I woke up with a start, unable to tell if it was dawn or dusk. I was in a bed of plain beige; it was lumpy and tough and I couldn't imagine how I had possibly slept on it. I sat up, shoving away the blaring dizziness that assaulted me. From the looks of it, the room I was in was part of a log cabin. Layers of warm brown cedar lined the walls as filtered sun streamed in through a window opposite to my bed.

I tried to stand up, but a pang of vertigo shot through me. I cradled my head in my hands, pressing my palms to my eyes to staunch the dizziness.

After a few moments, the door clicked open.

Enter Fukase, holding a tray of breakfast foods—a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast with miniature jars of jam. The sunlight danced in a halo around his head, dyeing his hair in hues of gold and flaming garnet.

Wait, actually, was I still dreaming?

I gaped at him stupidly as he walked over and set the tray of steaming food on the table beside my bed.

"It's a relief that you're awake," he murmured, and sat himself down. "What happened back there? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I mumbled, reaching for the tray of food. "Where did all this food come from, by the way?" I was desperate to change the subject.

"After I brought you here, I decided to explore the cabin a bit, and I happened to find some food in the kitchen. It looks like someone lives here or was here recently—but I figured it would be fine if I could get them to understand our situation. If they come back."

I nodded, chewing my food thoughtfully. The bacon reminded me of home—of London. Yohio and I had eaten bacon very rarely in Japan, so I still mentally linked it to my earlier childhood.

"Say, where are we, anyway?"

"Actually, I thought you might know, since you were the one with the map and all."

I fished for the map in my pockets, but it was to no avail. I must've dropped it by the waterfall. I hadn't remembered seeing a cabin anywhere on the map, anyway. There was a small town, but as far as I could see outside the windows, it didn't seem as though we had reached civilization. This cabin was the only "building" for a while.

"Anyway, after you fainted—"

"Fainted? I don't faint."

"Fine, after you swooned—"

"Swooned!? That's even worse!"

"Whatever! After you passed out. How's that?" I nodded for him to continue. "After you passed out, I waited for a few minutes because I thought you'd wake up. But you didn't, so I looked for a place to stay for a while until you recovered."

"So... then... did you carry me the whole way here?"

"Yeah."

"What do you mean 'yeah?'"

"What else was I supposed to do?"

If only I could've stopped my ears from burning through sheer power of will. Just how strong was he, anyway? He surely didn't look muscular at all. Pushing the thought aside, I cleared my throat. "Well, anyhow, it's not like we can stay here forever," I sighed, "but I lost the map, we have no clue where we are, and no idea how to get back to the dock."

Fukase picked at the bedsheets absently. "We could just wait for whoever the owner of this cabin is to get back."

"But that could take ages," I replied. "What if they've gone to the mainland? What if they're planning to be gone for a while? Or what if this is just their vacation cabin and they don't really stay here?"

"Hey, it'll be fine," he said as an attempt to comfort me.

It wasn't working.

How could he be so calm about it all? Was he not worried in the slightest about Yohio's ship leaving before we could find our way back? Clearly he was more used to being on his own than I was, but that was no excuse.

Suddenly, my mind drifted to what he had said back in the clearing. If no one ever hears from me again, it's not like it matters, he had said. But why? It was so sudden, so out of the blue and unlike him.

"So..." he wrung his hands awkwardly. It was hard not to laugh. This was the Fukase I knew—peculiar but not weirdly so. "Um. Should I leave, or..."

"You can stay if you want."

"Are you okay, though? Do you feel sick or anything?"

"I've got a migraine, but it's nothing I can't handle."

"I'll go check and see if there's any aspirin around here." He stood up brusquely—clumsily—and as he left the room, I noticed that his cheeks were flushed pink.

Cute.

~~~

Fukase hurried down the short flight of stairs, bumbling and inept, and cursed himself inwardly. Why, why, why?

Why had Oliver been looking at him in that sad, pitiful way, as if he was a kicked puppy on a rainy day? And why did he just have to spout all that miserable nonsense in the clearing?

He huffed a sigh of annoyance at his past self and brushed a few stray curls away from his eyes. The cabin was bigger than it had appeared from the outside, so searching might take a while. There hadn't been any medicine in the kitchen, so he'd have to ransack all of the other rooms until he found something of use.

The pantry was filled with ingredients and spices galore, from paprika and pepper to star anise and cumin and saffron. Bags of flour lined the bottom and shelves filled with bottled spices layered almost until the ceiling.

But still, no medicine here.

He checked the drawing room and the study—Why is there a study in a getaway cabin?—but it was to no avail. The study was pretty, though: encyclopedias on plants and animals of Japan and the world decorated one shelf, while another was stacked with papers and parchments and writing utensils. A desk of cedarwood stood between them, a few ink splotches staining it instead of eyes of the wood grain.

With the tall windows above the shelves and the skylight above, it would be the perfect place to draw sometime. Fukase resolved to show Oliver the study before they left—it would be a waste to leave the place behind without appreciating it together.

Of course, there was no medicine to be found there, either; the search carried on.

Wait, don't some old people put medicine in their bathrooms? Fukase thought, and went to investigate.

Surprisingly, there wasn't a bathroom connected to the master bedroom, only one downstairs. It was quite spacious, too; each area was separated and the powder area was surrounded by three mirrors.

Inevitably, Fukase caught a glimpse of himself. A glimpse which turned into a stare.

He hadn't seen his own reflection in months, years perhaps. His red hair fell in unruly curls over his forehead and down the nape of his neck, and a night sky of freckles had made themselves at home on his cheeks. His eyes, once bright ruby red with a fierce and curious light, had dimmed to sputtering embers—but what did he care? He was barely alive. Appearance was the least of his concerns.

After a few moments, he tore his eyes away from his reflection and started sifting through the cabinets.

"Did no one ever tell you that trespassing is a crime?"

Fukase flinched grandly, slamming the cabinet shut. He whirled around, eyes wide as he tried to find the voice's source.

"Oh dear, I didn't mean to scare you," the disembodied voice continued. "Think of it as a friendly reminder."

Fukase swallowed dryly and tried to steady himself. "I'm, uh, I'm sorry. My friend was feeling ill, so I was looking for help when I found this cabin. I'll leave if you want."

"Don't worry about it! Feel free to stay as long as you'd like."

"Weren't you just upset about us trespassing a moment ago?"

"Of course, you can't stay here for free. Everything comes with a price."

Fukase stifled a sigh. "How much do you want?"

"Oh please, I don't need your money."

What does this guy want? By now, he was annoyed. Why was everyone on this island an absolute nutcase? Or maybe... was it the same person who had led them to the waterfall?

"Tell you what," Fukase began, taking on a negotiative stance. "Why don't you show me who you are and we'll work something out?"

The voice chuckled. "You've always been a clever one, Fukase."

"How do you know my—" Fukase turned around and came face to face with someone all too familiar.

The air seemed to still and time stalled around them.

"Len? What are you doing here...?" His voice trailed off in disbelief. Standing between him and the mirror was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy—his childhood friend. The friend he'd known when his parents died, the friend who had supported him and whose family had taken him to live in Japan with his remaining relatives.

Fukase was filled with joy and confusion all at once. Of course he was glad to see his friend after years of separation, but he couldn't push aside a growing feeling of unease that something was wrong, something had changed. That's right, he thought—the person who had led them to the cliff was blonde, too, and shared the same neat, lithe form that Len did. He didn't want to believe it, but forced the question out.

"Back in the clearing, the one who led us to the cliff—was that you?"

"No, of course not," Len laughed dryly. "I've never been athletic, you know me. That was Rin."

A twinge of dread wracked Fukase's brain. Rin was Len's twin sister: where one went, the other was sure to follow. Was this some kind of sick joke? Some conspiracy? Rin and Len were Fukase's friends, so why would they want to hurt him? Nothing made any sense.

Len smiled disconcertingly—it didn't reach his eyes. "Tell you what." Fukase stiffened. "We'll let you and your friend stay here for two days. We won't bother you or pry at all! You get the cabin to yourself. Once those two days are up, I'll send you instructions on how we'll collect your...payment. Think of it as a rent, for now."

"Alright," Fukase tried to sound confident. "Deal."

They shook hands and Len turned to leave.

"Oh, by the way," Fukase started, "do you have any aspirin here?"

"Check the kitchen cabinet, the one over the sink. There should be something in there." Len smiled. This time, it was genuine.

As soon as he left and the shock wore off, a million questions flooded Fukase's mind. I should've asked why he's here, he thought, and what he's been doing and how he's been all these years and why he never came to visit me and...

He shook his head, trying to clear the last of the stupor that his long-lost friend had cast over him. Was that even really him? He seemed so cold and strangely distant...well, it had been almost ten years, after all.

Choosing to ignore the sudden manner Len had disappeared in, Fukase made his way to the kitchen. Although he had previously found no medicine of the sort, sure enough, there was a small bottle of aspirin in the cabinet. He pocketed the bottle and made his way back to Oliver's room, pausing only to glance into the study once more, before continuing on his way.

That's it? Fukase wondered as he trudged up the stairs. The encounter with Len had left him with more questions than answers. Thinking about any detail in particular made his head throb with dull disquiet. Fukase had imagined being reunited with his childhood friends countless times over the years, but not even his wildest imagination had prepared him for what he just witnessed. It had all happened so fast; before he could understand the situation or even think about what he wanted to say, Len was gone. As if the shock, or maybe just Len's sudden presence itself, had numbed his mind.

Fukase turned down the hall, resolving to shelve his thoughts for the moment. He knocked on Oliver's door and paused a few brief moments before letting himself in.

"Hey, Oliver, I found some—"

But Fukase immediately shut up, because Oliver was already fast asleep, tucked under the pale beige sheets and out like a light.

Cute.

A/N:

Happy Halloween you guys!! Stay safe and have fun :D

I'll upload this chapter on Ao3 tomorrow. It's a bit longer than usual so the formatting might take a while,,, heh

Anyway. Catch ya on the flip side~

~Stargazer

(P.S. Does anyone have anything planned for NaNoWriMo?? I'm curious 0-0)