Superhero and Supervillain

Chapter 5

Baku hummed to himself, twirling his cane. That "Super Len"...how ridiculous. He had definitely heard of people who got so lost in their childhood dreams that they believed they were real...he didn't think he'd actually meet one. What did they call them? Wannabes? Well, whatever they were called, they certainly were entertaining.

"Yorune Town...What a delightful place" he said to himself, sitting on a street lamp. Far from being a town where nothing happened, it was instead a place where anything could happen, especially at night. Cats with secret lives, hidden monsters, wannabe superheroes, and of course, other youkai abounded in this town. There were even rumors of a phantom thief. This wonderful city was filled with contrasting influences, from the lovely Edo era to the enchanting Victorian period. Everything he loved.

Even Yorune Town had its downsides, however. For some reason, no one was calling out tonight, leaving the dream eater to fend for himself.

But even on an uneventful day, that boy had been awfully interesting. Although he stank of stale, resolute ambition, watching him try to be what he wasn't was terribly amusing. He grinned, thinking of the boy dangling from a tree. Though unsatisfying, this night's hunt had not been in vain.

And yet...something about the boy's scent had been intriguing. Behind the savageness that underlies most boys' dreams, there was a hidden sweetness...

Where could it have come from? Not the boy himself, he was sure of that. But if it wasn't him, what could it have been?

Curiosity led him back to the boy's house, where he was nowhere to be seen. He must have eventually returned home after Baku knocked him out of the tree. Yet the sweet smell was still there, drawing him nearer...If this wasn't that boy's scent, then what was it?

Perhaps...there were other people in the house? Well, of course there were, that boy looked far too young to live on his own. But that scent didn't seem like his mother or father at all, rather it was sweet and fresh, reminding him of a young girl. Could it be...?

He leaped up into the tree, almost like a cat, and gazed into the window. The room on the left obviously belonged to the boy from before. The walls were plastered with animated cartoon posters, including a well-loved Defender poster, and various video game cases were lying on the floor. Baku sometimes read comics, although he didn't like it as much as he would a novel, but animated cartoons held no interest for him. Why humans enjoyed spending their time staring at a box, he didn't know. Obviously this was the reason the boy paraded around in a superhero costume. The window on the right, however, looked into a much neater room with clean white curtains, a small pink pillow where a white cat was curled up, and a comfy-looking bed with a blonde head resting on it. A starched sailor uniform hung from a closet door.

A girl of about fourteen lay on the bed. Her blond hair and small build matched the boy's perfectly, to the point where they were almost indistinguishable. Yet Baku could tell this girl was different from her brother. Even their matching appearances couldn't hide the delicious, sweet smell wafting through her cracked window. He licked his lips. She was perfect.

He was just about to open the window and climb in when a familiar voice called out. Luka? It definitely sounded like her. Could she be having another nightmare? Or perhaps she wanted something more this time...

Whatever it was, Baku couldn't ignore her, that would be completely against himself. The prospect of a nightmare was tempting, and even if she didn't have one, he was curious to see what she would desire. Turning away from the girl's window, he jumped off the roof, landing almost gracefully. Before he left, however, he made sure to glance at the nameplate outside the house: "Kagamine".

As he left, he grinned. "Oh, what fun I'm going to have with you two, Kagamines..."