Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Arrival
It was a typical evening on the way home from work. The streets were quiet, the moon shone brightly above, and Momo was holding Okarun’s hand as he chattered on enthusiastically about the most recent cryptid news- apparently some sort of European cryptid had recently been sighted in America.
“So, it’s entirely possible that it migrates,” Okarun said, stars in his eyes as he turned towards her, “or that there's multiple and no one has ever seen the American one!”
Momo tilted her head, considering. “Maybe it’s an alien that finished all its research and wanted to get new subjects,” she said. “It’s been all around Europe, right? Maybe it was just gathering…”
Her voice died out as she noticed the distinct silence around them. The sky, once illuminated by the moon, had turned pitch black.
Empty space.
Momo instinctively dropped into a combat stance. Beside her, Okarun was already shifting, his yokai form materializing in a flicker of spiritual energy.
“Do you think they heard us talking about them and wanted to put in their two cents?” Momo joked, despite the tense air.
There was a shift in the space around them, and a group of familiar aliens appeared, six Serpoians and one alien they hadn’t seen before. No doubt another gig-worker.
"Hello, human persons," one of the Serpos said with an unsettling calmness. "We are here to disable you."
Before either could react, the unfamiliar alien darted forward towards Okarun, pulling out a pair of what honestly looked like lightsabers and waving them around.
Okarun dodged each wild swing expertly, eyes scanning for an opening.
Momo turned her attention to the Serpos, psychic hands at the ready.
The Serpos scattered, each one aiming their stupid arm guns at her from different angles. She held them off for a while, her psychic shields holding firm against their onslaught. But eventually one lucky shot managed to get through her defenses, slamming into her back with a jarring impact.
“Momo-chan!” Okarun yelled.
The hit staggered her, breaking her focus on her shields. The remaining Serpo seized the opening. A barrage of blasts followed, the Serpo unrelenting in their assault.,
She was knocked to the ground, and then felt a huge pressure pushing her down, pinning her to the floor.
“We have come with enough of us to put both of you in the Awesome Zone,” the Serpos said.
Momo forced her head up enough to glance over to Okarun, who was also pressed against the ground, about 10 feet away.
The temp alien sauntered over to her with some sort of apparatus that horrifyingly reminded her of the Serpo’s “banana organs”.
She looked over at Okarun. She just had to concentrate long enough to get him free-
Several things happened in quick succession.
She freed Okarun.
A sharp, searing pain pierced her shoulder.
Okarun shot up, unleashing a devastating all-out, taking out the remaining Serpos in one shot.
Fire spread through Momo’s veins, white hot and unbearable. A scream ripped out of her throat, echoing through the room.
Her vision blurred. Her body seared with pain that crept down her back and across her arms.
She barely registered Okarun shouting her name before the world slipped away into darkness.
Momo didn’t know how long she was out, but when she regained consciousness, the pain came roaring back. Heat seared across her whole body and her head buzzed loudly.
“Momo-chan,” a familiar voice said. Okarun. He sounded relieved. ”You’re awake!”
She felt his arms tighten around her.
Oh. She realized. He was carrying her.
“How do you feel?” He asked urgently, his pace slowing his run to a jog.
“Hurts like a bitch,” Momo rasped. “What did they even do?”
She tilted her head up to look at him. Even through his usual yokai stoicness there was a deep worry in his eyes.
“They injected you with something,” he said grimly. “They said something about de-evolution.”
For a moment she thought she misheard him. “What?”
“I’m really worried about you, Momo-chan,” he admitted, making a turn through the torii gate.
Still cradling her, he somehow opened the door and carried her inside. He raced her through the hallway to the living room, where her Gran was sitting in front of the TV.
“Seiko!” Okarun called out, lowering Momo to the floor and gently laying her down.
“What happened?!” Her granny was hovering over her, checking her body for injuries.
Everything still hurt, but the pain was starting to fade slowly. She winced, closing her eyes. The light was too bright in this room.
“The aliens did something to her,” Okarun said, voice tight. “They injected her with something and she’s in a lot of pain.”
They kept talking, but Momo had such a loud buzzing in her head that she found it far too difficult to listen. After a moment, Momo felt a hand on her forehead, and another on her abdomen.
She felt chi flowing between the two hands in a circle, a soft warmth flowing through her body. The pain levels dropped instantly.
Her eyes flew open with a gasp and she was finally able to think clearly.
Both her Gran and Okarun were staring down at her with wide eyes.
“M-miss Ayase?” Okarun asked, searching in her eyes for something.
“The one and only,” she replied.
Only, her voice felt different. It echoed unnaturally and she swore it didn’t come from her throat.
She immediately reached up and touched her neck. “What the fuck?”. Her voice echoed again, and there were definitely no vibrations coming from her neck.
“What the fuck?” She repeated, louder this time. “My voice is weird.”
Okarun breathed a sigh of relief and hugged her tightly. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” he said.
She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed back. “Me too.”
“Momo,” her Gran said, “how do you feel?”
“Everything’s sore and I have a headache,” Momo said, looking up at her. “But it's a lot better than before.”
Her Gran looked her over. “You sure?”
Momo mustered a reassuring smile. “Yeah, thanks.”
“Okay.” With a deep breath, Granny got up and grabbed a round mirror off a shelf.
Okarun pulled back from the hug finally and looked her over again. “Can you see okay?”
Momo frowned at the weird question. “Uh, yeah? Why wouldn’t I?”
The round mirror turned to face her, and she found herself staring into pitch black eyes.
She yanked the mirror from her grandmother’s hand and looked closer at her reflection. Her eyes weren’t just black, they also seemed… bigger. And they had this mesh-like texture on them- kinda like bug eyes
And they were the same across the whole eyes, no whites or pupils. She couldn’t tell what direction she was looking at all.
She blinked slowly, watching her reflection copy the movement.
Yeah, that was really her eyes…
Holy shit!
“Am I de-volving into a bug?!” She said, panicked.
“No!” Okarun replied quickly, hands waving in front of him. Then, quieter, “at least, I don’t think so.”
He adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat.
“You’ve… uhm gotten bigger, Miss Ayase.”
“What?” She said, looking down at the rest of her body. Her clothes felt a little tighter, but she couldn’t see too much of a difference. How could he even tell?
Her Gran looked her over a couple of times before saying, “she is bigger. Just an inch or two.”
“Well at least I’m not shrinking?” Momo said, trying to grasp the positives.
“There’s also that weird thing you’re doing with your voice,” Okarun added. “Pretty sure bugs can’t do that.”
He made an odd expression. “It’s like you’re speaking in my head,”.
Momo rubbed absently at her throat, where she knew the sound wasn’t coming from. “The space globalists were like that,” she muttered. “You don’t think…”
“You’re becoming an alien?” Okarun finished for her. “But that would mean- “
“That I was already part alien?” Momo said.
They both turned to her grandmother.
“Don’t look at me. I’m as human as it gets,” she said flatly, crossing her arms.
“It might not even be recent!” Okarun said, fiddling with his glasses. “It’s supposed to de-evolve you, right? That could be thousands or millions of years back, for all we know!”
“The Serpos probably thought they were gonna turn me into a neanderthal,” Momo said. She shivered at the thought of them. “God, I hope I don’t turn into one of them.”
“I don’t think you’re a Serpo. They can’t reproduce, right?” Okarun said. “So they’re not gonna be in your family tree.”
“Either way, I’m not gonna look human! And I don’t wanna be an ugly alien thing!”
“We have to find the Serpos and get them to undo this,” Okarun said, determination lighting his face. “If they originally planned on making you a caveman, they probably won’t be happy to see another alien instead.”
“I think I’ve managed to slow whatever this is down,” her Gran said. “It was spreading around like wildfire before I stabilized your chi.”
“Maybe it’s even completely stopped?” Momo tried. “Or it buys us at least enough time to get the Serpos to reverse it.”
“We can only hope,” she said gravely, before turning to Okarun. “Four-eyes, stay the night. I want you to keep an eye on her.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Okarun saluted her and then bent down to scoop Momo up again into his arms.
“H-hey, wait! I can walk, you know!”
His cheeks tinted red but he remained steady as he started carrying her up the stairs. “I don't want to risk making this worse. Try not to strain yourself, Miss Ayase.”
Well, her whole body was still sore…
“Okay,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck to steady herself. “Thanks.”
She noticed his blush deepening, spreading all the way down his neck.
As they reached her bedroom door, she opened it with her psychic powers., Okarun carried her inside and gently set her down on the bed.
“Should I get a change of clothes?” he asked, glancing at her ruined outfit.
“I can move, you know,” she grumbled.
“S-Seiko entrusted me with your care,” he said. “I want to help.”
“You’re helping by just being here,” Momo said softly. “I think I wouldn’t be able to handle this alone.”
Having Okarun there was definitely grounding her from having a full-out freakout about this. She just had to keep reminding herself that they were gonna fix it!
Okarun rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, his blush having returned full force. “A-anytime. Um, I’m gonna be right back. I just gotta grab the futon.”
He ran out the door, and Momo took the opportunity to change into some loose PJs. Luckily she liked baggy clothes, because they fit nicely on her now that she was sized up a little.
Okarun knocked on the door and she welcomed him in.
Okarun returned, futon in hand. As he spread it out on the floor, his eyes seemed distant, lost in thought.
“What’s wrong?” Momo said, trying to keep her tone light. “Sad you can’t sleep in the bed?”
“I was just thinking…”
“Bad idea, you’ll burn out your brain,” she teased.
“Maybe we should have asked Vamola to come home and watch you,” he said, adjusting his glasses so the glare hid his eyes. “She might recognize what kind of alien you are.”
Momo waved her hand dismissively. “Eh, she’s having fun at Jiji’s. Besides, I don’t mind it being just the two of us tonight!”
As soon as the words left her mouth she felt a blush rising to her cheeks.
Okarun was flustered for all of a second before rushing up and putting his hands on her cheeks!!
“Miss Ayase!” He said, stars in his eyes as he completely ignored how close he was- “your blood is blue!”
“I- what?” she stuttered. His hands were still on her face and her blush was getting progressively worse.
Okarun blinked, suddenly realizing how close they were. He yanked his hands away like he’d been burned,, adjusting his glasses as he turned his head before mumbling. “Y-your cheeks were, um, I just think it's interesting- did you know squids have blue blood? It’s, um, it’s copper based instead of iron.”
“O-oh,” Momo said, looking down at her lap. “That’s um, neat.”
His hands fidgeted at his sides. “Yeah, um.”
“We should go to bed,” she offered. “We have to convince some annoying Serpos to turn me back tomorrow. It’ll be a long day.”
Okarun looked up at her and seemed to hold back from saying something, instead just saying, “yeah. Goodnight Miss Ayase.”
He laid down on his futon and pulled the blanket up to his shoulders, turning away from her.
“‘Night, Okarun,” Momo said, turning the other way on her bed.
She hadn’t realized how tired she was until now. The soreness of her body ebbed at her consciousness and she fell asleep pretty quickly.
She dreamt she was the Insect Queen, a mantis person who commanded endless swarms of insects, but they revolted against her, and the swarms crawled across her body, trying to suffocate her-
Momo woke up with a start, her chest tight, her skin itching unbearably. She gasped for air, her body thrashing instinctively.
She pushed out with her psychic powers, and she heard ripping fabric as the pajamas she was wearing blasted off of her. Her blanket was thrown across the room, and it hit the wall with a soft thump.
All around her floated down small pieces of hair, as if someone had exploded a barber-shop’s trash can.
“M-miss Ayase!” Okarun said, immediately at her side despite his apparent tiredness. His glasses weren’t even on yet. “Are you okay?”
Her throat was raw and parts of her body felt bruised, but mostly, she just felt overwhelmed and confused.
“Miss Ayase,” Okarun said again, pulling her face so she had to look him in the eyes. “Are you hurt?”
“N-no,” she said, her voice unimpeded by her sore throat. “I’m okay.”
She closed her eyes and tried to breathe, focusing on the feeling of his hand on her chin.
Were his hands… smaller?
“Okay,” he said, exhaling a shaky breath. His fingers brushed along her neck, pausing at a tender spot. “I think the PJs were choking you.”
Before she could piece together why they would do such a thing, Okarun looked down a little further and then turned bright red.
She followed his gaze and realized she was completely naked. She looked back up at him and realized he was already turned around and grabbing the blanket that had been thrown across the room.
She turned back to examining her body, now that it was in full view. Blue welts striped along her skin on her hips and her sides, in all the places it hurt. Were those from the PJs, too?
She also didn’t know if it was a trick of the moonlight, but her skin looked really gray and dull.
Okarun tossed the blanket back onto her, but it only covered like two-thirds of her body.
“Miss Ayase, you’re pretty, uh, bigger now,” Okarun said, staring at her legs sticking out from the edge of the blanket.
Momo sat up completely, pulling the blanket up to cover her chest, and looked down at Okarun.
“Holy shit, you’re right,” she said, stunned. Okarun looked so small, like a kid. With the hand not holding up the blanket, she placed a hand on his cheek, entranced as the palm of her hand easily covered half of his head.
Okarun watched her movements with rapt attention. His eyes fluttered shut and he leaned into her hand and he breathed, “wow,” barely above a whisper.
She let her hand linger longer than she probably should have before pulling away. He opened his eyes and she swore she saw stars in them.
He looked up at her and blushed a little before looking away again.
He cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses with trembling fingers. “O-oh, right. I should probably tell you the o-other thing.”
“Other thing?” She asked. Wait, were they talking about something? She kind of lost track of what they were talking about-
He refused to look her in the eyes as he mumbled, “you have no hair.”