Work Text:
It's late.
Tsukasa finds his eyelids drooping.
He knows he has to pay attention to the train stations he's passing, the people getting off and on, his surroundings. He can't sleep now, he has to wait just a little longer, just maybe another ten minutes before this train stops and he can walk home.
It shouldn't take long now…
This program had gone very late. He knew he'd be taking a train back, but he didn't expect it to be so eerie.
An avid enjoyer of any and all performances, popular musicals to never-heard-of stage shows, Tsukasa has stayed out late plenty of times, and caught a train back each time. He was always fine.
This seems different somehow.
Tsukasa takes his phone out of his bag. He turns his music down so he can focus. What time had he gotten on..? He thinks it was around 11 PM. Now it's 11:20... He should have gotten off by now.
Panic pangs in his chest, but Tsukasa calms himself, knowing that he'd been paying attention all this time, missing his stop just couldn't be possible..! he'll wait for the next stop, see how close he is on the route. Tsukasa thinks he remembers the different stations, but he looks up a map just in case.
-----
-- I've been waiting for the next train stop for TEN MINUTES
Tsukasa makes a disgruntled face at his phone, hoping his friends will be up late enough. He knows Rui will, Nene might be. If she is, she's probably not looking at her phone -- same with Rui. How did Emu's sleep schedule go again? Decent, right?
Ruiriri -- that's certainly odd. where did you say you were coming from again?
-- The toho theatrical arts cinema, it's not far. It should be a 5 minute trip, I go there all the time, but I've been here for 20 minutes now.
Nenenen -- u're sure you didn't miss your stop?
-- I thought I might've, so I was going to look at a map and wait for the next stop to see how far away I was
-- but there WASN'T a next stop! I've been here another full ten minutes and it hasn't stopped once!
Ruiriri -- perhaps check on the conductor? Make sure nothing has gone wrong there, they might be hurt.
Good idea, actually. Tsukasa hadn't even thought of that. He stands, steadies himself, then turns on his heel and starts walking in the direction the train is moving. Rui is right, if something happened to the driver, it could spell very bad news.
He tries to make it all the way up to that car, but when he gets there, he finds windows with shut curtains.
Tsukasa looks over each of his shoulders. There's no one else in this car (something must've happened in here… he doesn't wanna know), so he can be as loud as he'd like.
He knocks twice.
“Hello?”
…
He raises his voice. It can get pretty raised.
“Is anybody in there!?” He calls, to no response. He waits quite a while, strains for any noise, holds his breath to be able to hear anybody else's, but nothing. Tsukasa sighs. He turns back to his phone.
-- The curtains are closed, and if anyones in there, they didn't make themselves known.
When Tsukasa finally thinks he's going to talk to another passenger about this, he walks to the next cart to find the closest one. That one's asleep.
So is the next one.
Tsukasa looks up, pokes his head to the next cart. There are only a few people, and they're all asleep. Making his way back to his original seat, Tsukasa does not find a single person awake and aware enough to talk to him.
“That's… weird.” he mumbles, this sinking sort of feeling welling up in his gut. He physically holds it as he sits back down -- seat conveniently marked for him by his cardigan and umbrella -- and pulls up his phone again. He's missed a couple messages.
Nenenen -- that could be bad actually
Nenenen -- you should probably call someone
Ruiriri -- I agree, they could be hurt up there and unable to stop the train.
Tsukasa thinks for a moment. Surely well after 200 years after their conception, there'd be an emergency system in place if such a thing were to happen. Especially in this heavily monitored electronic age. Certainly there'd be an emergency stop…
… Isn't there?
Tsukasa looks above him, around the ceiling. There are pulleys for emergencies, right? He's never noticed them, never needed to use them, never paid attention. He doesn't know what they're supposed to look like, but they should be an eye-attracting color, right? There's gotta be a law about that.
Everything is just this melancholic blue. Maybe it's the presence of the gentle, colored lights indicating the exits and illuminating underneath the seats. That's gotta be for safety reasons, so where are the..?
A loud ringing interrupts his music as well as his thoughts. It morphs into a loud beeping noise in one ear, and he audibly yells out because of the sudden volume, frantically moving to check his phone again, to get it to stop. Rui is calling him.
Right as he's about to pick up, the screen disappears, telling him that the caller had disconnected. What was that about?
-- why did you call?
Ruiriri -- you weren't responding
Oh.
Tsukasa scrolls up, seeing that the others have been talking quite a bit since he last looked. It had only been a second, right? Is that Emu? Hopefully he hadn't woken her.
-- Sorry, I was looking for one of those emergency stop pulley things.
Tsukasa scrolls up again, finding that Nene had asked him about tbe conductor.
-- I did bang on the window, but there wasn't any response.
Emumu -- can you look out the window! what does it look like right now?
Tsukasa doesn't need to turn his head to look out, he knows the answer already, but he does anyway. In a tunnel.
-- I'm in a tunnel right now, I can't see any roads or anything.
The chat goes silent for a moment. It picks up that Rui starts typing, but he stops after a moment.
After a few long minutes, Tsukasa texts first.
-- I think I'm gonna try to sleep. Maybe it's messing with my head. My stomach hurts too. I'm sure I'll wake up when this train finally stops.
Ruiriri -- ...alright. Just be safe
Nenenen -- update us if anything happens when you wake up.
Ruiriri -- including if it was just some odd occurrence and you're at your usual stop.
Emumu -- do you think it was a spirit playing a trick?
Ruiriri - fufu, I'm not sure, maybe :3c. It would definitely explain this predicament.
Tsukasa doesn't like the idea of that. The idea of spirits always freaked him out, * especially vengeful ones. The ones where everything depends on luck… living or dying in that instant, or otherwise being disfigured in the same way that turned that spirit into a vengeful one, eugh, it's creepy. It always kept him up at night as a kid. Especially the ones where you can't escape with your wit or knowledge of the myths and legends, where you'll be killed no matter what you say…
Tsukasa thinks, if he ever wanted to be one of those ghosts, or if he ever somehow became one, he'd want to give the person at least a chance of survival. It'd be more fun that way too, surely! Playing a little game.
He yawns. Maybe it will do him some good to get some rest. Maybe he's wildly hallucinating… maybe this is all a dream. That would be nice. He's gone to sleep once while in a dream, it was a great experience, but he's focused on waking up.
Perhaps he'll wake to the bump of the train stop, the screech of the wheels, the footsteps of others getting off at the same stop. He'll gather his things and open his umbrella once outside and see his correct station, safe, able to walk home in peace.
...Yeah… that's gotta be it. Surely he's only dreaming. He'll go to sleep, then wake up, and all of this will have never happened, and he'll be able to tell this story and laugh about it.
Tsukasa shuts his eyes. He leans against the partition wall, the demarcation between the seats and the doorway. It's not all that comfortable, but for whatever reason, he finds himself drifting almost immediately.
Maybe it's because it's so late. He feels so tired, like he could sleep standing up if he had to. Even the hard, cold metal on his face doesn't deter him. The moment he relaxes his shoulders and closes his eyes, it's game over.
He's sure his shoulder is going to be sore when he wakes up.
….
…
–
Tsukasa wakes up not to a significant jolt, a particular screeching sound, or footsteps, but to another shrill beeping noise in one of his ears. He scrambles for his phone, bursting into consciousness while clearly unaware of himself.
What's the time?
That is not* his ringtone. Why does it keep beeping like that?
“Hwuh, hello..?” Tsukasa can hardly keep his eyes open. Everything seems so bright. The blue fluorescent lights beneath the chairs and the exits, it feels like they've got the sun trapped inside them, it's so goddamn bright.
“Tsukasa-kun!” It's Rui, “What's happening? Are you still on the train?”
“Uh.. yeah.” Tsukasa nods. He pinches the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. He feels like he could lean back and fall asleep again, but he can't, he needs to be alert.
What if there's someone else here that was just as confused as he was a little while ago? Looking around and finding only people asleep? If someone else is stuck here with him, he's gotta be helpful.
“Are you sure you didn't sleep through a stop?”
“I'm sure…” he yawns. “I had my.. ah, I had my head on the wall, so I'd know when it stopped.. I would get bumped." He pulls the phone away from his ears so he can lick his lips, try to get himself a bit more hydrated. Without the noise through the receiver, that is.
“Dude, it's been two hours.”
Tsukasa's eyes widen. He scrunches his face up, twisting and looking out the window. Still, a tunnel, but there's light outside, like he's nearly out.
“We've been waiting for you to say anything. You're still on that train?”
“Y-yeah.” Tsukasa is having trouble figuring out why he feels the need to ask such repeated questions. “Oh, god,” He gasps suddenly, “I need to call Saki, let her know what's going on. I'll call you back, Rui, I--” he's interrupted by a harsh screeching noise. Tsukasa raises his hands to his ears, and is then promptly slammed into the partition wall.
It's stopping.
It's finally stopping!
Tsukasa doesn't care how far away he is from home, the train has stopped! He can get off! He can get off and call a taxi, or the police, or his parents!
“That's why I knew it would wake me up.” he blinks as hard as he can, really waking himself up, then stands.
“Did it stop?” Rui asks, clearly a bit closer to his phone than before.
He throws his cardigan over his shoulder and grabs his umbrella.
“Yes, finally!” Tsukasa sighs. “I can finally get off. I can read the station sign and find out where I am, and map a route home!” he sounds thrilled. Rui is suspiciously silent on the other end of the line. Tsukasa holds his phone to his ear with his shoulder as he gathers up his things, mumbling about how he can finally be on his way home.
He grabs his umbrella and undoes the velcro as he hears rain on the roof, shakes it a bit, then walks towards the doors.
He's not really expecting what Rui tells him next.
“Tsukasa-kun, do not get off that train.”
“Huh?”
It's pouring.
Tsukasa stops and stands where he is, observing the station in front of him. He so, so yearns for solid ground, he almost decides to totally ignore Rui's warning.
He doesn't know how long these doors are going to be open.
“The- the train tracks can only be so long.” he almost sounds nervous . “Maybe it's best to talk to the conductor. Maybe you should go and try to talk to him now.”
“Now? But what if I miss the stop? I don't want to be here for another two hours, in purgatory!”
“I know! I just- what if you can't get back? You won't be able to get any answers if you leave, how are you planning to get back home?”
Tsukasa readies to open his umbrella. “I’ll call someone, a taxi or a police officer, if my parents are awake and at home they might be able to drive me too.”
Rui sighs. Tsukasa stands at the doorway, hesitant, but he needs to get out of here. He doesn’t want to spend another minute staring at those blue lights.
“Just… Ugh, I don’t know, Tsukasa, just be careful. Tell us if anything happens.”
“I will.” Tsukasa huffs impatiently. “I’d stay on call with you, but I really need to let Saki know where I am and that I’m okay.”
“... Okay. Just keep us posted.”
As Tsukasa nods and makes a little noise of affirmation, Rui hangs up on him. Tsukasa navigates to Saki’s profile and calls her.
It doesn’t even get to finish ringing once, she picks it up quickly.
“Kasa?” Saki asks, hurriedly. She sounds tired, but not as if she’d just woken up. Tsukasa feels a heavy sinking feeling of guilt. He should’ve called her much sooner, but he didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily. She knew he would be out, but that was ‘till a normal time, and it’s not even close to a normal time anymore.
“Saki!” Tsukasa doesn’t bother with an introduction, “I’m sorry for calling so late, listen, it’s all weird right now, I’m not sure what's going on.” Tsukasa puts his phone in his pocket, relying on his earbuds instead. Even when he has headphones on or in, he still holds his phone up to his ear and his mouth up to the mic. It just feels right. “There was the train like usual, but it just wouldn’t stop, and,”
“Yeah, I know, Emu told me. Why didn't you take any of my calls, you scared me!”
Tsukasa opens his umbrella and steps outside.
He grits his teeth, feeling even worse for leaving her hanging. “Man, I’m so sorry Sak, I didn’t mean to. I fell asleep, I must’ve not woken up from them.”
Tsukasa looks around, hopping to the proper station. There are benches, a building, and a distinct platform made of cobblestone. A circular, blue sign that says 'kisaragi' on it in hiragana. Other than that, and the train tracks themselves, it’s just barren outside. A wasteland. He sees trees far, far in the distance, but it’s not a walkable one. There’s another tunnel to his left, in the direction the train is going.
Saki sighs. “I know, I’m.. It doesn’t matter, it’s okay, don’t worry.” She sighs again. “Where are you? Momma is here, she’s watching her show in the living room. I can tell her to come and get you?”
Tsukasa smiles as relief washes through him.
As unsettling as all of this looks, as terrifying as an experience it all is, at least he knows he’s safe and can walk away from it all now. And, now he has a killer story to tell. Perhaps he could turn it into a spooky show for halloween!
“That would be fantastic.” He smiles.
The train makes a blaring honking sound as it starts to drive away from him.
Tsukasa squints up at the station sign when he spots it again. “Kisaragi station, that’s where it dropped me off. It was a two and a half hour train ride here.”
“Damn, really?” Saki mumbles. “That’s actually nuts. What the hell happened?”
Tsukasa lets out a big breath. “I have no idea. Everything looked totally normal when I got on. I honestly didn’t even know this train went out here.” He pauses. “... I didn't even know this station existed.”
“I didn't either. Hang on, I'll call you back!” Saki hangs up the phone a bit hastily. Tsukasa hardly even had time to open his mouth to respond.
What can he do in the meantime, hm? He doesn't want to be using his phone all that much, actually. Now that he has the chance to step back and look, he's a bit low on battery. He chucks the brightness to its lowest setting, and closes leftover apps. It shouldn't take too long to get here…
Tsukasa looks around again. There… there really doesn't appear to be a road. It seems the only way he could come across this station is by train. There's nothing for what looks to be miles. Nothing is here in general, really.
A strange feeling starts welling up in Tsukasa's chest. It's sort of so weird that he's in this situation in the first place that he hadn't considered it. He was sort of rolling with the punches before. But when he takes a step back?
This is so odd. Seriously! How did any of this happen? He took the train he always did! He had even double checked!
…
He considers texting the rest of the troupe's group chat to let them know his parents will be on the way, or maybe that they might be if there happened to be any roads nearby.
He might need to commute. He would be okay with that, he supposes. It would be a short walk to get out here.
Actually, are roads necessary? His parents' car isn't made for off-roading, but it should be possible.
Saki calls him back. Tsukasa almost drops his phone while he stumbles to pick it up.
“Kasa?” Saki asks, uncharacteristically timidly, then laughs gently. “Are you sure you're reading the sign right?”
“What?” Tsukasa looks back up at the sign to make sure. He rereads all of the characters. “I'm sure. Ki-sa-ra-gi.”
“Okaay.” Saki doesn't hang up, just puts her phone down. Tsukasa can hear the voices of her and their mother on the other end, mostly confused and slightly exasperated sounding.
Tsukasa taps his foot.
“What is it?” He asks, antsy. He'd be lying if he said his heart wasn't thumping.
Saki audibly walks and picks up her phone. She accidentally brushes against the microphone. “Tsukasa, Kisaragi station doesn't exist.”
What?
“What! That makes no sense, I'm here, aren't I!” Well, this is certainly a way to get his blood pumping. His heart leaps up to his throat.
He's here, so it must exist! This doesn't make any sense! What the hell does that even mean, ‘Kisaragi Station doesn't exist'?
“Tsukasa?”
“Y-yeah, sorry.” Tsukasa runs a hand through his hair. This is so ridiculous. That doesn't make any sense. “Are, are you joking?”
“Come on, I wouldn't joke about something like this!” He can practically see her shaking her head vehemently. “Are you? ”
“No!” Tsukasa exclaims, a little louder than necessary, he didn't mean to. “I'm looking at the sign right now! I-I don't know what you want me to say!” He finds himself almost laughing, because this is so absurd, and if he doesn't laugh, he'll have no other choice but to cry. “Did you look in kana? It's written in hiragana.”
“I can look again, but I did! Are you sure that's what it's called? Has anything washed off of it or got covered up?”
Tsukasa supposes it's possible, but really, if a Gisaragi station existed, wouldn't it pop up when you looked up the incorrect Kisaragi?
Tsukasa walks towards the circular sign. He circles around it, then blinks. “Oh, there is kanji.” He mumbles. There's also roman letters underneath it, that he's proud to report say ‘kisaragi.’ “It says Kisaragi in English on the bottom, but I guess it's just ki station in kanji.”
“Ki station..?” Saki mumbles.
Tsukasa swallows. He was trying to ignore it. “Yeah.” He says, voice a little thick. The kanji for ghost, or devil. “Can also be read as oni. B-but I think it's supposed to be ki.”
Maybe Emu was right. He'd rather not think about it being a ghost, and him being the center of an urban legend right now, and more just like an actual trick by someone. Maybe this is TV. Tsukasa is about to huff and take off his phone case so that you can clearly see the brand, just to make it a little more annoying for them..!
That's a situation he'd feel more comfortable in, actually. If this is just a show at its most basic level..! If somebody wants him to play the part, he will. He wants royalties, though!
Tsukasa takes a deep breath and tries to coax himself into actually believing this. He doesn't, it doesn't make any sense, even in the more sketchy TV programs usually someone has just signed up for something they weren't disclosed the whole limit of. Tsukasa hadn't signed anything, that wouldn't make sense, imagine all of the wasted money if he'd decided he didn't want to be on the air!
Not to be a bad sport or anything, but…
He hears Saki have an almost word for word copy of their conversation with their mother.
“She says she's looking.” Saki pauses again. “Do you know where you are?”
“No, but it's around 2, 2 and a half hours from the toho theater.”
Saki makes a slow sound of agreement. Tsukasa supposes he already told her that. He starts prattling off everything else that he can see.
“There's another train track really far away from me. There's not really anything else, though, it's just this huge clearing and then forests all around. There's a tunnel to the left of the station, looking outward of it.” Tsukasa doesn't even know what direction he's looking. “The station is small. It's one of those tiny outdoor ones. All the stuff that's not stone or wood on it is blue.”
There's really not much else.
“Um… the station sign is round..?”
“Ah, uh,” Saki doesn't know what to say. “I think… uh, why don't you call the emergency number? If there's a specific one, it'd be inside. They- they can track your closest cell tower, that's better than what we're getting… mom said she'll look on a map for it?”
Tsukasa sighs. “Yes, I thought I may need to.” He didn't want to, because this shouldn't be an emergency, but it seems like it is now. “Okay. I'll need to hang up to do that! I will see you later!” Speak it into existence.
“Uah, goodbye!”
Tsukasa hangs up. He takes a big deep breath and sinks against the wall. He looks up at the sky. “What is this place…” he mumbles.
He doesn't want to admit that he's afraid, but his hands shake dialing 110. He goes through what he should say in his head.
When they pick up, he stands up straight. “Hello! I believe something has gone wrong with my train. It didn't stop for hours, then dropped me at a station nobody I talk to has heard of!”
He's speaking too loudly, and he thinks it's annoying them.
He hears typing. “Okay. What station?”
“Kisaragi station, or ki station.”
There's silence for a bit. “Ki as in devil.” They sound very tired. Fed up with him. He didn't even do anything!
“Yes, I believe so. But it's written as kisaragi in-”
“We ask you not call for frivolous things.” What? “It takes time away from real emergencies.” What? What?
“I'm not joking!” Tsukasa tries not to shout, and fails miserably. “I'm being serious! I'm so serious! Please, I don't know where I am-” a loud beeping sound. “And… i need..” Tsukasa looks at his phone, jaw gaping. Did that really just happen? Seriously ?
What happened to defending! Or kindness!
Tsukasa swallows.
He closes his phone for a moment. He decides to try the door. He doesn't want to be out here in the rain if he doesn't need to.
It doesn't open. Well, that's fun.
Great. Great! What is he supposed to do!
Maybe he can travel through that tunnel… it looks big enough for him to be in at the same time as a train, and if it's not too far, maybe there's a town, or just any other landmarks anywhere. Anything. He'll take anything .
Tsukasa doesn't know who to tell. He shoots a text to the group chat, though it seemed like they've been talking in there. He doesn't have time to read it alall.
– I called the police and they HUNG UP on me >:/
– idk what they want from me
Tsukasa shuts off his phone again. He sighs.
He supposes he should start walking soon. Nobody will be getting any closer. Time's a wastin.
He stands.
He begins to walk.
His phone rings, so he looks at it. It's Saki. Tsukasa picks up quickly, really hoping it's good news.
“Is everything ok?” Tsukasa asks.
“I was gonna ask you the same thing! We- we can't find any place with that name in that area.”
“In the area?” Tsukasa tilts his head. “You mean, there's a kisaragi station somewhere else?”
“N-no. That area or any area.”
“Oh.”
Tsukasa keeps walking. At least he'll be able to put his umbrella down soon, when he's in the tunnel.
“Look, there's a tunnel nearby. I'm walking towards it now. I'm going to see if there's a town, or anything on the other side! Or in it! Sit tight, Saki, I'll be on my way!”
Saki sighs heavily. “Are you sure it's safe?”
Tsukasa shrugs. “Dunno, but there's not much else I can do about it.” He huffs. “It's all I can do. I know there's nothing from the way I came, so I've gotta…” he pauses. Even though it took so long, maybe it would just be better to start making his way home, instead of going further away. It would take hours of walking, but….
“Nevermind what I just said! I'm going to walk the way I came from! I don't want my phone to die, so I can't stay on call with you, but I'll tell you when I see roads, or a town, or anything!”
Saki is mostly quiet on the other line for a while. “... Okay. Be safe. I'll keep trying. I'll let you know if we find something.”
“Okay, and I will. You too.” Tsukasa pulls the phone away from his ear and hangs up. He quickly switches the way he's walking and hurries towards the forest. At least, this way, he knows where he's going.
He holds the umbrella in a weird way to update Rui and the others about what's happening. He tells them that he's going to start making his way back the way he came by himself.
Ruiriri - What? Why? Isn't it best to stay where you know when you're lost?
Nenenen – you should wait at least for daytime, I feel like. Then it would be an easier walk
– I just want to get home.
It's a fair enough call, but what if tomorrow never comes?
Tsukasa takes a breath. He thinks about going back. It honestly fills him with fear.
– I think it sounds weird but I feel too afraid to look back now
– it'll take a while but it's better than being in purgatory
His phone isn't crazy low on battery, but it's close to it.
– I don't want my phone to die, so I'm going to leave for a little bit.
Tsukasa doesn't want to turn his phone off, honestly, he would rather continue talking with his friends. But he can't do that now.
When he gets to the other side of the tunnel he came through, they'll be a name of it, and that's clarification, and… and…
God, he doesn't know, he really doesn't know. But he can't just turn back now.
It's dark. Maybe he should have waited til dawn. He'll at least have been less scared. But what if it never got brighter?
He has the tracks, at least. He can always feel the tracks. He won't need to worry, because the tracks will always be there and he'll always be able to feel them-
“ Hey !”
Tsukasa jumps. An attendant?? He whips around.
“You shouldn't be walking on train tracks, it's dangerous, boy! Don't you know!” An old man waves his cane at him. He must have quite the conviction, to raise his cane with only one leg.
“I- I'm sorry sir!” Tsukasa calls. He rubs at his eyes. “It's just, I don't know how else to get home,” he looks back up, blinking hard to clear his vision. “And, and… what?”
There's nobody there. Tsukasa looks around. He bites his lip, starting to walk backwards. No, this can't be real. Where is he, what's going on, why can't he just go home! Why can people just disappear!
Maybe he did end up in a spirit realm somehow… was that a ghost..?
Tsukasa shakes his head, picking his jaw up off the floor. “Hello..?” His voice is soft. He doesn't really want to bring attention to himself, suddenly.
He takes a deep breath and starts to turn. He trips over his own feet on the weird, uneven terrain. He manages to catch himself before he falls all the way down, but not before scraping his hands. “Shit..” he huffs. It just gets worse, doesn't it?
Okay. Okay, okay! Stop! Everything's going to be alright! He can't keep wasting time. He needs to get to that tunnel, then needs to get to the end of it.
He glances at his notifications for a little strength.
Ruiriri – is there any way to get to toho now
Ruiriri – I might walk down the tracks. maybe I can meet him halfway.
That would be nice. That would be so nice, but Tsukasa can't ask him to do it. Rui clearly isn't talking to him, though, so he just closes his phone again.
Press on.
He has to press on.
Press on, and it'll all be okay.
He'll get to the end of the station. He'll find out where he is. Either he'll be able to get a ride, or Rui will come to his rescue and he at least won't need to be alone, or…
Tsukasa isn't sure what will happen, but maybe he'll also see someone who lives here. That would be nice… he would be able to use their phone…
He wants to go home.
"Oh, where have I disappeared to.." he mutters, frustrated.
He takes a breath and keeps walking.
He keeps walking, and walking.
The lights from the station turn off. He doesn't turn back.
There are some sort of drums coming from where he's headed. At least that's a clear way for him to tell where he's going.
Tsukasa wobbles a bit. He's so tired.
But he can't give up now! He has a much longer way to go than this! And curling up on train tracks to get a good night's rest is possibly one of the stupidest possible things a person could do!
He can't give up now. He can't look back.
His instincts tell him to start running, but that'll just tire him out sooner.
He'll make it to the other side if it kills him.
— —
The most intelligent thing Tsukasa could have done, obviously, is fall down. Again.
He has no idea how long he's been walking for, but it has to have been over an hour. He was too exhausted to properly catch himself, so this time he fell all the way down.
Tsukasa figures it couldn't be too bad if he just…took the tiniest of rests…
He doesn't even move from where he fell. Tsukasa just sits there for a moment and contemplates the situation. There's nothing he can do but keep pressing on. If he gives up now, he'll never be found, but he's so tired.
Tsukasa hopes Rui or Saki are coming for him.
He holds onto that thought and forces himself up onto his hands and knees. If they can't get to him because he's in here… No, he couldn't forgive himself!
He can't give up! Tsukasa Tenma is not a quitter!
In one big motion, he shoves himself to his feet and continues walking. He'll get out of here eventually. He keeps reminding himself of his friends and family. He can't just disappear on them!
And even if no one is coming! He can't expect them to want to! It's so late, they should all be sleeping.
Ah, Tsukasa misses his bed….
The further he goes, the more often he stumbles. He keeps his footing, though.
His wrists sting. Both of them are scraped up now. He's not bleeding, per say, but both of them have peeled up skin with red underneath. Every step kicks up dust, but honestly, it hardly even hurts anymore, it's been such a consistent sensation.
Tsukasa rubs his eyes.
It doesn't get any brighter outside.
But, hey, he can see anything other than the inside of the tunnel now!
Ah, forest… outside…
Tsukasa missed greenery so much.!!
And there'll probably be a town or something out here… maybe a road, something else noticeable, so he can call saki and get home….
Saki…
Tsukasa is tempted to check his phone. But he really needs to conserve battery. It keeps slowly going down and down…
He shuts his eyes and keeps walking.
It'll all be over soon.
—
Tsukasa takes a tiny break when he finally reaches the outside of the tunnel.
He leans against a tree, feeling like he can breathe so much easier out here.
Not because he has more hope than before, those bells he heard earlier just got louder and quieter as he walked through the tunnel. There must have been a festival going on perpendicular to him.
He honestly finds his eyes drooping again. He can't fall asleep now, he knows he can't, so he pushes himself up before he can feel too tired to go on.
He's exhausted.
He doesn't want to keep going.
Tsukasa looks upwards and picks a random tree, sort of far in the distance. That's his new goal. He just has to make it to that tree.
He keeps going on like this.
The end of the tunnel was the only good goal he had to work with.
Breathe.
Keep going.
Tsukasa's head keeps falling down. He wonders if it'd be possible for him to fall asleep mid-step.
He knows his legs are going to burn like nothing else when he wakes up in the morning.
It'll make him stronger!
Ah, he wants to lay down in his bed…his bed….
You know how you can phantom blink, to win staring contests..? Maybe he can phantom sleep!
…
He's still exhausted.
So exhausted, in fact, he hardly recognizes the name someone is calling as his own.
“Tsukasa-kun!”
Tsukasa looks up slowly when he keeps hearing the voice, recognizing it for what it is, albeit a bit too slow to recognize the voice itself.
He sees some very familiar purple hair. Running towards him, in fact.
Tsukasa gasps and pipes up immediately. He doesn't have time to think about any paranormal stuff, to worry about doppelgänger is so far behind him, simply picking up speed and running as fast as he can towards Rui.
“Rui!”
Tsukasa literally collapses into his arms, nigh physically incapable of keeping himself up anymore. Tsukasa wraps his hands around Rui, and Rui catches him, nearly slapping him in the back with how hard and fast he grabs onto him.
Tsukasa doesn't know how he immediately doesn't burst into tears, honestly. He's too tired. He's so drained.
Rui exhales slowly. It makes Tsukasa realize he should do the same.
Rui holds onto his head like he'll disappear into smoke. “I need to..” Rui releases one of his hands to mess with his phone. “S-saki-kun is here too, and your mom. I need to tell them you're here.”
Tsukasa lays against Rui's chest, relishing not only in the body heat of another person, but in the sound of his heartbeat. It gradually slows down as they lay there together.
“Oh, god, Tsukasa-kun… you had me so worried.” Presumably after sending his text, Rui drops his phone to the ground and holds Tsukasa close, gently rocking him as he stuffs his face in his hair.
Tsukasa sniffles. “I'm sorry.” He whimpers, feeling quite pathetic all of a sudden. “I didn't do anything different, I don't know what happened!”
“I know, I know.” Rui mutters softly, soothingly. He holds onto Tsukasa like such a treasure.
It isn't long until Tsukasa hears a car engine. A door slam, then footsteps. He hardly even gets to turn around before he's being held from another angle.
“Tsukasa-a!” Saki wails, into his back. Tsukasa would turn to hug her back if he could, but the way he's situated, he can't turn without breaking away, and he doesn't want to break away in a million years. “I was scared you'd never come back!”
At least he can wiggle one of his arms free to twist it and wrap around her. He hardly has the energy to muster up a “Me too.”
Tsukasa exhales softly. He shuts his eyes.
“Come on, everybody.”
Tsukasa shouts as he's being lifted up into the air, followed suit by the other two around him.
After a brief minute of a tight hug, his mom puts them down.
“I'm sure no one wants to be here longer than they need to. Run to the car, I shimmied it in.”
“O-okay.” Saki falters, and as Rui releases him, Tsukasa gets to wipe her tears.
She starts walking away, but waits for people to come with her. Rui also waits up, but senses that they might want a moment to be alone, so opens his arm for Saki to lean on as he walks her back to the car.
Tsukasa looks up at his mom with tears in his eyes.
He really thought he'd never see her again.
She looks down at him. Her eyes are red, eyelashes wet. Tsukasa hiccups and gets up on his toes to also wrap his arms around her.
She hugs him close, bending down to reach him better. She cards her fingers through his hair repeatedly, gently scratching her nails against his scalp.
Tsukasa sniffles. He makes fists, trying to hold her closer.
“Come on, Tsu. You must be starving. Let's get home, I'll make you dinner.” She speaks lowly, softly. It convinces Tsukasa to relax his shoulders.
He pulls away from her slowly. He wipes his eyes, even though they're still not actually wet. “Okay.”
She puts her arm around his shoulder and leads him back to the car. Tsukasa can hardly walk, his legs are aching. After stopping for so long, he never wants to walk again. She leads him to the front passenger seat, but Tsukasa opts to sit with Rui and Saki instead.
They're waiting outside.
Honestly, normally he would at least wave to them, but he doesn't have the energy to make the effort. Rui hurries to open the door for him and Tsukasa barely manages a nod as he crawls into the middle seat. Saki joins him, and Rui runs to the other side to sit on the opposite side of him.
The minute he's sitting, his legs start to tingle again, sort of harshly.
He reminds himself to breathe. His throat is so scratchy he keeps forgetting. The beeping sound that plays as the car turns on is nostalgic in a way he can't place.
As they start moving, his head keeps falling on shoulders all over the place. He'd try to lean the opposite way to stay up, then would just end up falling on the other person's.
“If you want to lay down, I don't mind.” Saki whispers, like she isn't sure if he's fully awake.
“N-no, it's fine. I'll never leave the car if I sleep now.”
“It's over an hour drive here… and we, ah, improvised! Just a little bit!”
His mom cuts in, “Half of the roads up here don't connect, they just go in circles.”
“No, I'd have to take my seatbelt off.. it'd beep the whole time.”
Tsukasa yawns.
“I'm good.” he continues.
He is not good.
Tsukasa falls asleep again in maybe 40 seconds. Even that is generous, honestly.
It doesn't take all that long for the other two teens in the backseat to fall asleep against him, either.