Part 8: Pathology
Nagi's eyes snapped open and she jolted upright. Her head took a few seconds to stop spinning and she focused on the sound coming from near the door of the room – a voice. Fret's voice.
"Shit man, I dunno! …No, I don't know if I'm meant to call an ambulance, that's what I've been saying!" He paused for a moment, nodding his head and then holding his phone to his face and back to his ear. "Dude, you're breaking up. I-I gotta go, sort this out before it gets any worse. Thanks for just… being there, though, seriously. You're the best, gotta go!" He quickly slammed his thumb on the end call button.
"Lord To–" Nagi's voice was quiet, but the silence of the room made it easily heard by Fret, who shot upwards like he'd been burned.
"Holy– you nearly gave me a heart attack!" He quickly slipped his phone back into his pocket and moved to check on her, but as he got close, Nagi found herself unconsciously backing away. "Uh… boss? I don't bite." Nagi's mind still burned with images of with the stream of red that gushed from her arm in her dream and Fret's own bloodied mouth, dripping as he strangled her. She found herself pressing against the wall beside her bed to avoid him. "Okay… weird. What's going on?" Fret kept approaching, slowly this time, though all this did was betray the trembling of his legs further.
"Well, if it wasn't obvious enough… I believe them to be incredibly lucid night terrors." Nagi, adjusting further to reality after what she had just bore witness to in her mind, was suddenly acutely aware that she was sitting on a pool of ice-cold sweat and that, indeed, her entire body was drenched in it.
"Just night terrors? Are you sure?" Fret had seen the dried tears on her face and slowly held out a packet of tissues he had produced from his bag. She hesitated picking it up, but took it with numb and gossamer fingers. "At first there was just these really short, weird breaths you were making. It kinda shook me awake. I was really confused but then out of nowhere you just started… screaming. You sounded like you were in serious pain, so I tried to shake you awake but you just didn't wanna wake up."
"Oh… so it seems that even that plan was all for naught…" Nagi buried her head in her hands.
"Hey, it's alright. I just wanna know why you couldn't tell me about them before?"
"W-Well…" Nagi thought back to the spate of nightmares she had had where she was torn apart by that odd Noise and still found herself unable to talk about it. "In truth, even now I find myself unable to utter a word about them." She slowly moved away from the wall and sat herself on the edge of the bed, away from the pool of cold sweat. Fret joined her.
"I won't lie, I think it still kinda sucks you can't tell me about them but… I guess there's a good reason for that, huh?"
"Yeah…" Nagi felt her unease around Fret subside as they sat together, though the memory of his hands on her neck still remained in the back of her mind and she worried that it would for some time. He kicked his legs against the side of the bed, the dull thuds it created echoing in the silence of the room, somehow made louder by the darkness. Nagi was content to just sit like this for a while. Maybe eventually she'd be tired enough to fall into a dreamless sleep, though even that wasn't guaranteed. She was truly in a bind, with seemingly no exit. Would she live with these terrors forever, haunted by them every night for the rest of her days? The thought disturbed and upset her in equal amounts. Whilst lost in thought, she saw Fret start gazing at his phone, the light from its screen bathing the room in a faint glow, but she pretended not to see this so she could muse on her situation more. Perhaps the issues could be resolved if she simply tried to understand what those dreams meant?
"Lord Tosai–"
"I'm awake!" Fret jolted upright, as if he'd just been shot by electricity. She hadn't noticed it before, but the white glare of the screen contrasted with burgeoning dark patches under his eves. It was near imperceptible, as was the lively glow normally present in his eyes being diminished. "Did you just shoot me awake so you could stare into my eyes like that, or…?"
"Oh! No, not at all. I've been meaning to ask something of you for a while now…"
"I have literally no idea what you're talking about, boss, you're still being way, way too vague." Fret was hunched over his phone, looking up terms such as 'eviscerated by bad vibes dream meaning' and 'nightmare death by supernatural force reason', trying to gain an idea of what the causality of Nagi's odd dreams were – seeing as the description her mouth allowed her to spit out was shaky and non-specific, only certain parts – such as being torn apart by the bird noise that Fret had lovingly nicknamed the 'bad vibes tornado' – were revealed to him, giving him precious little to work off.
"Perhaps you could give me your own interpretation of what they mean, as opposed to the results of those online unlikely to experience something such as this."
"Huh. My take on things… let's see…" Fret closed his eyes and thought for a moment, and Nagi could almost hear the gears in his mind working overtime, perhaps because he wanted to produce an answer that would please her. "Uh… okay, what about… those bird Noise thingies, they're what we fought before that big firebird came and tried to wreck our shit, right? What if your nightmares are just apocalyptic thinking about the bad end of that scenario?"
"Would that really cause such a violent reaction within me, though?"
"Don't ask me! But if you really want my opinion, you put yourself through a lot in those final few days of the Game. I wouldn't be surprised if maybe that nightmare just happens 'cause you were worried about what would happen if you cracked under the pressure?" Fret looked less and less hopeful as his explanation drew on, though Nagi was beginning to think he may be onto something.
"Very well… if that is the case, why now? Why is it occurring so long after the game has concluded? I see no rationale behind it."
"Well dunno if it's the same for you, Rindo told me that it felt like there was no time to breathe during the game. When he and Shoka met back up for the first time, he said that they established a friendship first 'cause it never felt like they had time to make it official during that helluva last week. Maybe you're the same?" A lack of confidence again. Nagi thought it would be best if she was to give reassurance that he could express his thoughts honestly.
"Speak your mind with clarity, Lord Tosai."
"Okay, okay! Jeez, I was just getting to that… What I want to really say is 'maybe you didn't realise how much the experience of overcoming the Game with everyone meant to you', but it makes me sound like a bit of a dick."
"No, it's fine. In essence you're postulating the idea that now I have had sufficient time to bond with everyone post-Game I've realised that losing you all would be sufficient cause to harbour such immense emotional distress."
"I said all that?"
"No, you merely insinuated it."
"Honestly, though, your reaction was pretty extreme. I dunno if even losing everyone in a dream like that could cause whatever it was that was causing your body to shake like that." Nagi thought on the anger painted on Fret's face as he choked her to death and how her body spasmed during it. She quickly moved on, the thought causing her to shudder violently.
"You have merely posited one theory as to why my dreams are as they are and the reactions they cause within me. Whether it is the truth or not remains to proven."
"True that. QED, or whatever it was Mina-man used to say. I'm sure one day you'll be able to tell me everything. Guess I just have to wait."
"I promise you that, as soon as my voice ceases to fail me, you shall know the entire truth and we shall be able to more accurately posit ideas as to why this is happening. Then perhaps this suffering shall cease."
"Hell yeah! Here's to that first step!" Fret swiftly raised his hand for a high five, but this caused Nagi to recoil slightly, nearly falling backwards onto the bed. "…or not?" Fret looked a mixture of confused and hurt, but seemed to accept he wasn't going to be able to push the issue further. "Anyway, boss," he hopped off the bed and back onto his futon, "I'll keep watch and make triple sure to wake you up if anything bad happens! I'll keep a bucket of ice water ready and everything!"
"Actually, Lord Tosai, out of partial concern for both the possibility of being drenched alongside concerns for your well-being, I must request that you rest here alongside me." Fret went red.
"O-Okay. I don't really see how this'll help but… If you insist…" He began to stand up off his futon and Nagi realised how he'd interpreted her words.
"Not like that, you–" Fret quickly shrunk back down, treating his place of rest more like a cave he could hide away in than a bed.
"Yep! I'm an idiot! Okay goodnight!"
"'Tis truly terrifying, how easily one can misconstrue words." Nagi turned her gaze to her ceiling and listened for minutes as Fret's breathing began to slow and stabilise, before finally it seemed he had drifted into a slumber. As she focused on the rhythm of his breaths, her eyes began to feel heavy and she prayed to Lord Tomonami that this time fate would be merciful and she could have a regular – or whatever she considered to be regular – dream for once. Though her heartrate increased and she began to feel fear and panic well in her chest as she remembered what her last dreams was like, even this distressing cocktail of emotions was unable to suppress her need for more sleep. As her consciousness slipped away, she mused on Fret's earlier words – that only now was she beginning to process what everyone meant to her. As she faded into sleep, she felt only grief.
Fret was certain Nagi was asleep by now. He hoped he wouldn't have to wake her up again, but he had chosen to stay awake for a specific reason – 3 hours ago, when the clock had struck midnight, a news bulletin had gone out on EleStra, talking about something called EFestra. Billed as a '2-day long event for the most dedicated EleStrainiacs', it was apparently notorious online for both announcing its venue only days before the event started, alongside tickets usually selling out within 6 or so hours from announcement. There seemed to have been an issue with scalpers in the past, but that had been weeded out after community outcry led the developers to attempt to stop marked-up resales. This, along with speculation on the venue, were the subjects of a fair few posts on the EleStra forums – Fret had even seen Nagi's username appear there a fair few times, batting for the Shibuya Tobu hotel as the location it would be hosted at. Miraculously, or perhaps predictably as this was Nagi and she was like a wise old scholar when it came to this game, that would be the venue this time around. Fret was currently texting Yudai begging him for the fifteen thousand yen he was short on for the second ticket.
_3:14_
Yudai: Dude
Yeah I have the money but
Could you ebeg someone
else?
Fret: Look I promise ill
pay you back in full
Don't you make mad money
off your fights
Yudai: Who on earth told you
that
Fret: Genzo
Yudai: Oh my God
I am so gonna get that guy
at my next match
There's a difference between
should be making and actually
making money off each fight
Fret: So that's a yes to the
money?
Yudai: Very funny. It's yes
on one condition
Fret: Name it
Yudai: One of the guys you
came into the store with a
while back
He mentioned an Ichimonji
jotm pin he gave you after
he lost a bet
Fret: Dont do this to me man
Yudai: I want that pin, Fret
Fret: NOOOOOOOO
anything but the jupes pin
[Fret sent a sticker of a man
crying, the grief of having to
part with such a rare piece
of Jupes history being captured
within it.]
Yudai: Then go ask someone
else
Fret: You're the only person
insane enough to still be awake
Yudai: So that's a yes to the
pin?
Fret: Very funny. Just be glad
I'm not doing this only for myself
Yudai: What, you paying off
a debt?
Fret: Nah
Tickets
For Efestra dude
Yudai: Oh no shit
The mobile game
One of Kohei's kids is super into
that
I didnt know you needed to pay
tickets to play it
Fret: Oh no its like a festival
For the mobile game
Physically
irl
Yudai: Oh cool
Who's coming with? Rindo?
Fret: Nahhh, Rindudes got
another game hes obsessed with
You ever see me around Central
Street with some purple haired girl?
Yudai: Oh wait yeah
Think I met you two on my break at
donburi
Her name's boss right
Weird name
Fret: That's just a
nickname lmao
Her names Nagi
Yudai: Ohhhhhh
Well that makes sense
Well I'll transfer the
money now
Enjoy your uh
friendly outing?
Date? I cant tell with
this sort of stuff
Fret: Nah its not a date
I just
owe her
like
a lot
a lot a lot
you feel me?
So uhhh this is my way
of saying thanks or
whatever
Yudai: Okay done
Hope you have a good time
man
Bring me the pin the next
time you're in store
Fret: Will do
Youre the best for this
dude
Ill make sure to cheer you
on at your next fight
Night man
Yudai: Have a good one
Fret hastily made his way to the website and purchased the tickets for the event. He leaned forward and gazed at the Tomonami shrine at the other side of the room, thinking for a moment about Minamimoto, who shared his likeness. At the end of that first week, when he had taken a very abrupt leave, he remembered how shattered Rindo and Nagi looked. Rindo had Shoka now, but who did Nagi have? She mentioned how she still had friends on campus she talked to and socialised with, but admitted ever since picking up EleStra she had grown distant from them. Her family situation was 'stable', apparently, but she never really talked about them. Who had she, really, to turn to? What would happen if she had no-one? The pain of being left behind… he'd known that before. Those nightmares she'd had where everyone disappeared happened to him too, following his passing. His mother, his friend, those who he had felt close to before moving to Setagaya… all gone. He always woke up crying after those dreams. Was Nagi, too, scared of being left behind? Did that reliance on Sho speak to something more, something deeper? No, no, it couldn't. Fret was getting too psychoanalytical, it was probably the pain of being abandoned by the incarnation of her favourite character, right?
Fret turned to look at her. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully, no more disturbing, vague dreams of whatever it was she was scared of. He quickly turned away, worried about what would happen if she woke to see his eyes bearing into her face. If she had no-one to truly, deeply rely on – why shouldn't he choose to become that for her? She had for him after all. It was like what Beat and Neku had told him – that no matter what, above all else, they learned to trust in one another because that's what partners did. Once you had that partner, you could share that trust with everyone else and truly begin to let people in. Fret hadn't really gotten what they were saying back then – he was more focused on how Beat was doing those complex tricks on his skateboard – but he did now. He and Nagi had partnered up in the second week of the game – surely that counted, right? Would that make them partners? The thought made him snicker. He'd probably get an earful if he ever said that to her. The email came through confirming the digital tickets had come through – he had bought them in time. He yawned, the futon beneath him suddenly feeling a whole lot softer. He turned towards Nagi and fell asleep, not noticing the solitary eye peering in at them from behind drawn curtains.