The Den of the Witch Chapter One
Title: The Den of the Witch
Author: aidorruuu
Rating: R for violence in later chapters
Pairing: Yabu Kota x Inoo Kei
Genre: Thriller, mystery, a little bit of fantasy
Summary: Some things are better left in the dark, after all. Unfortunately, Yabu learned this the hard way.
Prologue
-;-;-;-;-“She heard him mutter, 'Can you take away this grief?'
'I'm sorry,' she replied. 'Everyone asks me. And I would not do so even if I knew how. It belongs to you. Only time and tears take away grief; that is what they are for.”
Terry Pratchett I Shall Wear Midnight
Yabu sighed for the umpteenth time that day, glancing at his rowdy friends from over his shoulder with a disinterested look. He doesn’t really understand why they could still be so energetic after a tiring hour of flight in the airplane-although he have to agree, the plane ride was rather enjoyable since the Cabin Attendants all look so elegant and tempting at the same time, thirty minutes of train ride, three hours of sitting in the bus doing absolutely nothing but drifting in between the land of consciousness and the land of dreams, and now, the fifth hour of the car ride to their destination. His butt is sore from all the sittings, his bones begged to be stretched, and the endless view of tall trees on the sidewalk is absolutely torturing him. He cursed himself for agreeing to this whole… madness, glaring at nothing in particular outside the window. The driver, which happened to be his cousin, Nakajima Yuto, smirked sheepishly at him from the rearview mirror, sometimes turning his head to Yabu’s friends and stare at them a few seconds in amazement of their energetic personality before returning his view to the empty street before him.
Yabu Kota, age 24, is a university student in Tokyo, Japan. He lives a particularly normal life, despite the fact that he has strange, quirky dudes as friends. He’s noticeably smarter than the rest of his grade, acing in each and every topic that he learns. He lives alone in a fair-sized apartment, which is often invaded by his so-called best friends. Although he’s considered as a very decent and good-looking man by tons of his friends, there’s nothing too extraordinary from him, other than the fact that he’s a genius. He’s rather tall for a Japanese man, but he doesn’t really attract too much attention. You could easily pass by him in the streets without noticing. He has a normal life. And he was contended with it. But that one fateful letter from his distant cousin, who lives in a particularly remote village far away from where he lives, just had to come to him. They exchange letters once in a while, since the village that his cousin lived in doesn’t really support internet, and calling each other is just too awkward for both of them to bear. In one of his letters, Yabu accidentally let it slip that he loves to hike, and his idiotic group of friends also enjoy that particular activity. Knowing this, his cousin decided to invite him to the small village, reasoning that the place is perfect for a hike, and it barely rains there, so the chance of bad weather ruining their activity would be near to zero percent. He went as far as to call him and invited him to come. Knowing that he can’t just brush the invitation off, since he doesn’t have a valid reason to decline, and since he’s also a little bit tempted to hike in the so called ‘perfect place’, he agrees. His friends, having no activities in the summer vacation, decided to tag along too.
But one thing that his beloved cousin forgot to tell him is that the route to the village is bloody long, and complicated. After the bus ride, he was sort of expecting that they’re already close to their destination. But his hope faded when he was greeted by Yuto, in a car that he somehow managed to buy from the town very far from his village, staring at him with the look that screamed ‘we still have a long way to go, sorry’ look. So basically, he’s stuck for another five and so hours in the car, with a grinning Yuto, a very noisy Yaotome Hikaru, ‘oh-my-God-you-ruined-my-hair’ freaking out Takaki Yuya, a pocky-deprived Arioka Daiki (his fault, since he ate them all in the bus, thinking that their tour would end soon and they’ll arrive in the village and he could buy more pocky, which is not the case, since there are no pocky in the village, according to Yuto), a very distracted for no reason Ayukawa Taiyo, and a snoring Yamashita Shoon. Yes, his friends are surely freaky in both behaviors and looks (although some may beg to differ).
Thankfully, his hours of torture didn’t last for any longer, since he saw the welcome sign that reads that the village is merely one and a half kilometers away. In another minute, Yabu could see the not so grand welcome sign of the village, and he was greeted with a rather traditional looking place that screamed ‘old-fashioned’ all the way. As far as he could see now, there was no convenient store or such (bye-bye instant noodles and unhealthy and fattening snacks) in the village. There are some small stores selling daily needs, but that’s probably all. Everyone seemed to know each other, as they smiled and greeted all the people they pass by. There was also a plaza in the center of the city, with a building beside it that suspiciously looked like the head of the village’s quarter. They passed the rows of shops, the plaza, and the old-looking houses before they arrive in a complex-like place filled with more modern-looking houses, despite still having a few traditional touches to it. There are a few cars parked here and there in front of some houses, but that’s basically it. Yuto stopped in front of one of the houses, parking his car smoothly, and grinned toothily at the passengers in the back. “We’re here!”
Taiyo, who was looking very distracted until now, let out a relieved squeak that sounds very similar to a sound that a squirrel would make before slamming the door open, screaming something along the lines of “I need to pee!” before he completely disappeared, pulling Yuto with him from the driver’s seat to show him where the restroom is. Yabu sighed, opening the door more gently than Taiyo, and stepped out, stretching his sore muscles, breathing the fresh air of the village with a contended look. He could see Hikaru trying to tickle Shoon to wake him up, and Takaki trying to convince the youngest of his group to step out of the car, saying that he’ll buy him trucks of pocky later on if he becomes a good boy and follow him outside and let him tidy up his hair, which was ruined by Hikaru before. He was about to help Takaki persuade Daiki when Yuto’s Mother came out from the door, greeting him with an award-winning smile and walked to him, giving the taller boy a small hug. “Kota-kun,” she said, looking up at him, ruffling his dyed brown hair with such gentleness that only a Mother could give. “It’s been years, hasn’t it? You’ve grown so much. The last time I saw you, you were barely this tall.” Her hands gestured to her neck, showing how small Yabu was when they last seen each other.
He gave her an embarrassed smile, eyes forming into two thin lines, his trademark, one of the unique parts of him. He was about to reply to her greetings when Hikaru’s voice beat him to it. “Oh~ Kota-kun~ you were so small back then. What happened to you? You’ve grown so much, you become a monster~”
To his surprise, Yuto’s Mother actually laughed at Hikaru’s failed attempt of humor. He gave the younger boy a slight glare, arms folding in front of his chest, his travel bag in one of his hands. “Taiyo’s taller than me. And we’re not that different in height, anyway.”
“Oh~” Yuto’s Mother piqued up. “Is Taiyo that tall boy who entered with Yuto earlier? He was so desperate for a toilet.” She giggled, and Yabu swear she looked way younger than she’s supposed to be when she does that. “It’s actually very cute, to see a young adult looking for a toilet like a lost baby. It’s a very refreshing sight.” Taking a peek at the boys still in the car, she smiled even wider, to the point where Yabu worry that her face might split into two if it grows even a millimeter wider. Shoon was still blinking sleep out of his system, Takaki fixing his hair a little before grabbing Daiki’s bag with him, pulling the boy out of the car with struggle. “It’s going to be crowded again here, eh? Ah, Kota-kun, I think we need to help your friend with the bags-ah, he dropped them.”
Yabu face-palmed when he saw Takaki dropping both his and Daiki’s bags after trying to balance the heavy bags in his not-so-muscled arms.
-;-;-;-;-;-It was already evening when they arrived. Due to the tiring trip to the village, once all of them got to their respective rooms, all of them sleeps like a log, skipping both dinner and breakfast. Due to the limited rooms in the house, Yuto must share his room with both Yabu and Hikaru, since his room is the largest. There are two other empty rooms that are occupied by Takaki and Daiki, and Shoon and Taiyo. The rooms are mostly empty, although they store countless amounts of futon. Apparently, Yuto’s friends tend to stay over there, so they’re already well prepared. In one of the corners in Yuto’s room, photos are put to display in neat frames there. One of them shows Yuto with a noticeably shorter guy with a very smooth skin in front of his house. The other shows a picture, with five people posing ridiculously near a river, their clothes damp from the water. Other shows him and some other friends. Other than the photos, the room could easily be mistaken with a guest room.
Yabu woke up the latest the next morning-no, afternoon. He blinked his eyes rapidly, staring strangely at the ceiling on top of him. His first thought is actually no, this is not his room. Does that means he’s abducted by some strange aliens? That’s absolutely not the case. It took him two minutes to notice that he’s actually in the Nakajima household. Sighing with relief, he stood up, only to hear the sound of his stomach rumbling. He stepped out from the room, yawning out loud, his eyes becoming two thin lines while stretching. He was a little bit surprised to see Hikaru, smirking at him. “You’re finally awake. You sleep like a log.” He said, flashing his crooked smile. Yabu only mumbled something about food, and how he’s in desperate need of anything that could satisfy his hunger. He walked to the kitchen, Hikaru trailing right behind him silently.
Yuto’s Mother was already in the kitchen, cleaning some utensils while humming to a song Yabu never heard of before. Once she caught sight of the two young adults, she flashed them one of her bright smiles, gesturing for the breakfast left out for them, covered in tight plastic wrapping. It was actually a rather simple menu, nothing too extravagant. But it looks, and smells so delicious that it leaves both Yabu and Hikaru drooling. She chuckled a bit before opening the plastic wrappers, telling them silently to eat. “I hope it suits your tastes, Kota-kun, Yaotome-kun.”
Hikaru nods energetically before immediately digging in, making some comments of how the food is simply too delicious to be considered a normal food. Yabu, however, being the very observant kid that he is, took notice of his surrounding, realizing that most of his friends and Yuto were no longer there. “Where’s Yuto and the rest?”
“Oh, Yuto’s taking them around the village for a small tour.” She said, placing the now cleaned utensils to their respective places. “They’ll probably be back in a few, since this is a small village after all. Yuto was going to bring you two along, but you guys are so deep in sleep he decided to leave you two here with me.”
“How long have they been gone?” Hikaru said in the middle of chewing, which make Yabu smacked him in the head lightly.
“Half an hour at most.” She said, shrugging. “I’m going to take a bath now. Don’t forget to bring your plates to the sink later!”
Since Yabu is already starving to begin with, he finished the food in a few, even faster than Hikaru. He put the plate in the sink, telling Hikaru that he’ll be stepping out of the house for a few. ‘Breathing the fresh air’, or so he claimed. After seeing Hikaru nods and gave him a thumb up, he walked out of the house, smiling a little bit at the sight in front of him. There are trees almost everywhere, houses covering the place where there are none. The air is noticeably cleaner than in Tokyo, and it smells faintly of forests. He never got the chance to appreciate the place completely the previous day, since he was so tired the only thing that seemed to be beautiful to him was the soft, fluffy futon. But now that he’s completely refreshed, he could see why Yuto write so highly of the village in his letters. Despite being rather old-fashioned, it’s a very pleasant place and has a very homey feeling to it. From the house lawn, he could already see the hill Yuto mentioned, which will be their hiking destination the next day. It has a pleasant feel to it, and he could spot something that looks similar to a manor. A very big manor, at that. It seems to be old-fashioned, but instead of sporting a Japanese style, it’s a Western-styled humongous manor that looks a little bit creepy, but beautiful nonetheless. Although it surely sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of an old styled Japanese village. He was about to step back in when he heard a voice behind him.
“So you’re Yuto’s cousin?” He turned back to see a rather tall guy, presumably younger than him, holding a few bags of groceries in his hands. He has a very unique-shaped eyes, with black hair and a deep voice. “I’m Morimoto Ryutaro, Yuto’s neighbor and friend. You’re here to hike right? Is that hill-“ He said, pointing to the hill Yabu just scrutinized a few moments earlier “-one of your destinations? Because if it is, then it’s best for you to know some of the warnings.”
Yabu introduced himself first, raising an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. Warning? What warning? “What do you mean by warnings?”
The younger boy stepped closer to him, looking around as if to make sure nobody is listening. Once he’s sure the ground is clear, he began. “Listen, Yuto might not know about this because he only moved in ten years ago, and he’s also ignorant, and he refuses to believe in rumors. But the thing is, this kind of rumors is the kind that’ll save your sorry ass one day.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “You see that manor? You can faintly spot it in the middle of the hill, right? Well, it’s best to steer clear from that manor. If you happen to somehow come near to it, run, run away like your life depends on it, because heck, it does. You don’t want to get too close there. I swear to God that manor is the thing that causes this village misfortune for the past ten years.”
“Wait, why do I need to stay away from that manor?”
“Well, it’s still a rumor, and it will probably forever remain like that, since nobody is brave enough to confirm it.” Morimoto’s voice, if possible, got even smaller to barely a whisper as he spoke out the last few words. “But apparently, a witch lives there.”
It was rather unexpected, but Yabu successfully roared in laughter, falling to his knees while clutching his stomach tightly. Morimoto jumped a few feet away, eyeing the guy rolling on the dirt with a weird look. Seriously, he expected something along the lines of ‘a psychopath is living there’ or ‘that building is actually an asylum’ or something more extreme. But a witch? Seriously, who still believes in witches in the middle of the 21st century? It’s either this village is really old-styled in every possible way, or Morimoto is simply retarded. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“Why would I make a joke at a time like this?” Morimoto sounded exasperate.
“Dude, no shit.” Yabu said, wiping his tears from all the laughing away from his eyes. “You gave me all these serious warnings, claiming how dangerous and how that manor brings misfortune to this village and all. But a witch is pushing the joke a little bit too far, you know. You have a very good imagination.”
He glared at him a little, shaking his head with disagreement. “You town people would never believe it, but I’m being a hundred percent serious here. There’s a witch living in there, even though it sounds ridiculous.”
“Yeah, and I actually have two heads. The other one is invisible. Now, tell me, does that sound the slightest bit believable?” When Morimoto only glared at him harder, Yabu continued. “Well, that’s exactly how convincing your story is.”
Ryutaro heaved out a big sigh, stepping away from Yabu, giving him a cold stare. “You’ll regret not believing me, seriously. It’s fine if you don’t believe the witch part. Just don’t get too close to the manor. It’s for your own good.”
A very short guy, who, in Yabu’s eyes, has a passing resemblance to a lost squirrel and a rabbit, suddenly stepped out from one of the houses, waving widely at Morimoto. He could faintly hear the guy whispered ‘Chii’ or something along that line, and then he ran to the shorter boy. He stayed in his position on the ground for a few moments, blinking and reconsidering what that Morimoto kid said about steering away from that manor, when he heard a stifled laugh that sounds similar to Takaki’s. He turned around to see Yuto, Daiki, Takaki, Shoon, and Taiyo staring at him weirdly, before Taiyo laughed unbelievably loud, pointing at the dirt on Yabu’s shirt and face, holding to Shoon for support. Takaki followed suit, slapping his right thigh while laughing, screaming “Oh my God Yabu you look like an idiot!!!”
The commotion soon attracts Hikaru, who stepped out from the house in a hurry, blinking with a straight face at Yabu’s current position. “…Okay, Yabu, I know you’re still sleepy and all, but the ground is not a bed, you know. I thought a genius should know that much.”
Yabu stayed silent for a few moments, face red, and he quickly stepped up from his earlier position, shrieking like a madman, chasing the six men for humiliating him.
-;-;-;-Her plump red lips curved into an empty smile, as the elegant cup of tea raised to her mouth. The warm liquid went down her throat, and she placed the cup back to the table. Her pale hands, covered in a pair of black lacy glove, fixed the position of the veil, pinned to her hat, sitting on top of her smooth raven tresses. Her voice was like small bells ringing softly, elegant, delicate, yet firm in a way. “They seem to enjoy themselves.”
The boy, sitting beside her, squirmed slightly in his seat. He looks almost like a carbon copy of the woman beside him, with sharper and more masculine details to his face and broader shoulders. He nodded slowly, drinking his own cup of tea hurriedly, making the woman look at him with an expression similar to disagreement. He quickly fixes his composure, and the woman smiled at him brightly.
“We just have to make sure they don’t come too close, dear. We just have to make sure they’re not going to destroy our lives like what that man did to us years ago.”
He wanted to tell her that the only one broken was her. She didn’t need to bring him along. But he nodded, gazing emptily beyond the lush trees, silently pleading for the way out of this prison they call home.
-;-;-;-;-A/N: AND THAT IS THE FIRST CHAPTER LALALALALLALALALA. God this is so fun yet hard to write. Ai Kennat. Well, I’m just hoping I didn’t fail too much xD.
Chapter Two
Author: aidorruuu
Rating: R for violence in later chapters
Pairing: Yabu Kota x Inoo Kei
Genre: Thriller, mystery, a little bit of fantasy
Summary: Some things are better left in the dark, after all. Unfortunately, Yabu learned this the hard way.
Prologue
-;-;-;-;-“She heard him mutter, 'Can you take away this grief?'
'I'm sorry,' she replied. 'Everyone asks me. And I would not do so even if I knew how. It belongs to you. Only time and tears take away grief; that is what they are for.”
Terry Pratchett I Shall Wear Midnight
Yabu sighed for the umpteenth time that day, glancing at his rowdy friends from over his shoulder with a disinterested look. He doesn’t really understand why they could still be so energetic after a tiring hour of flight in the airplane-although he have to agree, the plane ride was rather enjoyable since the Cabin Attendants all look so elegant and tempting at the same time, thirty minutes of train ride, three hours of sitting in the bus doing absolutely nothing but drifting in between the land of consciousness and the land of dreams, and now, the fifth hour of the car ride to their destination. His butt is sore from all the sittings, his bones begged to be stretched, and the endless view of tall trees on the sidewalk is absolutely torturing him. He cursed himself for agreeing to this whole… madness, glaring at nothing in particular outside the window. The driver, which happened to be his cousin, Nakajima Yuto, smirked sheepishly at him from the rearview mirror, sometimes turning his head to Yabu’s friends and stare at them a few seconds in amazement of their energetic personality before returning his view to the empty street before him.
Yabu Kota, age 24, is a university student in Tokyo, Japan. He lives a particularly normal life, despite the fact that he has strange, quirky dudes as friends. He’s noticeably smarter than the rest of his grade, acing in each and every topic that he learns. He lives alone in a fair-sized apartment, which is often invaded by his so-called best friends. Although he’s considered as a very decent and good-looking man by tons of his friends, there’s nothing too extraordinary from him, other than the fact that he’s a genius. He’s rather tall for a Japanese man, but he doesn’t really attract too much attention. You could easily pass by him in the streets without noticing. He has a normal life. And he was contended with it. But that one fateful letter from his distant cousin, who lives in a particularly remote village far away from where he lives, just had to come to him. They exchange letters once in a while, since the village that his cousin lived in doesn’t really support internet, and calling each other is just too awkward for both of them to bear. In one of his letters, Yabu accidentally let it slip that he loves to hike, and his idiotic group of friends also enjoy that particular activity. Knowing this, his cousin decided to invite him to the small village, reasoning that the place is perfect for a hike, and it barely rains there, so the chance of bad weather ruining their activity would be near to zero percent. He went as far as to call him and invited him to come. Knowing that he can’t just brush the invitation off, since he doesn’t have a valid reason to decline, and since he’s also a little bit tempted to hike in the so called ‘perfect place’, he agrees. His friends, having no activities in the summer vacation, decided to tag along too.
But one thing that his beloved cousin forgot to tell him is that the route to the village is bloody long, and complicated. After the bus ride, he was sort of expecting that they’re already close to their destination. But his hope faded when he was greeted by Yuto, in a car that he somehow managed to buy from the town very far from his village, staring at him with the look that screamed ‘we still have a long way to go, sorry’ look. So basically, he’s stuck for another five and so hours in the car, with a grinning Yuto, a very noisy Yaotome Hikaru, ‘oh-my-God-you-ruined-my-hair’ freaking out Takaki Yuya, a pocky-deprived Arioka Daiki (his fault, since he ate them all in the bus, thinking that their tour would end soon and they’ll arrive in the village and he could buy more pocky, which is not the case, since there are no pocky in the village, according to Yuto), a very distracted for no reason Ayukawa Taiyo, and a snoring Yamashita Shoon. Yes, his friends are surely freaky in both behaviors and looks (although some may beg to differ).
Thankfully, his hours of torture didn’t last for any longer, since he saw the welcome sign that reads that the village is merely one and a half kilometers away. In another minute, Yabu could see the not so grand welcome sign of the village, and he was greeted with a rather traditional looking place that screamed ‘old-fashioned’ all the way. As far as he could see now, there was no convenient store or such (bye-bye instant noodles and unhealthy and fattening snacks) in the village. There are some small stores selling daily needs, but that’s probably all. Everyone seemed to know each other, as they smiled and greeted all the people they pass by. There was also a plaza in the center of the city, with a building beside it that suspiciously looked like the head of the village’s quarter. They passed the rows of shops, the plaza, and the old-looking houses before they arrive in a complex-like place filled with more modern-looking houses, despite still having a few traditional touches to it. There are a few cars parked here and there in front of some houses, but that’s basically it. Yuto stopped in front of one of the houses, parking his car smoothly, and grinned toothily at the passengers in the back. “We’re here!”
Taiyo, who was looking very distracted until now, let out a relieved squeak that sounds very similar to a sound that a squirrel would make before slamming the door open, screaming something along the lines of “I need to pee!” before he completely disappeared, pulling Yuto with him from the driver’s seat to show him where the restroom is. Yabu sighed, opening the door more gently than Taiyo, and stepped out, stretching his sore muscles, breathing the fresh air of the village with a contended look. He could see Hikaru trying to tickle Shoon to wake him up, and Takaki trying to convince the youngest of his group to step out of the car, saying that he’ll buy him trucks of pocky later on if he becomes a good boy and follow him outside and let him tidy up his hair, which was ruined by Hikaru before. He was about to help Takaki persuade Daiki when Yuto’s Mother came out from the door, greeting him with an award-winning smile and walked to him, giving the taller boy a small hug. “Kota-kun,” she said, looking up at him, ruffling his dyed brown hair with such gentleness that only a Mother could give. “It’s been years, hasn’t it? You’ve grown so much. The last time I saw you, you were barely this tall.” Her hands gestured to her neck, showing how small Yabu was when they last seen each other.
He gave her an embarrassed smile, eyes forming into two thin lines, his trademark, one of the unique parts of him. He was about to reply to her greetings when Hikaru’s voice beat him to it. “Oh~ Kota-kun~ you were so small back then. What happened to you? You’ve grown so much, you become a monster~”
To his surprise, Yuto’s Mother actually laughed at Hikaru’s failed attempt of humor. He gave the younger boy a slight glare, arms folding in front of his chest, his travel bag in one of his hands. “Taiyo’s taller than me. And we’re not that different in height, anyway.”
“Oh~” Yuto’s Mother piqued up. “Is Taiyo that tall boy who entered with Yuto earlier? He was so desperate for a toilet.” She giggled, and Yabu swear she looked way younger than she’s supposed to be when she does that. “It’s actually very cute, to see a young adult looking for a toilet like a lost baby. It’s a very refreshing sight.” Taking a peek at the boys still in the car, she smiled even wider, to the point where Yabu worry that her face might split into two if it grows even a millimeter wider. Shoon was still blinking sleep out of his system, Takaki fixing his hair a little before grabbing Daiki’s bag with him, pulling the boy out of the car with struggle. “It’s going to be crowded again here, eh? Ah, Kota-kun, I think we need to help your friend with the bags-ah, he dropped them.”
Yabu face-palmed when he saw Takaki dropping both his and Daiki’s bags after trying to balance the heavy bags in his not-so-muscled arms.
-;-;-;-;-;-It was already evening when they arrived. Due to the tiring trip to the village, once all of them got to their respective rooms, all of them sleeps like a log, skipping both dinner and breakfast. Due to the limited rooms in the house, Yuto must share his room with both Yabu and Hikaru, since his room is the largest. There are two other empty rooms that are occupied by Takaki and Daiki, and Shoon and Taiyo. The rooms are mostly empty, although they store countless amounts of futon. Apparently, Yuto’s friends tend to stay over there, so they’re already well prepared. In one of the corners in Yuto’s room, photos are put to display in neat frames there. One of them shows Yuto with a noticeably shorter guy with a very smooth skin in front of his house. The other shows a picture, with five people posing ridiculously near a river, their clothes damp from the water. Other shows him and some other friends. Other than the photos, the room could easily be mistaken with a guest room.
Yabu woke up the latest the next morning-no, afternoon. He blinked his eyes rapidly, staring strangely at the ceiling on top of him. His first thought is actually no, this is not his room. Does that means he’s abducted by some strange aliens? That’s absolutely not the case. It took him two minutes to notice that he’s actually in the Nakajima household. Sighing with relief, he stood up, only to hear the sound of his stomach rumbling. He stepped out from the room, yawning out loud, his eyes becoming two thin lines while stretching. He was a little bit surprised to see Hikaru, smirking at him. “You’re finally awake. You sleep like a log.” He said, flashing his crooked smile. Yabu only mumbled something about food, and how he’s in desperate need of anything that could satisfy his hunger. He walked to the kitchen, Hikaru trailing right behind him silently.
Yuto’s Mother was already in the kitchen, cleaning some utensils while humming to a song Yabu never heard of before. Once she caught sight of the two young adults, she flashed them one of her bright smiles, gesturing for the breakfast left out for them, covered in tight plastic wrapping. It was actually a rather simple menu, nothing too extravagant. But it looks, and smells so delicious that it leaves both Yabu and Hikaru drooling. She chuckled a bit before opening the plastic wrappers, telling them silently to eat. “I hope it suits your tastes, Kota-kun, Yaotome-kun.”
Hikaru nods energetically before immediately digging in, making some comments of how the food is simply too delicious to be considered a normal food. Yabu, however, being the very observant kid that he is, took notice of his surrounding, realizing that most of his friends and Yuto were no longer there. “Where’s Yuto and the rest?”
“Oh, Yuto’s taking them around the village for a small tour.” She said, placing the now cleaned utensils to their respective places. “They’ll probably be back in a few, since this is a small village after all. Yuto was going to bring you two along, but you guys are so deep in sleep he decided to leave you two here with me.”
“How long have they been gone?” Hikaru said in the middle of chewing, which make Yabu smacked him in the head lightly.
“Half an hour at most.” She said, shrugging. “I’m going to take a bath now. Don’t forget to bring your plates to the sink later!”
Since Yabu is already starving to begin with, he finished the food in a few, even faster than Hikaru. He put the plate in the sink, telling Hikaru that he’ll be stepping out of the house for a few. ‘Breathing the fresh air’, or so he claimed. After seeing Hikaru nods and gave him a thumb up, he walked out of the house, smiling a little bit at the sight in front of him. There are trees almost everywhere, houses covering the place where there are none. The air is noticeably cleaner than in Tokyo, and it smells faintly of forests. He never got the chance to appreciate the place completely the previous day, since he was so tired the only thing that seemed to be beautiful to him was the soft, fluffy futon. But now that he’s completely refreshed, he could see why Yuto write so highly of the village in his letters. Despite being rather old-fashioned, it’s a very pleasant place and has a very homey feeling to it. From the house lawn, he could already see the hill Yuto mentioned, which will be their hiking destination the next day. It has a pleasant feel to it, and he could spot something that looks similar to a manor. A very big manor, at that. It seems to be old-fashioned, but instead of sporting a Japanese style, it’s a Western-styled humongous manor that looks a little bit creepy, but beautiful nonetheless. Although it surely sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of an old styled Japanese village. He was about to step back in when he heard a voice behind him.
“So you’re Yuto’s cousin?” He turned back to see a rather tall guy, presumably younger than him, holding a few bags of groceries in his hands. He has a very unique-shaped eyes, with black hair and a deep voice. “I’m Morimoto Ryutaro, Yuto’s neighbor and friend. You’re here to hike right? Is that hill-“ He said, pointing to the hill Yabu just scrutinized a few moments earlier “-one of your destinations? Because if it is, then it’s best for you to know some of the warnings.”
Yabu introduced himself first, raising an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. Warning? What warning? “What do you mean by warnings?”
The younger boy stepped closer to him, looking around as if to make sure nobody is listening. Once he’s sure the ground is clear, he began. “Listen, Yuto might not know about this because he only moved in ten years ago, and he’s also ignorant, and he refuses to believe in rumors. But the thing is, this kind of rumors is the kind that’ll save your sorry ass one day.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “You see that manor? You can faintly spot it in the middle of the hill, right? Well, it’s best to steer clear from that manor. If you happen to somehow come near to it, run, run away like your life depends on it, because heck, it does. You don’t want to get too close there. I swear to God that manor is the thing that causes this village misfortune for the past ten years.”
“Wait, why do I need to stay away from that manor?”
“Well, it’s still a rumor, and it will probably forever remain like that, since nobody is brave enough to confirm it.” Morimoto’s voice, if possible, got even smaller to barely a whisper as he spoke out the last few words. “But apparently, a witch lives there.”
It was rather unexpected, but Yabu successfully roared in laughter, falling to his knees while clutching his stomach tightly. Morimoto jumped a few feet away, eyeing the guy rolling on the dirt with a weird look. Seriously, he expected something along the lines of ‘a psychopath is living there’ or ‘that building is actually an asylum’ or something more extreme. But a witch? Seriously, who still believes in witches in the middle of the 21st century? It’s either this village is really old-styled in every possible way, or Morimoto is simply retarded. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“Why would I make a joke at a time like this?” Morimoto sounded exasperate.
“Dude, no shit.” Yabu said, wiping his tears from all the laughing away from his eyes. “You gave me all these serious warnings, claiming how dangerous and how that manor brings misfortune to this village and all. But a witch is pushing the joke a little bit too far, you know. You have a very good imagination.”
He glared at him a little, shaking his head with disagreement. “You town people would never believe it, but I’m being a hundred percent serious here. There’s a witch living in there, even though it sounds ridiculous.”
“Yeah, and I actually have two heads. The other one is invisible. Now, tell me, does that sound the slightest bit believable?” When Morimoto only glared at him harder, Yabu continued. “Well, that’s exactly how convincing your story is.”
Ryutaro heaved out a big sigh, stepping away from Yabu, giving him a cold stare. “You’ll regret not believing me, seriously. It’s fine if you don’t believe the witch part. Just don’t get too close to the manor. It’s for your own good.”
A very short guy, who, in Yabu’s eyes, has a passing resemblance to a lost squirrel and a rabbit, suddenly stepped out from one of the houses, waving widely at Morimoto. He could faintly hear the guy whispered ‘Chii’ or something along that line, and then he ran to the shorter boy. He stayed in his position on the ground for a few moments, blinking and reconsidering what that Morimoto kid said about steering away from that manor, when he heard a stifled laugh that sounds similar to Takaki’s. He turned around to see Yuto, Daiki, Takaki, Shoon, and Taiyo staring at him weirdly, before Taiyo laughed unbelievably loud, pointing at the dirt on Yabu’s shirt and face, holding to Shoon for support. Takaki followed suit, slapping his right thigh while laughing, screaming “Oh my God Yabu you look like an idiot!!!”
The commotion soon attracts Hikaru, who stepped out from the house in a hurry, blinking with a straight face at Yabu’s current position. “…Okay, Yabu, I know you’re still sleepy and all, but the ground is not a bed, you know. I thought a genius should know that much.”
Yabu stayed silent for a few moments, face red, and he quickly stepped up from his earlier position, shrieking like a madman, chasing the six men for humiliating him.
-;-;-;-Her plump red lips curved into an empty smile, as the elegant cup of tea raised to her mouth. The warm liquid went down her throat, and she placed the cup back to the table. Her pale hands, covered in a pair of black lacy glove, fixed the position of the veil, pinned to her hat, sitting on top of her smooth raven tresses. Her voice was like small bells ringing softly, elegant, delicate, yet firm in a way. “They seem to enjoy themselves.”
The boy, sitting beside her, squirmed slightly in his seat. He looks almost like a carbon copy of the woman beside him, with sharper and more masculine details to his face and broader shoulders. He nodded slowly, drinking his own cup of tea hurriedly, making the woman look at him with an expression similar to disagreement. He quickly fixes his composure, and the woman smiled at him brightly.
“We just have to make sure they don’t come too close, dear. We just have to make sure they’re not going to destroy our lives like what that man did to us years ago.”
He wanted to tell her that the only one broken was her. She didn’t need to bring him along. But he nodded, gazing emptily beyond the lush trees, silently pleading for the way out of this prison they call home.
-;-;-;-;-A/N: AND THAT IS THE FIRST CHAPTER LALALALALLALALALA. God this is so fun yet hard to write. Ai Kennat. Well, I’m just hoping I didn’t fail too much xD.
Chapter Two