[FIC] Sagashibito (The Searchers) - 13
Title: SagashibitoAuthor: Sfenc
Pairing(s): Non really. Maybe for now. And brotherly love of KoKame.
Rating: PG-13 for a bit swearing.
Genre: AU, fantastic.
Beta by: none.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot.
Summary: They are living in shadows, always hiding. Because they have something that everybody wants. It is a Gift. Gift of seeing.
Author Note: I fiigured out how I'll finish this, but there is a long way inbetween. And english isn't my native.
Chapter 13 - a bit of walking couldn’t hurt anyone.
(First week of January, Year 447)
When Kame came to his senses it was already four in the afternoon. All the competitions ended and even his brother’s concert seemed to be over.
Cool compress on his forehead was not so wet anymore and there was no one around. ‘I need to get back home’ - thought Kame hanging his feet over to the floor. His head felt surprisingly light and empty, but otherwise he felt okay.
Akanishi-san didn’t send a car for him today, so he needed to go by school bus. But it seemed that luck wasn’t on his side today, and the next bus would be in an hour. Well, there was an under-station nearby, so he could just take u-train and be at home in no time. Actually, he never took the u-train before, but it was really convenient from what he heard. His classmates went everywhere by u-train, so it must be okay.
The boy got his things and moved out. Under-station Shibuku turned out to be a great labyrinth with over twenty exits, but Kame quickly found his way. Judging by scheme, he will get home in twenty minutes. Well, u-trains were really convenient for their speed and prevalence. Why weren’t they using it ever was beyond Kame’s comprehension. He remembered very vaguely that somewhere in his childhood he must have had ride on u-train, but… the memory was so vague and elusive, that he remembered only way down…
U-train was really awesome, smooth and round and simply cool. Kame stood in awe for ten minutes, until the doors started to close and he got just enough time for jumping in the last car.
***
Inside the train it was really cool too. It looked a bit like bus, but there were eight doors on both sides of wagon and one more door to the next wagon. There were a lot of advertising posters and complicate scheme of u-ground’s lines. Also there were special racks with magazines and books for reading during the travel, but most of the passengers looked at their e-books, ignoring those racks.
Kame sat on vacant seat near the last door of wagon, and looked at the rails through the rear window. It was mesmerizing view. Funny, like his life was flowing forward leaving all the things in the past. He was left by his parents (surely his mom and dad left him, because that was what “they” always told him in University), then he left University, then he left their apartment, and now he was leaving competition field, thinking about his secret being revealed. That meant only one thing: he would be expelled from school. Surely Haruma-sensei will throw him out of the team. And all that too will be left behind like those rails disappearing from his view…
He began feeling sleepy and closed his eyes for a bit, listening to the soft rocking of wagon and hoping, that he wouldn’t miss his stop…
But the next thing he knew was him flying to the floor due to strong impact. The u-train still moved forward, but passengers began to look around themselves in worry. They said something in hushed voices between themselves and all Kame could hear was one strange word “u-worms”.
***
Koki ran over the school for the fifth time and still couldn’t find his brother. He asked everyone one his way about kendo-fighter from Yukihime Chuu, but it looked like no one met Kame.
Koki was falling into despair then finally, on his third trip to the infirmary he met there a nurse, who was trying to straighten her disheveled appearance into something appropriate. The nurse wasn’t there before and now he had a clue why exactly.
“Here was a girl, girl from kendo club. You should have seen her” - Koki attacked the nurse immediately. “There is she?!”
Girl just shrugged nonchalantly, but the blond boy who chose that exact moment to approach them, grinned taking a hold of nurse’s waist.
“That turtle-girl? She’s already left. Mumbled something about u-train, so she should be at home soon”.
“Kame isn’t at home! I’d know about that by now, she’d call me! And I can’t get her by phone!” - Koki was nervous and angry.
“Easy, easy lover-boy”, - smirked guy. - “If she’s on u-train, you won’t get her by phone, right? Everybody knows about that”
That’s then it sink into Koki’s mind. “She said @u-train@??? It can’t be! It would be a disaster!! It’s a-” - Koki dashed through the door, making call to Kame’s classmate from kendo club. Maybe it wasn’t like that guy said. Maybe Kame didn’t get home by u-train. It’s a suicide, fuck!
***
Kame tried to sit back only to be thrown again to the floor. The wagon was shaking badly by now, but the train was on autopilot and won’t stop for another three minutes until next station.
Kame was scared. Very. Very. Much. It was like all his thoughts were bumped into each other, trying to hide from something. And that something was chasing the train.
He looked around and saw that other passengers were sitting calmly, with annoyed expressions though. All this shaking disturbed their reading or listening or whatever they were doing at the moment. But otherwise they acted like nothing was being wrong. As if it was totally normal.
Only Kame was frightened as hell. It seemed like someone was looking inside the car and right into him. Like that someone was very inclined to get him. To eat him.
And no one cared.
There were people but they didn’t see him. It was like he’s all alone.
May be it’s just a dream. Like in a nightmare. And he’ll wake up any minute now. Maybe he’s still in the infirmary, resting. That’s all.
Kame looked to the right, through the rear window of wagon. And then he saw IT.
Boy’s breath hitched... No nightmare could be like this creature. It was something huge with dozen of feelers, and thousands luminous cerulean balls looking at him. It Looked at him. Felt him. Filled him with fear.
***
Koki was talking with Kame’s classmate and he absolutely hated what he heard. Apparently, Kame didn’t know about u-worms at all. Koki was so sure, that every sagashibito knew about their worst enemy that he couldn’t even imagine this possibility.
“Massu, help me find Kame. It’s urgent!” - asked Koki, rushing to the u-station. But he didn’t know, what to do from there. It’s not like he could ride on the u-train because of u-worms. All he could was asking from workers about recent attack.
***
Kame climbed on all fours and rushed to the next wagon, feeling like fear was numbing his limbs making them into jelly.
‘I need to get out. Out. Don’t touch me! Out. Help me?! Anyone… please?’
Boy reached next wagon and thought that it’s going to be safer here, but then he saw it: one of the feelers climbing through the technological hole in the window. That feeler was nearing him. Seeking him. Feeling him.
Kazuya looked at the other passengers from this car, but everyone was ignorant. Nobody paid him attention, they wasn’t even looking at him. Boy cried and run to the next wagon, and next, and he felt that feelers were chasing him, that pressure in his head was getting stronger and stronger. Kame thought that he was going insane. Well, it wasn’t rational thought in any way. He only felt scared and alone, and frustrated, and hurt, and his heartache and that pressure killing him, and… And then it suddenly became dark and he couldn’t run anymore, and he just struggled, kicked and bit, and cried…
“Hush, boy, hush. It’s okay. You don’t have to worry” - someone told him softly and smiley. “It’s a titan. They can’t feel you through it. Just sit still. It’s okay now”.
Kazuya kicked some more, but eventually calmed down and even looked up to see smiling young man in green sweater, who was holding him wrapped in the thick white-grey-checkered coat. The boy lifted his hand up to touch the coat, but on his way up he felt something strange. There was wetness on his cheeks. He was crying for the first time in years.
“It’s okay, really” - said his rescuer again. “You have nothing to be scared of anymore”.
“What~ was~ that?” - hiccupped boy, totally hating his own voice. Why was he crying like some weakling.
Stranger looked at him in surprise. “You really don’t know?” - Boy shook his head. “It’s a u-worm. And I think that we need to walk for a bit. Agree?”
Boy was only happy to nod and get off the train on the first stop.