about her. Bubblegum pink hair flowed seemingly to her ankles, ending in bouncing curls. Her skin was a pallid grey, her purple eyes sitting among black sclera.
She was attractive, he couldn't deny that. But her clothing was…unbecoming. The only way he could describe it was a halloween costume meant to portray a, for lack of better words, "sexy business-person."
"My, my~" Her voice was like honey, but only at first. Something in her words seemed to wash over Owari, before leaving him hollow. Being close to her felt the same as those little creatures and abominations. "Out here all alone? Didn't your parents ever tell you it's not safe after dark?"
Owari let out a huff before turning back, beginning to walk once again, the woman's footsteps not unbeknownst to him. "I've got some things I'm working out. Aren't women supposed to be even more wary after dark?"
Placing her hands on either side of her face, she lulled. "I can handle myself, thank you very much. You're a young thing, shouldn't you be out partying with your friends?~"
"I just said that I'm trying to work some things out." Owari retorted again, his tone lightly laced with venom.
"Let me guess~" The woman lulled once again, before moving to intercept Owari with frightening speed. "You don't have any friends, do you?" Her voice was now devoid of that sweetness, now only producing that hollow feeling. "No one wanted you."
Owari's lips curled into a sneer. "Oh, you just know everything, do you?"
The woman erupted into laughter. "Looks like I hit the nail right on the head!" She pointed a sharpened nail at Owari. "You don't even want you!"
Owari wordlessly pushed past her, knocking his shoulder into hers as he began to take deep breaths. "What are you, some kind of fortune teller now?" He spoke in a sharp sarcastic tone.
"I'm no fortune teller. I'm a curse." She walked beside Owari, standing above him a decent amount. "You know what those are, don't you?"
Owari rolled his eyes. "If I called you something so far from what you are, then where do you think I would know what that is?"
"You've got a mouth on you~" The woman clicked her tongue. "Curses are born of the negative emotions within humanity. Emotions and memories towards places, ideas, all sorts of things. I~" She stepped in front of Owari yet again, flourishing herself. "was born of humanity's feelings towards rejection."
Owari shoulder-checked the woman yet again. "Cool, then I reject you. Could you just leave me be now?"
"You don't know how to treat women, do you?!" She snapped. "You haven't even asked my name! You always get a woman's name when you first meet her!"
Feeling that the woman, or curse as she also called herself, wouldn't leave him alone if he didn't indulge her, Owari stomped his foot into the ground as he came to a halt. "Alright." He spoke through gritted teeth. "What's your name?"
"Kyouhi~" She spoke in a lull again. "Now I ask you what your name is~"
"Gappei Owari. Is that all you needed? Can you curse me now or something?" Owari's eyebrow cocked as he inspected Kyouhi, unamused.
Kyouhi shook her head. "You really need to work on your people skills-"
"I don't care." Owari said with finality. "I don't care what you are, what you're trying to do. Human, curse, god, demon, just leave me to myself. All I care about right now is going to the top of that mountain and dying. Unless you're going to speed that up for me, just do me a favor and leave."
Kyouhi's face split into a manic grin. "Oh, I can do that for you if you really want." Her hand shot towards Owari's throat, when suddenly the limb found itself detached from her arm. "Great, the beanpole even found me here." She rolled her eyes as her hand regrew in a matter of seconds. "Still obsessed with me, Yuta-kun?~" She winked before blowing a kiss to the second intruder upon Owari's lonesomeness.
Owari turned to the one called Yuta, surprised by the fact that he seemed to genuinely just be a normal person. Black hair reached slightly past his nape, and Owari could make out the bags under his eyes even from a distance. He dressed…fairly plain, carrying a single blade.
Just what had he gotten caught up in?
"You know, you're a little woman-crazy, aren't you~" Kyouhi purred, not moving from her position beside Owari. "You've got that curse of yours still obsessed with you, your troublesome lover, and you still want me as part of your harem!"
Looking at Owari, she gave a soul-chilling grin to the young boy. "You could learn something from him," Her hand reached towards Owari's throat yet again. "but you won't get the chance to know him."
In less than the blink of an eye, her hand was severed yet again at the same time as Kyouhi's body being flung a considerable distance away.
"Are you okay?" Unaware that Yuta had even replaced the space that Kyouhi had occupied, Owari merely stood in shock. "Keep your distance, I don't want you to get hurt."
Owari slowly shook his head, overwhelmed by a creepy feeling from the taller man. Slowly swinging his backpack around, he held it close to his stomach before taking several paces and slumping against a tree.
Maybe he could be caught in the crossfire.
Before Yuta could object to Owari's choice, Kyouhi suddenly reemerged from where she had been sent flying, jabbing her jagged nails directly into the man's left side. His blue eyes widened in surprise at the sheer force that hit him despite his bodily reinforcement.
Brandishing the katana in his right hand, Yuta began to channel reverse cursed energy through it. "I'm not a fan of being called a womanizer. I'm just a fan of love." Yuta pierced the blade into Kyouhi's side, flowing the energy into her body in hopes of ending the battle right then.
But the fact that this was the first serious hit he had gotten on her despite a previously drawn out battle kept him on his guard.
Kyouhi mocked a death cry, gurgling and thrashing before throwing herself away from Yuta. "You thought that was a really cute end line, huh? You really are a loser!" The wound entrance in her side and the tear in her clothing seemed to disappear. Not reform, simply cease to exist. "What's that thing you jujutsu sorcerers do? Revealing ones hand?"
Yuta jumped towards Kyouhi, the force of his swiping blade sending the curse on the defensive as she blocked it with her forearms crossed. She didn't heed the foot that came from underneath her arms, Yuta's shoe slamming directly into her chin and knocking her upwards.
Maneuvering his body, Yuta pivoted on his heel as soon as it touched the ground, striking Kyouhi's airborne form with a fist directly to her core and sending her into the side of a nearby tree.
He still wasn't surprised when she emerged from the wreckage with almost no visible damage. "You shouldn't interrupt a woman when she's trying to speak, Yuta dear~" Kyouhi winked at the man. "Like I was saying-"
She suddenly sucked her teeth as a pair of massive arms slammed down beside her. Emerging from murky nothingness, it was none other than Yuta's infamous curse that she had only partially seen manifested in their previous fight. She had heard about it from plenty of curse users.
"Rika, I presume." Kyouhi spoke with disdain for the hulking curse. "You aren't as pretty as I would have thought. Here I was thinking you'd look even a fraction as good as me." She didn't hide the sneer upon her face as she spat the words out. "You're just a disappointment."
Without warning, a shockwave of cursed energy split between the two from Yuta's position. Wanting to give Kyouhi absolutely no reprieve, the lean man appeared behind the curse so fast, it almost appeared to be teleportation to Owari.
With his left fist, Yuta delivered a reverse cursed energy infused punch to Kyouhi's side. In a blur of movement, he impaled his blade into Kyouhi's center with the same energy flowing through as Rika came from above the two. Holding her hands together, Rika slammed them into Kyouhi's form as Yuta continued his assault upon Kyouhi.
Regaining her composure, Kyouhi knew she had to move in an instant. Spinning around to pierce her hand into Yuta, Kyouhi was violently racked by Rika from behind, knocking her directly into the sorcerer's reinforced uppercut. Forcing herself to remain in the moment, Kyouhi raked her claws across Yuta's torso, leaving deep gouge marks to the man's partial surprise. As he flowed reverse cursed energy into the wounds, he found them persisting.
"That's my cursed technique, Yuta! Rejection allows me to reject phenomena of all sorts!" Kyouhi laughed as she evaded Rika's incoming blows, lightly panting as she escaped the lock between the two. "Your healing, your defenses, my wounds, I can reject all of it." Reaching around her back, Kyouhi pulled the katana out of her before breaking it with ease.
Yuta took a deep breath. Clearly she was still a young cursed spirit, she was inexperienced. Given the fact that she was becoming fatigued already, he could tell that she was likely exhausting her cursed energy faster than she could handle. He could see it. Every time she was struck with reverse cursed energy, she both directed all of her cursed energy at the spot and seemingly used her technique following.
She was scared and making sure she wouldn't die by covering all bases.
Still though, she was dangerous. This new age had brought about more and more cursed spirits that surpassed what they had seen before. Her cursed technique alone placed her clear in the special grade territory, but her inexperience and overusage of cursed energy made her more in the territory of a special first grade. If she was given time to become more experienced, she would be a real problem.
Feeling the vestiges of her cursed energy beginning to fizzle from his torso, the raking wounds she had left began to heal.
"Rika, let's go." Yuta said, his voice low. Rika nodded, flanking Kyouhi's right side as Yuta took her left. Turning to guard Yuta's attack, Kyouhi attempted to reinforce her back to little avail, Rika's strike pushing her directly into Yuta's follow-up.
Gasping at the pain racking her body, it quickly disappeared as Kyouhi regained a pristine state, her breathing becoming ragged. Her eyes darted from either side as she barely evaded the incoming barrage of hits on either side.
Suddenly, she hooked the fingers of her hands together, her right hand facing downward and her left upwards. "Domain Expansion-!"
Before she could continue, she was suddenly aware of her bodily capabilities. That being the lack of them, as her eyes moved to her left side where Yuta brandished the broken katana.
Before her head managed to fully detach from the rest of her body, she focused everything she had into herself. The rejection of her own fate.
In that moment, abandoning her attempt at what she was less than certain would be a win for her, Kyouhi ejected herself from the situation the instant she regained control of her bodily capabilities. She felt her vision blur, occasionally stumbling as she ran away from the quickly pursuing Yuta.
So she did what she was sure would get her out of there.
She singled out Owari, who still sat wide-eyed with his back to a tree. "You're my ticket out of here, you nobody."
Owari could practically sense the desperation from the woman as she approached him, Yuta in hot pursuit with a broken blade in his hand and what he could only assume was a horrifying curse by his side. Removing his hands from his bookbag, he quickly held them up to Kyouhi. "Don't touch me!"
"Shut the fuck up! Ugly people don't get to boss around the beautiful!" Kyouhi snapped as she snatched hold of his wrist.
However, just as she grabbed hold of his arm, he unconsciously grabbed hold of hers. In that moment, he was taken back to the events of the night of his mother's murder. His body was wracked with extreme pain and density, as Kyouhi's body broke down and merged into Owari's forcefully. It felt as if another person had tackled him while moving at such a speed that they merely moved through him like a fleshy puddle.
But the physical pain was nothing compared to the immediate weight that formed in his stomach. The sudden negativity that filled him, immediately bringing tears to his eyes as he crumpled to his knees on the ground, pounding his fist into the soft dirt below him. He felt as though his teeth would break if he gritted them any harder.
"Not again." Two voices exited him, layered over each other. "It can't happen again." The sound that escaped him was a harrowing amalgamation of a sob and a scream, continuing until his throat was hoarse.
Finally, he barely had time to raise his head off the ground as his entire body lurched and let loose a torrent of vomit, splashes of the bile landing on his face.
"Get out of me! I can't take another one!" Owari screamed into the ground, spittle and stomach acid dripping from his lips.
"Let me out then!" He could hear Kyouhi screaming inside him. He could feel her hatred towards him.
The boy suddenly became aware of a pair of black shoes, Yuta standing over him. "Are you in control?" Owari felt sick off of the energy the man emitted. The ominous feeling pervading the air around him only worked to create an air of danger.
Owari reared his head to look up at him. He could only imagine how he appeared at the moment. Stomach acid speckled on his face and tears leaving a silent river. He nodded, dryly gulping down what remained in his throat. "I am. If I touch them, they get absorbed into me."
"I see." Yuta spoke softly, crouching down. 'Cursed Spirit Manipulation? If so, it appears different from Geto Suguru.'
Noticing the wariness in Owari's eyes, Yuta gave a smile. "You must be confused about all of this. If you want-"
Owari repositioned himself to rest on his shins, his body upright. "No." There was a dullness in his tone that Yuta immediately recognized. "I don't want anything. I don't want to know about this. You were trying to kill her, right? She was your target?"
Yuta immediately resonated with Owari's mental track. He knew where he was going with this. He had been in his shoes once.
"Then kill me. She's inside of me, so kill me and know that it's done." Owari's lip quivered as the tears began to flow once again. "I've already been a monster once, I don't want to do it again. I don't want to hurt anyone. I'd rather just live alone forever, or die trying."
Yuta sighed as he looked upon the crying boy's face. He knew this sentiment all too well. "I was once where you are now. I was scared of hurting everyone else because of a power I couldn't control. I believed I was cursed, so I wanted to stay alone to keep everyone safe." He took a deep breath in before smiling at Owari. "It gets lonely living all by yourself though."
Owari's eyes widened before the sobs intensified. "I don't understand why I lived. Why couldn't I have died with the both of them? Why did I have to walk through life with this weight in my stomach?"
Reaching into his pocket, Yuta pulled out a small cloth and held it out to Owari. "I can't answer that for you. But I can help you. It's okay to live. You can help yourself and others far more than if you were dead."
"It just doesn't feel like I can be around others after what I did. I deserve to be lonely." Owari wiped his face with his hand, looking to the ground. The words resonated all too well with him, but he couldn't bring himself to see how he could be around anyone with those curses in him.
"You deserve to be tormented for all you've done. It's no surprise you were rejected by everyone." Kyouhi taunted from within him. "You're all alone."
Yuta nodded, letting out a deep breath. His smile didn't waver. "You deserve to be surrounded by people who love you. You don't have to be afraid of hurting them. I can take you somewhere that will help you."
"Like a hospital?" Owari's head shot up, fear rampant in his expression.
"No, nothing like that." Yuta chuckled, waving his hands. "It's a school for people like us. You can learn to control what is inside of you and your power."
Owari took a deep breath, finally taking the cloth from Yuta. After wiping his face once again, his eyes remained on the ground. "It feels like this power could only hurt someone."
Yuta's expression didn't change, continuing to look at Owari with a empathetic gaze. "My mentor once told me what I'll tell you." He was instantly reminded of the blindfolded man who saved him. "Your power can be used to save people. If you give it a shot and learn to control it, you can still decide to leave it all behind if you want no part of this."
Owari took a moment to process the offer. As Kyouhi's tormenting began to surface within him yet again, he did the same as he would for the other one. He steeled himself, and felt her harmful words become muffled. Like a child holding the blankets over their head to drown out their parents arguing in another room.
He would never be alone. He might never know true peace.
But the man was offering him the chance to finally know he would be in control.
"Okay. I'm willing to try anything." Owari muttered, forcing the barest of smiles. "Before we go though, I need to grab some stuff from my home." He hesitated for a moment. "I also have to say goodbye to my aunt if she is there."
Yuta nodded, reaching into his pocket to pull out a phone. Pressing a few buttons, Owari merely sat in silence as the man began to talk on the phone. "Nitta-san, are you able to come pick me up? I'm-" Yuta looked around, scratching his head for a moment. "I'll send you my location. We'll start heading out and meet you at the road."
As the pair exchanged a few more words over the phone, Owari stood up and stretched his body. His body still screamed with pain as though he had worked out for hours, but it was beginning to dull out.
Shuffling the phone back into his pocket, Yuta turned to Owari. "I realized I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm Okkotsu Yuta, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Gappei Owari, it's…nice to meet you as well." Owari stammered out. He hadn't had to introduce himself this many times in a single day in quite a while. "Can we stop for food before we get back to my house? I'm really hungry."
Yuta chuckled, nodding as he began to walk back the way he came. "Of course, I worked up an appetite myself."
Getting back to the Kiro household was easy. Nagashi's car was out, and considering the stream of text messages on his steadily dying phone, he was out looking for him.
"I'll just be a little bit." Owari reassured Yuta and the blonde haired driver, Akari. "Please don't leave, Nitta-san."
Turning harshly, Akari bore a face of disbelief that almost made Owari laugh. "What kind of person do you think I am? I know kids can be judgy, but that's low."
With a tentative opening of his door, Owari began to walk towards the side of the house. He couldn't see any lights, so he could only assume that Houyou had gone to search with Nagashi.
Which was for the best.
He didn't know if he could bear the reaction of his aunt who had raised him for half his life. She had earned the right to be called his mom just as much of his own mother. He didn't know if he could handle telling her that he was leaving.
Quickly glancing around, Owari tried his best to open the window without a sound. He was never the best at sneaking in. He had an astonishing zero-percent success rate with sneaking back in, which always confused him considering how often he snuck out without any issues.
As he climbed into the window, he was immediately aware of the fact that his success rate continued to be nonexistent.
Houyou sat on his bed, looking directly at the boy on the floor. "I figured you would come back eventually. I had hoped you just went to Bikeiro-chan's, but I got so worried when she didn't even know where you were."
Owari carefully stood up, eyes glued to the floor. "I'm sorry, Houyou-san."
"It just wouldn't have been in your nature to leave things like that." Houyou held a meek expression. "I'm glad you're safe though."
Nodding, Owari let out a sigh. "Houyou-san, I…am leaving." The silence grew thick between the two.
"I see." Houyou spoke with barely a whisper. "If it's about what Nagashi was talking about, I can get him to leave it alone if you want."
"No, it's not that." Owari shook his head. "I'm going to a place that will help me."
Houyou's eyes widened. "Like a hospital?!"
Owari would have laughed at their similarity at any other time. "No. It's a school that will teach me to get things under control. It won't cost anything, so you don't have to worry about finances."
Houyou nodded, looking to the floor as the room grew quiet once again. "If that's what you think is best, then I support you. It's not like I could stop you. You really are my sister's son, always so headstrong about what you knew could make you happy."
"I'm going to miss you, Houyou-san. As soon as I know things are better, I will come back." Owari spoke with their shared solemnness. "I just…don't want to be scared of…" He realized how talking about curses or anything he had seen tonight would likely sound like he was out of his mind. "myself. I want to learn how to get myself under control. "
"I won't pretend to understand everything that went on because I never will. But I know that I have seen you doing your best to push down some part of you and fill a missing piece. You always tried to put on a face to hide it, but I could see. So if you think you've found what will let you fill that void left there from that night, then I'm going to support you." Houyou spoke softly, forcing the words out. "At least text me or write me weekly. Or monthly. Anything to let me know that you aren't completely gone. You owe me at least that."
He swallowed the lump in his throat, eyes refusing to glance upwards. "Of course. Do you mind telling Nagashi-san about this…I am worried about what he would do."
"I'll make sure everything is okay." Houyou reassured him. "I loved you like you were my son because you were my only real chance at one. I'll always protect you like you were my son too."
"Houyou-san-" Owari could feel the tears in his eyes. Slowly, he walked beside his aunt and sat down on the bed with her.
The frail woman suddenly flung her arms around her nephew. He could feel his shoulders grow wet with tears. "I'm sorry you couldn't talk to me about what was going on. I always felt that talking about my sister would only rub salt in that wound. And I was selfish. I thought maybe if I didn't talk about her, we could be a happy family without any issues."
Owari couldn't stop himself from embracing his aunt without hesitation. "I was always happy with the both of you. Nagashi-san and I had our ups and downs, but I was happy."
"I can't lose you forever too, Owari-kun. You are the last piece I have of her." Houyou spoke between sobs, holding Owari tighter. "There were so many things that we could never resolve. Loving you was the only way I knew that Akira would know that I loved her as well. It was the only way I felt I could apologize to her for everything I never got the chance to."
The room nearly grew silent as the two held each other, only the faint sound of sniffling coming from the pair as their tears came to an end.
Owari was the first to let go, wiping his eyes. "I promise to contact you as much as possible. I'm not going to disappear."
"And visit when you are on a break!" Houyou lightly smacked his shoulder. "That's all I ask. Besides, Bikeiro-chan would hunt you down as well if you never showed up again."
Owari sighed, eyes wandering to the floor. He still had to figure out how he would tell Jinsei that he was leaving. Maybe he could just message her and keep up communication.
As if reading his mind, Houyou pushed him. "You'd better tell that girl you're leaving, and do it in person! Getting a message like that over the phone just feels cheap and hurtful!"
"I will, I will." Owari mumbled. "Houyou-san, do you think you could help me pack up my things?"
Tears dotted her brown eyes. "I…can. I may be a little slow at it though."
Owari nodded, turning on the light in his room before turning to the wall of tapes and DVDs that he knew he couldn't leave without. Pulling out his suitcase set that Houyou had bought him when he first moved in with them from his closet, he immediately opened up the largest one and got to work.
Houyou had spoke true to her pace. Every item she picked up, she would glance over and reminisce about some memory attached to it before gently depositing it into a suitcase. She mostly packed his clothes while he continued packing the entirety of his collection of Godzilla films. He was always completely enamored with the franchise, so she had done everything in her power to find every movie she could, even getting him a VHS player since he seemed to prefer the physical copies.
They would spend countless nights watching them as a family.
Between the two of them, they were able to pack up his essentials and collection in thirty minutes. He quickly brought his bags and cases out to the car, much to the astonishment of Akari. Promising to explain everything once he got back into the car, he returned to the doorstep of his home.
"Make sure you take care of yourself, Owari-kun. I don't want to hear that you let yourself waste away because you kept forgetting to eat." Houyou spoke softly, looking to the ground.
Without a word, Owari hugged his aunt. "I'll be back, Houyou-san. You have my word."
Returning the embrace for a brief moment before pulling away, Houyou nodded. "I'll hold you to that. I hope you find everything you are looking for."
"I hope so too." Owari dully stated, wondering if it was better to just stay here and try to work through everything by himself.
But then there was the muffled beratement of Kyouhi droning in his head, and suddenly he was reminded of how important it was for him to fix everything.
"You should make sure to go soon. It might be difficult to get you out of here if Nagashi is actually here." Houyou reminded him, knowing she would have to be the one to give the final push to send him away. "I love you, Owari-kun. Don't ever forget that."
Owari nodded, turning before stopping. "I love you too, Houyou-san. Thank you for everything."
Walking back to the car without glancing back, Owari roughly wiped his eyes before opening the door.
"Are you all set, Gappei-kun?" Akari asked, a sympathetic look upon her face.
Owari took a deep breath.
"We just need to make one more stop."
Hello all! This is a fun little future story set in 2027, and I feel I oughta say that this is technically likely to end up an AU because let's be honest, Gege is doing a lot of unpredictable stuff right now. So, you know, if you find this story when Sukuna wins and eats everybody in the world, just know that I'm not down with that and have things going differently.
I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter, and I would love any criticism or feedback.