Ezim

Dear Corinne,

Today is the 18th of December and we start with:

"Hello from the other side".

As you can guess, the name for the story doesn't come from anywhere. Taka's cover of Adel's super hit plays a major role. Meaning, part of this story will happen in space again, but a lot will happen on Earth.

Here's a tiny introduction:

Our IUCHIS turn out to be "guardians and custodians" of Earth.

Now what does that stand for? Well, not necessarily something good.

With the small foundling everything begins to turn gradually, but not only on the blue planet, also in the circles of the aliens the world stands at once upside down.

The first person who notices this is Taka's husband, Toru. At first, he blames everything on the stressful everyday life with the mommies and the kids, but one morning strange dreams suddenly become true ...

When Torio woke his father with indefinable sounds of gurgling, the first rays of sunshine were already blinking through the curtains. Unusual for the little Yamashita, since he normally demanded his breakfast loudly in the morning. But today, he seemed to be busy with his mobile, as the colorful cloth figures moved violently back and forth. A rocket in rainbow colors and four "little people", one with a helmet and suit, a slightly smaller curly head with strange feelers on its head and two robots, danced above the crib and entertained the baby underneath. Tomoyas wife had crocheted this particular toy, following the instructions of her husband, who himself could not remember the idea for this ingenious piece.

Toru looked at his watch and smiled with relief. Three and a half hours had passed, and Taka was still sleeping with Mina in his arms. He was so happy about it that he closed his eyes once more and pushed his nose into his friend's short hair. He loved the scent of his shampoo and there was nothing better than starting a new day with that fruity whiff, but this smoky note that was now spreading through his airways worried him in a strange way. Taka was strictly against nicotine, would certainly not smoke another cigarette in his life and it was not practiced in their family either, so why this smell? The next breath in the stringy fringe, however, reminded him more of ... fire? Astonished, he looked at the sleeping man and could not believe his eyes. A black ash stain adorned Taka's forehead and faint traces of gray streaks could be seen on his cheeks as well. What on earth was he doing yesterday?' His eyes wandered down the lanky body in disbelief, nothing seemed to have changed. The light blanket over the two had shifted only slightly, though Mina didn't mind as she was in a small white sleeping bag embroidered with strawberry designs. 'There will be a simple explanation for this one, too,' Toru tried to soothe his conscience and slowly and carefully pushed his burden off him. Perhaps he could still manage to prepare the baby food before the loud protest. He was already practiced in it, arranged himself on the eve even all things to work quickly and accurately, so that no stress arose.

And so it should be today, as a pleasant silence lay in the room, Toru unnoticed got out of bed and tiptoed to the table. Normally, just the sound of hot water from the thermos being poured into the flasks would cause a loud craving for the warm drink. Demanding cries that caused sweat to bead on his skin in an explosive manner. But that morning, even after vigorous shaking of the formula, nothing stirred. It was unusually quiet, almost frightening, which prompted the blond to pull back the curtains a bit to check on things. His son laughed back at him, flapping his little fists uncontrollably at the space it had created for itself, beeping happily.

"Good morning my little space explorer. It's really nice of you not to disturb your favorite uncle. You know he's very stressed, don't you? ... That's really very considerate of you and ..." Toru bent over the crib and pushed the mobile aside. Then he unzipped the sleeping bag, threaded his son's little arms out and carefully lifted the baby to his chest. "... That's why my good boy is about to be given a reward. Come here, let us, you and I start feeding the predator before the rest of the pack wakes up. I'm so proud of you," he whispered close to Torios little head, as if it was no coincidence that the baby was so content and quiet today. "Mori chan didn't have a good night, he almost doesn't sleep and when he does, he dreams ... of bad things that scare him. ... I don't know ... but ... I think we should talk to him. Hmm ... what do you think?"

Then the diapers were changed, fresh clothes were put on, and as he laid the finished baby on a crawling blanket, he heard Mina whimper softly.

"Well, that's going like clockwork today.

Takahiro awoke as something stirred on him. However, before he was immersed in the real world, his friend was standing next to the bed and breathed a kiss on his forehead.

"Hey, good morning. I'll take her today, go back to sleep."

"He's talking about sleep ... when did I sleep? ... Wasn't I just trapped in this cave?" He squinted into the rays of light that shone between the curtains and tried to stay awake. But all at once the memories flooded his head. Helpless, he had to fall into that black hole one more time, over and over again. In the end, he always found himself kneeling on a damp cold stone floor littered with shards. Some of them reflected bright spots of light, which was actually impossible since they were not illuminated by anything around him. It was dark, he was freezing, and the eerie silence caused goose bumps on his arms. He called, loudly and forcefully, for his friends, or so he thought, but no answer came. Why couldn't anyone hear him? No one, not even himself?

Taka startled up and groaned in agony, "I hate these short dreams. They haunt me, even if I just nod off for a moment." As if dazed, he stood up and tried to sneak past the kitchen as quietly as possible. Toru couldn't see him like this. He would think he was sick and banish him back to bed. To that hell that pulled at his last nerve.

Carefully, he staggered through the door and closed it behind him with relief. "Done! I'll just wash everything off and he won't notice a thing. His attention is only on the babies anyway. Torio, Mina, ...Mina, Torio, and Maho. Sometimes even April, so ..." His heart suddenly became heavy. He didn't want to sound like he was complaining, nor did he want to whine or even get angry, but ... "When was the last time I had Toru to myself? For me alone ... Oh man, I was so stupid and couldn't appreciate the carefree life before. For 15 years he was just mine and everything ... was so natural. And when we were on the road a lot and it was exhausting, we were left with the nights. ... Horny nights." He grinned at the memories and shuffled to the sink. "We were beat to death in the morning, and many a bruised hematoma made me curse the sitting position for days. Oh yeah, ... Toru. ... He can get pretty energetic. God, ... how I miss it ..." Sighing, he bit his lower lip and looked in the mirror. "Hell ... wah...!"

This reflection of his, did not please him, ... at all. "Did we have charcoal grilled steak yesterday? Damn ... who allows himself such a prank?" Now he also noticed the peculiar smell, of campfire and smoke, which drew obtrusively into his flared nostrils. They must have actually been sitting by the fireplace, only there were no memories of it. And that war paint on his face? Was the whole thing a game? His hands said otherwise as he twirled the soap in his fingers, gritting his teeth. "Ah ... shit, shit, shit. ... It burns like ... argrrr ..." He tried to wash off the stains, but it was anything but pleasant with open injuries. Besides, it didn't work satisfactorily, so he pulled his T-shirt over his head and dropped his shorts on the floor to climb into the shower, shivering with cold. The first thing he did was empty an excessive amount of his shampoo over his hair. "He couldn't possibly have missed it. Toru was next to me, all night, ... wasn't he? So, what should I tell him?"

A clarifying conversation would certainly be necessary, but events spilled over so unexpectedly and suddenly that the help of a certain doctor was needed.