For a brief moment, he could taste freedom, and it was exhilarating, then the ground of the Kyoto train station was coming closer and the feeling died. He landed roughly on his shoulder, but within seconds, he was on his feet again, running, ignoring the people who were staring at him. Ducking between crowds, trying to blend in as fast as possible, and avoiding the security guards who were trying to find him, he discarded his hoodie and stole a hat from an unsuspecting civilian, along with his wallet; from another, he stole their phone. He would have felt bad if it wasn't for his apathy towards strangers. He didn't know where Simon was and he wasn't willing to stick around to find out.
The moment he was out of the station, he took into the alleyways and shadows. He was getting dizzy once again, now that the rush of the adrenalin was dying down. His left eye was still bleeding, and his right shoulder was burning from the impact, but he had to put distance between himself and Simon, so he kept going, moving forward even as his vision got blurrier and his head started buzzing. "One more step," he kept telling himself. He had already ripped the sleeve from his shirt and used it as makeshift bandages for his eye. Another step, and then another; his legs were now shaking. Still, he moved forward until his legs couldn't support his weight anymore. The cold concrete of the street was pleasant against his hot and sweaty body, but he had to keep moving. He lifted himself, his hands were trembling, and he fell again. Maybe he could close his eyes for a few seconds. Why was he running again? Was someone chasing him? A few seconds; he could afford that, couldn't he?
His eyes shot open. No, he had to keep moving. He lifted himself again. This time, he managed to rise to his legs. His head was still buzzing, his body trembling, and he was cold. He had to find a safe place and rest; he was already pushing his limits. His eye caught the red-painted wood hidden behind trees and greenery. He got closer and saw the signs of old age in the old and abandoned Torri. He spared a few minutes to catch his breath, and then he moved further inside the sacred grounds. The Shrine was in no better shape than the Torri; it was run down and damaged, perhaps beyond repair. The Komainu on the left side of the stairs was missing its head, which was lying a few meters away, broken and filled with cracks, and nailed timbers blocked the entrance of the shrine. He came closer and noticed a hole in the side of the shrine, just big enough for someone of his size to fit in. For the first time, he was thankful for his small structure.
The inside of the shrine was no better than the outside. It was dirty, with wooden constructions and different ornaments lying around. Many animals used this place as a shelter, as evidenced by the hair and the smell of fur, there was also the smell of rotten wood and mold. But he didn't care for any of these things. He was tired, dizzy, and cold. While the shrine was better than nothing, it would barely keep him warm, still, better than the outside. At least he had some cover. He moved further inside and tucked himself in the corner, where he could see outside but no one could see him. And finally, finally, he let his eyes close, submerging in the darkness.
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽ ☆ ☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
He woke up hours later, still weak from his injuries but less disoriented. He couldn't stay in Kyoto, they would look for him turning every stone unturned; leaving right now wasn't an option either, he wasn't in a good physical condition and they would probably already have blocked every possible way out of Kyoto. He was stuck, he needed a plan of escape and to take care of his injuries as well, he also needed food he hadn't eaten anything since the day before.
The moon was high, which indicated the late hour maybe a little after midnight. He had to prioritize, first, he had to clean his eye injury and wrap it with clean bandages if he wanted to avoid an infection that is, then food and water, and finally, a safe place to lay low for a while. Whereas the shrine was out of sight and relatively safe it was only a matter of time to find it and then it was game over.
With a sigh he got up, he would figure out his accommodation later, for now, he had to take care of his eye which he was pretty sure was blinded.
He slowly made his way back to the city, staying in the shadows and using alleys and occasionally roofs to move around, avoiding being sighted by both heroes and civilians, he wasn't sure if backup had already arrived but he couldn't risk it.
Locating a pharmacy amidst the labyrinth of alleys was a mere trifle for Kurayami. The real challenge lay in disabling the alarm which was a bit harder. Yet, fortune favored him as he brandished the stolen phone, its digital prowess becoming his accomplice in the silent dance of intrusion.
Slipping through the narrow confines of the toilet window, Kurayami navigated the precarious perch with the grace of a tightrope walker. He emerged into the dimly lit interior, a shadow among shadows and made his way inside. He grabbed the bandages, along with cotton wool and saline; and made his way back towards the bathroom, disposing everything he needed in the sink.
Kurayami then looked at the mirror and recoiled at the sight that greeted him. His makeshift bandages were now a macabre tapestry of crimson. Dried blood adorned his visage like a grotesque mask, not to mention the blue and yellowish bruises that had formed.
He lifted his shirt to examine further damage and couldn't help but flinch at the sight, his right shoulder was decorated with a large purple bruise caused by his landing, and then there were multiple smaller yellowish bruises with a few blue ones on his torso. With another long sigh, he fully discarded his shirt and made his way back to the pharmacy to grab a bruise cream. Once back he cleaned his face with water he started applying the cream to his face and body, and then he started undoing the bandages that stuck at his face because of the dried blood. Once he fully discarded them he looked back at the mirror, "Yeah, definitely blind" he mumbled bitterly, once again he felt both grateful and hateful towards Ito-Sensei, the man had raised his pain tolerance to the point that an eye laceration was nothing but an annoyance. He was already mourning the loss of sight as he started cleaning the wood, once fully cleaned he wrapped the new bandages.
With that done, he went outside again grabbed a bag, and started filling it with bandages, vitamins, cotton wool, saline, and antiseptic cream, before making his way back to the bathroom and dumping everything he had inside the bag. He dressed himself back and started cleaning the bathroom, before leaving via the small bathroom window.
His next stop was a dress store on the other side of the street. Kurayami slipped inside, his senses on high alert for any signs of movement or presence. But the store was empty, the only sound the soft hum of the air conditioning.
Kurayami moved quickly, scanning the racks for clothes that would fit him. He needed something practical, something that wouldn't hinder his movements. But he also needed to blend in, to look like any other kid on the street.
He settled on a pair of dark jeans, a plain black t-shirt, and a grey hoodie. The clothes were a little big on his small frame, but that was good. It meant he had room to grow, room to hide things if needed.
Next, Kurayami found a sturdy black backpack. He ran his hands over the fabric, testing its strength. Satisfied, he began to fill it with supplies.
First, he packed two more sets of clothes, similar to the ones he was wearing. It never hurt to have spares, especially when you never knew when you might need to change quickly.
He made his way to the closest Convenience Store, it was 24/7 with only one employee who was half asleep, entering through the front would alarm the employee with the small ding of the bell. He moved towards the back entrance, before entering the dark-lit alley, his eye caught a shadow moving. He froze and made to take out his knife, he had discarded his guns back at the train, they were out of bullets and they were useless to him, plus they would be useless to the police, the Shie Hassaikai made sure to turn him into a ghost. For all intents, Kurayami Fukamato was dead, he died five years ago alongside his mother.
He spotted the shadow again and this time a sound reached his ears. He stood there body tensed and ready to defend, and then the shadow separated from the rest taking the form of a black cat, it had strange swirling blue marks decorating its body, its eyes a sick yellow. He took a minute before relaxing his stance, he still kept his knife at the ready, he wasn't ashamed to admit he was paranoid.
With a low sigh, he moved inwards to the alley, breaking the lock was a child's play -funny thing, considering he was one- before entering he turned and looked at the cat, it hadn't taken its eyes off him for a second, he noticed the cat had two tails waving them lazily around, it turned its head slightly blinking up at him. He stared back unsure of what to do, the cat was skinny enough to make him think it wanted food, so he motioned towards the door, and the cat taking the hint entered the small store before he followed it inside.
As expected the employee didn't notice them entering. He moved straight to the fridge took a bottle of milk, and placed it in the backpack along with multiple snacks he snuck from the shelves, the cat never left his side, he moved to the pet section and took multiple cans of cat food. He strangled closing the backpack but he managed, though he was worried about opening up from the strain.
He made to move into the back entrance when he noticed a man entering the pet section, frowning slightly he turned around and made once again to leave the section when a second man entered, boxing him inside. The cat got agitated, fur standing up but remaining quiet. He took his knife out again and placed his backpack down beside the cat, he didn't want to lose all the supplies he gathered.
The fluorescent lights overhead cast an eerie glow on the rows of pet supplies lining the shelves of the store. Kurayami's small frame was tense with apprehension, he stood surrounded by towering bags of pet food and rows of chew toys, his heart pounding in his chest. Before him, two menacing figures from the Shie Hassakai, their eyes glinting with malice, blocked both exits, boxing him into the pet section.
With his knife gripped tightly in his hand, his knuckles turned white as he prepared for the inevitable. He was outnumbered but not necessarily outmatched.
The two men advanced, their footsteps echoing ominously on the linoleum floor. One of them cracked his knuckles, a sinister grin spreading across his face, while the other cracked his neck with a grim determination. The cat moved to stand beside him, an action that surprised him.
Without warning, the first man lunged forward, his fist aimed directly at Kurayami's head. Reacting on instinct, Kurayami dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the blow. With a swift motion, he countered, slashing out with the knife. Where knife was supposed to meet flesh it met metal, sparks flying around, the man grinned wickedly a malicious spark in his eyes. Flipping back at a safe distance from his first assailant he tried to form a plan, he noticed the man had only turned his hands into metal, was his quirk limited only to his hands? he hoped so, his quirk could nullify the man's but he was still much, much smaller and weaker than him.
The second man moved in to join the fray. He knew he couldn't take on both of them at once, not without a plan. With a quick glance around the store, his eyes landed on a display of pet toys stacked haphazardly on a nearby shelf.
Summoning all of his strength, Kurayami hurled himself towards the shelf, his fingers closing around a handful of chew toys. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the toys flying towards his attackers, using the distraction to create an opening.
Seizing the opportunity, Kurayami darted between the men, his knife glinting in the harsh light as he struck out with precision and speed. His blade found its mark, slicing through fabric and flesh with a sickening crunch as he drew first blood. The blood of his first assailant glinted off of his knife as he cut his Achilles tendon.
The man heavily fell down a scream of pain leaving his lips. The other man had guns protruding from his shoulders, already using them, firing bullets at him, he didn't bother to move out of the way, the bullets were made from the man's quirk, filled with quirk energy. Energy that his quirk would nullify, the man grinned, "Idiot" Kurayami thought, as expected upon impact the bullets disappeared and with them the man's grin.
The man decided to take a more upfront approach and run towards him fist raised high, Kuroyami ducked and weaved, dodging blows with the grace of a seasoned fighter, his knife flashing in the dim light as he struck back with deadly accuracy. He didn't plan on killing these men but to take them out of action. The man's torso was decorated with lacerations, not deep enough to seriously damage him, but to hinder his movements.
From the reflection of a pet bowl, he saw the other man lunging towards him, he rolled to the side. The man was barely using his right leg where Kurayami cut his tendon, it was obvious he could barely stand, he could respect the man's stubbornness, he attacked Kurayami once again, weaving around both men's pouches and avoiding their blows. He noticed the man with the metal arms swaying, finally seeing his chance, Kurayami lunged forward, his hand closing around the wrist of the "metal arms" attacker. As their skin made contact, he felt the familiar sensation of his quirk activating, the energy coursing through him like a bolt of lightning.
The corridor was bathed in blue light and in an instant, the man's powers were nullified, leaving him vulnerable and defenseless. He cut the man's elbow tendon making him unable to move it, but before he could do the same for the other one as well, his second attacker lunged at him. He jumped and used the first man's shoulders to flip himself above them.
landing cleanly on the other side he swiped at the "metal hands" legs causing him easily to fall again and roaring in pain. The other man made to attack again.
That's when something unexpected happened.
The cat lunged at the man and in an instant both of them disappeared, within seconds the cat was back, alone. it disappeared again and reappeared above his backpack before doing the same but this time appeared in front of Kurayami.
"A cat with a quirk," He said his voice filled with both awe and surprise, with the remaining man's grunt he came back to himself and grasped his backpack, putting his knife away and picking the cat up. He felt his quirk activating again. Apparently, the cat didn't care as it started purring. He ran towards the back exit, and seeing the cash desk empty, he wondered what happened to the man, there was no blood, that's good. He heard the cat meowing and looked at it, it was looking at him like it was telling him to hurry up.
He ran outside and jumped into the fire escape from the apartment building beside the store. Once on the roof, he saw the employee safe and unharmed running like a maniac toward the store.
"Did you teleport him away?" He asked the cat as if to reply it meowed. He looked at it again "You're a welcome surprise". He said before running away, looking for a safe place to stay the night. Soon he found himself breaking into a mattress store.
Finding a display mattress in the far back of the store, where there was no light and the shadows protected them from malicious eyes he settled down. Taking out a can of cat food he set it down for his companion to eat while he ate a sandwich. He made sure the cameras were in a loop and they wouldn't be visible to the security.
He eyed the cat, "You're going to need a name if you keep traveling with me" he said eventually, once again the cat meowed, he had the suspicion that the cat could understand him. "Are you a girl or a boy?" he wondered out loud, picking the cat to check. "A boy...hmm let's see, how about Kuro?" The cat stared at him with what felt like a deadpanned look "I guess that's a no... Kage?" the cat kept looking at him with the same expression. "Come on, that's better" he whined, the cat simply shook his head as to say -No- "Fine" he grumbled, then a big yawn escaped him. "We will find you a name tomorrow, I'm too tired to think right now," he said and settled to the comfortable mattress, the cat curled beside his head.
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽ ☆ ☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
They woke up as the sun started to rise, and they left the store before the employees came. Traversing through alleys and hiding in the shadows, he passed the convenience store from yesterday and saw the police and a few heroes outside. "Good thing, that I set the cameras in a loop before going inside" He muttered. "The guys from the Shie Hassaikai won't tell them anything, not to mention they have people inside the force to take care of all evidence". He made to leave but froze when he saw heroes passing by, he immediately hid in the shadows again the cat copying him. Once the heroes passed he slowly made his way out of the alley and moved toward the old shrine, reaching his destination he saw footprints twice his size. "The shrine isn't safe anymore" he muttered dejectedly. "Great... where to now?" he heard the cat hissing and turned to look at him, he saw that his fur had stood up. Muffled voices reached his ears, "Come on" he said to the cat and made his way through the greenery, hiding behind big enough bushes.
He stayed low as three guys he facially knew from the yakuza passed by. "He isn't here either, I don't know why we even bothered with this place" a man with short black hair grunted, he had a gruesome face marred with scars and he had heavy steps, leaving behind deep footprints, if he remembered correctly his quirk had to do with his weight.
"We bothered because it's out of sight, heroes wouldn't bother looking here" another grunted, this one had blonde hair and a crooked nose, he probably had broken it multiple times and hadn't been set right. He couldn't remember his quirk.
"Wouldn't he need supplies though? Simon-Senpai said he was hurt pretty bad, he could be in the hospital" The third one, a small structured man barely taller than him interjected.
"Don't be an idiot" the second man grunted "He wouldn't dare go into the hospital, every evidence of his existence has been erased, as far as the police are concerned the brat died alongside his mother."
"Which is exactly why the hospital would be safe, he would think that we wouldn't even bother looking for him there" The small man argued.
"It would complicate things too much for him." the first man said. "Still believe this was a waste of time, he was seen in the city, he's probably there licking his wounds"
"Don't underestimate the boy, Simon-Senpai and Ito-Sama have personally trained him, and if I remember correctly the boy has kicked your ass before." The crooked nose guy said.
"He was lucky" The scarred man replied.
"He was skillful, which is exactly why they want him" Hearing the rustle of leaves he turned around and saw a woman, he was still out of sight but not for long, a little closer and his position would be compromised. He held his breath, cold sweat running down his spine as his heartbeat accelerated a little bit, as his anxiety arose.
"We have already checked the hotels and every abandoned building in the city, and no sign of him." The woman calmly said. He remembered her. Her name was Siba she hung around with Kai, her quirk gave her the ability to change her body construction to clay. "This was the last place to look"
She was too close, and in a second the cat disappeared from beside him appearing above her on a tree branch before jumping on her and scratching her, earning a cry from her. The three guys laughed at her before they too fell victim to the cat.
"What the hell?!" the scared man cried as the cat teleported to him and attacked.
"A quirked animal" The small structured man cried. "Catch it, those animals are rare and they catch a nice price in the market" Soon all four goons were chasing the cat completely forgetting about him, Simba even passed by him but in her hurry, she hadn't even noticed him.
He quickly made his way back to the shrine. 'Great, now I have a debt to a cat' he thought, "I hope he's okay" he added out loud, low enough so he wouldn't be heard in case there were more goons around.
A few minutes later he heard a soft meow, he turned and saw the cat, looking at him nonchalantly, waving his two tails lazily as if he hadn't just driven four goons away from him. "You're okay," he said a bit louder than he wanted to, he opened his arms and the cat teleported to him. Blue light swallowed the cat as his quirk activated, but the cat looked content in his small arms. "You caused quite the mayhem, you know that right?" a pause, then he added in a lower voice "Thanks" the cat meowed, apparently saying 'You're welcome'.
They walked to the shrine, the cat in his arms and a backpack full of supplies on his back. "You know Mayhem sounds like a good name... what do you think?" He asked looking down at the cat. The cat blinked at him tilting his head to the side as if he was thinking about it before he eventually meowed, "Mayhem it is then" Kurayami said with a small smile.
Reaching the shrine he saw that the nailed timbers were in shreds, leaving the shrine's entrance wide open. "Great" he grumbled as he got closer. "Guess it's still better than nothing" Mayhem jumped out of his hands inspecting the Shrine while Kurayami took his backpack off and settled it in the corner.
He heard Mayhem meowing and scratching the floor a little ways from him, as he got closer he saw that he was under the big puja table "What you've got there buddy?" he asked as he kneeled and looked under the table, where he saw a small hatch, "Well isn't that interesting?" He got up and pulled Mayhem away, he moved the table with difficulty, but just enough to open the hatch. Old and cranky stairs welcomed him, he went back and pulled the backpack on his back, before looking back at his new friend "What do you say? Want to explore?"
Mayhem teleported and settled himself on Kurayami's shoulders, while he pulled the phone out and opened the flashlight, he had already charged the phone back at the mattress store with the charger he stole from the convenience store.
He descended the stairs, and with every step, they creaked. Spiderwebs decorated the stair's structure, reaching the bottom he immediately noticed how the temperature had changed, how cold it had become. He slightly shivered. He used the phone to look around, bones were spread on the floor, more specifically human bones, looking around he saw the built-in graves, they were broken and a lot of them were also open, as evidenced by the scattered bones, either a thief or a ravaging animal "Must be some kind of tomb" he muttered kneeling in front of a grave and reading the inscription. 'Harishima Testsu, Beloved husband and Brave soldier' there were more but it was impossible to read, time wasn't kind in this place. "Must be soldiers from either the World Quirk War or the Civil War for Mutant Rights, either way, this place is ancient and most importantly sacred"
Using the phone he saw that the 'cave' -because at the end of the day, that's what it was, a hole in the ground- narrowed down into a path, a tunnel "Should we go deeper?" he wondered, Mayhem meowed and jump of off his shoulders, walking a little deeper "Alright fine, but stay close". They moved deeper into the cave, he made sure not to touch any of the scattered bones, and now and then Mayhem would jump on the open graves and look inside them, looking for who knows what. "This place gives me the creeps," he said as he shivered again, not from cold this time.
Mayhem jumped down from one of the graves, and stalked towards a skull inspecting it before attacking it with vengeance, as if the skull of a dead man had personally offended him. Kurayami let a squeak and ran toward the cat picking him up and away from the skull, while he kept a safe distance from it as well looking at it with open fear as if the skull would suddenly be reanimated again, or like it was offended so much from the cat's attack that it would enact its revenge by disintegrating both, boy and cat. "What are you doing???" he screeched at his companion "We're literally surrounded by them, do you have to attack them??? I don't want to add a Gashadokuro to the list of things I'm running away from" Mayhem blinked at him, repeatedly. Even in the darkness of the cave the red hue on his face was visible "What??? Yokai and Yūrei are terrifying" He said defensively, Mayhem made a sound he thought it was impossible for a cat to make, guess he should know better than that, especially when it came to his new companion because the cat straight up laughed at him, or at least that's what he thought the cat did, because honestly, that was the closest thing he could associate the sound with. It was weird even for his standards.
Picking up his jaw from the floor he looked at the cat in his arms rather offended. At the end of the day, he was a human, a human kid, of course, he was afraid of things, it just so happened that he found evil spirits scarier than psycho Yakuza gangsters -Not that Chisaki wasn't scary, but he would rather choose him over a Gashadokuro- "Yeah, yeah, laugh it off, but don't expect me to save you when the dead come for you" The laughter grew louder and he felt his eye twitch. "Whatever" he mattered before turning at the skull and apologizing to it for the cat's insolence.
After that he grew a bit restless, multiple times he jumped because of a sound expecting a spirit to attack him, and he seriously thought of returning to the town. The Gashadokuro woke up at 2 a.m. and ate people close to it, he hoped the mattress store was out of its reach. Mayhem, after he had stopped laughing at him -He now had doubts that the cat was actually a cat- had taken to chasing rats and gorging on them. Kurayami was disgusted by his 'manners', though that was a show to make him feel better for his embarrassing fear.
Gore and blood? he was okay with it, he had grown used to it, torture? it used to hurt but again he grew used to it, and even more used to seeing it, death? It was nothing, but ghosts??? yeah, he didn't do ghosts. In a way though his fear made sense, he was afraid of the people he had killed, he was afraid of what they would want to do to him for killing them, what if they wanted justice? revenge? that's how he developed this fear, because of the what-ifs, because of the unknown, and the supernatural.
They had left the graves behind and were now walking a narrow tunnel, melted and deformed candles decorated it along with broken torches. The air had grown humid, and the cold intensified. It wasn't until hours later that he heard the sound of running water, and then greenery started appearing here and there. "We must be closer to a water source," he said relieved, he was tired and he had already started feeling the strain of his wounds. His head was buzzing and his vision got blurry from time to time, his breaks had also grown, they were closer to one another, and each time they lasted longer. Filling his stomach had helped, at least for a while, now he just felt like puking his insides out. Mayhem walked beside him as if he was waiting for Kurayami to collapse any moment now,
Eventually, the evening sky greeted them. They began their exploration early in the morning and now the sun was descending, and the sky was painted with oranges and yellows with hues of dark blue. He looked at his surroundings and was shocked to see the Kamo River, a little ways away from them the Sanjō Ōhashi Bridge stood proud, it was late, too late to go back to the Shrine. The tunnel was hidden enough to offer them protection from prying eyes, but what about animals? He decided he was too tired to care, just like he was too tired to think of how it was possible to end up on the River. He zoned out as he walked back at the tunnel, a little deeper than necessary, his paranoia was still on even if he wasn't, he dropped the backpack and lay down using it as a pillow. He was out the moment his head hit the 'pillow', cut curled beside him. He trembled in his sleep from the cold.
The next day he woke up with a high fever.