- Missing piece, missing you -

Happy birthday, Tooru

« What a weird place... »

That was all Oikawa could think as he stepped forward. One step, two, a hundred eventually ? He didn't know. But did he really care ? There was nothing in here, nothing except pure emptiness. Some sort of light source perhaps ? Since he could see. No floor though. He seemed to be walking on air, but somehow he didn't fall. Wherever he stepped, he didn't fall. There was no sound either. He tried speaking as well, but it was no use. He could move his mouth but no sound would come out of it. Despite that, his thought seemed to be echoing through the place. Could this even be called a place ? There was no roof, no floor, no walls, not even people. Nothing. Emptiness. But white emptiness.

He was dressed in white, everything around him seemed white. Was he going crazy ? He didn't know. Maybe he was. Maybe not. But either way, he continued advancing, moving forward. What else could he do anyway ? What else was there to do anyway. Nothing. That's the answer : nothing. Absolutely nothing. This kind of environment could drive anyone crazy, but strangely enough, he seemed fine. Maybe because he was already crazy ? So it didn't affect him ? Or perhaps panic didn't affect his sense yet. Yeah, maybe it was that. The unbearable panic didn't affect him yet. He wasn't feeling strangled yet. Yet. Yet...

« Maybe it's the first option after all ? »

He sighed, loudly, heavily. But again, no sound came out. It was warm in here. But not too warm. It was also cold, but not extremely cold either. He was barefoot, still walking on air, not knowing where to go. Was there anywhere to go ? There probably wasn't. He thought about stopping. But if he stopped, would he fall ? Would the invisible floor he was walking on disappear ? And if he fell, would he land in another emptiness ? Would he even land ? Who knows. Surely not him. And there was no one to ask. Maybe the best option was to keep moving. His feet didn't hurt anyway. Weirdly enough, nothing hurt. In fact, he was barely feeling his body anymore. How weird. How extremely weird.

« Oh ? My thoughts don't echo anymore. »

And now silence. Perhaps he reached a destination ? Again, he didn't know. At least, he wasn't sure. He couldn't seem to think straight. So he couldn't trust his feelings about this place either. So all he did was continuing to walk. All he could do was continuing to walk. And so he did. How long had it been anyway ? An hour ? Two ? Five ? Ten ? He didn't know anymore. Maybe it was days ? Weeks ? Months ? He didn't know. One could say that he'd be feeling hunger, pain, thirst, if it'd been so long. But here was the problem : he felt nothing related to his physical self. He knew he had a body, he knew it was there, but he didn't feel it. At all. How frightening. Or was it really ? He wasn't sure. He couldn't tell.

« Huh ? What's this ? »

As he walked, Oikawa saw something in the far horizon. He couldn't tell what it was from this far, but he definitely saw something. Someone maybe ? A person ? Here ? No way. There was no way. But if it was so impossible, then there was no use running towards it right ? Then why was he running ? Why was he advancing at such at fast pace ? What was the point ? He didn't know. And yet, he couldn't stop himself from running. He didn't want to. And thus he ran, with all his might, towards that blurry silhouette he saw. Was it getting closer ? Further away ? He could barely tell. So, all he did was run. Now was he slowing down ? Accelerating ? Was he even moving ? He was unsure. But he knew he had to reach that silhouette. And once he did, he stopped.

« A stop sign ? »

Did he really run all this way at that speed just to be met by a stop sign ? Really now ? What was it even doing here in the first place ? As he was thinking that, the sign started changing. Its shape slowly changed into what seems to be a red arrow, pointing towards the "ground". When the brunette's eyes followed the direction that weird arrow was pouting at, they were met by what seemed to be an empty frame, with traces of pieces on it. Traces of puzzle pieces.