Chapter Text
Prologue
It’s so cold outside…this hood is not enough.
A girl in a black hood with red patches sat hugging her knees under the poor protection of a Tokyo bus station as the cold rain hit the concrete around her. If her sleeves weren’t covering her hands, her fingers might’ve started turning white from the temperature.
The girl sighed, her breath visible in front of her.
It’s the middle of April…it shouldn’t be this cold…right?
It was so cold she could barely move. It was so dark that she couldn’t see the stars in the sky…but the stars had been gone for her long before now. It was a little late…no, very late. But she couldn’t tell the time with no clock. Or even if the moon was out. Did she even know what day it was? Whatever…it didn’t matter.
She was tired.
She should’ve been asleep by now. Ugh…
The girl took hold of the teddy bear beside her, hugging it tightly to her chest. The bear had seen better days…but so had she. Not many. But she had…once. She sighed, gently closing her eyes and trying to empty her thoughts.
She must’ve been more exhausted than she thought, for it was only minutes before her consciousness left her and she dozed off.
Fear…darkness…
She woke up in her childhood bedroom seconds later.
Please…not again.
The aggressive voice of a man could be heard shouting from beyond the door. The girl hastily got up to lock the door, only to find out that the lock was broken. With no other option, she ran and hid inside of her closet.
There wasn’t a lock there either…but where else would she hide?
Moments later, she heard the door to her room slam open. She covered her mouth to muffle her quickened breathing.
There was a moment of silence.
Loud…painful…silence.
“I know you’re hiding in the closet, Rin, I’m not an idiot!” the voice said. It was too close now…the footsteps drew closer.
She closed her eyes, preparing for the worst…
And then…she woke up.
In the rain, underneath the bus station in Tokyo…exactly where she had fallen asleep. She grabbed her wrist—she could feel the grip. She was back in the real world.
Thank god…
She could once again see her breath in front of her, shaking as she painfully inhaled. Her heart raced…and probably won, too. Her head was pounding. Her vision was blurry. Her ears were ringing.
Eventually, she was able to come back to her senses, and decided she might need to stretch her legs since she’d been laying on the ground for so long.
She slowly got herself up to her feet, rubbing her eyes and clutching the teddy bear she had tightly, as if for dear life.
“God…again…” she muttered to herself. Soon after, there was an unfamiliar voice that spoke behind her.
“Ah, I see you’ve woken up…good morning!”
The girl turned her head to the sound of the voice, and saw a boy. He looked around her age, maybe a year or two older, and at least a head above her height. He was dressed very finely, in contrast to the dingy surroundings. He was leaning against the wall, his gloved hands resting on a cane.
The girl was confused, but her brain was still admittedly foggy.
“It…it’s morning?” she asked.
“Yes, it is,” said the boy, glancing down at his wrist. “Granted, 3:30 in the morning. But still morning,”
The girl blinked. It took a few moments for her to realize herself…and this boy that had appeared while she was asleep.
“H…hold on a second,” she said, slapping herself in the face. It hurt. She felt it. “Um…I am awake…right?”
“As far as I can tell,” the boy shrugged. The girl was quiet. She was awake…then…the boy in front of her was real.
“W-wait, who are you? What are you doing here?” she said, stepping back.
The boy sighed, the corners of his mouth turning up.
“What am I doing?” He took a step away from the wall, turning to her. “I’m here because I noticed something…”
“...you haven’t been sleeping well, have you?”