Chapter Text
Katsuya followed Reigen-kun silently as the blonde rambled away, the mop of curls that almost covered Katsuya’s eyes swaying in the wind. He still couldn’t explain how the two of them became friends. He never spoke to anyone in school if he could help it, but it just happened. They didn’t live that close, either, but they could visit each other after school. He was head over heels with the fact that he now had a friend, and he’d do anything to keep having Reigen-kun as a friend.
The autumn wind was chilly. It rained yesterday, so they were puddles everywhere. Reigen-kun had a grey beanie covering his blonde head. They both had their boots and coats on. Reigen-kun strolled cheerfully as he talked and talked about nothing important. Katsuya tried to think of anything to stop himself from getting nervous lest he lost control again. Reigen-kun had no idea what he was capable of. He really, really should have told his friend to leave him alone, push him away until there was no way they’d be friends. That’s what he ought to do if he were a good person. But he wanted a friend more than anything. So, there he was, on his very best attempt so far at managing his powers.
They didn’t see each other much at school, they were in different grades. This was for the best because Katsuya wouldn’t like Reigen-kun to see how his classmates treated him. Also, school made him nervous, he could be calmer in his free time. He tried to plan for it, gathering courage to ask Reigen-kun to spend some time at his house playing video games, only for him to say “No, let’s go for a walk.” So, there he was. Outside. When he could be home. Because Reigen-kun said so.
Reigen-kun had no idea that Katsuya was the way he was.
That’s why he liked him.
Reigen-kun was younger, but he was a natural leader, braver than Katsuya could ever hope to be. Reigen-kun would’ve looked like an extroverted older kid who seemed to have decided to take introverted Katsuya under his wing, had it not been for their height difference. The older boy slouched a bit, and thus he managed to look a bit less tall than his friend.
They’d talk and talk and play and laugh together, and suddenly Katsuya started looking forward to things he used to dread. He hated school, but he could walk to school with Reigen-kun in the mornings. He could see Reigen-kun during recess. They could walk home together. They could have playdates on weekends.
The two boys were walking around town together now, stepping on red and brown leaves on the ground. Reigen-kun was chatting happily about his love for all things paranormal, showing him a magazine that had a headline that read: Spooky! Most haunted places of Japan!
“It would be so cool to see a real ghost. I wouldn’t even be scared.” He said.
“W-would it even be that cool? I mean…I wonder…” he stared in the corner of a house, and there was a small ghost near the wall. Just a black shade with a single eye that stuck out in broad daylight. Reigen-kun walked by it, paying it no notice.
Katsuya had learned from his mother at a very early age that he should never tell people whenever he would see a spirit. He was old enough to understand people don’t mean it when they say they want to see ghosts. He’d gotten in trouble for it several times. They caused nothing but suffering to him, so he hated seeing them.
“Hey, I know! We should go on a ghost hunting mission!” Reigen-kun said it like it was the greatest idea ever.
“Uh…yeah…or we could go home and watch something, m-maybe?” His voice was so low that Reigen-kun didn’t even heard him. The idea of ghost hunting seemed really dumb. No one needed to “hunt” for ghosts. They were everywhere.
“Wanna come ghost hunting with me?” The blonde’s face lit up as he asked it.
“Uh…sure? Why not…” Katsuya’s lips betrayed him. Maybe Reigen-kun would give up if they went to the park and they spent some time on the playground, so that’s what he suggested.
They went to the playground and played on the swings. Reigen-kun showed him his super-fast swinging special move, which was pretty much just swinging really fast. Katsuya had fun despite being outside. Reigen-kun built a small sandcastle that looked more like a mound, then complained his hands were now feeling gross. The blonde boy patted the excess sand on his pants as Katsuya chuckled. They walked a bit near the trees, talking about some shonen anime. Reigen-kun wanted to jump on the leaf piles, but he hated bugs, he went on a rant of how there could be a bug under them and gave up.
On their way back they walked past the grocery store, the spirit of the man that always stood in front of it confronting Katsuya.
“Kid, hey kid. I know you can see me. DON’T YOU IGNORE ME! GET BACK HERE!”
Katsuya simply walked a bit faster behind Reigen-kun, turning his eyes away.
Reigen-kun wanted to buy something, so they went in. Katsuya waited nervously near the entrance, hoping that the man wouldn’t come after him, as Reigen-kun went in and back. He got some candy for himself and Katsuya, boasting about how smart he was by being careful to touch only the wrapper with his dirty hands. Katsuya told him to just wash them in the grocery store bathroom and he did just that, though he already had candy in his mouth.
As they walked back Reigen-kun picked up some cool looking leaves. He found a really cool one and let Katsuya have it. He held the leaf in his hand, feeling a rush of happiness as his heart warmed up. He carefully put it in his pocket for safekeeping. Katsuya knew it was just a leaf, but he hoped it wouldn’t turn to dust until he could put it somewhere safer.
“Oh, that’s it! There’s a place that’s definitely haunted up next!” They took a detour and walked for a few minutes. There stood a small grove. An unimportant bright ball of blue energy which Reigen-kun also couldn’t see stood by the entrance.
Katsuya felt a chill running down his spine. It seemed like just his imagination, but his body did not want to enter that forest.
“Look, Katsun! I wanna explore that! There must be ghosts there!” Reigen-kun pointed excitedly.
“Uh…” Katsuya started to sweat despite the chilly air.
“You’re not scared, are ya?” Reigen-kun asked flatly. Realizing his friend didn’t take the bait, he changed his tone, tilting his head to the side. “Come on, We’ll go together.”
“Huh….no? Let’s go home.” His voice lowered on its own again, thought Reigen-kun heard him this time. He wanted to tell him the truth, but it was just too risky. He shuffled his legs around making no move to enter the grove.
“Dare ya to enter that forest!” Reigen chided.
“I lose!” Katsuya spoiled the fun.
“You’re scared! Scaredy cat!” Reigen-kun half-teased, hoping to convince his friend.
Katsuya turned his face away, scowling.
“Aw come on, Katsun. Want me to hold your haaand?” Reigen-kun teased him a bit more, laughing as Katsuya’s face went red.
“S-shut up!” He replied dryly.
“Hahaha!” The blonde chuckled.
“It’s not funny, Reigen-kun!”
“It’s a bit funny, it’s just an old grove, probably really small. You’re older than me, you know…” he kicked the air as he spoke.
“You’re so mean! Ugh!” Katsuya felt tears prickle his eyes. He was always quick to cry, and was teased endlessly for it. He was so sick of being called a Momma’s boy and a crybaby. He hoped and hoped that at least Reigen-kun wouldn’t tease him if he did cry, which was not likely the way things were going. He puffed up his chest like a rooster and spoke as loudly as he could.
“I’m not scared! I don’t even care! Let’s go.”
“Yay! Way to go, Katsun!” Reigen-kun skipped behind him.
The forest trail was longer than it seemed. They walked and walked, and it was already dusk.
They could’ve sworn they had just walked past that big tree. Both of them were worried and scared, but neither wanted to admit it.
“So! Anyway, if I ever see a ghost, I’m gonna just and hit it smack in the face!”
“But aren’t ghosts supposed to be…you know. Wouldn’t you just phase through them?”
“Nah, I’d win” Reigen-kun crossed his arms over his head, feigning nonchalance. “I know it’s hard for you cause you’re just a scaredy cat, but don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.”
“Heh…” Katsuya scoffed. Reigen-kun was so dumb that he felt way less scared than he could feel. He was too distracting. The sky had gotten almost dark. He was hoping that maybe they were getting out of it easily. Suddenly, he stopped dead on his tracks.
Little boys...Ah…Arataka. Katsuya.
He felt something detecting him, calling to him. Not with a voice, but he could feel it. Something scary, old, distorted and monstruous. The dense energy of it was enough to keep him rooted to the ground in fear. He wondered if Reigen-kun could fell anything at all, as he also looked scared like he had a bad feeling in his gut.
Arataka?
The thing called for the blond boy, who seemed none the wiser. Katsuya stared at him and he stared back at Katsuya.
He heard the sound of something massive dragging around the mud. It’s attention turned on him. A distorted arm beckoned.
Come… here... Katsuya.
He started to cry immediately. Hot tears streaming down his face. He gripped at his own coat, frozen in place. As he kept crying with his eyes shut tight, Reigen-kun perked up and looked at him, confused.
The thing in the forest reached out for him again. He could tell it was trying to find him, trying to tell their location, feeling around their surroundings as if it was blind. It’s massive multi limbed body shuffled around the path, and he deeply regretted looking at it.
Want to… come with… me?
The distorted voice sounded scarier than anything he had ever heard. His mind immediately thought “NO!” as he furiously shook his head. The thing in the forest heard him.
No?...well…I’ll come get… you.
It moved slowly towards where they were.
Katsuya couldn’t scream. He couldn’t move. He stood there, completely frozen and terrified as his tears kept falling, expecting things to start floating around him at any minute. Reigen-kun was talking to him, shaking him a bit. “Katsun, listen to me! I know you’re scared but you can’t freeze on me! If you freeze, we’ll just stay in this creepy forest longer!”
He couldn’t even tell what Reigen-kun was saying. Reigen-kun was there with him. It was his fault that Reigen-kun was there, and he had attracted that thing to them. That thought jolted him awake, and he grabbed his friend’s hand to pull him off the trail.
He walked slowly on autopilot even deeper into the woods, trying his hardest to hold his powers in. Reigen-kun tried to pull him back insisting they were going the wrong way, and then tried to get him to explain what was going on. When they finally stopped, Reigen-kun looked like he also was about to cry. The blonde didn’t seem to know why they were whispering, as if he had understood that they should despite Katsuya never telling him.
“K-katsun…please t-talk to me. Don’t… d-don’t make me worry…”
“I c-can’t. We have to be quiet. P-please listen to me, we have to b-be q-quiet! I’ll never a-ask for anything again, p-please.” He whispered, barely breathing. Reigen-kun went silent. Katsuya would be so angry at himself and at Reigen-kun right now if he could spare it. He had to focus all of his concentration into not losing control in front his friend, putting him at risk and telling that thing where they were hiding. Slowly, very slowly, he crouched to the ground to sit and finally lay down in the mud, dragging Reigen-kun along with him.
As Reigen-kun whispered yelped “Cold! It’s gross!” Katsuya quickly put his hand over his mouth, staring at him with wide eyes and shaking so hard Reigen-kun also started to shake. Katsuya didn’t understand how he was keeping it together on account of how scared he was, days later he would think that maybe his survival instincts kicked in. He never was able to hold on this much before. He was on the verge of fainting, focusing all of his thoughts into blocking the thing’s influence. “I don’t want to talk to you. Go away…”. He didn’t know what he was doing, but it was working. He felt his aura slowly envelop both him and Reigen-kun to protect them instead of making them float, as the chanted “Go away, go away” in his head over and over, rocking his head back and forth and clinging on to Reigen-kun as if he were to disappear.
Uh….where…come…back…
The thing seemed to lose their track. It shuffled close to where they were, feeling around whatever it could touch, making wet, sloppy noises and after what seemed like an unbelievable long time, passed right by them. He waited a bit longer to give it time to move further away.
They got up slowly, wet and miserable. As they turned, Reigen-kun stepped on a branch and let out a high-pitched shriek.
“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”
FOUND YOU! The thing screamed.
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!” Katsuya released all the tension he was holding in another high-pitched shriek.
Before Katsuya could even do anything, Reigen-kun grabbed at his coat sleeve and pulled it, dragging him along as they ran as fast as they could. They ran and ran, past bushes and branches that hit them, past mud and stones and not even stopping as their feet got half-stuck in the roots, until they were both panting and Katsuya’s coat was hanging off his shoulders from all the pulling.
Until Katsuya couldn’t feel the presence of the thing in the forest anymore. Until they were off the woods and back into the town. They were near a small river, all the way back from where they came, but the streetlights were just there.
Katsuya fell to his knees. He stuck his hand on his pocket and reached for his leaf. It was broken in half, turning to dust in his hands. The little black spot ghost stood at the end of their path waiting for him. It cooed in delight and sucked at some of Katsuya’s life energy, sticking itself close to him due to how sad and tired he felt. He raised his hand at it with an angry shout as he hit it with his power and it was gone.
“Katsun, what was that?” Reigen-kun asked from behind him.
“Uhh…” He tried to hold it in.
“Huhh…” He tried so hard to just breathe.
“UWAAAHHHHHAAAAAAH~” Katsuya wailed, somehow crying even harder despite how much he cried today. As he let out gut wrenching sobs. The pebbles in the ground, the grass, and even Reigen-kun started to float.
“WOAH! KATSSUUN! ARE YOU SEEING THIS! A GHOST!” He turned his head to look at Reigen-kun, who had his mouth open, hands on his head in complete shock.”
He simply stared at him, face scowling as tears ran along his cheeks.
“Look, we have to….Oh no, we don’t have my camera! Run back home and get it, we actually have a ghost here!”
“It’s not a ghost.”
“Katsun, this is the real deal!”
“No.”
“Come on, you’re not seeing this? I’m floating!”
“It’s me…”
“You…what?”
“IT’S ME!” Reigen-kun finally stilled. Katsuya focused and focused. His powers where very hard to control, but he took a deep breath and managed to set Reigen-kun down, while everything else still floated. “Now you’re gonna hate me.”
“Katsun…are- are you doing this?”
“Yeah. I’ll walk as far as I can from you, don’t follow me.”
“Katsun…THAT’S THE COOLEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN!!! TEACH ME?!” Reigen-kun jumped, grabbing at Katsuya’s shoulders.
“It’s not cool!” Katsuya pushed him away. “None of that stupid paranormal stuff is cool! It’s just bad, and it will make me hurt you!”
“You won’t hurt me.”
“I will”. He warned.
“No, you won’t!”
“Don’t come near me!” Katsuya gestured with his hands for Reigen-kun to go away. But Reigen-kun just walked calmly to where he was and placed a hand on his shoulders again, like he knew everything would be okay. Katsuya waited for him to panic, cower like his mother would, but the way he acted was completely different.
He couldn’t understand how his powers had just ignored Reigen-kun like that. He wanted to cry, considered running away, but he felt his shoulders relaxing from the touch he so desperately needed. As he took deep breaths among his choked sobbing, he managed to calm enough that everything was on solid ground again.
Reigen-kun took a deep breath and braced himself.
“I’m sorry. I was wrong, okay? I’ve made you cry. I knew you were scared, but I wanted to check that grove out and I didn’t want to go alone.” Reigen-kun said honestly. He hit his fist in his hand as he realized more things. “Also, that explains a lot of what happened at school.”
Katsuya sniffled, his eyes not meeting the blonde’s. He couldn’t believe someone could accept him so easily. Before he could say anything, Reigen-kun shifted.
“I, Reigen Arataka, admit that I’ve been a dumb stupid face. I hereby accept my punishment.” Reigen-kun hung his head and waited.
Katsuya didn’t know what he was waiting for. Reigen-kun opened one of his eyes to peek at him.
“Come on, hit me!”
“Huh…why?”
“You gotta!” Reigen-kun said it like it was obvious.
“I don’t want to.”
“Come on, hit me.”
“No.”
“Hit me, hit me, hit me, hit me, hit me, HIT ME! NOOW!”
“Ugh!” Katsuya raised his arm. “HY-AAHH!” He slowed his arm midway, barely hitting the top of Reigen-kun’s head with his fist, causing little damage and producing a comically sounding bonk.
“Ow!” Reigen-kun rubbed at his hair, then raised his head and smiled, his face scratched from hitting at so many branches as they ran. “Now we’re even.”
Reigen-kun insisted that it was a very cool thing to have psychic powers. He couldn’t hide his disappointment when he heard he couldn’t learn to do what Katsuya did, but he still promised that he’d never tell anyone.
They walked together to Katsuya’s house.
“Katsuya! What happened? Arataka-kun, you too?” Mrs. Serizawa told them to hurry up and go take a bath. She didn’t even told Reigen-kun to go home, or seemed to care that they were past their curfew, which Reigen-kun told him was odd.
Before they went in, Reigen-kun sighed.
“So…I might get in trouble…”
“Why?”
Reigen-kun gestured for his dirty, slightly torn clothes.
“Uh…I can ask my mom to wash those for you, maybe?”
“Oh I have an idea! Ask your mom to ask my mom if I can stay over!”
“Can’t you ask her?”
“She’ll say no if I’m the one asking! You have to ask your mom to do it! Please.”
Katsuya didn’t understand why, but he did what Reigen-kun told him. It worked.
They had a bath, Reigen-kun splashing water all around and on Katsuya’s face. A hot dinner was waiting for them and they ate together, Reigen-kun wore Katsuya’s spare pajamas as their clothes were washed and placed in the dryer.
After dinner, they made a small tent with some chairs and an old sheet over a pair of futons on the ground, both crawling on their stomach to settle inside it, each holding their pillows and some plushies. Reigen-kun chose a funny looking bulldog plushie that had its tongue sticking out and Katsuya had his favorite shark and dinosaur plushies.
Reigen-kun wouldn’t stop asking him about his powers. He felt so tired that he was almost asleep, and Reigen-kun still wouldn’t stop asking and rambling.
Katsuya fell asleep easily and didn’t think about the thing in the forest at all. He was sure he would have nightmares about it some other night, but not tonight.