Chapter Eight
Voices. Familiar voices.
They drifted over him in soft tones. He could just barely catch them.
"The nurse told me that his mom just left. They had to order her to leave…she hasn't slept in weeks."
Anzu. That's Anzu…! But where did she come from…one minute I was…
"I know. When she's not here, Jounouchi is."
"Hey, Otogi's here all the time, too, man."
Yuugi. Jounouchi…
Honda's heart ached to hear them. These were the people who knew his name, who knew him as best friends and comrades. To hear Jou as the teenager who didn't tote a blade across his back and threaten him with a life of servitude every time he fell down.
And then…
"What, so I'm not allowed to worry about him, too?"
Otogi.
The other's voice was a catalyst, driving him out of the catatonic state he'd been trapped in. His memories returned as he dragged them over sand and thousands of years. Someone had called his name, just before he'd gone down.
Was it you?
I'm sorry. All of you. This was so stupid…Don't worry about me, I'll be all right.
He stirred. With stirring came shock of sensation, and hurt. Dark eyes rolled beneath the lids as his teeth gritted against new pain. "Nn…"
Every other sound in the room stopped. As one, four pairs of worried eyes swung around to pin Honda. If he could have seen them, he would have squirmed. Then they melted into an anxious babble of voices, and his tenuous grip on reality slipped.
"Honda, are you awake?"
"Please, say something!"
"Come on, man! Wake up…!"
Something was pulling him away. He didn't want to go – fought it – but in the end, he had no choice.
To their cries of dismay, he went.