W

Chapter 12: Too Late

Kira's POV
"A box? Wait.....is this what I think it's for?" I asked, stepping just a little closer to it.

"Yes it is." Kori replied, pulling the box closer to him.

"I think we'll need this for one of those scenarios, Kira. Soon or not, I don't know. I'm going to get Yuki here later and show him too. I'll hold onto this." Kori said, turning around and placing the box back on his desk, but there was something else I should ask.

"Does Akane know?"

"Not exactly. All she really knows is that my Mom knows about these monsters. That's it." He said, turning back around to me.

"So I see. Well, then, I guess I'll talk to you later." I said, turning around and walking towards his doorway.

"You know, it really would be a shame if one of us became one of them." Kori said. I stopped walking and turned around, noticing he was looking at the ground now.

"You mean Neon, don't you?"

A nod from him was all I needed, and that's just what he did.

"....Yeah." I heard him mutter, now watching as he sat on his bed, head still directed at the ground with narrowed eyes.

"So I was right then."

"Huh?" He responded, looking up, his eyes no longer narrowed.

"You like her, yeah?"

"Yeah....so you know, huh?" Kori responded, looking back down again. I sat next to him on his bed, smiling as I did so.

"Always kinda did. It's pretty obvious. Hey, when'd you start liking her anyway?"

"A few years now, I think. It was pretty gradual."

"Remember she's my sister. Treat her bad once and I'll come for you." I said, gently slapping his back, then keeping my hand on his shoulder as I gave him a dark smile.

"That's....that's a joke, right?" Kori asked, slowly turning his head to me, raising a brow as he did so.

"Yeah. Keep in mind she's my adopted sister, which I'd say softens the blow." I responded, taking my hand off his back.

"Right." Kori said, nodding his head, turning his head back down to the floor.

"But Kori, this leads me to another question...." I started, turning my head away from him and looking up at the ceiling, leaning back on his bed, "if she were a monster, Kori, what would that mean for you?"

"Are you asking what I'd do if she were a monster?"

I nodded, hunching over again, watching as it was his turn to look at his ceiling.

"Well...I guess it depends on what type. I don't and wouldn't want to kill her, but if I have to, I guess I have to."

"Hm...I see. Same here. I wouldn't want to kill Yuki, her, you, or really any of my friends, but if anyone we know becomes a monster, is it really them?" I responded, watching as Kori looked over at his metal box.

"I don't know. I guess if they've been a monster for so long then it really isn't them anymore." Kori said, looking back at me. I shrugged and got up from his bed.

"Maybe so. Well, I'll see you later, Kori."

"See you, Kira."

"Oh, and Kori.....what does your Mom know about these monsters?" I asked, turning around to him once I stood in his doorway.

"My Dad became one of them." Kori responded, sighing as he looked at his box again.

"WHAT?! Is that a joke?" I responded, sliding my hands in my pockets.

"SSSSHHHH! Akane doesn't know yet!"

"Will you tell her? What happened?"

"I don't know yet. Maybe some other day. My Dad became one of them and my Mom had to kill him."

"HUH?! You serious, man?! That explains a lot over what's happened the past few days! Even my Mom knows that your Mom encountered one of these, but not the whole story!" I said. Kori got up from his bed, crossing his arms as he walked closer to me.

"Dude, I'll tell you about the story later. For now, shoo." He said, pointing to the hallway behind me.

So with that said, out of his room I went, and soon I found myself in my house.
********
It's been a day since Kori showed me his box and told me part of his Mom's wendigo story.

I was looking up more information about them on my phone when I got a notification from Kori on my phone. Pulling my notifications down, I pressed on the message and was taken to my contacts, where I saw more of what Kori had said.

"Hey Kira. The full story is that my Mom and Dad were going on a vacation and Dad had been acting weird for some time before the vacation. He would bring up these monsters and wear a lot of baggy clothes. My Mom and Dad went on a vacation to a ski lodge, and while they were lost in the mountains trying to find their way back to the lodge one night, Dad became hungry and they both found two people at a campfire who were lost like my parents. Mom went to find the lodge, and once she came back, my Dad became a w and my Mom killed him with a silver spear."

"And that's how it happened? Did you show Yuki the box?"

"My Mom can give you the story in better detail, but yeah, that's it, and I did tell him about the box."

"I see."

Setting my phone down on my bed, I remembered something from a few days ago. I meant to ask Neon if she could mimic my Mom's voice, but never did ask her. Now I can and should while I still remember it.

Setting my phone down next to me on my bed, I got up and walked towards my doorway. When I walked out of my room and towards Neon's, from where I was walking I could see her door was slightly open a crack, as well as light seeping through the bottom of her door.

I pushed open the door and saw her sitting on her bed, looking at something on her phone. When she saw me walk in, she turned off her phone and set it down next to her.

"Can you mimic my Mom's voice, Neon?"

"Sure." Neon said, then cleared her throat and closed her eyes. She opened them as well as her mouth.

"Hey Kira, don't smack anyone with your dumbbells." Were the words that came out of Neon's mouth. Slightly higher pitched than mine and raspy, yet still low. Yeah, that was my Mom all right.

"Wasn't planning to." I said, unable to help the small smile that formed on my face. Smack someone with a dumbbell? That's an interesting way to hit someone.

"So how've you been doing lately, Neon?" I asked, trying to steer the subject to know if anything else has been happening to her lately.

"About the same as usual."

"Food tastes weird?"

"Yeah."

After that, I didn't know how to continue the conversation.

"Okay then."

I turned around, walking out of her room, pulling the door back close to where it was before. Then, realizing I forgot to say good night, I turned back around and opened the door back up.

"Hey Neon, goo-"

My eyes widened when I saw her pull her nightshirt over her torso.

But it was too late. I saw her.

Her skin barely clung to her waist, her body in general. Dare I say it even appeared to sag. Her bones were beginning to become visible. I shouldn't have seen her spine poking through her back, but I did.

It didn't actually poke through her back. That would probably be painful. I meant I was able to see it even though she wasn't bending over or doing anything that would make the spine more visible.

She was, in all sense of the words, skin and bone.

It's too late, Neon.

I've already seen how emaciated you've become.

End chapter