The Bridge Between

Chapter 2: Yugo

When Yugo opened his eyes to the now familiar white space of the Bridge Between, unlike the many times before, Yuya wasn't there to greet him. Yugo didn't know exactly how many times he'd died and appeared here but that was one of the few constants. No matter how many times he, Yuri, and Yuto appeared, and no matter the order, Yuya was always there to greet them with a smile.

Yugo stood up on his wobbly legs and looked around for the young bridge keeper. After a while in search, Yugo finally spotted the other in the distance and made his way over to him.

When Yugo got close enough to see the other more clearly, he noticed that Yuya wasn't alone.

Yuya was crouched next to a vaguely shaped wisp of mist and light. The wisp was in the form of a small child and Yuya was in the middle of giving said wisp what looked to be a comforting hug while whispering softly. There was a look on Yuya's face, something the nine-times-out-of-ten-orphan Yugo rarely saw.

Compassion. Yuya looked so sad holding onto the child wisp but the amount of care he was showing in his every movement told Yugo how much the other boy cared about the little wisp.

Yugo felt awkward. He didn't mean to intrude on whatever moment Yuya was having with the child wisp. Rin would throw a fit if she found out he'd intruded on such an intimate moment. Yugo decided to turn around and wait for whatever Yuya was doing to finish.

A few minutes of waiting passed and Yugo was starting to get bored. He was curious about what was going on behind him.

Maybe just a peak , he thought, they won't even notice.

Turning around, Yugo watched as Yuya, having long since ceased hugging the wisp, gave the child the same smile he'd given Yugo, Yuto, and Yuri every time he sent them off to their new lives. A look of longing.

The wisp began to glow, although not as bright as when Yuri and Yuto appear in the Bridge Between, and after an encouraging squeeze to the hand he was holding, Yuya let go of the little wisp. The wisp began to rise, slowly, off the ground on which they stood and solidified in shape. The wisp took the form of a small child in a turquoise hoodie and shorts, a cap covering short pale blue threads of hair.

Just before Yugo could make out the face from his distant spot in the Bridge, the child's form began to fade, leaving Yuya and Yugo alone in the Bridge.

Yuya continued to stare at the spot the child faded from for a few moments more before wiping at his eyes and making his way over to Yugo.

"Sorry I wasn't there to meet you, Yugo," Yuya apologized with a timid smile, "Reira is always a bit scared to go back."

Yugo looked at the other boy, wondering if this was how Yuya spent his days on the Bridge. Never having a constant companion, always being there for others as they come to terms with their deaths, and then sending the spirits off to give life another try. Yuya had said the three of them were odd, that no one else remembered the other times they'd appeared in the Bridge Between. Yuya had to greet familiar departed souls and then send them off once more, the spirits never realizing just how much the boy seemed to care for them.

How lonely he must be , Yugo thought.

Then Yugo thought about the child he just saw depart. Yuya had told them a while back that the more often the soul came to the bridge, the more human-like their soul appeared. This "Reira's" soul was nearly there. Yugo was curious about why the child was almost as solid as Yuto, Yuri and himself but stopped before he could ask.

It's none of my business, He thought, I think it'd be rude to ask how the kid keeps dying.

But like always, Yuya seemed to know exactly what Yugo was thinking.