Chapter Text
Baby Kusuo was frozen stiff.
Something inexplicably hideous was descending from the heavens, right in front of his very two eyes.
Toys lay forgotten as the malignant beast, momentarily freezing in its descent, turns to look at Kusuo with its menacingly dark and beady orbs. Baby Ku gulps as his eyes lock with the hypnotic monster's gaze.
Kusuo did not know what this thing was, but he was wholly terrified.
Adrenaline-rich blood rushes in little Ku’s veins as his youthful body prepares to act, quite a natural response to the way this creature was staring straight down into his petrified soul.
Being an all-powerful psychic with otherworldly powers aside, he was still a baby. So what if he could win a fight against a pro wrestler or hear the thoughts of every being in a 3m radius? Anyone, even his cowardly father by his side, would have made Kusuo feel better about facing this… this segmented mutant thing.
Iridescent eyes and misshapen limbs loom over Kusuo. He has never seen one creature have this many legs or eyes before. Not even the playthings in front of him, from the downy plushie to the tiny assorted plastic animals, had that many eyes or legs.
This thing had more peepers on its face than Kusuo had fingers on his hand.
A slightly sweet but vinegary odour assaults the baby’s sensitive nose. As much as Kusuo loves sweets (chocolates, jellies, cakes... you name it) this scent, which clearly originates from the monster, just makes his stomach churn and milk climb up his throat.
As a psychic baby, he is cursed with extraordinarily advanced senses. It is absolutely revolting to perceive this creature with senses beyond any normal human can imagine, and it certainly didn’t help Kusuo’s nausea to see strands of the beast's brown fur flow upwards with the finishing of its descent.
It may have had brown hair just like his Papa, but not even Papa was this much of a pest.. nor was the breadwinner of the family scary in any way, shape or form…
In fact, seeing a flash of even his father's hair would have brought Kusuo relief in this situation. It’s too bad the only brown hair he could see right now was on the furry body of the monster.
This situation isn’t ideal. Kusuo absolutely does not want to face this monster alone.
Any baby would desperately seek their trusted caregiver in these dire times, so where exactly were his Mama and Papa?
Think, Kusuo, think… His Papa was nearby, right? Earlier, Mama and Kusuke went through that mysterious passage in their apartment (a hallway, was it?) that transports them to the different areas they call rooms. They must have had some work to be done elsewhere in their home because Mama left him with Papa, who gave Kusuo some toys to play with and supervised him from a little away.
There was no time to think, though. Sensing Kusuo’s fear, one of the creatures… many, MANY oversized skeletal limbs twitched toward the psychic.
Kusuo nearly jumped out of his skin.
Questions raced through the genius baby's head. How exactly did this nightmarish intruder sneak into their house?
Why was he facing it alone? Where was his Mama? Papa?? Kusuke???
Did this sinister being get to them first??
Was Kusuo next???
Overwhelmed, he was too afraid to move his eyes off the unblinking creature. Ku didn’t want to risk it going out of his sight or attacking him and his family (if they were still alive). It was completely unpredictable, too. Kusuo couldn't read its thoughts, and that’s what scared him most.
Well, it was also icky and grotesque. That also added to its intimidation factor.
Not being able to look away from it meant that he can’t look behind himself to check if Mama, Papa or even big brother Kusuke were still there.
His heart thundered in his chest, clambering up and taking a new spot in his throat.
The last time he teleported away when his Papa played peekaboo with him, he worried his parents with a 5 hour local police search to find him. He may be quite mischievous, especially with his father, but he doesn’t want to worry his sweet Mama.
If he can’t uncontrollably teleport away, he is not quite sure how to make his swift escape.
To worsen things further, as if things didn’t seem hopeless enough, Kusuo’s eyes started to water.
Oh no.
Blurry eyes mean he can’t effectively keep his eyes on it.
Scrambling backwards, Kusuo tried to calm himself and ignore the sting behind his eyes. Filled with hopelessness, his body betrayed him further by producing enough tears to start spilling down his cheeks.
Through the panic, Kusuo reviewed his three options: fight, flight and freeze. He's pretty sure he's done freeze and it clearly didn’t help, and he is too repulsed to fight… which leaves him one final option: fleeing the scene.
It was all or nothing.
If his Mama or Papa were somewhere behind him, he would dash to them at super speed.
His confidence was disappearing as the thing started sauntering over to him with a murderous, maniacal glint in its protruding, reflective eyes.
Each of its enchanting eyes was hauntingly gorgeous.
Like goggling at a snow globe holding universes within, one look had wide-eyed Kusuo seemingly entering a new dimension and gazing at ribbons of moonlight dancing captivatingly in the dark midnight sky (a dazzling spectacle only to be observed in silence by the millions of lustrous stars illuminating the atmosphere).
The deeper he looked, the more entranced he became by the hypnotic vibrant galaxies and planets visible on the horizons, appreciating how their vivid hues juxtaposed starkly against the inky black emptiness of the night sky.
Ku would not be fooled though, it was clearly all an illusion to captivate the creature's target. If anything, different angles of Kusuo’s own terrified expression were reflected in each eyeball like a kaleidoscope of despair.
Snapping out of the haze, Kusuo heard footsteps behind him. Confused at first, he quickly sensed his Papa approaching him and wondering why his child went silent all of the sudden.
Kusuo let go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding and shakingly swallowed a sob.
Finally!!
He wanted to cry. He was so relieved that his dad was here and that his family didn’t abandon him forever. No longer was he fighting solo against this beast! No longer was he alone!
His breath hitched as a waterfall of emotion exploded inside him. He was so happy he didn’t have to carry the burden alone, he was just so afraid earlier and… huh? Why were Papas steps coming towards him so much faster? Was Kusuo crying…? When did that happen?
No matter. It was time to make his escape.
Kusuo pounced onto his Papa and hid his red, tear-soaked face in his father's shirt with enough momentum to throw Kuniharu onto his butt.
If Kuniharu felt his shirt wetten with tears and snot he didn’t mention it, instead going straight to reassure his son and whisper sweet words of endearment into his ear as he searched around the area to see what exactly set Kusuo off like this.
Most people would assume Kuniharu was a coward.
Yes, they are correct. It is quite true that Kusuo’s Papa is sloppy and unnaturally dependent on his wife (the light of his life). Unlike his strong wife who was very home-oriented and protective of their little family, he would most likely be seen pathetically on his knees, begging a group of teens for forgiveness.
So it’s true that he is very cowardly at times, but none of that matters to him now. His youngest child is whimpering.
Kuniharu is familiar with love. Sure, he passionately loves his darling wife to bits and exclaims it to her every day, but aside from that he also dearly loves his two sons. His devotion to his family demanded hard work and sacrifice. It was expensive to care for his folks at such a young age, he was only fresh out of school when his first son was born and to make ends meet he (both literally and figuratively) licked his boss's boots for survival.
Though he is off working all day, he still tries to make time for his kids. Kusuke with his smarts was set for success and, well, Kuniharu just never sees his second son smile or emote so he tries to cheer him up by playing with him. At least, that’s what he attempts to do. Rebellious Kusuo takes every chance to prove he’s superior, and Kuniharu isn’t a fan of this untraditional imbalance of power.
(It's no surprise that Kusuke picks up certain behaviours later in life. From calling Kusuo a monster, hurting and manipulating him, he was just like his father.
Kusuke obsessively dedicating his life to besting his competitive little brother with his tragic sense of self-worth was not the path he deserved. The gifted child was consumed by envy, his pride demanding that as the older sibling, he wasn’t supposed to be “inferior” to his little brother... but they were both young children, children with the power to destroy the world for sure but they couldn’t have known how to properly deal with that situation at that age and their parents were too hands off to properly guide them, not even stopping the brothers violent fights happening right in front of them…
With two boys that extraordinary, traditional concepts of family are thrown out the window.)
Fatherly instincts on overdrive, Kuniharu steeled himself to deal with whatever threatened his son… that is, until he saw it.
A massive, horrid beast with chelicerae open like a feral dog baring its fangs.
...God knows dogs only have four limbs and two eyes, this creature has twice as many legs and four times as many eyes.
Lengthy, spindly legs crept closer, sweeping quickly over the ground toward them as both the father and son stare in horror at its overwhelmingly hostile aura.
Kuniharus's heartbeat quickens as he shields his son from the sight of the creature staring hungrily upon its prey.
It was coming in for the kill.
Oh.
Kuniharu is screaming too.
—-
Kurumi and Kusuke dropped everything and hurried down the hallway at the first sound of distress.
Passing the entrance to the living room, the sight of an inconsolable Father and son duo welcomed the mother and son. The baby boy and a bespectacled man with arms entangled sang a song of anguish.
While Kurumi rushed straight to comfort both of the crying babies, the ever-observant toddler Kusuke had immediately locked eyes on and determined why his papa and baby brother were afraid.
There was a spider.
Unlike Kusuke, who was more like Mama in this regard, Kusuo seemed to have inherited their father's crippling fear of bugs.
Kusuke personally didn’t care for, nor was he afraid of, those harmless little beings.
But if his younger sibling was afraid of this arachnid, he, as a good big brother, had to step up and protect Kusuo.
He wanted— no, he would certainly protect Kusuo, now and forever.
His superhuman baby brother with the cutest gummy smile had so much more yet to be taught about the world.
Armed with a slipper, Kusuke crept toward the hairy spider and readied his killing shot.