I woke up with a heavy pounding in my head, accompanied by the frigid feeling of my surroundings. Overhead, I saw evergreen trees beneath a clear, dark sky painted with stars, and a large crimson moon hanging above as if suspended by a string. Around me, I heard a low groan as Shinso leaned up, rubbing his eyes as he too took in his surroundings.
"What the..." He leaned up, brushing the snow off of his clothing as he scanned his surroundings. Due to my lack of coverage, my body had already grown cold, causing me to shiver. Shinso didn't take much time to assess his surroundings, his gaze falling onto me.
"Come here." He beckoned me over calmly, removing his jean-jacket and wrapping it around my shoulders. Shinso's gaze fell across the surroundings, taking note of the thick snow beneath us and the lack of life—the two of us were alone.
My mind and body were still somewhat under the effects of the euphoric dart, and I felt like all my limbs were wobbly. I had to scoot through the snow. Shinso's gaze fell to me, his indigo eyes flickering with a pang of concern as he picked me up like he did on the way to his house.
"Lets find somewhere to go."
He held me close to his body as he began to tread through the snow, kicking aside the powdery white material with his shoes. His body was trembling the entire time, as the lack of covering aside from a t-shirt and pants provided little covering from the cold.
The forest around us was dark, aside from the dim light of the crimson-colored moon above us. The moon wasn't like the one I knew, and the environment was vastly unfamiliar too. As Shinso continued to walk, his body began to gradually weaken, his movements growing sluggish and sloppy as he stumbled forward.
"I'm ok..." He assured, his face a mask of pain, the bitter winds striking against his body at a faster, more dangerous pace. I watched in horror as his eyes closed, rolling back in his head as he collapsed to the ground, falling into the snow below. My body instantly darted towards him, removing the jacket he had given me and wrapping it around his freezing form.
The bitterly cold winds continued to assault our bodies the longer we remained outside, and I could gradually feel my limbs losing their senses, the feeling in my palms and fingertips gradually dissipating the longer I was exposed to these cold temperatures. I huddled closer to the boy, curling up beside his body as I buried my head in my chest.
Suddenly, I heard a noise. Something was approaching us! I wearily looked up, my blurry vision rendering me unable to properly decipher. It appeared to be large and black, and it was running in my direction at a scarily quick pace. Beside the black entity I saw an orange light, and I could hear the muffled pitter-patter of what sounded like hooves.
"Woah...we got freezers." A young voice sounded, muffled from the numbness in my ears. The entity had gotten in enough proximity with me for me to properly decipher what it was: it was a horse. And the orange glow was a lantern. I watched as a young man with eccentric blue hair jumped off his steed and approached us, leaning down as if to whisper to us.
His gloved hands pressed against my cheek, giving it a quick poke. After a few moments of silence he turned back to the horse and sighed. "We're taking em' in."
...
When I awoke again, my eyes gradually adjusted to the dim lighting of the room. I was in a bathtub in a wooden room, and Shinso was across from me in the same tub. We were both nude, but the water of the tub was soapy enough to conceal our lower bodies. The bath water was warm, as if it had just been turned on. When I looked around the room, I took notice of the wooden walls and the gas lamp hanging overhead.
"Where are we?" Shinso grumbled, stirring awake and gazing around. His face flushed slightly as he sank in the water, hiding even more of his body.
"Well...I don't really know. But it's nicer than outside." I replied, sinking down into the warm water. I noticed that the bathtub didn't have a pump connected to it, it was a singular porcelain bathtub against the wall. The rest of the bathroom had an almost rustic style to it.
Suddenly, we heard a knock on the door from outside the bathroom, accompanied by a voice. "I left you fellows some garments in the cabinet."
My gaze shifted to the overhead cabinet positioned above the mirror. I then turned towards Shinso, sighing. "I'll close my eyes, go get dressed."
Shinso nodded without saying a word. My eyes clammed shut when I heard the sounds of water dripping back into the tub, accompanied by wet feet against the wooden floor beneath us. Shortly after, the cabinet opened and I heard the rustling of fabric.
"Aside from the buttons you're free to look now." Shinso called out.
I opened my eyes, seeing Shinso in his new attire. It was unlike anything I had ever seen someone wear—aside from detailed descriptions in books. Shinso wore a gray collared shirt, black pants, and a dark purple-grayish vest with tiny swirl patterns near the bottom.
Surprisingly, I didn't experience any abnormal reactions to this. It had been an unknown amount of time since I passed out in the snow, meaning that the effects of the stimulation dart must have worn off. If they didn't, I'd be seeing pretty abnormal things when looking at Shinso.
"It's...ok." Shinso looked down at himself, adjusting the collar and vest before spreading his arms slightly. "How do I look?"
In the way he was speaking, I could tell that the clothing he was wearing wasn't stuff he felt entirely comfortable with. As a gesture of assurance I couldn't help but nod my head.
"You look great, Shinso." A small smile formed on my lips.
The slightly vulnerable look in Shinso's eyes gradually dissipated, and he gave me a similar, less insecure look. "I'll leave so you can get changed..."
As the door closed behind Shinso, I slowly stood up from the bathtub, the warm air of the bathroom brushing against my skin as I approached the cabinet. It smelled smoky yet polished, as if a fire had been contained within the wood. I opened the cabinet and looked inside, peering at the outfit that had been left for me.
It consisted of a single breasted black coat, a red cravat, a white collared undershirt and matching black trousers. Removing the outfit, I splayed it across the counter and looked at it closely. The black coat and pants were oddly soft to the touch, an almost velvety sheen that could only be seen under the dim lighting. The red cravat resembled an undid tie, except it was meant to maintain that form around the wearers neck.
I had only known what it was called through my history textbooks and historical drama books. I couldn't help but find the outfit weird for the time.
I grabbed the white undershirt, slipping my arms into the sleeves and slowly buttoning it up. Unlike Shinso's shirt, the area below my neck wasn't free, so I undid the first few buttons to give me some room to breathe. I put on the black coat and adjusted the collar, feeling it snug around the back of my neck. I tossed the red cravat over my neck, loosely tying it into a bow—even if it wasn't for that purpose.
I put on the black pants and adjusted the buckle around my waist so they wouldn't fall loosely. I found it strange that the man hadn't supplied us with any form of underwear, but I supposed that it was for conventional or cultural means.
After finalizing my appearance, I slowly walked over to the door, taking a slow and deep breath. When I opened the door and gazed at my environment, I saw a larger space with wooden paneled walls, a fireplace nestled on the far side of the room, a dark green couch and a table, and a bed in the other corner. Shinso, who was sitting at the table, looked up at me, his face turning slightly red when he caught sight of my appearance.
"You look...nice."
"Thanks..." I looked around the room for a few moments, noticing the lack of other people. "Where did the others go? We didn't see them when we woke up."
"Talk to Oboro." Shinso replied, leaning back in the wooden chair nestled beside the dining table.
"Who?"
Suddenly the door opened again, and a man who looked a few years older than us strode in. He wore a casual, loose white shirt with a cross-stitched hem. And a half top-hat sat on his head, covering a portion of his light blue hair that seemed to resemble clouds. The man sighed as he put his hat on the rack beside the door, before looking towards the two of us with widened eyes.
"You're awake! You may enter now!" The man looked back towards the door, smiling brightly. At that moment, I saw Ayumi, Mr. Aizawa, Mr. Ryujin and Olivia enter the room, all wearing outfits that seemed to be a few centuries out of date.
Ayumi and Olivia seemed comfortable in their laced dresses, while Aizawa and Mr. Ryujin seemed slightly tense on the other hand. Mr. Ryujin's gaze instantly fell to the both of us, his eyes widening as he quickly approached us, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"What on Earth happened to you guys?"
Before I could respond, the man with cloud-like hair chimed up from the stove. "I found them in the forest on the brink of unconsciousness, so I took them in with me."
Aizawa's gaze was fixated on the cloudy-haired man, his expression almost unreadable. It was like he hadn't acknowledged our existence.
"Shouta?" Olivia's voice cut through the air, severing the dark-haired man's glancing. His breath hitched in his throat as he paused, looking down at the shorter woman. "Yes?"
"Are you ok?" She asked, her expression skeptical.
"Yeah, I'm...fine." Aizawa's tone carried an uncharacteristic sense of emotion. The man's palms were shaky, and I could see some sweat down his face.
"How did we...get here?" He asked, his crimson eyes flickering over to me. "It was whatever the hell that was."
"What was?"
"That portal you opened beneath your feet, it sent all of us to...here." Aizawa approached the window which had been glazed over with ice. He pressed his palm against the cold surface and wiped away some of it, revealing the city outside. Outside, gothic buildings, cathedrals, and other buildings stretched as far as the eye could see. All the rooftops emitted thick streams of smoke from chimneys, and a thick layer of snow coated them as well.
"This looks..." Shinso approached the window in a daze, peering outside with oddly curious eyes. "So...far away from home."
"Where did ya'll come from again?" The cloudy-haired man asked as he opened an overhead cabinet, taking out a series of spices in small, rusted jars.
"Well...not from here." Shinso turned back to the man, leaning against the wall as he took a breath. "Do you know where Japan is? This clearly doesn't look like it."
"Japan? What's that?" The man's eyes flickered with genuine curiosity and confusion as he pronounced the foreign name.
"Japan? A country in the eastern hemisphere? Where do you live?" Shinso's tone began to sharpen, his eyes flickering with a glint of subtle impatience with the man's cluelessness.
"Seraphis Kingdom, one of the three nations of the Prosperous Continent." He replied, opening a drawer and taking out a loaf of bread. "Y'fellows hungry?"
The indigo-haired boy ignored the man's question, scoffing instead. "Oboro...what year is it?"
"1593." He replied, his lips curling into a smile as he chopped the bread with a nearby knife, spreading some butter and margarine onto the slices.