*心の絆* [ON HOLD]

Chapter Four

Both of them couldn't believe that they would see each other again, but not in this situation. Eguchi drives down the road as (Name) just sat on the passenger seat, silent. The bruise on her leg is still visible, and it's still large, but it doesn't actually hurt anymore or is getting larger. She should have worn pants, not shorts. She then noticed that she had rolled the sleeves of her hoodie to her elbows. It showed her marked arms. A lot of cuts are grazing her soft (skin color) skin. Widening her eyes, she immediately rolled down the sleeves of her hoodie, afraid that the man next to her would judge her, just like everybody did. She didn't noticed but Eguchi took a glance at her but kept silent.

He didn't know her that much and yet, she's here with him. Well, he did promised himself to pay her back after hitting her with a glass door and almost running her over with his car. Driving her to Aokigahara is one of them. But, he wants to do more for her. The silence wrapped around the car as they're almost through the exit of the city. The silence is deafening. It feels awkward, so Eguchi decided to cough out before speaking.

"So, I'm sorry again for the troubles." He again, apologized. She shook her head and beamed a smile at him. "Hey! That's ok! I might be the one who's troubling you." She said, leaning on the car seat. Eguchi chuckled and looked at her as he pressed on the brake. "Oh no. I've hit you with a door at a convenience store and I almost ran you over. That's like a lot of trouble by me." He said. (Name) chuckled at him and again, beamed a smile. "Ok, ok. I got you. But really. Don't you have work to go to?" She proceeded to ask him. The traffic light turned to green and the car ride continued. "Well, I do have work but it's going to be tomorrow. I need to travel to Nagoya for this day." He explained. She looked at him, interested. "Well, what's your job?" She asked him, tilting her head. He looked at her, questioning. "Wait, you didn't know what I do, right? Or even heard my name before?" He again asked. She squinted her eyes, thinking for a moment, before shaking her head as a no. "Nah. I don't think so." "But do you watch anime?" "Not that much." He sighed, defeatedly. "I'm a voice actor." As soon as he said that, (Name) suddenly became interested as she slightly jumped from the car seat and turned her whole body to look at him. "Oh, that sounds cool." She said, looking at him with amazed eyes. He chuckled at her answer. "You know, people would freak out if they knew I voice act. But you're different." He said as he looked at the road. She did the same, seeing the sign that tells them that they have already exited the state of Tokyo. "Yeah. I'm.. probably different from others." She said, the grin on her face slowly fading away.

Eguchi took notice of her change of tone and the change of the aura in the car, so he took the opportunity to ask her up. "Can you introduce yourself to me? I would like to hear more about you." He asked her. She looked up at him who is focusing his eyes on the road and pouted. "I'm not really that interesting. I would rather hear things from you." She took an excuse to introduce herself but Eguchi is not buying that. "Oh come on. You could actually look me up on Google. I want to learn more about you if you're gonna be stuck in a four hour trip with me." He said as a matter of fact. She again pouted and sighed in defeat. "But don't laugh at me if you found me weird, ok?" She said as she composed herself on the car seat and faced him. "Hi. Again, I'm (Full Name), I'm twenty-seven years old, and I like cats." She sat back down and looked out in the road. Eguchi raised one of his eyebrows and again looked at her. "Is.. is that all?" He asked, making (Name) pout. "As I said, I'm not that interesting." She said, crossing her arms in front of her chest like a 9 year old kid. Eguchi sighed. "Just tell me the things you're into or anything that relates to you." He said and she sighed. "Alright. Again, I like cats, I draw as a living, I like to read books, I listen to music, and I have cancer." She said, trying to beam a smile at Eguchi. He just nodded at the information he got but then he realized the last info she gave him and immediately stopped the car. "Wait, you have what?" She turned to look at him chuckling. "I have cancer." She answered him with a smile, and yet Eguchi looks so horrified to hear that information. "Wait, cancer? What kind of cancer? Shouldn't you be at the hospital right now?!" He asked and yet (Name) shushed him up. "Yes. I've been diagnosed with cancer, and it's leukemia. It's a cancer in the blood. Also, no, I'm good outside of the hospital. I take my medicines every day so there's nothing to worry about." She said but Eguchi is still surprised hearing this from someone who is just so chill saying it to someone she barely even know. "You're kidding, right?" He asked her, but she just laughed. He started to laugh with her but slowly. As the laughter subsided, she looked at him straight in the eyes. "I'm not kidding, Takuya-san." Eguchi bit his lip. She is serious about this. Eguchi arranged his glasses and then gripped on the steering wheel. "What stage is your cancer now?" He asked. (Name) chuckled at him, shaking her head. "Leukemia doesn't have any stages, good sir. But I do believe that I only have twelve months left to live." She said as the grin on her face subsided into a soft, sad smile. Eguchi widen his eyes as soon as he heard that last sentence and whipped his head towards to her direction. "Twelve months?! Don't you have any other option for you to live longer?!" He asked her again, and yet she just chuckled. "It'll go down to eleven months if you don't drive right now. You're stressing me out with questions!" She said as she tapped Eguchi on the shoulder to wake his senses up. Eguchi, still shooked from the information he got from (Name), blinked a couple of times, shaked his head, and looked back at the road. He started the engine again, the trip getting back in track. He has so much questions for her, but he knew he still have time to ask her. Heck, he has 4 more hours to ask her more. This is just the start of a trip. A trip that can change both of their lives.

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Total Word Count: 1187

Author's Note: Um, short and.. cute? This is like a filler chapter bc I lazy. anyways, read my oneshot book yo k bye