Chapter Text
It was 8pm on a Thursday and the Owada house hold was quiet. Mondo, a middle schooler, was sitting on the couch watching TV with little to no enthusiasm.
Even though it was a Thursday night, it was a three day off for Mondo's school, some "saint holiday" he couldn't remember, so he didn't have to go to bed early or had to worry about school the next morning.
His mother walked in the room, smiling softly, making her way to the couch and sitting next to him.
Mondo grabbed the remote, lowering the volume, then turned to his mother with a lazy look on his face, half smiling back at her.
"Hey champ." She said, relaxing her back on the somewhat comfortable couch.
"Hey ma." He simply answered.
"What are you watchin'? It better not be that violent stuff." She giggled only half serious.
"Nah ma, just watchin cartoons, whats up? You seem...happy."
Mondo said with a little hesitation.
Growing up his parents were happy or just normal but since his 8th birthday, his parents resentment for each other started to show, and currently, after 2 years of back and forth, they were in the middle of a divorce.
Mondo wanted his mother to be happy so, he tried not to hint on what was happening.
"Of course i am!" She ruffled his hair softly and continued.
"I just got off the phone with Mrs. Hagakure and guess what! I arranged a sleepover with her kid, ain't he your friend?"
It was true, despite Hiro being a bit older than Mondo, he kinda liked his company, plus he was also friends with Mondo's older brother, Daiya, making it easier for them to hang out.
"A sleepover?!" Mondo questioned excitedly.
It had been awhile since he went on one of those. Before his parents divorce, him and his brother would have sleepovers with Daiya's friends and some of Mondo's own. Having one again after such a long time, seemed like a distant memory.
"Yep! Ain't i, the best mom or what." She laughed.
"Heck yeah!" Mondo raised his fist in the air.
"Oh and there's gonna be two other kids your age, Hiro's friend and his step brother! The more the better, right? Just like those you had with your brother!"
Mondo deflated for a second and his mother picked it up immediately. She placed the palm of her left hand on his knee, petting him gently.
"It's gonna be ok Mon. You will have fun, I promise and you know how we feel about promises in this house hold."
Mondo looked at her for a bit, then nodded his head slowly.
"Thanks ma. I trust ya."
She shook his knee with affection, then spoke again.
"Alright young man, since you have your big sleepover tomorrow, how about we head to bed, ok?"
Mondo made a groaning noise and layed back on the couch.
"Come on kiiid. I know you wanna stay up reading your comics all night, but we have to get ready."
She got up from the couch, grabbing onto Mondo's arms, pulling him up playfully.
Mondo got up, giggling from his mother's actions and they both headed upstairs to where their bedrooms were.
"Mon, im going to take a shower, ok? You go to your room and get ready for bed."
She finished then headed for her bedroom that had access to her own bathroom.
"Yeah, yeah ma, im goin."
Mondo said and headed for his own bedroom.
Mondo's room was a typical 10 year old's room, filled with planty of motorcycle pictures, cartoon posters, toys such as plastic soldiers, some action figures he got from his brother and some sports equipment. His bed was placed in the middle of the room, headboard against the wall, with messy dark blue covers. His room also had one window that faced the back of the house, having a clear view of the street and parking garage.
He walked inside, closed the door and sat on his bed since he was already in his pj's.
He leaned down on the floor to get one of his comic books.
"It won't hurt to read just one." He thought. "Untill ma gets out of the shower."
Being a few pages in however, the lights suddenly turned off, making his room dark. Thankfully he still hadn't closed the window blinds, the light illuminating from it was just enough for him to grab a small flashlight from his drawer.
"MA?" He yelled but got no answer.
He then got up and walked to his mothers bedroom and found out that she wasn't there.
It was strange, both of her windows were open and cold air was filling the room, something his mother hated.
Out of curiosity he walked up to the bedroom window and peered though, looking at the front of the house. At first he didn't see anyone but after while, he did notice someone was standing just a few meters away from the front door.
"MA! DADS HERE!" Mondo shouted but he still got no response.
"What is dad doing here at this time..?" He thought. It was a very strange time for him to be outside. He should be with his brother a few minutes away from his house after all, so, what was be doing here..?
Mondo then decided to take a closer look. He tried to focus his eyes and when he did, what he saw, wasn't his father.
This person was very weird looking. His skin seemed to be a pale gray color and his arms were longer than a normal person's and so were his legs.
It seemed like he hasn't noticed Mondo yet but that didn't last long. The person's head turned quickly and faced Mondo dead on, like he knew exactly where he was.
Mondo immediately ducked down, his flashlight still on. He was terrified. Then suddenly, the whole room lit up in a white light and as quickly as it happened, it ended.
Mondo was understandably shaken up. "Who was that?" "What was that light?" "Where is mom?"
These are some of the questions that ran through his mind after what he witnessed.The last question, he decided, was the most important one.
He got up from his hiding spot and headed inside the bathroom, flashlight in hand. He took a few steps and as expected, his mom wasn't there but he made another shocking discovery, the shower was on the whole time. He really, started to panic.
He looked around for a few seconds and suddenly he felt something land on his shoulder. He wiped a finger on it and brought it up to the flashlight.
It was a black gooey substance but it didn't burn to the touch or anything.
Mondo pointed his light up towards the ceiling and he almost dropped it.
The ceiling was covered in that mysterious liquid and he did the only thing he could do. He screamed.
The lights immediately turned on and his mother came running.
"MONDO?! WHAT HAPPENED?!"
She was just in her bath robe, carrying some extra towels.
"MA! THE CEILING!" Mondo cried.
"What about it?! Also why are the windows open, you know how i feel about that!"
She said and went to close them.
" Ma! There was someone outside! I thought It was da but it wasn't ! A..a.and i swear there was something coming down from the ceil-"
Mondo tried to explain but his mom cut him off.
"Mondo, enough. I know you are excited for tomorrow and that you have been reading those comics again, but its time for bed."
Knowing his mom, he didn't want to argue further so he dropped it.
"Y..yes ma, m' sorry."
His mom sighed and gave him one last hug before bed.
"It ok my love, we will talk in the mornin'."
"OK.." He replied and with that he headed back to his room.
Mondo, immediately closed his blinds, locked his bedroom door, got into bed and did his bed to sleep through the night.
-------------
Morning came and the Ishimaru/Hagakure household was lively. The family had a habit of waking up early to start things right. Usually with one parent doing yoga, while the other caught up with the morning news and the kids getting ready for their school day.
This day however, was not much different, except from the fact that it was a school day off for both the kids.
Kiyotaka, the youngest, was aware of the fact and was both sad he didn't have go to school today but also a bit nervous.
Kiyotaka was 10 years old and yet he never really had any friends of his own so, when his mother informed him that she had arranged for him and his brother to have a sleepover, he had some mixed feelings about the ordeal.
Thankfully the whole thing was happening at their place so at least that gave him a peace of mind.
You see, Kiyotaka had sleep apnea and needed to have a machine to help him sleep and of course that made him a bit insecure. But alas, it was happening and if they mocked him, it wouldn't be anything different than he is used to.
His big brother however, was very excited. He had his two best friends to join and was literally bouncing wall to wall.
He even CARTWHEELED down the stairs, which Kiyotaka wasn't aware it was something Hiro could do.
Kiyotaka sat down for breakfast. They were having eggs and to his displeasure, they didn't have the crispy edges he liked and of course on top of that, they were cold...
Their cat, who's name was... knife, named by Hiro of course, was at his feet playing between them.
He didn't really mind the kitty, his only complaint was when Knife would play with his sleep machine, messing the tubes up, leaving Kiyotaka to put them back into place. But other than that, they both loved her.
Eventually Yasuhiro joined Kiyotaka on the table and they started discussing about the sleepover.
"Hey...Hiro... I know I've never been to a sleepover before and I know you are probably going to be upset with my machine and all..."
Kiyotaka expressed in a sad tone.
"Not at all! It's ok Taka there's always a first time for everything, or whatever!"
Hiro smiled at his brother but then got a serious look on his face.
"BUT! Dont think we're going to bed early!"
Hiro pointed a finger and Taka got more nervous. He had never been to bed late unlike his brother.
"What does that mean...?" Taka asked.
"Tonight's gonna be the craziest night of our lives! Your's more since it your first time! We are going to make it special!"
Hiro answered enthusiastically and Taka sighed.
"Ughh..I guess... since you will be there its going to be ok...I won't back down this time!"
He ended his sentence with a bit more confidence.
They both started digging in their cold breakfast when their parents walked in from the living room, talking to each other.
"Honey, did you hear about all the blackouts in the city?"
Their mother asked their father.
"Yeah, I just heard about it... its looking really bad. Theres even riots happening in the streets. I have to go to the station and see what we can do."
Their father grunts in annoyance.
"Oh honey, please be careful."
Their mother shook her head. And with that they continued their conversation.
"Hiro?" Taka started.
"Yeah man?" Hiro responded with a mouth full of eggs.
"Who are your friends that are coming over? Are they from school?"
Taka asked. He wasn't sure why he never met these kids before, not even Hiros best friend.
"One of them is Leon! He plays baseball and we met at one of his games! He was just starting when we met so he's way better than before!" "He is my best buddy!"
Hiro said happily and continued.
"Then you are going to meet Mondo! My other good friend! Technically I met his big brother first and we are closer, but he is cool too! He's also kinda weird so, you might like him, actually!"
"Oh...oh! That sounds good..! Again, as long as you are there, I think it can be... fun!"
Taka reassured himself and Hiro nodded, only half listening while he finished his eggs.
"Sure buddy!"
---------------
On the same day a couple hours later, Leon was in his house garage, practicing his swings. He was staring to get better and better at baseball and he was very pleased with himself. It seemed after he met Hiro, things were more fun and so was baseball.
Suddenly while practicing, a hand caught his bat preventing him from continuing.
Looking up, he saw his older step brother, Mason.
"Gotcha!" He said laughing.
"Haha yeah... you got me, Mase. Do uh, do you wanna play or-"
"Naaah."
Leon started to ask but was caught off.
"Well...did Canon wanna play...? Or any of your friends...?"
Leon was kinda used to his brother being mean to him and he was also used to being left out.
"Nahh, we are gonna play volleyball in the yard."
Mason said with a smug expression.
"Can I come? I can play good! Or I can carry stuff..?"
Leon laughed awkwardly. He really wanted to be included in doing fun things with his brother but he was of course shut down multiple times.
"It's a 4 person game. It works best with 4 people."
Mason immediately proceeded to shut him down once again.
"Oh, ok... I guess.. can I play next time? You said-"
Leon was promised many times that the next time his brother and his friends went out to play, he would be included but they always seem to forget each time so he tried to remind Mason.
"Yeah, you can play next time...Maybe."
"But..but!"
Leon tried to speak but was cut off by Mason's friend, an even older kid from his school.
"Come on Mason let's go play!"
"OK! See you later Lee!"
Mason said while he ran to his friends. They proceeded to get on their bikes, leaving Leon behind.
Leon had a game next week on Friday and he had a feeling, Mason wouldn't come to see him, and leon decided, it was fine.
He started to hit the baseball harder and after a particularly hard swing, the ball ended up around the corner outside of the garage, leon groaned but followed after the ball.
He turned the corner searching for it but ended up finding something else with his baseball.
A black sticky goo stained the back of the garage which by it self, wasn't that big of a deal. Leon thought, since cars usually stay parked close enough, that something leaked from them.
But he of course got curious, as 10 year olds tend to do and crouched down to get a better look. He stuck one finger in the goo and pulled it up to his face. It somehow seemed different than the usual grease. This was was thicker and didn't have a smell.
A few seconds pass and while leon continued to observe this weird thing he found, he suddenly heard a noise.
It was a gurge. It sounded like an animal of some kind but it also sounded off. Like a human mimicking the sound, Leon thought.
Then it stopped abruptly and what leon heard next scared him to his core.
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, SON?"
His father came out from the garage door and walked towards leon to see what he had been up to.
His father was a sturn, family man, even though he sounded tough, he did have a soft spot for his youngest son. He and his step mother got together when Leon was around 5 years old, thinking it was the best for his family.
Leon sometimes disagreed but never brought it up, he didn't want to make his father sad.
"Oh uh, im sorry dad! My ball rolled back here and I was trying to get it."
Leon immediately apologized. And his dad smiled at him.
"Oh that's ok son. Sorry I yelled at you, I thought something was wrong."
His dad ruffled his hair up a bit and leon giggled at that.
"No sir, im fine! Oh, uh there is some-"
Leon turned around to show his dad the weird liquid he found but it was no longer there and he couldn't help but make a confused sound.
"There is some, what? Is there something back there?" His dad asked.
"Uh, no. I guess not! Heh."
Leon answered.
"Uhh, alright, ah yes! You mother has something to tell you, you better go inside and talk to her, ok?"
His dad pats him on the back playfully.
"Alright! Thanks dad!"
Leon said. He then ran back inside the house and found his mom in the living room, waiting for him.
Leon's mom smiled lovingly when she saw him.
"Hi, are you excited for the sleepover?"
"Yeeeah mom..." Leon said in a sad tone.
"Why are you upset, my love?"
She slowly approached leon, placing her hand on his little shoulder. Leon let out a small sigh and looked down at his feet, fidgeting with his hands.
"Hey. Honey. Dont pay attention to your brother, ok..? He is going to grow out of it soon. Im really excited for you to go and have fun with your good friends. Please focus on that."
She now ran her fingers through his red hair, making him feel more at ease.
"Yeah mom, im also very excited. Did uh, did you buy the ice cream for it?"
Leon asked, happy once again.
"Of course I did! Your favorites too! Vanilla and strawberry."
Even though she wasn't his biological mom, she knew a lot about Leon's favorite things and it always made him feel better. He hugged her and she continued to pet his hair.
"Alright lee, we have some more things to prepare for you to take to the sleepover and you should start getting ready, ok?"
Leon nodded, quickly going up the stairs to his room and started preparing his bag for the night.
A few hours go by, the sun is now slowly setting and leon is hanging out in his room, now ready for his sleepover. He sat on his bed, resting his arm on the window that's next to him, listening to all the small noises from outside.
He then picked up what sounded like a plane moving smoothly across the sky above him. He didn't think anything of it since it was normal for a plane to pass above his house but after awhile he noticed that the sound, never left.
A few seconds went by and he started to look around. "Maybe its something in my room that's making a noise?" He thought.
He looked around a bit more but then the sound suddenly stopped, leaving him very confused.
"A lot of weird things are happening..."
He mumbled to himself then shrugged and got up, ready to go downstairs so his mom can take him to the sleepover.