Chapter Text
Have you ever felt like a failure?
Have you ever felt intimidated?
Have you ever had to face your fears?
Well, it's a normal occurrence.
Though not all expectations become a reality, no matter how much you want to live up to them.
-no one's pov-
It was a quiet evening at Kamome High School. Only a small number of students remained, whether it was due to clubs or just spending time with fellow classmates for other reasons. The sun started to set, causing the orange color of the sun to shine through the large windows of the school's hallways and classrooms.
Kou Minamoto, the younger brother of the school's student council president, Teru Minamoto, was making his way through the colorful hallway after spending time with his friends while waiting for his boyfriend, Mitsuba Sousuke.
Sousuke usually stayed after school for his photography club, in which he was the president and operated it. After the two boys agreed to start their relationship, they both decided it was for the best to wait for each other in school and meet each other outside after Sousuke's club was finished. Kou didn't want to distract Sousuke during his club, so what he would do was hang out with his two other friends, Amane Yugi and Nene Yashiro, on the third floor of the school while he waited.
As soon as his phone made a noise, he knew Sousuke was finished with his club and was waiting for him at the front of the school. He waved goodbye to his friends and started to head down the steps to meet up with his boyfriend. As the hallway started to dim, it got harder to see what was ahead, but instead of moving forward, Kou stopped in his tracks as soon as he heard a low growl. He squinted, pulling his exorcist staff out from behind him while trying to see through the darkness ahead.
The growling got closer until the creature showed itself after the lights outside turned on and lightly lit up the hall. It was an apparition, but one that presented itself as a wolf, a wolf that looked like it was severely hurt before it passed away. It continued to slowly approach Kou, who, instead of backing away, prepared himself for a fight. That's when the apparition lunged towards him to attack, with Kou responding by holding his staff in front of him to shock it.
The creature whined at the first shock, which Kou was proud of, but it still had enough energy to be able to dodge the rest of Kou's attempts at shocking it. The blonde's palms started to sting as he continued trying to hit the creature jumping around him rapidly. It moved behind a shadow when Kou lost track of it before it jumped towards him and bit down on his shoulder, making him yelp and fall to the floor. As his shoulder started to bleed, he used his other arm to shock the creature before it whined and jumped off of him. Kou got up as quickly as he could, preparing himself for a continuation of the fight, only to see nothing in front of him. The apparition got away.
He huffed, throwing his staff on the floor out of pure frustration before grabbing his bleeding shoulder. Disappointed in himself and his failure to exorcise the one apparition he finally was able to face head-on, he slowly picked up his staff and put it behind his back again. He stumbled a bit while getting up, starting to feel weak as his shoulder continued to bleed out, and he walked to the front of the school to finally meet up with his boyfriend.
From a distance, the pink-haired boy stood by the entrance, rapidly tapping his foot on the ground and fidgeting with his camera. It was clear he was getting impatient, wanting to get home as soon as possible. As soon as he heard footsteps, he whipped his head around to glare at his boyfriend.
"WHERE WERE YOU?! I'VE BEEN STANDING HERE FOR TWENTY MINUTES WAITING FOR YOUR SLOW A-" Sousuke had stopped scolding him as soon as he saw the blood pouring from Kou's shoulder, and he quickly became concerned. "Oh my god... What the hell did you do this time? Ugh... Let's just hurry up and get home!"
Kou heard a huff come from his partner as he grabbed his hand and dragged him to the one place they always went to, the Minamoto household. It was practically Sousuke's own house, thanks to his mother never being home because of work. He hated the feeling of being alone, so after some extreme convincing, Kou's older brother agreed to let Mitsuba stay whenever he wanted.
Teru wasn't home when they arrived at the house, so Sousuke went to treat Kou's wound by himself. He grabbed bandages and other supplies, mumbling curse words under his breath as he wrapped up the blonde's shoulder.
"Alright, done... Now lie down before you pass out. Idiot..." Sousuke grumbled as he watched Kou lie down on the bed. "You wanna tell me what happened?"
Kou just tiredly looked up at his boyfriend with a frown. "I got stuck in the hallway fighting an apparition... it ended up jumping on me and biting my shoulder... but... I didn't even exorcise it, it had already run off by the time I got up..."
"You dumbass... Why didn't you call your brother?"
Kou shot a glare at him. "I couldn't! That thing wasn't letting me pass, and I couldn't just let it run off!"
Mitsuba whined and covered his ears. "Okay, okay, I get it! God... Don't give yourself and me a headache! We've got school again tomorrow."
"I don't know if I'll be able to go..." Kou mumbled.
Sousuke sat down next to him and stroked his hair. "We'll see. If you can't go, I'm not going either. I'll take care of you like the awesome boyfriend I am."
Kou just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah... thanks."
Sousuke smirked at him. "You're welcome~"
The pink-haired boy proceeded to pull the blanket over Kou, who closed his eyes. He was already exhausted, especially after losing so much blood, so it was understandable why he passed out so fast. As soon as he did, just to make sure he wasn't looking, Sousuke kissed his forehead like a GOOD boyfriend would do. Though he didn't want the blonde to notice because he'd make fun of him for being a softie.
Eventually, when it came to be later in the night, Sousuke cuddled up next to his boyfriend and fell asleep.
Although Kou's shoulder felt basically numb at this point, when the clock hit midnight, a deep pain hit him all at once, and he got up, gripping his now aching shoulder. He refused to wake up Sousuke because he looked so peaceful, so he stepped out of the room to take care of his pain himself.
Something felt off, though. Kou felt his pain shock his entire body, making him fall on the floor. He panted heavily, watching as his nails started to grow sharp and his arms became hairy. A tail came out from behind him, and ears popped out of the top of his head.
"Wha... W-What the hell..." He growled quietly.
As his body shook uncontrollably, Kou looked down at his hands and widened his eyes, seeing how sharp his nails got and how hairy they got as well. He panicked, running out of the room as soon as he saw himself, and so his siblings and Mitsuba wouldn't see him.
It was almost like an instinct for Mitsuba to wake up when Kou wasn't around. He woke up to the sound of Kou leaving, but he didn't see him, so that's when he got up and looked around the room.
Kou left a trail of blood behind him as he ran out of the house, trying to search for a spot to hide. He ended up hiding behind a random tree in the nearby forest. He was basically cowering in fear behind the tree, covering himself and everything with his arms.
He looked down at himself again. "What's... what's going on...?! What's wrong with me?!"
Sousuke was confused as hell, but he just went along and followed the trail of blood that was along the floor of the house. It led to the door, which worried him.
"He's.. outside..? Like. In the dark..?"
He then looked around for his phone and turned on the flashlight. He put on his shoes and walked out, still following the blood.
Sousuke eventually made it to the other side of the tree, where Kou was sitting. The blonde gasped in response and looked up at Sousuke in terror. He quickly shuffled before getting onto his feet and quickly running further into the forest, still trying to cover his face.
"G-Get away from me!! Don't look!!"
The pink boy was literally frozen in fear now. He was confused and scared, now in the forest alone, while trying to chase after his boyfriend.
"Wait up..! Please..!"
Kou just kept running while holding his bleeding shoulder to get rid of the trail. As soon as he lost Mitsuba, he hid behind another tree and started shaking,
"I-I don't want him seeing me like this... I don't..." he mumbled to himself.
Mitsuba ran after him the best he could until, well, he lost him. He looked around, calling his name as loud as he could.
"Kou..?? Kou!" The pink boy started panting. "I'm not like.. I'm not scared of you, come out!! I know you're there!!"
Little did we know, he was scared.
Kou could hear him yelling, even if it was just a little quiet. He panted and looked at his hands again.
'What is this... is this because of that apparition...? What am I...?'
He kept hiding until he started losing his own mind, almost blacking out in a way. He could feel something taking over his body, making him feel numb. He no longer had control over himself. He got up from behind the tree and growled, now going AFTER Sousuke. As soon as he saw him, he started BOOKING IT and chasing after him.
Sousuke's eyes widened when he heard the growling and noticed him.
"Okay... Now I'm scared of you!!" He said before running in the opposite direction.
He was booking it, but it was dark, and he wasn't looking at where he was going, so he ran straight into a tree and fell on his bottom. He didn't pass out or anything, but he lay on his back and whined, putting his hands over his face
"Ouch..."
He slowed down when he heard Sousuke fall and looked around. He sniffed the air like an actual dog and eventually found him, continuing to growl as he inched closer.
Mitsuba looked up at him in fear. He quickly panicked because he had no idea how to get away at this point, so he got desperate and ripped his shoe off, throwing it directly at Kou's face as he scrambled up to run away.
"Stay back!!"
The blonde stumbled back a little and growled even louder than before. He was pissed now, so he ran back after him and jumped to attack him, just for Sousuke to throw his OTHER shoe at him. It didn't work this time, though, because Kou dodged it.
Sousuke was done for. At least from his perspective. Kou jumped on top of him, pinning him to the ground. He had no control over himself right now, so he opened his mouth like he was going to bite him.
The pink-haired boy used all his strength in his legs to try to push Kou off him. The Blonde was pushed back a bit but still tried to bite him. Out of nowhere, though, the sun began to shine through the opening in the trees, and he just collapsed onto Mitsuba. He passed out. To make it even better for him, Kou's shoulder was still bleeding out.
Sousuke started panicking and tried to push Kou off him. It didn't help that he gagged when he noticed the blood spilling on his clothes.
"Blegh-- H-Hey!! Wake up!! You're bleeding on me, dumbass!!"
Kou was still unconscious, so he didn't wake up or even flinch at the yelling. Mitsuba ended up panicking and looking around for someone, anyone at all, but soon he got the idea to pull out his phone and call Kou's brother.
Teru hadn't woken up yet, so he groaned when his phone rang. He sat up and answered, yawning into the phone.
"Sousuke...? Why are you calling me? What's wrong?"
"Something is wrong with Kou..!!" Sousuke stuttered nonstop while trying to explain the entire situation that had happened just now. Teru was just. Baffled and confused, to say the least. He quickly got out of bed, though, quickly pulling on a jacket and running out of the house.
"Sousuke, where are you? I'm on my way now."
"I have no idea where exactly I am..." The pink boy looked around. "I'm in the forest..?"
Teru sighed and made his way through the nearby forest. "Alright... don't get off the phone and don't move."
He stayed on the phone with Sousuke until he finally found him on the ground with Kou. He widened his eyes and picked his brother up.
"Oh my god... Kou? Kou?! What the hell happened?!"
to be continued...