Time Trapped //YHS & Hermitcraft Crossover\\

5

        "What do you mean?" Mumbo asked as Grian shook his head.

        "We can't just go waltzing in there. We have to wait." Grian shuddered at the thought of the Yakuza.

        "For what?!"

        "The timeline. Soon, Yuki is going to invite all of us to her house to meet her dad. We just have to... wait until then to get to the time machine." He summarized, and Mumbo sighed.

        "Ok, so how long until then?" Mumbo asked and Grian looked down at his phone.

        "Well, if today is..." As he looked at the date, his breathing became unsteady. His eyes flashed with recognition and fear.

        "What? What is it? Grian?" Mumbo asked, and Grian slowly placed his phone back in his pocket.

        "It's nothing, it's just that... today is the first day Sam really... loses it." He started, but Mumbo was still confused.

        "What do you mean?" He prompted, and Grian took a deep breath.

        "Rowan is going to get stabbed. The first time, I ran away from Sam. He chased me, into this awful little shed. He waited outside, throwing in these things... these "Tauritos". He forced me to eat them, the bag included. It was one of the most terrifying days of my life." Grian shuddered again, and Mumbo looked at him in reassurance.

        "Well, if you know what's coming, you won't have to do it again-"

        "Of course I do! Its... it was Sam's breaking point. If he doesn't... break again, we won't ever get to the Yakuza timeline. I have to do it again, and you can't interfere at all."

        "No! There is no way I'm gonna let him do that to you again!" Mumbo tried.

        "You have to! It's the only way back to Hermitcraft! It's the only way home!" Now Grian's eyes began to well with tears as Mumbo sighed.

        "Ok. So when does it start?"

Just as Grian knew it would, the wrestling tournament ended in Yuki stabbing Rowan. Mumbo was already stood outside when Grian came sprinting out of the door. Another second went by before Sam came running, Yuki close behind. Mumbo followed the chaos to the small playground next to the school, where he watched Grian, tears streaming down his face already, ran into the small shed. He watched Sam look around for him, some sort of red bag of chips in his hand.

        "Taurtis?!" He called out and heard the whimpers of fear through the thin wooden shed wall. "There you are, best friend!" He smiled, walking around and opening the door. Grian was huddled in the corner, and as Sam stepped inside, Mumbo heard him repeating something over and over. "You want some Tauritos? Huh, Taurtis? Want some?" He got more and more aggressive as he continued until finally, Grian caught the bag being thrown at him. "Go on, eat them! The packaging too!" Sam laughed, Yuki right beside him, cornering Grian in the shed. Mumbo couldn't see what happened next but could hear the crinkling of the bag and the sound of gagging. Suddenly, Rowan came running toward the shed, still bleeding but a look of fury on his face. Before he could stop himself, Mumbo pointed to Rowan.

        "Oh no! Rowan's back! Sam, Yuki, run before he kills you!" He yelled, and to his surprise, they did. They left the shed behind as they split up and ran from Rowan. Mumbo rushed into the shed to find Grian, crumpled on the floor, crying and coughing. He scratched at his throat, desperate to get the plastic out of it. As Mumbo ran to him, kneeling down to comfort him, Grian was able to spit out the bag. He shuddered as Mumbo wrapped his arms around his shaking friend, slightly rocking him to calm him down.

        "It's over now, they're gone. You're safe." Mumbo kept reassuring him, and they sat there for a while, gently rocking until Mumbo felt Grian's shaking stop. The sun had begun to set, and Mumbo looked down at his friend, who was now leaning on him, asleep in his embrace. Mumbo looked up at the door and noticed Okami standing there, watching.

        "I think you boys should sleep at our place tonight." She offered, and Mumbo softly nodded his head while gently picking up his friend. He carried him all the way to Okami and Rowan's house, where he too, let his exhaustion take him into a deep sleep. 

Someone recommended I say what episode each mentioned moment from YHS is from, which is a brilliant idea. This moment was a recreation of the end of Yandere High School Episode 53

Finally, some good angst. Yeah, this book ain't gonna make a ton of sense to those who haven't seen YHS, so if you're completely lost in this chapter, sorry. Anyway, this one was fun to write! Which is probably not a good thing but whatever. I actually rewatched this episode and tried to get it as accurate as possible while also having it work for the book's story, so sorry it's not 100% accurate to the real canon. I hope you have a good day/night, and you are loved.