Arare
Arare had had a bad dream. Really bad. In it she had been sleeping in her room, but had woken up thanks to the door creaking open. Someone came in to her room, and she had barely sat up before the person had already been next to her bed. She hadn't known him, but before she had had the chance to react there was something in front of her face and she smelled an odd, sweet scent.
And then she had woken up.
"I haven't had nightmares in a long time" Arare muttered, rubbing her eyes. Blinking a few times, she raised an eyebrow as she realized how much darker it was than it was supposed to be. Even if it was still middle of a night, she had left a small lamp on when going to sleep. Maybe the light bulb had burned out? Or the power had cut? But there should be some light coming from the window even at night...
Arare tried to sit up only to realize she was already doing so.
"I must've jumped up in my sleep because of the dream" she thought. However, she found it odd that her back met a wall already; that shouldn't be the case.
"Did I move in my sleep this much?" she wondered, trying to find the light switch only for her hand to meet a bare wall "Huh?"
Arare extended her other hand as well, but it didn't meet anything else, either.
"What?" and now that she thought about it, it didn't feel like she was sitting in her bed, either... putting her hands down quickly, she confirmed the fact. Whatever she was sitting on wasn't soft; it wasn't her bed.
"Where am I?" she wondered. This wasn't her room; what had happened? Maybe...
"Was it not a dream after all?" the young woman thought. This idea made her began to panic. If it hadn't been a dream, did it mean she had been kidnapped?
"Hello?" she called out before she could really think about it "Is anyone there?"
She got no answer.
"Hello?" she tried again, hitting the wall, or a door, in front of her lightly "Can anyone hear me?"
Not getting an answer, Arare started banging on the wall.
"Hello?" each passing minute that didn't give her an answer made her panic more and, soon enough, she was screaming for somebody to answer as she banged on the wall.
"Ugh... what's with the yelling?" Arare froze as she heard this. It was a man's voice "What the heck?"
"Who's there!?" Arare questioned. Was it the same person who had brought her to... where ever this was? Or someone else entirely?
"I'm Murozaki Toji" the voice replied "Who am I talking to?"
"I'm-" Arare paused; was it okay to tell this stranger, who might be behind whatever mess she had gotten in to, her name?
"Arare" she finally said. If he really was her kidnapper or the like he probably knew that already "Fushizuke Arare."
"Well it's nice to meet you... even if I can't see you" Toji said "So, where are we? It's really dark in here."
"I don't know" Arare told. Had this Murozaki guy also been kidnapped or was he faking it? How could she find out?
"Do you see anything around you?" she asked.
"Nope, it's all dark" Toji said "And narrow. How about you, Arare-cha- ah, is it okay if I call you that? You can call me Toji."
"Sure" Arare said. It didn't matter after all; she had bigger things to worry about right now "It's the same here; dark and narrow and the walls around me won't even budge."
"I haven't even tried to move them" Toji told "But I suppose I should."
Arare could hear Toji moving around loudly, but her mind was set on something else: Toji seemed awfully calm for a person who woke up in an unfamiliar place.
"Or is his reaction actually normal and I'm just overreacting?" she wondered. It was possible; part of the reason she had panicked so much might have been because of what she had first thought was a dream. And she had woken up alone, but he had not.
"I'm just over thinking things... right?" she wasn't sure.
"No use" she heard Toji say, which pulled her out of her thoughts "These walls or whatever won't move."
His voice was calm. A bit too calm in fact.
"You seem really calm" she decided to voice her suspicion "Why is that?"
"Uh..." Toji was silent for a while and when he finally answered Arare could swear he was nervous "I'm just an optimistic person... I guess?"
Somebody sure sucked at lying; he knew something but wasn't going to tell her, that much Arare understood. However, two could play this game. She had to play along; now was not the time to panic.
"I see" she said "So, where do you suppose we are?"
"Uuh... some kind of basement?" Toji suggested "It's a bit chilly in here after all, isn't it?"
Now that Toji mentioned it Arare noticed it too; it was indeed a bit chilly.
"I suppose I didn't notice because I panicked so quickly." she thought.
"I suppose it is" Arare said "But then again, this is Sapporo. It's pretty cold here at this time of the year, right?"
"Sapporo?" Toji repeated "We aren't in Nagano?"
"Nagano?" Arare repeated, confused "No, I'm sure I went to sleep at home in Sapporo."
"Well I went to sleep at home, too" Toji told "But in Nagano."
Arare frowned; this didn't look good.
"So... I was probably right from the beginning..."
"Huh?"
"We were kidnapped" of that Arare was sure; there was no other explanation. But who'd kidnap two people from such a different locations? Was Toji actually working with the kidnapper and just bluffing?
"Kidnapped? Don't think so" Toji said "I come from a farm and we ain't rich; why would anyone want to kidnap me?"
"Well, any other ideas, farm boy?" Arare asked with a huff "C“mon, tell me the truth... or at least let something slip."
"Not really" Arare sighed; she probably wouldn't be getting anything out of him any time soon. Frustrated, she kicked the wall in order to get it to move. It didn't work. Frowning, she tried a little harder.
"What's all the noise?" Toji asked. Stopping her kicking to answer, Arare said: "I'm going to kick these walls down!"
"...Will that work?"
"We'll see" Arare answered, rapidly kicking the wall again until she was breathing heavily.
"I think you need a break" Toji said, suggesting "Wanna play Shiritori?"
Despite knowing he wouldn't see her, Arare glared.
"Play by yourself!"
"Hey I'm just trying to kill time" Toji said "But if Shiritori's not okay then... let's see... tell me about yourself."
"What?" Arare asked. Just what in the world was going through this young (she assumed) man's mind?
"Just trying to start a conversation" Toji told "Well?"
"I don't want to talk to you!" Arare hissed, kicking the wall again. Why should she? He knew more about their situation than he let on; she was sure of it. And he'd better watch out when she gets her hands on him!
"I have a feeling that you don't like me"
"Gee, what was your first clue?" Arare muttered as she started kicking and hitting the walls again, stopping only when her knuckles started to bleed.
"Are you okay in there?" Arare could hear Toji clearly, but she didn't bother to answer.
"Arare-chan? Arare!"
"I'm here okay, quit shouting!" Arare called back between her gasps for air.
"Well sorry, but since you weren't answering..." Toji trailed off "Any luck?"
Arare didn't answer. She considered telling Toji to try too, but if he was really behind this it wouldn't do any good.
"I need to stay calm; I'll get out soon enough" she told herself, but the panic was returning and it would soon overthrow her annoyance that Toji was causing. She started kicking and hitting the walls again, but it was no good. She was trapped and wouldn't get out on her own.
"This is hopeless" Arare thought, letting her tears fall as she wondered "Why hasn't anyone come already after all the noise I made? Surely the kidnappers have heard me..."
"You okay, Arare-chan?" Toji asked "Arare-chan?"
Arare didn't answer; she just sobbed in to her hands, ignoring Toji.
"C'mon Arare, you're making me worry" Toji said "Say something!"
But she didn't, not for quite a while. At times she tried to bring the wall down again, muttering how she wouldn't give up, but that was it, at least, until she heard a voice. A voice that wasn't Toji's.
"That's a woman's voice..." she realized, hearing Toji answer the other woman's question right after. Arare listened to their conversation carefully, but didn't put in. It seemed that the other woman's name was Ayatori Fuka. It didn't ring any bells for her.
"She noticed the same thing I did" Arare thought. Toji was indeed too calm. As Fuka started to panic Arare wondered why Toji bothered to try and calm her down. He was in on this, wasn't he? Not that it mattered that much. Arare was ready to tune out their conversation, but when Fuka asked a question Toji couldn't answer, she answered without thinking twice: "Two hours and 30 minutes, give or take a few. And around three hours for me."
It seems that Toji had thought she had gone to sleep, but she denied it. Now the other two seemed to be starting a casual conversation. She threw a comment in from time to time, mostly because Toji was so persistent. It was a smaller hassle just to answer him.
"I'm hungry and thirsty" Fuka suddenly told "Do you think someone will soon come to give us food?"
"No" Arare answered quietly before Toji could "They'll let us starve and die of dehydration."
"Arare!" She hears Toji hiss, but ignores it. If he thinks she's wrong he should do something about it; surely he has a way to contact somebody.
"What?" Arare asks, offended "We all know it's true."
Except maybe Toji knew otherwise. Maybe, if she pressed him, he'd tell them something or let something slip. Maybe...
"I wanna see my dad" Fuka says suddenly.
"What about your mom?" Toji asks. Fuka replies: "She died long time ago."
"That's probably for the best" Arare decides to speak. Maybe this could get something out of the guy "For she doesn't have to worry about her missing daughter."
"Knock it off already" Toji hisses.
"I will when you do, too" Arare says "I know you know something."
Toji doesn't answer, but she doesn't expect him to, not yet. Silence takes over as neither speaks for a while and Fuka has gone quiet as well.
"Toji?" Arare hears Fuka call "Are you still there?"
"Yeah" the man answers "And Arare-chan? You still there?"
Of course she's still here... but maybe not answering would lead to something?
"Arare?" he repeats "You don't have to speak, but give us some kind of sign that you're still there, okay?"
Should she answer after all? She wants to press Toji, but worrying Fuka might not be right... in the end, she decides on giving them three knocks. That would have to do.
"Did you hear that?" Fuka asks.
"Yeah" Toji answers, and Arare hears him cough "It's Arare."
For a long time its quiet and Arare knows that she fell asleep at some point. However, Toji calling their names brings her back to the dark reality.
"Fuka? Arare-chan?" his voice is quiet "Please say something, either of you!"
She didn't feel like she should bother.
"C'mon girls, you're still there, right?"
Of course they were. Well, Arare was, but she wasn't sure about Fuka anymore. Maybe the other girl was dead already.
"Girls!?"
"Will you shut up already!?" Arare suddenly hissed "You're getting on my nerves!"
"So you're still here..." Toji muttered "What about Fuka?"
"Probably dead already" Arare blurted out "Of dehydration."
"Don't say that!" Toji said "Besides, can people really die of dehydration this fast?"
"Do you know how long it's been?" Arare asked, but when Toji didn't answer, she said: "Didn't think so."
"It wasn't supposed to be like this..." Toji's muttering caught Arare's full attention. Finally, finally he let something slip "Just what went wrong?"
"I knew it" she said "You do know something! Tell me what's going on!"
Toji's silence was making Arare even more impatient. She had finally gotten something out of him, so now was definitely not the time to back down.
"Toji!"
"...it might be better not to know" the guy finally said "I... it wasn't supposed to go like this... we were supposed to..."
His slow talk got on Arare's nerves. They were supposed to what?
"I wouldn't have let them make me part of this if I'd known..."
Who was "them?" Make him part of what? Known what?
"It doesn't feel like he's even talking to me anymore... it's more like he's talking to himself." Arare tried to force herself to calm down. While Toji obviously knew something, things clearly hadn't gone the way he had expected. Something had gone wrong and he was shocked; she shouldn't be yelling at him right now. She tried to get Toji to talk again, but the things he did say made no sense to her. And so she gave up.
She sat there in silence again, only hearing Toji mumbling something under his breath every once in a while, but she wasn't really listening anymore; she was so tired. Really, really tired.
"I don't want to die like this..."
But she was so tired; her eyes were starting to close. Yet, before she slipped to eternal sleep, she clearly heard Toji say: "This isn't the future we were supposed to have."
A.N: And that's that. The next, final chapter will be Toji's view on things.
