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Once upon a time there was a little boy named Natsuo who thought he had a monster living under his bed.
His mother would laugh every time he spoke of it, and her voice was like the sound of tinkling bells as she would tell him to stop being so silly. She did also get him a new nightlight for his room though just in case.
Fuyumi would listen to his tales with wide eyes and a mouth slightly open with awe and childlike wonder. She was alway asking him for updates on the monster, lowering her voice near to silent so that their mother and father wouldn’t hear.
Touya would scoff and roll his eyes but there’d be a smug little smile playing about his lips and he was always teasing Natsuo about it, “oh you don’t like it when the monster tickles your toes huh?”
He’d grin and then somehow that’s what the monster would do next that night.
The monster seemed friendly enough, all things considered. It would tickle his feet and bump up the bed right when Natsuo was about to fall asleep and it would cackle with laughter at his indignant shrieks.
But sometimes there’d be the sound of Endeavor's clomping footsteps down the hall and the monster would hiss from under the bed, “Quiet or he’ll hear you!”
Natsuo was always quick to quiet down those times. If a real live monster was so afraid of their father, then what did that mean for him, right?
Touya always grumbled under his breath whenever Natsuo brought that up, mumbling something about not being scared and just wanting to get out of training some times to have some fun.
Natsuo would nod and say, “I know that’s why I’m keeping you company,” and Touya would swipe at him, mock angry and snap something like “you just don’t get it do you?”
Natsuo would always ask him to just explain it then but Touya never did.
Natsuo always thought that he would though.
One day.
When Natsuo was older.
But they never got the chance.
Because one day everything changed.
There was a kettle and hot water, screaming and sobbing, an ambulance and men in white coats, and then their brother was scarred and their mother was gone.
The monster was silent for days after that and Natsuo only knew it was still there because he could hear it breathing, harsh and angry puffs of air that heated his room and the bottom of his bed till Natsuo was hot and sweaty.
It didn’t tickle him anymore or yank off his blanket or anything else that it used to do and Natsuo almost wanted to poke his head under there and check if the monster was sick.
But after all this time he was too afraid to find out what the monster looked like, too afraid to give it form in his mind.
It was only once his older brother Touya was gone for good that Natsuo realized it had never been a monster that was hiding under his bed at all.
Once upon a time there was a little boy named Shouto and when he was around six years old something bad happened to him and he started having nightmares.
His mother wasn’t around to soothe him anymore and Fuyumi tried her best but he didn’t want her he wanted his mother…he wanted not to be dragged to the training room all the time, he wanted a lock on his door or to run away and never come back just like Touya and mother left and never came back.
Fuyumi would beg him not to talk like that and so Shouto stopped talking to her at all.
One day there came a training session that was particularly harsh.
Endeavor had been harder on Shouto than usual and the second he’d left the training room to answer a call, Shouto had been off like a shot.
His thoughts were a single mantra on repeat, a looping cycle of, where to hide— where to hide— where to—
“In here.”
A door was held open for him and Shouto didn’t think twice before running in and letting it be closed behind him.
He was so tired and out of breath and all he wanted was to rest for a while and be safe.
Natsuo hadn’t said a word after closing the door, he’d simply sat down on his bed and lifted the blanket that hung over the edge to reveal a nice spacious hiding spot under his bed. There was a pillow and a yoga mat for cushion and a thin little blanket that still smelled vaguely of smoke.
Shouto had hesitated, unsure of what Natsuo wanted from him and so Natsuo had sighed and dropped his blanket back down, letting it hang over his bed again to hide the spot from view.
“Did I ever tell you about the monster under my bed?” Natsuo had asked and Shouto had silently shook his head no.
“He was always tickling my toes and yanking off my blanket," Natsuo had continued, tone wistful and oddly melancholy. “But most of all he would keep me company on dark stormy nights and in exchange I would make sure that Endeavor never found him here.”
Shouto had blinked at him, still confused at what Natsuo meant and his big brother had silently lifted up his blanket again in answer.
“Do you want to be the new monster under my bed Sho?”
And little Shouto had looked at that dark little hiding spot with its pillow and blanket and yoga mat for cushion and slowly he’d nodded his head.
“Yes please.”