The Other Way | Bonten

1

You were on your own now after finally graduating and moving out of your family's house to start your own 'journey'. The only company you had in your little home on the outskirts of your city was your fluffy kitten, Mittens.

It's a common name but it's cute and you named him after the girl on tiktok that wears them all the time. Mittens meowed softly beside you while you were on your phone before snuggling up to your side.

You had little to no social life but it was alright since Mittens still needs you a lot at his age. It was during a Friday afternoon when you found him in the middle of the street, terrified of all the busy people walking around him without even sparing him a glance. You knew right then and there, you were gonna keep him.

It was the day you stopped hoping. The last day you were ever gonna think of "them". You'd like to think it was fate to meet Mittens during that day. Now, you don't feel so lonely anymore.

You wake up, make breakfast, feed him, eat your own food, go to work, come home, prepare food for the two of you again, and you are content with that. Life was simple. Boring but at least you weren't in dangerous situations every now and then.

Opening the sketchbook on the table beside your bed, you flipped the pages and stopped at a sketch you made. It wasn't all that good but you tried your best. The day they took you to an amusement park and you captured a photo of them.

In the sketch, Ran was lazily smiling. Sanzu was grinning so much that his eyes closed themselves. Koko was smiling softly. Kakucho had the purest surprised look on his face. Rindou was biting his bottom lip while his eyes watered a little. Mochi was smiling down at the ground. Takeomi was laughing, his head tilted back. Mikey was smiling rather sadly.

The pages of the manga you had of them were blank. You weren't sure how that happened or when it happened. You were starting to doubt if all that happened was even real. As much as you hated the thought, those "memories" might have only been your hyperactive imagination.

No one knew about any of it. There's not even a single thing about them on the internet. It's like they never existed. You didn't want to tell anyone, not even a psychiatrist. It would only make you seem crazy. But maybe you are? Maybe you were really delusional? Maybe you do need professional help?

Your heart and soul refused to believe that as your heart rejects anything your brain thinks of. With the two always at war, you often find yourself staring into space and the only thing that could bring you back into reality was Mittens.

It's comforting mewls brought you back to the present. You picked him up and gave him a kiss before settling him in your arms.

You were planning to take a walk that night, just to clear up your head and maybe get something cool to eat at the convenience store. Mittens had already eaten. You fed him after he kept complaining that his food bowl was still empty 5 mins after feeding time.

Mittens jumped down and ran to his little hammock. He got on it and quietly watched you put on your jacket. After telling him you were gonna be back after an hour or so like he could understand, you finally went out and locked the door. You only had your keys and wallet with you. Taking your phone on a walk would just distract you.

The walk to a nearby park was okay but walking around the park was a bit meh. Since it was nighttime, you didn't expect it to be so crowded but there's apparently an event and you weren't all that curious to stay for it so you just went to the convenience store.

"What? What do you mean my card declined? Don't play with me."

You ignored your surroundings and went to the frozen section to get your prize for taking a walk. Little things matters and you can reward yourself for those. It's not like anyone can stop you or anything. Get yourself some ice cream or whatnot.

After getting what you wanted, you went to get some chips and chocolate before heading to the counter. The convenience store was nearly empty so you didn't take much time paying for your stuff.

As soon as you got out of the store, you tore open the ice cream packet and tasted it. Just like that, it seems like all your thoughts vanished. Well, the negative ones. It would be alarming for ALL your thoughts to vanish even with some yummy dessert.

Noticing someone all covered up laying on the bench you usually sat on in the park, you continued walking until you saw an empty one. It wasn't that far from the bench where someone was sleeping on so you could still see the person where you're from.

Looking down at the bag of chips and chocolate you had, you thought to yourself if the person on that bench had already eaten that day. Your conscience kept bugging you until you finally gave into it and walked back to the convenience store where you bought a few bottles of water as well as real food, not junkfood and chocolates.

You hooked the bag of food and water on one end of the bench, not really wanting to wake up the person sleeping. They'll see it once they wake up and hopefully they're not allergic to anything you bought for them.

It was nearly midnight when you walked back to your place. Since you weren't living in a sketchy neighborhood, you felt safe walking the streets at any time. But if there's a need for you to protect yourself, you knew you could do it anyway.

Mittens was alert when you entered your home. He kept meowing and circling your feet like he wanted to tell you something. When you hear a noise from your bathroom, that's when your heart drops to your stomach.

It was a warning, Mittens was warning you that some stranger had managed to get in your house without a trace of breaking in.

You quickly grabbed something from nearby and unfortunately it was a plastic potted plant the size of a tennis ball. It's been a few months since you bought it for a small amount of money, thinking it was cute. It still is cute but you never once thought you would use it one day to defend yourself from a home invader or home invaders.

Quickly, you put it back in annoyance and grabbed a broom--two brooms, actually. One for each hand. If you had a third broom, you'd hold the third with your mouth but you'll have to be content with two for now.

Mittens automatically turned quiet the moment you were aware of the intruder. He followed you to where you had positioned yourself--near your bedroom door. You had your back pressed against the wall and waited patiently for the intruder to come out of the bathroom door. And when they did, you put all your strength into attacking them with your trusty brooms. Mittens even joined in by scratching and biting the person near their ankles.

"Ahh, fuck!!"

The man's body fell face-forward and you could almost hear his nose break. You almost smacked his head again if it weren't for his hair. He groaned and slowly pushed himself off the floor while Mittens ran to hide behind you.

You didn't want to believe it but there he was. Realizing why there weren't any signs of anyone breaking in except for Mittens' constant mewls, you smacked his head again and made sure he was unconscious before you left to get a rope to tie him up.

And then you called the cops.