Work Text:
"And how many would you like?"
"Three, please!!" she said, unknowingly holding four fingers up. The stallholder said nothing about this mistake - instead, he grinned as he gave the beaming five-year-old three small bags of carrots. She placed them in the bag that continuously grew in volume and mass, but she showed no signs of struggle. "Thanks so much, mister!" She dropped a few coins of yen on top of his hands and happily trotted away and began her journey back home. Honestly, the way back to her house wasn't even a long one. The attention span of a five-year-old is rather extraordinary, though. Jumping over small stones, watching a line of ants march back into their colonies, and taking a break on a log to eat the carrots she had purchased. It was a rather successful errand, to say the least.
Using his eyes as makeshift goggles, Kou Minamoto watched his sister from a distance. Of course, who would let her run amok alone? Yes, errands can be beneficial exercise-wise and give her an idea of the usage of currency, but he needs to make sure she's safe while she's doing so. What's the worst that could happen?
After finishing the carrot with a satisfied burp, Tiara hopped off of the log to continue her walk. She went into a nearby forest, which would soon lead her to a path to her house. A few months ago, Teru would show her this path and even placed small painted stones to make sure she wouldn't get lost. This idea would prove helpful because once she reached a two-way path, she became confused, but quickly noted a bright pink stone to her left. The sun was already setting down.
Kou sighed in relief; her sister was safe. Thanks to him, obviously! He's such a cool and reliable older brother!! Go Kou, yeah!!
"Woaahh!! Hello there, Mr. Black Cloud! What are you doing here? Are you a supernatural?!"
Kou quickly looked up and his brief moment of relaxation was short-lived. In front of her sister, there stood(?) a misty figure, with glowing red eyes piercing through her. Most people would think to run, however; Tiara was not like most people. She stared in awe and waved at the unknown creature. It created a fist, preparing to attack her.
"TIARA, GET AWAY!" Kou jumped over to his sister and grabbed her, tumbling into a tree. The impact didn't hurt either of them, nevertheless Kou was still worried. "Are you okay?"
"Nii-san! Yes, I'm fine! Is Mr. Black Cloud bad?"
"I don't know, but he might as well be... where did he even come from??"
"Maybe he wants a carrot? Or I'm getting karma for munching on a carrot earlier..." she whined.
"Nono, this isn't because of you! Please, run back home! You can forget about the carrots!"
"But-"
The supernatural attempted to strike again, but Kou blocked the attack with his staff. This didn't do much because of the seal on it. "Please, Tiara!"
"Okay!!" She ran away with the intent of having Teru come back to help her brother.
While he was distracted for that split second, the supernatural generated a large orb of something Kou couldn't make out. Suddenly, he froze up.
...Mitsuba?
He was hit and his vision went blank. At this moment - for the first time in his life - he felt nothing. No qualms, no need to protect those around him and keep promises he knows he'll never be able to keep. He opened his eyes, to see nothing. It shocked him that this didn't bother him in the slightest bit, and just a few moments ago he was up against the supernatural. This is fine, he thought. He wouldn't have been able to defeat it anyway. Teru could work on that - he trusted his brother more than he trusted himself.
"Kou-kun?"
That voice..?
"Hey, pay attention to me loser!"
Huh?
"Kou?"
Ringing. Obnoxious ringing. Diiing...
His head really hurt.
Why does it hurt so much?
"Yoohoo~! Earth to Kou?"
His vision became blurry. That stupid ringing...
"KOU!" A familiar voice screamed his name.
"Eh?"
"Dude, are you okay? You were fine just now." Satou said with worry evident on his face.
"What are you guys doing here?"
Yokoo lightly punched him on the shoulder. "What do you mean 'what are we doing here'? We were on our way home, silly!"
"But what about the supernatural?"
"What supernatural? Have you lost all of your braincells?"
"Mitsuba-kun, don't be so rash! Didn't you see how out of it he was earlier?"
"Hmm... oh, I know! It was because of the exam we had, right? Yeah, I totally flunked that!" Satou laughed.
"...We had an exam?"
"Seriously, are you okay?? Mitsuba-kun, should we give him some space?"
"I mean, if you insist? He seems fine to me. You know how weird he gets." He says this mockingly.
"Hah? Excuse me?" Kou hissed, grabbing him by the collar.
"See? He's all good." He blew raspberries which promptly causes Kou to let go of him.
"Well... if you say so. Anyway, bye Kou-kun!" Yokoo and Satou say simultaneously, waving and walking off in the same direction, but away from Mitsuba and Kou.
"Oh- Cya!!" Kou waved, still confused. But at least his head stopped hurting and he doesn't hear ringing anymore.
Mitsuba stared at Kou, dumbfounded. Just a few moments ago, the four of them were happily chatting away. Then suddenly, Kou stops speaking and stares at no place in particular. It was weird – he stayed that way for a good five minutes. When people are zoned out, usually they remain expressionless until they become focused again but... there was something off about Kou. Mitsuba can’t put his finger on it, but there is absolutely nothing that could warrant a reaction like that from him. At least, not one that Mitsuba knows. But they’re best friends – surely, Kou would tell him whatever was on his mind, right? Granted, Mitsuba is bad at comforting, but he still cares about Kou. He’s always willing to listen to anything he wants to say; ready to share that burden with him. In his own special way, of course.
“Is there something bothering you, Minamoto-kun?” He says with sincerity.
Still waving to Satou and Yokoo who are long gone, “Huh? No, nothing is bothering me.” He uses his hand as shade to block the rays of the sun to not damage his corneas. Nothing is wrong, it seems; but something feels terribly wrong. Where did his staff go? Why isn’t he seeing any mokke run around the building? No signs of rumors?? To Kou, this feels like an average school day with the addition of Mitsuba. Which is weird, because Satou and Yokoo aren’t able to see Mitsuba.
“If you say so, then. Shall we head home?”
“You’re allowed to leave the school?”
“..?? Yes?? I’m not bound to the school, that’s stupid.”
“Right, silly me! But yeah, let’s go!”
Kou could sense Mitsuba’s periodic glances.
"Nii-san!! Welcome home!!" Tiara ran to her brother and jumped on top of him. Kou caught her and spun a few times, laughing. "Hi, princess!!"
Teru came from the other room, smiling at his doting brother. “Hey, Kou.”
“Ah, nii-chan! Were you able to defeat that big misty supernatural?”
Teru stared at him.
Kou stared back.
“What?”
“Huh???”
“Have you been reading those action manga until late again, Kou?” He laughed. “I’m not an exorcist. They’re just myths, you know?”
“What?”
“Hehe, nii-chan is so silly! Ghosts aren’t real, even I know this!!”
“But you’re-”
“You must have dreamt it.” Teru smiled.
Kou was about to protest because this is the first time he KNOWS that he’s right about something, but he hesitated. “Ah... maybe you’re right.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, perfectly fine! No worries! I’m heading to sleep now!” Kou rushed upstairs and into his room. Teru stared blankly. Kou hadn’t even made dinner yet.
“Well, I guess I’m in charge of dinner tonight.”
Tiara felt nothing but fear.