10. [02/01/46] ; WINDING DOWN

                                    

                                          
"You have a nice place!" 
Hotaru chuckled dryly at that. They can't exactly go to Suu's dorm room, so they're in Hotaru's house, where he swipes away the gathered trash, ties it up, and sends it out the door right away. 
"It's a bit of a mess." 
"It's better than my place," Suu assured. 
There's nothing much except the futon he never puts away, the radio always slightly crinking with noise, and the desk for working and writing with a laptop that's seen its days. His humble fridge also only has eggs and soda.
With a snap of his fingers, Suu summoned his familiars, a gigantic koi fish permeating through his floor, past the walls, and swam across the air investigating the new space they were in. 
It swiveled around Hotaru's figure and he couldn't help marvelling at the tricoloured scales on its large body, and the elegant, translucent fins that flutter with each movement. 
Enchanting. 
"This one's Fishabella," Suu said out of nowhere, and Hotaru wheezed so hard he had to open a window to catch some fresh air. 
"Don't—" Hotaru couldn't stop laughing, "ambush me like that." 
"Well it worked," Suu beamed. "By the way, the ones we killed were Big Brother Swimmanuel and Younger Brother Finnegan." 
"WHY?" 
When Hotaru reached out, he couldn't touch the fishes, his hand went right through them. But it nuzzled into Suu's side, and Suu patted it gently, caressing its head as one would a beloved pet. 
They really could use their skills in reality now. 
-
It didn't take long at all for the rest of the country to catch up. 
Within hours of the first day they came back, people were using their powers enough to get on the news. 
"There have been a rise in burglaries occurring— witnesses claim it was a group of teenagers whose hands simply permeated the glass shelving of a high-end jewellery store—" 
"A string of violent protests at government offices. All CCTV have been corrupted by some kind of electrical interference— audio visual specialists are working to reconstruct the lost footage—" 
"—large physical brawl occurred between gang members in local high schools. The damage zone shows signs of large fire and still-unidentified chemical damage." 
"—young rising actress A-san was found deceased in her apartment. Investigations are still underway as autopsy reports leave doctors lost on the cause." 
"A suspected mass suicide as a young family of three were found dead in their apartment—" 
Hotaru got a message to not come in for his shift. It was not from the boss, it was from Watanabe, who said the boss was surprised Hotaru was alive at all, and he didn't have to work anymore if he didn't want to.
Also, Watanabe's coming by with dinner right now. 
"...Euuh??"
"Whuh?" Suu, who was reading the conversation over his shoulder, asked. 
"My colleague is coming in." 
"He is indeed. Should I leave?" 
"No—" 
The doorbell rang.
Suu stepped out the window. 
"Stop! Why are you going that way like it's the obvious thing to do?!" Hotaru panicked. 
-
"It is completely unbelievable! Both of you are living alone?!" 
Watanabe sure had a lot of complaints. But he was cooking a meal in their house and making sure they were doing alright after that horrible incident they were in, so perhaps it's not a bad thing.
Also, his food was good. Why the hell is he working in a convenience store?
"I'd pay for you to cook for me every day Mister," Suu told him. 
"I'd pay for you two to eat a decent meal every day," Watanabe groused back. He accepted Suu's presence very easily (because apparently, his college days were wild, random boys showing up out of nowhere is normal in his books) and immediately began schooling them both on nutrition. "And after that, sleep." 
"Euuhhhh," Hotaru whined.  
Right now, the last thing any Dreamer wanted to do was dream. But they couldn't just not sleep either. 
"Try to get some rest, alright?" Watanabe tried to tell them. "I'll have to go to work after this. I'll drop by again in the morning. You guys better still be asleep when I get back." 
"What is this, drill camp?" Hotaru muttered. 
"Seconds," Suu demanded, holding up his bowl. 
"See, Hotaru-kun?" Watanabe complied and refilled the bowl with rice, "you should follow Minami-kun's example. Eat well and sleep well." 
Hotaru pouted. "Okay..." 
It felt odd. What happened on New Years was bizarre— the world pretty much abruptly indeed where he stood when the angel attacked and brought him into a massacre for their entertainment. 
Just thinking about it made his hands tremble. He didn't really know if it's all sunk in yet at all. 
Half of the world's teenage to young adult population have died overnight. Ambulances can still be heard in the distance, funerals are being held, and bodies are being processed.
In this room, Hotaru let himself forget all that.
(It's been years since his life has been so full of... noise.)
Despite everything, maybe he can acknowledge it's rather exciting.
(People died, why are you having fun?)
Even then... 
...maybe he'd always wanted something like this to happen.