Chapter Text
You’re an idiot, Kuro. Why would you go through so much for just one article?
He had to admit, now that he was on the train heading out to the furthest reaches of the countryside, Kenma may have been right. But he was an award-winning journalist, employed by a National Scientific Journal that regularly sought after new discoveries. Most of the science within the magazine was well-founded with meticulous research, even if at times it could be a bit far-fetched to the common person.
Kuroo could never make up his mind with which science he wanted to focus on while in school, so he labeled himself an Earth Scientist which allowed him to study several different branches at once. It wasn’t his fault that he was naturally curious and had an incessant thirst for knowledge. He liked to think of himself as well-rounded.
As a result, his career has taken him all over the world, inspecting crystals in the fathomless caves of Mexico to hiking mountains in the Himalayas (not the biggest ones, he’s not that adventurous). He was fortunate to have so many opportunities to learn more about Earth’s eccentricities, but it wasn’t often that his research led him to somewhere in his own country in parts that no one would expect anything out of the ordinary.
His reason for traveling to this particular town all began when he came across some old texts about a stone called the Wisdom Stone. It wasn’t the catchiest of names but it piqued Kuroo’s interest all the same. Apparently when held in the palm of your hand, it heightened your awareness and revealed knowledge about the world that went beyond a human’s understanding. It was carved to perfection by monks a few centuries ago and was housed within a shrine deep in the forests of the mountain that loomed over the small town.
When delving into his research about the stone, he discovered that the mountain had been named sacred by the inhabitants of a small town at the base of it and people were forbidden to trek it. At first glance, it almost sounded like fanatics, but the more he delved into it, he discovered that it had more to do with people’s safety than any strange beliefs.
It all began about ten years ago when a mysterious event occurred at the shrine, an event that Kuroo could hardly find any information on no matter how many documents or websites he scoured. Ever since that incident, anyone who traveled up the mountain ended up injured in some way. No one had been killed, yet the survivors were never able to explain how they ended up like that. Every strange clue Kuroo discovered pulled him deeper into the story, wafting through urban legends and public records to sort out the mystery. With his research leading him to a dead-end, he finally decided to go to the town himself to find out what was happening, and if the stone actually existed.
Although his superiors at the magazine were skeptical, they allowed him to go as long as he turned up an interesting story that was founded in fact rather than speculation. Kenma preferred doing most of his research remotely and through webchat interviews. He thought Kuroo was going on a wild goose chase for nothing. Even Oikawa, known for his hair-brained ideas about extraterrestrial life, thought he was chasing after some Bigfoot and would probably end up being eaten by a bear.
Kuroo gazed out the window and sighed. The view beyond offered some of the most beautiful scenery he’d ever seen, sweeping hills of lush green trees and charming towns arranged around curving rivers. It was idyllic, and he couldn’t wait to start exploring. Even if he turned up nothing, at least then he’d know for sure and could move onto a new project.
He perked up as the speaker announced their approach to the station and he automatically stood up, slipping his bag over his shoulder. There wasn’t any need for it, however, considering the train was virtually empty. Still, he was restless from the long trip and eager to stretch his legs.
Stepping out on the platform, he glanced around at his surroundings. The other people exiting the train seemed normal enough, and the glimpse of scenery beyond the platform lacked anything that would seem suspicious or ominous. Shrugging, he moved through the small station and exited the other side, the doors leading right into the town.
He hummed with fascination as he gazed around him, cute shops lining both sides of the street with light traffic flowing through it. Anyone he passed on the street greeted him politely, none of them giving him any creepy cult vibes. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed that it seemed like any regular town, but there had to be something there. If not in the town, then whatever was harming those people was constricted to the mountain.
Luckily, he had left early that morning and had plenty of time left to explore. Stopping by a local inn, he reserved a room for two weeks although he wasn’t certain if he would be staying that long. If he wandered up the mountain and found nothing, he wasn’t going to waste any more of the magazine’s funding in such a backwoods town.
Once he settled his luggage in the room, he changed into more rugged clothes and packed a bag with everything he might need. With all his years exploring treacherous landscapes, he had plenty of experience, particularly trekking mountain paths. Of course, the one he was planning on trekking was hardly difficult compared to what he’d done before, but one couldn’t be too careful, especially with the rumors and reports.
Finally, he was ready to get started, and he grabbed his hiking boots to put on once he reached the entrance of the inn. Harada, the old woman at the counter, greeted him as he passed by, but he noticed her face fall when she saw his attire.
“Going up the mountain?” she asked, biting her lip.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She hummed and grabbed a few pamphlets and maps she had on display on the counter, holding them out for Kuroo to see. “You seem like such a nice young man. You should explore our lovely forest paths instead. There are even some pretty waterfalls that make for some nice pictures.”
Kuroo paused and glanced up from slipping his foot into his boot. “Why shouldn’t I go up the mountain?”
She scrunched up her nose as if the very idea smelled bad. “It’s a terrible place. Ugly, dangerous, no fun at all.”
Kuroo smirked and bent down to tie up his boot. “I don’t mind a little danger. I’m used to it.”
“Hmph, then you’re foolish.”
“I definitely am that. Are you sure you can’t tell me anything else?”
“I could but there would be no point. Outsiders never believe anything.”
“Try me.”
“Kuroo-kun, was it?” she asked, and he nodded. “The mountain is a sacred place. It is protected by our deity that has watched over our town for centuries. It used to be that we could walk all over it as long as we respected the land, the animals, and the god that watched over it. Our children were raised going to the shrine at harvest time, leaving behind offerings. Whenever we left, we were somehow endowed with an understanding that helped us grow excellent crops. Our God blessed us year after year and in turn, we paid it the respect it deserved and more.
But… things have changed. I cannot give all the details because many of us are not sure what happened. All I can tell you is that our God who protects the mountain has closed it off. If you step foot on it, you will be harmed. Maybe even die. Please do not test it with your life. No amount of knowledge or discovery is worth that.”
That’s a matter of opinion, Kuroo thought as he sighed, leaning against the entrance of the inn. Harada seemed like a sweet old woman though and he felt like she was telling him the truth. It was certainly more information than he’d gathered so far, but it still wasn’t enough to send him home. From her worried expression, he could tell that she knew he wasn’t about to leave it alone.
“I’m sorry. I mean no disrespect to your god or the mountain, but I can’t help but be curious about it.”
She hummed, crossing her arms tightly across her chest. “Curiosity is a dangerous thing. It is hardly ever satisfying, constantly leading you down perilous roads. You seem like an intelligent young man, Kuroo-kun. Does having all that knowledge make you feel powerful?”
Kuroo was taken aback by the strange question. He considered it carefully mainly because it was an interesting question that he was never asked before. Sifting through his memories of his research, adventures, and subsequent discoveries, he finally shook his head.
“No, it doesn’t make me feel powerful at all. It makes me feel… humble.”
It was her turn to look surprised, her arms drifting down to her sides. “It gives you humility? Why?”
“I’ve seen so many places in this world that are astounding. Natural wonders that most people don’t even know exist. Being in their presence, it makes me feel small but privileged. It’s not something I take for granted.”
She considered that for a while, studying him carefully. He gazed out the door, the afternoon sun glinting through the fluttering banners in front of the entrance. The day was getting on, but he felt it was important to finish his conversation with Harada although he had no idea why.
At last, she huffed out a laugh. “Then I hope you’re able to make it back safely, Kuroo-kun. You seem like a worthy young man but that doesn’t mean that the mountain god will not reject you. For ten years, it has been this way. The mountain is no longer just sacred… it is cursed.”
Cursed… That was a word that popped up repeatedly in his search for information. But every time it was mentioned, it failed to go into detail. He believed in a lot of things and typically kept an open mind, but curses didn’t scare him at all.
“Well, I guess we’ll find out. Thank you for speaking with me. I appreciate it.”
“Good luck!” she said, waving with a resigned smile on her lips.
As he wandered through the charming town, most people paid him no attention besides a friendly greeting. It wasn’t until he reached the edge that bystanders paused to stare at him, shaking their heads. There was nothing beyond that road except for the mountain looming in front of him and they seemed to have no faith that he would return, at least not in one piece. He had to admit the atmosphere made him a little nervous.
But Kuroo was never one to give up so easily and he boldly stepped forward, leaving the town behind. There was an overgrown path from the road that led straight into a patch of woods that rested at the base of the mountain and that was the direction that Kuroo chose to take. Once beneath the shelter of the trees, Kuroo shivered from the lack of sunlight, making the air seem much cooler.
Nothing seemed suspicious yet, no creepy trees or ominous signs that the land he was walking on was cursed. In fact, the entire forest seemed content and peaceful. Various types of birds fluttered in the branches above him and though the season was edging into Autumn, flowers were still blooming in patches wherever sunlight could find its way through the trees.
As the path began to rise, Kuroo paused to wander around the trees, searching for a fallen branch. When he found a sturdy looking one, he snapped off the smaller twigs and tested it out before returning to the path. With his new walking stick, he felt like some mystical wizard on a personal quest, ready to face certain danger.
For the first hour, he paused every so often to pull out his phone and snap some pictures, relieved to find he had a faint signal where he was at. He spotted a squirrel with reddish fur that chattered at him furiously. Kuroo sent a picture of it to Yaku saying that the resemblance was uncanny, and he received a middle-finger emoji back. He spotted a large owl resting on the branch of a tree, its feathers a beautiful blend of browns and greys. He sent a picture of that to Bokuto, snickering as images of Bokuto’s bedroom flooded his mind, the space filled cute stuffed owls his parents bought him over the years.
At one point, the path narrowed and curved around a cliff and Kuroo wondered if he should try to find a different way. There were no other paths to take, however, so he cautiously made his way around it, hugging the sharp rocks on his right. He bit his lip as he glanced over the edge, his heart pounding at the massive drop to a pile of rocks down below. Maybe this place wasn’t cursed, just a little dangerous to hikers who weren’t careful.
He was overwhelmed with relief when he made it around the cliff and the path widened out. To his right, he heard the sound of rushing water and turned, gasping at the magnificent sight. A tall waterfall spilled over the sloping rock face like curtains of silky white hair. On either side of the water, delicate trees grew with leaves of bright crimson, and the rocks jutting out were covered in lush, green moss.
Kuroo pulled out his phone once again and snapped several pictures from as many angles as he could manage. These he sent only to Kenma, knowing that he would enjoy them. Although Kenma would rather vomit than trek into the wilderness, he had a vivid imagination and enjoyed seeing natural settings that evoked an otherworldly feeling. The only reply he received was Send me more. Kuroo smiled and continued on the path, hoping that the mountain gifted him with more spectacular views to share with his best friend.
He frowned when the path rose even sharper than before and gazed up it. The trees lined the path and their roots crawled over the path almost like natural steps. The branches were thick overhead, blocking out most of the sunlight and giving an eerie feel to the area. Glancing to the side, he could still see some cute little woodland creatures going about their business.
There’s no way a fluffy bunny would hang out in a cursed area, right?
Still, he gulped down his nerves and took a step up the path. When nothing happened, he took another step and so on, his thoughts gradually turning away from his fears and more toward his fatigue. Trekking mountain paths was no easy business, no matter how in-shape he was.
Once he reached the top, he slumped against a large tree and removed one of his water bottles from his pack. He wiped the sweat from his head on his sleeve as he took a few gulps. To his relief, the path continued on in a gentle slope from there, a much-needed break from the treacherous climb. There were no sharp drops on either side and the trees were thinner and scattered, allowing more sunlight to pour through. In fact, there were more rocks than trees.
Hmm, perhaps rocks are an understatement, he thought as he wandered closer to them. There were massive boulders, some as big as a small house. Kuroo quickly pulled out his phone and started snapping pictures of them, knowing that the bizarre sight would appeal to Kenma. Their shapes were beautifully organic, and he couldn’t resist reaching out and touching one of them.
His palm rested on a crevice that was cold, hidden away from the sun. As he ran his palm higher, he smiled at the warmth emanating from the rough surface from hours of being exposed to the sunlight. Walking around the boulder, his hand ran over a soft clump of moss that tickled his skin. Kuroo leaned closer and took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh scent of it.
His smile slipped away when he felt a slight tremor in the ground but as he looked around, he saw nothing that would have caused it. Being on a mountain, rock slides were highly likely, so he reminded himself to keep a lookout just in case. Reluctantly, he pulled his hand away from the giant rock and stepped back on the path, freezing when he felt two more tremors beneath his boots.
A shiver ran down his back at the sudden silence of the forest. He looked around but there were no creatures to be seen or heard, no birds, no squirrels, not even a bug. His breaths started coming in hard shudders as he realized that he was completely alone. Wait, not alone…
His head jerked to the left as a branch cracked and the tremors were accompanied by loud thuds. Kuroo’s eyes widened with terror as he watched a cluster of boulders break through some small trees and continued moving toward him with large strides. He was frozen, his brain screaming at him to run but he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It looked like a giant person made up of various sized rocks, the surfaces scraping together with every movement.
As Kuroo managed to move his head up to gaze at the top of the cluster, he saw two rocks about equal size sandwiched together to make up a head. He opened his mouth and tried to scream, but no sound came out when he spied two eyes peering at him from the uppermost rock. Kuroo’s body was trembling as the rock monster planted its feet in front of him and crouched down. Kuroo leaned back as its hot breath washed over him and its eyes seemed to stare right through his soul. The two rocks that made up the head parted like a gaping mouth and a bellowing roar smacked Kuroo clean off his feet.
Kuroo screamed as he fell back and landed hard in the grass. Pain shot through his back, but it was enough to finally snap him out of his frozen state. As the rock monster took another step closer, Kuroo scrambled to his feet and took off back down the path he came.
His breaths came quickly as he picked his way down the sharp incline, careful not to trip on any of the roots. He winced as a tree behind him cracked with a hard impact and he heard the unmistakable sound of rocks tumbling down a hill. Stealing a glance over his shoulder, he yelped and jumped off the path as the cluster of rocks crashed down it, the whole body rolled up like one big ball.
While the rock monster kept moving down the hill, Kuroo made the quick decision to climb back up and search for a different route. He knew it would only lead him deeper into the forest, but it was better than being clobbered by a strange monster made up of rocks. There wasn’t even any time to consider what the creature was or how it came to be. Kuroo finally understood why there were so many injuries whenever someone tried to climb the mountain.
There were no deaths… yet.
Once he made it to the top of the hill, he ran as fast as he could down the path. His legs were already exhausted from hiking, and they burned as he pushed them even harder. Kuroo’s head swiveled as he tried to look for any other method of escape. Sweat poured down his back and his limbs were hot from overuse, but his entire body turned ice-cold when he heard the forest crashing behind him.
He veered off the path and into the trees, heading straight for a thicker part of the forest. At least there the monster might be slowed down enough that he could escape. He whimpered when he heard wood snapping and breaking right behind him, but he didn’t stop to look back. It was everything he could do to keep going, his entire body being fueled by adrenaline alone.
Suddenly, his body dropped when his foot slipped on a damp leaf but when his back hit the ground, he didn’t stop moving. The world blurred as he slid down a hill and nothing seemed to be slowing him down, even as sharp twigs and rocks jutting up from the earth scraped across his body. When he finally reached the bottom of the hill, he groaned as he gripped onto a nearby tree trunk to stand up.
The rock monster bellowed behind him, and he glanced back up to see it crashing down the hill toward him. He screamed and started to run again, but his entire body was throbbing in pain. There was no way he could outrun the monster now, not when he could feel the earth quaking underneath him.
Something struck his back and Kuroo fell flat on the ground. For a moment, he stayed there, nose pressed into the dirt while his fingers curled into the dried leaves. A shiver ran up his spine as he sensed a powerful presence behind him. A shadow fell over him and he was flipped over onto his back, staring straight up at the giant rock monster.
Kuroo’s chest heaved but other than that he couldn’t move. A tear slipped out of his eye as the monster’s head came closer, its hot breath puffing against him. One swift punch from it could probably crush Kuroo’s skull and at that moment, he remembered the old woman’s words.
Please do not test it with your life. No amount of knowledge or discovery is worth that.
As he bit his trembling lip, Kuroo tried to hold back a sob. He had always believed that whenever he died, it would be out having an adventure and doing what he loved. Now as he finally faced his doom, a mystical pile of rocks with two fathomless eyes that were round and dark, he wondered if he was being foolish before. Was this worth his own life?
Kuroo squeezed his eyes shut as the monster released a powerful huff in his face. His breath hitched as stone fingers grasped onto his arm and leg and hoisted him into the air, but he wasn’t ready to open his eyes just yet. He could feel his body swinging in the air as the monster walked and finally, he cracked his eye open.
It was difficult to tell since the monster was made up of only rocks, but it seemed to emanate irritation with every jerky movement. Kuroo craned his head around to see its expression better. Now that he wasn’t running for his life, he could see that the monster’s head was made up of more than just two rocks. Two small fragments jutted out above its eyes like eyebrows and were furrowed dangerously low.
It wasn’t pleasant to be held by two rock hands by an arm and a leg, but Kuroo was starting to get the impression that the monster wasn’t going to kill him. Otherwise, he already would have. Where it was taking him, on the other hand, was another question entirely.
He found his answer soon enough as the monster finally stopped in front of a sloping hill, covered in soft, fluffy grass. Kuroo tried to see more but his head jerked back to the monster as it raised it up slowly. His heart pounded as the monster’s head became level with his own, and he could feel the monster’s ire emanating from him like heat from a fire.
“Goooooo!” it shouted at him and hurled him down the hill. He landed hard on his arm and continued rolling, grunting with every rotation of his body. When he finally reached the bottom, he spread out on his back and gazed up at the sky. It was beginning to turn hazy as the day drifted into the late afternoon and the sun was making its descent into the horizon.
The effect was lovely, but Kuroo found that he couldn’t enjoy it at that moment. Every part of his body was in pain, bruised, cut, bleeding, yet at least nothing seemed broken. Only his pride but even that could be healed.
Slowly, he turned his head to the side to gaze back up the hill. The monster was watching him from the top, but it was no longer growling or bellowing and made no movement to chase after him. Kuroo groaned as he sat up and rubbed the back of his neck as he looked around the area.
He gasped when he saw the town not too far away, almost the opposite side of the mountain that he started. All the monster did was return him home, but why? Kuroo looked back up at the top of the hill, but the monster was nowhere to be found.
What the hell?!