𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗡'𝗦 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬! ━━━━ mao isara (on hold)

58. tight darkness (keihokumao)

ᡣ𐭩 . no au | neutral

A groan emits deep from the bottom of his throat. Kelly green eyes blink open with a haze. Mao reaches a hand up to one side of his head in the position of where the temple is. Pain burned throughout like fire spreading in a set of woods.

Darkness overtook his sight. The smell of something odd emitted around the area.

Mao notices that he's sitting on the ground, his back against a not quite smooth wall that felt as though it was made of metal. He then reaches a hand forward, not all that far before him, that same feeling was there. He glanced about. Everything looked the same.

The same height. The same width. Every centimetre of this place Mao was in was duplicated over itself. Made of the same metal. Rusted and turning a horrid shade of mucky orange.

The place was small. Too small... Even for Mao's own liking, it made him feel tight. Alone with the fear of his own consciousness. He reaches a hand up, feeling that very same material too. His hand balls into a fist as his knuckles bang against the top. It echoed as dust of the rusting fell onto him, causing him to cough horrendously for a moment.

"Hello?!" He tries calling out, still banging his fist against the top. "Is anyone out there? Please! I'm stuck here!"

He doesn't even remember how he got stuck in this tight place. Only pain and darkness emitted from the faintest of his memories before waking in this exact spot.

Mao waits for a second, straining his ears to hear any sort of noise, but there was none at all. No voices. No footsteps. Plain nothingness. Silence only took its place guarding the surrounding area.

Eventually, he gives up banging on the metal surface above. His hands fall into his lap for a second until a thought comes into his mind. He reaches one hand into his school trousers pockets, feeling a very familiar item.

He slides it out and turns it on. Wherever he may be, Mao Isara was glad that he still had his phone on him. He goes to his contact app immediately, scrolling through the various names that were dated until he stops at one and taps on it.

Mao couldn't help but chew on his lip from the major cause of anxiety he felt as he brought the phone to his ear, hearing the device ring out for a few seconds until a familiar and comforting voice greeted him.

"Hello?" Mao immediately felt bad. Keito Hasumi sounded extremely tired, more than he's ever shown in being so during the many hours of being with the other for the hours of work of the student council.

"Hasumi!"

"Isara, is that actually you?" Keito's voice piqued in tone with each word he asked.

"Yeah, it's me! Why do you sound so upset...?" He worries himself.

"I'm not upset. It's nice hearing your voice, actually. But Isara... how are you still alive? You were presumed dead a while ago."

Mao was stunned for a second. "What do you mean?"

"You've been gone for a few weeks. Missing without a trace. Your family and the police were involved with your case investigation, only for both parties to drop it two weeks later and announce your ending..."

Mao frowns. Of course, his family would agree on such an idea to do that...

"...But here you are, talking to me now. I hope this is the real you and not some hallucination again..." Mao hears Keito mutter. The older male has been seeing him through hallucinations? How bad was his so-called case...?

Mao then hears the older male shuffle around for a second on the other side of the phone call. "Where have you been, Isara? Where are you now, even?"

"I don't know..."