Jean-Luc chewed the inside of his cheek and raised his eyebrows. He'd changed his clothes, evidently having at least visited his room before slipping back out again. Naseru hadn't noticed at first. He'd been too preoccupied with running from the officer who'd insisted he follow him.
Barbier wore an oversized hoodie that swallowed him, and a pair of bulbous tracksuit bottoms that hung off his legs and resembled the kind of trousers a cartoon genie would wear. Parachute pants, he remembered calling them as a kid. Jean-Luc Barbier was wearing parachute pants.
"Barbier," Naseru said, his tone firmer than it had been before.
"Okay," Jean-Luc said, looking over his shoulder, "But not here."
The two boys stopped by the break in the trail, the one which led to the pools. Naseru jerked his head to the side and gestured they should go that way. Jean-Luc nodded and carefully both boys walked single file toward the lair of the fish of legend.
"Did that Yoshida chick tell some kind of story about a fish?" Jean-Luc asked, squatting in front of a pool.
Naseru nodded, "Something about a magic fish that grants wishes."
Jean-Luc rolled his eyes and made his way to the sloping rock faces that Yuta and Eiji had scaled when they'd been there the previous night. Naseru stood in front of him and crossed his arms.
"Sit down. Naseru. It's a long story."
Naseru scowled, "Better get started, Barbier."
Jean-Luc hoisted himself up onto the cool slate and shuffled until he was comfortable, "Okay, so, it was a few weeks before Easter Break back home and my friends were talking about what they wanted to do, Eduard, the small forward from my team back in Nice wanted to score a few brownies in Amsterdam and we'd been on the phone when my Mum told me I had a parcel. She thunked this massive black box in my lap and told me to stop spending her money on trainers, but the new Jordan's weren't coming out for a month so I didn't know what the Hell that was. I opened it up when Eduard's dad gave him one too, and Cecil's mum and then Emilie's brother and then-."
"I don't care how many of your friends wanted to get high in Amsterdam, Barbier. What was in the box?"
"Envelopes," Jean-Luc said, "Dozens and dozens of individual black envelopes, all sealed with a red wax emblem, with a date in the corner in some gold cursive script. We all had one dated on that same day, and we all opened up our packages and read them."
"When was this? You said it was before Easter?"
"Yeah, April time. Around the start of the new school year here."
Naseru's eyes widened in recognition. He remembered his first day of school vividly; how he'd nearly been late, having nabbed Aya's car and joyridden it to his grandma's house to take the rest of his belongings to Aya's place. How a ginger cat had leapt into the road and a girl would topple onto the street after it, and nearly found her head beneath the tyres of the car.
How that girl would end up staring up at him from the seat behind him in school. He remembered how recognition, horror and embarrassment had flooded her face as she looked up at him.
He remembered how Sato Emi had scowled at him for claiming Kibata Mae's seat, and how Maki bit her pointer finger with such ferocity it bled all over her arm and her desk. She'd been reading something then. Something she stuffed in an envelope. He rubbed his eyes as he raked his brains desperate to confirm whether those envelopes were the same ones he had seen. Had Maki had letters? Had Kaho been telling the truth?
"Okay," Naseru said slowly, "How did you know it wasn't some weird convoluted prank?"
Jean-Luc smirked, he crossed his legs and gazed up at the sky. The stars were mostly blocked by the canopy of looming trees, but the few that he could see from his perch burned a blistering white against the night sky. He inhaled deeply and smiled at the infinity above him.
"They're from an alternate dimension. From what I understand, we're one of many timelines at different points experiencing the same events."
Naseru closed his eyes for a few seconds, attempting to take in the information that Jean-Luc was offering to him.
"They're from a pocket of time that already happened and simultaneously is coexisting as a record, a planetary record recorded beside the pocket of time we are in. I could be wrong since I myself couldn't wrap my head around the letter's initial introduction our populations got with the Advanced Civilization's continental warning. From what I understand, we're one of many timelines at different points experiencing the same events. Like when you play the same YouTube video in two browsers but they don't sync up."
Naseru rolled his eyes, "So it's the responsibility of a bunch of teenagers to make change? Not the lawmakers? Not the people who have the power to vote or press the big red nuclear missile button? Does anyone listen to youth protests anyway? There's no gun control in the States even though-"
His voice cracked. Naseru swallowed thickly and balled his fists, letting his nails plunge into the soft flesh of his palms.
Jean-Luc shrugged, "It was a whole thing. We all got these standard issue letters, My friends and I confirmed it, but after they talk about why they're here, each of us are given a mission we have to complete before a certain time?"
Naseru stared at Jean-Luc expectantly.
"Do you really expect me to just tell you?"
"You came all this way," Naseru said.
Jean-Luc huffed, crossing his arms. He wasn't sure whether Naseru meant slipping away with him int the dark, or whether he was referring to his sudden departure from Nice to move to Japan, where he barely understood any of his classmates. At least when Naseru up and left the States, he knew Japanese, he'd been raised speaking it in that house. Kathen Matsuoka seldom spoke to him in English.
"You dragged me out here," Jean-Luc said, a slight grin playing on his lips.
"Just spit it out."
Jean-Luc hesitated, glancing away for a second. "My letter said to come to Japan because there's going to be the biggest athletic competition ever—young athletes from all over the world, and I need to be there to witness something."
Naseru groaned. "Very specific. Are everyone's 'missions' as clear as that?"
Jean-Luc chuckled. "Not really. My friend Cecil, for example, was told to protect his sister and get her away from her husband because he's going to start beating her."
"And how does Cecil stopping domestic abuse save the world?" Naseru asked, confused.
Jean-Luc shrugged again. "It's part of a bigger plan. Small actions ripple out, I guess. That's what my letter said."
He paused for a moment, his expression growing more serious. "These letters, though… they're not just warnings. They're from a civilization that's far ahead of us, one that's trying to prevent their own mistakes from repeating. They had to erase entire continents in the past to stop a nuclear disaster. Now, they're giving us a chance to fix things before it's too late."
Naseru's breath caught in his throat. "Wait, what do you mean 'erase continents'?"
Jean-Luc nodded grimly. "Yeah. That's what the letters warned about. If we don't complete our missions, we might be looking at a future where entire continents sink, nuclear fallout spreads, and everything we know changes. And this generation—us—we're the key. We have until January to figure it out, or the world might be lost."
The weight of Jean-Luc's words settled over them like the dark canopy of trees overhead. Naseru let the silence linger, his mind racing. It wasn't just about basketball anymore. This was something bigger, something they all had to face, whether they were ready or not.
"Kaho's letters," Naseru said, his voice louder than he'd intended, "They talk about me."
Jean-Luc's brows shot up. He gave Naseru a knowing look, "Are you sure they're the same thing? Maybe she doesn't love that boyfriend of hers anymore because of a certain grumpy Yank."
Naseru scowled, "The rest of the team believed her in a heartbeat. It's like they're all in on some secret."
Jean-Luc shrugged, "I can't speak for them. Maybe you need to talk to her, put your cards on the table. I don't know what her letters say, but if they're talking about you, you must be important."
A wave of white-hot anger surged through Naseru. He clenched his jaw and balled a fist. He wanted to hit him for being so stupid. He closed his eyes again and tried to slow his breathing. He muttered a few words under his breath and looked up to see Jean-Luc Barbier smirking at him, his head tilted as he watched him calm down.
Naseru crossed his arms, "I'm done talking."
"You're no fun," Jean-Luc huffed, "Hope you get the girl or whatever you're supposed to do."
Naseru fought the urge to flip him off. Instead, he turned to the rippling water. He wished he knew what that letter meant. He was on the wrong path? If Naseru was on a path to self-assured self-destruction, or worse, the end of days, wouldn't he know about it? He ran a hand through his hair and pulled on it, trying to use the pain to focus the thought.
"Go away, Barbier. I'm done talking. I'm not some circus act."
"Polite as always, Naseru," Jean-Luc said, jumping off the rock, he peered into the pool beneath him. He squinted and made a grasping motion.
"What was that?" Jean-Luc asked, tugging on the sleeve of Naseru's shirt.
Naseru turned around, nearly losing his balance. He bent down beside Jean-Luc, pursing his lips, wandering how he had found himself gazing into the water again. Both boys crouched by the edge of one of the dozens of pools. Beneath the murky surface of the water was a flicker of something shiny and bright. as he moved, he caught a glimpse of a shimmering creature beneath the ripples of the pool's surface. The fish.
"Hey, what do you know, the wish granting fish heard you," Jean-Luc clapped Naseru on the back.
"I, for one, wish that someone actually cared enough to learn how to talk to me," Jean-Luc said. He reached into his pocket, fished out a coin and tossed it into the pool with the fish, like it was a wishing well. He headed toward the narrow trail that led to the hiking path, no longer looking at Naseru.
"If the cops find you, pretend you don't speak Japanese. Peace out."
And with that, Jean-Luc Barbier slipped away into the darkness like he had never been there at all.
Naseru shivered and sat on the rock's surface, seeking the warmth on stone from where Jean-Luc had been sitting. He shuffled and wriggled until he found a comfortable position and exhaled audibly, putting his elbows on his knees. He put his hands together like a prayer, and his thumbs sat at his chin. He glanced at the water beneath him and wondered if the fish in the water beneath him had listened, He hadn't caught it.
"Legend says if you see the fish you'll have good luck and prosperity, but if you catch the fish, you can make a wish," he muttered, "What good is luck? What good is a wish?"
He clambered down from the rock and heard a twig snap behind him. He tensed, hackles rising, and breaths getting shallower.
"Barbier?" Naseru said tentatively.
On the other side of the campsite, the credits were rolling. Fumiko had fallen asleep on Konoishi's shoulder and he was drawing on her arms with a lipstick that was probably older than Taiga. Kaho wasn't sure why Konoishi knew that Fumiko had this lipstick, let alone why she had it in the first place. But she was fast asleep, having dozed off a few minutes after Yamota Hakuro, wearing imperial clothing and a fake ponytail had committed seppuku in the arms of a shrine maiden. Kaho didn't care for the plot, but Akane had been entranced, and that was all they'd needed.
"That was really good," Akane said, "I'm gonna hit the hay, see you in the morning."
"Wait," Kaho said, "Shouldn't someone come with you?"
"Who? Madame Snoozer or Pablo Pillowcase-o?"
"Was… that a Picaso pun?" Konoishi asked, raising a brow.
Akane's cheeks burned, "I don't know, I was just talking, you know? Whatever. Look. I'm going to bed."
Kaho watched Akane bolt out of the cabin and into the night. She squeaked and slipped out into the evening chill. It was nearly midnight, and neither Omura nor Tomohiro had told her that Naseru had come back, and now Akane was alone.
Kaho took a steadying breath and set out after her, her heart hammered hard against her chest. She was unarmed, and could barely breathe. If Akane was murdered, Shoji would kill himself. She had to keep them safe. She just had to.
Naseru wasn't a coward, but a broken twig in the deep dark wood was a bad enough omen for any logical person. So, he did as any logical person would do, and ran like Hell. If that magical fish was anything to write home about, his good luck would extend to not being murdered on the middle of a basketball training camp.
He should have left with Barbier. Naseru didn't like to admit that safety in numbers was a tactic that worked, but he hadn't expected to end up fleeing from ghosts and shadows in the night. He swallowed thickly and bolted the way he came, stumbling through brambles and overgrown shrubs until he reached the wider, less suffocating hiking path. But it was dark. Too dark, and he was convinced he could hear someone behind him. His heart hammered in his ears.
There was rustling in the bushes, like someone else was running. Heavy, frantic footfalls that weren't his own. Was someone following him? Or was someone getting closer.
His head whipped from side to side, but in the dark, he couldn't see a thing. He felt like he was in a vacuum and was having the air stripped from his lungs as he breathed. It was suffocating to feel so vulnerable. He hated it. And yet, he couldn't make himself move. It was like he was ensnared by a bear trap, forced to either gnaw off his leg, or wait to be finished off by whatever was out there.
Kaho called out for Akane as she weaved through the network of small cabins, desperate to catch even a glimpse of her. The lanterns overhead were burning a soft orange colour which bathed the floor around her in a warm glow. It felt like a spotlight, pointing a finger at her as some kind of failure.
In the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a shadow in the distance. Someone running. That was when she heard someone cry out.
"Shoji? Shoji!"
Akane.
Kaho had never been the fastest runner, and she was already winded and wheezy from chasing Akane through a labyrinth of cabins. She couldn't even remember the way back to her own. Her heart was in her mouth and she felt like she couldn't breathe. Her chest squeezed, like she was in an invisible corset as she broke through the constrains of the cabins and whipped her head around. Akane. Trained collegiate athlete she was, was several hundred meters ahead already, making a beeline for the hiking trails. Where were the police?
"Akane!" Kaho choked out, but her voice was quiet and gaspy from her laboured breathing, swallowed up by the midnight breeze.
She dragged her heavy legs onward, trying her best to keep moving. She had to try and help her. She had to try.