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

Chapter 3: We Bloom With the Stars

[art by straixs: https://twitter.com/sitraxis]

Just a few hours remained until Rindo went out to meet Beat. Right now, he's sitting at his desk on a video call with Fret. Reaching for a notebook while Fret speaks, Rindo opens a blank page and begins to scribble.

Fret interrupts himself.

"...What are you doing?"

"Writing down what you're saying."

"What? Like a script? Gonna read it out to him like you're at a business meeting? Or a play? This is real life, dude!"

Rindo looks at Fret, deadpan.

"I'm just taking notes on what you're saying! What if I forget?"

"It doesn't matter if you forget! You have to speak your mind, not mine, man. I'm just giving you advice. Don't just...copy from me."

"I won't, alright? I know that'd be weird..."

"Okay. Good. But I don't want you to get too caught up in writing down what I'm saying instead of actually, like, listening. With your heart."

Rindo sighs.

"Okay, fine. I'll only write occasionally, deal?"

"Deal. That's a little better...but don't memorize anything! Blurt your feelings out! Your real feelings! Improvise!"

"That's easy for you to say. You never think before you speak."

Fret crosses his arms.

"Well yeah! And I'm the one who asked you out first. Speaking first works."

Rindo rolls his eyes.

"Just go on, we don't have all day."

"As if you weren't the one slowing yourself down with taking notes."

"Freeet."

Fret giggles at Rindo's frustration.

"Alright, alright. So, anyways, like I said, you gotta do it even if it scares the ever-living crap out of you, alright? Do it scared! Don't you remember how cool you were in the UG? Hell, thinking about it, I wouldn't be able to handle seeing you die like ten times and then still manage to time travel and fix all that. I feel like I'd be having a thousand mental breakdowns at once. And you know, you still were scared shitless, but you did it anyways, right? You did it scared once. You can do it again."

Rindo's expression softens, his cheeks subtly reddening from Fret's praise. He looks up and makes eye-contact with the screen after writing a few notes.

"Thanks Fret, that's true...somehow, this feels scarier than the UG. I guess because I don't have time travel or a Hazuki to reverse things for me if I fuck up badly...I can't run away if I make a mistake."

"That's true, but you also have your other friends even if Beat isn't there anymore, and you have the very cool human ability to get over shit and move on. Adaptation or whatever."