Nerusona

Chapter 14

Part 1: April

Chapter 14

Everyone’s gazes nervously shifted upwards towards the ceiling. Hanging by one of the thick strings was a young boy dressed in a tattered black garb with spots of reddish-pink patches sloppily sewed on. The string was wrapped around his body several times, hanging as if he was belly-first on a swing set. He turned his head towards another figure hanging next to him.

“Teddy!” cried out Raku again.

Teddy was in his school uniform, hanging upside down with one of the strings wrapped around his ankle. His face was blank, and he gave a dead gaze—disinterested in the whole situation.

“Raku-nee, come on and play with us,” called the mysterious child, extending his hand out to Raku. “Oh? You brought Tanaka-nii and Yamaguchi-nee too?”

“You’re so annoying,” mumbled Teddy to the boy next to him.

“You’re so annoying,” repeated the boy, smirking at Teddy.

“I’ll kill you.” Teddy opened his eyes up.

“I’ll kill you.”

“That boy…” Yamaguchi nudged Tanaka. “He has yellow eyes. Could he be…?”

“Oi, what’s with all this ruckus?” A feminine voice interrupted the chatter between the two children, and swinging on one of the red strings was…

…Idola. Or at least it looked like her, for she was crudely wearing no clothes and had golden eyes like the young boy. She hopped onto another string and made her way over to Teddy and the other suspended boy.

“Nee-chan should put on some clothes,” said the messily dressed child.

Teddy closed his eyes again.

“You’re an annoying piece of shit, you know?” The girl grinned widely, mentally controlling the string to lower so she could observe Teddy. “Is he still asleep?”

“Don’t you dare touch him!” another female voice called out. Trapped between multiple strings—thick and thin—was the real Idola, fully dressed in her school uniform. “Leave him alone!”

“What the hell is going on?” whispered Raku to Tanaka and Yamaguchi as the trio hid in an elusive manner behind a large, torn teddy bear.

“No, he’s awake.”

“Good.” The fake Idola swung away to where the original Idola was trapped. “Isn’t this fun?”

“Get away from me,” Idola hissed, turning her head away from her lookalike. “You’re a disgrace.”

The fake only leaned towards the original. “Disgrace? This is amazing!” She held part of Idola’s face in her palm and gently brushed her cheek with her thumb. “I feel so free! Everyone can see who we really are! Come on, join me!”

“Like hell I’m joining you,” interjected Idola, trying to kick the fake. “Let Teddy and I go.”

“Tanaka, let’s go help them out,” suggested Raku, but the dog-eared male only shook his head.

“Hey, Idola-nee,” said the child next to Teddy. “Do you love me?”

The fake Idola swung over to the two males. “Love is a dangerous term to throw around, Teddy.”