YEAR: 2011
On the east side of a small island in Japan called Iki (壱岐市) there were two young boys sitting at a table eating dinner, talking amongst themselves in hushed whispers, just quiet enough that the adults couldn’t hear
Whatever it was, it had them giggling uncontrollably only being able to stop when interrupted by a kind woman's voice
“What are you boys giggling about so much?”
After calming down a bit they responded at the same time as if they had rehearsed
“Nothing"
and then their giggling turned into laughter.
When they finished dinner they went to the living room to watch a children's show, but before they were even halfway through the episode the TV cut off
“Okay it’s time for you two to go to bed, Kosuke can you get a futon (布団) ready for Izumi? He’s staying over for a few days so make sure he’s comfortable okay?"
said Kosuke’s mother to the older looking boy
“Ok mummy”
said Kosuke, a little upset at his mother for turning the TV off but he went to do what she said anyway.
As Kosuke went to grab a spare futon, he saw something that caught his eye in the back of the closet, and being the child that he is, he reached for it out of curiosity and what he discovered was a small knife that looked like it had been “used” very recently as when he unsheathed the blade it revealed what seemed to be a sticky red substance, which Kosuke believed to be blood, that had been left on the blade.
Not wanting to get in trouble, Kosuke put it back where he found it and went to his room with Izumi’s futon and rolled it out on the floor with the help of his mother, put the pillow at the head and called for Izumi.
“Izumi! Your futon is ready!”
Kosuke yelled out and then soon enough Izumi poked his head into the room with a small toothbrush in his mouth
“Thank you Kosuke”
his words almost incoherent from the toothpaste in his mouth, he then disappeared back towards the bathroom to spit it out.
Kosuke’s mum turned all the lights off for the two boys to go to sleep, but Kosuke couldn’t sleep, he continued to think about the strange knife he’d found earlier.
As an attempt to clear his head he wanted to take another look at it, but as he approached his door, he could hear his parents' muffled voices from down the hall.
Kosuke couldn’t make out what they were saying but he could tell that whatever it was they were talking about had them concerned.
He didn’t want his parents to hear him, Kosuke headed back to bed and tried going to sleep and soon dozed off into a strange dream.
It was him, but older and drenched in blood, he was fighting all these giant and terrifying monsters but before the dream could go further, he woke up in a cold sweat gasping for air, even on the verge of crying.
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It was still somewhat dark so Kosuke looked at the clock on his wall, the short hand was pointing at the number 5 while the long hand was pointing straight down meaning that it was only 5:30 am, but Kosuke couldn’t go back to sleep, or rather he didn’t want to.
He was scared that he would have the same or similar nightmare, so Kosuke stayed awake just laying there under his blanket when he remembered the knife from the day before, he then decided he wanted to see it again.
When Kosuke was sure everyone was still asleep, he snuck out towards the closet and rummaged around to find the knife.
To his surprise, it wasn’t there, but in its place was a small patch of dried blood.
With nothing else there Kosuke decided to go back to his room and try to fall asleep with hopes of not having the same nightmare.
As he drifted off to sleep again there was no dream, just a calm drift into unconsciousness until he woke up 3 hours later from Izumi shaking him around.
“Izumi what are you doing?”
said Kosuke, his voice sounding uneven from the shaking
“It’s wake-up time Kosuke, up! Up!”
Izumi continued to chant that Kosuke's ears began to hurt forcing him to get up to stop Izumi’s shouting.
A few minutes later the boys were in the dining room to eat the breakfast Kosuke’s father had made for them during Izumi’s chanting.
After they finished their food they went to get dressed, with some assistance from Kosuke’s mother
“Well don’t you boys look nice, are you ready for a little adventure today?”
Simultaneously they said
“Yes!”
and quite enthusiastically
As they stepped outside it was a beautiful day with a clear sky and a calm and warm breeze
“Shall hang out at beach today?”
The mother asked, and it seemed like the boys really liked the idea so they began walking to the beach.
During their walk, an old man approached Kosuke’s mother
“Oh Mrs. Eve, could I possibly trouble you for some assistance? I seem to be having trouble with my air conditioner.”
“Of course,”
Said Kosuke’s mother
“Can you look after the boys while I take care of it?”
“Ah of course, would you boys like an ice cream each?”
The old man asked the boys and their already wide smiles somehow grew larger as they accepted the old man's offer.
About 10 minutes later Eve, Kosuke’s mother, came back out of the house
“All done, let me know if there’s any more trouble okay?”
Her hands looked a little grimy but just wiped the mess onto her pants
“All right boys are you ready to g-”
As she turned to look at them, both Izumi and Kosuke managed to eat their ice creams in a way that it managed to get all over their faces and they were laughing while pointing at each other.
Eve turned to the old man
“Is it alright if we borrow your bathroom?”
She asked while letting out a little giggle
Once the boys were all cleaned up they thanked and said goodbye to the old man then started to head towards the beach again.
When they got to the beach, both Kosuke and Izumi began to play in the sand while Eve layed down a towel to sit on so she could comfortably watch over them.
They watched boats go out to sea to catch fish and Kosuke even managed to spot the boat that his father was on
After a couple of hours, Kosuke and Izumi inevitably grew hungry so Eve decided to take them to a nearby curry restaurant called for lunch.
In the middle of eating Eve got a call on her phone, and when she answered it her expression darkened but she managed to hide it from the kids
She went into the bathroom so the call wouldn’t be interrupted.
On the other side of the call was her husband and both of them were speaking in English
“Did you find anything Kaito?”
Eve asked
“Yeah, I found some traces. They’re definitely here.”
Kaito responded, his voice had a hint of anger in it
“We’ll have to be more careful now. Leave the house less and protect the boys. I’ll be back soon.”
Kaito hung up and Eve walked back out of the bathroom in a subtle rush and grabbed both Kosuke and Izumi
“Let’s go home now you two.”
Eve had a smile on her trying to mask her concern.
The three of them walked out of the restaurant and asked the boys to race to see who gets there first
Of course being the children that they are, they accepted the challenge and ran all the way back to the house.
The rest of the day was rather uneventful and when Kaito came back they all had dinner, got into pyjamas and all ready for bed
But Kosuke struggled going to sleep, and when everyone else was asleep he decided to walk around the house until he tripped on something
When Kosuke looked at what it was and it seemed to be a floor mat sticking up a little
He lifted it up a little and underneath was a heavy black box
It was unlocked so being curious, he opened it and inside were all kinds of firearms.
Kosuke kept rummaging through the box and then he heard a *creak* right behind him.