𝘽𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝘿𝙤𝙤𝙧𝙨 [ON HOLD]

𝟎𝟑 | 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐨𝐨𝐫

A large announcement plays as people start to leave the boat. "Thank you for choosing the Shikoku Orange Ferry. Take a moment to ensure you have all your belongings. On behalf of the crew we wish you a pleasant day and hope to see you again."

Near the docking station, Rain and Suzume walk together. Rain keeps a hand on Suzume's back to ensure she won't get lost due to the crowd while Suzume holds Souta behind her.

"Suzume? Rain?" He calls out with a small rasp in his voice.

"Finally." Suzume groans.

Rain giggles at the girl before glancing at the chair. "Good morning, Souta."

"It felt like you were sleeping forever. I was starting to worry this was all one big dream." Suzume complains as she sets Souta down near the harbor bars.

"I was asleep?" Souta questions.

"Out cold. I've never seen you sleep like that before." Rain giggles. "Man Souta, maybe I should turn you into a chair more often."

"Well, never mind that. We've got a cat to track down." Suzume sighs and places her hands on her hips. "We should ask around the harbor. Where even are we?" She asks and pulls out her phone.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Souta urges and stumbles towards Suzume.

Rain shakes her head and lets out a tsk-tsk noise before picking up Souta. She looks over Suzume's shoulder and hums. "Look at that, we're on the edge of Ehime."

"Wow, we came pretty far," Suzume adds.

"Hey, listen. If you get on the next ferry you can make it home before nightfall." Souta interrupts the girls. "You should hit--"

"What?!" Suzume gasps.

"What's wrong Suzume--oh my god!" Rain shouts.

"What are you two gawking at?" Souta groans.

"Look!" Suzume exclaims and shoves her screen towards Souta. He inhales a small breath and grumbles. On her phone was a social media post of the cat they had been searching for, relaxing on the seat cushion.

"They even gave him a name," Suzume adds, pointing at the post's caption. "Daijin."

"I guess he has that look." Rain hums. Suzume continues to scroll through her posts as more pictures of Daijin appear.

"He's moving by train. Rain, we have to hurry." Souta huffs and jumps out of the woman's arms. "It's time for us to go our separate ways. Thanks for everything, Suzume. Get home safely."

✿

"Think this through." Souta sulks as Suzume holds him by one of the chair legs. Her other hand tightly held onto Rain's while the older woman cased out money from an ATM.

"Souta, give the kid a break. I don't blame her for wanting to help us."

"If she's gone much longer people are going to worry about her," Souta whispers.

"It's fine. I'm allowed to make my own choices." Suzume adds.

The group soon found themselves sitting on a quiet and empty train, Souta the chair sitting snugly between Suzume and Rain.

"This could be dangerous. It's not safe for you to tag along." Souta says, continuing to pry at the teenager. "And you, Rain. Encouraging her to go on a mission like this."

Rain scoff at the chairman before crossing her arms and looking down a him. "Don't put words into my mouth. I said that if she choose to come then I would make sure to protect and take responsibility for her."