Run Through Fire - Part 1: Starless Nights - TWEWY Bang 2023

Chapter 2: Trial & Error

Proper psychiatric care was difficult to find with the kind of trauma that Rindo experienced in the Underground. Even if he did receive professional help, he could only say so much to his therapist without being misdiagnosed with hallucinatory disorders. All of the Hachi-Twisters felt uneasy speaking about the Underground with Realground residents, some of them sure that there's a kind of taboo surrounding it.

Thankfully for Rindo, that's where his friends came in clutch. Fret, Shoka, Nagi, Neku and Rhyme were all a part of a great support network for the boy. He was developing a new friendship with Shiki, too.

Aside from Fret and Shoka, if he had to place a friend in first place when it came to emotional support, that would have to be Beat. There were days that Rindo would spend hours spilling his heart out to his optimistic friend about all his Underground-related feelings. Beat would listen in silence, giving Rindo an outlet, then eventually comfort him with encouragement and hope. He always had the right words.

Lately, however, Rindo had no choice but to intentionally avoid his friend. Having such an important source of refuge removed from his system caused quite a bit of havoc for his mental health, but that havoc was worth putting up with to prevent something worse from happening.

It had been a few weeks since he'd allowed himself to even acknowledge Beat's presence. Ever since those nightmares, every time they would meet, Rindo was sure the dreams would become reality. And worse yet, he'd start having what he called 'visions' akin to the ones he experienced through Tsugumi Matsunae's influence in the Underground.

Rindo wasn't sure whether or not they were actual visions or something else entirely, but what he was sure of was that every time he experienced them in the Reaper's Game, what he saw would come true. It was terrifying to feel that he may bring calamity to his friend just by being around them.

The only way he could hold these visions at bay was by avoiding any and all thoughts about Beat, and naturally, that came with not meeting, speaking to or remembering his friend.

But this morning, Rindo's habit of hide and seek would have to come to a halt thanks to one little issue: The size of Shibuya City. This place was small. And if you knew someone here, you were gonna come across them, somehow, somewhere, whether you liked it or not. This phenomenon was something he was grateful for when it came to meeting Swallow — or Shoka — after his time in the Reaper's Game. Yet today, he couldn't blame the city enough for being so densely packed and diminutive.

...

Through his growing fondness of Neku, Shiki and Shoka, Rindo had developed an interest in Gatto Nero's line of products. While he's bought gifts for Shoka from the shop before, he's never gotten anything for himself. Today, Rindo needed to get a new wallet and decided to replace it with a fanny pack, which Gatto Nero happened to have in stock. Titled "Hip Pack," the item served as both a belt and a convenient bag for storing the same things you'd store in a wallet. And it looked really cool too, with a sleek design.

Rindo was happy with his purchase, organizing his belongings into it as soon as he bought it. He fastened the belt around his waist.

'What a good buy...it's sturdy.'

As the elevator door slides open to the bottom floor of the 104 building, he absentmindedly walks towards the exit while sending Fret and Shoka an image of his new purchase. Both of them being asleep, he doesn't get a response just yet. The corner of his screen shows his depleting battery, so he keeps his phone in his pocket.

Rindo brings his attention to the Scramble Crossing, watching cars pass by, the traffic light for pedestrians glowing red. He stares ahead, spotting the crowd of people waiting to cross the opposite direction as him, and almost immediately, his eyes lock with someone familiar.