Chapter Text
Kou placed his school-bag down on the coffee table in the center of his living room. It’d been a long day, too much overstimulating noises flooded his brain the whole time he’d been at school. All he wanted was a cold glass of water and sleep.
But alas, he still needed to tend to a very sick Teru who’d stayed home that day and then pick up Tiara from daycare.
“Teru, I’m back.” Kou’s voice echoed through the empty house. At least noise wouldn’t bother him here.
He sighed and stalked slowly to the kitchen to make some herbal tea for his brother and maybe a little for himself while he was at it. Although there wasn’t any actual noise, Kou’s head throbbed, the sound of boiling water would probably overstimulate him too.
He slipped into the tiled room, the chill of the floor crept through his socks, making him shiver abruptly. He quickly shook off the random chill and opened one of the cupboards under the oven to pull out a pot. He filled the metallic pot with water and placed it on the stove.
Teru had broken their electric kettle a couple months ago, which of course only made Kou’s life harder.
Kou flipped the knob on the stove to turn it on. Maybe he’d go check on his brother while the water boiled.
He twisted a chicken themed timer and walked out of the kitchen. The sensation of carpet under his feet let him breathe easier. He hopped up the stairs to Teru’s bedroom.
“Teru? Are you decent?”
No answer.
“I’m coming in, please answer me, or at least don’t be naked or anything.” Kou groaned as he pushed open the door.
Immediately he was hit by a disgusting smell. He gagged and pulled the door closed again. Ew. Did he barf and not clean up or something?
Kou grumbled under his breath and walked to the bathroom down the hall. He grabbed some cleaning supplies-A washcloth and an antibacterial spray of some sort- and walked back to Teru’s door.
“Dude, seriously this is nasty, what happened…” Kou said, bracing himself for the smell again.
He pushed open the door and tried to squint through the darkness of the room. Ugh screw this shit. Kou flipped on the light switch through occupied hands that were still holding the cleaning tools.
“Sorry if that wakes you up, I just can’t see……”
Kou’s eyes widened as his voice wavered and faded off.
“Wh-WHAT THE FUCK?!”
Kou gagged again, and this time let himself hurl at not only the smell, but the sight.
Teru was lying on his bed.
And the floor.
And through a cracked open drawer.
Well… lying wouldn’t be the best word. He was more scattered rather than lying.
His body had been ripped into separate parts. His torso was severed from his head, arms, and legs. His elbows were split, leaving four chunks of arm, and his hands and fingers were separately severed as well.
Each part of his body lied in different spots of the room, his head mounted on his bed, directly in front of the door.
Kou shook violently. He’d seen mutilated spirits, sure. Gruesome as they were, nothing could’ve prepared anyone to see such a crime scene.
“T-ter-oh my…” Kou gagged and hurled again, tears streaming down his face as he did.
The blond glanced back up at the head, hoping he’d made it up.
He didn’t.
As if it wasn’t already bad enough, the timer began to ring from downstairs, echoing through his head. He coughed up more puke.
“Oh-h… oh god… Wh- why-who wo-uld d-do-“ he spat out more of his lunch.
He had to go turn off the stove.
He-he had to go call the cops.
But his body stayed still, other than the shaking he couldn’t stop, and he hurled three more times before slowly beginning to crawl backwards.
“Minamoto-kun,” a small voice uttered from above him.
Oh god. No.
“Don’t you like my present? I thought you hated taking care of your siblings~! Look! Look at him. KOU.”
Kou looked up at the pink haired supernatural, hot tears pouring from his glassy eyes. There he was. Mitsuba. Holding Teru’s severed head.
“Kou, do you like it? Well, do you?!” He had a disturbing and psychotic smile plastered heavily across his blood-soaked face.
Kou swallowed another gag-and failed, throwing up miserably onto the drenched floor.
“Kou. Kou, Kou, KOU, KOU!”
…
Kou’s eyes shot open.
It was just a dream, Kou.
It was just a dream, calm down.
Breath.
Oh god.
Kou gagged, the thought of Teru’s body hung abundantly through his mind.
“KOU! GET A GRIP OF YOURSELF OH MY GOD!!!” Kou was then slapped in the face.
“OW, HOLY SHIT!” He hissed, grabbing his stinging cheek.
Mitsuba squeaked and then let out a deep breath. “Crap, I’m sorry! Uh-It’s just, you were freaking the fuck out and I didn’t do anything so…” he shrugged and grimaced before wincing a little. “I didn’t hurt you too bad, right?”
Kou shook his head while he swallowed and tried to refocus his mind.
He’d been eating lunch with Mitsuba when he randomly blacked out and fell into that awful nightmare.
“SHIT-I’M SO SORRY MITSU!” He slapped his hands together and apologized for yelling at his companion moments ago.
The two sat in silence for a moment before Mitsuba sighed.
“Damn right you better be sorry…”
“Yep, super sorry!” Kou whined.
“Ughhh, shuddup!” Mitsuba tapped Kou on the head before he rolled his eyes. “It’s not like you really did anything anyways…”
Kou nodded and brought his attention to a box of riceballs on the floor. He must’ve dropped them when he fell asleep.
“Kou.” Mitsuba muttered.
“Huh?” Kou shot his head to look over at Mitsuba.
“…c-can I call you that?”
“What?”
Mitsuba looked down, his eyes locked onto the box Kou had been looking at.
“Can I call you Kou?” He whispered.
Kou felt his throat tense and his heart beat a little faster. “Wh-why wouldn’t you be able to, I mean… we are friends, aren’t we?”
Mitsuba looked back over at kou, thankful for his bangs which covered how much he was blushing.
“Yeah, I guess we are.”
“Hah! We better be!” Kou grinned so brightly that Mitsuba felt the need to cry.
“Yeah.”
The bell rang before much more could be said.
Kou made sure to check on Teru before going to sleep that night.
It’s not like any supernaturals could’ve gotten into their house anyways, they had the strongest seal possible to protect Tiara-and Kou, although he hated to admit it.
It was always good to check though.
Kou brushed his teeth, put Tiara to bed, and lied down in his room.
The sound of ventilation turning off and on hummed through his head. It was pretty obvious he wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight.
He sighed and climbed out of his bed. His feet tensed as they hit his carpet, then quickly relaxed.
He quietly snuck outside, hoping the cold air would force him back to his warm bed. Amidst shutting his door, he felt the presence of a ghost. He whipped his head over to his gate, hands positioned in somewhat of a fighting stance.
“Mitsuba?”
Kou lowered his hands and they rested naturally to his sides.
“What are you doing?” The ghost asked-beating Kou to the words.
“I should be asking you that, but uh, well, I just couldn’t sleep,” the blond said, bringing his hand to the back of his neck to scratch it.
“Ah…” Mitsuba hesitated as he thought up something cocky to say, “Kinda dumb you can’t sleep now, but you could earlier.”
Kou shut his eyes in annoyance and groaned.
“I can go back inside if your just gonna be a jerk-“
“Wait! Uh-don’t you wanna know why I’m here?!”
Kou sighed and shrugged.
“WOW. How nice of you,” Mitsuba said flatly.
“Ugh, okay. Mitsuba, what’re you doing at my house at-“ Kou paused for a second as he pulled his phone out of his pocket to check at the time, “Eleven thirty-six at night?”
Mitsuba puffed his chest out as he grinned, “I thought you might wanna take me on another lil date?”
Kou’s face flushed and he looked down at himself. He was wearing shark themed pajamas.
“I-in this?”
“Uh…” Mitsuba looked Kou up and down before wincing. “No, go change. I can wait.”
“W-wait, who even said I’d go?!” Kou hissed.
Mitsuba tilted his head with a smug pointed grin painted across his face.
He didn’t even need to say anything more. Kou went back inside and changed quickly, grabbing his raiteijou-just in case.
“I hate you, Y’know that?” Kou grumbled as he shut the gate of his house.
Mitsuba tugged at Kou’s T-shirt. “No you don’t.”
Kou blushed and shoved Mitsuba off of him.
“HEY!” Mitsuba hissed.
“Shuddup, and tell me where we’re going.” Kou said, pulling out his phone.
Mitsuba sighed loudly and held out his hand.
“Gimme.”
Kou watched as Mitsuba typed aggressively for a few minutes. He handed the phone back to Kou, the words “Brige parck” were written in the search-bar of Kou’s map app.
Kou grinned, “Did you mean to say ‘bridge park’?”
Mitsuba flushed red and punched Kou’s arm.
“Aaah! Okay, my bad, don’t hit me again!” Kou blushed as he shouted at the pink haired supernatural in front of him.
“Ugh, let’s just go.”
“Uh… I don’t know if there are any parks with bridges nearby-“ Kou muttered before being cut off.
“There is. I’ve been to it before.” Mitsuba barked, punching Kou again.
Kou narrowed his eyes at Mitsuba.
The pink boy punched him again:
“Ow! God, Mitsuba, stop it!”
“THEN LOOK IT UP ALREADYYYY!”
Kou raised his shoulders as he typed in ‘park with bridge near me’.
There were three matches. Kou brandished the phone to Mitsuba.
“Which one is it?”
Mitsuba looked for a few seconds before clicking one of the options.
“This one,” he whispered.
Kou flipped the phone back to face himself. A park that was only a 5 minute walk away. Eh, not too bad.
Kou sighed and pointed to his left.
“This way.”
The two walked together, crickets chirping as the sky dimmed more and more. Kou regretted not bringing a jacket.
“Are you cold?” Mitsuba's voice pierced through the empty night.
“Huh?” Kou stumbled.
Mitsuba unbuttoned his pink blazer and held it out to Kou. The blond stopped walking and shivered as a gust of wind blew past them.
“A-are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure! You’re literally freezing over here, I’m an apparition dummy, it’s not like I’ll get cold or anything.”
Mitsuba shoved the blazer into Kou’s arms and started walking again.
“Hurry up, or I’m leaving you.” Mitsuba scoffed as if he knew where he was going.
Kou hesitated to put the blazer on, fumbling with the edges and ultimately almost dropping it.
“Hey-Uh… Wh-why’re you being so nice to me?” Kou asked, slipping his arms into the sleeves.
“What do you mean? I just gave you something so you don't like, die, calm down… A-and we’re friends, right?”
Kou snickered and tilted his head to the side.
“Right, my bad then, sorry.”
Mitsuba made a choking noise and scoffed again.
“J-just hurry up!”
Kou buttoned up the blazer and ran over to Mitsuba. The two started walking again, the sound of their footsteps out of tune, one walking slightly faster than the other. Kou liked this, albeit he hated to admit it, this was precisely what he needed.
“We’re here.”
Mitsuba's voice cut Kou from his trance. When did they get here?!
“O-Oh, alright,” Kou sputtered.
Mitsuba ran off toward a rickety old wooden bridge.
Kou blushed watching the boy's bare arms bounce at his sides as he ran, normally his pink sleeves would've covered them. The sight marveled Kou.
Mitsuba swiftly turned around, his hair abnormally flowy. He grinned and threw his hands behind his back.
“It’s pretty isn’t it?” He tittered blissfully.
All Kou could focus on was the beautiful pink haired boy, he hung, sparkling in his mind. He was all Kou could think about most of the time.
“Yeah…” Kou murmured under his breath. “You're so…”
Mitsuba twirled, his eyes closed, cheeks rosy and soft looking.
“You gonna come up here with me?” He beckoned methodically, a soft-real-smile forming on his face as he stopped spinning around.
Kou felt his heart skip.
“Y-yeah,” He swallowed and pushed himself forwards.
‘This is weird.’ he thought, meeting mitsuba at the middle of the arching bridge.
Mitsuba was draped over the railing. His eyes were fastened on a random branch poking through a makeshift dam.
Little specks of green floated through his eyes, highlighting the salmon-ish pink.
Kou was mesmerized, that's for sure.
“-right Minamoto-kun-Uwah-uh I mean, Kou?”
“Huuwaahhh?!” Kou replied, oblivious as to what Mitsuba had been saying.
“Ughhh,” Mitsuba punched Kou's shoulder and sighed, “I said, ‘It’s weird how people can just make stuff like this, right?”
Kou swallowed and nodded, embarrassed.
Mitsuba narrowed his eyes at Kou and sunk down into a crouch.
“What are you doing?” Kou asked, slightly amused.
Mitsuba strung his legs through the gaps of the railing.
“I just wanted to sit, jeez, who are you, mister judgey?!”
Mitsuba sighed and grinned, then he patted the wood next to him, “Come, sit.”
Kou did as he was told and sat directly next to Mitsuba, their sides brushing against each other when they breathed.
“...Y-your a bit uh-um… C-close,” Mitsuba swallowed.
Kou stared out into the water, it was running fast enough that he could see the whitewater even through the darkness.
He didn’t know how long they sat together before Mitsuba very slowly leaned his head onto Kou’s shoulder.
“O-Oh,” Kou swallowed, flinching a bit at the act.
Mitsuba stayed put on Kou’s shoulder, moving ever-so slightly as he breathed.
“...Shuddup, dummy,” He whispered, his voice soft and mild.
Kou swallowed, and tilted his head to rest on-top of Mitsuba's.
“This is… Really intimate, huh?” Kou breathed, brushing his hand against Mitsuba's.
He felt the pink boy shiver beside him.
“D-do you think this is a dream, Kou?” Mitsuba asked, a hint of disappointment in his tone.
“I hope it’s not,” Kou whispered, placing his thumb on top of Mitsuba's hand.
He began to gently rub his thumb back and forth on Mitsuba’s soft hand.
“B-but what if it was? What else would you- would you do?”
Kou swallowed and felt his cheeks heat up.
“What do you mean?”
Mitsuba lifted his head up and coyly moved his face towards Kou’s.
“What do you think?”
Kou swallowed again and moved their faces closer together.
“I think I’d kiss you.”
Mitsuba leaned his body against Kou’s.
“And then what?”
Kou’s face flushed a deeper shade of red and he rubbed Mitsuba’s hand harder. “I-I’d kiss you again-b-but harder!”
Mitsuba pressed their noses together and breathed out, “and then?”
Kou used his spare hand to hold Mitsuba’s cheek.
“I’d never let you go,” he whispered into Mitsuba’s mouth, brushing their lips together ever-so gently.
Mitsuba pressed forward, locking their lips on each other, just for a moment before he pulled back with a ‘click’ sound.
“Would you still do it if this wasn’t a dream?”
Kou’s lips trembled from the loss of the others.
“Y-yes.”
Mitsuba returned to Kou’s lips, parting them slightly as they interlocked-Kou’s mouth parted as-well, and his tongue began to lick at Mitsuba’s.
“Mmmn- w-wait, th-this is way too much-“ Mitsuba gasped, before being pulled back into the kiss.
Kou’s brain finally registered Mitsuba’s comment and he pulled back, this time a sucking ‘pop’ filled the silence.
The two panted for a minute before Kou semi-shouted:
“Shit, I’m sorry! I-I should’ve pulled back when you said, I-“
“Shhh, you’re fine. I-I didn’t know you were actually able to like… kiss well…” Mitsuba’s cheeks flushed and he tucked his bangs behind his ear.
“…Soooooo~ you kissed me, kissed me again-way harder- and better if I do say so myself, soooooooo~ you’re never gonna let me go now~?” Mitsuba teased, stroking his index-finger up Kou’s knee-sending a shiver through him.
Kou grabbed a fistful of Mitsuba’s hair and pulled him back onto him, kissing him again.
‘Pop!’
“Damn right.”
He released Mitsuba’s hair, and sat awkwardly, not knowing where to put his hands.
“Pppff!” Mitsuba started to laugh violently, tilting back and thudding onto the floor of the bridge. “AAHHHHAHAA! Oh! Oh my god, Kou I love you, you’re so dumb and awkward, ppffhhhaa!”
He wiped at his eyes, and sat back up.
“Well, Mr romantic, wanna take me back to the school-or like anywhere safe so I don’t die?” He asked, tugging on Kou’s sleeve.
Kou softly cupped Mitsuba’s cheek again.
“In a little bit, I still have more.”
Mitsuba blushed and placed his hands on Kou’s face.
“Give it to me then.”