Transcendency: Chapter 22
Title: Transcendency
Pairing: OT5, Matsumiya
Genre: AU, Angst, Dark Fantasy
Disclaimer: Plot is mine, Arashi is not. Unfortunately.
Summary: Down the rabbit hole they fell.
Author's Note: I won't lie, there's something highly satisfying about this AU allowing me to kill off certain annoying characters from Arashi's past.
Everything stopped when their eyes met. Nino couldn’t breathe. He clumsily pulled the goggles from his face, needing to know it was not some illusion created by the glass. The scene before his eyes remained unchanged. There in front of him stood the man he’d been longing to see for the longest time. He looked the same and yet different. Physically, not much had changed. His hair appeared slightly longer and was styled differently, with his bangs swept back from his face instead of down. His body, too, seemed stronger somehow; his shoulders slightly broader, his arms more toned. All differences subtle yet noticeable.
But his face was unchanged. They were the same strong features; the same fierce eyes brimming with passion; the same thick brows they used to mercilessly tease him for; every mole, every scar, identical to the face he saw in his dreams, night after night. He held himself with a new confidence, exuding an aura that was both assuring and intimidating all at once. But the kindness that shone in those chestnut eyes was as Nino remembered and it took his breath away.
“Jun-kun.” His voice was less than a whisper, so soft that not even he was certain he actually spoke.
Beside him, he could feel Yamazaki staring but he couldn’t move. The former’s gaze fleetingly moved between him and the man in front of them.
“I thought you said you lost them all,” he murmured.
“I thought I did,” Nino whimpered.
The confirmation that he was not the only one seeing Jun gave him the strength to finally move, albeit unsteadily. Each staggering step that closed the distance between him and his once-gone friend was a struggle. Using every bit of strength he had just to keep his legs from caving in, he wasn’t sure he would make it far enough to reach Jun. Thankfully, the younger was just as determined to get to him. The moment they were standing in front of one another, all other thoughts were banished from Nino’s mind. At first, he was sure it was a lie. He was convinced he was seeing things again and the moment he blinked, Jun would vanish again like he always did. But the signs of truth were there. He could feel the heat of his flesh so close, could smell the tantalisingly earthy tones of his natural fragrance, and hear the sound of him inhaling each breath.
Nino dared to close his eyes, needing to know once and for all if it was true. His breathing hitched and he delayed himself in opening them in fear of his friend leaving him again. When he finally pried them open, nothing had changed. As Jun’s lips broke apart in a slightly crooked yet genuine smile, a flood of emotion washed over Nino that brought him to the verge of tears. He threw his arms around the younger, not caring that the full force of his weight caused them both to stagger backwards. He wouldn’t have cared even if they ended up on the ground or in the water for that matter. He needed to feel him. He stood tall on his toes, his hands wrapping around the other’s neck as he buried his face in his nape. The faintest pulse of his veins ricocheted through his skin and into Nino’s, acting as proof of his still beating heart. Dampness soaked both his cheek and Jun’s collarbone.
“You’re alive.” Nino’s voice was muffled and shaking so much, he could barely get the words out. “Thank god.”
Despite his initial shock, Jun was quick to recover from the sudden embrace. His own arms encompassed his smaller body. Nino relished in the strength and comfort he could feel hugging him back; never in his life had he felt happier than he did right now.
“It’s really you.” Jun’s voice trembled just as much as his did. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
They eventually broke apart, though both were reluctant to severe the embrace entirely. Nino rubbed his eyes dry with the back of his wrist, taking comfort in the hand that continued to linger on his arm. When he looked up, he saw Jun’s eyes were also damp with tears. The latter flashed him another somewhat sheepish smile before looking past him. Nino’s heart ached at the hopefulness he saw as the younger sought out the rest of their friends among the crowd. Instead, he spotted another familiar face approaching them, one he was definitely not expecting to see. Jun’s smile wavered and his expression marred with confusion.
“Zakiyama?” he spoke, a little uncertain.
Yamazaki furrowed his brows. “Is that a thing with you guys?”
Ignoring him, Jun turned to Nino. “When did you two become chummy?”
“It’s a long story,” Nino mumbled, rubbing his neck awkwardly. It was not a conversation he wanted to get into right now, though he knew it was not something he could avoid forever.
While Jun looked as though he wanted to question him further on the whereabouts of their friends, he was not given the chance as registration closed. The commencement of the game brought all conversation to a swift end. Nino glanced briefly at their numbers-a total of eleven players. A corresponding amount of numbers appeared on their phone screens, above which was an instruction.
SELECT A NUMBER.
Exchanging an unsure glance with those beside him, Nino hesitantly reached to make his choice. His finger drifted across the screen. It was reasonable to assume the numbers were related to the order of participation in tonight’s game and while he was still unclear as to what that would be, it allowed him to rule out a vast majority of the options. Neither the first nor last cluster of numbers would be to his advantage; going first in an otherwise unknown game was foolish to say the least and without knowing the time limit they would have to play, going last was no better. He settled on a comfortable number within the mid-ground.
Selecting number seven before any other player had made their choice, he turned to his two companions. Despite still looking uncomfortable over the unknown whereabouts of his other friends, Jun remained calm in his selection. He followed Nino’s lead and chose a middle number of five. Both their chosen numbers vanished from all phone screens. Their removal triggered something of a mass panic among the remaining players, with over half the numbers quickly vanishing from their phones in the seconds that followed. Yamazaki did not seem in the least bit concerned by this, nor was he bothered when he was left with number ten.
As the selection came to an end once all players were assigned a number, their phones chimed with a familiar ringtone. All players stared at the screens in anticipation.
“Game: Leap of Faith,” the AI spoke. “Difficulty: Eight of Hearts.”
Nino’s heart jumped into his throat. For a second time that night, he lost his ability to breathe as his lungs became impossibly tight. Learning the suit of tonight’s game was his forte brought him nothing but anxiety as all the pain and loss of his previous heart games came flooding back. He looked to Jun, terrified to think he might lose him again so soon after finding him. To his surprise, the younger’s expression was not nearly as nervous as he expected it to be. In fact, he was shockingly composed. Fire burned in his gaze as he continued to stare at his phone.
“Rules: Blindfolded, players must get to the safe zone on the other side of the pool. One player shall hang from the rope using their own strength; the hangman may choose to help the other players by telling them when it is safe to jump or help themselves by letting players fall. Clear condition: Any player who fails to reach the safe zone within ten minutes will be eliminated.”
When the rules concluded, Nino looked nervously at the rope once more. Sturdy enough to sustain their weight yet undoubtedly too thick to maintain a strong handhold for long; he felt immediately concerned by the mere chance that he would be chosen as the hangman. His gaze drifted to the water and suddenly the thought of jumping blind off the edge didn’t seem like any more of an appealing thought. The water still appeared perfectly harmless but somehow he knew it was anything but. He really didn’t want to discover what would happen to him should he fall in.
Their phones once again displayed eleven icons, only this time it was not numbers they were choosing from. It was the identities of each player.
NOMINATE HANGMAN.
Murmurs swept through the group as the players were left conflicted over who to pick. While a little relieved to discover it would not be a random selection, Nino’s anxieties remained as he was faced with the perilous vote. If they chose wrong now, they were all dead. Wary glances were exchanged. It became immediately clear that no one felt confident enough in the skill or trustworthiness of their fellow players. Then one voice rose above the rest, clear and full of conviction.
“I’ll be the hangman.”
Nino whipped around, his wide gaze staring at Jun in disbelief. The latter had stepped forward, his expression conveying the same steely determination that had rung true in his voice. His gaze moved over each of the players, who all looked as taken aback by his volunteering as Nino. The latter tugged his friend’s arm insistently and pulled him aside from the rest of the group. Despite the small distance he put between them, his voice still dropped to a hushed whisper.
“What are you doing?”
“Saving our lives,” Jun hissed back. “The hangman decides who lives and who dies. Do you trust any of these people to not let you fall?”
Nino didn’t need to look at those they were playing with to know the answer to that question. “Of course not,” he snapped.
Jun gestured to the two of them. “One of us has to be the one on that rope and we both know you’re not strong enough to hold yourself up there for ten minutes, let alone other people.”
“And you are?” Nino spat back.
He didn’t know what trials his friend had faced to survive this long on his own; all he knew was the Jun from their first few games, who’d hardly been able to scrape through any challenge without injury. Nino looked away with a frustrated wince. He didn’t care that this new version of Jun who stood before him appeared stronger and more confident; he couldn’t bear the thought of letting him put himself in such peril. A hand landed on his arm. When he glanced back, he met Jun’s strong gaze.
“Do you trust me?”
Silence followed the younger’s question. Nino’s lack of an immediate answer was not due to mistrust, but rather shock at the strength behind his assertion. It would seem he was not the only one to have changed during their time apart. Suddenly subdued, he stepped back with a soft nod.
“Always,” he murmured.
“Then trust me now,” Jun said. “It’ll be okay, I promise.”
Giving Nino’s s arm a squeeze, he held the other’s gaze until he saw a flicker of belief in the smaller guy’s gaze. Jun then turned to the rest of the players. He addressed them with polite urgency.
“The hangman needs to be someone who is not only strong enough to hold onto the rope for ten minutes, but smart enough to figure out the timing of the swing to ensure we all get to the other side safely.”
Feelings of unrest continued to torment Nino even as he looked on quietly while Jun made his case. The logical side of him knew his friend was right; he didn’t trust anyone else. The only other person he might feel remotely okay with being the hangman was Yamazaki but while he believed the young man would have the strength to remain on the rope, he didn’t trust his capacity to determine the timing. Considering he butchered the basics of learning guitar, Nino doubted he would be able to figure out the precise rhythm needed to swing them all to safety. Jun, on the other hand, possessed the attention to detail necessary to do just that.
“Even if you can do as you say, why should we believe you won’t just let us fall?” one of the players confronted Jun. Himura, as Nino recognised from the identities listed on their phones.
“This is a hearts game,” another player, Oizumi, agreed. “We can’t trust anyone here.”
Jun shook his head. “The rules state the hangman may choose to deceive or assist the other players, ergo this is only a hearts game if we choose to deceive one another.”
“He’s right,” Yamazaki spoke up. “This is as much a clubs game as anything else. If we decide to trust each other and work together instead of turning on one another, we can all make it across safely.”
Jun shot him an appreciative glance for his voice of support. While many of the other players remained hesitant as to whether they should listen to their words of reason, there was no time left to make up their minds. There was only thirty seconds left to vote. The eleven of them hastily made their selection. It was with many conflicted thoughts that Nino selected Jun’s name. As the timer reached its end, the results of the vote became known to them. It was far from unanimous, with at least three players having received one or more votes, but in the end it was Jun’s victory.
The icons vanished from their screen and the display switched to a vertical listing that resembled an Olympic start list. Each of their names were listed in numerical order according to their previous selection. It was only for a moment before Jun’s name was erased from beside five and all ensuing names moved up one slot. Jun’s name reappeared at the bottom of the screen beside the hangman title. With their order now settled, the game was ready to commence.
The remaining ten players lined themselves up in order while Jun stepped to the front. He looked briefly to Nino before reaching for the rope. His gaze shone with the same determination it had all night, though the former didn’t miss the flicker of assurance that sparkled deeper in their dark depths. Nino took a half step towards him before restraining himself. He bit down on his lip as he watched Jun take the rope in his hand, curling its length securely around his right knuckles. Once confident he had a strong enough grip, he pushed off the edge of the platform. Nino held his breath when the momentum swung him away from them. The players watched as he made small adjustments to his hold now that he had no additional support to help him maintain his weight. Nino’s gaze trailed his body; the definition of his muscles was never clearer than it was now with the way his biceps flexed, his hands digging into the rope with the full force of his upper body. It was an impressive sight and it left Nino confused as to how his friend was doing it.
It was the last thing he saw before darkness engulfed his vision. Nino startled at the sudden blindness. He tugged on the goggles but they refused to budge from his face and from the commotion he could hear occurring around him, he wasn’t the only one. The player in front stumbled and bumped into him; he was confident he would have lost his footing had he not crashed into the player behind him. A disgruntled remark to watch where he was going failed to register with him as he was left scrambling to get his bearings.
Clinging to the rope, Jun looked on as the goggles of the other players darkened. The glass became pitch black, turning their eyes to soulless voids that were unnerving to look at. As he observed them stumbling into one another, panic escalating by the minute, he could feel the beads of sweat already forming on his brow from the taxing position he was forced to hold. He flexed his abdominal muscles and pulled himself higher on the rope, swinging his lower body towards the group. What started off as small motions quickly became a full sway. Once the peak height of his backward swing was aligned with the platform below, he called out to the flustered players. The monitors around the arena illuminated with the same start list that had been displayed on their phones. Both the first player’s name and his role as first jumper was announced through the sound system, as if they really were Olympic competitors.
“Yoshimura-san, turn slightly to your left and take two full steps forward,” Jun instructed the first in line.
The agitated man did as he was told, albeit nervously. His steps were more of a half shuffle than what Jun had asked of him, much to the latter’s frustration. He maintained the speed of his swing even as he called out further instructions.
“Take another step…that’s it. Now on the count of three, jump as far as you can. One.”
Yoshimura was shaking as he stood on the precipice.
“Two.”
Jun swung himself towards the platform. Yoshimura’s knees bent a little, his left leg shifting back as if to assume a runner’s start.
“Three!”
Jun held out his hand in expectation but despite the rope swinging towards the platform in conjunction with his third count, Yoshimura refused to budge. Jun grunted in annoyance and quickly grabbed the rope with both hands again before he slipped. He was about to start another countdown when the other player suddenly jumped forward.
“Wait!” Jun shouted when he saw him leap off the edge, the rope already on a backward trajectory.
He missed the lifeline by a good couple of metres and fell straight down. A loud splash followed. Jun stared wide-eyed as the pool turned dark crimson. His heart raced upon seeing Yoshimura’s body dissolve in the once clear liquid, any attempt at crying for help drowned out by the agonising yet instant death that claimed him.
The pungent chlorine was joined by another odour. While not nearly strong enough to overpower the tangy reek of the chlorinated water, its familiarity struck Nino and suddenly, he could smell nothing else. The stench of boiling blood and liquifying flesh-it made his skin crawl to experience that foul odour again so soon. Even without being able to see, he instinctively knew the pool beneath him was no longer crystalline, just as he knew it was not water that filled it.
“What happened?” the other players cried, their voices tainted with panic at the unknown of what was occurring around them. “Did he make it?”
Nino could hear Jun’s hesitation as he struggled to answer them. “Don’t jump before I tell you!”
His eventual yet vague warning confirmed everyone’s fears. He could sense the distress of those around him as they shouted at Jun, demanding to know if the first player was alright or not. The former refused to elaborate on the man’s fate and told them once again to only jump when he gave the order.
Despite being blind, the second player still looked down as if to examine the drop. Kikuchi stood waiting and listening for Jun’s count, her knees bent, her posture ready to jump. But when he told her to leap, she bounced back from the edge. She repeated the hesitant action twice.
“Eh, what should I do?” she exclaimed, her voice somewhere between frightened and coy.
Her behaviour infuriated Jun, who was quickly losing feeling in his arms. He adjusted his grip again and forced himself to continue the swing of the rope.
“You have to jump!” he yelled.
“But it’s so scary, and what if you get the timing wrong? You missed with the first guy,” she complained.
“I didn’t miss, he jumped before he was supposed to,” Jun snapped.
“Still, maybe you should take some more time to figure it out, just to make sure it’s safe.”
“If you waste any more time, you’ll kill yourself and everyone else, now shut up and jump when I tell you!”
It took another round of hesitation and counting, but Kikuchi finally did as she was asked. With a shriek, she leapt off the platform. Although the timing was perfect, her flailing arms made her nearly impossible to catch. Even as Jun managed to miraculously grasp her, she continued to writhe and squirm while her shrill screaming made the already difficult task of keeping focused that much harder. She slipped from his hold a few seconds later and plummeted towards the darkened water with an echoing wail.
Jun cursed under his breath. As annoying as she had been, it was not the result he’d hoped for. He didn’t dare mention the second miss lest the remaining eight players refuse to make the leap, though as he scanned the terrified faces of those in line, he feared his silence was redundant.
“Keep your arms outstretched,” he commanded the next to jump. “I’ll catch you.”
He tried to sound as convincing as he possibly could but he couldn’t help the involuntary twang of fear that distorted his voice. It wasn’t just the physical exhaustion threatening his own safety that had him nervous; there was a little over six minutes remaining and still so many players left to take the leap. Seeing Nino’s face down the line, as helplessly blind as the rest of them, Jun was petrified that he would fail his friend. He took a moment to collect his nerve, knowing such negative thoughts would doom them all. He pushed aside the burn that was seething through his arm muscles and ignored the perspiration that dampened his palms. He inhaled a deep, calming breath.
“I will catch you,” he repeated, sounding much more assured this time.
The sentiment behind his promise reached the third player. Nishikido’s trembling ceased and he stepped to the very edge of the platform. He inched his toe forward, feeling exactly where the drop was, before aligning himself according to Jun’s instructions. When the latter began counting down, he slid his leg back in the same way Yoshimura had. Unlike the older player, however, Nishikido did not hesitate to leap at the exact moment Jun ordered him to.
“Three!”
With not a trace of hesitation, he threw himself off the platform with arms outstretched. Jun hastily grabbed his right arm in a lock. Nishikido’s hand reflexively clenched around his wrist and as his body dangled freely, Jun was able to use his added weight to swing them further back.
Controlling the angle of the sway as best he could, he warned Nishikido to prepare himself to let go. When the rope neared the apex of its backward swing, he released his hand. The other player flew towards the second pool. Jun almost couldn’t bear to watch in case that one was also filled with acid. To his relief, the player surfaced again after a moment, stunned from the fall but otherwise unharmed.
“Made it!” he exclaimed.
The encouraging confirmation of his safe landing helped to ease the nerves of most still on the platform, however briefly. The next player did hesitate to jump but she ultimately listened to Jun’s commands. Much lighter than her predecessor, Toda too succeeded in reaching the safe zone in spite of her hand nearly missing Jun’s in the initial catch.
Nino stifled a small whimper when he felt the line move up a few steps more, bringing him that much closer to the gruesome plummet. Being devoid of one of his senses certainly wasn’t doing anything to eliminate his concerns. Not being able to see was frightening enough but the way his other senses heightened to compensate his lack of sight made things much worse. The smell of the acid intensified with each passing minute; the ticks of the ten-minute countdown boomed like fireworks going off; the hyperventilating of the players in front of him, so loud he could barely hear his own rapid breathing; the powerful heat of the bodies too close for comfort; the sensation of his feet getting closer to the edge.
Worst of all, he could both hear and sense Jun’s struggles. They grew more obvious the longer he remained on that rope, to the point where Nino could picture him in his mind. He saw his dear friend desperately clinging to the lifeline, his sweat-soaked bangs falling back over his eyes, his hands raw with burns and callouses. It was an image that made Nino’s innards knot. Knowing that at any moment, his strength might give out and send him too plummeting into the acid below scared him as much as the notion of jumping himself did.
“Jump!” he heard Jun scream at Himura. Frustration had given way to genuine anger as the minutes continued to tick by. “Jump now or you’ll kill everyone!”
Hearing the strain in his voice, Nino stiffened. He didn’t need to see to know his friend was nearing his limit as the hangman. An announcement sounded, informing the players that there was only three minutes left. Irritated over feeling Himura bump into him once again in his prolonged hesitation, Nino decided to take matters into his own hands.
The heat radiating from the hefty body in front of him was almost blistering while the anticipation of what he was about to do made Nino tremble. When Jun began counting for the third time, Nino listened not for the numbers themselves but the distance of his friend’s voice. As soon as he heard his tone decrescendo when the rope swung him away from the platform, Nino kicked out his leg, striking the player hard in the hip. A started yell tore from Himura’s throat when he suddenly found himself in freefall, but was soon silenced upon hitting the acid.
Jun’s counting ceased, his stunned gazed fixed on where Nino now stood at the front of the line. Glancing at the dwindling time, he felt oddly at peace with his friend’s drastic action. Himura’s outright refusal to jump was beyond frustrating and while his death was not something Jun prided himself in, he certainly wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
The sound system announced Nino’s turn. It was followed by the same simulated cheering that had followed every other player’s introduction. Honing his focus once more on the game, Jun regained a strong swinging rhythm. He was more determined than ever to ensure he got the timing right.
“On my count, ready?”
Nino nodded and bent his knees, preparing for the jump to come. But as the younger reached his third count, he suddenly lost his nerve. He stammered an apology for having missed his chance to jump but was too busy trying not to choke with how suddenly short of breath he was to care about sounding sincere. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe Jun would catch him; he just couldn’t help fearing the worst.
“Kazu, you have to trust me,” Jun called. “I will catch you.”
The sincerity of his vow gave Nino back his courage. He readied himself a second time, listening closely to Jun’s instructions.
“One.”
Nino crouched lower, leaning forward on his left leg. He kept both his knees and back bent to avoid any locking in his joints that would hinder his leap.
“Two.”
His chest heaved with unsteady breaths despite his best effort to keep calm. As adrenaline raged through his body, his senses suddenly failed him. It was like everything around him was heightened and dulled all at once. It took all his concentrative power just to focus on Jun’s voice.
“Three!”
Nino didn’t give himself a second to doubt. With explosive power, he launched forward. He felt empty air rush all around him, his form weightless for a heartbeat. It was both freeing and terrifying. Then their bodies collided with bruising force. Nino stunned himself as the breath was knocked from him and before he knew it, he was falling straight down. It was only for a moment before a hand snatched him out of freefall. The added weight sent the rope into a chaotic frenzy of swinging but Jun didn’t allow it to shake loose his grip. His right hand clutched the rope so tight, he could feel the material cutting deep into his palm. He gritted his teeth and held Nino tight with his left hand. Everything was hurting. His arms were screaming for relief, his back and shoulders taut from the taxing position. Even the muscles in his neck were straining. His jaw clenched in both pain and determination as he fought to withstand the pain of the other’s weight.
Nino winced when nails dug into his arm. But despite the pain, he felt no fear. The grip holding him was so fierce, it left no room to doubt he was anything but safe. He did his best not to squirm as their bodies swung back and forth on the rope, knowing even the slightest movement would make things harder for his friend.
“I’m going to let go,” Jun told him.
Nino made a small noise of consent, all the while ignoring the way his heart raced. There was no time to prepare even with the younger’s warning. As the hand holding him suddenly opened, his body flew through the air at an even greater speed than that which he’d had upon jumping. The world spun upside-down and a dizzying whirlwind overcame him.
The impact of the fall was so intense, Nino honestly wasn’t sure at first if he hit the water or solid ground. A powerful throb ricocheted through his skull while a near paralysing force shot down his back, all the way to his legs. It took a few seconds before he was able to register the saturated sensation that now engulfed him. He kicked and flailed about rather violently in his search for the surface. He couldn’t tell up from down. With the way his goggles continued to block out every bit of light from his vision, he was left stranded in the water like a hapless swimmer caught in the churning sea during a storm.
When his head finally broke the surface with a desperate gasp for air, he found himself blinded in an entirely new way. The darkness that had cloaked his vision suddenly lifted and was replaced by a radiant light, dotted with blotches of instinct colour. He blinked several times as he treaded water and pulled the now loosened goggles from his face. Half-blind, he paddled his way over to the edge, using the voices of the players who jumped before him to guide the way. He dragged his sore body out of the deep pool. Spluttering in an effort to rid his lungs of the water, he knelt at the edge of the pool, shivering. He wiped the droplets from his face and winced at the sting of chlorine that seeped into his eyes.
Turning his clearing gaze skywards, Nino saw the challenge continue. The player that had been behind him now stood awaiting her turn. She held an air of composure despite the noticeable tension in her body.
“Take two small steps forward,” Jun called to Arimura when he was finally ready to proceed. She nodded and did so immediately.
As the countdown for the next jump began, Nino caught himself holding his breath. Everything seemed to slow; the moment Arimura leapt off the platform, the ripple of inertia that cascaded through their bodies the moment they collided, the closeness in which Jun held her as they swung backwards. Nino was overcome by a strange and uncomfortable sensation. It started in his stomach and quickly travelled down, making him weak in the knees while his throat unknowingly tightened. He couldn’t help wondering if that’s how Jun had caught him.
There was little time to dwell on it, however, as no sooner had Arimura been caught that she was released. She flew over the top of the other players, plunging straight into the safe zone pool with a loud splash. Jun’s gaze lingered on her for a moment even as the rope swung him towards the platform once more. Nino ignored the prickle of discomfort he continued to feel while he stared at the water and watched Arimura resurface. She swept her wet hair back from her face, pulling off her goggles in the process. Her flustered gaze searched above her before she started to swim back to the edge.
“Look out!”
Nino had half a second to process Toda’s yell before she dove into him, knocking them both back into the pool just as Arioka crashed right where the group of players had been standing. Startled by the sudden submersion, Nino’s mouth opened involuntarily, gulping down even more liquid that caused his chest to tighten and burn. He frantically clawed his way to the surface. He could barely keep his head above water while he coughed and spluttered, the depth of the pool suddenly seeming as though it was dragging him back under.
“What happened?” he gasped.
“Arioka-kun let go too early,” Nishikido exclaimed beside him.
As the surviving players managed to swim their way back to solid ground, Nino recoiled at the gruesome sight that awaited them. The young player’s body lay mangled on the ground. Just as Nishikido claimed, he had dropped from the rope but rather than land in either of the pools, he had the unfortunate luck of landing squarely on one of the diving blocks. His spine snapped on impact, his limp corpse bouncing off the block to go flying towards the rest of them. There was a noticeable bloodstain smeared across the white fibreglass.
But it was not his remains that concerned Nino most of all. Even with the distance between where he stood and the rope, it was obvious just how exhausted Jun was. He was having to readjust his grip every couple of seconds. His whole face scrunched up as he endeavoured to use what little strength he still had to pull himself back up the rope while every swing of the pendulum threatened to slide him dangerously close to the acid below.
While he didn’t believe Jun had let go of Arioka deliberately, it didn’t stop him from feeling concerned for the true reason behind the young player’s demise. A quick glance at the remaining time limit reaffirmed his already heightened fears. There was barely a minute to go and from the look of Jun’s condition, it was not a minute too soon. His worried gaze moved between his friend on the rope to the one left on the platform. A sick feeling struck his stomach. Had it been anyone else up there, Nino wouldn’t have hesitated to tell Jun to just forgo the rest of the game and save himself before his strength gave out entirely. But he couldn’t. Seeing Yamazaki among the two remaining faces atop the platform, he felt torn.
Jun stifled a pained groan at the way his body burned. He tried not to look down. The smell of the acid fumes reminded him of how close he was slipping towards certain doom, but having to witness the sight of Arioka’s body was not something he wished to inflict on himself. He’d tried to hold onto the boy; he really had. But as hard as he’d fought, Arioka’s hand had slipped through his perspiration-soaked palm before either of them was ready. Jun cursed himself for not being strong enough. He knew it was for this reason alone that Arioka’s death bothered him more than any of the previous players. He couldn’t bring himself to even glance at the pair still on the platform. It was taking every bit of strength he had just to hold onto the rope-how was supposed to get the last two players to the safe zone in the minute or so that remained?
Still, as he saw them standing there completely helpless, he felt compelled to at least try. It was obvious from Yamazaki’s expression that he was intently listening, awaiting the moment Jun told him to leap. Remembering Nino’s ambiguous claim of companionship with the young man before the game started, Jun flexed his arms and hauled himself a little higher on the rope before using his lower body to regain some momentum.
“Your turn, Zakiyama.”
Timing his counts accordingly, he gave the order for the young man to jump, all the while praying he wouldn’t hesitate. He didn’t. Much to both Jun and Nino’s relief, he launched off the platform at the exact moment Jun told him to. The latter caught him with thirty seconds remaining. It was less a clean catch than it was a bit of blind luck and fortunate timing. Needing to now use both hands to sustain his position on the rope, Jun used his legs instead to secure a hold of the other player. Yamazaki’s own reflexes kicked in the moment he collided with Jun; his arms wrapped around him, one reaching for the rope he could feel between them as extra support.
The release was just as messy. Missing the first backward swing on account of the spin that Yamazaki’s additional weight had caused the rope, the two of them were forced to try and mirror each other’s sway in order to maintain a strong enough pendulum swing to reach the water. Nino flinched and ducked down when his companion fell a little too close to the edge. But as near as he came to smashing his head on the side of the pool, Nino felt only relief when he saw Yamazaki surface unharmed some seconds later.
It was a short-lived feeling when he looked up and saw the fifteen seconds left of the game. While he cared little for Oizumi who stood last on the platform, Nino narrowed his eyes on the monitor behind him. He scanned the eleven names that were listed. His eyes widened and he gasped.
Breathing heavily, Jun hugged the rope close as he listened to the sounds of the young man enter the safe zone. In the back of his mind, he registered the sound system announcing the final player to jump, but he was too tired to care. Below, he could hear the cacophony of voices. Some were demanding to know why he had stopped giving instructions while others attempted to call out the timing to the Oizumi themselves. There were cries of encouragement and hostility, voices questioning if he was alright and warnings that time was running out. Jun tried to block them all out, hating every one of them as they reminded him of what he already knew. But a familiar voice cut through the noise and motivated him to look down, though briefly. He met Nino’s eyes. His whole expression was marred with fear as he watched the younger cling to the rope. Just as Jun began to question what had his friend so frightful, his vision was blanketed by a veil of sudden darkness.
“J, jump!”
Upon hearing Nino’s distressed shout, Jun didn’t hesitate to release the rope. As his hand let go, he felt the cord go slack as it inexplicably snapped from the ceiling and plummeted downwards. The momentum of the final swing was enough to send Jun hurtling towards the pool; he didn’t even register Oizumi’s agonised cry echoing in the distance. The wind was knocked out of him when he struck the water. As he sunk lower into the depths, his body spinning out of control from the thrust of the fall, his head hit the side of the pool. Dots of colour flickered across the black sheen still distorting his sight; the painful throb that was ricocheting through his skull was the only real assurance he had that he hadn’t been knocked completely unconscious by the blow.
Something snatched him from the water. Jun didn’t react when someone grabbed his shoulders roughly and dragged his semi-awake body out of the pool back onto solid ground. His hearing was muffled; he could hear the thundering of water in his ears and stifled voices, though he couldn’t make out what was being said. The goggles were ripped off his face but his vision didn’t return. A pressure landed on his chest while a warmth enveloped his lips. It was only for a few moments before the pressure built, a fierce spasm wracking his chest until he felt he was about to vomit up his lungs. Keeling over with a sudden burst of energy as if brought back from the brink of a dream, his sight was restored and he expelled the chlorinated water from his throat in a series of violent coughs. The warmth he’d experienced before returned, this time in the form of soothing rubs along his spine.
An upbeat ringtone sounded through the speakers. As the players looked up, they saw the arena monitors had switched displays to show a tally of the survivors versus those who hadn’t made it. Exchanging an exhausted look with his friend who was fretfully hovering over him, Jun lay back and basked in the artificial cheers and the accompanying game clear ruling.
Pairing: OT5, Matsumiya
Genre: AU, Angst, Dark Fantasy
Disclaimer: Plot is mine, Arashi is not. Unfortunately.
Summary: Down the rabbit hole they fell.
Author's Note: I won't lie, there's something highly satisfying about this AU allowing me to kill off certain annoying characters from Arashi's past.
Everything stopped when their eyes met. Nino couldn’t breathe. He clumsily pulled the goggles from his face, needing to know it was not some illusion created by the glass. The scene before his eyes remained unchanged. There in front of him stood the man he’d been longing to see for the longest time. He looked the same and yet different. Physically, not much had changed. His hair appeared slightly longer and was styled differently, with his bangs swept back from his face instead of down. His body, too, seemed stronger somehow; his shoulders slightly broader, his arms more toned. All differences subtle yet noticeable.
But his face was unchanged. They were the same strong features; the same fierce eyes brimming with passion; the same thick brows they used to mercilessly tease him for; every mole, every scar, identical to the face he saw in his dreams, night after night. He held himself with a new confidence, exuding an aura that was both assuring and intimidating all at once. But the kindness that shone in those chestnut eyes was as Nino remembered and it took his breath away.
“Jun-kun.” His voice was less than a whisper, so soft that not even he was certain he actually spoke.
Beside him, he could feel Yamazaki staring but he couldn’t move. The former’s gaze fleetingly moved between him and the man in front of them.
“I thought you said you lost them all,” he murmured.
“I thought I did,” Nino whimpered.
The confirmation that he was not the only one seeing Jun gave him the strength to finally move, albeit unsteadily. Each staggering step that closed the distance between him and his once-gone friend was a struggle. Using every bit of strength he had just to keep his legs from caving in, he wasn’t sure he would make it far enough to reach Jun. Thankfully, the younger was just as determined to get to him. The moment they were standing in front of one another, all other thoughts were banished from Nino’s mind. At first, he was sure it was a lie. He was convinced he was seeing things again and the moment he blinked, Jun would vanish again like he always did. But the signs of truth were there. He could feel the heat of his flesh so close, could smell the tantalisingly earthy tones of his natural fragrance, and hear the sound of him inhaling each breath.
Nino dared to close his eyes, needing to know once and for all if it was true. His breathing hitched and he delayed himself in opening them in fear of his friend leaving him again. When he finally pried them open, nothing had changed. As Jun’s lips broke apart in a slightly crooked yet genuine smile, a flood of emotion washed over Nino that brought him to the verge of tears. He threw his arms around the younger, not caring that the full force of his weight caused them both to stagger backwards. He wouldn’t have cared even if they ended up on the ground or in the water for that matter. He needed to feel him. He stood tall on his toes, his hands wrapping around the other’s neck as he buried his face in his nape. The faintest pulse of his veins ricocheted through his skin and into Nino’s, acting as proof of his still beating heart. Dampness soaked both his cheek and Jun’s collarbone.
“You’re alive.” Nino’s voice was muffled and shaking so much, he could barely get the words out. “Thank god.”
Despite his initial shock, Jun was quick to recover from the sudden embrace. His own arms encompassed his smaller body. Nino relished in the strength and comfort he could feel hugging him back; never in his life had he felt happier than he did right now.
“It’s really you.” Jun’s voice trembled just as much as his did. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
They eventually broke apart, though both were reluctant to severe the embrace entirely. Nino rubbed his eyes dry with the back of his wrist, taking comfort in the hand that continued to linger on his arm. When he looked up, he saw Jun’s eyes were also damp with tears. The latter flashed him another somewhat sheepish smile before looking past him. Nino’s heart ached at the hopefulness he saw as the younger sought out the rest of their friends among the crowd. Instead, he spotted another familiar face approaching them, one he was definitely not expecting to see. Jun’s smile wavered and his expression marred with confusion.
“Zakiyama?” he spoke, a little uncertain.
Yamazaki furrowed his brows. “Is that a thing with you guys?”
Ignoring him, Jun turned to Nino. “When did you two become chummy?”
“It’s a long story,” Nino mumbled, rubbing his neck awkwardly. It was not a conversation he wanted to get into right now, though he knew it was not something he could avoid forever.
While Jun looked as though he wanted to question him further on the whereabouts of their friends, he was not given the chance as registration closed. The commencement of the game brought all conversation to a swift end. Nino glanced briefly at their numbers-a total of eleven players. A corresponding amount of numbers appeared on their phone screens, above which was an instruction.
SELECT A NUMBER.
Exchanging an unsure glance with those beside him, Nino hesitantly reached to make his choice. His finger drifted across the screen. It was reasonable to assume the numbers were related to the order of participation in tonight’s game and while he was still unclear as to what that would be, it allowed him to rule out a vast majority of the options. Neither the first nor last cluster of numbers would be to his advantage; going first in an otherwise unknown game was foolish to say the least and without knowing the time limit they would have to play, going last was no better. He settled on a comfortable number within the mid-ground.
Selecting number seven before any other player had made their choice, he turned to his two companions. Despite still looking uncomfortable over the unknown whereabouts of his other friends, Jun remained calm in his selection. He followed Nino’s lead and chose a middle number of five. Both their chosen numbers vanished from all phone screens. Their removal triggered something of a mass panic among the remaining players, with over half the numbers quickly vanishing from their phones in the seconds that followed. Yamazaki did not seem in the least bit concerned by this, nor was he bothered when he was left with number ten.
As the selection came to an end once all players were assigned a number, their phones chimed with a familiar ringtone. All players stared at the screens in anticipation.
“Game: Leap of Faith,” the AI spoke. “Difficulty: Eight of Hearts.”
Nino’s heart jumped into his throat. For a second time that night, he lost his ability to breathe as his lungs became impossibly tight. Learning the suit of tonight’s game was his forte brought him nothing but anxiety as all the pain and loss of his previous heart games came flooding back. He looked to Jun, terrified to think he might lose him again so soon after finding him. To his surprise, the younger’s expression was not nearly as nervous as he expected it to be. In fact, he was shockingly composed. Fire burned in his gaze as he continued to stare at his phone.
“Rules: Blindfolded, players must get to the safe zone on the other side of the pool. One player shall hang from the rope using their own strength; the hangman may choose to help the other players by telling them when it is safe to jump or help themselves by letting players fall. Clear condition: Any player who fails to reach the safe zone within ten minutes will be eliminated.”
When the rules concluded, Nino looked nervously at the rope once more. Sturdy enough to sustain their weight yet undoubtedly too thick to maintain a strong handhold for long; he felt immediately concerned by the mere chance that he would be chosen as the hangman. His gaze drifted to the water and suddenly the thought of jumping blind off the edge didn’t seem like any more of an appealing thought. The water still appeared perfectly harmless but somehow he knew it was anything but. He really didn’t want to discover what would happen to him should he fall in.
Their phones once again displayed eleven icons, only this time it was not numbers they were choosing from. It was the identities of each player.
NOMINATE HANGMAN.
Murmurs swept through the group as the players were left conflicted over who to pick. While a little relieved to discover it would not be a random selection, Nino’s anxieties remained as he was faced with the perilous vote. If they chose wrong now, they were all dead. Wary glances were exchanged. It became immediately clear that no one felt confident enough in the skill or trustworthiness of their fellow players. Then one voice rose above the rest, clear and full of conviction.
“I’ll be the hangman.”
Nino whipped around, his wide gaze staring at Jun in disbelief. The latter had stepped forward, his expression conveying the same steely determination that had rung true in his voice. His gaze moved over each of the players, who all looked as taken aback by his volunteering as Nino. The latter tugged his friend’s arm insistently and pulled him aside from the rest of the group. Despite the small distance he put between them, his voice still dropped to a hushed whisper.
“What are you doing?”
“Saving our lives,” Jun hissed back. “The hangman decides who lives and who dies. Do you trust any of these people to not let you fall?”
Nino didn’t need to look at those they were playing with to know the answer to that question. “Of course not,” he snapped.
Jun gestured to the two of them. “One of us has to be the one on that rope and we both know you’re not strong enough to hold yourself up there for ten minutes, let alone other people.”
“And you are?” Nino spat back.
He didn’t know what trials his friend had faced to survive this long on his own; all he knew was the Jun from their first few games, who’d hardly been able to scrape through any challenge without injury. Nino looked away with a frustrated wince. He didn’t care that this new version of Jun who stood before him appeared stronger and more confident; he couldn’t bear the thought of letting him put himself in such peril. A hand landed on his arm. When he glanced back, he met Jun’s strong gaze.
“Do you trust me?”
Silence followed the younger’s question. Nino’s lack of an immediate answer was not due to mistrust, but rather shock at the strength behind his assertion. It would seem he was not the only one to have changed during their time apart. Suddenly subdued, he stepped back with a soft nod.
“Always,” he murmured.
“Then trust me now,” Jun said. “It’ll be okay, I promise.”
Giving Nino’s s arm a squeeze, he held the other’s gaze until he saw a flicker of belief in the smaller guy’s gaze. Jun then turned to the rest of the players. He addressed them with polite urgency.
“The hangman needs to be someone who is not only strong enough to hold onto the rope for ten minutes, but smart enough to figure out the timing of the swing to ensure we all get to the other side safely.”
Feelings of unrest continued to torment Nino even as he looked on quietly while Jun made his case. The logical side of him knew his friend was right; he didn’t trust anyone else. The only other person he might feel remotely okay with being the hangman was Yamazaki but while he believed the young man would have the strength to remain on the rope, he didn’t trust his capacity to determine the timing. Considering he butchered the basics of learning guitar, Nino doubted he would be able to figure out the precise rhythm needed to swing them all to safety. Jun, on the other hand, possessed the attention to detail necessary to do just that.
“Even if you can do as you say, why should we believe you won’t just let us fall?” one of the players confronted Jun. Himura, as Nino recognised from the identities listed on their phones.
“This is a hearts game,” another player, Oizumi, agreed. “We can’t trust anyone here.”
Jun shook his head. “The rules state the hangman may choose to deceive or assist the other players, ergo this is only a hearts game if we choose to deceive one another.”
“He’s right,” Yamazaki spoke up. “This is as much a clubs game as anything else. If we decide to trust each other and work together instead of turning on one another, we can all make it across safely.”
Jun shot him an appreciative glance for his voice of support. While many of the other players remained hesitant as to whether they should listen to their words of reason, there was no time left to make up their minds. There was only thirty seconds left to vote. The eleven of them hastily made their selection. It was with many conflicted thoughts that Nino selected Jun’s name. As the timer reached its end, the results of the vote became known to them. It was far from unanimous, with at least three players having received one or more votes, but in the end it was Jun’s victory.
The icons vanished from their screen and the display switched to a vertical listing that resembled an Olympic start list. Each of their names were listed in numerical order according to their previous selection. It was only for a moment before Jun’s name was erased from beside five and all ensuing names moved up one slot. Jun’s name reappeared at the bottom of the screen beside the hangman title. With their order now settled, the game was ready to commence.
The remaining ten players lined themselves up in order while Jun stepped to the front. He looked briefly to Nino before reaching for the rope. His gaze shone with the same determination it had all night, though the former didn’t miss the flicker of assurance that sparkled deeper in their dark depths. Nino took a half step towards him before restraining himself. He bit down on his lip as he watched Jun take the rope in his hand, curling its length securely around his right knuckles. Once confident he had a strong enough grip, he pushed off the edge of the platform. Nino held his breath when the momentum swung him away from them. The players watched as he made small adjustments to his hold now that he had no additional support to help him maintain his weight. Nino’s gaze trailed his body; the definition of his muscles was never clearer than it was now with the way his biceps flexed, his hands digging into the rope with the full force of his upper body. It was an impressive sight and it left Nino confused as to how his friend was doing it.
It was the last thing he saw before darkness engulfed his vision. Nino startled at the sudden blindness. He tugged on the goggles but they refused to budge from his face and from the commotion he could hear occurring around him, he wasn’t the only one. The player in front stumbled and bumped into him; he was confident he would have lost his footing had he not crashed into the player behind him. A disgruntled remark to watch where he was going failed to register with him as he was left scrambling to get his bearings.
Clinging to the rope, Jun looked on as the goggles of the other players darkened. The glass became pitch black, turning their eyes to soulless voids that were unnerving to look at. As he observed them stumbling into one another, panic escalating by the minute, he could feel the beads of sweat already forming on his brow from the taxing position he was forced to hold. He flexed his abdominal muscles and pulled himself higher on the rope, swinging his lower body towards the group. What started off as small motions quickly became a full sway. Once the peak height of his backward swing was aligned with the platform below, he called out to the flustered players. The monitors around the arena illuminated with the same start list that had been displayed on their phones. Both the first player’s name and his role as first jumper was announced through the sound system, as if they really were Olympic competitors.
“Yoshimura-san, turn slightly to your left and take two full steps forward,” Jun instructed the first in line.
The agitated man did as he was told, albeit nervously. His steps were more of a half shuffle than what Jun had asked of him, much to the latter’s frustration. He maintained the speed of his swing even as he called out further instructions.
“Take another step…that’s it. Now on the count of three, jump as far as you can. One.”
Yoshimura was shaking as he stood on the precipice.
“Two.”
Jun swung himself towards the platform. Yoshimura’s knees bent a little, his left leg shifting back as if to assume a runner’s start.
“Three!”
Jun held out his hand in expectation but despite the rope swinging towards the platform in conjunction with his third count, Yoshimura refused to budge. Jun grunted in annoyance and quickly grabbed the rope with both hands again before he slipped. He was about to start another countdown when the other player suddenly jumped forward.
“Wait!” Jun shouted when he saw him leap off the edge, the rope already on a backward trajectory.
He missed the lifeline by a good couple of metres and fell straight down. A loud splash followed. Jun stared wide-eyed as the pool turned dark crimson. His heart raced upon seeing Yoshimura’s body dissolve in the once clear liquid, any attempt at crying for help drowned out by the agonising yet instant death that claimed him.
The pungent chlorine was joined by another odour. While not nearly strong enough to overpower the tangy reek of the chlorinated water, its familiarity struck Nino and suddenly, he could smell nothing else. The stench of boiling blood and liquifying flesh-it made his skin crawl to experience that foul odour again so soon. Even without being able to see, he instinctively knew the pool beneath him was no longer crystalline, just as he knew it was not water that filled it.
“What happened?” the other players cried, their voices tainted with panic at the unknown of what was occurring around them. “Did he make it?”
Nino could hear Jun’s hesitation as he struggled to answer them. “Don’t jump before I tell you!”
His eventual yet vague warning confirmed everyone’s fears. He could sense the distress of those around him as they shouted at Jun, demanding to know if the first player was alright or not. The former refused to elaborate on the man’s fate and told them once again to only jump when he gave the order.
Despite being blind, the second player still looked down as if to examine the drop. Kikuchi stood waiting and listening for Jun’s count, her knees bent, her posture ready to jump. But when he told her to leap, she bounced back from the edge. She repeated the hesitant action twice.
“Eh, what should I do?” she exclaimed, her voice somewhere between frightened and coy.
Her behaviour infuriated Jun, who was quickly losing feeling in his arms. He adjusted his grip again and forced himself to continue the swing of the rope.
“You have to jump!” he yelled.
“But it’s so scary, and what if you get the timing wrong? You missed with the first guy,” she complained.
“I didn’t miss, he jumped before he was supposed to,” Jun snapped.
“Still, maybe you should take some more time to figure it out, just to make sure it’s safe.”
“If you waste any more time, you’ll kill yourself and everyone else, now shut up and jump when I tell you!”
It took another round of hesitation and counting, but Kikuchi finally did as she was asked. With a shriek, she leapt off the platform. Although the timing was perfect, her flailing arms made her nearly impossible to catch. Even as Jun managed to miraculously grasp her, she continued to writhe and squirm while her shrill screaming made the already difficult task of keeping focused that much harder. She slipped from his hold a few seconds later and plummeted towards the darkened water with an echoing wail.
Jun cursed under his breath. As annoying as she had been, it was not the result he’d hoped for. He didn’t dare mention the second miss lest the remaining eight players refuse to make the leap, though as he scanned the terrified faces of those in line, he feared his silence was redundant.
“Keep your arms outstretched,” he commanded the next to jump. “I’ll catch you.”
He tried to sound as convincing as he possibly could but he couldn’t help the involuntary twang of fear that distorted his voice. It wasn’t just the physical exhaustion threatening his own safety that had him nervous; there was a little over six minutes remaining and still so many players left to take the leap. Seeing Nino’s face down the line, as helplessly blind as the rest of them, Jun was petrified that he would fail his friend. He took a moment to collect his nerve, knowing such negative thoughts would doom them all. He pushed aside the burn that was seething through his arm muscles and ignored the perspiration that dampened his palms. He inhaled a deep, calming breath.
“I will catch you,” he repeated, sounding much more assured this time.
The sentiment behind his promise reached the third player. Nishikido’s trembling ceased and he stepped to the very edge of the platform. He inched his toe forward, feeling exactly where the drop was, before aligning himself according to Jun’s instructions. When the latter began counting down, he slid his leg back in the same way Yoshimura had. Unlike the older player, however, Nishikido did not hesitate to leap at the exact moment Jun ordered him to.
“Three!”
With not a trace of hesitation, he threw himself off the platform with arms outstretched. Jun hastily grabbed his right arm in a lock. Nishikido’s hand reflexively clenched around his wrist and as his body dangled freely, Jun was able to use his added weight to swing them further back.
Controlling the angle of the sway as best he could, he warned Nishikido to prepare himself to let go. When the rope neared the apex of its backward swing, he released his hand. The other player flew towards the second pool. Jun almost couldn’t bear to watch in case that one was also filled with acid. To his relief, the player surfaced again after a moment, stunned from the fall but otherwise unharmed.
“Made it!” he exclaimed.
The encouraging confirmation of his safe landing helped to ease the nerves of most still on the platform, however briefly. The next player did hesitate to jump but she ultimately listened to Jun’s commands. Much lighter than her predecessor, Toda too succeeded in reaching the safe zone in spite of her hand nearly missing Jun’s in the initial catch.
Nino stifled a small whimper when he felt the line move up a few steps more, bringing him that much closer to the gruesome plummet. Being devoid of one of his senses certainly wasn’t doing anything to eliminate his concerns. Not being able to see was frightening enough but the way his other senses heightened to compensate his lack of sight made things much worse. The smell of the acid intensified with each passing minute; the ticks of the ten-minute countdown boomed like fireworks going off; the hyperventilating of the players in front of him, so loud he could barely hear his own rapid breathing; the powerful heat of the bodies too close for comfort; the sensation of his feet getting closer to the edge.
Worst of all, he could both hear and sense Jun’s struggles. They grew more obvious the longer he remained on that rope, to the point where Nino could picture him in his mind. He saw his dear friend desperately clinging to the lifeline, his sweat-soaked bangs falling back over his eyes, his hands raw with burns and callouses. It was an image that made Nino’s innards knot. Knowing that at any moment, his strength might give out and send him too plummeting into the acid below scared him as much as the notion of jumping himself did.
“Jump!” he heard Jun scream at Himura. Frustration had given way to genuine anger as the minutes continued to tick by. “Jump now or you’ll kill everyone!”
Hearing the strain in his voice, Nino stiffened. He didn’t need to see to know his friend was nearing his limit as the hangman. An announcement sounded, informing the players that there was only three minutes left. Irritated over feeling Himura bump into him once again in his prolonged hesitation, Nino decided to take matters into his own hands.
The heat radiating from the hefty body in front of him was almost blistering while the anticipation of what he was about to do made Nino tremble. When Jun began counting for the third time, Nino listened not for the numbers themselves but the distance of his friend’s voice. As soon as he heard his tone decrescendo when the rope swung him away from the platform, Nino kicked out his leg, striking the player hard in the hip. A started yell tore from Himura’s throat when he suddenly found himself in freefall, but was soon silenced upon hitting the acid.
Jun’s counting ceased, his stunned gazed fixed on where Nino now stood at the front of the line. Glancing at the dwindling time, he felt oddly at peace with his friend’s drastic action. Himura’s outright refusal to jump was beyond frustrating and while his death was not something Jun prided himself in, he certainly wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
The sound system announced Nino’s turn. It was followed by the same simulated cheering that had followed every other player’s introduction. Honing his focus once more on the game, Jun regained a strong swinging rhythm. He was more determined than ever to ensure he got the timing right.
“On my count, ready?”
Nino nodded and bent his knees, preparing for the jump to come. But as the younger reached his third count, he suddenly lost his nerve. He stammered an apology for having missed his chance to jump but was too busy trying not to choke with how suddenly short of breath he was to care about sounding sincere. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe Jun would catch him; he just couldn’t help fearing the worst.
“Kazu, you have to trust me,” Jun called. “I will catch you.”
The sincerity of his vow gave Nino back his courage. He readied himself a second time, listening closely to Jun’s instructions.
“One.”
Nino crouched lower, leaning forward on his left leg. He kept both his knees and back bent to avoid any locking in his joints that would hinder his leap.
“Two.”
His chest heaved with unsteady breaths despite his best effort to keep calm. As adrenaline raged through his body, his senses suddenly failed him. It was like everything around him was heightened and dulled all at once. It took all his concentrative power just to focus on Jun’s voice.
“Three!”
Nino didn’t give himself a second to doubt. With explosive power, he launched forward. He felt empty air rush all around him, his form weightless for a heartbeat. It was both freeing and terrifying. Then their bodies collided with bruising force. Nino stunned himself as the breath was knocked from him and before he knew it, he was falling straight down. It was only for a moment before a hand snatched him out of freefall. The added weight sent the rope into a chaotic frenzy of swinging but Jun didn’t allow it to shake loose his grip. His right hand clutched the rope so tight, he could feel the material cutting deep into his palm. He gritted his teeth and held Nino tight with his left hand. Everything was hurting. His arms were screaming for relief, his back and shoulders taut from the taxing position. Even the muscles in his neck were straining. His jaw clenched in both pain and determination as he fought to withstand the pain of the other’s weight.
Nino winced when nails dug into his arm. But despite the pain, he felt no fear. The grip holding him was so fierce, it left no room to doubt he was anything but safe. He did his best not to squirm as their bodies swung back and forth on the rope, knowing even the slightest movement would make things harder for his friend.
“I’m going to let go,” Jun told him.
Nino made a small noise of consent, all the while ignoring the way his heart raced. There was no time to prepare even with the younger’s warning. As the hand holding him suddenly opened, his body flew through the air at an even greater speed than that which he’d had upon jumping. The world spun upside-down and a dizzying whirlwind overcame him.
The impact of the fall was so intense, Nino honestly wasn’t sure at first if he hit the water or solid ground. A powerful throb ricocheted through his skull while a near paralysing force shot down his back, all the way to his legs. It took a few seconds before he was able to register the saturated sensation that now engulfed him. He kicked and flailed about rather violently in his search for the surface. He couldn’t tell up from down. With the way his goggles continued to block out every bit of light from his vision, he was left stranded in the water like a hapless swimmer caught in the churning sea during a storm.
When his head finally broke the surface with a desperate gasp for air, he found himself blinded in an entirely new way. The darkness that had cloaked his vision suddenly lifted and was replaced by a radiant light, dotted with blotches of instinct colour. He blinked several times as he treaded water and pulled the now loosened goggles from his face. Half-blind, he paddled his way over to the edge, using the voices of the players who jumped before him to guide the way. He dragged his sore body out of the deep pool. Spluttering in an effort to rid his lungs of the water, he knelt at the edge of the pool, shivering. He wiped the droplets from his face and winced at the sting of chlorine that seeped into his eyes.
Turning his clearing gaze skywards, Nino saw the challenge continue. The player that had been behind him now stood awaiting her turn. She held an air of composure despite the noticeable tension in her body.
“Take two small steps forward,” Jun called to Arimura when he was finally ready to proceed. She nodded and did so immediately.
As the countdown for the next jump began, Nino caught himself holding his breath. Everything seemed to slow; the moment Arimura leapt off the platform, the ripple of inertia that cascaded through their bodies the moment they collided, the closeness in which Jun held her as they swung backwards. Nino was overcome by a strange and uncomfortable sensation. It started in his stomach and quickly travelled down, making him weak in the knees while his throat unknowingly tightened. He couldn’t help wondering if that’s how Jun had caught him.
There was little time to dwell on it, however, as no sooner had Arimura been caught that she was released. She flew over the top of the other players, plunging straight into the safe zone pool with a loud splash. Jun’s gaze lingered on her for a moment even as the rope swung him towards the platform once more. Nino ignored the prickle of discomfort he continued to feel while he stared at the water and watched Arimura resurface. She swept her wet hair back from her face, pulling off her goggles in the process. Her flustered gaze searched above her before she started to swim back to the edge.
“Look out!”
Nino had half a second to process Toda’s yell before she dove into him, knocking them both back into the pool just as Arioka crashed right where the group of players had been standing. Startled by the sudden submersion, Nino’s mouth opened involuntarily, gulping down even more liquid that caused his chest to tighten and burn. He frantically clawed his way to the surface. He could barely keep his head above water while he coughed and spluttered, the depth of the pool suddenly seeming as though it was dragging him back under.
“What happened?” he gasped.
“Arioka-kun let go too early,” Nishikido exclaimed beside him.
As the surviving players managed to swim their way back to solid ground, Nino recoiled at the gruesome sight that awaited them. The young player’s body lay mangled on the ground. Just as Nishikido claimed, he had dropped from the rope but rather than land in either of the pools, he had the unfortunate luck of landing squarely on one of the diving blocks. His spine snapped on impact, his limp corpse bouncing off the block to go flying towards the rest of them. There was a noticeable bloodstain smeared across the white fibreglass.
But it was not his remains that concerned Nino most of all. Even with the distance between where he stood and the rope, it was obvious just how exhausted Jun was. He was having to readjust his grip every couple of seconds. His whole face scrunched up as he endeavoured to use what little strength he still had to pull himself back up the rope while every swing of the pendulum threatened to slide him dangerously close to the acid below.
While he didn’t believe Jun had let go of Arioka deliberately, it didn’t stop him from feeling concerned for the true reason behind the young player’s demise. A quick glance at the remaining time limit reaffirmed his already heightened fears. There was barely a minute to go and from the look of Jun’s condition, it was not a minute too soon. His worried gaze moved between his friend on the rope to the one left on the platform. A sick feeling struck his stomach. Had it been anyone else up there, Nino wouldn’t have hesitated to tell Jun to just forgo the rest of the game and save himself before his strength gave out entirely. But he couldn’t. Seeing Yamazaki among the two remaining faces atop the platform, he felt torn.
Jun stifled a pained groan at the way his body burned. He tried not to look down. The smell of the acid fumes reminded him of how close he was slipping towards certain doom, but having to witness the sight of Arioka’s body was not something he wished to inflict on himself. He’d tried to hold onto the boy; he really had. But as hard as he’d fought, Arioka’s hand had slipped through his perspiration-soaked palm before either of them was ready. Jun cursed himself for not being strong enough. He knew it was for this reason alone that Arioka’s death bothered him more than any of the previous players. He couldn’t bring himself to even glance at the pair still on the platform. It was taking every bit of strength he had just to hold onto the rope-how was supposed to get the last two players to the safe zone in the minute or so that remained?
Still, as he saw them standing there completely helpless, he felt compelled to at least try. It was obvious from Yamazaki’s expression that he was intently listening, awaiting the moment Jun told him to leap. Remembering Nino’s ambiguous claim of companionship with the young man before the game started, Jun flexed his arms and hauled himself a little higher on the rope before using his lower body to regain some momentum.
“Your turn, Zakiyama.”
Timing his counts accordingly, he gave the order for the young man to jump, all the while praying he wouldn’t hesitate. He didn’t. Much to both Jun and Nino’s relief, he launched off the platform at the exact moment Jun told him to. The latter caught him with thirty seconds remaining. It was less a clean catch than it was a bit of blind luck and fortunate timing. Needing to now use both hands to sustain his position on the rope, Jun used his legs instead to secure a hold of the other player. Yamazaki’s own reflexes kicked in the moment he collided with Jun; his arms wrapped around him, one reaching for the rope he could feel between them as extra support.
The release was just as messy. Missing the first backward swing on account of the spin that Yamazaki’s additional weight had caused the rope, the two of them were forced to try and mirror each other’s sway in order to maintain a strong enough pendulum swing to reach the water. Nino flinched and ducked down when his companion fell a little too close to the edge. But as near as he came to smashing his head on the side of the pool, Nino felt only relief when he saw Yamazaki surface unharmed some seconds later.
It was a short-lived feeling when he looked up and saw the fifteen seconds left of the game. While he cared little for Oizumi who stood last on the platform, Nino narrowed his eyes on the monitor behind him. He scanned the eleven names that were listed. His eyes widened and he gasped.
Breathing heavily, Jun hugged the rope close as he listened to the sounds of the young man enter the safe zone. In the back of his mind, he registered the sound system announcing the final player to jump, but he was too tired to care. Below, he could hear the cacophony of voices. Some were demanding to know why he had stopped giving instructions while others attempted to call out the timing to the Oizumi themselves. There were cries of encouragement and hostility, voices questioning if he was alright and warnings that time was running out. Jun tried to block them all out, hating every one of them as they reminded him of what he already knew. But a familiar voice cut through the noise and motivated him to look down, though briefly. He met Nino’s eyes. His whole expression was marred with fear as he watched the younger cling to the rope. Just as Jun began to question what had his friend so frightful, his vision was blanketed by a veil of sudden darkness.
“J, jump!”
Upon hearing Nino’s distressed shout, Jun didn’t hesitate to release the rope. As his hand let go, he felt the cord go slack as it inexplicably snapped from the ceiling and plummeted downwards. The momentum of the final swing was enough to send Jun hurtling towards the pool; he didn’t even register Oizumi’s agonised cry echoing in the distance. The wind was knocked out of him when he struck the water. As he sunk lower into the depths, his body spinning out of control from the thrust of the fall, his head hit the side of the pool. Dots of colour flickered across the black sheen still distorting his sight; the painful throb that was ricocheting through his skull was the only real assurance he had that he hadn’t been knocked completely unconscious by the blow.
Something snatched him from the water. Jun didn’t react when someone grabbed his shoulders roughly and dragged his semi-awake body out of the pool back onto solid ground. His hearing was muffled; he could hear the thundering of water in his ears and stifled voices, though he couldn’t make out what was being said. The goggles were ripped off his face but his vision didn’t return. A pressure landed on his chest while a warmth enveloped his lips. It was only for a few moments before the pressure built, a fierce spasm wracking his chest until he felt he was about to vomit up his lungs. Keeling over with a sudden burst of energy as if brought back from the brink of a dream, his sight was restored and he expelled the chlorinated water from his throat in a series of violent coughs. The warmth he’d experienced before returned, this time in the form of soothing rubs along his spine.
An upbeat ringtone sounded through the speakers. As the players looked up, they saw the arena monitors had switched displays to show a tally of the survivors versus those who hadn’t made it. Exchanging an exhausted look with his friend who was fretfully hovering over him, Jun lay back and basked in the artificial cheers and the accompanying game clear ruling.