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Chapter Text

Despite the landslides and earthquakes, the hospital had been quiet. Dr. Tomoki Hasegawa considers that a blessing. A couple of the locals came in for regular check ups. That Tatsumi kid from down the street came in with scraped knees again.

Overall a normal day.

The news was blaring with a story about how some kids from the summer camp were missing. Tomoki wasn’t worried, kids did stupid things all the time, and kids could get lost. One or two of them wandered off almost every year. They’d be found within a day, safe and sound. People were just kicking up a fuss because of the landslides.

The sound of sirens is the first sign that Tomoki is wrong. The second sign is a couple of the kids he recognizes from the news being brought in from the ambulance.

They look awful. Half of that Shibuya kid’s face was messed up.

The paramedics head straight for reception. Tomoki can barely hear the conversation from the doorway to his office.

“Have people on stand by. Not all of those kids fit in the ambulance, we’re gonna have to go back for the rest.”

It’s going to be a long day.

Tomoki is put in charge of Kayama, who out of the kids seems to be the oldest. His leg has been splinted, so Tomoki sends him straight to x-ray and tries to ignore the concerned eyes of the adult that was found with them, an adult Tomoki recognizes.

The x-ray comes through all wrong. Double checking Kayama’s medical records shows that he’s never broken his leg before, and yet his bones show evidence that his leg was shattered. If it was from the landslide, he’d understand, but the leg is practically healed. Only a couple of fractures stand out to him as a reason for the splint.

What is going on?

Tomoki considers himself a local. His family moved to the area about 45 years ago, and he could at least recognize everyone he passed on the street even if he didn’t know their names. When they first moved in he remembers the rumours, and the warnings about the shrine. He remembers that kids in his class used to dare each other to go through the tunnel all the time.

He also remembers Akiharu Minase, and how everyone avoided him. Rumours said he was a liar. He wouldn’t even tell his parents the truth about how his sister disappeared five years before, he just spouted some nonsense about monsters and other worlds.

He met Akiharu again in university. They didn’t share any classes, but they did somehow end up with some friends in common. Every time they ended up talking, there was something off about that man. He looked a little too long at shadows, and he seemed a little too interested in his folklore thesis about their home town. He brought up the possibility of other worlds once, and Tomoki never spoke to him again. That man was still delusional, and the rumours about him were right.

Now Tomoki isn’t so sure. These kids had disappeared only hours ago, and here they are, broken and battered with scars that are already scabbed over, and with them, the mysterious Akiharu Minase.

Akiharu Minase, who, despite also being injured, declined an ambulance ride. His excuse was apparently that the children needed it more, and he’d drive himself to the hospital after he took care of something important.

Akiharu Minase, who came to the hospital with a little girl that Tomoki thinks looks exactly like Akiharu himself did at that age. He hesitates before bringing the girl to the reception desk. He doesn’t tell the nurse the girl’s name.

By the time the girl’s vitals are taken, Tomoki is finished treating Kayama. Everyone else is busy with the other kids, so Tomoki leads the girl into his office, and Akiharu follows.

“You aren’t allowed to be here unless you’re a parent or guardian.” Tomoki tells him, blocking the door.

“I am her guardian.”

“I wasn’t aware you had a child.”

Akiharu hesitates, “I don’t.”

“Adoption then?”

“Ah, not exactly.”

Tomoki can already see where this is going, and he’s not having it. “Look, if you aren’t her legal  guardian then get out.”

This is the first thing that Tomoki has done that’s gotten more of a blank nod out of the girl.

“No.” She says. “If Haru isn’t here I won’t talk to you.”

That’s bad. This girl is unnaturally pale, she’s probably dangerously anemic. She looks like she’ll pass out the second she walks out the door.

“Miyuki!”

Tomoki can feel himself tense. Miyuki. That was Akiharu’s sister’s name, wasn’t it? A name Tomoki had only heard whispered behind closed doors. Poor Miyuki Minase. Such a tragedy.

He lets Akiharu stay. He tells Tomoki that the girl was the daughter of a cousin who heard about his sister, and named their daughter in her honour. He was showing her around town when they were caught up in the landslide, and thankfully she wasn’t hurt at all.

Akiharu is lying.

When results of blood tests on the girl come back, Tomoki is shocked. Despite the paleness, the girl looked relatively healthy. She was the right height and weight for her age, had a normal amount of muscle and mobility too.

How did she look so well when she was painfully deficient in every nutrient her body needs to keep itself together?

Chapter Text

Almost all of the chosen children are out of the hospital quickly. Minoru and Takuma made it out of the other world with only cuts and bruises, nothing worth spending too many resources on in such a bad situation. They couldn’t find anything wrong with Ryo, Miu’s wrist was easy to treat, and Shuuji only needed to get his leg properly casted. Miyuki was a special case, she probably should have stayed at the hospital but insisted on going home with the professor anyway. She only had to come back for regular checkups. 

One after another, everyone else was released. By the end of the month Saki was the only one left, having been transferred to her regular hospital to go through surgery. Somehow, none of her doctors noticed the professor sneaking Floramon in every time he came to visit.

Aside from frequent video calls, everyone tried to return to their normal lives.

It didn’t work.

“I think I’m lucky” , Aoi types in the chat. “ If no one looks too closely, Labramon passes as a dog.”

“Did your parents believe the professor about her being a service dog?” Shuuji asked.

“No, but they haven’t said anything yet. The professor convinced Dr. Hasegawa to get all of the official paperwork, so as long as I have that they can’t do anything.”

“That’s good. Falcomon’s getting tired of hiding in my closet. He says it’s cramped.”

“I’ve been telling Lopmon he only has to make due until I get into a dorm.”

There’s a bit of a lull in the conversation before Takuma speaks up.

“I don’t think I can handle going back to school without you guys. I mean, I’ll have Minoru, but…” He pauses, hesitating. “I keep waking up thinking you guys are dead. Not seeing you every day is hard.”

“I’m having the opposite problem.” Saki says. “I wake up in the hospital thinking I never met you, like it was all some fever dream.”

“Well the answer is obvious then, right?” When no one answers Kaito, he sighs in frustration. “We could just try to get all of us in the same city. Most of us could probably get into the same school, too.”

“That could actually work.” The professor says. “Most of you are in the same city already. If you transfer schools we could get you all in the same place. Kaito and Miu would be difficult, however.”

Miu pipes up. “We could just say that the landslide was so scary that we can’t handle staying here. Our parents would probably move if we acted real scarred, right?”

“We don’t have to go that far. They’re already talking about moving again. We just gotta convince them on where to go.” Kaito says. “They’ve been complaining about the commute anyway. At least in a city they can get a job nearby.”

“Obviously I can’t go to the same school, but my high school is close to Takuma, Minoru and Saki’s school. We can come up with something to get together after class or on the weekend.”

“My dad’s been worried about me since mommy… passed. If I tell him I miss my friends from camp I can probably get a transfer. What about you Aoi?”

“If I get the process started and tell them about what’s been happening at school they’ll sign the paperwork just to make the problem go away.”

“This…” Takuma breaths in disbelief. “This might actually work.”