Gold, Raven, & Lavender: An Erasermic Family Fanfic

Chapter 16: Hall Pass

Shouta was walking down a dimly lit street, the street lamps casting a soft, golden glow onto the smooth pavement below. The path seemed both oddly familiar and eerily foreign to the hero, like a place he'd seen in pictures but never in person. All was quiet, save for the occasional wind-blown rustle of the hedges lining the sidewalk.  Shouta could just make out the figure of a man at the far end of the street, his back turned to him and standing under the final street lamp like it was a spotlight. As he neared end of the road, the figure turned to reveal shamrock hues accompanied by a shock of lavender in his arms.

"Sho?" Hizashi called out, squinting into the inky darkness beyond. "Is that you, babe?"

Relieved to see a familiar face, Shouta waved a hand in greeting and opened his mouth to announce himself. But no words came; it was like his vocal chords had been cut. Suddenly, the world around him began to warp: the pavement rolled and waved like water, soft leaves turned to sharpened spikes, and the street lamps loomed high above him like barren, metal trees. Even the darkness took on life of its own, forming hundreds of writhing, grasping hands that slowly encroached on the safety of the lamp light.

"Shouta where are you? Help me!" Hizashi cried out, clutching the baby closer to his chest. Hitoshi began to scream as thousands of clawed fingers squirmed and wriggled around the pair, getting closer by the second. Shouta attempted to run towards them, but those menacing hands had shackled the hero's limbs to his sides and his feet to the ground. He couldn't move.

The once innocent rustle of leaves in the bushes had also taken on a sinister air, morphing into raspy whispers in the hero's ears.

Do you still think yourself a hero?

You left them all alone... all alone...

And now they're mine... mine... mine!

In a fit of panic Shouta tried to activate his quirk, to give life to the capture weapon could still feel looped around his neck. But the hands didn't stop. In fact, they seemed to get even faster the harder he tried to stop them. And the scarf was only growing tighter, constricting his airway and causing his vision to go dark just as those hands lunged forward...

"Sho! Wake up!"

Shouta's eyes flew open and a sharp gasp was ripped from his throat. It took him a few moments realize where he was: in bed at home, not in the middle of a nightmare fight for his life. Soft, early morning sunlight streamed in through the windows and Hizashi was standing beside him, hovering over the side of the bed with a fussing Hitoshi in his arms.

"You okay there, babe?" The blonde asked, concern written all over his handsome features. "You were squirmin' like an eel! And saying somethin' about hands."

Shouta groaned and moved to sit up, the sheets and blankets falling off of him into a crumpled pile. They'd gotten themselves looped around his neck during his nightmare-induced thrashing.

"What time is it?" He asked groggily, his voice slightly hoarse from underuse.

"It's about six o'clock. Toshi woke up a lot earlier than usual so I've been trying to keep him quiet so you could sleep a little longer."

Shouta gave a quick hum of appreciation before swinging his legs off the edge and giving a long, languid stretch. He could hear and feel his joints popping as he did so, reliving the tension in his shoulders and back.

"Well I'm awake now regardless. So I'd better start getting ready for work."

"You sure?" Hizashi said, cocking his head to one side. "Maybe you should take a breather for a minute. You wanna talk about–?"