Fic
Hello f-list,
now I shall take a moment to bring fic before I return to trying to figure out whether washing my hair for a third time will make it stop smelling like chocolate cake. And remove those odd sparkly stickers, soaked paper hat and hope I'll be able to get up tomorrow. ^^;
Title: Fields of gold.
Part: 3/6
Central Characters: Fuji, Kawamura, Inui.
For: shiun
Genre: Drama
Wordcount: ~2500
Summary: Seigaku's third year students take a study trip to a remote village. All is well until Tezuka has an accident - that just might not have been an accident at all. And all of a sudden Kawamura, Fuji and Inui have their hands full trying to figure out just what is going on in this idyllic village.
AN: Prior chapters here and here
Fields of Gold
III
AN: I apologize for starting with an AN, but that character previously referred to as “the Inn’s owner”, shall from now on be called Minami.
After Kawamura spent a very uncomfortable half an hour under the watchful eye of the recpetion lady, Fuji eventually hopped back into the room accompanied by an older doctor and balancing on two crutches with one foot thickly bandadged.
"How are you?" Kawamura immediately asked, walking over and taking Fuji's bag from the doctor.
"I'm all right." Fuji answered with a smile that looked a little less strained than before. "Nothing is broken, it's just a bad sprain."
Kawamura sighed in relief. "That's good to hear."
"How is..." Fuji started, eager to ask the question that had troubled him since lunch, but Kawamura cut him off. "Minami-san hasn't arrived yet. Why don't we wait outside?"
Fuji nodded with a slight frown. With a last polite bow in the direction of the reception, they left the white building and Kawamura felt far better the moment he stepped out into the sunlight. All those white walls around him had inspired strange thoughts. Furthermore, something about Tezuka's behaviour had been off.
It might have been due to medication. Seeing the amount of bandages, Kawamura was certain painkillers were a basic necessity.
They sat down on the steps in front of the building. There were very few people on the street, and every five minutes one car passed by. Nobody appeared particularly hurried and once again Fuji had to marvel at how polished the buildings around them were. He'd not seen one run-down house in the entire town.
"So, now, how is Tezuka?" Fuji repeated his question, gnawing anxiously on his lip.
Kawamura drew a deep breath. "He seemed not too bad off. I talked to him, but a nurse interrupted us before he could tell me what exactly had happened."
Fuji raised an eyebrow. "So we still don't know?"
"We don't." Kawamrua shook his head. "But from what I can tell, that car accident rumour is probably true. It didn't look like any too-serious injuries. Just a lot of bruises."
He could practically see Fuji's shoulders sag in relief. "That's good to hear." The honey-haired boy replied, staring thoughtfully toward the sun that already started its descent toward the west. "You said you talked to Tezuka. Did he say anything?"
"Not much." Kawamura answered, feeling disappointed at himself for being unable to gather more important information. "He asked whether you found his tennis magazines and read that article on ... who was it again, Nick Something?"
Fuji blinked.
"I never heard of him." Kawamura admitted. "Is he important?"
Fuji tilted his head and a cold gust of wind seemed to sweep over the street. "That is a good question. I never heard of a tennis player bearing that particular name either."
Kawamura felt his thoughts grind to an abrupt halt. "Eh? But he insisted this was important..."
When Fuji glanced up at him there was a sense of dark foreboding to his expression and Kawamura shivered. "Interesting, isn't it? He told me that at breakfast, too."
"... Fuji, what are you...?"
"Speculating won't do us any good." Fuji decisively said. "Let's try to find out who that Nick ... Carraway, wasn't it? is first. Do you have your cell phone with you?"
Kawamura stiffly nodded, pulled his cell phone from his pocket and did as Fuji had suggested. A minute later he had an answer, but he wasn't sure whether it was the one he had wanted.
"Nick Carraway is no real person at all. It's a fictional figure from an english novel, called..."
"The Great Gatsby." Fuji finished for him. He bit his lip. "Taka-san, I'm not sure, but I don't think I like what this is pointing to."
At that moment, they caught sight of a familiar car headed into their direction.
"For now." Fuji stated. "Let's not mention Tezuka. We'll need to talk to Inui,"
+ + +
After numerous polite inquiries, they fought their way up to the room Inui and Tezuka shared. Kawamura felt utterly awkward telling Oishi they had no news concerning Tezuka, but he told himself he had no official news after all. And furthermore, he could feel far too many eyes lingering on his back.
Perhaps Fuji's implications were making him paranoid. Though he couldn't quite shake the uncomfortable feeling.
Fuji resolutely kicked the door shut with one crutch before hoping closer to Inui. Kawamura followed closely, in case Fuji should stumble - the boy was much too concentrated on solving this to pay much attention to his own limits.
"Ah, how is your ankle?" Inui asked, glancing up from a desaster consisting of pencils, papers and more numbers than Kawamura hoped to see at any time of his life.
"Only a sprain, thank you." Fuji evenly replied, "Say, would you know whether Tezuka brought his english dictionary?"
Kawamura blinked, as did Inui. He had expected a discussion, or maybe for Inui and Fuji to offer a strange explanation for everything that had happened until now. Apparently, Inui, too, hadn't counted on being asked for a dictionary of all things.
"... I think so." Inui tentatively replied, desperately trying to read Fuji's expression.
When Kawamura turned to his smaller companion, he could see that he was smiling his usual smile - and thus rendered his face completely unfathomable.
"Well, would you mind bringing it to the terrace in about ten minutes? I had some questions on a book we read in English class recently and maybe you can help me along."
In the far back of Kawamura's mind two puzzle pieces clicked. And the more he realized they fit, the more he feared to see the whole picture.
"Sure." Inui replied and shared a confused look with Kawamura, before the other two left the room.
+ + +
They headed straight to the terrace, which was still warm with golden light from the sinking sun. The borders of the forest were black against the horizon and wide fields spread into the other direction. Snow-capped mountains glowed in the last sunrays.
The scenery did little to calm the disquiet that had befallen Kawamura's heart.
Fuji plopped down into one of the well-stuffed chairs in a corner with a loud sigh. Exhaustion was becoming apparent on his face. Kawamura slowly sat down next to him, silent.
Finally, he drew a deep breath. "Fuji, do you think... what do you think Tezuka was saying?"
Fuji smiled tiredly. "I'm not sure. Or rather, I don't want to believe it."
"What is it, then? I'm still not sure how everything connects." Kawamura asked, wondering whether it wouldn't be better just to remain silent. He didn't want to look stupid in front of Fuji, but somehow he felt Fuji knew more than he let on.
"It's ... difficult." Fuji said. "Tezuka wanted to tell me something important at breakfast and for some reason didn't dare to tell me the matter directly. Neither did he tell you, instead he used a kind of code that I hope I'm interpreting correctly... But anyways, he tells me, and about immediately afterwards he gets into an accident. And contact between any of us and him is strict forbidden and if allowed, I guess, will be monitored."
"It looks quite suspicious." Kawamura admitted, swallowing. "But couldn't it all have been chance?"
"I'm not sure. But here's Inui." He nodded toward the door of the terrace which had just opened to allow Inui to step onto the sun-flooded tiles. "That dictionary might hold a clue."
Inui drew a chair away from one of the tables and sat down opposite to them, with his back towards the sun. "Are we looking for something specific?" He asked.
Fuji shook his head and held his hand out for the well-worn dictionary. "No. I hope I'll recognize what it is when I see it."
And without any further words he held the book by the spine and let it flap open. Pages fluttered, until the dictionary remained open on a particular page. Kawamura held his breath and leaned forward.
A dark smile crossed Fuji's face and Inui pushed his glasses up.
On the page before them rested a single, torn green plant leaf.
"Inui?" Fuji asked.
"I'll have to verify this. But I'd say you're guessing correctly."
A cold shudder ran down Kawamura’s spine. He didn’t like what all this pointed to - and he was afraid what this meant for Tezuka. Still, he swallowed his dread and asked: “What do we do now?”
“Tonight we can’t do anything.” Inui replied. “But tomorrow…”
“We need to verify this is what we think it is.” Fuji said, and nodded to the book he had closed again.
Inui thoughtfully nodded. “Yes, but we should be careful. I have an inkling what might have happened to my biology book. And those tennis magazines Tezuka brought.”
“In case he brought any.” Fuji said. “But then again, I guess he did. Otherwise somebody might have figured he meant something different.”
Kawamura swallowed. “But they still could figure it out, can’t they? The moment they notice that person is no tennis player…”
“In that case we should see that we recover those tennis magazines, before anybody gets a chance to check them for an article on… who was it?” Inui thoughtfully glanced up to the sky which was still a light blue in the west, even though overhead the first stars had appeared.
“Nick Carraway.” Fuji supplied. “I could have figured it earlier. He’s a character from a novel we read in English and for that I borrowed Tezuka’s English dictionary. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tezuka also had that novel somewhere in his luggage.”
“He was quite thorough.” Kawamura agreed, still silently wondering at how afraid their captain must have been to leave such misleading clues.
Inui sighed. “And we should see that Tezuka gets transported to Tokyo for further treatment. I wish I had come to that clinic with you, but what I heard doesn’t make me want to trust them.”
“Did something happen?” Kawamura inquired, unsettled.
“We finally got word on Tezuka’s condition. The car accident rumour was confirmed, he’s supposedly stable but unable to receive visitors. Did you…?”
“Taka-san saw Tezuka.” Fuji supplied.
Inui curiously looked at him. Kawamura recalled his short conversation with Tezuka. “The first two points are probably right, but I talked to him and, well, I think there’s no reason for him not to receive any visitors.”
“It’s more they don’t want him to.” Inui darkly muttered.
It did fit with how insistent Tezuka was to have Fuji look into the matter of that supposed article, Kawamura remembered. “But who are they?” He asked quietly, trying to give a face to their unknown enemy. “And why do they…”
“Act like this?” Fuji finished for him. “It’s too early to say, but there’s probably more than one person involved.”
“Furthermore, there is the question why they didn’t kill Tezuka if he knew too much.” Inui coldly stated and Kawamura shuddered, wondering how Inui managed to voice such a terrible idea so calmly.
“Seeing that somebody at the clinic is probably involved to a certain extend, I’d say they aren’t interested in seeing Tezuka die.” Fuji added with a look that made Kawamura’s hair stand. “That accident might have just been a warning.”
“Does that mean he isn’t in danger?” Kawamura asked and Inui shook his head.
“Right now, he isn’t. But that might not remain a warning, depending on what happens next. That means we’ll have to be very, very careful about what we do next.”
“Wouldn’t it be best to arrange for Tezuka to be transferred to Tokyo as fast as possible?” Kawamura suggested.
Fuji nodded. “It might be. But arranging such a transfer might take time and we’re supposed to leave in two days. And I doubt we’ll ever find out what really happened after we have left.”
“Well, maybe Oishi can ask his uncle to fasten things a little.” Inui suggested and pushed his chair back. He stood up, glanced at the sky from which the sun had completely disappeared and nodded at Kawamura and Fuji.
“I’ll go and ask him now.”
+ + +
Fuji and Kawamura remained on the terrace even after the last remains of blue had disappeared into the far west and the sky overhead had turned into a black blanket dottet with diamond-like sparkling stars. Barely a noise disturbed the silence - cars passing in the distance, planes flying overhead and all other sounds audible even in the dead of night at Tokyo had completely vanished.
Strange, Kawamura thought, how peaceful it appeared. And yet, knowing what he knew, made him weary.
“Fuji...” he wondered aloud, “What do you think... what will this result in?”
The expression in Fuji’s eyes was everything but reassuring. “I don’t know.”
Kawamura nodded thoughtfully.“Do you think what happened to Tezuka could also happen to somebody else?”
“Yes.” Fuji replied. “Though, as I said before - it’s all a little strange. Seeing how somebody wanted to silence Tezuka and yet didn’t kill him... The moment he’s discharged, it’s all back to the beginning.”
“Though we’ll probably be back in Tokyo at that time.” Kawamura added. “Perhaps whoever is behind this thinks once we’re gone we’ll pose no danger.”
Fuji bit his lip. “That might be it. Though...”
He sighed and glanced up at the stars. Kawamura could plainly see lines of fatigue etched into his friend’s face. The day had taken a lot out of them all - he felt like falling asleep on the spot himself.
“... it makes me wonder whether we shouldn’t leave the entire thing alone.” Fuji carried on, oblivious Kawamura’s glance. “Whoever is behind this obviously holds a lot of influence and who knows - the next time they might not stop at a warning.”
Kawamura shuddered. The nightly tranquility seemed so enchanting - so easy to succumb to this peace and fall asleep - and clashed so horribly with what was happening.
A light breeze picked up, ruffled the old trees and carried cool, fresh air to them.
“We should go to sleep.” Kawamura said, breaking the lullaby-like silence that hung over them. “Everything else can be taken care of tomorrow.”
“Yes.” Fuji replied with a soft smile. “I’m feeling somwhat tired, after all.”
‘Somewhat tired’ was an understatment and Kawamura almost felt compelled to pick his team mate up and carry him the rest of the way, but knowing Fuji he resolved follow closely, ready to lend a hand if needed.
He only hoped he’d also be there to lend a helping hand should things take a turn for the worse tomorrow.
tbc
now I shall take a moment to bring fic before I return to trying to figure out whether washing my hair for a third time will make it stop smelling like chocolate cake. And remove those odd sparkly stickers, soaked paper hat and hope I'll be able to get up tomorrow. ^^;
Title: Fields of gold.
Part: 3/6
Central Characters: Fuji, Kawamura, Inui.
For: shiun
Genre: Drama
Wordcount: ~2500
Summary: Seigaku's third year students take a study trip to a remote village. All is well until Tezuka has an accident - that just might not have been an accident at all. And all of a sudden Kawamura, Fuji and Inui have their hands full trying to figure out just what is going on in this idyllic village.
AN: Prior chapters here and here
Fields of Gold
III
AN: I apologize for starting with an AN, but that character previously referred to as “the Inn’s owner”, shall from now on be called Minami.
After Kawamura spent a very uncomfortable half an hour under the watchful eye of the recpetion lady, Fuji eventually hopped back into the room accompanied by an older doctor and balancing on two crutches with one foot thickly bandadged.
"How are you?" Kawamura immediately asked, walking over and taking Fuji's bag from the doctor.
"I'm all right." Fuji answered with a smile that looked a little less strained than before. "Nothing is broken, it's just a bad sprain."
Kawamura sighed in relief. "That's good to hear."
"How is..." Fuji started, eager to ask the question that had troubled him since lunch, but Kawamura cut him off. "Minami-san hasn't arrived yet. Why don't we wait outside?"
Fuji nodded with a slight frown. With a last polite bow in the direction of the reception, they left the white building and Kawamura felt far better the moment he stepped out into the sunlight. All those white walls around him had inspired strange thoughts. Furthermore, something about Tezuka's behaviour had been off.
It might have been due to medication. Seeing the amount of bandages, Kawamura was certain painkillers were a basic necessity.
They sat down on the steps in front of the building. There were very few people on the street, and every five minutes one car passed by. Nobody appeared particularly hurried and once again Fuji had to marvel at how polished the buildings around them were. He'd not seen one run-down house in the entire town.
"So, now, how is Tezuka?" Fuji repeated his question, gnawing anxiously on his lip.
Kawamura drew a deep breath. "He seemed not too bad off. I talked to him, but a nurse interrupted us before he could tell me what exactly had happened."
Fuji raised an eyebrow. "So we still don't know?"
"We don't." Kawamrua shook his head. "But from what I can tell, that car accident rumour is probably true. It didn't look like any too-serious injuries. Just a lot of bruises."
He could practically see Fuji's shoulders sag in relief. "That's good to hear." The honey-haired boy replied, staring thoughtfully toward the sun that already started its descent toward the west. "You said you talked to Tezuka. Did he say anything?"
"Not much." Kawamura answered, feeling disappointed at himself for being unable to gather more important information. "He asked whether you found his tennis magazines and read that article on ... who was it again, Nick Something?"
Fuji blinked.
"I never heard of him." Kawamura admitted. "Is he important?"
Fuji tilted his head and a cold gust of wind seemed to sweep over the street. "That is a good question. I never heard of a tennis player bearing that particular name either."
Kawamura felt his thoughts grind to an abrupt halt. "Eh? But he insisted this was important..."
When Fuji glanced up at him there was a sense of dark foreboding to his expression and Kawamura shivered. "Interesting, isn't it? He told me that at breakfast, too."
"... Fuji, what are you...?"
"Speculating won't do us any good." Fuji decisively said. "Let's try to find out who that Nick ... Carraway, wasn't it? is first. Do you have your cell phone with you?"
Kawamura stiffly nodded, pulled his cell phone from his pocket and did as Fuji had suggested. A minute later he had an answer, but he wasn't sure whether it was the one he had wanted.
"Nick Carraway is no real person at all. It's a fictional figure from an english novel, called..."
"The Great Gatsby." Fuji finished for him. He bit his lip. "Taka-san, I'm not sure, but I don't think I like what this is pointing to."
At that moment, they caught sight of a familiar car headed into their direction.
"For now." Fuji stated. "Let's not mention Tezuka. We'll need to talk to Inui,"
+ + +
After numerous polite inquiries, they fought their way up to the room Inui and Tezuka shared. Kawamura felt utterly awkward telling Oishi they had no news concerning Tezuka, but he told himself he had no official news after all. And furthermore, he could feel far too many eyes lingering on his back.
Perhaps Fuji's implications were making him paranoid. Though he couldn't quite shake the uncomfortable feeling.
Fuji resolutely kicked the door shut with one crutch before hoping closer to Inui. Kawamura followed closely, in case Fuji should stumble - the boy was much too concentrated on solving this to pay much attention to his own limits.
"Ah, how is your ankle?" Inui asked, glancing up from a desaster consisting of pencils, papers and more numbers than Kawamura hoped to see at any time of his life.
"Only a sprain, thank you." Fuji evenly replied, "Say, would you know whether Tezuka brought his english dictionary?"
Kawamura blinked, as did Inui. He had expected a discussion, or maybe for Inui and Fuji to offer a strange explanation for everything that had happened until now. Apparently, Inui, too, hadn't counted on being asked for a dictionary of all things.
"... I think so." Inui tentatively replied, desperately trying to read Fuji's expression.
When Kawamura turned to his smaller companion, he could see that he was smiling his usual smile - and thus rendered his face completely unfathomable.
"Well, would you mind bringing it to the terrace in about ten minutes? I had some questions on a book we read in English class recently and maybe you can help me along."
In the far back of Kawamura's mind two puzzle pieces clicked. And the more he realized they fit, the more he feared to see the whole picture.
"Sure." Inui replied and shared a confused look with Kawamura, before the other two left the room.
+ + +
They headed straight to the terrace, which was still warm with golden light from the sinking sun. The borders of the forest were black against the horizon and wide fields spread into the other direction. Snow-capped mountains glowed in the last sunrays.
The scenery did little to calm the disquiet that had befallen Kawamura's heart.
Fuji plopped down into one of the well-stuffed chairs in a corner with a loud sigh. Exhaustion was becoming apparent on his face. Kawamura slowly sat down next to him, silent.
Finally, he drew a deep breath. "Fuji, do you think... what do you think Tezuka was saying?"
Fuji smiled tiredly. "I'm not sure. Or rather, I don't want to believe it."
"What is it, then? I'm still not sure how everything connects." Kawamura asked, wondering whether it wouldn't be better just to remain silent. He didn't want to look stupid in front of Fuji, but somehow he felt Fuji knew more than he let on.
"It's ... difficult." Fuji said. "Tezuka wanted to tell me something important at breakfast and for some reason didn't dare to tell me the matter directly. Neither did he tell you, instead he used a kind of code that I hope I'm interpreting correctly... But anyways, he tells me, and about immediately afterwards he gets into an accident. And contact between any of us and him is strict forbidden and if allowed, I guess, will be monitored."
"It looks quite suspicious." Kawamura admitted, swallowing. "But couldn't it all have been chance?"
"I'm not sure. But here's Inui." He nodded toward the door of the terrace which had just opened to allow Inui to step onto the sun-flooded tiles. "That dictionary might hold a clue."
Inui drew a chair away from one of the tables and sat down opposite to them, with his back towards the sun. "Are we looking for something specific?" He asked.
Fuji shook his head and held his hand out for the well-worn dictionary. "No. I hope I'll recognize what it is when I see it."
And without any further words he held the book by the spine and let it flap open. Pages fluttered, until the dictionary remained open on a particular page. Kawamura held his breath and leaned forward.
A dark smile crossed Fuji's face and Inui pushed his glasses up.
On the page before them rested a single, torn green plant leaf.
"Inui?" Fuji asked.
"I'll have to verify this. But I'd say you're guessing correctly."
A cold shudder ran down Kawamura’s spine. He didn’t like what all this pointed to - and he was afraid what this meant for Tezuka. Still, he swallowed his dread and asked: “What do we do now?”
“Tonight we can’t do anything.” Inui replied. “But tomorrow…”
“We need to verify this is what we think it is.” Fuji said, and nodded to the book he had closed again.
Inui thoughtfully nodded. “Yes, but we should be careful. I have an inkling what might have happened to my biology book. And those tennis magazines Tezuka brought.”
“In case he brought any.” Fuji said. “But then again, I guess he did. Otherwise somebody might have figured he meant something different.”
Kawamura swallowed. “But they still could figure it out, can’t they? The moment they notice that person is no tennis player…”
“In that case we should see that we recover those tennis magazines, before anybody gets a chance to check them for an article on… who was it?” Inui thoughtfully glanced up to the sky which was still a light blue in the west, even though overhead the first stars had appeared.
“Nick Carraway.” Fuji supplied. “I could have figured it earlier. He’s a character from a novel we read in English and for that I borrowed Tezuka’s English dictionary. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tezuka also had that novel somewhere in his luggage.”
“He was quite thorough.” Kawamura agreed, still silently wondering at how afraid their captain must have been to leave such misleading clues.
Inui sighed. “And we should see that Tezuka gets transported to Tokyo for further treatment. I wish I had come to that clinic with you, but what I heard doesn’t make me want to trust them.”
“Did something happen?” Kawamura inquired, unsettled.
“We finally got word on Tezuka’s condition. The car accident rumour was confirmed, he’s supposedly stable but unable to receive visitors. Did you…?”
“Taka-san saw Tezuka.” Fuji supplied.
Inui curiously looked at him. Kawamura recalled his short conversation with Tezuka. “The first two points are probably right, but I talked to him and, well, I think there’s no reason for him not to receive any visitors.”
“It’s more they don’t want him to.” Inui darkly muttered.
It did fit with how insistent Tezuka was to have Fuji look into the matter of that supposed article, Kawamura remembered. “But who are they?” He asked quietly, trying to give a face to their unknown enemy. “And why do they…”
“Act like this?” Fuji finished for him. “It’s too early to say, but there’s probably more than one person involved.”
“Furthermore, there is the question why they didn’t kill Tezuka if he knew too much.” Inui coldly stated and Kawamura shuddered, wondering how Inui managed to voice such a terrible idea so calmly.
“Seeing that somebody at the clinic is probably involved to a certain extend, I’d say they aren’t interested in seeing Tezuka die.” Fuji added with a look that made Kawamura’s hair stand. “That accident might have just been a warning.”
“Does that mean he isn’t in danger?” Kawamura asked and Inui shook his head.
“Right now, he isn’t. But that might not remain a warning, depending on what happens next. That means we’ll have to be very, very careful about what we do next.”
“Wouldn’t it be best to arrange for Tezuka to be transferred to Tokyo as fast as possible?” Kawamura suggested.
Fuji nodded. “It might be. But arranging such a transfer might take time and we’re supposed to leave in two days. And I doubt we’ll ever find out what really happened after we have left.”
“Well, maybe Oishi can ask his uncle to fasten things a little.” Inui suggested and pushed his chair back. He stood up, glanced at the sky from which the sun had completely disappeared and nodded at Kawamura and Fuji.
“I’ll go and ask him now.”
+ + +
Fuji and Kawamura remained on the terrace even after the last remains of blue had disappeared into the far west and the sky overhead had turned into a black blanket dottet with diamond-like sparkling stars. Barely a noise disturbed the silence - cars passing in the distance, planes flying overhead and all other sounds audible even in the dead of night at Tokyo had completely vanished.
Strange, Kawamura thought, how peaceful it appeared. And yet, knowing what he knew, made him weary.
“Fuji...” he wondered aloud, “What do you think... what will this result in?”
The expression in Fuji’s eyes was everything but reassuring. “I don’t know.”
Kawamura nodded thoughtfully.“Do you think what happened to Tezuka could also happen to somebody else?”
“Yes.” Fuji replied. “Though, as I said before - it’s all a little strange. Seeing how somebody wanted to silence Tezuka and yet didn’t kill him... The moment he’s discharged, it’s all back to the beginning.”
“Though we’ll probably be back in Tokyo at that time.” Kawamura added. “Perhaps whoever is behind this thinks once we’re gone we’ll pose no danger.”
Fuji bit his lip. “That might be it. Though...”
He sighed and glanced up at the stars. Kawamura could plainly see lines of fatigue etched into his friend’s face. The day had taken a lot out of them all - he felt like falling asleep on the spot himself.
“... it makes me wonder whether we shouldn’t leave the entire thing alone.” Fuji carried on, oblivious Kawamura’s glance. “Whoever is behind this obviously holds a lot of influence and who knows - the next time they might not stop at a warning.”
Kawamura shuddered. The nightly tranquility seemed so enchanting - so easy to succumb to this peace and fall asleep - and clashed so horribly with what was happening.
A light breeze picked up, ruffled the old trees and carried cool, fresh air to them.
“We should go to sleep.” Kawamura said, breaking the lullaby-like silence that hung over them. “Everything else can be taken care of tomorrow.”
“Yes.” Fuji replied with a soft smile. “I’m feeling somwhat tired, after all.”
‘Somewhat tired’ was an understatment and Kawamura almost felt compelled to pick his team mate up and carry him the rest of the way, but knowing Fuji he resolved follow closely, ready to lend a hand if needed.
He only hoped he’d also be there to lend a helping hand should things take a turn for the worse tomorrow.
tbc