time for the final part! this probably leaves more questions than answers but well, that's how it's going to be,
dark themes as mental unstability, confusion and crying, and couple of pictures. pretty calm but confused this time.
based on these.
part 1 | part 2
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He could see the space again – this time twisting in odd shapes, forming like a tube around him, shining with every colour imaginable. It was funny, the brightness hurt his eyes so much he couldn’t open them but he still saw them; no, felt them in him. They made his head ache. Or was it really because of the colours? What was that thing hurting him? And why?
So cold…
He wrapped his arms around him, curling up as small as he could. An odd voice echoed around him, blaming him, shouting and cursing and crying and pleading – a voice that drilled into his head, making him cry for help without words.
A voice he didn’t recognize as his own.
It started as really small, but gradually growing; sudden warmth flowed through his whole body. The colours around dimmed and the voice calmed down. A small thankful smile caught his lips before his consciousness drifted off again.
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Shindou shut the book on his lap and leaned back on his chair. He couldn’t find the concentration to read; every time he tried, he soon realized he was just eyeing the pages without really reading the words. He gave up, but soon tried again. He just wanted to have his thoughts off everything for even a while.
It had been two days since the match with Faram Dite. They had managed to win, despite not having one of their strongest midfielders being able to play, but the win was a too close one. He clenched his teeth together at the memory of Ozrock appearing on the stadium – a touch of luck in all the bad news he brought with him, their match with Ixal Fleet was to be the next day. They really needed the time to regroup.
After the match Tsurugi had explained everything – his kidnapping, his stay on Faram Orbius and the duty to see them safe. He returned to Galaxy Nauts Gou with everyone accepting him back, but otherwise seeming to do well he was emotionally exhausted; he had slept until the next morning and got woken up by the smell of auntie’s breakfast.
In the other hand, Tenma still hadn’t recovered.
Shindou looked across the room at Tenma, who was buried in his bed under so many blankets only a bit of his face and hair could be seen. He was sleeping for the second day in a row, right since they managed to get him to his own room after the finals. Shindou wondered if the sedatives he was given had been too strong after all, or did he have so much built-up tiredness he was just sleeping it off. The day before, when Sorano was keeping watch, he had regained consciousness in some way; she wasn’t sure if he was awake or sleep-talking saying he’s cold, and though he had opened his eyes a bit he didn’t react to talking or movement. He had drifted back to sleep, though, when she had put more blankets on him.
Shindou sighed and rested his forehead against his fingers. He couldn’t help but go through the same things as so many times before during the past days. The changes in Tenma, learning about Tsurugi, everything happening during the finals match… Tsurugi’s view of the happenings strongly suggested that Tenma was behind them. That could explain his actions, like he was living in a different time or place than the rest of them. The changes in persona and weird powers… But which was the cause and which the consequence?
The sound of bedsheets shuffling made Shindou rise his head and see Tenma clumsily gotten up, sitting in the bed still half-buried in the blankets. Shindou stood up and went next to him; Tenma’s eyes were opened just a bit, like he was still half sleeping, and he was really pale.
“Tenma” Shindou started carefully. “How… are you feeling?”
No response.
Shindou waited for a while, shifting weight to other leg, not having gotten rid of the feeling of unsureness that had accompanied him for a long time. Just when he opened his mouth to continue, Tenma talked, with a voice so faint and dried from the long sleep it was quite hard to make out the words even when the room was silent.
“Is... Tsurugi… al...right?”
Shindou almost sighed in relief. “Tsurugi… Tsurugi’s okay. He’s back with us now.” He too was genuinely happy that their teammate – their friend – had come back to them. He was about to ask if he wanted to see him when he heard Tenma’s voice again and froze still.
“And... Fey…?”
There it was again. The name Tsurugi had told him about from what happened during the finals. Tsurugi had asked him if he knew someone called that, but he had never heard it before.
“I, well… He’s… alright too.”
Tenma didn’t say more and Shindou hesitated. It felt bad to say something like that, but maybe it was for the best to go along with him at this point and let him recover in peace. It was not like he could answer or explain anything in his current state.
As Tenma didn’t seem like he was going to speak any more, Shindou gazed at him and noticed how small he looked. He must have had lost weight, since they hadn’t seen him in the cafeteria hardly at all lately, and the dark rings under his eyes looked even deeper when he struggled to keep his eyes open even as little as they had been. “Maybe you should sleep a bit more” Shindou murmured softly, in the calmest voice he could manage at the moment. He wasn’t sure if Tenma nodded or just dropped his head down, but at least there were no objections.
In the end Shindou had to lay Tenma down himself, as the boy seemed to fall back to sleep while sitting. He picked up his book and turned off the lights by the door, turning back to take a last look at his friend. His expression seemed to be calmer now, like the way Shindou felt at the moment, but still with no lack of uneasiness. There was so many things they all wanted to know, but they couldn’t do anything but wait and let Tenma get ready to tell them.
He closed the door behind him. The dark room fell into silence again, faint light from the window drawing star maps to the ceiling and walls for the lone traveller sitting on the floor to enjoy.
