nighttime explorers ☆

prolouge

time: unknown (approximately 8 years ago)

there he was, procrastinating once again. naruse sighed, he didnt feel like working on his homework. he leaned over to check his alarm clock for the time. it read "4:20"

"its only been 20 minutes since ive arrived home?!" naruse thought inside his head.

naruse, who was currently 8-9 at that time, was quite smart. he just refused to put in any effort until the last moment. naruse sighed as he got out of bed. he felt like meeting up with some friends and chilling at the park but first, he needed to catch up on some lost sleep.

"there's no need for a timer im sure i'll wake up just in time." naruse, the pink haired boy, thought to himself. he got off his bed and walked over to the light switch next to the door frame. he turned the lights off and went straight to bed. he pulled the cozy covers to cover up to his shoulders. he closed his eyes, easily drifting off to sleep.

eventually, naruse found himself awake in a pitch-black room. he looked below him to find pitch black too. he walked around aimlessly. he was confused and scared. it was so dark. no matter where he looked he found nothing. all he could hear were the echoes of his footsteps as he walked

there was nothing. it was empty. too empty. it was just naruse alone...."was this an endless nightmare? how long would it take to wake up again?" naruses mind was racing with thoughts.

he eventually heard a loud shout calling his name. it echoed throughout the empty place. naruse froze in fear. he didn't understand what to do. he didn't know where to go. he didn't know if he should follow the voice or not. it was the only other thing the boy heard so, he followed. he followed with some hope of leaving this place. he tried to follow the echo to the best of his abilities. eventually, he saw someone....

"greetings naruse..." the echo-like voice greeted him. it was feminine-sounding

"who are you...h-how do you know my name?!" naruse shouted. he was shaking in fear as he stared at the mysterious lady.

"that's not important, i have a gift for you...but...." the lady spoke before she got cut off by naruse

"oh?! a gift! what type of gift?!" naruse asked with an excited tone. completely forgetting about his fear.

"i cant tell you now but, you'll find out soon. although, im going to have to do something... scary. please, forgive me and rest your eyes

those last few words confused naruse. why would he ever be scared by a gift? he was so eager to find out that he immediately closed his eyes. naruse loved gifts and wanted one right away.

then mysterious lady sighed. she had guilt in her eyes knowing how traumatic this would be, especially for an 8-year-old kid. the anonymous lady then pulled out a knife as she stared at naruse. this was the only way he'd be able to get his powers. even though it'd hurt, his physical body would be fine.

naruse kept his eyes shut, waiting for the gift. he heard the lady's footsteps ringing in his ears. they got closer, and closer, and closer, and then they stopped. out of curiosity, naruse opened his eyes to take a peak. he then saw the knife equipped in her hands. naruse screamed. he was too scared to even move. he tried to run away but, he just shut his eyes with tears running down his face.

"its just a nightmare, naruse. it's just a nightmare."

naruse reminded himself, speaking inside of his head. he was still struggling to move. he wanted to run away and have someone...anyone wake him up from this terrible nightmare. before he knew it, he felt the knife pierce his stomach. it hurt. it hurt like hell. naruse started screaming and crying before he fell down on his knees. he opened his eyes again, to see he hadn't left the dream yet. he looked down and saw all the blood oozing out of his stomach. he felt so sick, so scared. all he could do was silently sob as he watched himself bleed out. he watches the mysterious lady leave him alone. to die in this nightmare. in the empty room. slowly, the pink-haired boy felt himself lose consciousness. everything was blurry until he blacked out.
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he woke up, his heart was racing. he kept picturing the image of him dying in his nightmare. all alone. he was still crying. those images haunted him. it was so scary and so painful. he wanted all of it to stop. he knew one thing he had to do, it was to cry to his mom.

naruse jumped off his bed, he took a quick glance at the clock...it was 6:46...dinner was soon. naruse ran out of his room, nearly bumping into walls and other objects. he sprinted to his mother's room, panting. he let a loud knock and his mom opened the door. naruse looked up at his mom, his wet tears dropped down his face

"mom...i...i...i had a...a...a nightmare....it was so scary!" naruse said in between sobs and sniffles. he gave his mom a tight hug. in return, his mom gave him a concerned look.

"naruse...its going to be okay now...i'll make dinner..." naruses mom said with a gentle tone, returning naruses hug.

naruse gave a simple nod. he was going to go to the bathroom to calm down for a bit. he ran off. his footsteps could be heard softly hitting the carpet.

naruses opened the bathroom door, a small creak could be heard. naruse walked up to the mirror to get a better look at himself. his eyes were swollen from all. of his tears...although, he noticed something else. he had a pink crescent on his cheek. naruse thought it was drawn by one of his friends when he wasn't paying attention so, he turned the sink on. he put some warm water in his hands and splashed it on his face. every time he'd touch the mark, flashbacks of his terrifying nightmare appeared......