Straight-Up Not Having A Good Time At Night Raven College: Chapter 1

Chapter 25: A Sad Little Child

It was dark.
Again.

But...
But she could see.
Again.

She drifted through an abyss of swirling blackness, body at once heavy and light as a feather.
There was a patch of light up ahead... Not bright light, but muted grays, shifting and pulsing.
It grew larger and larger, drawing closer and closer until it enveloped her.

Then there was a voice.

"Happy eighth birthday, Riddle my darling~"
It was a woman's voice, posh and proper, but almost cooing, with a sugary-sweet cadence.

The surroundings swirled into view, like ink dropped in water.
It was an office, or a study-- a large, expensive-looking one, all thick plush carpet and shining dark wood.
It was all gray, though... Darker and more indistinct than the crisp, monochrome dreams she'd been having lately.

"This year's birthday cake is a special, low-sugar recipe! It's made with lecithin-rich soy flour and lots and lots of tasty nuts, to improve your cerebral function and make you even smarter!"

There was the clink of a ceramic plate on a varnished wooden table.

She could see the silhouette of a woman now, too-- a moving silhouette.
The figure had about as much detail as your average shadow puppet...
She looked to be a bit on the curvy side, though.
Her hair was in some kind of twist or chignon at the nape of her neck. There were curly strands on either side of her face, and twin cowlicks or ahoge stuck up from her bangs, falling in a heart shape.
She could see a hint of the outline of leg-of-mutton sleeves and a long, form-fitting skirt with a peplum.

Kat blinked.
Suddenly, she was standing in the room, not just 'seeing' it in that strange, omnipresent dream-way.

She looked down at herself, seeing that she was the only thing in color.
She was still in the school uniform-- and it didn't look as beat-up and dirty as it probably was when she-- she...
Passed out?
Was this a dream?

Raising her head, she looked around.
The room literally melted into shadows at the corner, like this was some tiny bubble of reality in an otherwise endless void.
She was standing by a long, shiny wooden table, set with matching, expensive-looking chairs.

The woman was a lot shorter than her-- probably five-two or so.
She was still completely swathed in black, like a character in a video game that hadn't been unlocked yet.

"Thank you, Mama," another voice said-- a child's voice. "B-But..."

Kat blinked again, turning.

There was a child sitting on one of the chairs... A small boy.

He was dressed in the standard 'little anime fancyboy' number. Tweed shorts, a button-down shirt and a small ribbon bowtie... The usual Angus Macdonald or Conan Edogawa look, but without the jacket or sweater vest.

He was the only thing, besides her, that was clearly visible, even though he was still in grayscale.
But-- the heart-shaped strands sticking up from the bangs, those big, angled eyes...

It was Riddle.

....Oh, god, he was so fucking cute. Like, super super cute.
His eyes were even bigger now-- or, then, since he was obviously way, way younger. His cheeks were so round, and those eyelashes...
Jesus Christ, did they have to trim them so they didn't droop into his eyeballs, like her dad used to have to do with her brother?

He was also super small...
His chin barely even cleared the top of the table, even though he was already sitting on two extra cushions.

The smaller Riddle fidgeted shyly with his hands, looking down at his lap. His cheeks darkened as he blushed.
"....Even if it is just once, I'd really like to try one of those-- those tarts... The ones with all the pretty red strawberries all over them..."