Chapter Text
It was supposed to be a normal morning. Asahina Mafuyu woke up from a troubling dream and felt uneasy. She laid on her bed, clearly not feeling well and stared at the bare ceiling. The rain outside pelted into the windows. She gazed upon her hands, uncomfortably. They felt very dry and itchy. Her fingers looked sharp and more slender than usual. Maybe she needs to cut her nails. Her body felt so stiff and her back was very sore. Slowly, she lifted up the covers and groggily slipped out of her bed. She looked down, onto the bare wooden boards that creak under her. The floor looked farther than usual. Maybe she had grown. Not that she’s complaining. She walked to the door and on her way, stopped to face the mirror and gasped.
In front of Mafuyu was…well her, but she had grown huge brown antennas on her head. Her mouth had been replaced with some kind of creepy mouthpart; each stick-like feature stretched out in front of her, wriggling about. Her ears were painfully stretched and pointed out, as if she was an elf. Two long, slender bug-like legs came out of her back, around her waistline, twitching in pain.
“What happened to me?” she thought. It wasn’t a dream. Her room, a proper human room although a little too bare, lay peacefully between its four familiar walls. A collection of textbooks lay spread out on her desk and some were stacked on their shelves and opposite to the desk was her small aquarium, though it didn’t have a single fish in it.
Her eyes darted to the clock. It’s almost 8am. Right now, she’s supposed to be at school. Why didn’t she hear the alarm? Did she not set it up? Did she sleep too deeply to hear it? Where is mother?
A knock was heard on the door.
“Mafuyu? You’re late! Did you not hear your alarm? You’re an honour student for goodness sake!”
Mafuyu froze. She quickly picked up the chair by her desk and shoved it under the handle of the door.
“S-sorry mother…I…I was studying. I must’ve not realised the time.”
The moment Mafuyu spoke, she realised that her voice sounded different. As if from deep inside her, there was a painful and uncontrollable squeaking mixed in with it, the words could be made out at first but then there was a sort of echo which made them quite unclear. How did this happen?
The door handle moved. Her mother had tried to open the door.
“Mafuyu! Why is the door locked? What are you doing?”
Mafuyu’s heart was beating. She looked around her bare room, looking for some excuse, or an exit. How would her mother react when she sees what she’s become? What would she say? What would she do? All Mafuyu knows is that her mother wouldn’t like this. She would probably blame Nightcord. Mafuyu sighed. She misses her friends. She looked at the empty space next to her desk, where the keyboard was. She also misses her keyboard. Mafuyu looked at the door. She could hear her mother trying to open the door.
“Mafuyu, open the door. Now.”
Mafuyu stood still, unsure what to do.
“Mafuyu, please talk to me, I’m your mother!”
Mafuyu stared at the handle
“Mafuyu Asahina! Open. The. Door.”
Mafuyu thought for a second. If she…if she ran away, out of the window, her mother wouldn’t see how much of a mess she is. But if she ran away, her mother would freak out. If she ran away…would she miss her mother? Mafuyu looked at the desk, where her laptop would be; where she would talk to Nightcord and write songs.
“Maybe…I should write a note, so she won’t freak out.”
Mafuyu knew that she would, but it’s better safe than sorry. She quickly took a page from a notebook and a pen and hastily wrote down whatever she could say. The handwriting wasn’t neat as usual, but it’s better than nothing. Mafuyu turned to the window, and walked towards it. She opened it and peered outside. The rain fell down, splatting into the ground. It was pretty heavy. Anyway, even if it wasn’t raining, she needed to wear a hoodie, before people could discover the monstrosity that she’s become. They might throw apples at her.
Banging noises were coming out of her door. Her mother is getting quite furious. Mafuyu needs to act quickly. She heads to her closet and tries to find something that would cover her. She took out a scarf and wrapped it around her, hiding her face. She then wore a black hoodie. It felt really uncomfortable and difficult to breathe in, but she’ll have to deal with it for now. She walked back to the window and peered over again, looking for an escape route. Once she found a safe and secretive one, Mafuyu carefully started to climb down.
As soon as Mafuyu’s mother successfully opened the door, her daughter was nowhere to be found.