hippocarnival | Daybreak Academy

[It doesn't sound right. Not Kano having a mother, because he doesn't know much about where Kano comes from. He doesn't know much about Kano except he's a ridiculous, kinda gross, but nice boy.

His attention snaps to Kano when he wedges himself between them, and Yuya's forced to step back again as he tries to take the heat off Yuya. Yuya looks between both of them with increasing alarm, his eyes falling on the mask, and then repeatedly down to--]

So you always had a hole in your chest?

[It comes out before he can stop himself, but for all the variety of people that attend Daybreak, she looks more like... like the creatures they're sent out to stop.]

Hey!

[ It's Kano that turns around and snaps at Yuya, before the hollow can say anything else. ]

You can't just ask somebody a question like that!!

[ It's rude, Yuya... And Kano can't help it, turning his back to the monster as if he needs to defend it the same way he's always defended his mother any time anybody says anything about her, any time they even look at her funny, he's always been there to shut them down. ]

[Yuya stiffens slightly, holding his hands up in surrender to the... lecture?] S--sorry?

[He looks genuinely, openly confused when Kano confronts him on that like he asked about some weird birth mark. So it... was normal for her? Kano's mother just really looks like that? He thought she looked more like some kind of monster that got in, did he judge too harshly?

He bows his head a little.] I... apologize for my rudeness, Ms. Kano.

[ Apologies are good. They're very good. But apologies from Kano was never 100% at saving him, and even doubled with Yuya's efforts, the hollow tsks in irritation, clamping a hand down on Kano's shoulder and squeezing tight enough to hurt.

"I told you not to talk to people, Shuuya. This is the sort of people you meet, and they're no good for you," she says, forcibly turning him back towards his bedroom door. "Now let's go. You've already worn my patience thin, and I'm tired." ]

Ah- yeah, you can have my bed, Mom, and I'll go draw up some hot water from the bathroom next door, okay? I'll be quick! And I'll show Yuya back to his room, so...

[ So take the hint and start powerwalking, Yuya. ]

[Yuya purses his lips and his face flushes a little. 'That sort of people' is a little offensive, like he's some kind of delinquent.

Briefly, his gaze flicks to her hand.] Uh--yeah. [He takes a deep breath and looks back up at them, forcing up a smile.] I just came to see what the noise was about, anyway... you're going to show me back?

[His foot shifts, ready to start walking with Kano if that's what he's suggesting.]

[ Yuya should look in the mirror and ask himself if he doesn't look like a punk. But it's still a lot, especially unprovoked, so Kano's quick to separate the two of them, knowing how volatile his mother can be when she's tired and cranky and this version of her sounds like her coming home from the 10th overnight shift in a row. ]

Yeah, mmm... Do you have a bucket of some sort I can borrow? I don't think I have one, and I'd like to have something to carry back water! [ He watches the hollow out of the corner of his eye, unable to read its expression behind the mask it wears, but it's a load off his shoulders when it disappears into the room and closes the door behind it. ]

...Come on, let's go find a bucket.

[Yuya, with his weird colored hair and black collar and shirt he won't tuck in, looks absolutely like a punk in rich french school. But he doesn't see it.]

Uh... [Yuya looks over his shoulder at the hollow, too, as it disappears from view. And then he trains his gaze back on Kano, still a little stunned.] I don't have a bucket, but I'll help you find one.

[It's the least he can do if he's... been offensive? This is such a weird situation.] So... that's your mom?

[It's a weird situation because Yuya's a straight forward idiot who can't recognize a corrupted ghost, but all the same.]

That's not my mother.

[ It's said simply, with no inclination that he wants to talk about it any more, but it's hard to just ignore that the thing exists and is in his room and that he'll have to deal with it at one point or another, or else never sleep there again. Or maybe never sleep again. He hasn't much, for the past few days, a few hours here and there throughout the day to make up a full night's sleep when added together, but that sort of rest isn't real rest. ]

...She worked long hours, overnight and through the weekends, [ he eventually speaks again, somewhat distracted as he looks left and right, trying to decide whether they should look in the janitorial closet first, or the kitchen. He decides on the kitchen, and turns his toes that way. ] So she's always tired and overworked, and having to take care of a child like me, it's no wonder she's so stressed all the time. That's why she's like that.

[Yuya looks up, staring at Kano in silence well after he finishes explaining. What he says about who his mother really was, that's something he files away to remember. To think about later.

He takes a lager step so he can swing around in front of Kano, reaching to try and put his hands on his shoulders to try and stop him.] But, Kano. If what's upstairs isn't your mom... who is it?

[Most immediately, there's something calling itself Kano's mother that's clearly, definitely after him.]

[ Kano stops short, reeling forward before catching himself and dropping back onto his heels, heaving a shrug and dropping his shoulders heavily. ]

Who knows what it is~ [ A flippant answer, maybe, but he really doesn't know, not exactly. Nothing about what it is, what it wants, what to do with it. Not yet. ]

It's a monster, isn't it? You could tell, with the-- [ The gaping hole in its chest, which Kano demonstrates by casting an illusion through his own body so that Yuya can see a hole right through him, made more apparent with the way Kano shoves his hand through the hole and waves his fingers around demonstratively.

And then in a blink, the illusion is gone and his chest is whole and his hands are in his pockets. ]

[Yuya blinks rapidly, leaning back slightly as Kano makes a huge demonstration about the chest hole. Which, to be fair, is really alarming.]

I... I think so. [He looks up, over Kano's shoulder as his brow knits tightly in concern.] And if it's taking after your mother... Kano, has it tried to hurt you?

[ He recognizes the implication, that if the monster is like his mother, then it might try to hurt him the same way his mother has— it's an implication of his mother that he can't deny, but he can always justify and that justification rises to the tip of his tongue with breath, without thought. ]

I haven't given it a reason to, not yet! So that's why we're doing this, alright? It won't matter, as long as we keep it happy and don't mess up!

[Yuya was building a solution more along the lines of 'call a teacher to banish it' because a monster is probably not going to stop on the degree that Kano's mother did. Like, it probably wants to eat him or something.

Yuya's attention snaps back to Kano when he tries to reason away a more permanent solution to just... making it happy. It seems like an illogical approach.]

I... [He shifts on his feet, bouncing between two thoughts with uncertainty.] So you won't mind if I stick around a bit? In case it... stops acting like your mom.

Nope, sorry, not a good idea!! Vetoed!!!!

[ That gets him going again, hands on Yuya's shoulders to turn him around and march him towards the kitchen so he can find a simmering pot of some sort. ]

My mother doesn't like it when I talk with other people, so this thing will definitely not like it if you're there too! You should go back to your room! I'll handle things myself!

[Yuya is spun around before he ran resist, stumbling as he's pushed forward. He glances back before he moves to fall beside Kano again, so he can't lose sight of him while they walk.]

But it's not a good idea for you to be alone, either! If it's a monster that's acting like your mom to get close to you, don't you think it's because it's trying to hurt you?

[ Kano picks up the pace when Yuya tries to fall in line with him, just so his face is always a little out of sight and even harder to read properly that in usually is. A smile, but no humor behind it; a dangerous sort of smile. ]

...Because it's a monster, or because it's acting like my mother?

[ It's a question Yuya should answer carefully. ]

... Because it's a monster. [He hasn't lost the implications that Kano's mother was probably hurtful in her own ways. But that's something that's falling increasingly wayside to the urgency that Kano is probably in a lot of danger right now.

He absolutely doesn't want him to walk back to that room, alone, and then they'll hear that he's dead.]

Think, Kano. You said yourself it's not your mother, but you're still treating it like her. That means it can get closer to you, and because it's not really your mother you don't know what it wants! It could be using your bond with your mom to get you alone so it can eat you for all we know!

[To Yuya, if that thing really isn't Kano's mother, it seems clear that it's trying to manipulate Kano. There's a pit of fear in him that it's working.]

[ He's been trying to think about it but it's hard. It's hard because it's his mother— it's not his mother- it's his memory of her, he's at least convinced of that, a monster taking on the form of somebody he misses, that's like something straight out of a movie or a storybook, unoriginal.

That means it's his fault it exists.

That means it'll be his fault it dies. He'll have killed his mother twice. ]

You think! A monster wouldn't care if I'm alone, it would've eaten me and you while we were back there in the hall! I wouldn't be a threat, and you were caught off guard, so it can't be something like that. I know it's not my mother, after all. That much alone should safeguard me.

[Yuya frowns, worrying over his lip.] Then maybe it's after something else, but... I don't think that safeguards you at all.

... What are you going to do about it? [He glances back, briefly, over his shoulder in an absent-minded attempt to see if they're still in the clear.]

Mm... Bring it hot water so it can soak its feet, and then put it to bed? And then I'll go hang out in the common room or something.

[ That's not a solution. That's not even a bandaid, it's wishful thinking that he can treat the monster just like his mother and if he pampers and takes care of it enough, it won't go berserk and tear down half the dorms in whatever it is that it wants. ]

Kano. [There's a tight urgency in his tone. He wants--no, it's probably not that Kano isn't taking this seriously. It's that the monster was right in choosing his mom to manipulate him.

He sucks in a sharp breath, looking around uncertainly.] Don't uou think we should get a teacher to handle this? If things are getting into the school, that's a problem, right?

No way, we don't have to bother a teacher for something like this! It's gotten all this way and hasn't hurt anybody yet! [ Yet... ] It might get bored and go away if it's ignored long enough, it's not hurting anything, so just leave it alone!

But--[Yuya's not going to leave it alone, but if Kano's so convinced that he can just let it tail him around like this... it's clear Yuya's not getting through to him. It's kind of nonsensical, but--

Yuya stuffs his hands in his pockets, falling into silence for a moment while he... basically follows where Kano is directing him. The kitchen, maybe, if he's looking for a pot? His face scrunches in concentration... and then he looks sideways at Kano again.]

... Hey, Kano. Is your real mother... is she still alive?

[ It's a pot, and he seems to know exactly which one to look for- one made of metal, that will hold heat for longer, and he grabs a pair of clean washcloths too so he'll have something to hold onto the pot with without burning himself with the hot water. ]

Here it is~ We can go back now!

[ It isn't until he turns his feet back towards the stairs up that he continues the conversation again; it's a lot of truth for one day, about something he doesn't really talk about because it never comes up, but there's also no sense in lying about any of this- he can be as cagey as he wants and he's entitled to it, but there's no sense in lying. ]

She's been dead for ten years. I told you, right? I know that's not my mother.

[ It's impossible for it to be his mother, he knows that, he won't ever make that mistake. ]

[He did say it wasn't her. But he's latching kind of hard on trying to placate like his mother instead of calling for help, isn't he? Yuya's trying to follow whatever line of logic Kano is, to figure out why he'd endanger himself dragging it out...

And then he admits she's really dead, and Yuya connects the dots a little better. He trails behind slowly, for a second, and then starts up suddenly to get back to his side.]

I'm sorry. [And now Yuya feels certain he can't let that thing hurt Kano by using this against him.]

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