Rogue (Part 1)
Title: Rogue (Part 1)
Rating: R
Genre: AU, angst, supernatural, drama, family
Characters: All Arashi members are supposed in there, but more revolving around Sho and Masaki. And I 'borrow' Kasumi and Mana names as their younger sisters in this. The parents are OC, but you can freely imagine the characters as you want.
Disclaimer: I only own the plot!
Summary: They are just a normal family. They live happily in the countryside with the parents happily manage their family restaurant while the playful siblings are so closed to each other just like one sweet family. However, everything turn upside down one night when something broke into their supposed to be safe sanctuary. An old hidden secret slowly revealed beyond their wish, crumbling the happiness that they tried really hard to build as that thing comes to claim what has long supposed to be its...
A/N: Un-betaed! And this story is actually based on my dream. All Arashi members are siblings except for Ohno.
PART I
They are just a normal family lives peacefully in the countryside. The parents - Hideo and Miki is a lovely couple who are nearing their fifties and the owner of a lake family restaurant that they build together from scratch for more than 20 years ago. Their children are siblings of six whom always bickering, fighting, and teasing each other though the younger ones sometimes complain how lame it is too live in such a rural area with nothing fancy to brag about. Even their house is located in the middle of thick forest and far from the neighborhood which limiting them from keeping in touch with their friends. The only access out of there is by 20 minutes driving with their family van or an antique red car which owns by their eldest brother - Sho - who unfortunately is also the only dutiful son out of them. Since the older one was allowed to take his driving lesson every time he followed their parents to work years ago, he is also the one and only who can drive among them as well. Yet, no matter how much the younger siblings - Kazunari, Jun, and Kasumi - begged him to take them out once in a while from the boring town, the too serious brother firmly rejected it and told them to come and help their family's business instead. That left the three of them to no other choice, but asked the second brother - Masaki - to apply for a driving class since he is the remaining one who already reaches the legal age aside of Sho. Yet, being a Mother Nature maniac who often spends his day exploring the thick forest and communicating with livings in it, Masaki just smilingly answered that there is no reason to take one since he is happy enough with the way he is now. Having no other choice, the sulking brothers and sister were forced to accept that they will have to endure what they thought as ‘dull, unadventurous, and pathetic’ teenage life a little longer until they eventually reach their 20s.
7 years after that, only 4 out of the 6 siblings are still living in their big 2storeys wooden house with their parents. Kazunari already went to further his study to university in Tokyo as soon as he reaches his twenty, followed by Jun 2 years later. Since the ones left are the 27 years old Sho and 25 years old Masaki who both have no intention of leaving the town while their youngest sister - Mana - who just reaches her 7 recently is still too innocent to understand how the outside world works, the 18 years old Kasumi doesn’t have a choice, but to fight for her ‘freedom day’ alone. Her path doesn’t seem so difficult though considering her famous reputation as the athletic high school girl who had won various sports tournaments from tennis until swimming competition in their prefecture. Growing up with 5 brothers seems strengthen her up too much to the point she doesn’t even have a trouble to win against them whenever they are having fight.
That night as well is supposed to be a normal, playful siblings fight between Masaki and Kasumi just like the other days.
“Macchan! Where’s my socks?!”
“Don’t call your brother like that! And I told you that I already put it in the laundry basket!”
The bickering continues with Kasumi shouting back from the laundry room that she can’t find it as Masaki stamps toward her while nagging about her attitude. Sho who is watching them from the living room couch on the other hand can't help from giggling by the usual scene before his attention goes back to the little Mana on his lap who impatiently asks him to resume reading the storybook for her. Their two sisters grow a bit clingy toward him and Masaki after Kazu and Jun left the house, but who is he to complain when deep inside he actually enjoys their attention himself. He loves the warmth and bubbly family feeling that if possible he wants them to stay that way forever. He doesn’t even realize he already lost in his thought again until Mana suddenly taps his arms with her big brown eyes staring worriedly at him.
“Sho-nii… You’re not feeling well?”
The obvious concern behind the voice brings a wider smile to Sho’s face. He immediately shakes his head as he fixes his sister's cute ponytail which he had tied for her before.
“I’m fine. Just thinking about something.”
Mana just nods when hears that before moves to read something on her storybook. Then, she looks the eldest brother again, this time with a smile on her face.
“The book says that the spell can cure any worries and wounds, right? I want to do it to Sho-nii too!” without waiting for her eldest brother to say anything, the little girl already take the storybook from Sho’s hold and put it beside. Sho can’t help but laugh by her excitement and pretends to be sick when she then starts to touch his forehead to check for his condition. He just smiles when he later watches Mana climbs down from his lap to follow the movement that shows on the book while saying the ‘healing spell’ that mention on it. Joyful laughter and playful fight fill the remote house that night as all the siblings continue to play around like they normally do every day without caring about anything.
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Meanwhile, outside of the house, the family’s Shiba Inu - Mamoru - has his ears perk up when notices something. The dog instantly lifts his head as he notices the standing trees at the dark forest in front suddenly shake despite the lack of wind. The siblings are still cheerfully laughing inside the house when the dog eventually sees something moving before a strong blow comes there out of a sudden.
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“Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Sho-nii! Help me!” Back inside the house, Masaki is storming into the living room again to seek for the eldest brother with Kasumi already clinging on his back as her arms locking around his neck just like how it shows in the wrestling program they often watch together. The second brother desperately tries to escape the deadly strangle, but to no avail when Kasumi suddenly pulls him down fall flat on the floor with his back. He doesn’t even have a chance to whine due to the pain yet when the strong sister then locks one of his arms before telling Sho to do the counting for her, which the eldest brother gladly do due to his soft spot on their sisters. As soon as the count reach 3, the sister immediately cheer with excitement and gives Sho the latter’s awaiting high five while Masaki whimpering pitifully for his fate.
“Sho-nii is so cruel…”
He pouts when the partner in crime just laughs away his misery. Just then Mana suddenly sits beside him and rubs his aching muscle.
“Pain, pain, go away. Pain, pain, flies away. Let Masa-nii be happy and sound again.”
The innocence of his cute and gentle little sister makes him squeal happily inside. In no time the pain is all forgotten as Masaki hugs Mana tightly while literally screaming how much he loves her until the giggling little girl has to push him away when he tries to kiss her face. When the second brother doesn’t show any sign of mercy despite their youngest sister’s effort to escape from his so called ‘Chuu attack’ later, Kasumi finally can't help from rolling her eyes as she comes to save Mana away despite the elder brother's protest.
“Okay, it’s time to put Mana to sleep. And stop being all gross on her, Macchan. You’re creepy.”
“I’m not! You only say that because you are jeaaaalous~”
“What?! I’m not!”
“Yes, you are. Now give Mana-chan to me. Let’s sleep with Masa-nii tonight, okay Mana-chan?”
Only the little girl cheers with excitement while Sho and Kasumi already bulge their eyes due to shock. Both the overprotective brother and suspicious sister then immediately throws him with hundreds of questions in which the offended Masaki scolds them back for having such an indecent thought about him. None of them realize it when did Mana disappears to her and Kasumi’s shared room upstairs, but when the little girl reappears with her teddy bear - Kuma-san - on the staircase to bring to Masaki’s room for the awaiting sleepover later, Kasumi quickly tells her to return into their room instead.
“You’re going to sleep with Nee-chan as usual tonight, Mana. We can’t trust Macchan.”
“I told you to stop calling me that! And don’t listen to her, Mana-chan! Wait for Masa-nii in the room, okay?”
“No, no, no. Go back to Nee-chan and Mana’s room, okay? Sho-nii will come in later and continue with the story.”
Neither Masaki and the brother and sister pair wants to surrender as the fight escalate. Poor Mana at the same time just confusedly watches from the stairways before she slowly climbs down the stairs. Noticing that, both Sho and Kasumi want to stop her but startle by sudden barks from their dog outside. They are about to turn to the window to see if someone is coming there, but still instead when all the lights in the house go off. The shock however doesn't stay for long since the siblings already experience the situation quite often since they were young.
“Masaki? Can you find the flashlight? I want to go outside and switch on the generator.”
Masaki’s 'OK' immediately echoes in the dark space follow by hurried footsteps to the kitchen. There is a short silence in there before he and Kasumi hears Mana’s confused voice from the staircase. Concern for the little girl’s safety, they quickly tell her to not move from there since Kasumi is coming to her place instead. By the time Masaki finally appears with two flashlights later, he immediately gives one to Sho who tells him to watch over the house for a while when he leaves to outside. The eldest brother however doesn’t manage to take a step yet when they hear Kasumi is worriedly calling for Mana from the stairs. That makes him and Masaki to quickly move their flashlight toward her where they found only the older sister is standing on the step now while the younger one is nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Mana-chan?”
“I-I don’t know. I thought I hold her hand before, but it turns out to be her teddy.” the slightly panic elder sister answers before asks for Mana to answer her. Thankfully, the brothers are calm enough as they reassure her that Mana probably just anxious by the darkness and run into their room. Once see Masaki is walking toward Kasumi to accompany her searching for the little girl, Sho finally can focus on his previous job to switch on the generator again. He is just about to move toward the backdoor when he hears their dog begins to growl outside before barking angrily toward anything he sees. The very rare reaction makes him torn between shouting at the intruder or remains silence to avoid from revealing his location, but in the end he decides to choose the latter for the sake of their safety. Their father's shotgun that hidden in the storage room comes into his mind as he carefully steps away from there before he later surprises by the noise that his younger siblings make as they rush down from upstairs. Sho is about to scold them for acting recklessly like that, but the combination of their panic look and uneven pant make him frown.
“We-We couldn't find Mana-chan anywhere.”
Sho’s heart drops by that. All the previous precautions in his mind were forgotten as he tells them to move separately and search for her at the downstairs instead. He tries to calm himself down by repeating that Mana is only hiding inside one of many rooms in there, but for some reasons his fear betray his logical side. His heart just can’t stop from pounding like crazy due to endless worries…just like the huge incident 12 years ago that happened to their family.
BAM!
All the three of them alarm when realize one door has been slammed open somewhere. Despite being in different rooms with Masaki and Kasumi are now checking the second brother’s room while Sho is just entering the reading room, they are all freeze like trying to grasp their situation. Yet, as soon as they hear creaking door follows by soft howling night breeze from outside, their expression instantly drop. Both the elder brothers don’t waste any time to barge out from the room that they are currently in as they haste into the living room where the front door already found has been left open.
“Go get the gun, Kasumi!” the younger sister hurriedly follow the order and disappears into the storage room. Masaki at the same time run to outside where he then surprises to find their unconscious dog already lying next to the door. Before he can think much however, his attention immediately goes to Mana’s whining voice which is coming from the forest on the left. That is when he notices there is a shadowy man somewhere near the shade of the trees who is currently carrying their little sister to take her away from there. Burning with rage, Masaki angrily warns the man as he runs with full speed to chase after them despite Sho’s shout from behind.
“MASAKI! WAIT!”
The eldest brother unfortunately was ignored when Masaki already disappears into the dark, thick forest. Yet, for Sho, the fact that his brother is running under the darkness is actually not as terrifying as the thought of letting the latter to face the intruder without weapon. The forest in that area is like a second home for Masaki after all that Sho knows his brother still can return safe and sound to their home no matter how deep he goes. Later when Kasumi eventually returns with a shotgun, he takes it and tells her to stick with him closely behind. The two of them are about to run after Masaki when they then are startled by Mana’s amused laughter which is coming from inside the house. Shocked, both the brother and sister quickly turn to each other before carefully step inside the house again with Sho leading the way. Kasumi herself already grabs for her baseball bat to prepare for the worst as they literally tiptoe toward the voice source despite their crazily pounding heart inside. By the time they are standing in front of the dark kitchen where they hear Mana is asking for someone to talk to her again, they turn to each other for the last time and nod. Sho then doesn't waste a second longer to step into there as he lifts his weapon toward the first suspicious shadow he sees.
“WHOEVER THE HELL YOU ARE, YOU BETTER STAY AWAY FROM HER NOW!!!”
His warning gains a surprise gasp from Mana. That sound startle both Sho and Kasumi who swiftly turn to the little girl who is actually kneeling in front of a chair on the floor. Seeing there is nobody around her anywhere though, Kasumi quickly runs toward her and embraces her protectively. Sho on the other hand inspect every inch of the place to look for any sign of intruder before approaches his sisters worriedly.
“Mana? Are you okay? Did you hurt anywhere?”
Mana just shakes her head though keep on smiling for some weird reasons. Ignoring that, Sho wants to take them into a much safer place, but Mana unexpectedly refuses to budge from there.
“Kuma-san was talking to me before. We can’t leave him alone in here.”
Now, that creep out both Sho and Kasumi. They are about to ask what her meant by that when they realize there is a familiar silhouette on the chair where Mana was kneeling in front. Blood instantly stop flowing to their face when find Mana’s previous teddy bear which was supposed to be left on the stairways is now sitting there, emptily staring at their little sister back. That reason alone enough to make Sho drags both his sisters with him into the storage room and lock themselves inside despite the youngest one’s protests to grab her teddy along. Yet, even though he knows it is supposed to be the safest place in the house that purposefully build by their father in case of emergency situation like now, Sho still fails to calm himself down and think rationally. Terrible thought starts to occupy every part of his head until Kasumi breaks the long heavy silence that already surrounds them.
“Where’s Masa-nii?”
That instantly snaps Sho from his trance. He is just about to say something back to her when the light in there suddenly switch on with its own. Faraway voices of their parents who seemingly just return from restaurant outside startle the three of them that make Kasumi to shout back for confirmation before eventually unlock the door. The fact that the three siblings are hiding inside the emergency room with a weapon in their hand of course surprise the couple more than ever that it makes the father worriedly rushes toward them with intention of asking tons of questions. Yet, the mother quickly cut in before he can ask even much further.
“Darling, it’s…that thing.”
Sho frowns due to discomfort when realize how pale their mother’s face suddenly becomes. Kasumi at the same time pulls Mana closer to calm the younger one down who is clearly scared by the heavy atmosphere in there. Their father at the same time only can open and close his mouth a few times before eventually manage to find the right word to say.
“Are you…sure? After all this while?”
“I’m sure. I can feel that thing’s presence in here. He had been here.”
For some reasons, Sho eventually come to understand what thing their parents are currently talking about. His heart clenches by an old memory before a realization finally hit his mind.
“Masaki. Masaki went to the forest. It’s probably that thing.”
Their parents quickly turn to him with clearly shock expression. That enough to make their father to tell all the ladies to lock the doors after they left and stay together until they return there. Instead of letting his son to bring the same shotgun along though, the older man takes it back into the storage room before coming out with antique guns with spiral design which Sho has never seen in his entire life before. Their father then gives one to him and tells the son to come with him to look for Masaki in the forest. As if the entire bizarre situation itself is not enough to make Sho has his stomach turn due to uneasiness, his father low and cold warning manages to make his anxiety worsen.
“You might be unprepared for this, so just follow me closely. Pull the trigger when you see any weird creatures. You know what I meant, Sho.”
Sho only can swallow hardly down before forcing a nod. As soon as they leave the house after being reminded to stay safe by their mother, the father and son haste to enter the forest and look for Masaki. He doesn’t have any idea for how long they have been walking in the dark with only his flashlight showing their way, but judging from his father’s determine steps and the sight of the familiar trees at some points, he knows that his father has the same guess of Masaki’s current well-being as him. If his memory serves him right, Sho knows the place is somewhere deep in the middle of the forest where for some reason there is an empty space with mud and slight grass can be seen here and there. There is a huge tree without leaves at the end of it - seemingly balancing itself between death or alive. Each step toward the haunting place enough to make him pass out due to extreme fear, but he forces himself to walk anyway since his worries toward his younger brother's condition is much greater. Later though both of them are alarmed by rustling sound that come from the nearby bushes.
“Who’s there?” his father asks as they move their gun toward the source. Sho at the same time feels like his heart is going to jump out of his heart when hears no answer from the other side until the rustling sound resurfaces before a figure rushes out of the bushes. That makes Sho to immediately direct his flashlight at the said person who quickly covers his eyes from the blinding light.
“Masaki!”
“Thank God! What are you doing in here?!”
Masaki quickly peeks from behind his hands by the familiar voices before letting out a relief sigh. He nearly trips on his steps as he tries to walk out of the bushes that blocking his path, but their father quickly catch him.
“I thought you’re the intruders. I tried to follow him before, but I lost sight of him. But Mana-chan…I-I fail to find her-”
“She’s safe in the house, so need to worry.”
The answer shocks Masaki more than ever.
“But I saw the intruder took her here before.”
“Maybe you mistook it with something else. The intruder probably stole something and your brain tricked it as Mana. But it’s okay. As long as you guys are safe, your mother and I are happy enough. That's the only thing that matter.”
Sho who notices their father’s lie already fidgeting beside, but chooses to not say anything for the best. Masaki who is clearly confused by the entire situation on the other hand frowns by the explanation, but can’t bring himself to ask anything further when their father insists that they should return to home now since their mother is very worried about him. Neither Sho and the father say anything more after that as the two of them begin to lead the way back, both obviously battling with something inside their mind though neither want to talk about it. The two of them however fail to notice about the troubled expression that Masaki is actually having behind as the second son seems to be pondering about something himself, later stops on his track when remembers something. He then turns to the direction that he just came out from before he met them where he encountered the view of a weirdly familiar empty area with a tall, big tree in the middle of it.
Everyone seemed relief. Their mother was crying as she hugged Kazunari and said how glad she was that he was safe. Their father at the same time continued to rub their mother’s back to calm her down while patting his little brother’s head with his other hand. He couldn't help from smiling by that sight until he turned to Sho who was standing not far from him and looking so pale like blood already drained from his face. When the elder one met his gaze later, he noticed how his brother looked very freak out that nothing could leave his mouth. After that, he felt someone was coming closer to him before a soft pat touched him on head. A young man with chubby cheeks who seemed a few years older than Sho then stood at the same height with him as he beamed with a reassuring smile.
“Masaki-kun, did you remember anything?”
He remembered that he nodded by the question.
“What was it?”
He chewed his lip as he tried to explain something. Just when he wanted to start talking though his sight suddenly turned to blinding white. Then…he couldn’t remember a thing anymore.
…Wind …A voice… A man…
I finally found you again
A cold, eerie breeze suddenly blows toward him. Slightly shivering by that, Masaki immediately rubs his arms before hasting his steps to follow his father and brother in front. For the entire way back home though the whisper comes into his head again and again as if trying to remind him about something that he is not sure about. It only disappears when they finally arrive at their home later and have everyone welcome him with relief expression and sigh.
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Even though the warm reunion scene supposed to bring a smile or happy tears to anyone’s face, a man who is watching from afar unexpectedly just smirks. By the time the whole family disappears inside with the father checking outside of the house first before finally closing the front door with paranoid look, the man can't longer help from laughing due to amusement. It is very fun indeed to see how panic the couple becomes that night after causing so many misery to him during the past several years.
...But this time, he is definitely going to to take back what has long supposed to be his.
-to be continued-
Hello everyone! I'm (finally) back with new fics. I'm sorry it's not OT5 and not from the plot that I've shared long time ago, but I think I'm not ready to post long chapters yet, so you can say this is kind of 'warming up' for me. It's been a while since I post fics so I'm a bit worried with how it will turn out (^^") Tbh, I plan to post this story in LJ instead of Dreamwidth at first, but I decided to give DW a try first since I think it might be a bit easier to read this story from there for now. We'll decide how it turns out in the end. But of course you can drop your comment either way you want :D If you want to add my dreamwidth account, my username is also 24iza_run. But I'll still updating new chapter in here after posting it on DW.
Thank You SO much for those who have been encouraging and waiting me after this long! Thank you for your patience and kindness!
Rating: R
Genre: AU, angst, supernatural, drama, family
Characters: All Arashi members are supposed in there, but more revolving around Sho and Masaki. And I 'borrow' Kasumi and Mana names as their younger sisters in this. The parents are OC, but you can freely imagine the characters as you want.
Disclaimer: I only own the plot!
Summary: They are just a normal family. They live happily in the countryside with the parents happily manage their family restaurant while the playful siblings are so closed to each other just like one sweet family. However, everything turn upside down one night when something broke into their supposed to be safe sanctuary. An old hidden secret slowly revealed beyond their wish, crumbling the happiness that they tried really hard to build as that thing comes to claim what has long supposed to be its...
A/N: Un-betaed! And this story is actually based on my dream. All Arashi members are siblings except for Ohno.
PART I
They are just a normal family lives peacefully in the countryside. The parents - Hideo and Miki is a lovely couple who are nearing their fifties and the owner of a lake family restaurant that they build together from scratch for more than 20 years ago. Their children are siblings of six whom always bickering, fighting, and teasing each other though the younger ones sometimes complain how lame it is too live in such a rural area with nothing fancy to brag about. Even their house is located in the middle of thick forest and far from the neighborhood which limiting them from keeping in touch with their friends. The only access out of there is by 20 minutes driving with their family van or an antique red car which owns by their eldest brother - Sho - who unfortunately is also the only dutiful son out of them. Since the older one was allowed to take his driving lesson every time he followed their parents to work years ago, he is also the one and only who can drive among them as well. Yet, no matter how much the younger siblings - Kazunari, Jun, and Kasumi - begged him to take them out once in a while from the boring town, the too serious brother firmly rejected it and told them to come and help their family's business instead. That left the three of them to no other choice, but asked the second brother - Masaki - to apply for a driving class since he is the remaining one who already reaches the legal age aside of Sho. Yet, being a Mother Nature maniac who often spends his day exploring the thick forest and communicating with livings in it, Masaki just smilingly answered that there is no reason to take one since he is happy enough with the way he is now. Having no other choice, the sulking brothers and sister were forced to accept that they will have to endure what they thought as ‘dull, unadventurous, and pathetic’ teenage life a little longer until they eventually reach their 20s.
7 years after that, only 4 out of the 6 siblings are still living in their big 2storeys wooden house with their parents. Kazunari already went to further his study to university in Tokyo as soon as he reaches his twenty, followed by Jun 2 years later. Since the ones left are the 27 years old Sho and 25 years old Masaki who both have no intention of leaving the town while their youngest sister - Mana - who just reaches her 7 recently is still too innocent to understand how the outside world works, the 18 years old Kasumi doesn’t have a choice, but to fight for her ‘freedom day’ alone. Her path doesn’t seem so difficult though considering her famous reputation as the athletic high school girl who had won various sports tournaments from tennis until swimming competition in their prefecture. Growing up with 5 brothers seems strengthen her up too much to the point she doesn’t even have a trouble to win against them whenever they are having fight.
That night as well is supposed to be a normal, playful siblings fight between Masaki and Kasumi just like the other days.
“Macchan! Where’s my socks?!”
“Don’t call your brother like that! And I told you that I already put it in the laundry basket!”
The bickering continues with Kasumi shouting back from the laundry room that she can’t find it as Masaki stamps toward her while nagging about her attitude. Sho who is watching them from the living room couch on the other hand can't help from giggling by the usual scene before his attention goes back to the little Mana on his lap who impatiently asks him to resume reading the storybook for her. Their two sisters grow a bit clingy toward him and Masaki after Kazu and Jun left the house, but who is he to complain when deep inside he actually enjoys their attention himself. He loves the warmth and bubbly family feeling that if possible he wants them to stay that way forever. He doesn’t even realize he already lost in his thought again until Mana suddenly taps his arms with her big brown eyes staring worriedly at him.
“Sho-nii… You’re not feeling well?”
The obvious concern behind the voice brings a wider smile to Sho’s face. He immediately shakes his head as he fixes his sister's cute ponytail which he had tied for her before.
“I’m fine. Just thinking about something.”
Mana just nods when hears that before moves to read something on her storybook. Then, she looks the eldest brother again, this time with a smile on her face.
“The book says that the spell can cure any worries and wounds, right? I want to do it to Sho-nii too!” without waiting for her eldest brother to say anything, the little girl already take the storybook from Sho’s hold and put it beside. Sho can’t help but laugh by her excitement and pretends to be sick when she then starts to touch his forehead to check for his condition. He just smiles when he later watches Mana climbs down from his lap to follow the movement that shows on the book while saying the ‘healing spell’ that mention on it. Joyful laughter and playful fight fill the remote house that night as all the siblings continue to play around like they normally do every day without caring about anything.
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Meanwhile, outside of the house, the family’s Shiba Inu - Mamoru - has his ears perk up when notices something. The dog instantly lifts his head as he notices the standing trees at the dark forest in front suddenly shake despite the lack of wind. The siblings are still cheerfully laughing inside the house when the dog eventually sees something moving before a strong blow comes there out of a sudden.
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“Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Sho-nii! Help me!” Back inside the house, Masaki is storming into the living room again to seek for the eldest brother with Kasumi already clinging on his back as her arms locking around his neck just like how it shows in the wrestling program they often watch together. The second brother desperately tries to escape the deadly strangle, but to no avail when Kasumi suddenly pulls him down fall flat on the floor with his back. He doesn’t even have a chance to whine due to the pain yet when the strong sister then locks one of his arms before telling Sho to do the counting for her, which the eldest brother gladly do due to his soft spot on their sisters. As soon as the count reach 3, the sister immediately cheer with excitement and gives Sho the latter’s awaiting high five while Masaki whimpering pitifully for his fate.
“Sho-nii is so cruel…”
He pouts when the partner in crime just laughs away his misery. Just then Mana suddenly sits beside him and rubs his aching muscle.
“Pain, pain, go away. Pain, pain, flies away. Let Masa-nii be happy and sound again.”
The innocence of his cute and gentle little sister makes him squeal happily inside. In no time the pain is all forgotten as Masaki hugs Mana tightly while literally screaming how much he loves her until the giggling little girl has to push him away when he tries to kiss her face. When the second brother doesn’t show any sign of mercy despite their youngest sister’s effort to escape from his so called ‘Chuu attack’ later, Kasumi finally can't help from rolling her eyes as she comes to save Mana away despite the elder brother's protest.
“Okay, it’s time to put Mana to sleep. And stop being all gross on her, Macchan. You’re creepy.”
“I’m not! You only say that because you are jeaaaalous~”
“What?! I’m not!”
“Yes, you are. Now give Mana-chan to me. Let’s sleep with Masa-nii tonight, okay Mana-chan?”
Only the little girl cheers with excitement while Sho and Kasumi already bulge their eyes due to shock. Both the overprotective brother and suspicious sister then immediately throws him with hundreds of questions in which the offended Masaki scolds them back for having such an indecent thought about him. None of them realize it when did Mana disappears to her and Kasumi’s shared room upstairs, but when the little girl reappears with her teddy bear - Kuma-san - on the staircase to bring to Masaki’s room for the awaiting sleepover later, Kasumi quickly tells her to return into their room instead.
“You’re going to sleep with Nee-chan as usual tonight, Mana. We can’t trust Macchan.”
“I told you to stop calling me that! And don’t listen to her, Mana-chan! Wait for Masa-nii in the room, okay?”
“No, no, no. Go back to Nee-chan and Mana’s room, okay? Sho-nii will come in later and continue with the story.”
Neither Masaki and the brother and sister pair wants to surrender as the fight escalate. Poor Mana at the same time just confusedly watches from the stairways before she slowly climbs down the stairs. Noticing that, both Sho and Kasumi want to stop her but startle by sudden barks from their dog outside. They are about to turn to the window to see if someone is coming there, but still instead when all the lights in the house go off. The shock however doesn't stay for long since the siblings already experience the situation quite often since they were young.
“Masaki? Can you find the flashlight? I want to go outside and switch on the generator.”
Masaki’s 'OK' immediately echoes in the dark space follow by hurried footsteps to the kitchen. There is a short silence in there before he and Kasumi hears Mana’s confused voice from the staircase. Concern for the little girl’s safety, they quickly tell her to not move from there since Kasumi is coming to her place instead. By the time Masaki finally appears with two flashlights later, he immediately gives one to Sho who tells him to watch over the house for a while when he leaves to outside. The eldest brother however doesn’t manage to take a step yet when they hear Kasumi is worriedly calling for Mana from the stairs. That makes him and Masaki to quickly move their flashlight toward her where they found only the older sister is standing on the step now while the younger one is nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Mana-chan?”
“I-I don’t know. I thought I hold her hand before, but it turns out to be her teddy.” the slightly panic elder sister answers before asks for Mana to answer her. Thankfully, the brothers are calm enough as they reassure her that Mana probably just anxious by the darkness and run into their room. Once see Masaki is walking toward Kasumi to accompany her searching for the little girl, Sho finally can focus on his previous job to switch on the generator again. He is just about to move toward the backdoor when he hears their dog begins to growl outside before barking angrily toward anything he sees. The very rare reaction makes him torn between shouting at the intruder or remains silence to avoid from revealing his location, but in the end he decides to choose the latter for the sake of their safety. Their father's shotgun that hidden in the storage room comes into his mind as he carefully steps away from there before he later surprises by the noise that his younger siblings make as they rush down from upstairs. Sho is about to scold them for acting recklessly like that, but the combination of their panic look and uneven pant make him frown.
“We-We couldn't find Mana-chan anywhere.”
Sho’s heart drops by that. All the previous precautions in his mind were forgotten as he tells them to move separately and search for her at the downstairs instead. He tries to calm himself down by repeating that Mana is only hiding inside one of many rooms in there, but for some reasons his fear betray his logical side. His heart just can’t stop from pounding like crazy due to endless worries…just like the huge incident 12 years ago that happened to their family.
BAM!
All the three of them alarm when realize one door has been slammed open somewhere. Despite being in different rooms with Masaki and Kasumi are now checking the second brother’s room while Sho is just entering the reading room, they are all freeze like trying to grasp their situation. Yet, as soon as they hear creaking door follows by soft howling night breeze from outside, their expression instantly drop. Both the elder brothers don’t waste any time to barge out from the room that they are currently in as they haste into the living room where the front door already found has been left open.
“Go get the gun, Kasumi!” the younger sister hurriedly follow the order and disappears into the storage room. Masaki at the same time run to outside where he then surprises to find their unconscious dog already lying next to the door. Before he can think much however, his attention immediately goes to Mana’s whining voice which is coming from the forest on the left. That is when he notices there is a shadowy man somewhere near the shade of the trees who is currently carrying their little sister to take her away from there. Burning with rage, Masaki angrily warns the man as he runs with full speed to chase after them despite Sho’s shout from behind.
“MASAKI! WAIT!”
The eldest brother unfortunately was ignored when Masaki already disappears into the dark, thick forest. Yet, for Sho, the fact that his brother is running under the darkness is actually not as terrifying as the thought of letting the latter to face the intruder without weapon. The forest in that area is like a second home for Masaki after all that Sho knows his brother still can return safe and sound to their home no matter how deep he goes. Later when Kasumi eventually returns with a shotgun, he takes it and tells her to stick with him closely behind. The two of them are about to run after Masaki when they then are startled by Mana’s amused laughter which is coming from inside the house. Shocked, both the brother and sister quickly turn to each other before carefully step inside the house again with Sho leading the way. Kasumi herself already grabs for her baseball bat to prepare for the worst as they literally tiptoe toward the voice source despite their crazily pounding heart inside. By the time they are standing in front of the dark kitchen where they hear Mana is asking for someone to talk to her again, they turn to each other for the last time and nod. Sho then doesn't waste a second longer to step into there as he lifts his weapon toward the first suspicious shadow he sees.
“WHOEVER THE HELL YOU ARE, YOU BETTER STAY AWAY FROM HER NOW!!!”
His warning gains a surprise gasp from Mana. That sound startle both Sho and Kasumi who swiftly turn to the little girl who is actually kneeling in front of a chair on the floor. Seeing there is nobody around her anywhere though, Kasumi quickly runs toward her and embraces her protectively. Sho on the other hand inspect every inch of the place to look for any sign of intruder before approaches his sisters worriedly.
“Mana? Are you okay? Did you hurt anywhere?”
Mana just shakes her head though keep on smiling for some weird reasons. Ignoring that, Sho wants to take them into a much safer place, but Mana unexpectedly refuses to budge from there.
“Kuma-san was talking to me before. We can’t leave him alone in here.”
Now, that creep out both Sho and Kasumi. They are about to ask what her meant by that when they realize there is a familiar silhouette on the chair where Mana was kneeling in front. Blood instantly stop flowing to their face when find Mana’s previous teddy bear which was supposed to be left on the stairways is now sitting there, emptily staring at their little sister back. That reason alone enough to make Sho drags both his sisters with him into the storage room and lock themselves inside despite the youngest one’s protests to grab her teddy along. Yet, even though he knows it is supposed to be the safest place in the house that purposefully build by their father in case of emergency situation like now, Sho still fails to calm himself down and think rationally. Terrible thought starts to occupy every part of his head until Kasumi breaks the long heavy silence that already surrounds them.
“Where’s Masa-nii?”
That instantly snaps Sho from his trance. He is just about to say something back to her when the light in there suddenly switch on with its own. Faraway voices of their parents who seemingly just return from restaurant outside startle the three of them that make Kasumi to shout back for confirmation before eventually unlock the door. The fact that the three siblings are hiding inside the emergency room with a weapon in their hand of course surprise the couple more than ever that it makes the father worriedly rushes toward them with intention of asking tons of questions. Yet, the mother quickly cut in before he can ask even much further.
“Darling, it’s…that thing.”
Sho frowns due to discomfort when realize how pale their mother’s face suddenly becomes. Kasumi at the same time pulls Mana closer to calm the younger one down who is clearly scared by the heavy atmosphere in there. Their father at the same time only can open and close his mouth a few times before eventually manage to find the right word to say.
“Are you…sure? After all this while?”
“I’m sure. I can feel that thing’s presence in here. He had been here.”
For some reasons, Sho eventually come to understand what thing their parents are currently talking about. His heart clenches by an old memory before a realization finally hit his mind.
“Masaki. Masaki went to the forest. It’s probably that thing.”
Their parents quickly turn to him with clearly shock expression. That enough to make their father to tell all the ladies to lock the doors after they left and stay together until they return there. Instead of letting his son to bring the same shotgun along though, the older man takes it back into the storage room before coming out with antique guns with spiral design which Sho has never seen in his entire life before. Their father then gives one to him and tells the son to come with him to look for Masaki in the forest. As if the entire bizarre situation itself is not enough to make Sho has his stomach turn due to uneasiness, his father low and cold warning manages to make his anxiety worsen.
“You might be unprepared for this, so just follow me closely. Pull the trigger when you see any weird creatures. You know what I meant, Sho.”
Sho only can swallow hardly down before forcing a nod. As soon as they leave the house after being reminded to stay safe by their mother, the father and son haste to enter the forest and look for Masaki. He doesn’t have any idea for how long they have been walking in the dark with only his flashlight showing their way, but judging from his father’s determine steps and the sight of the familiar trees at some points, he knows that his father has the same guess of Masaki’s current well-being as him. If his memory serves him right, Sho knows the place is somewhere deep in the middle of the forest where for some reason there is an empty space with mud and slight grass can be seen here and there. There is a huge tree without leaves at the end of it - seemingly balancing itself between death or alive. Each step toward the haunting place enough to make him pass out due to extreme fear, but he forces himself to walk anyway since his worries toward his younger brother's condition is much greater. Later though both of them are alarmed by rustling sound that come from the nearby bushes.
“Who’s there?” his father asks as they move their gun toward the source. Sho at the same time feels like his heart is going to jump out of his heart when hears no answer from the other side until the rustling sound resurfaces before a figure rushes out of the bushes. That makes Sho to immediately direct his flashlight at the said person who quickly covers his eyes from the blinding light.
“Masaki!”
“Thank God! What are you doing in here?!”
Masaki quickly peeks from behind his hands by the familiar voices before letting out a relief sigh. He nearly trips on his steps as he tries to walk out of the bushes that blocking his path, but their father quickly catch him.
“I thought you’re the intruders. I tried to follow him before, but I lost sight of him. But Mana-chan…I-I fail to find her-”
“She’s safe in the house, so need to worry.”
The answer shocks Masaki more than ever.
“But I saw the intruder took her here before.”
“Maybe you mistook it with something else. The intruder probably stole something and your brain tricked it as Mana. But it’s okay. As long as you guys are safe, your mother and I are happy enough. That's the only thing that matter.”
Sho who notices their father’s lie already fidgeting beside, but chooses to not say anything for the best. Masaki who is clearly confused by the entire situation on the other hand frowns by the explanation, but can’t bring himself to ask anything further when their father insists that they should return to home now since their mother is very worried about him. Neither Sho and the father say anything more after that as the two of them begin to lead the way back, both obviously battling with something inside their mind though neither want to talk about it. The two of them however fail to notice about the troubled expression that Masaki is actually having behind as the second son seems to be pondering about something himself, later stops on his track when remembers something. He then turns to the direction that he just came out from before he met them where he encountered the view of a weirdly familiar empty area with a tall, big tree in the middle of it.
Everyone seemed relief. Their mother was crying as she hugged Kazunari and said how glad she was that he was safe. Their father at the same time continued to rub their mother’s back to calm her down while patting his little brother’s head with his other hand. He couldn't help from smiling by that sight until he turned to Sho who was standing not far from him and looking so pale like blood already drained from his face. When the elder one met his gaze later, he noticed how his brother looked very freak out that nothing could leave his mouth. After that, he felt someone was coming closer to him before a soft pat touched him on head. A young man with chubby cheeks who seemed a few years older than Sho then stood at the same height with him as he beamed with a reassuring smile.
“Masaki-kun, did you remember anything?”
He remembered that he nodded by the question.
“What was it?”
He chewed his lip as he tried to explain something. Just when he wanted to start talking though his sight suddenly turned to blinding white. Then…he couldn’t remember a thing anymore.
…Wind …A voice… A man…
I finally found you again
A cold, eerie breeze suddenly blows toward him. Slightly shivering by that, Masaki immediately rubs his arms before hasting his steps to follow his father and brother in front. For the entire way back home though the whisper comes into his head again and again as if trying to remind him about something that he is not sure about. It only disappears when they finally arrive at their home later and have everyone welcome him with relief expression and sigh.
--------------- ------------------ --------------- -------------- ------------- ------------ ---------------
Even though the warm reunion scene supposed to bring a smile or happy tears to anyone’s face, a man who is watching from afar unexpectedly just smirks. By the time the whole family disappears inside with the father checking outside of the house first before finally closing the front door with paranoid look, the man can't longer help from laughing due to amusement. It is very fun indeed to see how panic the couple becomes that night after causing so many misery to him during the past several years.
...But this time, he is definitely going to to take back what has long supposed to be his.
-to be continued-
Hello everyone! I'm (finally) back with new fics. I'm sorry it's not OT5 and not from the plot that I've shared long time ago, but I think I'm not ready to post long chapters yet, so you can say this is kind of 'warming up' for me. It's been a while since I post fics so I'm a bit worried with how it will turn out (^^") Tbh, I plan to post this story in LJ instead of Dreamwidth at first, but I decided to give DW a try first since I think it might be a bit easier to read this story from there for now. We'll decide how it turns out in the end. But of course you can drop your comment either way you want :D If you want to add my dreamwidth account, my username is also 24iza_run. But I'll still updating new chapter in here after posting it on DW.
Thank You SO much for those who have been encouraging and waiting me after this long! Thank you for your patience and kindness!