(narration, Subaru's parents)
Subaru's parents, having waited well past dinnertime, were starting to grow anxious. The sky outside had turned a deep indigo, stars beginning to peek through the clouds as the last hints of daylight faded.
"He still hasn't come back?" his mother asked, her voice tight with worry as she paced the kitchen. A bowl of now-cold curry rice sat untouched on the table, its warmth long gone.
"No... and none of his friends have shown up either," his father replied, standing near the door with a furrowed brow. "Something's not right."
They had trusted him, given him the freedom to hang out with friends. He was responsible, usually. But ever since that loss yesterday, he'd seemed off. Quiet. Distant. Still, it was just one bad day... right?
Phone calls to the other kids' homes went unanswered, and confused parents were on the other end. No one had seen them.
With worry boiling over, they threw on their coats and ran out into the night, calling his name as they searched through the neighbourhood, the nearby park, the edges of the forest. Anywhere he might have gone.
After nearly an hour, just as they were about to give up and call the police, they found him. Subaru. lying motionless on the forest floor. Not too far in, but far enough to make their hearts stop.
He was unconscious. Pale. Still breathing... but barely.
They rushed to his side, frantically checking over their baby boy, tears in their eyes. In their panic, they didn't notice the still, lifeless body of one of his friends just a few meters away, hidden by the brush.
---
At the hospital, Subaru was quickly admitted to emergency care and brought in for immediate scans. Doctors worked with quiet urgency, examining him from head to toe.
Surprisingly, there were no visible injuries. No signs of trauma. The tests showed nothing out of the ordinary, except for extreme physical and mental exhaustion. It was as if his body had been pushed far beyond its limit, drained to the core.
He was placed in a hospital bed, a quiet room where he could rest. According to the doctors, he would need several days to recover.
Days later, Subaru finally opened his eyes.
But something was off.
He barely spoke. His eyes felt distant, hollow, like they were staring at something no one else could see. When the nurses or his parents gently asked what had happened, he'd go quiet, tense up, and shrink into himself. No matter how kindly they tried, he refused to say a word.
He didn't cry. He didn't shout. He didn't even ask for his friends.
He just stared. Silent. Like something inside him had been left behind in that forest.
---
His other two friends weren't hurt badly, at least not physically. But they were shaken, terrified in a way no kid should ever be. They kept repeating the same thing, over and over.
"Monsters… there were monsters…"
The adults chalked it up to shock. Maybe an animal had startled them, something big, something wild.
But as days passed, and Hitomi still hadn't returned home, the worry turned to dread. A search party was launched, but nothing was found. No tracks, no body, no signs of a struggle beyond the strange, scattered markings near the area where Subaru had been discovered.
With no evidence, no answers, and nothing to hold on to, the case was quietly closed.
The final theory, A wild animal had appeared. Hitomi had been killed, and the surviving boys had witnessed it. Simple. Clean. Easy to write down in a report.
The poor parents of Hitomi… they never even got the closure of burying their own child.
---
Subaru was allowed back. After being cleared by the doctors, he was given a few days to rest before returning to school.
But until then, he stayed home, quiet, distant, and locked in his room for most of the day. He barely ate. Barely spoke. Just stared at the wall, lost in thoughts no one else could see.
His parents never once said anything negative about his behaviour. They knew punishment wouldn't help — not after something like this. But still… it hurt.
It hurt to see their cheerful, goofy son reduced to a ghost of himself. The boy who used to laugh at dumb jokes and sneak snacks before dinner now barely responded to his own name. The silence in the house wasn't peaceful anymore. It was heavy. Suffocating.
And watching him like this gave their hearts a never-ending ache.
---
It was even worse when he returned to school.
He wasn't just distant. He was afraid.
He walked the halls with his head down, eyes never meeting anyone else's. Flinching at sudden movements. Muttering under his breath. The teachers noticed, of course, and when they gently asked what was wrong, all he could say was.
"There are monsters… all around."
No one believed him. How could they?
But Subaru knew the truth. Ever since he swallowed that finger, he could see them. These twisted, shapeless things that clung to the ceilings, crouched in corners, or slithered beneath the floorboards. They didn't speak. Didn't move. Just watched.
They were disgusting. And they were everywhere.
He would squeeze his eyes shut and grip the edge of his desk, trying not to scream. Trying not to throw up. Trying not to run. But even then… he could still feel them watching.
The worst part? No one else could.
And slowly, a part of him began to wonder — had he gone insane?
---
Naoko wrung her hands, eyes red from sleepless nights. "What do we do, Kenichi? He's getting worse. He barely speaks to us now. He doesn't leave his room most days, and when he does, it's only to go to school for a few hours. And even then, it's like he's not even there."
Kenichi, Subaru's father, leaned against the kitchen counter, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't know, Naoko. We've tried everything. Multiple psychiatrists, therapists... nothing seems to help. It's like he's shutting down completely."
Naoko's voice cracked as she looked up at him, worry etched across her face. "I don't understand. What happened to him? He was so full of life. He used to laugh, joke with his friends. Now, it's like he's a shell of who he used to be. Like he's... someone else."
Kenichi sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know. But we have to keep trying, right? We can't give up on him. We need to figure out what happened, what changed."
Naoko shook her head slowly, tears gathering in her eyes. "But how? He won't talk to us anymore. He doesn't even look at us the same. He's so distant... it feels like he's already gone."
Kenichi clenched his fists, frustration boiling inside him. "I don't know. But we can't give up. We won't. He's still our son, and I know he can come back from this. We can't just let him go like this."
Naoko nodded, wiping away a tear, trying to hold herself together. "I know... I just wish he'd talk to us. Tell us what's going on inside his head."
---
Years later, Subaru barely socialised anymore. He kept up with his studies, thankfully, going to school one day a week, with the rest of his work done online. His fears seemed to have subsided, and he was, in many ways, more like his old self again. He was popular, even well-liked, and became one of the top students in his fitness class. Yet, despite all of this, he still refused to engage with anyone outside of that single day of school. He was distant, socialising beyond that was something he simply couldn't bring himself to do.
His parents couldn't help but wonder if this was all just a front. They saw his success and the outward signs of happiness, but something about him didn't feel the same. He seemed content, but there was still a lingering distance in his eyes, an emptiness they couldn't shake.
The change in him was permanent, and no matter how much they wished for him to open up, Subaru remained a quiet, distant shadow of who he once was. Even as things returned to some semblance of normality, that deep-rooted fear, that silent isolation, was always there. And his parents, despite their love, couldn't help but feel like they were losing him more and more with each passing day.
---
Everyone thought I was crazy. I mean, I couldn't blame them. A key reason for belief is sight. So if they couldn't see anything, why would they believe me?
Being in class made me sick, watching those things slither around my classmates like they belonged. It made me want to vomit. I could ignore it now, but honestly, I'd rather not go at all if I had the choice. but i understand that school is important, thank God, my mom let me go to a school that had a semi-online course on it.
Still, even though I could hear them through the walls, I wouldn't socialise more than I needed to. I couldn't. After all, I'm different from them. I can see what they can't. I'm stronger than them all now, to the point that I could be called a monster.
Hell, I can even bring out this blue energy if I really wanted to...
...
...
...
I can't have friends anymore, not after that night... never again. I'd just lead them to the same fate, after all.
I'm too different for them to ever understand. But it's fine. I still have the internet. I still have gaming and anime. It's all I'll ever need now.
---
It was a couple of months till his 18th birthday, and he was once again held up in his room. In the middle of the night. (like me, jesus its 1 am goddamn.)
He had just finished a match. Lost. Raged. Swore he hated the game. The usual.
Now, in the aftermath, he sat with a scowl on his face, arms crossed as he stared at the results screen like it had personally wronged him. With a sigh, he closed the game.
And then… the Wikipedia spiral began.
As one does.
One click led to another. Then another. Articles on ancient rituals, obscure religious beliefs, and bizarre urban legends filled his screen, probably fake, but still weirdly fascinating. He didn't care if he'd never use this information. He knew squid evolution or how to build a sewing machine wouldn't ever come up in real life, but it was fun. It kept his mind busy. It distracted him.
A way to not think.
He leaned back in his chair, eyes stinging from the light, when suddenly
Grumble.
His stomach growled.
"…Tch. Of course."
The hunger hit him all at once. But not just any hunger. A very specific craving. Salty, crunchy, life-completing...
Potato chips.
He groaned as he stood up, throwing on his tracksuit, changing out of his PJ'S. "Fine, fine. I'll go get some. God knows I'm not sleeping tonight anyway…"
He slipped out of his room and down the stairs, quietly so he wouldn't wake his parents. His shoes were slipped on without a thought, and soon enough, the cold night air hit his face as he stepped out onto the quiet street.
The store wasn't far. A ten-minute walk at most. "i think, i could see if they have any new manga too... oh might as well get some instant ramen too." with that he took a step forward, onwards to a destination that even he doesn't know yet.
a destination... that he won't have a choice in.
.
.
.
---
(end prologue)
welp, hoped you liked it, sorry for vanishing again, just have the urge to be lazy at any time i want to write this. but I finally wrote something.
also kinda busy, doing a bunch of angst fandom stuff, replaying omori, ddlc, re-reading your name and a silent voice, even re-read magic and mystory cause i was in that mood, and i'll probably be doing more of that.
so i gotta warn most of you all, that my uploading schedual is worse than a cats drive to be nice.
anyway, bye bye.