The monster under my bed

Chapter 2: A Hyper Imagination

"Wake up Muichirō."

"Wake up, it's morning, you don't want to be late."

Muichirō felt his Mother shaking him gently. "I'm awake, I'm awake," he mumbled, and rolled out of bed.

"Good." Mother left the room and went back to the kitchen. Muichirō went back to his own room, changed into his school uniform, and went to the bathroom. Yuichirō was already there.

"Muichirō, what happened? Did you have a nightmare?"

Muichirō nodded. "I got to sleep with Mama and Dad though," he smiled. Yuichirō gave him a black look. "Baby."

"I'm not a baby! Mama said I could!"

"Yeah right. She wouldn't have if you hadn't cried and screamed during the night. A nightmare, huh." He turned briskly and left the bathroom.

The twins ate breakfast in silence, and stayed quiet throughout the whole ride to school.

"Be good at school, okay? I love you," Mother said.

"Yes Mama," the twins echoed.

Yuichirō ran off immediately to join his friends, leaving Muichirō standing by the sidewalk where they'd been dropped off. Muichirō looked towards the school recess yard, and decided to go over there, since classes were to start in fifteen minutes.

Or maybe not. He noticed Genya walking down the sidewalk, together with his older brother, Sanemi.

"Oii! Hey Genya!" he called, waving to his friend. From all their friends, Genya was the only one who seemed to take a genuine interest in Muichirō. The younger boy was very introverted, and wouldn't willingly talk to anyone or participate in any activities. Genya had approached him and talked to him, drawing him out of his corner. Muichirō was very grateful for a friend like Genya.

Genya saw him, and waved back shyly, earning a snarky response from Sanemi. Muichirō ran towards Genya, wanting to tell him everything that happened. Suddenly, a man in a dirty black trench coat stepped out from behind the tree by the sidewalk, and Muichirō bumped into him.

Oof.

The boy fell backwards, landing on his butt. "Sorry, I should've—"

The man was staring hard at him, piercing him with his eyes. A creepy smile played on his face. Muichirō felt a tingle go down his spine. For the first time, he couldn't put into words what he was seeing. He stayed frozen on the sidewalk.

Genya saw the raggedy-looking man leaning against the trunk of the tree, smoking a cigarette, and thought nothing of it, until the man stepped out from the tree all of a sudden, cutting Muichirō off as if he'd meant to do it, and then just standing there.

His younger companion had a shocked look on his face, and it appeared as if he was frozen. Genya ran forward and pulled Muichirō up onto his feet. "Let's go," he murmured into Muichirō's ear. The younger boy nodded and seemed to ground himself. "Thanks Genya," he smiled, and hugged the older boy around the waist.

"Think nothing of it," Genya grinned.

"Oi." Sanemi grumbled behind them. "Do you know who that creep was? What did he want with you, Tokitō?"

Muichirō shook his head. "I don't know. I've never seen him before in my life. He didn't say anything to me either."

"He's probably just some creep," Genya assumed. "He was probably high or something."

Sanemi grumbled about something again and told Genya to get his ass to class before they're all late.

While in his ecology class, Genya thought about his brother's mood swings. They'd gotten more frequent lately. Maybe it had something to do with his own terrible math grades, or maybe...with Kanae Kocho from the upper floor.