Block A 「Nishimura Riki」

11

"Can you keep going?" Ni-ki asked when they neared a building corner. They've been running nonstop for a while but they couldn't let their guard down for them to stop for long. Ni-ki seemed fine, almost too distracted to feel the exhaustion. But Eiko felt the complete opposite, not having run this much since the mile run in p.e.

She didn't have much time to respond, so she forced out a meek agreement.

Ni-ki grabbed her other wrist this time. He neither looked back or at her, just forward into the dark abyss of a woody area and he told her. "Be ready to run."

And it could be noted that Ni-ki didn't know how to wait. As soon as he said it, he was tugging Eiko along again. To a place that Eiko didn't know about, and a place she could barely see well. She only knew that along with her wrist, her feet were going to hurt. And the only thing she could see was Ni-ki running ahead of her. And for her safety, she was forced to keep up.

It was a new experience. Where Eiko familiarized herself with scenes like this in video games, it felt different to see it in real life. Everything cracked under their feet, the wind was harsh against her face and ears, breaths lacking in pattern.

Were they still getting chased? Eiko didn't know anymore.

She couldn't even think. The silence, safe for the leaves and the sounds of fallen branches, was a passage for far too many distracting thoughts. For a second she choked on a breath. It wouldn't be long until she loses the energy to run. Just for now, she wouldn't let up.

"If it's too quiet," he said as if reading her mind and he slowed down into a jog as if he knew. Knew what exactly? Who knows. "Just focus on whatever I end up saying."

To Eiko, the bombardment of thoughts slowly began to dissipate. "Do you know where we are?" She asked.

"Yeah," there was a small childish excitement peaking in his voice. "I know this place well."

Despite having yet to arrive at their destination, Eiko asked. "How'd you find it?"

Ni-ki finally came to a stop with his jogging and opted to walk. It was only a few seconds before they arrived, and Ni-ki, similarly to a kid, lightly sprinted over to the looming tree a couple of meters away.

Eiko looked around and took a few more steps inside. It was a small area, covered all around with trees and bushes. Almost like any other forest safe for the spacious place in the center. Eiko peered up to see the small circle of the sky granted by the lining trees. And she took a quick glance behind her before approaching Ni-ki's spot beside the tree.

"Exploring," came his one word reply.

Right, Eiko thought to herself before sitting down at a distance from Ni-ki. "But uhh...thank you." They made brief eye contact. Only this time Ni-ki's eyes didn't come off so dark. "You always seem to save me when I get in situations like that. It's weird, but thank you."

Ni-ki's voice was at a range but Eiko could still hear it. "It's nothing."

Eiko folded her arms and put them overtop her knees. "How do you do it? It's weird that it seems like you just know. That you know where I am or that you know when I'm in danger. Don't you think it happens too many times for it to be coincidences?"

"They aren't," Ni-ki simply answered.

"Well yeah I know that," Eiko said. After that it immediately went silent, leaving Eiko to absentmindedly think.

"I'll be honest," he spoke up. "I can sense you."

Eiko turned her head in an instant. "What do you mean by that? How can you sense me?"

Before speaking he scoffed at the reality of his words. "When we first saw each other, it was a red moon, right?" He didn't wait for Eiko's confirmation before continuing. "Because you're still alive, it formed a permanent connection."

"Are you serious?"

His eyes were irritated. "Do you think I would be lying about something this stupid?"

Eiko faced away from him. "It just doesn't seem real."

Ni-ki tiredly sighed. "None of this is going to seem real. Not to you at least. You need to get it in your head that this isn't like how you lived. It's going to be different. It's going to be surreal. It's not going to be the same. You need to forget about everything that you knew." His frustration was clear in his tone.

Eiko didn't say anything. As exasperating as Ni-ki was, he was correct, he always was. And Eiko couldn't argue against it. "Is that why you end up saving me too? Because of the connection."

Expecting a yes, Eiko was momentarily caught off guard when she received a no.

"It was a matter of if I wanted you to die. You were new here, you didn't know anything. It's too easy for you to walk into the fire when you're blind. If I didn't do anything, you'd wind up dead. And nobody would know about it but me. That someone who didn't do anything would be killed," Ni-ki stated. "'I'd just feel guilty. And guilt is the worst feeling."

Eiko slightly smiled. It was a mixed feeling of uncertainty and touched, and it felt weird. She sat in the feeling for a moment longer. "But you're living here. In a place where they do just that. Don't you dislike it?"

Ni-ki laughed. It was a genuine one, but extremely bitter. "Even if I do. I can't do anything about it. I'll just live my life here. There's no other option."

"But vampires live long, right? Enough to perceive them as immortal. You'd be here for a long time, wouldn't you?" Eiko asked.

"Yeah, but I don't want to live that long. It's so much time just to live in misery. Our life is a pattern. It gets boring after a while."

It was strange how open he was. As if they were friends. As if they've known each other since time ago.

"Did it get boring yet?" Eiko asked again.

This contemplative silence was familiar. It was a sign that such simple words struck a chord. It happened with Sunghoon, and it's happening with Ni-ki. Maybe it meant something to Ni-ki that it didn't mean to Eiko. Maybe boring had different meanings between the two of them, or that it stood as the veneer for a word that's different. That boring wasn't boring.

"Yeah. It did," He answered in a mumble.

"I don't think I'd want to live that long either. Sometimes when you're on a time limit things feel more fun than they are. We appreciate things more the shorter we live." Eiko scoffed at herself. "It's weird trying to sound wise when I'm still young." She approached Ni-ki's spot under the tree, not getting too close but closer than they were. Ni-ki observed but didn't say anything.

"Let's make life fun again," Eiko suggested. "Wasting years on boredom is a waste of what you have. So let's try to make it fun." She smiled warmly. "Let's make it worth it." Eiko peered up at the sky.

Ni-ki didn't say anything but he didn't need to. Eiko was already sure.

"How long are we going to be here?" Eiko questioned.

"I don't know. Until it's reasonably safe, so maybe until the morning when the sun rises," Ni-ki shrugged.

Eiko hummed. "I'll try to stay up then."

Ni-ki looked at her. Quietly staring before he spoke up. "You can sleep. I'll keep watch. I don't get tired often anyway."

She subtly nodded and rested her arms over her knees again before pillowing her head over them. "Thanks, Ni-ki," she muttered.

"Riki," He said.

She was tired, eyes closed and barely opening her mouth to talk. "Hmm?"

"Riki's my name. You can call me Riki," he quietly explained, his tone pillow-soft.

Eiko wore a light grin. "Thank you, Riki."

And maybe if she opened her eyes and looked hard enough she would see a rare smile on Ni-ki's face.

-
This took an unreasonably long time for me to finish