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When Tsugino woke up, the first thing he noticed the red light. Actually, it wasn’t just red light, no, the entire sky was red.
He sat up quickly and was immediately met with dizziness.
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦… 𝘢𝘮 𝘐?
He found himself inside a mysterious train car. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘥𝘥. 𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦…?
“Ow! My head….” a groan sounded next to him.
Tsugino looked over to his side. To his surprise, he found someone very familiar with red hair.
“Doc…!?” he said surprised. Maeno rubbed his eyes and squinted at him.
“Is that you… Tsugino..?” he said weakly.
Tsugino nodded rapidly. “Yes, it’s me.” He did a once-over, glancing at Maeno. Tsugino wanted to make sure Maeno was okay. His eyes kept scanning him, checking for signs of injury.
‘Tsugino… hey…” Maeno sat up slowly.
“Does anywhere hurt?” Tsugino asked.
“I’m fine… I think.” Maeno replied. Then he winced slightly.
“Ugh.. my head…” He clutched his hair, like he was suddenly suffering from a migraine or severe headache. Or both.
Suddenly, he leaned forwards, almost toppling over and nearly losing his balance. Tsugino instinctively held out a hand and caught him before he fell over. Even though they were both sitting on the cold metal floor of the train car, it would have still been bad if Maeno fell over suddenly.
“Oh God, I think I’m going to throw up-”
Maeno was beginning to turn a shade of blue that shouldn’t have been humanely possible. Tsugino stood up immediately.
“W-Wait! Hang on Doc! Let me grab a trashcan first!”
Quickly, Tsugino’s eyes darted around the room.
𝘏𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘺! 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯! 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦..?
And then he spotted it in the corner.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦!
He sprinted forwards, grab the trash can, and returned just as quickly, over to Maeno’s side.
Somehow, he managed to make it just in time. Maeno heaved and well…. The rest is history.
Maeno sighed, leaning backwards. Tsugino caught him in his arms.
“Woah, Doc! Are you really okay?”
Maeno breathed in deeply. “Thank you… Tsugino..” He said weakly.
“No problem, Doc.” replied Tsugino.
Tsugino found himself glancing around the train car again. It seemed… unfamiliar. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦…
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦?
Over to their right, was a poster for a romance film. To the left, a tall vending machine. There was also a black barrel bag lying next to it. For some reason, Tsugino didn’t want to see what was inside the barrel bag.
He glanced over at Maeno again. Maeno’s eyes were closed. He was breathing steady, now. But he wasn’t quite sleeping- every so often, his eyelids would flutter slightly.
“Doc, do you need me to get anything?” Tsugino asked gently.
Maeno shifted. “Mm.. I’m a bit thirsty.”
Tsugino looked over to the left again.
“There’s a vending machine over there. I could get you something to drink, what do you want?”
Maeno thought for a moment. Then, he smiled.
“Orange soda.”
“Orange soda!?” Tsugino exclaimed. “But Doc, isn’t it bad to have sugary drinks when you’re sick?”
Maeno waved a hand at him. “Pshaw! It’s not like I’m going to die that easily.”
Suddenly, there was an awkward silence. Both at them stared at each other.
Tsugino spoke up, somewhat hesitantly.
“Um, Doc? Now that you say that…I’m not exactly sure we are in a safe place right now…” The moment that he said those words, he felt like he should have swallowed them instead.
𝘈𝘩𝘩𝘩𝘩𝘩! 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵! 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘋𝘰𝘤 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺! 𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰’𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘮!
“You know what, I’ll go get your soda. You wait right here, Doc-”
“Hey wait-” Maeno started. But Tsugino had already left.
—
Tsugino stood in front of the vending machine. Despite the strangeness of the train car, it appeared to be an ordinary vending machine.
“Hmm…” He reached into his pocket. And pulled out 240 yen. 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴? He wondered.
He scanned the drink options. The soda costs 140, bottled water 100, coffee and tea are both 120. He thought for a moment. 𝘏𝘮𝘮. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘤 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
Tsugino punched in the option for soda and bottled water.
𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬!
He was just about to reach down and grab both drinks when another sound startled him.
𝘛𝘏𝘜𝘋.
Tsugino froze. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵!? It seemed to have also come from the vending machine.
Slowly, he reached towards the vending machine’s flap. He felt his hands shaking. 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮, 𝘛𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘰! 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘰𝘤!
He opened the flap. What he saw, would scar him for the rest of his life.
It was a severed hand. The colour of the skin was blackened and distorted- most likely from the lack of oxygen that fresh blood needed to supply to keep skin a healthy colour.
What’s worse, was that the hand was wrapped in a certain kind of fabric.
𝘈 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘵. The edges were stained red with dried blood.
Tsugino sucked in a breath. He immediately regretted doing so. Instantly, his lungs were filled with the smell of decaying flesh. 𝘉𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢, 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢!
Panicking, he backed away, his hands scuttering against the cold floor. Then he stopped. 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴!
After the initial shock of seeing the arm, he began to calm down. He willed himself to breathe slowly. 𝘐𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦…𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦… 𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦… 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦..
He reached inside, pushing past the hand- and retrieved two objects. Tsugino sighed, relieved. It appeared that the soda can and water bottle were untouched.
He got up and started walking back to Maeno.
—
The moment Maeno saw him he exhaled, relieved. Tsugino helped him open the soda, which he was now taking slow sips from.
“Oh thank god- you’re a lifesaver, Tsugino!”
Tsugino smiled. “Anything for you, Doc. How’re you feeling?”
“Much better.” replied Maeno.
Then, as if the universe was listening in on them, suddenly the sky outside turned pitch black.
𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘥!
They both froze. “What was that..?” Maeno asked. His face became pale again. Tsugino looked around the room. He looked so intently, that he could feel his eyes straining. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮!? 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬!
𝘛𝘏𝘜𝘋.
This time it was louder. “Doc, it’s coming from outside the train car. There’s a door over to our right.”
Maeno stood up. He wobbled slightly, but Tsugino caught him. He held out an arm and Maeno used it to steady himself.
They both exchange glances. “Should we..?” said Maeno nervously.
“Check it out?” finished Tsugino. Maeno nodded.
Tsugino’s brows furrowed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Whatever is out there is keen on breaking inside. We should get to somewhere safer and wait for it to leave.”
Maeno was about to reply when it sounded again.
𝘛𝘏𝘜𝘋! 𝘛𝘏𝘜𝘋! 𝘛𝘏𝘜𝘋-
This time, it was repeated banging on the door. Then suddenly-
𝘊𝘙𝘈𝘊𝘒!
The window glass on the train door began to form cracks from the pressure of the heavy force from outside.
𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥! Tsugino began to panic. Without thinking twice, he scooped up Maeno and began carrying him away, dragging him by the waist.
“WHAT WAS THAT-” Maeno shouted.
Tsugino only smiled. It was the kind of smile that pretended everything was okay and it was all just merely a dream.
“HOLY- WHY IS THERE A FREAKING SHADOW CHASING US!?”
“Not now, Doc! Let’s keep moving to safety~!”
He could feel Maeno shaking out of sheer terror, but he only tightened his grip, making sure he was secure in his arms. And he continued their getaway to somewhere safer.
—
The two of them found themselves in the upper train car. They were surrounded by plush red velvet curtains, soft carpet, crisp white tables and polished silverware.
It was a formal dining car. Strange that there would be one in the first place. But Tsugino decided not to question it. After all, if this wasn’t a dream, and this wasn’t a place in the real world- it had to be an alternate dimension didn’t it? An alternate dimension must have its own rules and structure. That would explain why it appeared the way it did. Tsugino remembered reading about such places and experiences in novels from the library. There were called… 𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘬𝘢𝘪 weren’t they?
“Say, Tsugino..” started Maeno. Tsugino snapped out of his thoughts.
He glanced over at Maeno, who was busy twirling an empty wineglass. They were both sitting at one of the elegant-looking dining tables.
“Have you ever gotten drunk?”
“𝘏𝘶𝘩!?” Tsugino blurted out. Out of all the things Maeno asked him, this had got to be one of the weirdest, most out of pocket question. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺! 𝘈𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴!? 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥!?
“Ah, no I mean-!” Maeno quickly spoke up. “I was just curious that’s all. You don’t need to tell me.”
Tsugino nodded. “I haven’t tried alcohol before. I don’t plan on trying it..” He hesitated for a moment. “Unless… if it’s with you Doc, maybe..”
Maeno smiled at him. He looked at him directly in the eyes. Tsugino saw the red shimmer inside them. It looked like he was staring into a deep, crimson ocean.
“Tsugino. You don’t have to try anything you don’t feel 100% ready or comfortable with. Even if it’s with someone you trust, I never want you to feel pressured to do it, just because it’s something I enjoy.”
Tsugino stared at him blankly.
Maeno’s smile widened into a grin.
“Heh.” He let out a soft laugh.
“I only asked you because I found this cool recipe.” Maeno held up something with one of his long sleeves. Tsugino stared at it.
It appeared to be a page from a recipe book. It read: 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘗𝘪𝘦.
“But! We don’t have to use red wine at all. In fact, I remember watching a short video on making pie with orange soda-”
Tsugino made a face.
He glanced anxiously at the half can of orange soda. Then back at the recipe. Then back at Maeno, who was grinning widely. He was so excited, he looked like a child waking up on Christmas morning, about to open the presents.
“Are you sure that’s really okay, Doc!?”
“Nonsense! I’m sure it’ll turn out fine!”
—
Half an hour later:
The entire kitchen was filled with smoke. Both Tsugino and Maeno were coughing.
“Y’know what Tsugino, maybe I should have let you do the cooking instead-”
“I agree, Doc.” He brushed off some of the blackened remains that were on his sleeve. Already, they had been burnt to charcoal.
“We can always try again. There’s still some pastry dough left.”
“Oh! Alright, then! Let’s do it!”
Tsugino smiled warmly at him.
It felt like a dream come true, to finally have an evening relaxing with together his favourite person in the world. Dr. Maeno Aki.
Tsugino was an excellent cook and was prepared to spend the rest of his life making meals for Maeno so he could stay fed (and definitely not sneak any vegetables into his food).
Even if that meant Maeno would never recover from his amnesia.
Even if that meant Maeno never learned the truth.
The truth how he killed Fuyu’s sister Natsu and hidden her in the barrel bag, and had Tsugino help him. It didn’t matter that Maeno killed her accidentally. Knowing the truth would still devastate him. So Tsugino decided not to tell him.
Because in the end, it is as they always say,
“𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥.”
—
Meanwhile in an alternate universe….
“Senpai?” asked a nervous voice.
The voice belonged to a young man in his 20s. He had black hair and light blue eyes.
“Yes, Shion?” a second voice replied. It belonged to another man, but this one had pale white hair and red eyes.
“Do we really need to put on these handcuffs to escape the room?” asked the blue-eyed man.
The man with red eyes glanced over at him. He was currently reading a set of papers on a nearby desk.
“It appears so. Hmm. According to these medical profiles, or ‘resumes,’ I am 24 years old and a former doctor at this facility.” He paused.
“My name is Haru Akinashi.”
“What does it say about me?” asked the blue-eyed man.
“You are 18 years old and killed 20 people.”
“I killed twenty-!” The voice of the blue-eyed man shook. He sat down suddenly, as if all the air had been sucked out of him. His entire body trembled from the shock.
“Also, your name is Shion Tatsunami.” the white-haired man announced calmly.
Then 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘶 reached over and picked up the pair of handcuffs. 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘰𝘯 was holding them previously, but had dropped them on the floor when he collapsed from his anxiousness.
𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘶 knelt down and gazed into 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘰𝘯’𝘴 eyes.
With the intensity that he stared, his eyes looked like they were blazing scarlet with emotion.
𝘐𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮… 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦! 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺! 𝘛𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵.. 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺.
He smiled at the trembling man.
“Let’s put these on and get out of here, shall we?”