Yuu can do it!

Escaping a monster just to be caught by a regular guy

Ito liked having problems to solve. If there was something to do, then it gave them something to concentrate on. That way they didn't have to think about how they were stranded in another world with no known way home, or how they had just technically murdered something, or –.

They forced themself to look around.

Deuce had been sent to try and get cell service – there was no way there was any this far into the woods, let alone underground, but he was concussed and had been insisting on helping so they figured that was the best option.

Kuroki had been near hyperventilating (not good considering they were already working with limited air) so Ito had dropped Grim onto him. He had only recently managed to bring his breathing down to a normal rate, and was now burying his face in the white fur of Grim's collar while the monster squirmed.

Which left Enma, Ace, and Ito to try and find a way out.

Not that Ace was all that much help. After a few blasts of wind magic he had said that he was too tired to do more and now doing the stone-throwing equivalent of crawling up that fifteenth flight of stairs.

Which meant...

Enma and Ito threw rock after rock over their shoulders. They just needed a tiny hole to let in some oxygen. That was all. They could do this...

~

Ito was not a pessimist, but they were pretty sure they were going to join the other ghosts in the mine.

At least the ghosts had been friendly, they supposed.

A tiny sigh left their lips and they rubbed their hands off on their shirt. Kuroki had long-since managed to snap out of it enough to help, and Ace had joined them after a few minutes' rest.

(Deuce was still concussed and Grim was... Grim, so they weren't much help. To his credit, though, Grim tried: he screamed at the top of his lungs – did he have lungs? – but Ito, privately, doubted that any sound escaped.)

The group had been working at one spot for ages... but every time they finally managed to make headway more rocks and boulders came to fill in the place left by their brethren. And they were getting tired, the air was thin, and, one by one, they all gave up in favor of finding a comfortable position to die in.

Enma was the last one to give up. He groaned and leaned back against the wall of rocks that kept them separated from the outside world.

"At least suffocating like this isn't really painful," he said after a moment. "We'll probably just die in our sleep or something."

"... dude, that's so dark," Ace complained, tossing a magestone from hand to hand idly.

Enma gave a weak grin. "No, this cave is dark."

"Do you really want your last words to be a bad joke?" Kuroki said, absently stroking Grim's fur.

Ito lifted their head from their knees, careful not to disturb Kuroki because he was leaning back against their side, to glare halfheartedly at them. "Do you really want your last conversation to be a fight?"

"Yes," Kuroki and Enma said at the exact same time.

"What else are we supposed to do?" Ace said.

"Well, in books this is where we all give heartfelt speeches and then get miraculously saved at the last moment."

"Ew," said Grim.

Kuroki's nose scrunched. "I'd rather die."

Enma opened his mouth.