Being Dead Sucks (OumaSai/SaiOuma) -Being Edited-

28

Shuichi sat up breathlessly, expecting to see the distantly staring face of Kokichi and feel the heat beating down upon him. Instead, he was inside the living room, Himiko lazily rubbing sleep out of her eyes with a yawn.

"Ugh, using that much magic to connect you guys and then get us back took a lot of energy out of me..." she mumbled. "But now's not the time. A mage never backs down from her duties." 

Speaking of that... Shuichi held up his left hand and sure enough, tied to the ring finger, was a dimly glowing red thread, going off of the couch and out the front door. The thread that would take him to Kokichi, the thread that would help him get him back. He felt hope flare up in his heart once more. 

"Is it there?" Himiko apparently couldn't see the string. Shuichi nodded.

"Yeah, it worked." He reached out to touch the string, but as soon as his fingers hit it, they passed through it as if it weren't there, similarly to Kokichi.

"I knew it would." She smiled slightly. "Now, we have no idea where he could've gotten to, but that string will always show you the direction he's in. It'll fade away in 24 hours, so you gotta act fast. Hopefully, he's nearby. Use your internal compass and trust your instincts. The string will lead you to him, but won't show you the best way to get there, so you gotta be smart. That'll help you find him." She advised. 

"I guess I should go, huh?" He stood up immediately, stumbling over to the front closet, not wanting to waste any time, pulling out a hoodie and tugging it on. He would need it later.

"I suppose you should. But just be careful, okay?" She reminded him. He nodded.

"Yeah, I will. I promise." He replied hurriedly, grabbing a wallet and tucking it into his pocket. He may have to pay a bus fare or something, and he wanted to have it on him just in case.

"Go get him!" She said, pumping her fist in the air encouragingly. He opened the front door, stepping outside. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, but that didn't stop it from being cold, and there was still snow on the ground from yesterday evening. It hadn't snowed nearly as much as last time, so a lot of it was melted. They had slept through the entire night and a better part of the day, apparently. 

And so they both left together, going their separate paths, Shuichi now embarking on the journey to find him and bring him home.

The thread went down the left side of the road down his house, turning the corner and disappearing from his sight. But before he followed it to him, he had something he had to get.

He ran down the other way, making a few turns along the way, soon finding himself in front of the convenience store. He opened the door, the bell tinkling lightly. The store was mostly empty besides a boy with fluffy hair and a My Chemical Romance shirt purchasing a Monster energy. (fuckin love you angel <3) He wandered to the drink cooler, scanning his eyes over the rows of sugary beverages, before he found what he was looking for. A single grape Panta.

He opened it and pulled it out, wandering to the front desk. A girl around his age with short grayish-green hair covering the majority of her face looked up at him. He set the soda down on the table silently, and so she picked it up and scanned it.

"That'll be $1.75. Is that all for you today?" She asked him.

"Yeah." He replied simply, grabbing the soda and tucking it into the pocket of his hoodie, turning and walking out.

He followed the red string down the road until he ended up right back where he was before. He followed it down the road, it taking on quite a few twists and turns,  but ultimately he ended up making the connection about the general direction it was headed: towards downtown. He could see the tall buildings in the distance, the sun starting to dip ever so slightly behind them.