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Dark, without a way forward.
There is no forward, nor direction.
Too dark, too deep for vision to carve into.
Nothing to perceive. There must only be. Nothing.
…
…
…
Brrring… Brrring… Brrring…
A noise. Clattering. Piercing— sharp. It punctures the veil of dark.
Then, light. Thin white light. There is a light and it forms an outline of the source of the noise.
Brrring… Brrring… Brrring…
A… phone. Must be. There is a handset piece. One end, to listen. The other, to speak. From it, a cord. The cord connects to the base.
Brrring… Brrring… Brrring…
Speech. Does speech exist in the dark? If there is noise to hear, then noise can be created.
Brrring… Brrring… Brrring…
Hands creep in from the edges where the light fends off the dark, bringing motion to life. It lifts the phone.
Brrring— click!
Wafts of empty. Silence. Darkness.
Noise must exist. It must.
"…Hello?" Words travel through.
…
"M… Minori?" A response. Utterly dazzling.
"Haruka-chan!"
"Huh? Is that… me? Is that name… my name?"
"Um… I-I dunno, it just came out— did you call me Minori?"
"I… believe so. Did I?" Time passes. "Minori…"
"Yes! I think that's it! T-That feels right! That must be it! I'm… I'm Minori!"
"Minori, Minori… Yes, that's your name. That feels right to me too." Joy finds space as an intangible thread. "I'm sorry— what was mine again? Haruka?"
"Yeah! Haruka-chan!" A stumble, despite the lack of limits. "S-Sorry, it just comes out like that…"
"No, please don't apologize. It feels right when you say it. It's… lovely."
"Oh… Thank you! I think?… S-So… uhm, Haruka-chan? What… are we? Where are we?"
"I don't… I had been in darkness, of nothing, without a name… until… a phone rang— the one I am speaking to you with. I was drawn to it, inexplicably—"
"The same thing happened to me…"
"Yes, and I picked up, and heard you and… I am no longer 'nothing', I suppose. Though, I am not sure what I am if not nothing—"
"You're not 'nothing'!"
The voice learns to become loud, to call for attention, and be demanding.
"You've never been nothing! Never! You mean so much to so many, me included!"
"M-Minori…"
"…Huh? What the— why did I…"
"It's okay, more than okay," The chimes of joy once more. "Thank you… You are so kind, Minori. I don't fully understand the meaning of your words either… but I needed it, I think."
"Haruka-chan…"
"Needed it… So we… must be alive. In some manner. Is this what being 'alive' is?"
"I dunno… It doesn't feel like I am."
"What is it supposed to feel like, exactly?"
"Uhhh, I dunno, actually… Sorry, I'm really not much help… I have no idea…"
"Please, don't say that about yourself, we're both in a strange situation. But, if it weren't for you— if there was no one who picked up that phone… I wouldn't even know my own name…"
"Oh…"
Rippling, the light spreads. The other hand not lifting the handset searches the dark for something to hold onto.
"So… I'm sure we're both alive. I can hear you, and you hear me. Let us have faith in that… The question I am totally left lost on is where we are…"
"Right, yeah… There's really nothing else here, I think. Just this phone, and us…" Absence of purchase causes the hand to falter. "I feel like, there's supposed to be more. W-What 'more' looks like, I dunno, but there's no way it's always been like this. That's just… too sad."
"I agree…"
The light on the phone reflects yet also sinks through the base, further plunging into the vast.
"Haruka-chan… Are we… at the end?"
"The… end of what?"
"Of… everything."
The fingers tense.
"Every word you speak rings in my ears. There's nowhere for it to go, it echoes inside me, and I know that can't be right. There was… there was more than just us. A-And that isn't saying I hate talking to you— I don't have to know anything else to say that I could never… B-But, I want more than just to hear you. I can't do that if there's just… nothing."
The fingers wrap the cord, then yank down.
"I want to see you, I want to walk over to you across a distance and know nothing that might stand in the way can stop me. I want to feel you, to be buried under the weight of everything at once and still think you're the one I want to be closest to. I want… I want to love you, while everything possible exists around me."
"Minori…"
…
Sadness is loud and unrelenting. Painful.
…
"Oh Minori… Please don't cry."
Joy so tender, the sadness loses its way, swimming in the nothingness.
Their tether is stronger than their distance.
"…Perhaps… Perhaps this is the end of all things prior… Perhaps everything else was taken away. Perhaps the two of us and the signal connecting are the last things to go. Perhaps… this could really be it…"
…
"But I was still able to find you. You still found me. Though everything is devoid and empty, we were still able to meet. We are… alive, through each other…"
"Haruka-chan…"
"It's okay. We'll meet again soon, Minori."
Rather than fade or disappear, the sadness melds with swelling hope…
"I-I want to see you now, I want to see you smile and laugh and I-I-I want…"
The words warble and become weak.
"Me too… I-I want to see you too."
Their connection won't last. Soon, they'll be taken too.
"If we both open our eyes… I don't even know if they're open, maybe we've been creating fiction out of the lack of reality— but maybe we can find something in time, whatever that might lead us a little closer together."
Light begins to sink too low. The glow thins and the consuming void grows.
"But… I'm a little scared…"
The words are running out. There's only so many left.
"It'll be okay, Minori. I'm scared too, but I'm more scared of losing you like this. You might get taken away and I'll be left all alone, crying to myself."
Hope overpowers. It persists when all else fails.
"…Okay, I trust you. I-I believe in you— I'll definitely find you again!"
"That's more like it… That's my Minori…"
The phone fades first. Regardless, the voices reach.
"Thank you… I can't say it enough— just, thank you, Haruka-chan. I'll see you later…"
"Thank you, Minori. Farewell for now…"
At lengths too grand to traverse, too large to care, two stars fall from the sky.
…
…
…
…
…
…
Cold sweat mats her bangs to her forehead. In front of her, through the dim, irises shimmer.
"H-Haruka… chan…?"
"Minori…"
Minori leans forward to burrow just under Haruka's chin. Her rapid blinking grows heavy.
"Bad dream?"
"Maybe…"
"Yeah…"
Haruka's arms secure Minori to her spot— the softest spot in the world and everything else possible.
"It's okay… We'll always be okay."