Chapter Text
Friday, May 5th 2016 - Afternoon
Mishima needed a break, BADLY.
But he finds himself standing on the grounds of Destinyland, a place he’s currently part-timing in. With a decorated broom in hand, he sweeps and sweeps even though there is almost nothing to sweep as he feels a bit out of place being that he’s the only teenager amongst the part-timers tonight.
“Uh, excuse me kid” a father of two tapped his back. “Where’s the nearest comfort room?
“Oh uh, right near the fountain” Mishima says as he awkwardly guides them.
As he got back to sweep the decorated concrete beneath him, the noises started to seep in through his ears.
“Hey did you know what the asshole I was seeing just said?” a girl his age near frustratingly said “He said that my sister looks better right in front of me!”. Her friends looked toward each other laughing.
“Mama! Papa!” A little girl near the fountain said “I wished for unlimited cotton candy!”
“Hey uh, senpai?” a guy in his 20s carrying a beer and hotdog says “Shouldn’t we be at the board meeting early tomorrow? We really should lay low on the booze”
“Bah! hic* Don’t be such a wuss” the much older man replies “Once you’ve been in this business for long they’ll just bow their heads and hic* do what ya tell em to and listen to whatever bullcrap you say.”
He takes in the noises, the lights, the smell of popcorn and cotton candy mixing in the air, the screams and laughter of people indulging in extreme rides.
It made him feel nauseous.
As he aimlessly walks through the premises, he notices the subtle and major changes throughout Destinyland ever since he first set foot in here. Take for example, the talking clown statue that was placed near the carousel was now replaced by a regular fountain. Probably due to complaints from parents that their kids were terrified of the damn thing.
The area that used to be a parking lot has now become a food stall area.
In one corner of what used to be a fortune telling booth, was now replaced by an interactive mini planetarium. He sees children dragging their parents towards it in the hopes of letting them in the gaudy establishment. Much as the parents wanted to show their kiddos a good time, their wallets said otherwise.
The only thing that hasn’t changed was of course, the castle. I mean why would they change it? It’s an iconic sight.
Everyone knows the castle’s place and role in the park. It cannot be more than that, no matter what the castle itself wants to be…
“Oh what the hell am I thinkin!” Mishima slaps his face to snap himself out of his melodramatic pang which makes a number of heads turn, making the teen blush and avert his eyes towards the ground.
After an hour of sweeping, going through stalls, and guiding people to the nearest exits, he heard and felt the drums and trumpets coming from a distance. It was a group of men and women wearing what resembles a British royal guards uniform with different color palettes performing alongside jesters or more accurately, goblins in purple underwear juggling bowling pins while the crowd beside watch with their phones up accompanied by their distraught children.
Hiding behind them as they cried from seeing the juggling goblins. It didn't help that one of the goblins personally waved and smiled at the children.
“Heh, so they remove the clown statue just to add something worse huh?”
Distancing himself from the wailing children, he sits at a nearby bench at the garden section of the theme park to take a break.
Taking a swig from his water bottle, and wiping the sweat on his brow, he reflected on what happened these past few weeks.
Almost getting expelled by a scumbag teacher who only has hate for you is no fun, to say the least. Even more so when everyone knows you to be his favorite gopher.
He didn’t like the fact that he helped him make others' lives miserable. He didn’t like that he was too much of a bitch to fight back.
Hell. He didn’t even have to lay a finger on Mishima to keep him in line most of the time.
One look was all it took.
And because of that she almost-
Mishima winced at what his brain conjured up. He took a deep breath and quickly pushed the thoughts aside.
It was fine now. His abusive coach, Suguru Kamoshida, was no longer at Shujin.
He is far away now, where he could harm no one.
As much as he would like to say that he fought back against him and made him leave, he didn’t.
The Phantom Thieves did.
Oh, the Phantom Thieves…..
Whoever they were, they were brave, they stood up and made him confess his sins in front of everyone
I can never be like them…..
Taking another swig from his water bottle, he watches the bustling crowd in the garden, a bitter smile forms on his lips as he sees couples hold hands, friends shaking hands and fist bumping each other and other types of acceptable physical contact in public and he wonders-
Will I ever experience that?
He absentmindedly closes his eyes and opens his right hand as if expecting somebody, anybody to receive it.
First he imagines a lover with no distinct face reaching out to him, caressing his hands. Next, a friend with an easy smile reciprocating with a handshake filled with camaraderie.
But when he opened his eyes, not a lover nor friend reached out to him, but a spider…..
His eyes widen at the arachnid but before Mishima can swat it away, it bites him.
………..
The bite was painful, yes, but it’s not as if he wasn't bitten by a spider before in his life. His forays into collecting any house spider he can find and participating in spider fights against his middle school classmates who brought spiders of their own earned him a fair share of bites.
So with that, he reaches for his empty water bottle and guides the spider inside it.
The stinging sensation was tolerable for now so he took the time to make sure his bottle had holes in it for the spider to breathe as he did not want the little thing to die.
“Huh, that's weird” Mishima says as he inspects the spider inside the clear bottle.
It seems to resemble a normal house spider at first glance but it had a glaring difference, the tip of its legs and fangs were glowing.
Mishima starts to panic and dashes to find the nearest first aid station.
With his remaining luck, he quickly found one.
“Um h-hey excuse me” Mishima says as he tries to compose himself and shows the nurse his right hand “I got bitten by this unusual spider, you’re not gonna believe this but it was glowi-
As he showed his water bottle, the spider was no longer glowing and has seemingly reduced its size
What in the actual-
Mishima and the nurse stood there awkwardly looking at the water bottle.
“Okay um, anyways-” Disregarding the bottle, Mishima sat and let the nurse observe his right hand.
“This looks like a common house spider bite so no need to worry” the nurse said before getting up to get some basin and soap.
Mishima just sat there confused as the nurse washes his bitten hand with soap and warm water.
He checked the bottle again and there still remains the now normal, non-glowing spider.
“Here sir, drink this” the nurse gives him a tablet and a glass of water “it’s an antihistamine, for the itching and swelling”
Mishima did as he was told and after that the nurse gave him a cold gel pack to hold over the bite. He decides it’s time to go home since he can feel himself getting worn out by the minute.
As he exited the premises of the theme park, Mishima took another look at his bite just to confirm he wasn’t going senile. There it was, only this time the bite swelled more.
Walking towards the station he felt his throat dry up and his lips perched
“Gotta find me some Sokari…..” the youngster said as he decided to make a quick detour to a combini.
He rummaged through the drinks section in the hopes of finding his desired tonic. “Hmmm perfect” he murmured while grabbing a Sokari then paid for the drink at the cashier.
Exiting the combini, Mishima started to feel hot. A heavy migraine plaguing his head and soreness coursing through his muscles. Passing by a convex mirror on the streets, he observed himself.
I look and feel like shit
“Hey guys!” a man who looked to be in college nudged his buddies “check out this junkie!”
“Hey there, Nii-chan” A burly man who smelled like alcohol said with a mocking tone “We can’t have you doing drugs now, think about your parents HAHAHAHA!”
“I-im sorry, I-i’ll be on my way now” out of fear, Mishima stammers and bows but not before the big man grabs his left shoulder
“Hey, what’s the hurry?” the big man said as he stood beside him with his arms now placed over his scrawny shoulders. “Believe it or not, I was actually a disciplinary officer back in high school and I hate seeing youngsters who are going down the wrong path…”
Mishima was frozen in fear hearing the man say these things while his buddies laugh behind them.
“Y’know kiddo, I can enforce discipline on you but as you seem to be in a hurry” The man turns to face him. His grimy face looking back at him “I can look the other way for a measly 40,000 yen…”
Mishima’s stomach dropped. Where the hell was he gonna get that money?
“L-look sir, I am really sorry I got in your way” Mishima blurts out, his hand accidentally lands on the guy’s shoulder.
“Take your hand off me” the man says to the trembling teenager
Mishima quickly complies to get away from him but then-
RRIPPPPPP!
The guy's shirt was now stuck in his hands leaving the guy in front of him shirtless.
“Pffft HAHAHAHAHAHA man, I thought you lost weight?” his tattooed buddy said out loud earning looks from the bystanders near them
“Holy shit man, you’re as smooth as a baby!” his bald-headed buddy added in tandem which earned a stifled laugh from Mishima.
The burly man now stands there enraged as if a bull seeing a waving red cloth in front of him.
Mishima quickly regrets laughing and looks at his right hand and desperately tries to remove the shirt but it won’t budge almost as if it's superglued to his palm.
The burly man started to charge at the scrawny teenager but then-
!!!!!!!!!TURN LEFT!!!!!!!!!
Mishima felt his whole body move quickly to his left on instinct leaving the burly man slumped head first into a pole.
“Oh sir I’m sorry! I-i didnt mean-”
!!!!!!!!!DUCK!!!!!!!!
Again, Mishima moves quickly before he can even register that he did so, thus effectively dodging the bald man’s attempt at restraining him from the back and just as he quickly ducked, he stood back up which made the bald dude get knocked all the way to Neverland.
“Oh I’m really really sorry! Are you okay?”
The commotion quickly made other bystanders walk away hurriedly from them. The tattooed guy looked at Mishima in disbelief then at a discarded wooden plank at the side of a restaurant nearby then to Mishima again.
“W-wait sir please don’t I-i’ll actually go-”
!!!!!!!!!BLOCK!!!!!!!!!
He quickly blocks the wooden plank by placing his left forearm in front of his head.
SNAP!
Mishima looked at the ground where the broken piece of the plank fell.
“H-how in the-”
!!!!!!!!!ATTACK!!!!!!!!!
The tattooed man charged at him but yet again, Mishima quickly set his foot towards the guy’s nads, making him see stars.
Mishima stood there, his eyes wide as he darted to the knocked out assholes surrounding him. Realizing the consequences will be dire for everyone involved, he hastily walked away with his head kept down towards the station.
Why is this happening, Why is this happening, Why is this happening
Realizing the ripped shirt was still stuck in his hands, he finally manages to take it off and puts it in his sling bag to dispose of later.
Awaiting in line for the last train, Mishima rolls the sleeve of his left forearm to see any bruises but lo and behold there was none.
That plank was definitely thick enough to get my arm banged up but I didn’t even feel it! How in the-
“RIIIIING!” Mishima’s current stupor was broken by the sound coming from the alarm he set for the last train home so he reached to silence it quickly.
After waiting for a few more minutes, the train finally arrives and luckily spots a vacant seat for him to use. He sits and Mishima notices his temperature's gone up.
Two stations later, he spots a woman with a child struggling to get some space, the mom clearly shielding her daughter from getting crushed.
“Hey, excuse me ma’am” Mishima taps the mom’s shoulder “You two can take my seat”
“Oh thank you young man” the mom, clearly taken aback said “Hey, Ayumu what should we say to mister over here”
“Th- thank you mister!” her daughter adorably said, earning a few smiles from the people beside them.
Mishima just smiled in response. He wanted to bow but he was keeping his movements and actions as little as possible as his head was really starting to feel like cracking open, making it painfully hard to focus.
Mishima empties the Sokari he bought from the combini as he walks.
Then his house finally popped up on his sight
He sauntered his haggard ass to the front door and swung it open.
He sees his mom getting her cardigan coat on the rack with a worried look on her aged face.
"I'm home"
"Welcome back, I made some onigiri earlier, if you'd like-"
Not wanting further conversation, Mishima just ignored her and went straight to his room and locked his door.
Even in the comfort of his bed, Mishima felt his veins burn yet his whole body felt cold, his muscles contracting, his eyes burning and his throat dry.
Even when he instinctively covered himself with both his blanket and mattress, the cold did not go away.
It was weird, bizarre even that he shivered as if it was winter yet at the same time, sweat like it was a hot summer night.
He opened his eyes and took one look at the bite and saw that the bite and the veins in his arms were glowing. Mishima really wanted to get up and get some food but his body felt like an anchor lodged at the bottom of the sea.
His thoughts drifted towards the thought of death and how this may yet be his last night on earth.
“Ah” Mishima let out an audible gasp with a tone of resignation behind it.
This must be my punishment.
Well, if this be my destiny………
But those thoughts were quickly quelled by a voice
THIS WONT BE THE END……
W-who’s there?!
DUNNO, YOU TELL ME…….
Whoever y-you are I-i’m-
SHHHH…… RELAX, WE’LL BE FINE…..
We?
------
Saturday, May 6th 2016 - Morning
The nostalgic melody of the Phoenix Ranger Featherman R theme ringing out from his Featherman themed alarm clock rang in his musty room. Mishima opens his eyes, noticing that he is now face planted on the floor. He found it really hard to get up but unlike last night, his body didn’t feel like boiling up or his muscles spasming. No, instead, he felt good, too good but the floor was…..
Sticky?
Oh god, is it because he sweated so much last night that it stuck him to the floor? The fuck? Was that even possible? And….
Why is the floor green?
Did Mom remove the carpet? I thought general cleaning wasn’t due till next week?
Just then, Mishima looked up. His stomach dropped as he saw his tangled bed, his cabinet, his desk, and his chair above him.
“aaaAAAAAUUGH” Mishima fell from the ceiling with a few of the green painted wood from said ceiling stuck in his fingers.
As he gets up, Mishima tries to remove the wood stuck in his hands only to find it really hard to do just like last night with the shirt he accidentally ripped off.
Oh no no no no no, what happened last night wasn’t a dream after all!
He looks around his room.
knock knock!
Mishima quickly darts his gaze towards the door.
“Yuuki are you alright ?!”
His mom opens the door and sees him drenched in sweat
“Yuuki you should’ve turned on the AC if it was that hot.”
Yeah.. That would’ve been impossible…..
"Um, do you mind getting out of my room?" He says as he awkwardly gets his bath towel
"Oh, of course" Mrs. Mishima quickly gets out and closes the door
*Tch! after all that has happened, she's acting all concerned now?*
Mishima finally was able to flake off the remaining wood in his hands but found removing his shirt to be a bit of a challenge since it was… tight? Not to mention, his trousers also felt like it shrank.
Huh, when did I put on that much weight?
While taking a bath, his mind went through what happened last night from the spider that bit him, to the 3 goons who decided to pick on him and somehow lost. The fever and lastly, the way he woke up stuck to the ceiling.
This really isn’t happening right? I’m still dreaming right? Every bit of this is just weird and illogical and-
Knock Knock!
“Yuuki, hurry up! You're gonna be late!”
Turning off the shower, he steps out of the tub and quickly dries himself, applies deo, wears a cologne that seems suited for a grade schooler, puts on his undergarments and school uniform which again, felt weirdly tight.
Next up, his teeth. As he was about to apply a generous amount of toothpaste to his featherman victory toothbrush, he squeezed just a little too tight which effectively drained the majority of the toothpaste from the container and into the fogged out mirror.
Mishima just stared in disbelief at the mirror and scooped the remaining toothpaste with his toothbrush.
*As if I already have enough weird shit going on……*
With the look of bewilderment still plastered on his face, Mishima quickly got his sling bag and got out of his room but not before looking at the ceiling where he was stuck on this morning.
As he heads out, Mishima ignores the onigiri his mom made and went straight for the nearest combini. He realized that from now on, for better or worse:
Life Will Change.