Chapter 15: Closet Chronicles and the Duel of Socks
Date: 2742-08-24
Time: 09:12 JST
Location: Aito's House – Kitchen > Hallway > Closet
The house was oddly peaceful. Aito was humming as he vacuumed, trying not to think about glowing eyes, alternate dimensions, or the fact that his best friend talked to his eyeballs like they were overworked customer service reps.
He slid open his closet, half-distracted.
And stopped.
Inside was something that looked like a portal… but also somehow like a spilled cup of ink having an identity crisis. Little glowing creatures floated in and out of the swirling circle, some spinning in slow loops, others bouncing like they were in zero gravity.
Aito stared.
Then closed the closet.
Then opened it again.
"Nope," he said flatly. "That's not socks."
Location: Aito's House – Hallway
"AITO!" Ren came running, half-dressed, hair spiked in the exact way gravity hates.
"What?!"
"There's something weird in your closet."
"Yeah, I KNOW," Aito snapped. "It looked at me. I think it winked."
They both stood in front of the open closet, watching as one of the floating jelly-like creatures floated past them and emitted a soft "boop."
BLAZE:
"This portal is unstable. Entry is unadvised. Or, you know—go ahead and walk into a mystery tear in reality. I'm just the combat-grade navigation system."
FROST:
"Oh come on, Blaze. Where's your sense of adventure? It's just a little transdimensional pocket space. What's the worst that could happen?"
BLAZE:
"Historical data includes spontaneous combustion, psychological breakdown, and someone turning into a tree."
"Tree?!" Ren stepped back. "Wait, like forever?"
FROST:
"Technically no. That guy only lived for 800 years before crumbling into mulch."
"Cool," Aito said. "You go first."
"No," Ren said quickly. "You go. I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to interdimensional mulch."
Without warning, Aito grabbed his sleeve—and in an awkward, stumbling motion, the two of them were yanked straight into the swirling void.
Location: Unknown Dimension – Somewhere Weird and Wild
The air felt like it was humming in stereo. The sky was upside down. The ground squished like a sponge, but smelled like candy apples. Trees were swaying to music that didn't exist, and a river nearby was flowing sideways.
A flying snail zoomed past with a monocle.
Ren blinked. "What… is happening?"
FROST:
"This place has excellent taste. I feel at home already."
BLAZE:
"This is chaos. Actual chaos. Do you enjoy nonsensical, uncharted territories?"
FROST:
"Only when you're here to complain about them."
"Okay," Aito said. "This is weird. And a little pretty. But mostly weird."
Now Ren imagine he also dragged with Aito as Aito pulled his sleeve while entring into that strange void.
"WHY YOU PULLED ME HERE YOU BASTARED".
"Well…..we were friends right." Aito said hesitantly.
Ren just aggressive for a while then he fumbled in his jacket randomly and thought something is in his jacket then he pulled out the two letters—the one from Vorlag, and the one from Kael. The edges shimmered, then began to fuse into one solid letter, like ink being pulled across water.
Aito leaned over. "What does it say?"
"I don't know yet—wait, the sender's name is—"
Suddenly, the air split open, like paper being torn. A shadow stepped through, tall and cloaked in darkness.
"Aito Nakamura."
Both boys froze.
The figure stepped forward, holding a bokken—a wooden training sword—across his back.
"You abandoned your training. Now, face me."
"Nope," Aito said, stepping back. "This is some weird dream logic. I don't even do martial arts anymore!"
"Face me, or forfeit your honor."
Ren pointed dramatically. "I believe in you, Samurai Aito! Use your broom-swinging skills!"
BLAZE:
"This is ridiculous."
FROST:
"It's incredible. Let's make popcorn."
Aito grabbed a nearby stick—it may have once been a tree branch or possibly a weird alien crayon—and stepped forward, awkwardly holding it like a sword.
The duel began. It was a mix of real sword stances, improvised flailing, and one moment where Aito accidentally tripped and the shadow helped him back up out of sheer politeness.
Ren clapped. "Wow, he's actually kind of good. In a 'tripping into success' kind of way."
FROST:
"To be fair, that's his entire personality."
BLAZE:
"He has no technique. No poise. He's just improvising everything."
FROST:
"Like Ren's academic career."
"Excuse me?!" Ren glared at the sky. "I passed physics last semester!"
BLAZE:
"Barely."
FROST:
"Statistically, passing with a 51% is technically a success."
Back in the arena, Aito finally managed a clumsy but effective overhead swing, and the shadow's bokken flew into the air.
The shadow paused, then bowed.
"You have won. Speak your wish."
Aito raised a finger thoughtfully.
"I want… socks."
"Socks?" Ren repeated, blinking.
"Matching ones," Aito added. "Forever. No more lost socks. No more single socks. I'm done."
There was a long silence.
Then the shadow slowly nodded.
"Granted."
With a soft whoosh, the world around them began to collapse—folding in on itself like paper burned from the edges.
Location: Aito's House – Hallway
They were standing in front of the closet again. No portal. No glow. Just dust and a single pair of neatly folded socks on the floor.
They stared in silence.
Ren broke first. "So… was that real?"
"No idea," Aito said, reaching for the socks. "But I'm keeping these."
FROST:
"You two are somehow both the least and most interesting people I've ever met."
BLAZE:
"I am begging the universe for a return to normalcy."
"Same," Ren muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Same.".