Shadows | Gojo Satoru

1

The late afternoon was a picture of tranquility. The warm hues of orange and pink reflected over the koi pond as Ayame stared at the sight in wonder. The young girl watched as the colorful koi fish swam through the water, their scales seeming to sparkle from certain angles. It was because of days like this that she appreciated living in the smaller town on the outskirts of Tokyo.

The feeling of warmth from the sun was interrupted by a cool breeze prompting her long black hair to dance in the wind. Almost instinctively, she looked up from her seat on the park bench to see Suguru approaching her with a concerned expression on his face.

"Ayame! You can't just wander off like that!" Suguru scolded once in proximity to his twin sister.

"It's not like I left the park." Ayame responded with a shrug making her brother sigh.

"Let's go home, it's getting dark." He instructed making the girl look up at him with a pout.

"Just a little while longer Sugu, please!" She pleaded, knowing just what to do to get her way with her brother.

"Hmph. Fine, just a few more minutes." Suguru obliged before taking a seat next to her on the bench.

Ayame smiled before reverting her attention to the pond in front of them. Suguru was only about 5 minutes older, but he often acted as though he was 5 years older.

"The blue one is my favorite. I named that one Shiro, and that black one Kuro." Ayame said enthusiastically pointing out some of the fish to her brother.

"What about those two?" Suguru questioned pointing out two of the fish that looked almost identical.

"Ayame & Suguru because they remind me of us!" She answered earning a laugh from Suguru.

As promised, they sat and talked for a few more minutes before Suguru was gently pulling her in the direction of their home. As they walked Suguru glanced around for any signs of danger, it had gotten darker more quickly than he anticipated, and he was sure their parents were worried sick by now.

A chilling presence caused both the twins to stop dead in their tracks. Suguru's grip on Ayame's hand tightened as they both stared ahead at the figure moving towards them. As it slowly got closer it's distorted features became clearer, and the horrifying sounds louder. It was as if the twins were being confronted by something out of a nightmare.

Suguru was accustomed to seeing these creatures that others could not, yet he had never seen one to this caliber.

"Listen Aya when I tell you to run-" Suguru began to instruct, stopping at the unexpected look of horror on his sisters face.

"W-what is that?" She questioned feeling as though her body was paralyzed with fear.

"You can see it?!" Suguru stated in shock, only earning a slow nod from Aya in response. He of course had more questions, but he first had to figure out how to get them out of this alive.

Before he could speak again, the creature let out an unexpected roar now running towards the children in a full sprint. Both let out shrieks of horror, and with it now being too late to run Suguru simply crouched down with Aya, doing his best to shield her.

They remained there, waiting on an impact that never came. Suguru opened his eyes seeing a black, shadowlike cloak now covering them both. He was unsure of where it came from until he looked at Aya's shaking limbs, as the energy making the cloak seemed to be flowing from her.

He was sure she wasn't doing it consciously as her eyes were tightly shut and she was too petrified to even think straight. Suguru watched as the monster seemed to get frustrated with the lack of their presence before vanishing elsewhere.

Suguru was astonished but motivated now more than ever to get home. Without a word, he pulled Aya to her feet and ran as fast as possible to their home. Once home, they were greeted by the scolding from their worried parents. As the twins were just grateful to be alive, they said nothing, simply rushing to engulf their parents in hugs.

That night it was quieter than usual in the Geto household, and sleep was the furthest thing on the twins mind when it came time for bed.

"Hey Aya...how did you do that earlier?" Suguru whispered from his bed, causing her to look at him from her own bed.

"Do what?" She asked with furrowed brows.

"Never mind, have you been seeing things long?" He continued to question, now having the confirmation she'd done it unconsciously.

"Maybe, there have been times where I thought I'd see something weird, but then it would vanish." Aya explained as she was trying to make sense of things herself, "What about you?" She asked her brother.

"I think it's been about a year or 2 now, but never one like that." Suguru answered making Aya's eyes widen. She quickly grabbed one of her pillows and launched it across the bedroom, hearing a satisfying thud as it connected with Suguru's head.

"Why'd you keep it a secret?!" She whisper yelled with folded arms.

Suguru couldn't help but chuckle as he tossed the pillow back to her. It was true they'd never kept secrets from one another before, but he also believed in keeping a secret from her if equated to protecting her.

"Sorry I didn't want to worry you." He explained earning nothing but a grunt in response, as she turned her back to him.

"No more secrets. Now that we can both see them you don't have to feel alone, we can help each other." Aya voiced, unable to see the small smile on Suguru's face.

"Okay, no more secrets." He agreed before getting comfortable himself.

"Goodnight Sugu." Aya spoke sleepily, "Goodnight." He responded.

Both the Geto twins had questions that went unanswered that night, but the comfort of having one another alleviated some of their uncertainty.