The residents were let out of their rooms for dinner, though it was an awkward and silent meal with caretakers and techs mulling around, eyeing everyone like vultures. They were all clearly on-edge, ready to slap or shock anyone who gave them lip, yet there was also a silent elation to it that was so strong it made Angie Yonaga feel slightly drunk and exhilarated. There had been an escape. All of the kids were glad but none of them wanted to show it, and Angie was sure a part of her was proud too, but...

Chihiro was sitting next to her, rolling his fried shrimp tempura around over and over again in circles in the tentsuyu. What Angie wanted to know was what would happen if Shuichi tattled to someone about what happened to everyone there. Would they all be set free and allowed to go back home to their families? It was what the other kids wanted to believe, but Angie had her doubts. She was only fourteen, but her God told her certain things she was inclined to believe, and that was one of them. He had told her she may never see freedom again. And so Angie resigned herself to that fate. That's why her artwork always smiled and seemed so cheery and bright. Not to mention, she knew something else the others didn't; Chihiro had been taken to Headmistress Enoshima's office and spilled his guts to her, which meant Shuichi wasn't likely to get away.

She looked back over at Chihiro. "Are you going to finish that?"

Chihiro pushed his plate away and stood up. Ever since he came back from Headmistress Enoshima's office, he looked like he had seen a ghost.

"For dessert there's going to be melonpan and karume-yaki, and unlike my home, you don't need to eat everything to get some," She coaxed.

"Not hungry," Chihiro left the cafeteria. Angie just shrugged and ate the remainder of his meal as well as hers, sneaking some melonpan into her room for later. The lounges had been closed off and the playground had been locked, so Angie had no choice but to return to her room after she ate and figured she'd get hungry later as a result. She headed to her room and pulled out a recent project of hers she was drawing using only charcoal and oils. She hadn't even changed into her pajamas yet; instead just tying her hair up into a loose ponytail and wearing her outfit from earlier; a lacy white blouse and matching tights with a yellow plaid skirt and cardigan over it with a brown belt and leather gloves. Around her neck was a shell necklace she made herself.

When she first arrived she dressed rather plainly and darkly, but after a while she switched to her usual colour scheme; mainly yellow. She felt like it was time for a change, especially since a lot of other kids dressed in dark clothing there. Angie Yonaga always needed to announce her unique nature to everyone else.

She had been hard at work for two hours already when Chihiro padded down to her room dressed in his pajamas and announced that he was hungry, asking if she had any tokens.

"Angie hasn't been here for very long, so no. She does not have any," She said without looking up from her work. In truth, she did have three, but she wasn't about to just give them away like that. She liked Chihiro, but not that much.

"Oh, okay," She could hear the pout in his voice. "What are you working on?"

"A thunderstorm using only oils. That's why it's so dark and wet-looking," She didn't look up.

"I don't like thunderstorms, they're pretty scary. Or earthquakes," He moved closer and saw the grey clouds she was working on. "That's really good. It looks real,"

"You're going to get Angie in trouble if you stay in here. Go to your own room," Angie finally looked up to scold him. Chihiro didn't say anything and she pouted. Something told her there was an actual reason he was there, but he wouldn't budge and Angie couldn't fish it out of him herself mentally, she wasn't strong enough. After a few more minutes of drawing, she stood up and walked over to her bed. "If you're hungry, why not just go to sleep? Then you'll wake up for breakfast and you won't even realize you were hungry,"

"I'm hungry now though," Chihiro pouted more, and Angie pulled out some of the melonpan she had hidden under her pillow. His eyes lit up when he saw it.

"Angie'll only give you two," She handed him the two smallest slices and he took a bite out of one of them, smiling happily. She sat down on a beanbag in her room and Chihiro quickly sat down beside her, still eating. She nibbled on her own piece, not very hungry. Once she finished one piece, she hid the rest again and headed into her bathroom, pulling out the lipstick she had in one of her skirt pockets in her closet and leaned in closer to the mirror, slowly putting it on. She liked wearing lipstick before bed; especially that shade, a dark red with glittery pieces mixed-in. She continued applying it, puckering her lips a few times when she heard Chihiro wander in and ask her what she was doing.

"Angie's doing her lipstick!" She announced. "Doesn't it look good on her? She likes this shade because it kinda looks like blood. Did you know some civilizations used to make paintings with blood? They'd make a slit on their wrist and use that to paint with,"

Chihiro shivered. "That sounds painful...why did they do it?"

"It was part of their customs," She returned her attention to the mirror. "Angie wonders what it would be like to paint with blood. She'd never use her own though,"

"I've never seen a girl wear lipstick before...only Mommy and that was before she went out with Daddy," Chihiro continued. "A-Are you going out too?"

"No." Angie capped the lipstick and put it away. She stepped a bit closer. "Angie just likes the way she looks with makeup," She stepped even closer to Chihiro and grabbed his chin, looking into his eyes. She saw confusion and uncertainty in them. Angie was often told back at home that one couldn't get anything done without persuasion and coaxing, by any means necessary. She felt as though Chihiro considered her a friend of his, if his constant trailing after her was any indication. He was hiding something, she knew it, and it wouldn't take much to make him crack. Despite how she presented herself, Angie was quite intelligent indeed and knew how to get what she wanted. So she pulled him closer and gave him a kiss.

"Mmmmpfh?!" Chihiro stared at her in horror as she pulled away slightly, then started kissing him again. She moved her tongue around and pulled back, a long line of spit attached.

"Angie just stole your first kiss! How do you feel? In some cultures, you would be considered a man now," She stared at him and let go.

"I-I...I think I'm too little for a girlfriend, Mommy always said so," He gingerly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Your mommy is not here though. Now go to your own room, Angie wants to watch TV," She sat back down on one of her beanbags.

"U-Ummm...Angie-oneechan...can't I sleep in here? Shuichi-oniichan is gone, and I'm really scared to sleep alone. They hurt me earlier and gave me 'lectric shocks. What if they come back and hurt me more? What if they shock me again? They might, if they find out-" Despite his motor mouth, he quickly shut himself up.

"Hmmm? What?" Angie asked curiously.

"Nothing..."

She smiled, sensing she was about to get what she wanted. Nobody could keep secrets for long from Angie Yonaga of Kyoto. "Okie-dokie! Just get into bed. Angie'll join you later once her show is over. It's about animals. Did you know that wild animals eat their babies?"

Chihiro looked horrified. "They do?! That's awfully sad,"

"Some of them don't," She patted his shoulder.

"Oh, okay. That's good then,"

"Don't talk either, Angie wants to focus. She doesn't like it when people try to talk during her shows," She scolded, and Chihiro nodded and climbed into her bed. Angie continued watching her show where an alligator fought with a lion, or maybe it was a crocodile. Either way, she thought it was interesting. She went back to her drawing after the show was over, thinking that Chihiro was also interesting, because he had a secret. If she was as strong of a TP as he was, she would've known what it was, but instead she only knew he had a secret at all.

Once she was positive Chihiro had fallen asleep, she changed into her pajamas and redid her hair and turned the lights off, crawling into bed with him. She gave him another kiss. "Chihiro-chan, Chihiro-chan,"

He groaned and tried turning away from her, but Angie wouldn't let him. She shook him. "Chihiro-chan, where did Shuichi-san go?"

"Up the river..." Chihiro mumbled, but she didn't care because that wasn't the truth.

"Chihiro-chan, come on. Where did he go? Angie promises she won't tell another soul," She held him closer to her and let her hair tickle his face.

"Up the red steps," He muttered, scrunching up his face. "Up the river and the red steps...he took those..."

"What red steps?" Angie tried again, but he didn't answer, likely assuming he was dreaming it all. He turned away from her and this time, Angie let him. She got everything she needed from him anyway. Unlike Chihiro and Aoi on her good days, Angie couldn't actually read peoples' thoughts. Instead she just had an intuition that was based on thoughts, and if someone was unusually open, like a little boy who was mostly asleep, she received brief but brilliant flashes of pictures.

She laid down on her back, feeling him relax in her arms. "You did a great job, Chihiro-chan! Angie is very proud of you!" She was then silent for a time, mulling over everything she learned. Once she was sure Chihiro wouldn't find some way to follow after her, she'd go straight to Headmistress Enoshima with everything she learned. She'd want to know and be so proud of Angie for telling her, she'd likely give Angie whatever it was she wanted.

"The river..." Chihiro suddenly mumbled sleepily, rolling onto his back. Angie briefly glanced over at him but ultimately ignored him. Either he was having a dream or still thought they were talking. Her job with him was done. She started to crawl out of her bed, pausing when she felt heat suddenly radiating from Chihiro. She looked down and found him curled-up, fast asleep as he started peeing on himself. In her bed. Wetting her bed!

"You're a bedwetter," Angie blurted out before covering her mouth and finishing jumping out of bed. She wrinkled her nose, noting how the little boy almost seemed to be smiling after the fact. She supposed that's what she got for talking about rivers so much, but it mattered little. She needed to find a staff member to take her to Headmistress Enoshima instantly, she had wasted enough time as it was.

And so, Angie hurried off.

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

At ten at night, The Institute was quiet. Maaya Sakamoto, one of the night caretakers, sat outside smoking while another caretaker, Hikaru Midorikawa, slowly trailed his hands up her thigh.

"Don't do that," She scolded sternly.

"Come on, nobody's even around to see," He teased. Maaya rolled her eyes and went to take another drag when she noticed a girl standing in the window, palms pressed against the glass, staring at them. She jumped.

"What the heck?!" She snubbed out her cigarette and dashed inside, throwing the door open and grabbing the girl by the neck. "The lounge is off-limits! You aren't allowed to walk around either, so I suggest you head back to your room before you get smacked good and hard,"

"Angie requests to talk to Headmistress Enoshima," The girl blinked, undettered.

"How about you tell me what's on your mind?" Hikaru asked, coming up next to Maaya.

"No. Angie wants to see her because she's the boss."

"The boss had a very busy day, so tell me what's on your mind and I'll decide if it's worth her time,"

"Come on, she's lying," Maaya insisted.

"Not lying, Angie swears it! She knows where Shuichi-san went," Her features turned more intense.

"If you're lying, you're in a word of hurt," Hikaru finally allowed. Better she spill some useful information than Shuichi to a reporter or police officer. It wasn't his job to determine what was useful information and what wasn't. He took her there and soon Angie Yonaga was standing in front of Junko's desk, her hands clasped behind her back. Her hair was in pigtails and she wore plain pink footie-pajamas.

Junko saw nothing super remarkable about the girl; she looked as foreign as her name, dark tanned skin, medium-length white hair, and vivid eyes. According to her file, her powers were useful but unremarkable and barely noteworthy. Yet her eyes looked as though they carried a secret.

"So Hikaru-kun says you have something important to tell me," Junko began sweetly. "Where did this particular revelation come from?"

"Chihiro-chan. He visited Angie's room and is asleep right now," Angie said.

"Fujisaki-kun has already told us everything he knows,"

"Well, he lied," Despite her calm front, Junko had dealt with enough children to know she was afraid and didn't want to be there, yet the confidence and surety in her eyes remained. It was fascinating.

Sakakura came back into the room at that point, adjusting his hair. "Who's this?"

"Angie Yonaga-chan, a girl who is lying," Junko answered.

"Angie's not lying. She knows what Chihiro-chan did not tell you. She's sure as sure can be!"

"Fujisaki-kun wasn't lying either."

"Maybe he was telling the truth about most of it, but he lied about the boat. Shuichi-san never rowed all the way to Honshu,"

Sakakura came over and grabbed her arm. "What are you saying?"

"Chihiro-chan told you that, but it was a lie," She smiled at Junko. "What does Angie get if she tells you?"

"What you won't get is shocked within an inch of your life," Junko huffed.

"Zapping Angie won't get you the truth, like how you zapped Chihiro-chan and he still didn't tell you the truth," If Angie had a pen or paintbrush in her hand, she'd be tapping it to her lips.

"What do you want? To go home? That's not a possibility," Sakakura commented.

Angie bit back a laugh at that. Go home? To her dull small house with her polyamorous mother who encouraged her entourage of lovers to drag Angie into the mix too? A recent addition to the harem had been an older man who asked Angie to show him her breasts so he could see how much she had been developing. "Angie doesn't want to go back home,"

"What then?"

"Angie wants to stay here,"

"Seriously?"

"But Angie doesn't want shots or tests, nor does she want to go to Back Half. She wants to become a caretaker like Miss Ludenberg or Miss Saionji, or maybe even a tech like Miss Iruma or Mr. Komaeda,"

"Okay, let's say that permanent residence can be arranged, and we catch him,"

"Catching him is not part of the deal, only Angie's information. And it's really good, she promises,"

"Fine, deal. Now tell us,"

Angie smiled more. "Also, Angie wants fifty tokens,"

"No."

"Forty,"

"Twenty, and only if your information is good," Junko cut in.

"Alright. He got off at some red steps, then went up to the docks. A dock was near the steps and that was where he went,"

Angie was then sent back to her room with her tokens and the promise she'd be in huge trouble if she ever spilled to anyone else what had transpired, then Junko and Sakakura pored over their files.

"If he went to the docks, he could be fuckin' anywhere by now," He grumbled. "Even knowing what ship it was doesn't leave us with a whole lot of possibilities,"

"He likely went on the early-morning one," Junko thought. "And the docks were likely just so he could get to Honshu. Then he likely took a train to a more-populated city. There's a train station right next to the docks he'll likely get off at that leads you straight to places like Akibahara,"

"So we check the major cities. If it was a passenger ferry he was on. If not, we check the smaller towns,"

"We check everything," Junko corrected him. "And we still have our spies, don't forget. In Toya, for example, a tiny town near the outskirts of Akihabara, we have that guy who owns the town's movie store. He lives there, so he knows the ins and outs of the town," She smiled a bit. "We'll get him back. I always get what I want in the end, after all,"

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

Shuichi moaned slightly as he opened his eyes, feeling extremely ill. He had a vague memory of the nightmare he had; the Stasi Lights blooming in his vision while Iruma held him down in the tank and the lights swirled around more and more. He thrashed a bit and slowly lifted himself up, placing his head against the wall. The lights remained for a few more seconds before vanishing and Shuichi moaned again. The ship had encountered a bad storm just an hour after leaving the docks and said storm resulted in engine trouble that kept it stalled for a day, or so Shuichi learned from the workers. The ship roiled and rocked during the storm and he felt as though he'd never be so sick in his entire life, moaning and vomiting in a tight corner even when there was nothing left in his stomach to vomit. He hated having to puke in a corner too, but also found it disrespectful to open up a random suitcase and vomit into that. Shuichi also knew he should've been counting his blessings for the delay, as that might potentially make it harder to find him, but ship repairs were reported and on the other hand that might make it even easier. He could tell the ship had started slowly swaying again and thus he moaned.

Several of the boxes and suitcases had fallen over while he slept; at first he wondered if the storm did that before realizing it was likely him. They were strapped down pretty tightly to prevent them from falling or moving during the storm. A long time ago, the extent of his telekinetic power was limited to small books or pizza pans, and even then only when he concentrated hard and focused entirely on something else, but it was clear he had changed in the previous months in ways he didn't want to explore further. His lips were dry and chapped while his stomach hurt badly from hunger. He crawled back into a hiding place under a large couch and held his breath as he suddenly heard footsteps approaching; the door opened and light flooded into the room.

Two workers wandered in and started pulling out some suitcases and larger pieces of cargo; they smelled strongly of tea and rice and once they stopped work, it took Shuichi all of his self-control to not crawl out of hiding and beg them for some kind of bite, even if it came from the trash. It took him all he had; images of Iruma holding him down in the tank, the Akamatsu twins, thoughts of Mondo and Aoi and however many else were also relying on him, and even then he might've still done it if one of them hadn't said something to make him freeze in place.

"Have you seen a kid on this boat?"

"There's tons of kids on this trip," The second guy was eating a riceball.

"No, like a suspicious-looking one. I got a call earlier about some kid who ran from his private school up in Hokkaido and wanted to sneak aboard a ferry ship. They also said he might try to use it as a crossover point and try jumping a train afterwards,"

"You think there's a reward?"

"Who knows. Besides, it's just a kid. He'll likely get lost or give up after a day and come back. They're all like that," The men then left the cargo bay after that, taking the suitcases with them. Shuichi crawled out of hiding and curled up on the couch instead, realizing they must've learned where he was and what happened. They knew he had escaped. He tried to park Asagohan a few ways down on the shore, but it clearly hadn't fooled them. They must've made Kyoko or Chihiro talk. The thought of them torturing the information out of Chihiro was too horrible of one to have, so he pushed it out of his mind. They probably had people stationed at certain stops to try and catch him.

Only an hour or so and he'd finally be docked and have to sneak abroad a train. His stomach growled and he briefly wished he was back at The Institute, thinking of the kids still there waking up and going to breakfast. He thought of the large cooler of lemonade and a big steaming kettle full of tea. All of the omurice he could eat; breakfast there was almost entirely Western and thus unknown to Shuichi, but he did like omurice. He laid down on his side and saw something lit up by the moonlight, blinking a few times to make sure it wasn't just an illusion. No, it wasn't-several pieces of clumped rice left behind by the man eating the packaged riceball. He crawled over and licked them all up, manners and decency be forgotten for once.

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

There was still no sign of Shuichi Saihara, or so the constant hourly reports said. Nothing found on any ships nor trains leaving. While Juuzou pored over the reports, Dr. Korekiyo Shinguji walked in without knocking, looking strangely and uncharacteristically disheveled. Despite part of his face being covered, it was easy to tell he had tired eyes.

"Any word?" He asked curiously, but Juuzou shook his head. "Where's Mistress Enoshima?"

"Sleeping," Juuzou leaned back in his seat slightly. "Hey, that Fujisaki brat hasn't had the tank yet, has he?"

"Of course not," Korekiyo looked absolutely offended at that suggestion. "He's the furthest thing from a shiro, the highest rating we've seen in years. A beautifully powerful boy is he. To potentially ruin that...Mistress Enoshima would have my head,"

"She won't and he gets it today," Juuzou ordered. "Dunk that little motherfucker until he thinks he's dead, then dunk him some more,"

"But he's valuable property! Our highest in years!"

"Does it look like I give a shit? He helped Saihara get away. Have Miu dunk him when she gets into work today, she loves dunking them in the tank. Tell her not to kill him as I do understand his value, but I want him to have an experience he'll never forget. And then send him to Back Half,"

"But Mistress Enoshima said-"

"Mistress Enoshima agrees completely,"

Both of the men swung around, revealing Junko standing in the doorway with a regal pose Juuzou had never seen on her before, all dressed in vibrant white.

"Do it just the way he said to, Korekiyo-kun. If it ruins or damages his TP in any way, so be it. He needs to pay," She smiled royally.

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

Shuichi grunted a bit as the chest he was in was tossed unceremoniously into the back of the train cargo car, trying to muffle himself. After the ship had docked, he locked himself into a large chest of clothing and huddled in, praying he'd get on the right train. Several pieces of cargo were unloaded directly and placed into an awaiting train at a station. He listened and finally kicked open the chest with a great force, knocking it open. He wobbly stood and glanced around, keeping to the shadows. He touched a hand to his head and felt his hat there, the hat he had worn for many years. He wore it originally due to his shyness and hoped it would deter people from speaking to him and also prevented them from looking closely into his eyes since he didn't like when people did that. He also had a nervous habit of pulling the brim down slightly. The hat had seen his worst days, and yet was a reminder of who he used to be. The Shuichi Saihara who originally bought this hat never would've even considered going on this whole escape plan, nor making the friends that he did. The new Shuichi Saihara would though.

It was risky; it could give them more evidence to track him with, yet how many other boys had caps like this? Hopefully it would be long destroyed before they found it. He clenched his fist and took the hat off and with one toss, threw it out the cargo window and into the waiting ocean below, slowly sinking as it filled with water. He sighed and huddled into another hiding place, feeling a sudden surge of confidence.

He was still very hungry and thirsty, but at least there was one discomfort he could rid himself of. He hadn't thought about it at all due to the nerves and adrenaline that lasted for a whole day, but now it was striking back with a vengeance. He slowly stood up and looked around through the cargo, dancing a bit. He soon found an empty bowl and placed it down on the floor, unzipping his fly and peeing what felt like several gallons into the bowl. It was a terribly mean thing to do to whoever owned that bowl and likely had it empty so they could fill it later with sand or stones or petals, but these were extraordinary circumstances. Once he finished, he zipped back up and tossed the liquid out the window, crouching down behind the suitcases and boxes and hiding again. The train started up and he knew it'd only be a few hours before he arrived at his destination. He started to doze off again, only waking up at the sound of voices.

Quick as a flash, Shuichi dived under a small couch, keeping an eye near the door so he could see who had come in.

It was three workers, moving cargo and suitcases out of the way. Shuichi curled up more under the couch. Unlike the workers on the ship earlier, these three were joking around happily with each other as they worked. One of them walked close to where Shuichi was and the large chest fell over, making him jump.

"What was that?" He demanded.

"Maybe the wind," The second rolled his eyes. "Stop being spooked by every little thing,"

After they worked for about half an hour, two of them left and called out to the third still in the room.

"Makoto-san, come on. We got out everything we needed," The second asked.

"You guys go on ahead, I just need to...make sure we did, you know? Maybe we left a purse behind," Makoto laughed awkwardly. The other two left and after a few seconds of silence, he looked over at the couch Shuichi was hiding behind. "I saw you under there earlier, come on out,"

Shuichi very slowly crawled out and wobbled, trying to keep himself steady. He nearly fell into Makoto, who gasped and tried to steady him.

"What happened to your ear?" He asked in concern. Shuichi tried to speak, but his throat was too dry so all he could do was croak. He cleared it and tried again.

"I got in trouble. Please, do you have any food or drink? I'm really hungry and thirsty," He all but begged, trying to keep his language submissive and formal. Makoto reached into his pocket and pulled out some strawberry-flavoured Hi-Chew, to which Shuichi placed four into his mouth and chewed. The fruity explosion seemed to rejuvenate him in a way. The dots reappeared briefly.

"When's the last time you ate?"

"I'm not sure...a day or so ago?"

"How long have you been on this train?"

"Only a few hours, but I rode a ferry for a day and a half,"

Makoto pointed to Shuichi's ear. "Who did that?"

"Someone's looking for me. What did they tell you? That I ran away from school?"

"Yes, there was a few. One said he was your uncle and the other, a woman, said she was your older sister. They said they were close with the police force," Makoto nodded.

"They're lying. My uncle is dead and I don't have any siblings. My parents are traveling overseas," He sighed. "It's complicated. If they catch me though, they'll take me away again. They'll take me back to where this happened," Shuichi pointed to his ear. "Please let me stay here,"

"You're a mess though," Makoto seemed to consider something. "They seemed a bit shifty though. The girl was dressed super elegantly and they dodged a lot of questions and just insisted to have you brought home as soon as possible. Do you even know where you're going?"

"Somewhere I can think,"

"Were you kidnapped?"

"Yes..." Shuichi felt his tears starting to come.

"Okay, do you know where you are? This train goes to major cities on the western part of the country. Akihabara and Okoyama and places like that. But if they're looking for you, maybe stay away from the larger cities. The next major stop is this tiny little town named Toya on the outskirts out Akihabara. You might have a chance there," Makoto spilled out.

"Please, they put me in a tank and tried to drown me," Shuichi added. "They'll do far worse to me if they catch me,"

Footsteps approached the car and Makoto rushed off, shutting the door. Shuichi could still hear him though and huddled in the shadows.

"What took you so long?" The second worker demanded.

"I got distracted by the view. It's so pretty outside today, huh?" Makoto laughed.

"The train isn't going to be stopped forever, you know. Speaking of which, did you see a kid anywhere? Jumped on a train from somewhere?"

There was a pause, and finally Makoto answered in the negative.

The train started moving again and Shuichi allowed himself a sigh of relief. A few minutes later, the train started to move smoothly along when a bag was thrown into the car. He heard Makoto whisper: "Good luck to you," And then he was gone.

Shuichi crawled over to the bag and pulled it open, finding two riceballs, a bottle of green tea, and a taiyaki filled with cheese. He ate a riceball and the taiyaki instantly, chugging half of the bottle down. He made himself save the rest and even licked his fingers for once. For the first time since he rowed himself down the river in the Asagohan, he felt as though life might be worth living. He said a silent prayer to whichever God was listening to bless Makoto Naegi with immense fortune and good luck for the rest of his days, already knowing he'd never see him ever again.

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

Shuichi dozed for a few minutes before he forced himself awake, knowing his stop was approaching soon and needing to be alert and clearheaded to get off. The knife Kyoko had given him had disappeared somewhere along the way, but he still had the flashdrive. He genuinely had no idea what could've been on it, maybe it was nothing, but maybe it was something useful, like evidence and documented proof. The train slowed a bit and Shuichi stood up, wobbling for a bit before heading over to the door. Outside the window were several stores and beyond those, houses.

He tried to keep himself steady so he wouldn't lose his balance while jumping and get run over completely by the train in some gory display. He swayed, holding onto the edges of the door.

"One..." He swayed right. "Two..." He swayed left. "Three!" He jumped from the car entirely, running in midair slightly, hearing someone yelling at him to look out for the signpost. Shuichi did indeed see the signpost, but it was too late to do much about it, as he collided with it, the right side of his face smacking into it hard. He fell to the ground and lost the feeling of consciousness, warmth spreading down his back again.

"What happened? What happened to you?" An athletic-looking man with brown hair was standing over him, looking confused.

"Don't let them get me, they're still after me!" Shuichi pleaded, unsure if he was actually speaking or not.

"Come on, I can't understand you. Something must be scrambled, and you're bleeding like crazy," He bent over. "Move your arms. Now move your feet,"

"I-Is he okay?" A nervous-looking man with long hair walked over, trembling. "Does he have a concussion?"

Shuichi tried to use his TP to read their minds and figure out what they were thinking, but it didn't work. For all he knew, his TP had been knocked right out of his head when he hit that signpost.

"I'm going to take him back to the office," The brown-haired man said, gingerly placing his hands under Shuichi's arms and lifting him up. Shuichi steadied himself a bit and planted his feet firmly on the ground, feeling more conscious thought return. "What's your name?"

Shuichi thought the man looked alright, but so did Nagito back at The Institute when he was in one of his good moods, as rare as they were.

"What's yours?" He finally asked instead.

"Hinata Hajime. Come on, you gotta get out of the sun at least," Hajime took Shuichi with him, while Ryota Mitari ran in the opposite direction, heading back to his small movie store. It was the only one in town and rarely saw business, so Ryota spent most of his time drawing and going around town on walks looking for inspiration. He wondered sometimes why his store hadn't been closed down due to loss of funds at times. That morning, he had been bored, but now he was just anxious. He quickly called a number on his phone.

"He's here. The boy you're looking for," He said quickly.

"Oh? Are you Ryota-kun in Toya?" Sonia's gentle accent asked him in surprise.

"Y-Yeah...he jumped off a train. Are you still looking for a reward?"

"Of course, and if you keep him there, it will be an even bigger amount,"

Ryota forced himself to laugh. "He smacked into a signpost when he came. I-I don't think he'll be going anywhere for a while,"

"Do not lose track of him,"

"Do you want me to call you every hour with like an update or something?"

"Yes! We will take care of the rest," Even over the phone, Ryota could hear her smile.