𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓸𝔂 𝓘𝓷 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓚𝓸𝓲 𝓟𝓸𝓷𝓭

𝔸𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣

[shhhhhh i know the money isn't technically correct, I'm too lazy to figure out the right amount of yen]

ℍ𝕚𝕥𝕠𝕤𝕙𝕚 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕕. His uncle had recently lost his job, and his parents had told him that they would help him get back on his feet. Unfortunately, that meant they were now living in a crowded apartment made for two people, with four people in it instead. During this recent turn of events, Hitoshi learned a few things about his family.

Insomnia ran in his family. Luckily he didn't have it quite as severely as his uncle did, but his uncle still hadn't gotten used to living with other people yet and had a tendency to stay up late watching loud movies. This was an issue, because while his parents still worked the night shift they had met on, Hitoshi actually slept at night, even just for an hour or two.

Hitoshi had also learned that his uncle may not be the most mentally stable person. He was getting up there in years, and occasionally he would make dinner awkward by telling a story about a shadow in the koi pond of a school he used to clean.

     "The day that I was fired," he'd ramble, "I saw a creature made of water and shadows, with glowing green eyes and a skinny form. 'Course, when I told the security guards that found me screaming, they didn't believe me. No one ever believed me." His uncle would wave his fork at each of them. "But mark my word, if you go back there, you might see something like I did."

His uncle was a real party crasher.

This particular night featured a particularly loud action movie, and Hitoshi decided to take a bit of a walk. Where he was going, he wasn't sure. He just popped in an earbud and started walking. Soon, he found himself at an old building, dripping with green ivy. The bricks were starting to crumble, and it was spotted with graffiti. Hitoshi had always loved all things abandoned. They gave him a place to hang out, things to do.  So naturally, he started inspecting the building a bit closer, just to make sure it wasn't about to come crashing down on top of him. When he was satisfied that it wouldn't, he took a look around. It didn't take him long to figure out it was an old school. There was the occasional tattered banner with what he assumed was the school's name and motto on it, but the hot summer sun had faded it beyond being able to be read. Old desks covered in dusk still stood in the classrooms, and he even found an old whiteboard marker in one, along with a few quarters. 

While looking out a broken window, he spotted a concrete koi pond. To his surprise, he could still see the occasional glimmer of the fish. swimming in it. Hitoshi also spotted a food dispenser by the pond, halfway filled with food pellets for the koi. Deciding what he was going to do with his newfound fortune (50 cents), he made his way carefully through the window and over to the dispenser. After a few grunts and lots of effort, he finally got the stuck dial to spin and proceeded to immediately spill half of the kibble onto the round.

     "Oh, great." Hitoshi groaned. "You know what, I'll just pick those up later." He walked over to the koi pond and started scattering the pellets into the water when something caught his eye. At the bottom of the pond was a tattered looking notebook. It even looked like it had burn marks on it. Hitoshi dumped the rest of the pellets in hs hand into the pool and bent down to pick it up. Befoe he could, however, his eyes were filled with blazing green. 

     "Ack!" He stumbled away from the water, falling backwards with an audible 'Oof'. 

     "Ohmygosh, are you okay!?" A voice called out, dripping water sounding in the background. Someone leaned out of the koi pond, heaving and supporting themselves   "I didn't meantoscareyouI'msosorry, are you hurt? I-" The figure stopped with a sudden snap of his mouth shut, as if they hadn't meant to speak. As if they hadn't meant to be seen.  But all Hitoshi could do was stare and wonder what he was looking at. 

The figure, as far as he could tell, was a guy with green hair that looked incredibly similar to a wet bush, draping over his face awkwardly and dripping water on the cement. He seemed to be dressed in a similarly soaked school uniform. One of the most odd things about him was the fact that he seemed to shimmer and fade at times, looking as though he was made of water. Then there were his eyes. While everything else about him was dull, a bit gray, and pretty transparent, his irises seemed unnaturally bright.

Before Hitoshi could say anything, the boy slipped back down into the water.