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A cool autumn breeze, a lonely dark forest that was accompanied by the loud and disruptive wails of a distressed sobbing boy. “Not again.” the boy would mumble as tears streamed down his face, he had tried again and again and again to absolutely no avail, his efforts were futile, no matter what path he took, things would always end up the same. He was tired, exhausted , even. What God had he pissed off in a past life to be subjected to such a fate as this? This was the only one he’s ever truly cared for, in a world as forsaken as this one, this was the only person he had ever loved. Fate really was a cruel thing, wasn’t it?
This damned dream, the same dream that plagued his mind every single night. The dream where his loved one died. He had always known that one day, getting too close to someone would eventually come back to bite him in the ass. He knew this, and yet he let himself fall, honestly how stupid could he be? He had done so well ensuring that throughout the 16 years he was on this earth, that his life would remain as stress free as possible. That the worry of friendships would never come to be a problem, as he’d actively avoid any possible connections with others.
Then came the 17th year, the year where everything actively changed for him. New school, new life and worst of all, a new roommate. A roommate that he had no choice but to get along with because he’d be living with him for the foreseeable future. At first, things were fine, he actively kept his distance while still being cordial. He would never outright be mean to his roommate, but he would never make strides to befriend him, either.
His roommate seemed to have other plans though, a ginger wolf boy who had quite the way with words. He went by the name Akito Shinonome, and he seemed to have no intention of remaining simple acquaintances with him. Akito would always invite him to places, to which he would often decline. Akito would usually follow him around like a lost puppy, it made him question if he even had any other friends at this school to begin with. Akito had been a student at this school for many years, there was no way that he had gone through that much time without a single other person to call a ‘friend’.
It was sad, really. Then again, he was one to talk. He was Toya Aoyagi of the Aoyagi family. An infamous family known for producing ‘spawns of Satan’ or so called ‘devil children’. How could they not be when one of them could shoot lightning out of his hand, another could shatter buildings with the touch of a finger, and the last one claimed to have the ability to see how people die.
Could you guess which one he was? It was the reason he had been pulled out of public school to even begin with. He would be seen as a danger to both other children as well as himself, so many people believed he had psychosis. That his claim of having an ability such as that one was simply a ploy to seem ‘cool’ amongst his peers, to which it had the opposite effect. It would more so isolate him from others rather than bring them towards him. They just found him to be strange and a little bit psycho, to which he didn’t mind. Adult’s minded though, to them, he was the spawn of Satan sent to terrorize their school.
Honestly, it wouldn't be the first time he had been exiled from a school, but at this point, his family were getting quite tired of his antics. They knew of his ability, and knew that his claims were all too real because they had similar abilities. However, throughout their adolescents, they had actively gone out of their way to hide who they were. They were fully aware of how ‘normal’ people saw them. People would claim to love the fantasy or supernatural genre, and yet they would actively persecute beings who were shown to be of that species. Beings that they had once believed to be fictional, being proven to be as real as the sky above, and it was a known fact that human beings were afraid of things they didn’t understand. The lack of knowledge about one very specific thing terrified them, the fact there were things out there that even the human brain couldn’t comprehend properly, was enough to send them spiraling.
Toya’s sheer existence was enough to send them spiraling.
So they sent him here. To a place full of creatures such as himself, whilst he was still very much a human being, his abilities connected the line between natural and supernatural. He was a mortal being, he could be harmed, killed , even. His abilities did not change this fact. And yet he was still considered abnormal enough to be sent to a school such as this one. A school full of actual monsters. Vampires, Cyclops, the Medusa’s of the world, and of course his precious werewolf roommate.
His stay was only supposed to be a temporary one.
He was never supposed to get close.
He should never have allowed himself to get close.
Now he had to deal with seeing his precious roommate go through a horrific ending every single night. Through living, Toya had found that his abilities' power would strengthen the closer he got to someone, it was.. painful to say the least. Seeing a loved one die in such a manner, much less die at all. That was the main reason he’d kept his distance from people all his life. Witnessing the potential brutal endings to family members was enough for him, he didn’t need to be burdened with the death of his friends too.
Even whilst experiencing the deaths of his parents throughout his dreams, they had never scarred him as much as the death of Akito did. They were his parents, of course he loved them, they were the people who had brought him into this world, but his love for them was incomparable to the love he had for Akito.
Every single night, he would allow his insomnia to worsen just because of his refusal to go to bed. It wasn't healthy, he knew this. He knew that human beings by nature needed to recuperate and rest their body. While he so wished that wasn't the case, the truth of the matter is, that it was. Curfew was always set for 11 PM every single night, meaning that he couldn't just wander the school at night to get his mind off of things.
So he would sit, and just watch over Akito for the night. Whilst Akito would not sleep during full moons, he would often hit the hay early every other night, 8 PM or so seemed to be the time he chose to go to bed. He had gotten so used to his routine, a routine that allowed him to keep a watchful eye over his roommate. Toya had never been able to prevent these deaths in the past, nor did he ever know when they would occur, but it was vital to him that things went down the way he wanted.
Take is parents for instance, he has had this ability for 16 years of his life. Even when he was a mere infant, this ability plagued his existence. An ability such as this one was much harder for a child to harbor, when he was a kid, he used to get hallucinations about this kind of thing. Seeing the life leave his parents in such a way, was enough to truly affect his day to day life. But, the fact of the matter is, they were still alive.
As far as he knew, they had called him on the phone just a few days ago. That was the true downside to this ability. He may know how some one dies, but he has no clue when or where they die. It could be 10 minutes from now, or 10 years from now. Toya never truly knew. For 16 years, he had witnessed his parents deaths, and yet they were still around.
It bothered him, he could watch over Akito all he wanted. But at the end of the day, he didn't know when time would finally run out for him. This would be the first time he'd be attempting to actually save someone. The first time he was actively trying to prevent a death that he knew would soon come for all of them. Aside from the immortal creatures that lived within these walls, they all knew, they would all die eventually. That's just how life was.
"I'm sorry." Toya would mumbled one night as he sat at the end of his bed, eyes locked onto the sleeping figure across from him. How could he sleep so peacefully knowing what was to soon befall him, he had told Akito, or.. at the very least warned him.
He was only met with a simple. "Well. We're all going to die someday, Toya." and they left at that. Toya didn't bring it up anymore, he didn't even tell him how he was set to die.
He just simple said. "Akito. I saw you die." and that's what warranted that response from him. Akito was one of the few that believed his ability, whereas others would usually question his place within the school— Akito would never. He believed him from day one, he found it 'cool' in his words. Well, if only he actually knew just how much this ability affected him on the daily.
Toya's eyes drifted to digital clock on his night stand, 4:23 in the morning. He could feel his body breaking down, he could feel his body starting to beg for release. But he couldn't— he just, couldn't. He couldn't handle witnessing that nightmare one more time. It was starting to do detrimental harm to his mental health. He just— couldn't. He felt his eyelids start to droop, and his body start to stiffen as he forced himself to lay down. He wasn't going to allow himself to fall victim to the will of his body, he wasn't going to allow himself to fall asleep.
Alas, things rarely ever went his way, as he once again found himself lost within a dark forest. The autumn breeze blowing through his two-toned hair as he wandered the forest alone once again. He knew exactly where this was going, and yet he couldn't bring himself to stop wandering around. Eventually, just has he had every other night, he happened upon a huge wide open clearing. A clearing full of beautiful white lillies, who's beautifully vibrant petals were only stained by one thing.
A deep, dark shade of crimson liquid, that trailed through the bed of lillies. He slowly followed the trail of red, ending up in the center of the filed just as he had last night, and the night before, and the n ight before. He stopped dead in his tracks, as he discovered the source of the blood.
He fell to his knees, as streams of tears rolled down his face.
It was hopeless.
it truly was.
His beloved roommate, friend even, had been mauled to pieces by what looked to be a neighboring werewolf. His tears dripped onto the lifeless body of Akito, as he waited for the dream to be over. Every single night he had this dream, he would always wake up after discovering his body. So why wasn't he waking up? Why wasn't he drenched in a cold bed of sweat as he tried to keep a cool level-headed head about everything, just like every single morning.
SILENCE.
That was all, just silence, and then what followed was the desperate cries of a familiar voice.
"Toya? Toya! Wake up!" the voice said, its familiarity bringing a strange since of comfort to Toya.
The voice repeated it's words, until Toya was finally pulled from this never ending nightmare. His eyes shot open and he sat up as if pulled by the devil himself. His cheeks were damp, as pools of tears streamed down his face.
"Dude." the familiar voice said.
Toya looked around searching for the source of the voice, before his eyes settled on the boy next to him. Akito. He had woken him up. Akito seemed to breathe a sigh of what could only be described as relief, as they stared deep within each others eyes. Hazel meeting Silver.
"Dude. You scared the shit out of me." Akito admitted, letting out a nervous chuckle as he stared Toya down, moving slightly closer to the shaken up boy. "You were mumbled things in your sleep, and I thought for a second you had finally lost your mind." he said as he elbowed him playfully.
Realizing that now really wasn't the time for joking around, Akito's expression turned back into a neutral one, as he looked down at his knees. He let out a soft sigh before simply stating, "You're crying." he pointed out.
Toya never cried, or at the very least not in front of others. Even when he was a child, a crying Toya was a huge rarity. Akito had known him for about 9 or so months at this point, and not once had he ever seen him cry. They were together basically 24/7, if Akito was somewhere, Toya surely wasn't far behind. They were attached at the hip, and had become true companions within the school.
They were often referred to as Akito & Toya because of their closeness, very rarely were they ever actually referred to alone. So to have gone all 9 of these months, never having seen Toya even shed a tear, once. It worried Akito, what could have happened to make the unbreakable Toya Aoyagi actually show vulnerability for once?
Silence followed.
"Dude. I won't force you to tell me butt—"
"You died. Again." Toya said cutting him off, as the tears threatened to fall once more. "I. Saw. You. Die."
ah.
So that was it.
Akito let out a soft sigh as his gaze stayed glued to his legs. How was he supposed to comfort someone this far gone? How was he meant to comfort someone when he was technically the cause of their discomfort? Akito was the reason Toya was so distressed. Toya had even told him from the beginning that his abilities relied on the trust he held for a person. That his ability would only grow stronger the more trust he had for someone.
That could only mean one thing, Toya trusted him fully. Toya was making no efforts to hide his tears, he wasn't attempting to pretend to be OK. To pretend that this nightmare wasn't doing numbers to his well being. He was doing none of that, he was just sitting there and letting himself cry. It was hard to watch, a person who never showed vulnerability, was breaking down right in front of him and there was nothing he could do.
"I'm sorry." Toya finally said, head falling onto Akito's shoulder. "I'm.. so… sorry."
Akito tensed up at the sudden physical contact. He LOVED hugs and being touchy with people, but over the past half a year, he had learned that Toya was the complete opposite of him. He hated being touched, he hated hugs, hand shakes, fist bumps, even high fives. So this was a new, but not unwelcome feeling.
He frowned as he looked at the head of blue hair slumped on his shoulder, he said nothing as he wrapped his arm around his waist, gaining no real reaction from that action. "Remember what I said, OK?" he mumbled, trying to prevent his voice from shaking.
Despite what most may believe, Akito WAS afraid of death, it was an inevitable thing for all mortal beings. He knew as such, and yet that didn't stop him from fearing the certain outcome sure to befall of them. So yes, his voice was shaking, YES, he was scared. Sue him.
"We.. all die eventually." he finished his sentence. "We just, have to make the most of what time we have left. OK?" a small, seriously fake looking smile formed on his face. He tried to be the brave one for both of them, but Toya could see right through his facade as he only started to cry harder.
"Hey! Hey… calm down, OK? I'm here. I'm OK. Nothing happened, alright? Hey. Look at me." Akito said as he moved his hands to cup the crying boys face, lifting his head and forcing him to look at him. He used his thumbs to wipe away the incoming tears as he smiled again. "Just take a deep breath. I'm fine, I'm still alive. That's gotta count for something. You told me yourself. You don't know when it might happen, for all you know.. it could be 40 years from now. Right?"
He earned no response from Toya but he could tell that the boy was listening as his tears started to dry up quickly. That was true, it could be years from now, and to be freaking out over such a thing now.. but was he really stupid for letting his emotions get the better of him for once? He never let his emotions overpower his rational thinking, and yet.. this time he had.
"Sorry." he mumbled, face returning to its usual neutral position, as his poker face returned and the tears were gone as if they never even existed in the first place. He paused again before repeating himself, a little louder this time. "I'm sorry."
"Don't mention it." Akito said with a nod, he glanced at the digital clock and let out a soft yawn. It was now nearly 6 AM, and he was exhausted. They had been chatting for nearly an hour. Luckily, they didn't have class tomorrow, so he could sleep as late as his body allowed him to. He stood up and stretched a little bit, letting out a yawn. "I'm going back to bed, if you need me, you know where I am." he teased.
"Stay."
"What?"
"Stay with me." Toya repeated as he moved over in his bed, and forced his own body against the back wall. He grabbed some of his trinkets and threw them off the bed, making room for Akito to comfortable join him. Akito's eyes slightly widened at the implications, as he looked behind him at his own bed. It's not that Toya's bed looked uncomfortable, by any means. It was more so.. small. These beds were twin sized, and clearly weren't meant to hold two people.
No matter how they readjusted themselves, they would always be pressed up against reach other. For someone who wasn't comfortable with touch just yesterday, they sure were doing slot of touching today. "… you sure?" Akito finally asked, realizing that his silence might give Toya the wrong idea.
"If you don't want to—" he was cut off by Akito forcing back the covers and climbing in. There was no way he was going to let this opportunity to pass him by. Akito moved slightly closer to him as they both turned towards one another. Akito was very close to falling off the edge, but that's something he'd endure if it meant getting even just slightly closer to Toya.
Toya flashed one of his rare smiles as he chuckled. "What, you act like I'm going to stab you through the heart. Move Closer. You're going to end up fall off." To which, Akito moved ever so slightly, shoulders now bumping against each other as they stared one another down.
Neither of them dared to ruin the moment, until Toya finally decided to break the long drawn out silence. His hand moved under the covers, searching for something, until ht finally found it. He grabbed a hold of Akito's hand and intertwined their fingers. "Maybe you're right. That nightmare… I don't know when that will happen to you, but even so.. I promise I'm going to save you. Even if it only adds a could more years to your clock. That doesn't matter to me. Akito you were the first person I ever truly cared about in this forsaken world, and I'm not going to let you be taken from me. I promise."
He paused for a moment, tightening his grip on the gingers hand. "I promise."
It was strange, really. Two unassuming creatures, unlikely friends, who seemed to care about one another more than anything else in this world. 16 years, Toya had gone 16 years without even attempting to make a single friend, or even an acquaintance, but now, things had changed.
He had a reason to live, and he had a reason to fear death.
He finally had someone who mattered enough to him, that he actually wanted to go out of his way for them. This was a new, strange, but not entirely unwelcome feeling. It was a feeling that actually made him smile, and it was all thanks to Akito.
Akito Shinonome, the poor werewolf boy who by random luck, he happened to become roommates with.