The next few hours passed by in a daze for Fukase. Honestly, he didn't remember much of it at all—he had let Oliver lead him through the steps and tuned out all the rest. Before he knew it, he had finished his dinner in their conjoined room.

Now, he was tucked in bed, waiting for Oliver's breathing to even out so he could make his move. They had left the door between their rooms open ("Just as a precaution," Oliver had insisted) but Fukase still had to strain his ears a bit to listen for the other boy's soporific sighs to make sure he was completely asleep.

Fukase had the whole plan ready. He would sneak out of his room, and then navigate his way back to where Miku's "catalyst room" had been. Of course, it wasn't her that he wanted to speak with—it was Kaito. He was the closest adult to sane on the island, and so he decided that that was his best bet. Considering how buddy-buddy he had been with Miku earlier, his room most likely wasn't far from hers.

He slid out from under the blankets, listening carefully for any changes from Oliver's room. There was nothing. He just had to get to the door and—

Creaaaak.

Fukase froze. A creaky floorboard? Really?

"Fukase? You up?" Oliver's voice called from his room and Fukase cursed inwardly. "I thought you fell asleep already."

"Yeah, I just wanted to get some water," he lied smoothly.

The light flicked on and Oliver came into view. He rubbed his eyes and glanced at Fukase's nightstand. "There's a jug of water right there, though."

He turned away, embarrassed at being caught. There went his brilliant plan. He had been so close to keeping Oliver safe, but once again, he messed up.

"Where were you really going?" Before he knew it, Oliver had sat himself criss-crossed on Fukase's bed and beckoned him to sit together. He propped his chin up on his fists as Fukase settled in. "You've been pretty out of it ever since this afternoon, and then things only got worse..." he murmured.

"Yeah. There's a lot of information I've been trying to process."

"Like what?" Fukase hesitated. "You can tell me."

"Well," he sighed. "As I told you earlier, Miku—the president—found out that my magic has already been catalyzed, and my theory is that you were the catalyst. There's one other event I can think of that's a possible candidate for catalyst though, but..." he shook his head, as if to clear such a notion from his mind. "I doubt it was that.

"And then, after I left the library, there was something else." He paused again. Oliver nodded for him to continue, but otherwise waited patiently. "I ran into Rin, and she told me some things." He swallowed nervously. "She said that I have enough magic for the both of us, and that if I stayed back, they would let you go home."

Oliver's eyes widened with disbelief the more Fukase went on. "So that's it? You were just going to give yourself up as some sort of sacrifice? You were just going to—" He paused, took a deep breath, and sighed, trying to calm himself down. "What were you thinking?" He asked softer.

"Isn't it a good compromise?" Fukase asked back.

"No, it absolutely isn't."

"And why not? You can go home, Oliver. Your life will go back to normal like none of this ever happened."

"Yeah? And what about you?"

"Maybe I'm okay with this."

"Well, you weren't okay with it just this afternoon. You were panicked just over the idea of the building being on lockdown. You want to go back home just as badly as I do, don't you?" Oliver looked at him pleadingly. "Right?"

Fukase averted his gaze. "It's not like I have much to go back to."

"You have me." Fukase looked back up at him, surprised and frustrated all at once. "If I go back alone, then what am I going to do? You'll have me to go back to then, won't you?" Oliver stood up from the bed and stared down at the other boy sternly. "I'm not just going to leave you here. You've been abandoned enough for three lifetimes over." Fukase stared up at Oliver for a few seconds, partly in shock and then in wonder. "Now, you're not going anywhere. We're both going to bed, and we'll figure out a way to escape to-ge-ther tomorrow."

And then, Fukase snickered, which turned into a giggle, which turned into full blown laughter until he was holding his sides as he shook with mirth.

"Hey! What's so funny about that? We're having a serious conversation here!" Oliver fumed.

"No, it's just that you reminded me a lot of a mother hen just now," Fukase gasped out between giggles.

Oliver gave him a glare of exaggerated disbelief, but he couldn't hold it for long. Fukase's laughter was contagious, and before long, he too was laughing at the absurd situation. It was a few more moments before the hilarity between them died down and they were able to breathe properly.

"Alright, alright. Really though, we need to sleep. You especially," Oliver said, sighing. "I'm going back to bed. Wake me in the morning if you're up first, okay?"

"Sure thing." Fukase watched his retreating figure as he stepped through the door to his own room and tucked himself in for the second time.

He got up from his bed, expertly avoiding the creaky floorboard, and headed to the bathroom. There was just one thing left before he could sleep for real this time. He felt around on the wall for the tiny light switch as he closed the bathroom door. Once the light was on, he headed towards the drawer to the side of the sink and pulled out some makeup remover and cotton pads and got to work.

Of course that fire from his childhood didn't leave him unscathed. Of course, over ten years later, he was still concerned with covering up the blotchy patches of discoloration and the strange texture of his skin. To some extent, he didn't mind the scars too much. They had healed so well that it was nothing short of a miracle and now they looked like lightning streaks across the skin of his left arm and the left half of his face. That foolish, boyish part of him almost thought they looked sort of cool, but it was safer to cover them up than risk getting asked about it once too often.

As he did every night since arriving on the island, he thanked his lucky stars that his foundation powder and the bottle of makeup remover had been in his coat pocket when they disembarked from the cruise ship. He had forgotten why he put them there, but it definitely came in handy. There was still half of the bottle of makeup remover left, and in that moment, he decided to use it as a timer of sorts. Before the bottle was finished, they would surely make their escape.

After he finished wiping the foundation from his face and left arm, he tossed the cotton pad in the trash can and returned the bottle of makeup remover to its place in the drawer. Finally, he watched his reflection in the mirror copy him as he grinned. His conversation with Oliver replayed in his mind, as bright and uplifting as the real thing. The situation was still quite bleak, but somehow, his chest felt warm with hope.

~~~

Fukase woke up before the sun that morning. He rubbed the bleariness from his eyes as he adjusted to the darkness. He leaned over the edge of his bed, squinting at the clock to try and make out what time it was, but he leaned too far forward and ended up tumbling to the floor.

Sighing grouchily, he picked himself up and toed on his slippers before glancing to Oliver's room. Of course he doesn't wake up this time, he thought with a huff.

But as he looked around, something caught his eye. A shimmer of blue shone gently outside his door; he could see it through the crack between the door and the floor. He walked over and crouched down, peeking under to see if he could tell what it was. A beryl-blue powder was scattered on the floor, illuminated by moonlight to look as if it was glowing.

Nervous but intrigued, he cracked the door open and slipped outside. He shivered as the colder hallway air brushed his skin before crouching beside the blue powder. Taking some in his hands, he sifted the powder between his fingers to try and figure out what it was.

After a few moments, he stood back up, brushing off his hands and letting the powder fall back to the floor. Up ahead, he could see another pile of the glimmering blue powder, and before long he realized that it was a trail. He walked over to the next pile, then to the next, following them down twists and turns and a flight of stairs until he was finally led to a door.

He opened it, and his vision was flooded with light. He squinted against the light assaulting his eyes, blinking so that he could adjust, and realized that he had come to a...kitchen?

Fukase took a few nervous steps into the kitchen, looking around to see if there was any more blue powder on the floor.

"Ah, you made it."

He flinched as he heard a voice from the back of the kitchen. Someone stood up from behind the counter—a someone with very blue hair and a sheepish smile on his face.

"Kaito."

"That's me. Sorry to startle you."

"No worries." Fukase winced as he remembered that his scars were uncovered. "So, um... do you mind if I ask why you're in the kitchen at 4:30 in the morning?"

"Oh, you know. Just a post-midnight snack," he replied, holding up a bowl of ice cream. "Want some?"

"I think I'll pass."

"More for me," Kaito said with a shrug.

"In any case," Fukase continued, trying to stay on track, "was there any reason why there was a bunch of blue powder on the floor in the hall? That wouldn't have been you, was it?"

"Actually, it was me. I had a feeling you had something to talk to me about, so I led you here."

"And how would you possibly know such a thing?"

"Let's just say... my spider senses were tingling."

Fukase sighed, deciding to drop the question since Kaito insisted upon being so evasive. "Fine. Yes, I do have something to talk to you about."

After lying awake for a while the previous night, Fukase had decided that he needed to talk to Kaito after all—but for a different reason. If he and Oliver weren't to be separated, then they would need a new solution. That solution was something only Fukase could provide.

As Kaito nodded for him to continue, he took a bite of his ice cream and Fukase resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I want you to teach me how to use my magic. More specifically, I need to learn how to properly manifest it."

Kaito nodded again, deep in thought this time. "Now, why would I do such a thing?"

"Because I know you want to get off this island as much as I do. And in order to get out of here, you need my help." If Fukase's judgment of character was right, then that should do it. Rin had suggested that Fukase was quite powerful, and if he and Kaito had the same goal in mind, then Kaito should want that power on his side, right?

"What a difficult position you're putting me in," Kaito said, sighing. "It's true that I've been looking for a way to leave this island for a while now, and the fact that you've deduced that much in such a short amount of time is only proof of your potential. But..." he was distracted by his thoughts for a moment as he trailed off.

"But?"

"Let's make a deal," Kaito said suddenly. "I can make a plan for your escape, and I'll teach you everything you need to know to make it a reality. But you have to promise me one thing—that you'll help me get everyone off of this island. Not just you and Oliver, not just me. Everyone."

"If your plan allows it," Fukase said carefully, "I'll do my best."

"Then we have a deal." They shook hands over the countertop. "By the way, are you sure you don't want any ice cream?"

Fukase looked down at the bowl in Kaito's hands. "Hm... what flavors do you have?"

Kaito offered a knowing smile before opening the freezer for Fukase to take his pick. It was going to be a long day.

A/N:

Sorry for the super late update!! The end of the school year was super hectic and I've been busy since we're traveling soon,,

Also as I was writing this, I remembered that given the time period of this fic, Fukase probably would have read the original Spider-Man... hence the reference hehe

Hopefully the next update won't take as long! I'm doing my best ;-; Catch ya on the flip side~

~Stargazer