"Even oddballs are kept in a case."

Because even the weird ones deserve a place they can call theirs.

- SaltyCandy -

A/N: Let me just say first that I've never thought that this story that I just posted as a nonsense crackfic at first will get this much attention. Seriously, thank you so much for the support!!

Also, quick reminder: Second semester starts at September (even in Japan) and it's in fall season too.

Original Word Count: 1,299

Version 5.5: 2,251 words

Disclaimer: I will never ever own Inazuma Eleven! (The disclaimer's effectiveness reaches upto the last chapter of this series (lol lazy ass))

= Prologue =

"Whaaaat?! But whyyyyy?!!"

"Mamoru, calm down. You're just going to move temporarily, it's not the end of the world. We'll fix this as soon as we can. We promise."

"I know you're upset, kiddo, but please listen to your mother. We're doing this for you."

"But how about the soccer club?!? I'm their captain!! And why in this time of the year?! That's so cliche!"

"I'm sorry, pal. We didn't have a choice.."

"Hey, umm... Endou-kun..."

"Y—Yes?" Endou Mamoru was immediately snapped out his little forgotten daydream. Looking straight with a hint of surprise, his chocolate-flavored eyes scanned passed the giant semi-rusty gates in front of him, skimming about the falling leaves that varies from yellow to the tint of his orbs in color. A faint yellow 'Inabikari Apartment Complex' written on an equally huge steel board caught his attention before entering the smaller entrance and glancing at his sole companion.

"Do you... believe in ghosts..?" Fubuki Shirou tightened his grip on the scarf around his pale neck as he answered with a tone that Endou swore sounded sad. But he really couldn't be sure, Fubuki's voice sounded the same for the majority of the time and whether was it on purpose or not was unknown to Endou.

"Huh?" Endou couldn't help but give his more profound focus on the silver-haired at the unusual question. But before anything else, a fake cough from a brown-haired man in his mid-forties urged both teen-agers to drop their school bags on the plain wooden table first. "Ah... sorry, Hitoshi-san," he said as he acknowledged the man in a security guard uniform with a scratch on the back of his head.

Hitoshi simply rolled his eyes as he continued poking his baton at the collection of scattered pens and notebooks that made up Endou's dark orange backpack.

Endou turned his head to the place he now called home — despite it being temporary— as Hitoshi shifted to Fubuki's sky blue with silver linings shoulder bag. He then found himself mesmerized again at the tall dirty yellow and faintly blue building that obviously had seen better years. It was shaped like an inverted and edgy letter U, trapping a wide parking lot that seemed to fit a hundred cars in it. As amazing it was to have such a large place though, it was as equally disappointing to see only a small gray truck, a black convertible, a shiny motorcycle, and a gray minivan scatteredly residing on it.

"Your bags," a tired comment called Endou. The younger brunet plastered a wide grin before reaching out his belongings together with Fubuki. Hitoshi answered it with an irritated grunt, still looking as if he was carrying the world on his shoulders.

The two decided to go their way silently. Endou raised his head to spectate again at the floors above, smiling as he realized how fortunate it was of him to be staying at a place where he only needed to walk outside his flat to inhale the fresh autumn air. The nice sensation of watching the ecstatic view with all the plants and trees placed around the apartment from there slowly returned to his memories, as well as a question from Fubuki just minutes ago.

"Oh yeah! What were you saying again, Fubuki?"

"It's nothing," Fubuki said gently with what Endou know as his odd printed smile. It seemed to be normal enough but a glance with Fubuki's eyes always made Endou somehow think otherwise. There was some sort of lonely glister on it. Yet again, that could have been just Endou's imagination. There probably wasn't any reason for Fubuki to be faking his smile, was it?

There was another content silence that came in between them and Endou found himself entrap in another trance.

It was funny, he thought. The two had only known each other for a whole month yet they're with each other like they were close twins. Then again, who could blame them? It wasn't only because they were living in the same apartment building and were only separated with a ceiling above Endou's room, it was also the fact that they were in the exact same class, in the exact same school, and part of the exact same club. And if that wasn't enough, he was also seated beside the silver-haired the moment he transferred. What were the odds, right?

After an indulging walk around the parking lot, the two have stepped in the double door entrance, playfully saluting back to the lady guard and firmly nodding to Hibiki Seigou at the front yellow and blue counter. Automatically turning right, they unmindfully passed a locked room on the left and a hallway on the right as they took their time on arriving at Elevator 1 (or E1 for short). The washed out white and blue walls around them as well as the number of cracks on the ceiling would have invited a creepy sensation to a normal person, but the two didn't mind them at all. After all, the description of normal was way far out of their reach.

"Gaaahh!" Even Endou surprised himself with his own unexpected shout. He held his head in grimace as he suddenly remembered something of great importance.

"Are you okay?" Fubuki said in slight panic as he shot his head at Endou's direction. The elevator that he called finally opened its door yet because of Endou's scream, they were prompted to stay outside with Fubuki firmly keeping it from closing. Thankfully, the two were the only people there at that time as usual. It was one of the things that they've always wondered about though. Why have two elevators on both sides of the building when no one even used it? Every other person they saw used the stairs whether their room was on the tenth floor or somewhere nearer the ground. But Fubuki had to shove that thought away right now for that's not their problem at the moment. Because surprisingly enough, Fubuki still hadn't gotten used to with the brunet's antics for the whole month they've been friends to caught on that whatever he'd been troubled with was honestly nowhere near important.

"Oh... yeah! I am! Sorry about that... I just forgot that I was gonna buy a new mirror," Endou scratched the back of his neck shyly. He really had to get his emotions in check for as to not worry people like that again. And according to what troubled him, his memories too, apparently.

Fubuki sighed in relief and was about to say something when they heard hurrying footsteps from the Emergency Exit on the left. Looking more intently at the direction of the opened door, a tall running figure slowly emerged. The most distinct description Endou could see the male his age having was his purple hawk-shaped hair and the white towel that seemed to be always tied on his forehead. The moment his eyes connected to Endou and Fubuki, they could tell that he was beyond petrified. Adding to that the matter of his sweaty figure, one could say that he probably saw something that could never be unseen. On a weirded note, however, the man started to comb his hair for whatever reason before making himself look a lot calmer, or at least tried to.

"Tobitaka... Are you okay?" Endou uttered as the other subtly wiped his cold sweat.

"Yeah," Tobitaka said after schooling his expression. "Still taking the elevator, I see..." he added after he ignored how he was easily read and walked it off like nothing happened.

Fubuki and Endou exchanged glances before setting their gazes on Tobitaka's back, both looking equally weirded out and concerned at the other seventeen-year-old, then back at each other. With a chorus shrug, they both entered the elevator.

"So, what happened to the mirror that you have, by the way?" Fubuki asked after pressing two floor numbers.

He then looked around and studied the faint brown painted walls like what he did everyday as he waited for Endou's answer. He surmised that the place must have been more presentable ten years back when the very color showed more life than it did now. The dark gooey-looking mold on the corners of the room didn't help either, it just gave off that grim feeling of being watched. It even resurfaced that somehow disturbing sensation that you had to keep your guard up for the whole ride. The copper stains on the steel door just proved to be another reminder of how old the place truly was. Maybe it was even older than Fubuki himself.

"I think it's broken," Endou answered like it was a mere fact. By all means, he truly did think it was broken in a way but he was somehow still unsure.

"You think?" Fubuki asked as soon as the door slid open. He swore from the bottom of his heart that he was the weird one. He'd always been called by his peers as such ever since he could remember yet with Endou around, it did feel like he was merely no. 2 on the rankings.

"Oops. Sorry, gotta run!" Endou then dashed off to his room, leaving Fubuki and another male with gravity defying orange-hair and identical height and physique as him in his back in wonder.

"How could I forget to charge this last night?!" Endou said as he locked the door behind him and kicked off his shoes. He sauntered past the short hallway from his door to his connected dining, kitchen, and living room in a flash.

His flat was made for a single person with only a bathroom and a single bedroom to go to. In contrast to the dim lit appearance that was the whole building itself, the unit was adorned with a month-old white and orange paint that made it more appealing. The tidy tiled floor was just the best combination to come up with for the outright comfort to live in.

The first to greet him was the living room where a single black sofa at the wall and a flat-screen television exactly opposite to it were stationed to, a mere orange carpet placing in between for better comfort. There was a wooden framed mirror attached to the left wall beside the television where the supposedly bedroom was adjacent to. On his right, was the slightly messy kitchen with a single medium sized refrigerator and a four-people indigo table with four simple blue-painted chairs. The sink, though not exactly full, was swarmed with the dirty dishes that seemed to be left there in days. Everything, quite possibly except for the mirror, was as modern-looking as it's gonna get.

He immediately ran off to the bedroom where he supposed he left his charger and got back to the living room with it in hand. He plastered a smile as he finally plugged it and left his phone on the tv rack.

He took his stomach grumbling as a reminder that he also didn't eat as much lunch today. It wasn't just his charger that he forgot but also his thin leather wallet. Honestly, if it wasn't for Fubuki he wouldn't have been able to eat lunch at all. Yet before he turned his heel to make his way to the kitchen, he caught on something quite unusual.

He slowly stepped closer to the 4 feet mirror. The sculpted characters in its wooden frame as well as its old (almost ancient really) design was something he'd already gotten used to. Artistically speaking of course, it didn't suit the place at all but due to the fact that no one could get it off the wall, it was left there to stay.

It then reminded him of a story that the apartment's manager told him when he first arrived. It was something about a family of three renting the place and one of them dying there twenty something years ago. He said the tragedy revolved around some old mirror. He really couldn't remember much about it for he wasn't the type to be interested on such things, especially the ones he had nothing to do with. It was his own way of respecting people. He didn't find the tale odd nor scary either. It was just mere coincidence. After all, he never did once sense anything harmful about it on his short stay there, but he would admit that there was something unusual about the object.

Endou reviewed the glass case as he held his chin in thought. He then quirked an eyebrow and waved a hand. Shockingly, his reflection did nothing of those actions. It was just there, standing upright, staring straight in his muddy brown eyes.

He suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine at the hate-filled glare. It emanated such ice cold presence that even Endou began to notice the temperature drop. Its skin was paler than Endou remembered his to be with more than a mark of obvious cryptic-looking veins tangled all over its limbs. It appeared to be like the terrifying image from the haunted mirror movie he saw way back that literally made a couple of normal people in the cinema run in terror; something that he quite honestly not understand because yet again, Endou was not a normal person.

"Yup, it's broken," Endou said as he dismissed the mirror and went to the kitchen to take an instant ramen out of the shelf, seemingly unaware of the entity borrowing his appearance, facepalming inside a framed glass.

= End of Prologue =

A/N: See the confessions below? I'm gonna be placing that on the last part of every chapter for shits and giggles so you're able to skip 'em if you want. Thanks for the read!

Confession: Did anyone here know that the Japanese don't occupy their 4th floors because it's bad luck? It's like the no. 13 in western traditions. But I just remembered after I publish the first prologue so I'm gonna stick with what I've done. Plus, it did appear that Endou's stay there made more sense (up until I mentioned it lol).