Sunset Ghost

Come Back

サンセットゴースト

Sunset Ghost

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第23章

戻ってきます

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After several more minutes of Hinata not responding, Kageyama gritted his teeth and pulled a talisman from his pocket, clenching it tightly in his hand as he glanced at Hinata once more. There was no way he was letting him go that easily. As long as he had the strength, he would do everything in his power to keep Hinata from fading away; even if that meant diving into the underworld after him.

Saying a quick prayer to any god listening that Yachi would arrive soon, Kageyama stuck the talisman in the center of his chest. Immediately, he felt his soul detach and plunge below the earth, feeling like he was being submerged in freezing cold water. He gasped, struggling to keep breathing as he sped through the dirt and popped out in the midst of an ink black sky and plummeted towards the barren wasteland below, wind slamming against him from below. Just before he splattered against the ground like a dropped egg, a crack opened up in the dirt and he fell into it, slamming into a soft surface face-first.

Kageyama groaned and pushed himself up slowly, blinking around at the room he'd landed in with confusion. It was a living room he didn't recognize, with a couch—the surface that had broken his fall—a coffee table, and a TV. As he pushed himself to a sitting position, the sound of laughter and pounding footsteps could be heard from down the hall. As Kageyama turned his head to investigate, he felt his heart seize.

Hinata came bursting into the room, followed by what appeared to be a much smaller, girlish version of him: most likely his sister. Neither of them seemed to notice him, prancing right past Kageyama and throwing themselves against the window with wide smiles. The little Hinata let out an awed gasp and tugged on her brother's sweatshirt sleeve with bright eyes. "Nii-chan, look: it snowed!"

Kageyama hesitantly stood and walked towards them, ignoring Hinata's response, and stared through the frosted window: there was indeed snow. But how could that be? It had been nowhere near winter—although he supposed rationality didn't really apply to this situation, considering he was in Hinata's house watching him laugh with his little sister when in reality his body was slumped over in the rain somewhere far above.

That's right... I'm in Yomi. Kageyama stared around with a frown. But this doesn't look very after-worldly... I must be in Hinata's memories.

As he came to the realization, Hinata turned and dragged Natsu by the hand to the front door, where he sat down and pulled on a pair of winter boots. "Come on, let's go build a snowman, Natsu-chan!"

While the siblings pulled on boots, hats, gloves, and coats, a woman appeared in the doorway of the kitchen drying a glass. "Natsu, Shōyō, don't stay out too long, alright? I'll have lunch ready soon."

Kageyama followed the two redheads out into the snow, feeling the cold in his lungs and the snow underneath his sneakers like it was really there. He watched as Hinata and Natsu rolled piles of snow into the base for a snowman, wondering faintly if they could see or hear him if he tried to speak. How else was he supposed to get Hinata out of there? Did he just have to talk to him, convince him what he was seeing wasn't real? But that almost seemed cruel; to tear him away from such a peaceful memory and back into the cold, rainy reality that waited for them both.