Hidden Eye, Hidden Heart

by OtomeCrow

Summary:

“Listen. . . Whatever’s under there can’t be that scary,” the blond said reassuringly.
“And what if it is?” Suo replied softly.
“Huh?” Nirei hadn’t been expecting that answer. “What do you mean?”
“What if it is scary? Scarier than anything your mind can conjure?” Suo lowered his hand from over his eyepatch and turned to Nirei, a somber look on his face. “What if what I’m hiding under my eyepatch would destroy your perception of everything you’ve ever known?”

In which Suo is an eldritch creature with a right eye that drives people mad. In a moment of weakness, he entrusts this secret to Nirei, the one he loves most.

Notes:

• Inspired by Izuku Midoriya is Human by katydid

This is gonna be a multi-parter! Started as a one-shot for today’s AU-gust prompt and became something more. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Eye Of The Storm

“You promised you’d tell me, so come on!”

Suo was packing up when Nirei shouted those words.  The two of them had just finished another round of training in the fields.  Suo frowned, turning around as he picked up his backpack.  “Promised I’d tell you what?” he asked innocently, putting on a smile.

Nirei folded his arms, a proud look on his face.  “You promised that once I did over 700 push-ups, you’d finally show  me what’s behind your eyepatch!”  He grinned victoriously.  “I’ve been keeping track all this time, and today got me to 710!  So now, you have to keep your word!”

The blond pulled out his notebook & pen, staring intently at Suo as he readied his writing utensil.  Suo couldn’t remember when he told Nirei that, or why, because that certainly was a stupid thing to promise. 

So, he only laughed and waved it off.  “Check back with me once you’ve done 1500 push-ups.”

“Whaaaat?!” Nirei exclaimed, lowering his notebook with a pouty expression.  “Come on, Suo; you promised me!  You can’t just move the goalpost like that!”

Suo smiled, hiding his anxiety as best he could.  “I certainly can.  I am your teacher, after all.  What better way to motivate you than with information?  That’s something you crave more than anything.”

Now Nirei looked angry.  He shoved his notebook & pen in his pocket and marched towards Suo.  “I did what you asked!” he exclaimed.

Now Suo’s anxiety was growing.  He kept his smile plastered on his face, but took a nervous step back.  “And I require more for that information.  Consider it a price increase.  Supply and demand, you know!”

“That’s not fair!”  Nirei ran up to Suo and lunged for his eyepatch.  Now, it was on.

Suo blocked his friend’s approach easily, pushing his hand away and thinking that would be the end of it.  But Nirei kept on coming, feet moving forward with powerful steps, hands grabbing and arms moving.  Suo found himself being pushed back, forced to defend. Now his anxiety was growing, fearfully gnawing away at his insides.

Could he actually grab my eyepatch and see. . .?  No, no, I can’t think like that.  Plus, he’s only a student.  Surely he can’t get past me.

Outside, he was cool as a cucumber, and as he blocked Nirei’s repeated strikes, he calmly chuckled and teased the blond, “You’re like a child trying to grab a toy. . . Why don’t we stop and call it a draw before you get hurt?”

Nirei said nothing, just let out an angry grunt and kept his offence going.  Suo sighed and stretched his arms out, making and X with his forearms to block both of Nirei’s hands—but then, his pupil grabbed the X and used in to swing himself underneath to Suo’s chest!  Now, they were pressed against each other, and Nirei reached for Suo’s eyepatch, a victorious look on his face—

I can’t block him in time—

If he sees what’s underneath, he’ll—?!

I can’t lose him—!

“DON’T TOUCH THAT!”

The words that came out of Suo’s mouth were anything but his usual calm cadence: his tone, filled with terror, showed the anxiety he had been trying to hide.  Nirei immediately froze, staring at Suo in utter shock, jaw on the floor—Suo used that moment to get his arms in front of Nirei and push the blond away.

Nirei stumbled a few steps, but his eyes remained on Suo, his mouth still open in surprise.  Suo stared back at him, his fear & terror now clear—unhidden, unable to be contained in his confident façade.  He was trembling, one shaking hand protectively over his eyepatch.

Nirei was the one who finally broke the silence.  “You. . . Y-You’ve never looked like that before,” he noted.  “You look horrified, Suo. . .”

His teacher said nothing, and just turned away.  Nirei, terrified he’d irrevocably damaged the best friendship he’d ever had, bowed profusely.  Apologetic words came tumbling out os his mouth!  “I’m sorry I tried to force you—I got really mad because you promised me, and I’ve always wanted to know!  And you know how much I like gathering information about cool guys, especially my friends, and—!”

“I get it,” Suo said, his voice calm, but drained.

Nirei straightened up and looked at his friend—Suo still looked out of sorts, unbalanced.  He walked up to his teacher and put a gentle hand on his shoulder.  “Listen. . . Whatever’s under there can’t be that scary,” the blond said reassuringly. 

“And what if it is?” Suo replied softly.

“Huh?”  Nirei hadn’t been expecting that answer.  “What do you mean?”

“What if it is scary?  Scarier than anything your mind can conjure?”  Suo lowered his hand from over his eyepatch and turned to Nirei, a somber look on his face.  “What if what I’m hiding under my eyepatch would destroy your perception of everything you’ve ever known?”

Nirei could see how serious his friend’s expression was, but still, he had to ask: “Are you just pulling my leg again?  Are you going to say, ‘Oh, just kidding,’ or ‘I was lying,’ in a second?”

“I’m afraid not,” Suo replied.  “I really wish that was the case.”

He gently pushed Nirei’s hand off of his shoulder and sat down in the grass.  Nirei sat besides him.

Suo’s heart was pounding, adrenaline still coursing through his veins.  His hands were still shaky, and he tried to steady them.  No one was to ever know his secret.  It had been weighing on his heart ever since he had come into this world, and no human could handle the truth.

“Suo, please,” Nirei pleaded, putting his hand on top of Suo’s.  “Talk to me.”

Suo looked over at him, his heart melting at the tender touch of his best friend.  For once, he was tempted to lower the burden on his shoulders, share it with another.  He knew he shouldn’t, but he trusted Nirei more than anyone he’d ever met.  Perhaps. . .

“If. . . If I tell you,” he found himself saying softly, looking Nirei in the eye, “will you promise me to never write it in your notebook?”

Nirei’s eyes widened a bit.  “Is it that serious?” he whispered.  Suo nodded.  Nirei thought for a moment, then agreed, “Ok.  I promise.”

Suo knew he shouldn’t be doing this.  But for the boy he loved, he would do anything.

And so, he began to speak.

Chapter 2: Evil Eye

Summary:

Suo tells Nirei the truth of what’s behind his eyepatch.
For AU-gust Day 14: Chimera.

“I’m not like you, Nirei,” Suo admitted, for the first time in a very long time.  “I’m something . . . separate.”

Nirei, not understanding the weight of this confession, raised an eyebrow, unsure what his friend  meant.  “Go on,” he said.

Suo nodded and continued, “I’ve always known I was different than other kids.  For example, by preschool, I could communicate complex thoughts verbally and in writing, and had a wider vocabulary than the other kids; I easily pronounced 4 & 5 syllable words at that age, and also knew what they meant.  My parents told me that I had a gift, that day by day, they would ‘lead me to my destiny’.  That was the phrase they’ve always used.

“They gave me the eyepatch when I turned five years old,” Suo remembered, a sad smile on his face.  “Told me to always wear it, that my right eye was ‘developing into itself’, and to not let anyone see.  Long story short, a classmate in kindergarten asked what was under my eyepatch, and lifted it before I could stop them.  That’s when I learned of the power it had, and that night, my parents told me who I truly was.”

Nirei was holding off his instinctual need to pull out his notebook right now—damn it, he had made a promise, and he intended to keep it!  So he gripped his knees to keep himself from grabbing his pen & notebook, and listened intently.

To his surprise, Suo let out a laugh and looked at Nirei with a wry expression.  “Turns out I wasn’t actually human after all—I’d just been playing pretend,” he told his friend with a carefree shrug.

Nirei frowned.  “Suo, that’s not very funny. . .”

“Oh, but it’s the truth,” Suo replied.  He laughed again, and then, the humor faded from his face.  He turned away, continuing in a grave tone, “I was never a human being, and I never will be, not like you.  I am the spawn of an eldritch monster, a creature who is infinitely beyond what homo sapiens will ever be.  My parents worshipped It, and agreed to carry its spawn, give birth to it.  That’s how I came to be.”

Niren opened his mouth, then closed it again.  This had to be bullshit.  Suo was pulling his leg again for sure.  He waited for the punchline, or the, “Just kidding!” to come.

Instead, Suo turned to Nirei and pointed to his right eye with a trembling hand.  “Every bit of power I got from the monster that made me is centralized right here,” the brown-haired boy revealed.  “And anyone who even catches a glimpse of it, even for a second—that person gets a look behind the curtain, sees the depths of the universe that I see, the secrets of the cosmos.  But the human mind wasn’t made to handle that information—so the brain breaks upon obtaining that knowledge, driving the person absolutely insane.”

Nirei stared at him, shocked.  The blond wondered once again if his friend was pulling a prank on him—but then, he saw the sadness & grief on Suo’s face.

“Do you know how many people could have had a good, beautiful, stable life, if only I had never met them?” Suo asked.  Tears poked out of the corner of his eye.  “How many people I’ve ruined just by existing in this world?  Countless people, Nirei.  Everyone who’s seen what I have hidden has had the course of their existence dashed into ruins.”

He wiped his tears with a sad, distant laugh.  “I used to think that one day I could be a normal kid, just like you. . . But know, I know that’s an impossibility, a lie, a chimera.  I’ll never be normal.  I’ll always be a monster.”

Nirei stared at his friend, unsure what to stay.  He was starting to believe Suo just might be telling the truth . . . an impossible & outlandish as that seemed. 

Ever the inquisitive researcher, he decided to ask a few questions.  Perhaps that would help him see if this was real or not.

Notes:

Yes, all of the chapter titles will be eye puns/phrases lmao.

Chapter 3: Eagle-Eyed Investigator

Summary:

Now that he’s learned the truth about Suo’s eldritch nature, Nirei asks his friend a few questions.
For AU-gust Day 15: War.

“What kind of power did you get from the eldritch being, the one’s that centralized in your eye?” Nirei began.

“Well, there are quite a few, actually.  Let’s see. . .”  Suo looked thoughtful, and as he spoke, he listed off each of them with his fingers.  “I have the power see the truth of the universe of course, but I can also change my body to whatever form I wish, add & remove parts of myself at will, not to mention the ability to bend reality—”

“Wait—bend reality?” Nirei echoed in disbelief.

“What, you didn’t figure out I could do that?” Suo teased the blond with a laugh.  “And here I thought you were a real investigator, Nirei.  Why else do you think my eyepatch has never accidently flipped up?”

That’s when Nirei put something together.  “Wait a minute—that’s why, when it looks like there’s no way you can block a hit, your fighting opponents can’t lay a hand on you!” he exclaimed.

“Yep, that’s right!” Suo replied with a forced laugh.  “I bend reality around them by channeling it in my hands like clay.  So I can change a strike that was going to hit me into one that never had a chance of touching me.  Not that I always use it when I fight, though—just to make sure those bullseye swings turn into misses.”  He leaned back, reminiscing.  “It’s a skill I learned to harness not long my parents told me who I was—I’ve been sharpening that ability ever since.”

Nirei felt a shiver run down his spine, but tried to ignore the fear gathering in the pit of his stomach by asking another question.  “If you can bend reality, why haven’t you ever bent reality to make it that the people who saw your right eye never did?”

Suo shook his head.  “Trust me, I’ve tried that for a long, long time.  That’s one thing I can’t scrub out of existence.”

Nirei nodded, then shifted his line of inquiry.  “You said your parents worshipped the eldritch creature, right?” Nirei asked.

“That’s right,” Suo confirmed.  “They found out about the It by chance, during their time as archeology students.  They think they understand It more than anybody,  but they don’t know the full depths of what It is—they only know the parts they can wrap their fragile minds around.  I know everything about It, and if I told them the truth about the being that made it possible for me to exist . . . it would completely devastate & destroy them.”

“Why don’t you tell them the truth?” Nirei asked curiously.

“Because they’re my parents—in a life where I’ve always lost people, they’re the biggest consistency I have,” Suo replied.  “I don’t want to lose them too.”

He sighed, then returned to Nirei’s main question.  “Anyway, because they’ve aligned themselves with It, they have some protection from going utterly insane—that’s how they could raise me in the first place, and look at my right eye as it was developing.  Nowadays, they probably wouldn’t be so lucky with me, though.”

“I see,” Nirei said, clinging tighter to his knees.  “And do you know what the eldritch creature is like?  The one who made it possible for you to be born?”

“Of course,” Suo replied casually.  “I know everything about It, and It knows everything about me—actually, it knows more, if I’m being honest.  The two of us are interconnected.  It not anywhere near Earth at the moment, though; It’s—actually, if I told you that, you’d probably faint, so I’ll keep that information to myself.”

The fear in Nirei had increased, becoming more insistent.  His body was at war with itself, with his instincts screaming at him to run, and his emotions begging him to stay.  Clearing his throat, he tried to ignore the former as much as he could.

“I guess my last question is . . . what’s someone like you doing at Furin High?” the blond asked.

Suo laughed.  “Because, well, I’m tired of all the insistence that I have to have a strong, mighty destiny,” he told Nirei with a smile.  “My parents wanted me to go to a great school, one that was ‘suited for me’.  So, I made it so that only Furin High would accept me.” 

He clenched a fist.  “I learned to fight because I had to defend myself from people who saw me as a freak.  My fighting skills are my own power, one I’ve earned not something some monster forced on me from beyond.  What better place for an abomination like me than Furin High?”

Chapter 4: Eye-Opening

Summary:

Now that Nirei knows the truth, Suo is certain that his friend is going to leave him.
For AU-gust Day 16: Rest. I guess I interpreted it more like “peace” though.

Suo turned to Nirei.  He saw the blond’s shaking hands, noticed the way his eyes were much too wide, how his breathing was unsteady.  He’d been trying to pretend he didn’t see his friend’s growing anxiety, but now he couldn’t pretend anymore.  Clearly, by revealing his true nature, he had made a huge mistake.

“I know I scare you,” Suo admitted.

“W-What?  No!” Nirei squeaked, trying to hide his growing terror with a forced grin.  “I’m not—"

“You don’t have to lie to me,” Suo cut in.  He shook his head.  “I tried to tell you enough without telling you too much, but even the little I’ve said is overwhelming your brain. . .” 

He sighed as his heart sunk into despair, deciding not to avoid what was inevitably going to happen.  “I’m sure you don’t want to be my friend anymore,” he mumbled.  “And I can’t say I don’t blame you.  Who’d want to be friends with a monster like me?”

“You’re not a monster, Suo,” Nirei said comfortingly.

“Don’t lie for my sake,” Suo insisted.  “I am a monster and have always been.  I always drive people away from me, so it was inevitable you would get driven away too, whether I told you or not.”  He glanced over at Nirei.  “The only think I ask is, please—don’t tell Sakura my secret.  You can tell him to stay away from me because I’m dangerous or awful or unstable, but just don’t tell him what I am.”

Unable to look at his friend anymore, Suo turned away, tearing up, waiting to hear the inevitable sounds of Nirei standing and walking away.  However, instead of that, there was a long pause.  And moment later, Suo felt Nirei’s warm hand over his own.

“Look, I’ll be honest: I-I’m pretty scared.  I mean, this is all kind of terrifying, you know?  But I don’t want to leave you because of that, Suo!  You’re my friend, no matter what!” Nirei exclaimed.  “I still want to be by your side, even after what you told me!  Even if I’m frightened!”

“No, you don’t,” Suo replied.  “I told you, I’m a monster, and—”

“Would a monster help drop things off to Sakura’s house when he was sick?” Nirei asked.  “Defend his classmates and his school from danger?  Protect me from harm so many times now, and teach me how to defend myself?”  He squeezed Suo’s hand.  “I don’t care what you are—you’re still my fellow vice-captain and my closest friend, who has a good heart even when he’s hiding it behind a shit-eating grin!”  Nirei laughed, then finished with a gentle tone, “I don’t care how scared I am—I’m not going anywhere, Suo.”

Suo gathered his courage, then took a deep breath, turning to face Nirei.  The blond had a sincere smile on his face, and he reached out, wiping away Suo’s tears—he hadn’t even realized he’d been crying.  “You believe me, right?” Nirei asked softly.

Suo nodded.  “Yes. . . Thank you.”  He smiled, joy & relief filling his heart in equal measure.

Nirei wrapped his arms around him in a hug.  Suo did so too, squeezing Nirei tightly, holding close the one that was most precious to him.  The two shared a peaceful moment together, in each other’s arms.

“I just have one more question,” Nirei added when the two of them let go of each other.

“What’s that?” Suo asked.

Nirei smiled awkwardly.

“What are we going to tell Sakura?”

Notes:

By the way, I haven’t done third person omniscient POV in quite a while, so please let me know whether I’m doing a good job of it or not!

Chapter 5: Looking His Fears In The Eye

Summary:

Nirei has convinced Suo to let Sakura in on his eldritch secret.
For AU-gust Day 17: Healers. Interpreted more as healing/hope of a healing moment.

“So, we’re here now.  What is it you wanna talk with me about?”

Sakura folded his arms, leaning back in his chair and looking across the table at Suo & Nirei.  Nirei shrunk back a little at his piercing gaze, and looked over at Suo, wondering what was running through his eldritch friend’s mind.

Nirei had spent quite a while convincing Suo that Sakura should be let in on the secret of who he really was.  The blond closed his eyes for a moment, thinking about their conversation from a few days ago. . .

“What do you mean, ‘What are we going to tell Sakura?’  We’re not going to tell him anything,” Suo replied firmly.

“But shouldn’t he be in on this too?” Nirei asked.

“I risked a lot by telling you, and knowing this information about me is dangerous.  Why would I risk more by telling Sakura?” Suo asked.

“Because he’s our friend!  And. . .”  Nirei thought for a moment, trying to think of a more convincing argument, and a lightbulb went off in his head.  “He’ll definitely notice something’s different between the two of us, and will be suspicious.  It’s better he’s in on this so he doesn’t accidently find out later, isn’t it?”

Suo rubbed his chin.  “Let me think about it.”

And so, after persuading Suo over the rest of the week (and asking a bunch more questions about his eldritch nature, too), here they were.  Suo had asked Sakura it they could go to his place, so that they wouldn’t risk other people overhearing.  Sakura grumbled about it, but eventually muttered, “Fine.  It sounds like whatever you have to say is pretty important,” with his face turned slightly red.

Nirei opened his eyes to see anxiety in Suo’s expression.  Across the table, Sakura raised an eyebrow and asked the brown-haired boy, “What’re you doing with that look?  You’re never nervous about anything, so what gives?”

Suo laughed, and his expression became unreadable as usual.  “I suppose it’s because I have something to be nervous about,” he replied to Sakura with a smile.

Sakura wrinkled his nose, looking somewhat creeped out.  “Well, just spit it out then,” he said.  “Get it out in the open! Then you won’t be so freaking anxious. . .”

Suo looked over at Nirei, who gave him an encouraging nod.  The eldritch boy hesitated, wondering if coming here had been a big mistake, if he should just excuse himself and leave.  Telling Nirei was one thing, but telling Sakura was a whole different level.

What had Nirei said that finally convinced him?  Ah yes, right: “You trust both me and Sakura to always have your back, don’t you?  So why not trust both of us with the knowledge of who you are?”  He turned back to Sakura, met the piercing gaze of the one who always had his back in battle, no matter what.  The one he knew that, despite all of his training, and every skill It had given him, he was no match for.  The boy he cared for deeply—well, aside from Nirei, of course.

Suo smiled to himself.  Telling Nirei had been scary at first, but also relieving, healing even.  So maybe, just maybe, things would be ok.

Hopefully.

“I’ve been hiding something, Sakura,” Suo began, looking across the table at his friend.  “An awful secret.”

Sakura frowned.  “What is it?” he asked.

Suo took a deep breath.  “I’m not. . . I’m not human,” he admitted, the words feeling heavy as they fell from his mouth.  “I never was, and I never have been, not fully.  I’m a monster.”

Sakura leaned forward, plopping his folded arms on the table.  “A monster?” he echoed.

Suo nodded.  “The other day, when I was training Nirei, he almost took off my eyepatch,” he continued, pointing at the object as he spoke.  “I wear it to hide the thing that betrays the fact that I’m abnormal: a swirling thing in my eye socket that drives those who see it insane.  The people who have seen it—they were never been the same afterwards.

“I have it because I’m the spawn of an eldritch creature, a god-like being from past the stars that is beyond human comprehension,” Suo explained.  He could see shock, disbelief, and fear coming upon Sakura’s face.  “I can do things that no normal person can, like morph into other forms, bend reality underneath my fingertips, and other unthinkable strengths.  But I want to be my own person and not rely on the powers given to me as a birthright.  That’s why I learned to fight, and why I’m at Furin.”

Suo concluded, “This is what I told Nirei, and now, I’m telling you too.  He’s chosen to stay by my side, but I’m used to people leaving me because of things I’ve done to others, or because they sense something about me isn’t quite right, making me an outsider who no one wants to be with.  And now that you know everything, if you choose not to be my friend anymore . . . well, I can’t say I would blame you.”

Chapter 6: Black Eye, Gold Eye

Summary:

Suo tells Sakura who he really is. Will this information go over well?
For AU-gust Day 18: Crossover. This is already a crossover with Lovecraftian fiction; what more do you want from me lol?

“. . .”

Sakura’s head was spinning, and as he stared at the boy across from him, the fear inside of his heart grew, making him shake.  He thought Suo was going to say something about some asshole he’d beat up in the past or something (not that anything Suo could’ve done would be worse than any of his sins)—but instead, he got a fucked-up lore dump about Suo being some creature-spawn from beyond the cosmos?  What kind of . . . thing had he been friends with all of this time?!

He looked over at Nirei, and saw that the blond was looking at him with a pleading expression.  What the hell was he trying to convey?

Wait a minute. . . Suo said he told Nirei this stuff when they were training, and Nirei tried to take off his eyepatch!  So Suo must’ve. . .!

Anger mixed with his fear.  He reached out and grabbed a surprised Suo by the shirt collar, dragging him up so the two of them met in the middle of the table.  In a trembling voice, he exclaimed, trying to sound fierce, “I don’t know what you are, but you better not have hurt Nirei for finding out your . . . your little secret, you got that?!”

“No, Sakura, he didn’t!” Nirei exclaimed, standing from the table.  “I know this is a lot to take in, but Suo’s still out friend, even if he isn’t human!  If anything, he saved me by preventing me from looking behind his eyepatch!”

Sakura looked at Nirei, then back at Suo, still shaking.  “Have you been toying with us all this time, huh?” he demanded.  “Pretending to take some interest in us pathetic little humans or something?”  When Suo didn’t respond, he pulled back a fist and shouted, “Answer me, damn it!”

Suo looked into Sakura’s wide, terrified eyes.  He had been worried this would happen, and now, one of his worst fears had come to life.  He was about to lose someone again.  It had to be inevitable.

Still, he tried to salvage the situation, despite his better judgement.  Reaching out, he put a gentle hand on Sakura’s fist, trying to lower it.  “I’m still a kid just like you, despite all of this,” he told his friend, voice shaky.  Everything in him was ready to cry.  “I’m not a god.  I know more than humans do, but I don’t know everything.  I didn’t ask for any of this, either—I’d give anything to live a normal life, and not have to deal with this . . . this curse!” 

He looked into Sakura’s eyes as tears trickled down his face.  “You and Nirei are my best friends.  I’ve never gotten this close to anyone in my whole life!  I see you as my equals; I don’t view you or other humans as playthings or pawns.  I promise, I may not be like you, but I’m not a monster.  Please. . .”

Nirei held his breath, looking from Sakura to Suo, unsure if Suo’s words had managed to persuade their stubborn friend.  Finally, Sakura’s eyes softened, and he slowly lowered his fist.  A moment later, he let go of Suo, but remained standing, looking away.

“Well,” Sakura muttered, blushing a bit, “your heart’s definitely on your sleeve today, Suo.  This is all really fucking creepy and . . . horrifying, and I dunno exactly what to think yet.  But . . . I at least believe you, ‘k?”

Suo nodded, a concerned look on his face.  “But, do you. . . Do you still want to be my friend?”

Sakura turned redder and snapped, sitting back down, “Of course, damn it!  Y-You’re not getting rid of me that easily, asshole!”

Suo laughed, and then a delighted smile came upon his face.  “Thank you.  I’m so glad. . .”

There was a pause.  Then, Sakura’s eyes went wide.  “Wait a minute. . .”  He turned pointed an enraged, accusing finger at Suo, glaring at him.  “IS THE REASON NO ONE CAN HIT YOU IN A FIGHT BECAUSE THAT ‘MANIPULATING REALITY’ CRAP?!  YOU CHEATING SON OF A BITCH!”

Nirei burst out laughing, doubling over, and he heard Suo let out some chuckles too.  Sakura shouted, “HEY, THIS IS SERIOUS BUSINESS!  HAVE YOU NO HONOR AS A FIGHTER, YOU ASSHOLE?!”

By now, Nirei was wheezing.  Between giggles, Suo explained, “I only bend reality in a fight if I’m absolutely about to get hit in a critical spot.  Pinky-promise!”

Sakura glared.  “When we fight, you better not do any of that bullshit!” he demanded.  “Whoever wins, it should be fair and square!”

Suo replied with a wink, “You just want to be the first one to say you beat Cthulhu to a pulp, don’t you?”

Sakura blushed profusely.  “THAT’S NOT IT!  SHUT UP!”

His laughter finally done, Nirei wiped tears from his eyes as he watched Sakura & Suo bicker.  It looked like things were going to be alright.

Notes:

Knowing how Sakura has reacted to Suo bullshitting in the past, OF COURSE he believes Suo right away lmao

Chapter 7: Eyes In The Back Of The Universe

Summary:

The night after telling Sakura of his true nature, Suo has a dream, and talks to It.
For AU-gust Day 19: Alignment Swap. I tried to lean Suo more towards Chaotic/Neutral Evil in this dream scene, not sure if I succeeded.
Tbh, I’m not sure if I like this chapter. Let me know your thoughts PLEASE!

That night, Suo found himself in a familiar dream.

He was standing in the darkness of space, somehow able to walk within & on it.  There was a garden of stars, each one like a seed, with glowing stems growing off of them, planets budding on the white leaves.  There was nothing else in sight for miles and miles all around, aside from the ever-growing garden, an infinite field.

He didn’t need to turn around to know that (1) It was behind him, and (2) It would remain behind him no matter how many times he turned around.  It had been three years since he’d requested to not see Its face anymore, and so far, It had respected that.  However, one persistent aspect remained in these dreams, despite what he’d asked: he felt different than his normal self, more emotionally raw, and more trigger-happy with his powers.  There was a chaotic side of him that emerged here that was dormant in real life.

Case in point, he was currently very tempted to play with the plants, bend reality so he could see each stage of their life cycles, from when they first formed into the universe to where they were today.  He forced himself to just stand there, but knew he wouldn’t be able to resist his new mindset for long.

Sensing he was ready to listen, It “spoke”—that is to say, it emitted words that somehow projected around the entire cosmos, yet seemed close to Suo’s ears.  The language it spoke was far more complex than any human one, linguistics & words that would have been indecipherable to the average person.  But Suo, as Its spawn, could understand and speak it all perfectly.  The text provided is an extremely simplified translation that can be understood by the average person, without the densities of the language spoken.

“Hello, tiny fledgling,” It greeted him.

Unable to resist the temptation, Suo absentmindedly plucked planets off of the plants, rewinding them, bring them back to their present, then seeing how far he could throw each of them.  “What do you want?!” he snarled.

“You have revealed the truth of your nature.  That’s something you’ve ever done, and now, you’ve done it twice in a matter of days,” It remarked.

“What’s it to you?” Suo snapped, angrily snapping a star-stem in two.  “If I want people to know, I’ll tell them if I want to, damn it!”

“Do what you would like,” It replied.  “I can’t be angry for what has already happened.”

“You better fucking not be,” Suo muttered, stepping on the star seed below his feet.  It shattered like a glass bulb, and a laugh escaped his lips—he crushed the pieces left, grinding them into fine powder.

“I just don’t understand why you think pure humans are worthy of knowing the power you can wield,” It told him.  “And why you still don’t embrace its true potential.  You could do so much more if you tried.”

“But I don’t WANT to try!” Suo screamed.  A smirk came upon his face as anger filled his body, and he let it all out, kicking wildly at the plants around him and making wide, decisive strikes with his hands.  For a while, he forgot all about the conversation, swinging and cackling evilly, crushing stars beneath his feet, chopping & ripping off plants & planets.  It was only when It spoke again that he remembered what they had been talking about.

“What made you open your heart to the yellow-haired one?” It asked.

Thinking about Nirei sent a shockwave through Suo’s system, and he stopped, temporarily returning to his normal mindset.  Trying to contain the restless, furious energy inside of him, he clenched his fists and tapped his feet.

“Well?” It asked.

“Why are you even asking?” Suo growled.  Now, his whole body was shaking due to all the suppressed energy within, and he stomped a foot on the ground repeatedly, trying to let it out a little.  “You know everything about me, and what I’m thinking or feeling at any given moment.  So there’s no need for you to waste my time like this!”

It didn’t respond.  Suo couldn’t contain himself anymore and jumped on the ground up and down, swinging in the air and kicking.  His intentions had been not to hit anything else, but his actions brought his chaotic side back in full force.  He landed on the ground and charged through the field with a loud cry, molding reality with his fingers as he moved.  As a result, each plant he passed shrunk back into the ground until it was barely a sprout.

Suo stopped, looked back at what he had done, and let out a delighted, evil laugh.  It was then that he woke up.

It took a moment for him to get oriented again.  Once he did, he let out a relieved sigh, glad to be back into his stable mind.  Then, he realized It had not answered his final question—not that such a thing was too uncommon.  This time, though, it left him worried, because it had specifically asked about Nirei.

If you’re targeting him, Suo thought, knowing all too well that It could hear him, then you’ll have to get through me.  I won’t let anyone hurt him if I can help it.

He tossed and turned in bed, still worried and thinking about the dream, until his alarm went off in the morning.

Chapter 8: Need To See It To Believe It

Summary:

The next day, during a class field trip to the local aquarium, something clicks in Sakura’s head. This leads to a live demonstration by Suo.
For AU-gust Day 20: Aquarium.

It was the next day, during Class 1-A’s field trip to the aquarium, that Sakura realized something, and exclaimed, “HEY, WAIT A MINUTE!” while glaring daggers at Suo.

The class was currently in one big group, with Sakura, Suo, and Nirei lingering in the back, and a guide & the teacher in the front.  Sakura’s outburst made the guide stop what she was saying, and the teacher folded his arms and asked, “Is there something you’d like to add to the conversation, Haruka?”

Embarrassed, Sakura shook his head and mumbled, “N-No. . .”

The teacher gave him a raised eyebrow, then gestured to the guide.  She took the cue and continued what she was saying about Siamese fighting fish.

Suo looked over at Sakura and asked, “What was that about, hmm?” with a chuckle.

The carefree tone only made Sakura more mad, and he pointed an accusing finger at Suo.  “Don’t ‘hmm’ me!” he hissed, making a conscious effort to not raise his voice.  “You tell me bullshit all the time with a straight face, don’t ya?  So how can I believe all of that eldritch monster crap you were spewing the other day is real?!”

Suo laughed, his face unreadable as always aside from a small smile.  “I have done that a lot, haven’t I?” he teased.  “But I assure you, everything I said about being a monster . . . that’s 100% the truth.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to prove it!” Sakura snarled.

Suo’s smile faded.  “Prove it?” he echoed.

Sakura folded his arms, looking victorious.  “What, you can’t do it?”

“Quite the opposite,” Suo replied.  “I can prove it easily, but I don’t know if you want to see me do that.”

“Try me,” Sakura insisted.

Nirei had been watching this conversation the whole time, holding his breath as he waited for Suo’s next reply.  Finally, the brown-haired boy agreed in a whisper, “Alright.  Let me show you.”  He turned to Nirei, who jumped, and asked, “You want to see this too, right?”

“Y-Yeah!” the blond replied eagerly, keeping his voice soft.

Suo smiled.  “I knew you would.”  Then, he put his arms around his friends, who looked over at him, until he said, “Pay attention to the hand on your shoulder, not my face.  Understand?”

“Got it!” Nirei agreed, giving Suo a salute.

“What, you gonna pinch me or something?” Sakura grumbled, turning his head.

Suo didn’t answer.  He took a deep breath—it had been a bit since he’d done this, because using this power wasn’t necessary until now.  Though, he thought, “necessary” is a strong word. . . In a lot of ways, it feels silly.  A display of insane power for a trivial reason. 

But getting my friends to believe him isn’t trivial to me, he realized.  They’re both so important to me that I’ve entrusted them with my biggest secret. . . I want them to see me for who I am, and not doubt it.  And so, after checking that the aquarium guide was still talking, he put his focus on the thing under his eyepatch.

Meanwhile, Sakura and Nirei were waiting—one impatiently, the other with bated breath.  Seeing the hand on his shoulder still looked normal, Sakura was about to call Suo’s bluff—but that’s when it happened.

He saw Suo’s hand was changing, white fur covering the skin at a rapid pace.  Sakura’s eyes widened, and he reached out to touch Suo’s hand—yep, that fur was real (and quite fluffy).  Each finger changed, one by one, and when Suo lifted them up, Sakura could see that each finger was a cat paw!  And the end of the thumb held a feline head, yawning as it looked up at him!

Nirei was seeing a similar sight.  For him, Suo’s fingers had become covered with iridescent purple scales, the fingers merging together as webbing filled the gaps between them.  He gasped, watching eyes form at the ends of the first four fingers, looking up at him.  Suo’s thumb grew multiple eyes all around it, with a final pupil on top.

The inquisitive boy ran his hands over the scales, feeling the texture.  “Fascinating,” he whispered, lifting the fingers gently as he examined each one, looking into the staring eyes.  I wonder what else Suo can—

“Eeeeugh!”  His thought process was interrupted by Sakura’s cry of disgust, and he turned to see his Othello friend reeling back, bumping into Suo.  Suo stumbled in surprise, and Nirei watched as the scaled hand quickly returned to normal.  Everyone in class turned around, and the teacher sighed again.  “Sakura, do I have to bring you up to the front?” he asked.

Suo put on his smile and grabbed Sakura’s arm with a now-normal hand.  “Don’t worry, I’ll be able to wrangle him, sensei!” he replied with a laugh.  “That won’t happen again, we promise.”

The teacher glared at Sakura for a moment longer, then turned back to the guide.  Soon, she was continuing her lecture.

Suo didn’t let go of Sakura’s arm, however.  He gripped it tighter and asked his friend quietly, “Do you believe me now?”

“Yes, geez, just . . . never do that again!” Sakura hissed.  He shivered, face red as he wrenched his arm free and hugged himself.  “That was so creepy. . .”

“So this is what you meant when you said you could change your body to any form you want!” Nirei exclaimed in a whisper.  “You can make yourself change into things that don’t make sense. . . Is that why you put those eyes on the ends of your fingers?”

Suo nodded.  “That’s right!  I wanted to demonstrate that my powers aren’t just simple shapeshifting.”  He put his hand on Sakura’s shoulder and teased, “I decided to do the little cat instead of removing my hand for a while. . . Something tells me you would have found that more creepy, right?”

“GOD yes!” Sakura agreed, shuddering.  “I don’t wanna see your hand removed!”

“Good!  We’re in agreement, then,” Suo told him with a smile.

“What did you see, Sakura?” Nirei asked eagerly.  “I saw a scaly hand with eyes on the ingers!  What—?”

“I don’t wanna think about this right now,” Sakura snapped.  “Interview me later, when I’m not feelin’ the creeps, ok?”

“Ah. . . Right, sorry,” Nirei mumbled, a little embarrassed at his inability to read the room.

Suo opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment, the guide concluded her lecture with, “. . . and if you follow me, we’ll get to see the sharks & dolphins!  Come this way!”

The class moved to do so, and Suo & his friends did too. 

Little did they know that someone else had witnessed Suo’s little demonstration. . . And now, they were eavesdropping.

Chapter 9: Life Literally Changed Before My Eyes

Summary:

Now that Nirei’s witnessed one of Suo’s powers, he asks to see one more in action.
For AU-gust 2025 Day 21: Space Exploration.

Notes:

I’m a day late, but here’s yesterday’s chapter!

“That was amazing, Suo!” Nirei whispered.  Currently, the class was scattered around the shark tunnel.  “Have you always been able to do that?”

“Yup,” Suo responded, watching the great white swim by.  “Started out small when I was a kid, but it didn’t take long to train it.”

Sakura was trying to ignore this conversation and stare at the big fish, but he couldn’t help but overhear.  He found himself asking, “Did you start out turning your fingers into cats?”

Suo laughed, eyes still on the shark.  “Of course not.  It took time to finally perfect that little trick.”  He chuckled.  “Curious, huh?  Even though you’re creeped out?”

“Y-You can’t blame me for being curious!” Sakura stammered, face turning red.

Nirei laughed, and then, a thought occurred to him.  He hesitated a moment, then asked Suo,  “Can I . . . see one more power of yours in action?”

That finally got Suo to look away from the great white, turning to Nirei.  There was a serious expression on his face, unreadable.  “Which one?” Suo asked.

Nirei gulped, wondering if he should dare to ask, and eventually deciding to just go for it.  “Your ability to change reality,” he replied, the words tumbling quickly out of his mouth.  “I’d like to see that!”

Suo froze up for a moment.  Sakura glanced over at him and shook his shoulder.  “Hey, you’ve gone stiff,” the blue-and-gold eyed boy grunted.  “Must be a big deal.”

“It is.  Very much so,” Suo replied.  He sighed.  “I know the timeline will be safe, but I still try not to change anything drastic.  So, it’ll have to be something small. . . Ah!  How about this?”

He pulled out of his pocket his ticket to the museum.  Everyone in class had gotten one, and on it was an advertisement for a new print in the giftshop, painted by a local artist.  Sakura & Nirei gathered around as Suo brought the ticket in front of him.

Suo pointed to the ad of the print.  The art showed a few species of fish swimming through outer space.  “You see the swordtail & betta fish there?” he asked his friends.

“Yeah, what about them?” Sakura asked.

“I’m going to change it so that there’s a zebra fish & tiger barb instead,” Suo replied.

His voice was calm and matter-of-fact, but his words caught Nirei off-guard.  “Like . . . change the print’s image on the ticket itself?” he asked, wondering if Suo was saying what he thought he was saying.

“No,” Suo replied, making Nirei’s heart drop.  “Changing the way the print exists in the world.  Change reality so that when the artist painted this, those were the fish they chose to paint.”

Sakura’s jaw came open for a moment.  “No way,” he mumbled.  “There’s. . . There’s no way you can do that!”

Suo replied with one simple word: “Watch.”

Holding the ticket in one hand, the brown-haired boy brought his other hand over the image of the art print.  Suo’s visible eye went wide as it stared down, and his fingers swayed & traced the air over the ticket in a strange, deliberate pattern.  Then, it was over, and he held up the ticket.

Nirei’s eyes went wide.  Sure enough, a zebra fish & tiger barb had replaced the swordtail & betta.  Suo glanced over at him and said, “It should be the same on everyone’s tickets, too.  Including yours.”

Sakura scrambled to grab his ticket from his pocket, holding it up to his face.  Suo was right.  “What the hell. . .?” he muttered, lowering it and staring at Suo with wide, fearful eyes.  “What the hell?”

“Hey, don’t be scared,” Suo said gently, putting a hand on his shoulder.  “I made it so that the two of you remember the original version.  Everyone else won’t know that things changed.”

That only horrified Sakura more, and Suo saw him shaking now.  Maybe he’d gone too far, showing his friends what he was capable of.  It was only natural to fear this kind of strength, but . . . he didn’t want his friends to be scared of him.  As selfish as that was.  After all, it was natural to be terrified of a monster.

“Sakura, it’s ok!”  Nirei’s words surprised Suo, and he turned around to face the blond.  Nirei went up to Sakura and took his hand.  “Suo is our friend, remember?” he told him.  “The powers he has may be scary and strange, but he’s still Suo.  He wouldn’t use his strength to hurt anyone, especially us!  So, please . . . don’t be driven away by this.  I don’t want to lose you. . .”

Sakura looked at Nirei’s pleading eyes, then at Suo’s face.  For once, the guy’s face wasn’t so calm—he looked at Sakura with a scared, begging expression.  So Suo was scared too, huh?  That made Sakura’s face soften.  Of course, he realized.  He might have these crazy, reality-changing powers, but at the end of the day . . . he’s still human.

Sakura took a deep breath.  “I’m not gonna pretend to understand this, or that I’m not scared of it,” he told Suo, “but . . . I know that you’re a good guy.  That you won’t use this stuff for evil or whatever.”

Suo smiled, looking relieved.  “Thank you, Sakura,” he said.  “And thank you, Nirei.”

Sakura nodded, turning away with a blush on his face.  Nirei grinned, his face lighting up like the sun.

Chapter 10: Prying Eyes

Summary:

Four eavesdroppers discuss what Suo just did.
For AU-gust 2025 Day 22: Private Detectives

Notes:

And here’s today’s chapter! Just a short one. Also, we’re at 10 chapters now? Amazing!

Across the room, Anzai turned to his three friends: Kakiuchi, Takanashi, & Kurita.  The four had been eavesdropping, and heard everything.  “Do you believe me now?” he whispered.

“Yeah—I gotta say, when you said Suo had changed his hand to a cat, I thought you were seeing things,” Kurita admitted.  “But you were right.  He’s inhuman. . .”

“C-Come on, guys.  Do you really think he changed reality?” Kakiuchi asked fearfully.

“I mean, he seemed pretty serious about it,” Takanashi pointed out.  “When he’s messing around, he sounds carefree.  But this time, he wasn’t like that at all.”

“Does anyone remember seeing the art on the ticket with a swordtail & betta fish?” Anzai asked.

“That’s the weird part. . .” Kakiuchi replied with a trembling voice.  “When I think about what I saw on the ticket, I only remember seeing a zebra fish & tiger barb.  I don’t remember a swordtail or betta fish at all. . .”

“You’re right!” Kurita exclaimed.  “It’s the same for me!  What the—?!”

“Keep your voice down or he’ll hear us!” Anzai hissed, putting a hand over his friend’s mouth.  When Kurita nodded to confirm he understod the warning, Anzai removed his hand.

“This is insane,” Kakiuchi mumbled.  “Did Suo rewrite our memories, too?”

“Well, it makes sense,” Takanashi admitted hesitantly.  “If he changed that aspect of reality, that changes everything about it, including how we experienced it in the past, right?”

“So he can change things in time?!” Kurita hissed.  “That’s crazy!”

“I think it makes logical sense.  But. . .”  Takanashi turned to Anzai and asked, “Do you really think Suo’s an ‘eldritch monster’, like Sakura said?”

Anzai thought for a moment, as did everyone else in the group.  “At this point, considering what he did, it’s not as out there as I thought it was before,” Kurita admitted.

“I agree,” Takanashi said.

“I don’t know what to think,” Kakiuchi mumbled.

“And I think that it’s probably true,” Anzai concluded.

There was a pause.  “Well, what do we do now?” Kurita asked.

Anzai smirked.  “Don’t worry.  I think I know our next move. . .”