Chapter Text
It was quiet. Too quiet. It wasn’t the type of quiet you would hear when you were in waiting room, it was the type of quiet you would hear when something bad was about to happen. Atsushi’s face hit the grounds hard and rubbled stone path, the path ending near where he had landed quickly as it merged into the forests dirty road. Atsushi attempted to swiftly get back up onto his feet, which was then met by a crushing force on his head pushing him back down, blood streaming down slowly onto the stone.
After what felt like an eternity to Atsushi, the caretakers foot pushed him down harder for a second before they had pulled it back and ran back to the orphanage door, Atsushi getting up quickly after and turning his body towards the caretakers and headmaster staring down at him with a visible disgust. The headmaster grabbed Atsushi’s white cloak he had taken with him into the orphanage on his first day and threw it at him, casting Atsushi into the forest soon afterwards, Atsushi putting on the cloak as he walked, the blood still flowing down form his forehead dotting the cloak with his blood.
Atsushi walked, and walked, and walked, leaves crunching under Atsushi’s bare feet, dirtied and bloodied from months of pain and suffering. Atsushi continued walking for what had seemed to be an eternity, the sky progressively falling darker and darker before the skies previous bright blue sky had descended into an inky abyss, stars dotting the sky like light in an eternal darkness. Suddenly, tiredness began to creep onto Atsushi, his eyes lids getting heavier the more he walked, feeling like someone was tugging on them.
Just before Atsushi’s psyche had succumbed to his weariness, a gunshot rang out. Atsushi walked startled awake, looking around in fear, searching for something in the darkness, anything that would tell him what caused that noise. Suddenly, another one rang out, the gunshot sounding closer and louder to Atsushi. Atsushi continued to search endlessly inside the darkness, his eyes darting around in fear, until suddenly, his eyes caught onto something, something in the darkness. It was moving.
Atsushi froze, the figure stared back at him, its eyes lifeless and glazed over. Before the figure could react, Atsushi ran, he ran as fast as his weak legs could bring him, as much as his legs would bring him. Suddenly, Atsushi, collapsed, his legs felt numb, they hurt, they wouldn’t move.
Atsushi turned his body around swiftly, his eyes being set on the figure behind him. It slowly inched closer, and closer, and closer, and suddenly, he heard its voice. “Looks like another fool got lost in the forest again”.
Atsushi trembled like a scared puppy, the strangers cold and stern expression unchanging as he helped Atsushi get back on his bloodied feet. The stranger sighed before letting out a small cough, “Just follow me and I’ll bring you back to Yokohama. That’s where I assume you came from anyways..”. Atsushi followed close behind the stranger, practically hugging his stained cloak as he shook heavily with every step, it was like he was a fawn following its mother. Eventually, Atsushi had managed to muster up the courage to ask the stranger a question. “What’s.. Your name sir?..” Atsushi asked shakily
The stranger didn’t answer, the what would’ve been awkward silence was replaced by the sounds of crickets chirping nearby before the stranger answered. “Ryunosuke Akutagawa” Akutagawa answered, letting out a cough as some sort of punctuation.
“…Atsushi.. Atsushi Nakajima..”
“…”
“…”
“Well then, Atsushi Nakajima. Where’s your home at?”
“I… I don’t have a home..”
Akutagawa stopped in his tracks, Atsushi nearly bumping into the hunters back. They stood for a while before the hunter spoke again, “Where do you live then”.
Atsushi replied, “The-The orphanage. But they kicked me out so.. you don’t have to worry” Atsushi let out a nervous laugh before Akutagawa had continued walking, Atsushi having to catch up due his lack of attention.
“Why did they kick you out?” Akutagawa asked, letting out a few coughs at the end of his sentence
“They.. They said I made a mess.. I was a mistake they said..”
“Mess?”
Atsushi nodded slightly like the hunter could sense him nod within the empty darkness, “I-I never knew what they meant.. They.. They showed me bodies covered in blood.. They usually had scratch marks or-or bite marks..”
“Bite marks?”
“Mhm.. They would burn me with a stick whenever I said I didn’t know what happened to the kid.. But-but I never did!”
Akutagawa didn’t respond as the two kept walking in the darkness, fire flies glowing and leaves crunching as they walked, Atsushi’s stomach growling growing more loud as time went by. Eventually, after what had to be hours of walking, they reached their destination. “We’re here.” The hunter stated, unlocking the door and opening it quickly after, a warm glow coming from what was a normal cabin.
Atsushi walked inside, his eyes meeting a bed, a fireplace, a few chairs, a table, a kitchen, and a lantern. Atsushi’s eyes lit up with curiosity and joy, Akutagawa sitting down onto a wooden rocking chair, his hands grasping at a wooden block and his other hand holding a carving knife. Atsushi glanced at the window, the moon being obstructed by clouds, then at the bed, then at Akutagawa before asking, “Sir, can I go to bed?”. Akutagawa nodded, coughing as he carved the wood piece into something unknown, his eyes still glazed as when he had met Atsushi.
Atsushi’s eyes lit up before he jumped into the bed, its mattress soft and its blankets warmth felt like a hug he had been looking for his entire life. Before he knew it, Atsushi was out like a light. Akutagawa stared at Atsushi, his expression melancholy and somewhat… hateful?.. Akutagawa slowly got up from his chair and began to slowly wander towards Atsushi’s unconscious body, grabbing his rifle from his back and pointing it towards Atsushi’s forehead. Akutagawa aimed carefully and precisely, the moons glow shining through the window and onto the bed like a spotlight, illuminating the whole scene like a play. Suddenly, Atsushi woke up.
Atsushi quickly backed away from Akutagawa in fear, Akutagawa still pointing the rifle straight at his head as Atsushi fell off the bed and clung to the wall. The fireplace cracked and crinkled, the floors creaked and squeaked. And yet, it was still too quiet.
Atsushi stared at Akutagawa, fear visible on his face, his eyes beginning to well up with said fear. Meanwhile, Akutagawa glared at Atsushi, his rifle still pointed straight at him. Suddenly- *BANG*
A gunshot rang out. A gunshot rang out, followed by the screeching sound shattering glass. Atsushi ducked and whimpered in fear, glass pieces pierced his body, staining his cloak with his blood. Out of fear, Atsushi looked out the window that was next to him, the moons glow shining through the broken window with a bright and shining brilliance. Akutagawa could only watch as he could see, he could hear the piercing screams of what was once an innocent child, and what was soon to be his death.
Akutagawa backed up in perhaps, fear. The figure of a horrifying creature standing nearly straight in front of him, its stance majestic and yet hateful. Its eyes glowed with a brilliant bright yellow, illuminating the near darkness within the moons glow. Suddenly, before Akutagawa could raise his gun from his initial shock, the creature lunged at him with a loud and malice filled roar. Akutagawa screamed in absolute pain, his screams soon going quiet as blood dripped from his body as the creature dig through his skin and muscles like a dog digging in dirt.
The creature tore through Akutagawa’s body, biting, scratching, and eating until Akutagawa was unrecognizable. The creature slowly rose up from its mess and slowly crawled onto the bed, and began to sleep. Sleep like there’s nothing there anymore. Atsushi’s cloak was ripped and bloodied with his and the hunters blood, the splatters like a beautiful pattern that was meant to be there.
── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ── ── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ── ── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ── ── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ── ── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆
A Night Passes by Quietly. . . The Crickets Chirping and The Trees Creaking as a Beast Sleeps
── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ── ── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ── ── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ── ── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ── ── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆
Atsushi woke up, yawning quietly as to not wake Akutagawa from his sleep. For some reason, Akutagawa had decided to sleep beside Atsushi on the floor, how strange. Atsushi - unlike to his normal self - wasn’t hungry this morning. Atsushi jumped off the bed, picking up his stained cloak and pulling it over his head. A few minutes pass, then an hour, Akutagawa sure does sleep late. Atsushi began to poke Akutagawa’s still body in hopes of him waking up, but he wouldn’t move.
Atsushi sighed, then glanced at Akutagawa, his body still unmoving from his previous position as he sat on the bed, its sheets strangely splattered with some blood. Atsushi turned towards the doorway, the door wide open, the suns light illuminated the cabin with a bright glow, the glow telling Atsushi to follow it, to find it, to search for it. As like a curious child would, Atsushi wanders out of the cabin, and into the forest, unlikely to return ever again.
“A man sometimes devotes his life to a desire which he is not sure will ever be fulfilled" - Ryunosuke Akutagawa, (1892 - 1927)