Chapter Text
The ant told me that the frog is bad
The frog told me that the cat is bad
The cat told me no. The rabbit is the worst of them all.
So I…
“Simple right? If you ever need a reminder of the rules, there is a note on the desk.” The woman spoke to him simply, he nodded in response and the woman smiled. “There isn’t a lot here, but it’s peaceful, and the other residents might be a bit prickly, but they are kind at the end of the day, you’ll enjoy it.” She says humming as he glances back over to the papers on her desk.
“...What should I call you?” The boy finally asks, the woman seems surprised to hear him speak, but she smiles.
“For now, just call me Teacher.” She holds out a hand towards him. “I look forward to having you here, Hasegawa Ken.”
Ken moves towards the rooms, Teacher had told him to introduce himself to them… So he decides to get that out the way sooner rather than later. He gives a gentle knock towards the first door he sees, as he waits for a response, he decides to read the nameplate next to it.
ISONO MIKI
The door opens, and out comes a girl who holds a smile on her face, though it feels a bit forced…
“...Hello, you must be the new resident teacher mentioned before.” Isono starts the conversation much to Ken’s preference. “...Are you… Alive?” Ken tilts his head in confusion to her words. “...I guess you don’t see it yourself…”
“...Um… My name is Hasegawa Ken…” Ken says quietly despite the strange words coming from her mouth, she hums in response.
“Isono Miki.”
Next door… He knocks again, this person answers much sooner, and they hum upon seeing him. They wore a mask, he couldn’t see their face… They tilt their head at him, as if waiting for a response.
“...I-I’m Hasegawa Ken… I’m a new resident here…” He finally says after some time. The person hums.
“Isono Miki.” They respond. What…?
“B-But I thought…”
“Sorry. I mean Okazaki Hanano.” They respond soon enough with a light laugh.
“Oh…” Ken answers back quietly. This person was strange…
“Konkonkon… You seem fun to be around.” Okazaki says. Ken didn’t really understand.
Another knock, this one took a long time before they appeared in front of them. A much smaller man, blue hair that resembled a jellyfish. He seemed annoyed at first, but it somewhat softened looking at him.
“...New resident?”
“Y-Yeah… Hasegawa Ken…”
“...Kamimura Kazutoshi… I’m guessing ‘teacher’ forced you to come introduce yourself.”
“F-Force is a strong word…”
“Whatever, nice to meet you.” He says almost bored. “...I’m going to go back to laying down…”
“R-Right…” Ken says watching him close his door.
One more door… Ken knocks one more time, another man with blue hair comes out, but he seems more friendly than anyone else he’s met.
“M-My name is Hasegawa Ken… I’ll be a new resident here…”
“Hasegawa huh? My name is Ojima Takeshi.” The boy smiles friendly enough. Ken can’t help but notice the second bed in his room and Ojima hums. “Hiroaki Nakimigawa also sleeps here, but he’s not around right now, you might see him tonight.” Ken nods slowly, if he wasn’t here right now he could go back to teacher right?
“...So you’ve spoken to everyone?” Teacher asked curiously, in which Ken nodded. “Great, it’s almost time for dinner, so let’s go to the dining room.” He says smiling again.
“Thanks for the meal teacher.” Ojima says after he finishes his plate.
“Yeah, it was good.” Isono says smiling.
“Thanks…” Kamimura says quietly.
“Mhmm… Good as always.” Okazaki says with a hum.
“T-Thanks…” Ken says quietly.
“You’re welcome everyone, now let’s all get to sleep. Feel free to visit each other's rooms but as said previously do not go to the second floor.” Teacher says smiling again, others begin to leave, leaving Ken and the teacher in the room alone. “You seem to be getting used to things quickly… That’s good.” Teacher says humming. “Oh… I forgot to give you this before.” She says before passing a small notebook to Ken, Ken hums in interest seeing it and takes it curiously. “You can use it to write out your feelings. Sometimes I may ask for them to read over them.” She says smiling. “Or perhaps you’ll only draw in it like some do, and that’s fine too. As long as you use it.”
“...Thank you…”
“You’re welcome, just take things slow, don’t force yourself to remember all at once.” Teacher says gently. “Oh, please tell me if there is anything you’d want, if I can I’ll buy it.” Ken thinks for a bit, did he want anything?
…
“...I’m sorry Ken, I cannot purchase such a thing. Something like that cannot be bought.” Teacher says with a sad smile. “...I can get you some more books if you like? You seem to enjoy reading a lot, which is good.” Ken nods at the idea of that. “You are very smart… Something I wish I could say about myself” Ken tilts his head a bit. “Sorry… Do not worry about it.” Ken nods and silence overtakes them again. “...Ken, if you are to be invited to another world… Would you accept?” Ken is confused, so he doesn’t respond. Teacher giggles at his confusion and it makes Ken frown. “Don’t take the question seriously. I just want you to know… If given the opportunity, I would advise against doing so.” She says a bit more seriously now before smiling. “Let's go to bed. I need to lock up the place for the night.”
Maybe he would go talk to the other residents before he goes to sleep…
“Hmm… You are strange…” Isono says as he comes to visit her for a short period, upon looking at her room more closely, it was a classic girl room. A single plush on the bed, she had some posters on her walls that had idols on them, she didn’t speak much, but she didn’t demand him to leave either.
“She keeps fucking saying there are voices coming from upstairs or whatever. I don’t know what she's on about.” Kamimura says, groaning, it makes Ken chuckle. He liked talking to Kamimura… “Maybe ask her if you want more info, I have no interest in knowing what’s up there.” He says before laying down, his room is clean, too clean even… It was strange to compare to the other rooms that at least had some dust here and there.
“...Where is Ojima?” Ken asks as he enters the room and sees who he assumes is someone else. When they turn to them though, he tilts his head. “Oh… Are you Ojima?”
“No dumbass, my name is Hiroaki.” Hiroaki says scoffing as if it was common knowledge. “I watch over the room while Takeshi sleeps. He told me about you already so you don’t need to introduce yourself.”
“Oh… I see…” Ken says quietly, he glances towards the two beds… Both were empty. “...I-I’m going to see Okazaki…”
“Sure whatever.” Hiroaki says as Ken leaves the room.
“There are strange voices coming from upstairs. I hear them at night all the time.” Okazaki says with a hum as Ken shivers.
“Maybe we should tell Teacher?”
“Hmm… nah… I have no interest in that, or what’s up there to be honest. But if you're worried you can go check. Just don’t tell her I said that.” Okazaki says giggling. Ken frowns, but his curiosity would win in the end.
He finds himself climbing those stairs… They creak with every step and they only fuel his anxiety as he goes up.
Help me…
He stops, he shivers… She wasn’t lying… There are voices… He continued to go up, towards the two big doors that stood at the top of the stairs.
Help me…
He slowly opens them, he looks inside… A library? That’s what it seemed like. He walks towards the back of it, glancing at the books surrounding him. Finally his eyes stop of the huge picture frame holding butterflies inside of it. He watches as one flaps it wings.
Help me…!
Without any warning, the picture frame falls, making Ken jump and shatter glass scatter through out the room, he screams a bit and falls to his butt. The door quickly opens and a loud voice booms through.
“WHO’S THERE!?” Teacher yells, Ken whimpers and soon Teacher, who had an intense face on, softens and widens in shock. “Ken… What are you doing up here? I thought I told you not to come up here…”
“...T-The butterfly… It spoke to me…” Ken whimpers quietly. “I-I’m sorry I didn’t listen…”
“...I see… The butterfly can’t speak Ken… It’s dead.” Teacher says softly, Ken nods slowly, but he’s still shaking, he’s still breathing heavily. “Relax Ken… It’s okay…”
“I-I’m sorry…”
“It’s okay Ken… Back to bed…” Teacher isn’t mad at him… He chokes still but manages to stand up and follow Teacher towards the door and to his room. Teacher helps him into the bed, and turns on the night light she had set up for Ken before he arrived at this small manor. “Go to sleep Ken… If you are still scared I'm in my office...” She says before closing the door, Ken struggles to sleep though, it takes him much longer than it ever should’ve to force himself to close his eyes.
His dreams are filled with a white rabbit...