Mahito awoke from his sleep as the morning sun peeped through the cracks, blinding him as his eyes fluttered open. He stretched his arms and legs into the air, his feet gliding across the dirt as the muffled ruffling sound filled his ears. His arms rose to the sky, popping with excellence.
"Uhhyuhhh!"
Mahito yawned as he finished his stretches, patting his mouth as he looked around the shelter for a while. He wasn't surprised to find it empty; not a piece of, well, anything was left, and to his right was a large opening leading to the outside. He must've been a heavy sleeper if the kid was able to rip a hole like that through the wall without him noticing. He really needed that rest.
However it wasn't a worry, as his bindle was weirdly still there—albeit it was the closest item near him, so it was risky to grab an empty basket.
Rolling onto his stomach, Mahito used a push-up motion to push himself high in the air to kick his feet underneath himself, relinquishing some small back pops with a motherly, exasperated sigh. He reached for his bindle, grasping it in his hands and swinging it over his shoulder. About time he got out of here—a simple thought crossed his mind as he turned towards the makeshift doorway.
"Thwoosh!"
With a simple punch, the whole front of the dwarf house flew off a couple of feet ahead, causing another huge dust cloud. Mahito walked out, smacking his lips as he observed the surroundings—nothing special but the same dark, shadowy clouds. But he wasn't looking for the same sights; as he looked to the sky, the sun was right ahead of him, which meant he was pointing south or something.
Mahito scratched his head for a while, thinking he thought there would just be an answer plastered in the sky. And, well, there kind of was, but there were no words. So he threw his shoulders up and just decided to turn right and walk in that direction; hopefully, this was the right direction.
The road began to quiet once more, with the long, winding distance ahead of him. It seemed nigh infinite. But Mahito had other interests; as he peeked over his shoulder, he noticed he was being followed by someone. Particularly someone small. Mahito walked a while before coming to a halt and chuckling.
"The longer you follow me, the more I think about killing you; just come out."
Behind him was Katsuma, who was very visibly shocked as his body shook; he thought he was practically invisible. Katsuma walked out from behind a trash pile with a comically large backpack, which made Mahito's eyes widen in surprise—where had he gotten all of this stuff?
Mahito found it extremely hard to hold his laughter as he used his left hand to grip the side of his cheeks. As if they rose too high, he would inevitably laugh.
"O-oo, Katsuma-kun, what brings you to follow me?"
Katsuma dipped his head down as shadows covered his eyes, and he visibly gritted his teeth. His voice trembled as he cried out.
"I don't want to live in a dump anymore! I want to see the outside world! Please, let me come with you, Mahito!"
Mahito paused, glancing over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. He crossed his arms, tapping his chin thoughtfully.
"Hmmm, can you come with me?"
Katsuma, holding his breath, watched Mahito anxiously. He wasn't getting his hopes up—life had taught him better than that. Then Mahito smirked and shrugged.
"Mmm, I don't see a reason why not, sooo… yeah!"
For a moment, Katsuma's face fell, expecting rejection. But when the words clicked, his eyes widened in disbelief. A smile broke across his face, slowly pooling tears in his eyes as he struggled to hold back sobs.
Mahito chuckled.
"Hey, don't fall behind!"
Before Katsuma could respond, Mahito had already started walking away, far ahead in the distance. Startled, Katsuma wiped his tears quickly and scrambled after him, lugging his oversized backpack. Mahito laughed, watching the boy struggle to catch up.
Huff Huff
Katsuma hurried to catch up with Mahito, his breath ragged as he doubled over, gasping for air. Mahito strolled along at a leisurely pace, hands clasped behind his head as if they were taking a casual walk through a park instead of the outskirts of Meteor City.
"Damn, how do you walk so fast? You didn't even tell me you were getting this far ahead!"
Mahito licked his lips, eyes drifting lazily toward the horizon. "Because I'm not responsible for you."
Katsuma scowled at the casual remark. In Meteor City, people looked out for themselves; it wasn't uncommon to hear words like that. But coming from Mahito, they still stung a bit.
Before Katsuma could respond, everything seemed to freeze. His body went weightless, and the world around him blurred in a flash of movement. His mind spun in confusion, trying to piece together what had just happened.
"Eh, but I guess I'm a little responsible for you," Mahito added, his voice playful.
Katsuma blinked, realizing that Mahito had grabbed the hood of his jacket and yanked him backward. His legs still moved like he was walking, but his feet weren't touching the ground anymore. He hung suspended, held in place by Mahito's grip.
"What the hell—?"
Katsuma's eyes snapped forward, and his heart nearly stopped. Not five feet ahead, a creature the size of a wolf, its fur greasy and matted, crouched in the dirt. Its deformed face—like a nightmare version of a Doberman—was a mess of jagged teeth and twisted features. Thick saliva dripped from its contorted jaws, a sign of some sickness festering within. Its numerous, underdeveloped eyes blinked in strange rhythms, never quite focusing.
A mutated beast.
Katsuma's breath hitched in his throat. Meteor City was notorious for its contaminants, and mutations like this weren't uncommon. What scared him wasn't the sight of the creature itself, but the fact that Mahito had saved him from walking right into its jaws.
Mahito lowered him back onto the ground with an almost bored expression, his eyes never leaving the beast. "You almost became a snack."
Katsuma shivered, barely managing to stay upright. Mutated beasts usually didn't hunt alone. That meant—
His eyes widened. "Mahito, behind us!"
Another beast lunged from behind, snarling as it aimed for Mahito's back. Its jaws opened wide, revealing rows of infected, jagged teeth, hungry for flesh. Katsuma barely had time to shout a warning before—
Wham!
Katsuma blinked in disbelief. Mahito had swung him—no, his backpack—like a weapon, smacking the mutated beast across its face. The creature yelped and tumbled onto its side, more shocked than injured.
"You—what?" Katsuma stammered, still trying to process what just happened. "Did you just use me as a weapon?"
Mahito set him down gently, crouching beside him as he flashed a grin. "Of course. I thought you'd make a great shield."
The beast, now wary, growled low in its throat but didn't move. It had sensed something—it could tell it was outmatched. Mahito, confident and unfazed, began walking toward the creature, his hands tucked casually by his sides.
"Katsuma-kun," Mahito said without looking back, "I told you to keep up."
Katsuma stood frozen, watching as the beast prepared to lunge again. But just as it leaped, Mahito sidestepped with ease, as if the attack was too slow to even register. He bent low, kicking up a handful of dirt before twisting his entire body into a spin. His leg snapped out, striking the beast upwardly, squarely in its belly.
Boom!
The sound of the impact echoed, and Katsuma could swear he saw the shockwave ripple through the beast's body. The creature let out a guttural cry, coughing up blood before crumpling to the ground, lifeless as it rolled off Mahito's leg.
Mahito dusted off his hands, turning back to Katsuma with a smile. "You see? You gotta keep up with me. Not just on the road, but in everything. Prove yourself useful."
Katsuma gasped, speechless.
Just as Mahito basked in his victory, Katsuma's panicked voice broke the silence, revealing his gasp wasn't out of amazement.
"Mahito-san… I'm getting jumped over here!"
Mahito snapped his head around to see three more beasts latched onto Katsuma's backpack, tugging and growling like rabid dogs fighting over a bone. Katsuma's face was pale, and he was shaking, trying his best to stay calm despite the stressful situation.
Mahito stood there for a moment, staring in disbelief, drool hanging from his lips in surprise. Then, without missing a beat, he burst into a sprint, shooing the beasts away with a casual swipe of his hand. The creatures yelped and scattered, their teeth so brittle they hadn't even pierced the fabric of the backpack.
Katsuma collapsed to his knees, clutching his backpack in a death grip.
"I'm going to die before we even get halfway through Meteor City."
Mahito smacked the back of Katsuma's bag with loud thumps, dusting it off, but he really just wanted to hit him. Chuckling slightly, Mahito said in a dismissive voice,
"Nah, nah… you'll be fine. Well, actually, I know I'll be fine, but by extension, you'll probably be okay too."
Katsuma, listening to Mahito, froze as the latter rephrased his sentence midway; this caused Katsuma to swallow a large lump in his throat.
Mahito reached out and grabbed Katsuma's hoodie, lifting him onto his feet in a quick pull, forcing him to stand.
"Anyways, there are bugs on the ground. Get up, kid; we got places to be."
Katsuma gripped his backpack and shook as his teeth ground together.
"Y-yeah, sure…"
Mahito nodded and cracked a smile, laying his arms behind his head as he began to walk away once more.
"Anyways, let's get going."
Katsuma, despite shaking, took the first of many necessary steps, following in Mahito's tracks. Only one thought coursed through Katsuma's mind: maybe he should just crawl back into his hidey hole, sit this one out, and take a slightly less crazy ride.