There's Nothing Between Us

If there is one thing in life that Ryo is scared of, it's bears. Or dying alone. But mostly bears.

Unfortunately for him, Alice has spontaneously decided to bring him as close as possible to this fear by going camping far into the Japanese woods. Now, they slide into the back of a cab, crammed next to each other, because the family driver spontaneously called a sick day and Ryo refused to drive to the campsite. "Why would I willingly drive to a place I don't even wanna be at?" he complained. "That's where I draw the line."

Upholstered leather and the vague scent of cinnamon mixed with cigarettes. The driver has a streak of dyed black in his otherwise white hair, the skin on his neck wizened with wrinkles and sun spots as an ode to his age. "Now, what are ya two lovebirds doing out here so late in the summer? Hope ya not gonna do anythin' too naughty, har har har!" he guffaws. From the backseat, Ryo notices gaps where teeth should have been.

Alice blushes at his assumptions. "No, we're not anything like that! We just want to go camping with the last bit of vacation that we have."

"Get your head out of the gutter, old man," Ryo snaps. His patience is already wearing extremely thin, but anyone thinking of Alice in that way pushes him further to the edge.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Alice whispers, patting his knee admonishingly. "He's just trying to be nice."

"Nice isn't cutting it," he grumbles in response, the bandana on his wrist itching to be worn. Even on a hot summer day he keeps it on him. He remains silent anyway, sullen.

"I hardly see anyone choosing this place to camp at," the driver remarks. "Lotsa rumors 'bout the place, y'know."

"Like what?" Alice asks eagerly, placing her hand on the front passenger seat and leaning forward.

Her seatbelt isn't on, Ryo scowls. Lucky for her, I'm here. Pulling her back, he buckles the belt over her hip, ignoring her small squeals.

"It's not known as the Haunted Forest for no reason, didn't y'know? People say if ya go there, ghosts can possess ya. It all started with a young couple, just like the two of ya. I carted them over here, 40 years ago (can ya believe I've been doing this for this long?). Nice folks. Names were Toru and Yue. The gal, Yue, was a beautiful gal. Looked kinda like ya, 'cept she had long white hair like silk and the bluest eyes I've ever seen. Meanwhile, he was some ugly-lookin' guy in a blue suit and all, dunno why he was goin' camping like that. Heard later he was a businessman who was just laid off due to the market crash."

"Wow, interesting pair! Reminds me of the two of us, beauty and the beast," Alice teases, nudging Ryo's ribs.

"No, ya don't wanna be like 'em, you'll see why. So, I dropped 'em off at the campsite. Everythin' seems fine, right? Well, turns out, the next week, I'm deliverin' detectives there because of a murder-suicide."

"A murder-suicide?" Allie gasps in horror.

"The couple died?" Ryo asks. Despite himself, his interest is piqued.

"Hold on, I'm gettin' there. Well, the detective asks me to wait for him as he checks things out. He only takes an hour or so before he returns. I ask him, 'What's goin on?'

"'Well,' he says. 'I technically can't tell you, but it'll be on the news anyway so I guess I'll give you something.' Looked to me like he wanted to gossip 'cause it was so interesting.

"'Go on!' I said. The detective pulled out a file and showed me the pictures of the murder site, and boy, when I tell ya it was the most gruesome thing I ever saw. Blood all over I couldn't even tell the gal's hair was ever white. He told me Toru killed Yue and then himself. I asked why and he speculated that Yue was told him she was pregnant, he got scared 'cause he couldn't support 'em anymore with no job. Most horrible thing was, I heard the company that laid him off was lookin' to rehire him again. Business sucks like that."

"God, that was a horrifying story!" Alice exclaims, hands clasped, eyes wide open. A sight to see herself. "So the place is haunted?"

"Legend says Yue wants to get revenge on her lover. They say for any couple that visits, she possesses the gal and kills the guy. A lot of men have died in those 40 years."

"Ryo, you better be careful!"

"Remind me again why you wanted to come here?"

"I saw it on a list of most interesting places to visit in Japan!" Alice pouts. "You should've done the research!"

"I didn't even want to go!"

"Well, if ya survive the night, they say you'll grow as stronger as a couple and you'll never be separated. Bound together by fate."

"Or maybe Alice brought me here to kill me and hide it under the guise of lore."

"I wouldn't do that! I'd tell you before," she giggles.

The cab slows to a stop, tires crunching over gravel. "We're here," the driver says in a gruff voice. "Good luck. I hope I see both of ya alive next time!"

"See you!" Alice smiles cheerfully as Ryo grunts in farewell, shouldering a large backpack stuffed with tents and supplies. "That was a scary story, Ryo. You think I'll get possessed?"

"Even if you do, I can handle you," he laughs. "You've already got a demon inside you."

"Hey, take that back!"

"Never."

Setting up camp takes the first hour and fishing takes the next. At first, he was reluctant to cook as it would attract the bears, but Alice insisted on tasting his seafood. So, with his bandana on, he starts a fire and gradually smokes the fish, taking care to dust it with some wild herbs. With the same fire, he boils a pot of water (yes, Alice packed a pot; she must have planned for him to cook beforehand) and cooks mushrooms in them. Basic, but doable.

"Not bad," Alice says in between bites of her dinner. "Say, when do you think Yue will possess me?"

"Maybe if you don't finish your meal she will," Ryo replies plainly.

"Ryo!" She slaps his arm. "I'm serious. I just think it's so sad what happened to Yue. I can't imagine going on a romantic trip, not expecting something of that sort to occur."

He sighs. "Don't dwell on it too much. Is it because you're scared of ghosts?"

"…No. Well, maybe a little. I'm just worried that if we don't appease her soul, she's gonna come attack me — and you, of course, by default."

"You're like a kid," he scoffs. "That's just folklore."

"Hey! Don't call me kid. I'm just worrying about you! But who cares if I get possessed and you get stabbed to death with a stick because I don't!" Alice huffs in a flurry. Putting down her plate, she prepares to walk away before Ryo grabs her arm.

"You think I'm gonna let you leave again? That's getting old, Alice," he says. He remembers her leaving in Denmark, the supermarket, now this. Leaving is easy, but coming back is a hundred times harder.

"That's Miss Alice to you!" she whines. "Apologize for calling me kid!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Alice."

"Hmph," she says. "I wouldn't leave, anyway. If I left, who would protect me against the ghosts?"

"No such thing as ghosts."

"If so, then you wouldn't mind me going a bit further into the woods. I wanna see if there's a good spot to see the sky."

"You can see the sky from here. Plus, bears," he reminds her, still holding her arm.

"If you don't believe in ghosts, then I don't believe in bears!" Alice laughs, sticking her tongue out. "It's fine, don't worry. I just wanna see the stars up close!" Shaking him off, she prances away into the woods. Happy-go-lucky. He wishes he could have that attitude.

Sighing, he begins putting out the fire and laying out the tents. Of course, Alice lets him do all the work — some thing's don't change. For him, he's always been resistant to change. Since childhood, change meant living on the streets for a week or skipping dinner for a night or two when he ran out of money.

Sometimes, change could be good. It meant meeting Alice, who gave him a million opportunities when he thought he was getting tired of it all. But the scariest thing was that change could mean losing his life now — and losing Alice. If he told her anything about what he was thinking, maybe she would run. Tell him to leave and never come back. Tell him she regretted all the time spent beside him. That's what he's scared of: Alice leaving him forever.

So I won't say anything, he decides. Nothing about wondering how they'd be as something more than aide and mistress.

Suddenly, a wail rips through the air like a bullet, piercing the silence until it fractures into a million pieces. Immediately, Ryo jerks his head up. "Alice?" he yells.

No reply.

"Alice? Where are you?" This is exactly why he told her not to go alone. Tearing away from the clearing, he reaches the edge of the woods where Alice went. Ahead, he faces a stretch of darkness obscuring the trees, only scattering away from the beam of his flashlight. He hesitates. There might be bears in there. He thinks about the wailing sound again and this time doesn't hesitate to run in.

"Alice, where the hell are you?" In the dark tangle of woods, the only thing he can see is his own shadow, wiry against the backdrop of trees. It reminds him of the time Alice wandered off in a shopping mall and Ryo got lost among the clothing racks. Later, he discovered that as he was floundering around trying to find her, she had casually ambled over to the other side of the mall and was crying because she was alone. There was always too much space between the two of them despite their close nature. She was so easy to lose, to slip between your fingers like water. Without watching her too closely, she would disappear.

Then he hears her voice, floating above the wind in an almost melodic whisper. "Ryo?"

"Alice!" Ryo roars, automatically stumbling out of the edge of the woods. It was as if her voice plucked him up from the ground and carried him to her — as it always did.

Just on the outskirts of the woods, he spots her silhouette above him, resting casually on a halo of grass at the apex of a hill. She's not looking over at him but instead watches the sky, red irises peering under swooping eyelashes. In her arms, she cradles her knees to her chest. From where he stands, Alice is the picture of serenity, a far cry from her usual devilish antics in the kitchen or by his side. Finally, she cocks her head toward him. "Ryo? What's wrong?"

Ryo snaps out of his trance and begins to clamber up the hill, his shoes digging into the stiffened dirt. "I heard you crying, so I came," he grunts, a little embarrassed. There he was, panicked over nothing like always, when she was really perfectly fine. "I thought you were in trouble."

"Me? In trouble? Never," she laughs. Patting the dirt beside her, she smiles. "Sit here. You were worried about me?"

"Need I repeat myself?" huffs Ryo, looking away. "I swear, I heard screaming."

"I forgot to tell you, I think this forest is called The Wailing Woods. I heard the wind whistling through the trees could sound like a woman screaming. But legend says — stop making that face, Ryo! — legend says that maybe it's Yue's voice."

"Come on, don't think too much about what that driver said."

"I can't help it," Alice says softly, suddenly serious. "I'm looking at the sky right now and I can't help but wonder if that couple, Yue and Toru, saw the same stars that we did."

"Constellations don't change."

"But people do."

Ryo stops, biting his lip. He doesn't get what she's trying to imply or if there's no hidden message at all. Most of the time, Alice was straight to the point in what she wanted and how she wanted it. Now, she teases questions behind her tongue. "People always change, Alice. I don't know how we've managed to still be stuck together," he says, jutting his chin out as if he is about to laugh, but he doesn't.

"Because if there's one constant in life, it's us," she smiles. He looks at her with his shoulders back but the blue veins in his arms demarcating boundaries across his skin. In that moment, he realizes that nothing matters except for the two of them. It does not matter that he stupidly thought she was in danger and he made a fool of himself running around trying to find her; it does not matter that she's completely oblivious to everything running around in his mind; it does not matter that it's completely dark now and all that separates them are his thoughts and her ignorance. All that matters is that he's there beside her.

"Lie down," she whispers so low it sounds like the wind. Ryo understands how the wind sounded like a girl's cry. Their heads touch the grass so they can stare straight up into the night, stars scattered across the sky in piercing beacons of light. Yet, next to him is the brightest light he could ask for in his entire life.

"Alice, I — "

"Shhh, don't say anything," she demands haughtily. As always, Alice doesn't mind interrupting his words, even if they might be the most dangerous admission of his life. "There's nothing between us."

What? Ryo squeezes his eyes shut. Maybe she knew all along how he felt and planned out this whole camping trip to politely reject him.

"There's nothing between us," she repeats. "Just air."

He opens his eyes. He doesn't have to, though, because she's already moving on her own: her shoulder touching his, one of her hands on his wrist and the other tangled in his hair as she rolls over until she's almost on top of him. Her eyes hovering over his. Her shadows tracing his face. His heart pounding so loudly it feels as if it will tear away from his chest. There really is nothing between them but air. Then, Alice closes her eyes and leans down until there's between them at all. Not even air. When her lips touch his, the world falls away in pieces until all that's left is them on a hill, red hearts and exposed eyelids and his hands clutching strands of grass because he finally understands how everything can just fall into place and fit. It's more than just a kiss; he would not be surprised if mountains moved, the earth stopped spinning, or the sun came to live in the sky forever. Because all that matters is he loves her.

I love you. I'm in love with you.

As if he reaches for the nape of her neck, Alice abruptly pulls away, breaking off the kiss in seconds. She sits up. That's okay, thinks Ryo, albeit a little disappointedly. Now I can just tell her how I really feel.

"Alice, I — "

"Shut up, Ryo, just for a moment," she says, pressing her fingers to her temples. He sits up beside her.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? W-we just kissed! I don't know what I was doing, it doesn't make sense," she mumbles. Ryo's heart stops like a broken drum, beaten to death. Still not looking at him, she jerks up, slightly more animated. "Oh, I get it now! It must have been Yue! She must have possessed me…We all thought she'd kill you, but we never thought she just wanted to kiss you. You should be happy, Ryo! A ghost thinks you're hot!"

Nothing makes sense. Alice had just kissed him a minute ago, and now she was making excuses for it. Turning to her, he grabs her arms tightly, his thumbs pressing dents into her skin so urgently he can almost feel her bones. "Alice, listen to me! If you have something to say — something you really mean — just say it."

"It didn't mean anything," she says firmly, shrugging off his hands aggressively. "If you think it does, you're ridiculous."

He wants to shout, "Yes, I am fucking ridiculous!" But the words get caught in his throat, probably stuck under the "I love you" trapped by her inaction and his shock. "I don't think it does," he forces.

"Good! I have to tell everyone I got possessed," she snorts but the humor isn't there. "Actually, I'd rather not; it's a little embarrassing. So let's have this just stay between the two of us, okay?"

"Okay," he mutters angrily, standing up. He still lends her a hand — old habits die hard, he supposes, even though he doesn't want to touch her now, doesn't even want to say her. Just tell her you love her. Get it over with!

He can't, not just because she probably doesn't feel the same way, but because it would likely make her upset. And he doesn't want that.

Is the night really going to end like this?

They're walking back to the campsite, Ryo a few steps behind out of spite. Silence reigns over them with traces of the awkwardness familiar only to rejected lovers. It's so uncomfortable that he wants to run and leave her in the forest, except he doesn't because he knows the minute he leaves, a bear will come and snatch her up in its jaws. That's the luck she has without him. The back of Alice's head, basically glowing in contrast to the steep darkness of 1:00 AM, bobs ahead in the blanket of night. Wisps of her hair tumble just above her shoulder; Ryo wants to stretch his fingers to touch the bare skin, like an extension of the kiss. He reaches out, just for the heck of it, and notices the sheets of moonlight slipping through the creases of the red bandana on his wrist. That's it! The bandana!

Quickly, with no time to lose, he ties it around his head, ignoring the musty stench of mud on it. "Alice," he growls, planting his feet down, not moving. She stops in her tracks, unwilling to turn as if she knows what's coming next. "If I said it meant something, what would you say?"

"That you're being ridiculous, hmph," she replies after a bit, but he can tell that there's an edge to her voice, a doubting lilt taking away the bite from her words.

"Would you really say that?" Ryo snaps, a few feet away from her. He inches closer.

"I…I don't know," she says. "So you better not say it!"

That's all he needs, so he unties the bandana and smirks. "We're here," he announces needlessly and stalks away into his tent. Anyone that saw him would have shaken their head in confusion; why was someone who basically got rejected smiling like an idiotic fool?

"I wouldn't leave, anyway."

"Because if there's one constant in life, it's us."

"There's nothing between us. Just air."

"I…I don't know."

Because there still is a chance that Alice might love him back.

Hi guys! Sorry that this chapter took so long; I think my next chapter will also take a while, with classes starting and whatnot. I'm glad that Ryo is finally able to wrap his head around his feelings though! To DracoSoull: thanks so much! I definitely do ship Hayama x Alice to an extent (def less than Ryo x Alice ofc) and I can see Hayama x Hisako...but I also love the idea that Hayama secretly likes Ryo! And of course Hayama would be super secretive about it too lol...To kageshoujo: thank you so much! And can I just say I love your Alice x Ryo fic as well – honestly one of the best fics out there!

As always, thanks for reading and reviews are appreciated! Can't wait for you guys to read the next one!