[𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐋] | 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐲𝐚

𝟎𝟕 | 𝐄𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐌𝐨

"𝑶𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒎,
𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒚,
𝑶𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒑𝒊𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚,"

"𝑺𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈,
𝑰 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈,"

─────── ∘°❉°∘ ───────

Ren had been searching for the whole night with no success. She had walked miles and miles and she might have gotten herself lost if she didn't know Tokyo by heart. The next day was raining heavily so Ren stayed in a hotel she had found during her search. That day she stayed in the room the whole day and night, looking out of the window for any sign of Arisu.

Rationally, someone by now would have thought that Arisu was dead but Ren wasn't rational. She couldn't believe that even though part of her had lost hope.

Ren also wondered if maybe the group had come back to the mall and didn't find Ren. Maybe they thought she went to the Beach on her own and they went there too but that wasn't one of her top theories. She knew that wasn't the case. Still, she wondered if she should have taken Chishiya's request and went to see for herself.

The next day Ren continued to search, hands hugging her body on top of her white shirt. She decided to wear the same shorts she wore at the previous game since she was running out of clothes and didn't have time to waste washing them. She would be needing to raid a store soon. On her feet, she found some black sneakers that were in the room she was staying and they fit her so she took them. The day was a bit chilly because of yesterday's rain but not to the point that Ren needed a jacket.

"Maybe I should go back to the mall," Ren mumbled to herself. "Just in case, maybe they are there."

But even as she thought that, she continued to walk forward instead of turning around. It was somewhere after midday and in a few hours the sun would start to set and game arenas would come to life so it would be dangerous for her to go all the way back. She could try that the next day in the morning.

And good thing that she didn't turn back because as soon as she rounded a corner, she was met with a miracle.

She saw Usagi walking down the street. She was wearing some black sweatpants, a grey tanktop and a rain jacket. But that wasn't what made Ren stop dead in her tracks.

It was Arisu.

Arisu fucking Ryohei.

Ren gasped loudly, her hands falling down her sides at the sight of him.

He was wearing the same clothes as the night he went to the game only now they were dirtier and messier. Ren could see dried blood on them, too. His hair was a complete mess and his face, caked in dirt and dried tears, had a broken expression. He was also walking slowly as if he was dragging himself. Ren didn't have to ask to know what happened. She couldn't see Karube and Chota. She couldn't even see that woman Shibuki. All she saw was a broken Arisu walking next to a determined Usagi.

Both haven't yet seen her but that gave Ren a bit of time to process what she was seeing. When she finally felt like she could speak, Ren called out his name.

"Arisu!"

At that, both turned to look at her. Usagi seemed to smile but Ren's eyes were on Arisu.

His expression twisted from broken into a completely shattered one. New tears began to brim his eyes and his whole body trembled. He immediately started to walk towards her, tripping over his feet as he did so.