Chapter Text
"Alright everybody, listen up!" Lily yelled over the uneasy rumble of the crowd, waving her arms in a vain attempt to catch their attention. "Is anybody else heading East? Anybody at all?"
Luka watched her friend with a barely contained frown. Even though the blonde was dressed to the nines, as eye-catching as a human could possibly be, standing on top of a table of all things, people weren't listening to her at all. Every person in the room was preoccupied with finding the nearest sober driver they could buddy up with to get home; nobody had time to worry about a hottie asking questions.
"Maybe I could borrow someone's car?" Luka asked Gakupo, who watched with equal amounts of concern.
"I feel like everyone has use for their cars right now," he whispered, his eyes darting through the crowd. Small groups were starting to form, all the more uncaring of Lily's questions as tentative plans started to solidify.
Luka sighed, let her fingers comb through the lock of hair that was perpetually stuck on her left shoulder. "Right."
"Are you sure you can't just come back with us? You can sleep over at my place, Kaito won't mind."
She shook her head briskly. "My parents would kill me. I said I'd be home tonight."
"But even they didn't know about the storm coming up," he urged, his deep voice laced with worry. "Please. Come home with us, give them a call there, they'll understand—"
"I need to be home," Luka insisted, watching Lily climb off of the old table, a frown of her own marring her features. "I have to be."
Gakupo bit his lip, but didn't reply. The hum of two dozen voices, pierced by a few shouts, only dimmed as small groups of five to seven individuals gradually left the room. Few, if any, stopped to say bye to Gakupo, but they could hardly be blamed. The party had been fun, sure, but the fun had been cut short and everybody needed to get moving without delay.
Lily shouldered her way through the thinning masses, joining Luka and Gakupo with a disappointed scowl.
"Sorry. Looks like everybody is going back to town," she muttered. Eyes on Gakupo, she added, "Sorry about the party, too. Real bummer."
"It can't be helped," he said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. He towered over everybody in the room, but he was especially imposing in front of Lily's thin frame. He was a gentle giant, though, his touch feather-light. "We need to get moving as well, or we'll be stuck in the storm."
"Are we so sure there's a storm?" Luka asked, though her hand continued worrying at her hair.
"You heard all our phones beep at the alert, there's not a shred of doubt about it," Lily insisted. "Just come with us."
"I can't."
Lily and Gakupo both opened their mouths to respond, only to be cut off by another voice.
"Yo, Gakko!"
The trio turned towards a shorter woman. She was jarringly out of place, so much so that Luka was surprised she hadn't noticed her before: she stuck out like a sore thumb. In the mass of dressed up students, everybody sporting their shiniest jewelry, expensive watches, and brand shirts, the most outstanding thing the girl had on display was her hair. It was an admittedly beautiful bright teal, long enough to reach halfway down her back even when tied in a low ponytail. Her bangs sported a somewhat shaggy cut, barely able to cover her ears and get in her eyes, though she hardly seemed to care. In fact, she didn't seem to care much for appearances or dress codes either, her red bomber jacket frayed at the seams, just like her jeans and sneakers. She wore no makeup at all, appearing almost sickly pale in comparison to all the blushed cheeks and ruby-coated lips. Her only accessory was a subtle piercing in her left brow, so small it could easily be missed.
Despite looking like a jock who had stumbled in while looking for the local baseball game, Gakupo turned towards her with a smile.
"Miku! Do you have a way to get home?"
"Oh, don't worry about me," the woman said with a lopsided, easy-going grin. Luka's scowl deepened a fraction when she saw her rest her hand on Gakupo's elbow. "I was just wondering, since the storm's coming from the southeast, you know? That's where I'm supposed to be going."
"Oh dear, you best get moving, then."
The jock's grin dropped. "Oh? I was just wondering if I could stay here instead: I'm not sure I'll make it home at all. The storm is coming in real fast."
Her friend shook his head, his own ponytail of deep purple hair swaying as he did so. "If the snowstorm really does hit soon, this is a bad place to get snowed in," he admitted with a remorseful frown. "The heating doesn't work, there's only booze and snacks from the party to eat... I think it just might kill you."
"You said you're going East?" Lily asked.
"Yeah," Miku replied before turning her attention back to her friend. "You sure I can't stay? I can clean up a bit, then sleep in my car. I'll be fine."
"I'd prefer to see you home than here," Gakupo insisted. "I'll worry about the mess when the storm blows over."
"But your parents—"
"They won't be here to see it either," he insisted with a strained smile. His hands moved to clasp the jock's hands; they were comically tiny in his. "I know this is my grandparent's place and I know they'd hate to see how it is right now, but it's better like this than littered with corpses from those who died here from the cold. Please, get moving before the storm traps you."
The jock thought about it before nodding. "Alright. I'll get moving. You too, yeah?"
"Yes, Gumi is driving us," he said, motioning between him and Lily. "Can I ask you a favor?"
"Sure thing."
"Could you bring my girlfriend Luka home?"
For the first time, Miku's eyes rested on the taller woman. "You're going East too?"
"Yes."
The lopsided grin returned, and she said with a happy dip of the chin, the movement so fast it was easy to miss, "Yeah sure, I'll bring you. Anybody else going our way?"
"Luka's the only one," the host said. "Everybody is going back to Toyama."
"Alright, no problem then. I'll go get my things."
"Fantastic," Lily muttered. "You two, get out of here. I need to find Gumi."
Gakupo nodded, watching them disappear into the rooms of the quickly emptying house. After giving the space a once-over, he stepped closer to his girlfriend, whose eyes were stuck on the door through which the jock had vanished.
"Please keep in touch," he whispered. When he reached up to delicately push her hands from her hair, she leaned toward the touch. "Tell me when you get home."
"I will," she muttered. After glancing at the stragglers, she stepped a bit closer, allowing his arms to envelop her frame. With carefully dosed volume, she asked, "Do you know her?"
"We basically grew up together, she has the biggest heart I've ever seen in a person."
She hummed, a crease in her brow.
"Yo Gakko, can I bring some snacks with?"
The two stepped apart, turned back towards the tealette who was holding up chocolate bars and a couple of unopened bags of chips, a two-liter bottle of water precariously held by the neck between two fingers. He chuckled, and Luka averted her eyes, hands back at the lock of hair over her shoulder.
"Take as much as you can!"
A grin. "Rad, thanks!"
Once the jock disappeared for a second time, she crossed her arms. "Do you really trust her...?"
"With my life," he insisted. "Please, please go before it's too late."
"Gakupo, we're going!" Lily called.
"Go wait for me in the car!" he called back. "I need to close up!"
"All the upstairs windows are closed, the shutters too," Miku said to him, her arms cradling even more snacks. "I made sure, so don't you worry about those."
"Great, thanks Miku."
The jock gave him a tiny nod with a wide grin before turning her attention to Luka. "I'll see you in my car, yeah? It's the blue one right by the door."
"...Alright."
"It'll be fine," Gakupo whispered under his breath once the jock left, his fingers ghosting on her elbow. "Do you have all your things?"
Luka quickly checked her handbag; phone, wallet, tissues, house keys, a small bottle of perfume. "I have everything."
"Then go!" he urged, this time physically pushing her towards the door, where the bulk of the mass of people had gathered. "The storm is bound to hit here in two hours. Please, you won't have as much time."
"Fine, fine," Luka muttered.
"Will you text me when you get home safe?"
"I will."
They regarded each other for a while, before Gakupo leaned in and rested a kiss on her brow. Before she could reply, he turned on his heel and stormed into the house, surely to double-check that everybody had left.
Luka closed her eyes, breathed for a second, then squirmed a way through the crowd. Everybody wanted to get going, but the wind had turned a frighteningly bitter cold, keeping them from leaving the house entirely. Luka felt the hair on her neck and arms stand on end when she finally made it outside, while even her nose stung from the low temperature; like everybody else, she wasn't dressed for this weather at all. When they had all arrived at noon, it was warm and sunny, so atypical for the early winter.
They should have expected the snow to come in eventually.
She quickly scanned the mess of cars out front. All the designated drivers were busy turning their vehicles around, trying not to collide with one another as they navigated the generous, yet limited parking space, while some were stuck in place, waving over their passengers. In turn, the others squabbled, their skin all bumpy from the cold, hair windswept, dresses whipping around knees, jackets kicked up like capes.
Miku was busy placing all the snacks she had taken into the trunk of her car, which had been parked relatively close to the building, as indicated. The trunk looked like it was full of stuff; Luka spied piles of fabrics, tarps, a few bags, all being pushed aside in favor of the heap of junk food. The car itself was somewhat broadsided and a bit banged up; the back bumper was warped around one of the wheels, a scratch was etched into the corner right under the trunk. It looked like its color almost matched Miku's hair, if a bit more blue, but it was hard to tell in the early evening light.
Miku shut the trunk, turned towards her, the end of her ponytail flying madly in the wind, along with the corners of her jacket. She waved over the taller woman.
"Right here!"
It was with an obvious frown, and shivering all the way, that Luka approached the left side of the vehicle and sank into the passenger seat. Miku followed suit, shutting the door firmly before zipping up her jacket.
"Sheesh, weather really turned for the worst in a flash, huh," the jock muttered. With a practiced move, she placed the key in the cupholder.
Luka didn't reply, smoothing over her knee-length dress. She had bought it, weeks prior, to dance all night long in with her friends. It was with another frown that she kicked off her high-heel shoes, shiny black, before running her fingers through her hair. The wind had managed to mess it up fiercely.
"Let's get moving, yeah?" the jock asked, pushing the power button of the vehicle. "Seat belts!"
Luka wordlessly obliged, pulling on the seat belt until it clicked into place. The car hummed a bit, the screens on the dashboard brightening up. Miku fiddled with the settings on the screen, pushing a few buttons. Before long, the deep whine of the car was joined with a low hum as the heating was brought to life.
"Hey, if you want a warmer seat or something, that's here," Miku told her, pointing to a button near the central console. "And feel free to make yourself comfortable; you can fiddle with the seat settings as much as you want. We have a bit of a drive ahead of us."
After some pawing around, Luka found the buttons that changed the seat positions. She reclined her chair a bit while the tealette started driving, the pace glacial. The people outside were still squabbling, the sound muted by the car's frame and the humming of the systems. Some vehicles lurched here and there, and intentions weren't always clear, but soon enough Miku managed to negotiate her way around the mass and down the narrow driveway that led to the house.
Luka watched the house disappear in the rear view window, her eyes seeking Gakupo and her friends, in vain. She easily spotted the charming rural house however, with beautiful dark wooden walls and a thatched roof. Gakupo's grandparents had once lived in it, but since they had died, it had fallen into a moderate state of disrepair. The wood wasn't polished, moss grew on the roof, and the heating, apparently, was completely out of commission. Gakupo's parents hadn't minded too much when he had pitched the idea to host a big party there, for all their university pals.
All too soon, Miku reached the end of the driveway, indicated to go left, then merged into the sparse traffic, the house quickly disappearing out of view.
Luka sighed, ran her fingers through her hair again, before double-checking the contents of her handbag.
"If your phone charges wirelessly or anything fancy, I have a charger here," Miku told her, lifting up the armrest between them.
After some silent deliberation, she slipped her phone into the compartment. Once it nestled and the screen lit up, she muttered, "Thank you."
"Ha, about time that feature got some use," the jock said with a bark of a laugh. She drove for a minute, easily navigating the country roads, the wind battering the side of the vehicle, before she asked, "So, you live in Matsumoto? Or..."
"Yes. It's not very far from here," Luka hurried to say, flipping down the sun visor to check her makeup. It was still impeccable, despite the wind and only three hours of moderate partying.
"Bit of a drive through the mountains, but we should be there in an hour or so," Miku agreed. "Need me to drop you off anywhere—"
"I'll give you directions when we get close," the taller woman said, pushing away the sun visor.
"Works for me!" Miku said with a grin, eyes on the road. There was almost nobody else around; the roads around them were startlingly dark in the early evening light, and they kept getting darker. "Gotta admit, I'm pretty happy to have some company on the drive back. Especially with this weather."
Luka hummed, eyes on the passing landscape. The hills soon replaced the buildings, though, and with the growing darkness, it all turned into big, shadowy walls. Absent-minded, her hand once again combed through the lock of hair that sat over her shoulder.
"I figured I'd be the only soul coming in from Matsumoto, you know? Since Gakupo is back in Toyama. You live there, too?"
"I study there," Luka said with a clipped tone. "I do live there for the most part."
"Ah, gotta go home to the parents, then?"
"Yes."
The jock chuckled. "Gotta be urgent, if they want you there despite this weather alert."
Luka frowned and didn't reply.
"Either way, I appreciate the company," Miku went on with an easy smile, her posture wholly relaxed. "I love this car but it gets so damn quiet sometimes."
"We could turn on the radio."
"Bust, I'm afraid!" she said with another bark of a laugh. "Thing's been through a lot. If you have music on your phone you want to play—"
"It's fine."
Miku grinned, said, "Alright," then went on driving, her lopsided smile never quite leaving her features.
The jock was right though; the car was eerily silent, even when it had to negotiate a steeper climb, most of the noise came from the wind hitting the vehicle and the steady stream of warm air that was pushed into the interior. After another minute, rain started hitting the windows. With a flick of the finger, Miku engaged the windshield wipers, and even those rubbing the glass made more noise than the car itself.
Luka kept her mouth stubbornly shut, eyes on the dark indistinguishable mass outside.
"Gakupo told me he had a girlfriend," Miku piped up again at one point, the wind outside howling. A strong gust shook the car, and Luka spied a brief white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. After a pause, she added, "Never got to meet you until now. How come we didn't cross paths sooner?"
The taller woman shrugged.
"Must not have had the time. I got my job, and I guess you're really busy with your studies," Miku went on. "What do you study?"
"I'm in the faculty of medicine."
"Ooh, fancy. Always sounded like one of the tougher fields. You're a smart cookie, I take it?"
Luka scowled. "I work hard."
"I could work hard every day for the rest of my life and I still wouldn't do well in medicine!" Miku said with a laugh, her posture a bit more stiff as the wind kept assaulting the car. "Give yourself some credit; if you're there, you're probably real clever, you know?"
There was no reply, only the sound of the wind, the wipers and the droplets filling the space. The drops of water on the windshield gradually turned to snow, the flakes becoming more and more firm, their shape defined and sharp.
Miku muttered something under her breath, leaning forward to look at the sky. The mountains towered around them, already greyed by the pouring snow.
"You know..." The jock started as the car started to slow down. "Maybe this isn't a good idea. We probably ought to head back."
Luka turned to glare at the woman. "What?"
"I don't like the look of this," Miku said, eyes now on the sides of the road. "I'm gonna turn around."
"Absolutely not!" Luka snapped. "I need to be home tonight!"
"I don't think that's going to happen," the tealette said, and for once there was no smile on her face as she spoke. "We're barely even halfway there and—"
"I have to be home!" Luka urged. "Please, I must be there."
Miku hesitated, but eventually gave her a firm nod. "Alright. We'll be careful."
"...Thank you."
"Yeah, thank me when I drop you off safe and sound," she muttered. "This might get gnarly."
Almost as if it were on cue, another wall of wind tore around the car, shaking the frame. Miku powered on though, gently easing on the gas pedal, encouraging the vehicle to forge onward into the storm.
"Please tell me this thing has four-wheel drive," Luka muttered as even the road around them started to disappear under a thin carpet of snow.
"Front wheel is the best she can do," Miku admitted. "But she's gotten me through worse scraps."
"Worse? Really?"
Miku shrugged. "So far." After a chuckle, she added, "You know, we probably wouldn't have been able to outrun it. The storm's pouring in the valley..."
"Just get us home."
"Aye aye, captain."
Luka rolled her eyes, but didn't know where to look. Looking out through the window was disheartening. It was terrifying how the road vanished under the snow, how the surrounding grass drowned in it, the bushes blending in with the white soil, even the smaller nooks and crannies eventually vanishing altogether. Everything outside was pale, cast in darkness.
The sound of wind and the wipers was soon accompanied by the crunch of snow under-wheel. The steady combing of her fingers through her hair slowed as they stiffened into a tense grip.
"Why is this thing so silent?" Luka seethed.
"It's hydrogen gas," Miku muttered. "Electric, kind of. Doesn't really do any combusting. I think."
Luka grumbled, then turned up the heating for her seat. Miku drove at a near glacial pace, her grip permanently white-knuckled. She leaned forward in her seat from time to time, eyes darting from the road to the invisible darkness above.
"Alright, we got to the lake," she muttered a few minutes later, pointing out of her window, to the right. "We're about halfway there."
Luka tried to see the lake, only to see nothing more than a snowstorm at night; more snow and more darkness. At that point, some buildings appeared close enough to the road that she could see them, illuminated by the high beams, but that was it.
Really, aside from the road directly in front of the vehicle, there was nothing to see. The wipers were working tirelessly to clear the view, but it was always just more snow and a vaguely defined and quickly sinking road. Even the reflectors placed at the edges struggled to send light back to them through the whirling flakes. Miku grumbled something, leaning forward again, her foot perched above the break.
The car interior was surprisingly dark, considering how many lights covered the console and dashboard. Luka could vaguely see the cream color of her dress, the blue fabric of Miku's jeans, the washed-out red of her bomber jacket, the teal hair that hung in her eyes, the glint of her piercing in her brow.
Luka scowled, pried her phone from the charger. It was only ten past six; originally, the party would have gone on until ten, and she would have been home by eleven with no worry about a storm or sitting in a car with a stranger, or even wondering about getting home at all.
She cursed under her breath. When the sound of the road changed, she jumped.
"Just the dam," Miku assured her, voice low, yet it still pierced the chorus of noise around them. "After that, the tunnel."
Luka nodded, returning her phone to charge. On the dam, the winds were fiercer than ever and the speed of the car was barely more than a brisk jog. Miku's grip on the wheel was one of iron.
"We should be able to speed up in the tunnel a bit," she muttered, eyes anchored on the dark road ahead. "Safety first, though."
The taller woman barely hummed, clutching her bag in her lap with both hands.
"We're a little over halfway there," Miku said. "It's all downhill from here, so no more climbing or anything. Just a nice and easy roll down the hill."
"I hope so."
Miku chuckled, but it sounded hollow. "Gakupo trusted me to get you home safe, so don't you worry. We'll get there, sooner or later."
Luka let her eyes return to the driver, who kept her focus on the road. True to her word, the tunnel swallowed them moments later, and after testing the wind conditions for a bit, she compensated for her slow speed thus far by accelerating.
There was no other car in the tunnel. Its dim red lights were almost blinding after so much darkness, but there was nothing else to illuminate them. No other headlights caught up to them, they caught up to nobody, and nobody was coming up the hill in the opposite direction.
Luka swallowed thickly, her own knuckles turning white. She reached up to grab the handle above the door.
Under her breath, Miku muttered, 'ok' as she slowed down once again, right before they emerged from the tunnel, back into the fierce storm. For half a second, before the snowflakes blinded them, Luka almost believed she could see the clouds above, sagging between the mountains like a huge swollen belly. She knew that by then the lake would be on her side, but by the time she looked, it was too late: the flakes filled the air and there was nothing left to see but cold night. The snow crunched more than ever under the wheels, the wind howled.
"Can't see shit," the tealette swore. The piercing in her brow wasn't in its usual position on her face; she had started a scowl of her own, her brow furrowed out of sheer focus.
"Careful," Luka whispered.
"Yeah, slow and steady wins the race," Miku replied. "I drive this stretch often enough, just during the day, you know? I barely..."
Her voice disappeared, her mouth slightly ajar, almost as if she had forgotten she was speaking at all. She only closed her mouth to gulp nervously as the road winded, steadily going downhill.
Then the tires slipped. Just barely, but Miku adjusted quickly, pulling on the wheel to compensate. The car jerked and Luka swore.
"It's fine, it's fine," Miku muttered, righting the vehicle. "It happens."
Luka glared at her. "Only once, I hope."
The car chose that moment to slip again, and once again Miku quickly righted the vehicle, but this time it had slid a considerable amount towards the safety railing; Luka could have touched it, had the window been open. The car even beeped a warning, the tires doing something on their own, before the whole vehicle returned to a safe distance from the railing.
"We're ok, we're ok," Miku hissed, mostly to herself. "I'll slow down a bit more, and it'll all be alright."
"If you slow down any more then we're getting out of here tomorrow," Luka said through gritted teeth, though she didn't sound entirely against the idea.
"I don't want either of us getting hurt!" Miku retaliated, her attention fixed to the road. "We'll get there eventually, but in one piece!"
Like some kind of cruel joke, the headlights showed the railing bending right in front of the car. The vehicle beeped, Miku pulled on the steering wheel with another swear. The road before them reappeared, then vanished once again, the windshield only showing a rocky, snow-covered wall. The car slid, stuttered, beeped again, and Luka was sure she was going to die when she heard the sickening crunch and shriek of metal being bent and twisted, the seatbelt biting into her shoulder as the whole vehicle came to an unforgiving halt. With a deafening bang, the world went dark and silent.