The Ultimate Hunt {DRV3 AU}

Grey.

The next 2 weeks were grey. Grey clouds covering the sky, you could barely tell if it was day or night. Shuichi and Rantaro got a hotel, but spent the last few nights in a lodge on the edge of town. Meal were scarce, but they got what they could.

Rantaro was grey. Thinking. Shuichi was grey, finally reaching a point where he could catch his breath. They didn't speak much, there was enough distance between all the rooms in the lodge that they didn't need to see each other.

Sometimes, when the night was dark and you couldn't tell if it was late at night or early morning, Shuichi would step into Rantaro's room crying. Another night, another nightmare. After this long Rantaro had grown used to it.

I can't keep this up.

I keep pretending I'm fine, but I'm not.

I- I,,,, I don't know what to do.

This area, this town.... Its so grey. The middle zone.

--
The moon glowed a spectacular light, the stars around it twinkling over the town. Rantaro watched it from the roof of the lodge. He couldnt sleep. Kaede was still out there. His childhood friend. They were sure to catch her sooner or later. Maybe she might come to Hope's Peak, thinking Rantaro was still there and get caught.

I can't be responsible for this.

He took a pen, delicately writing a note, placing it on Shuichi's floor when he was done.

Forgive me.

And so, Rantaro Amami caught the first bus back to Hopes Peak.

__

The first rays of sunrise drifted across the town. Shuichi was already awake, clutching the note in one hand, expressionless. He had read it more than a hundred times.

"Dear Shuichi.

Im not really used to being formal, but this is important. I have to go back to the city. Kaede needs me. And, I at least have to tell her I'm okay. I promised to stay with you, I know. And I will. When I get back, we won't go anywhere. And if we do, we'll bring you along. I don't want to involve you with this first mission though. I don't want to risk losing you for such a stupid risky idea.

Love- Rantaro Amami"

Shuichi gribbed the note harder. He sat on his makeshift mattress, staring straight away.

Where did I go wrong, he just wants to get away from me, why? I'm sorry, I know I'm not enough, I'm not anything. You shouldnt treat me special, letting me stay home while you save everyone, I want to help- I want to help, I want to HELPIWANTTOHELPIWANTTOHELP-

Shuichi was like a robot, repeating the same self-destructive thoughts in his head. He didn't know how long he'd been there, maybe a few hours, days if he tried.

Knock knock

The sound of knocking brought Shuichi to his senses. He checked the time, It had been 34 hours since Rantaro left.

Knock knock

"Uhh- coming!" Shuichi leapt out of bed, the knocking was getting impatient. He totally forgot the house was meant to be abandoned, maybe that's what dehydration does.

He opened the door to a smiling girl with long flowing blue hair. She seemed to be wearing a typical Japanese school uniform consisting of white and blue, with a black tie and glasses. There was 2 girls behind her, also wearing the uniform. One looked bored and the other was staring at Shuichi, kinda creepily.

"Would you like to buy some chocolates. They're only 200yen each."

"Uhh, no thanks" Shuichi tried closing the door before the bored girl elbowed it forward. She stomping angrily into the shack, where Shuichi was currently leaning up against the wall shaking.

"Listen! WE HAVEN'T HAD ANY SALES ALL DAY! YOU BETTER GIVE US THE MONEY, OR YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"

"Felicity, calm down. The cutie doesn't deserve this."

"I AM CALM." The girl known as Felicity gestured at herself. "CALMEST I'VE EVER BEEN, KAY."

"Sureeeee" the creepy girl snickered.

"Uhh, guys...."

The two girls ignored the blue haired girl. "So plain to see..." She looked up to Shuichi. "Ah! I'm sorry about my friends. Theyre a bit argumentative at times. And I just blend into the background in those times."

"Ah, its fine..."

The blue haired girl put down the box of chocolates and walked closer to Shuichi. "Do you have anywhere to sit? It tends to be a while before they calm down"

"Follow me."

Shuichi led the bluette to a sort of living room, it had a table, sofa and a small amount of food.

There was only one sofa so Shuichi and the shy girl had to sit at each end.

"It might be a while till they stop..."
There was an uncomfortable silence between them for a few minutes.

"So,,,, Why are you here?" Shuichi broke the silence.

"I'm supporting my friend, Yuo. She's was in a wreasling club but got kicked out so now she wants to start her own." she looked over to the two girls fighting. "She's the aggressive one.... You can plainly see why she got kicked out. The other one is Aiko."

"What's your name, if it's okay for me to ask that?" Shuichi asked.

"Oh, plain old me. I'm so plain, you'd probably forgot it in a day. Maybe not even that long.... I'm Tsumugi."

"Tsumugi.... That's a nice name."

"And you..?"

"Sh- Shuichi."

What did I do, will she know?! Probably not, loads of people are called Shuichi.

"So, you live in this dark place by yourself Shuichi?"

"Uh, not really...."

"Weird."

"Yeah..."

--

It was later in the day, Shuichi and Tsumugi had talked about meaningless stuff and eventually her friends stopped fighting. Shuichi had brought two chocolates out of pity.

"Hehehe, sorry about that~" Aiko giggled, she didn't look sorry.

"We better get moving, it was cool speaking to you Shuichi...." Tsumugi stopped before speaking again. "If you really want to hang out with a plain girl like me again, I can come by here tomorrow."

"Im- not doing anything so feel free." Shuichi smiled as the girl headed away.

He managed to sleep well that night, even if there was no Rantaro to help.

The daily newspaper dropped off the his house, a note attached saying that the girls had told the agency that someone actually lived up there.

Shuichi brushed his hand over it, opening it up along with his breakfast. As expected, the front cover was a picture of all the inhiding ultimates. He was used to it. Although seeing Rantaro's face again... It was too much. He scanned the other face, feeling a tiny bit jealous towards Kaede. And, at the very bottom right.

Tsumugi Shirogane
Last spotted on 8/3/xx

Above it was a picture of Tsumugi.

Shuichis mind was blown