Usumi kept both hands on the wheel as he drove, his posture steady and composed despite the tension that lingered in the air. The city stretched out before him in long ribbons of neon and shadow, the lights reflecting faintly across the windshield. Inside the car, everything was quiet except for the low, constant hum of the engine.
Pondaru lay unconscious in the back seat, where he had placed him without ceremony. His small frame shifted slightly with the motion of the car, his breathing shallow but steady. A thin line of dried blood traced along his cheek, stark against his skin. He looked fragile like this—far too fragile for everything that had just happened.
Usumi did not look at him right away. His gaze remained fixed on the road, his expression unreadable, though his grip on the wheel tightened ever so slightly before easing again.
For a while, there was nothing but the steady rhythm of the drive.
Then something stirred.
It was not a sound in the car, nor anything reflected in the glass, but something deeper, something buried. A faint metallic clink echoed through his mind, quiet but unmistakable. It did not belong to the present.
His eyes flicked briefly toward the rearview mirror.
Pondaru had not moved.
Still, the sensation lingered.
Another faint sound followed, sharper this time, like metal shifting against itself. The image came with it before he could stop it—chains, worn and cold, drawn tight around wrists that were far too small. They dragged across a hard surface with a slow, grating sound that seemed to vibrate through him.
Usumi's jaw set, and his focus snapped back to the road ahead. The image vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind only the quiet interior of the car and the distant glow of the city.
He exhaled slowly through his nose, steadying himself.
For a few seconds, nothing else came.
Then another flicker broke through.
A room took shape at the edges of his thoughts—dimly lit, enclosed, suffocating in its stillness. The details refused to settle, slipping away whenever he tried to focus on them, but the feeling remained. There had been someone there. He did not let himself see who.
His eyes drifted again to the rearview mirror.
Pondaru's head shifted slightly with the movement of the car, his body limp, unguarded. The sight of his stirred something uneasy in Usumi's chest, something he did not welcome.
Too small. Too still.
His fingers tightened around the wheel before he forced them to relax.
And then—
A voice surfaced, soft and distant, yet so close it felt as though it brushed against him.
"Usumi… don't leave us… please…"
His breath faltered for the briefest moment.
The sound faded just as quickly as it had come, leaving nothing behind but the hum of the engine and the faint vibration of the road beneath the tires.
Usumi did not react outwardly. He kept his gaze forward, his posture unchanged, but his eyes lingered on the mirror for a moment longer this time. Long enough to confirm that Pondaru was still breathing. Long enough to remind himself that he was still here.
"Tch."
He pressed down slightly on the accelerator, and the car picked up speed as it carried them further out of the city.