The next day Hiyoko escorted him down to the third level, where his blood and oxygen levels were tested, as well as his temperature and heart rate. When he asked her what else was on the agenda for that day, she just shrugged. "It's your day-off. Have fun!"

He smiled back at her, Kyoko's note on his mind.

"How about tomorrow?"

"Don't worry about tomorrow. Let today end first,"

Dodgeball had become a daily affair on the playground, and almost everyone joined in for at least a few minutes. Shuichi played for about ten minutes before allowing himself to be hit, then walked to the back of the playground over by the fence and giant tarp where Angie Yonaga was sitting by herself. She was throwing a bouncy ball haphazardly at some jacks and he assumed she had no idea where she even was. She wore a black baggy sweatshirt that was several sizes too big for her and grey sweatpants with brown flip-flops.

Shuichi sat down next to the fence and carefully felt around next to it. Angie spotted him and tried waving him over.

"Would you like to play, Shuichi-san?"

He shook his head at her. "Later," He casually reached a hand behind him and felt the bottom of the fence, the one area the tarp mysteriously didn't cover, and found that Kyoko was indeed telling the truth. There was a tiny gap where the fence and grown slumped a bit. Nobody had bothered to fill it back in. He rested his hand on the exposed bottom and he wiggled his fingers around for a few seconds before he stood back up and brushed the dust off himself. He then looked back over at Angie and asked if she wanted to watch TikToks with him. "There are lots of art ones of people drawing and painting,"

She gave him an eager smile that smacked of longing for a friend. It almost broke his heart.

[][][][][][]

Shuichi had no tests the next day and nobody even bothered to check his vitals at that. He helped Tenko carry a few mattresses to empty rooms in the eastern wing, then only got a lousy token for his effort. He felt as though she didn't really like him very much. Afterwards, he encountered Kyoko drinking some water from the ice-machine; she usually kept a bottle in there to be chilled. He asked if she needed any help but shook her head then said at a whisper:

"Dr. Munakata and Miu-san were talking about you a few days ago by the flagpole. I saw them. Have they been testing you?"

"Not for two days," He admitted.

"I knew it. Today is Friday, and you might have until Saturday or Sunday, but I don't suggest testing that." The tense look in her eyes concerned him and he knew instantly what she was suggesting.

"Kyoko-san, do they...know what's wrong?"

She looked away. "My cancer came back and I already had the bone marrow transplant once, so I can't get it again, it's too dangerous. They don't really care though as long as I keep working. Go on, I'll clean your room while you're at lunch. Look under your mattress. Good luck. I...I wish I could hug you," Kyoko said truthfully. "I've never been one for intimate contact, but...I wish I could,"

Shuichi felt tears fill his eyes and quickly ran off before she could see. Despite having little appetite, Shuichi filled himself up at lunch and planned to do the same at dinner. He needed all the fuel he could get. At dinner, him and Chihiro were joined by Angie once more, who seemed to have imprinted herself on them finally. Afterwards, they headed outside to the playground, declining to watch her paint and instead said he'd watch Chihiro on the trampoline.

One of those red neon words bloomed in his head as he watched Chihiro do half-hearted jumping jacks on the trampoline.

Tonight?

Shuichi shook his head. "I need you to sleep in your own room tonight. I want a full night's sleep for once,"

Chihiro bounced off the trampoline and stared Shuichi down. "Don't tell me what's not true because you think someone will see me looking sad and wonder why. I don't have to look sad," He offered Shuichi a large fake grin.

Alright. Just don't blow my chance, Fuji-chan.

Come back for me if you can. Please.

I will.

The dots were returning, bringing with them a vivid memory of the tank. He thought that was part of the cost of trying to effortlessly and consciously send his thoughts.

Chihiro watched him for a moment longer before running over to the basketball court where Angie was painting with sidewalk paint. "Want to play basketball with me, Angie-oneechan?"

She glanced up and smiled mischievously. "Haha, you know that Angie'd beat you in a second!"

"Oh yeah? Try me!"

They played as the sun began to set and douse everything in orange. Shuichi remembered how Leon once called Chihiro his 'little bitty buddy'. He thought Chihiro would return to his room to at least get his toothbrush, but he never did.

[][][][]

Shuichi watched more cosplay TikToks for several hours before brushing his teeth, putting his pajamas on, and getting into bed, turning the lights off and hiding underneath the covers. He stuck his hand under the mattress and found two items there, hidden in a washcloth. A sharp knife, unlike the plastic ones he received in the cafeteria sometimes, and a blue flash drive. Chihiro probably would've gotten a kick out of that one. He slipped both items into the pocket of his pants.

The next part was simply waiting. For awhile kids ran around the corridor and noisily played and talked with each other, likely just trying to kill time before it was time for bed officially. Finally, though, the noise died down and he went over the plan one more time before he grabbed the plastic bucket in his room and walked out, coming up with a plan if he was caught.

He was just a kid, who woke up randomly in the middle of the night, either due to a nightmare or needing to use the bathroom, still half-asleep so he wandered to the ice-machine in his pajamas to get some ice. He was so tired he forgot he took the scoop with him and put it in his bathroom. He'd wake up in the morning and wonder where it came from.

In his room, he got himself a glass of water and drank half of it, sighing. He left the scoop on the toilet tank and went to bed, tossing and turning. Maybe the kid was missing his little bitty buddy and had trouble sleeping as a result.

After a while, he crawled back out and silently dressed, going into the bathroom and stuffing the ice scoop down the front of his pants. He then left the room and silently walked down the hall, finding Kaito Momota asleep in front of the lounge, almost curled-up. He stank heavily of marijuana and a half-eaten bowl of salsa was knocked-over next to him. Shuichi assumed he'd wake up the next morning, feeling fine but wondering where all his tokens went. He carefully stepped over him and headed into the cafeteria, the only light coming from the salad bar thus it looked gloomy and lonely. He picked an apple out of the neverending fruit bowl and took a bite, heading to the playground. If anyone asked, he'd say he was just clearing his head. Some kids did that; Aoi told him that she and Sayaka sometimes went out there to look at the stars because they were extremely bright due to the little light pollution. Sometimes other kids went out there to makeout. He sincerely hoped nobody was out there tonight.

Nobody was out there, just the silver moon lighting the playground equipment up slightly. He wandered over to the fence and got on his knees, pulling the scoop out and starting digging under the fence. He thought to himself that he must've been losing his mind to make it so obvious, but the security there was also pretty sloppy. How sloppy remained to be seen though. He continued to dig, the sweat rolling down his face and his heart beating loudly. He dug a small trench underneath but despite being an already-skinny kid having lost a lot of weight, he still couldn't fit in it.

He couldn't go back in though, that was a sign of being a coward. They were already going to do something horrible to him if he returned; the movies and headaches and Stasi Lights and finally the drone.

He continued to dig, dig, dig, and dig, at one point accidentally breaking the scoop's handle so he had to continue with his hands. They stung and bled and yet he kept on going.

Finally, the hole gaped out just enough, and Shuichi slowly crawled through it, gasping as he felt the barbs catch onto his clothes. He continued to crawl, grabbing onto a bush and yanking. He came free; one piece of the fence scratched at his back leg and left a sizable, burning cut there. He winced and took off running for a few seconds, breathing heavily. Somehow, he had made it out. Nobody had come for him. But he still had a longways to go.

He walked back over to the fence and tried to remember what Chihiro's instructions from Kyoko were.

Once you're out, go level with the trampoline. Put your back to it, then take one medium-sized step to the right. That's your direction. Try to stay on that path but it doesn't have to be exact. Chihiro had also told him he could try using the stars to guide him if he knew how; Chihiro didn't know anything about that.

There was one other thing Shuichi had to do first though. He reached to his right ear and felt around it, feeling the stud embedded in there. He remembered one of the girls, maybe Sayaka or Ibuki, saying they had their ears pierced before so it didn't hurt. Pierced earrings were supposed to unscrew though, right? He didn't know anybody personally with earrings so he wasn't sure, but that sounded right.

He worked his nails underneath the edge of the tracker and pulled; his earlobe hurt badly but nothing happened. He yanked again even harder, quietly hissing at the pain. Still nothing. He thought about trying it again, but knew that was just prolonging the inevitable. He knew that was why Kyoko gave him the knife; she had known. He pulled the knife out of his pocket and slowly felt for the sharp edge, then held it up to his earlobe.

He knew he had to do it fast and get it over with and to never scream even when it hurt badly. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, the knife's cold edge resting on his earlobe.

I can't. But I must. Oh God, I can't. But I must. I have to.

He swiped the knife quickly through his ear and felt the warm gush of blood drip down his neck, a searing pain coursing through his body. He inhaled sharply and ripped the rest of the lobe off and took his medium step. He glanced up ahead and saw the Big Dipper and knew he'd follow that. According to Kyoko, it wasn't even that long of a walk, then it'd be onto the next step. Just ignore the pain in his shoulders, his cut leg, and his ear, the worst pain of all. Ignore how much he was trembling, but first of all, he drew his hand back and threw the piece of flesh over the fence, hearing the tracker attached click as it hit the basketball court. Let them find it there, by then he'd already be long gone. Hopefully.

He took a deep breath and headed off, his eyes trained on that one single star. Shuichi continued walking, vanishing into the forest though knowing if they truly were in Hokkaido, the forest would soon turn into wetlands and wide-open plains, so he had to hurry to get to the next location before the sun came up. Something heavy rustled the bushes nearby and he paused briefly, worried it was a bear. Brown bears were everywhere in Hokkaido after being driven off the main island. If it was a bear, it'd likely smell the blood on him...

The noise soon stopped and Shuichi continued on his way, ducking under trees so he wouldn't accidentally pop his eye out on a branch. Crickets were the only sound he could hear. He kept walking and walking, at one point tripping over a branch and falling hard, gasping. His leg begun hurting again and so did his ankle, making him worry about it being twisted or even broken when he put weight on it and it hurt. For a moment, he almost wished he was back in his room at The Institute.

After a long time walking, he shielded his eyes from a sudden bright yellow light and gazed down the hill at a small collection of houses with a tiny bus terminal at the end of the road. Bright lights lit up the small neighborhood. Shuichi understood then that that was where the employees of The Institute lived when they were on break, and likely took that bus to work every day.

Shuichi walked along the fence, remembering Kyoko said she tied a scarf there. He couldn't ask much else about it due to fear they would be caught if they meandered for too long, but he found it easily; a light grey one that fluttered slightly in the breeze. He pulled it off the fence and tied it around his waist, wondering then how long it'd be before Enoshima and Sakakura learned he had escaped and who helped him. Not long at all, he figured. He silently hoped that Kyoko wouldn't resist and tell them everything she did, because they'd torture her and she was too sick to survive the tank for long.

He continued walking, making note of the fact the trees were smaller and further apart. He smelled something fruity and reached above him, yanking an orange off a tree. He made a small incision using the knife and sipped some of the juice that came out, sighing a bit. It gave him a small bit of energy and tasted good simply because it came from the outside. He climbed up some of the more rugged areas, pausing a bit to catch his breath. Everything that was throbbing in pain earlier now just dully ached. He absentmindedly ran his hand along his earlobe and hissed in pain, quickly pulling it back. He felt a clump of dried blood and a small scab there, making him bite his lip. His ear was mutilated and was likely to never grow back. He heard running water and soon the trees almost vanished completely, revealing a tiny hill and a large shimmering blackness that captured the stars above. He slowly climbed back down and found a tiny green rowboat placed neatly on the shoreline, just as Kyoko had promised. It was tied to an old stump.

How had Kyoko known about this place? Did someone tell her? Maybe before she was gravely ill, she found it herself on a walk, or maybe her and Mikan or some other caretakers had all gone on a picnic together out here, homemade bentos with sodas from a nearby store. Well, ultimately it didn't matter. The boat was there. He took a few drinks from the water and gasped at how cold it was, then slowly untied the boat from the stump, making it start to slowly drift away. He ran after it and pulled it back to shore, gasping at his skinned palms. Taking the tarp off the boat would result in it floating away in the current again, so Shuichi jumped into the boat and let it float off, wincing when he landed on something hard and angular.

He pulled half of the tarp off and in the moonlight saw the object he landed on was an oar, and unlike the boat, seemed to be quite new and fresh. Did Kyoko also leave the oar out for him? If she had, she deserved some kind of epic poem in her honor. She did all of this simply because he looked up stuff on the Internet for her, stuff she already knew, but it wasn't what he told her about her disease, was it? It was giving her the courage she needed to stand up to her family. Either way, he needed to use that oar, skinned palms or not, and was quite thankful he knew how to a little bit.

Yamaguchi was on the coast and sported several lakes designed for fishing and recreation, and sometimes his uncle took him out on a small rowboat and taught him rowing and swimming. He paddled out into the middle of the lake, sighing, placing the oar back in and letting the boat float around for a while. He looked over the side and saw the faded name; Asagohan. It was stupid yet it still made him crack a smile. A train's whistle loudly sounded through the night, making him realize it was indeed real, he was inside a real boat, with real stars above, and it took one who was imprisoned to realize what true freedom was. He laid down on the floor of the boat and closed his eyes.

I'll die before I let them take me to Back Half, He thought to himself before he cried. He meant that.

[][][][][][]

He had dozed off for a while, curled up into a ball, his sneakers sitting beside him, only being startled awake by the sound of another train horn. In the early hours of the dawn, he could spot the sleek white design of the train racing by in the distance. He grabbed the oar and shook himself awake, rowing the boat some more. The lake became narrower and a sandy shoreline was starting to become visible. The last part of his trip involved heading for red-painted steps; although Chihiro said that Kyoko told him they were more like pink these days because of how much paint had faded away; Shuichi thought they looked more grey with only a few flecks of red-pink paint. He slipped his shoes back on and jumped uneasily onto the shoreline, whispering a thanks to the boat that got him that far. He headed up the steps and tightened the scarf around his waist, briefly thinking of discarding it only to decide against it. Not only could that give a possible clue to his whereabouts, but it also felt special and important to him now. It came from her, and she was his savior.

He climbed to the top of the steps and smelled the salty sea-breeze; the small red sun illuminating a large dockyard filled with ships of all different sizes and purposes. He heard some trains nearby but he wasn't looking for the trains; not yet anyway.

Shuichi wasn't very knowledgeable about the ins and outs of riding on large ships or how ferries work; obviously his school didn't teach it and it wasn't something Shuichi was interested in. It was clear Kyoko didn't know either; she just knew a dock was nearby and a ferry would likely be there traveling from Hokkaido to the main island of Honshu. Where it went after that, though? Likely Tokyo or someplace else further south.

"She thinks if you made it that far, you could sneak aboard a ferry and ride it," Chihiro had whispered.

Well, Shuichi had made it that far, though sneaking aboard a ship was another matter entirely. Whenever it was done in the movies, it was usually some sort of historical drama back when ships didn't have as much security as they did now. Maybe it'd be better to head down to some local town and try to call the police. But with what? He didn't have his phone with him, and pay phones cost money, something he didn't have either. Even if he called the police for free, he had the feeling that would get him spotted immediately.

The first thing he had to do before he could even think about anything else was getting on a boat. One that was mainly carrying freight and preferably quite large so he'd have more places to hide. He stepped a bit closer and despite the very early hour saw people already at work; one guy had a clipboard and glanced up every so often. He used the boxes and signs as meager cover, getting closer and closer to the clipboard guy. He needed to see what the schedule was. He peeked into the office and found a large set of computers on display, showing the current schedule. Most ships would be in use that day, but they were scheduled to leave for late that afternoon or early in the evening, which were of no use to him. The last one on the list was still accepting freight and was going to leave by nine that morning, heading for Tokyo and its special wards. That was good enough, that'd have to do. Shuichi ducked away and hid behind more boxes, watching the men load cargo onto a small green ship. He couldn't make out the name of the ship, not like it'd help him much anyway.

He sat and waited for what felt like an eternity, watching the ship get loaded with cargo. A few early-risers got on as well, but Shuichi wasn't too worried about the passengers. He'd be down below in the cargo hold, hopefully away from any human eyes. His stomach growled as he saw some of the workers eating their breakfasts.

Finally, the work halted and a lot of the workers left, except for one who was in deep conversation on his phone. Shuichi took that chance and dashed off, silently stepping down the stairs to the cargo hold and slipping through the door; open just a crack, likely for more workers to come back and load some more stuff onto it. His body began to ache all over again and he panted, but for the moment, he seemed to be safe. The smell of salt water was far stronger down here, and he prayed there wasn't a leak anywhere.

He risked a look around and saw mainly a bunch of suitcases and duffel bags in all different colours and shapes and sizes. There was the odd piece of furniture that Shuichi assumed didn't actually belong to any passenger and was loaded to be taken to a store somewhere. He picked up the nametag on a nearby suitcase and found the person wrote their destination to be Okoyama and smiled a bit to himself. This boat seemed to be going even further south than he had originally anticipated and looked above. Someone was watching out for him.

He kept the cargo where it was but sat down on a sturdy suitcase, sighing. He was finally in a safe place, he had a few suitcases to sit on, and he was exhausted from days of anxiety and broken rest leading up to his escape. He didn't dare sleep yet, not yet, not until he was positively sure he was out of danger for the moment. Nothing happened for the next few hours, though Shuichi hid under the piles of cargo whenever workers arrived to put more in. By the time the morning was almost over, the whole room was nearly filled. He heard the door shut and close, then the ship honk from several levels above. He curiously went over to the small window in the room and saw the waves sway and bob, somehow knowing the ship had started to move. There wasn't much else to see because of his location, but just the sea-green waves were enough for him. He was finally out, away from caretakers and doctors and vending machines that served children alcohol and cigarettes.

He fell asleep, curled up behind several large boxes, sleeping in a ball. He slept for a majority of the first day, and nobody else came into the room where he was. Judging by the distance away from the islands, he knew it'd only be a few hours before they arrived at their destination, then he'd jump on a train that'd take him even further and deeper into the cities. He continued to sleep and sleep, even as a worker eventually did come down to get a few suitcases for passengers up above who needed stuff in them. Most of the passengers would disembark at Tokyo and make their way around from there, but a few had specified the special districts of Tokyo, like Shibuya and Shinjuku; the two most popular. Some wanted to see Akihabara; the electronics hotspot.

Either way, Shuichi was presently just a small drop in a large ocean.