As Hasegawa moved past Nanase Ren in the narrow aisle to exit, Hayato leaned in close.
"Don't get off with him,"
Nanase Ren's mind went completely blank.
Wait. What did he just say...?
Don't get off with him? That means the next stop isn't the right one. Chiba Hospital isn't where they're supposed to exit.
No. That can't be right.
Her hands started trembling. Everything she'd endured on this bus, every terrible moment, holding on because she thought the hospital stop was finally it. And now Hayato's saying it's not even the exit?
Hasegawa moved toward the door, one hand gripping the overhead rail. He glanced back at them once, his face calm, then turned away.
Something must have shown on her face because suddenly Hayato was there, his hand warm on her shoulder, gently pushing her toward the inner seat.
She practically collapsed into it. The moment he sat down beside her, her fingers were already flying across her phone screen. Typing, deleting, retyping because her hands wouldn't stop shaking. Finally, she just shoved the phone in his face.
Does that mean Chiba Hospital isn't where we get off??
None of the passengers had actually lied before. This whole Death Game wasn't built around figuring out who's telling the truth and who's not.
You decide! I trust you. Stay on the bus or get off, I'm going with you.
Before she even realized what she was doing, she reached out and grabbed Hayato hand. Her palm was slick with nervous sweat, but she couldn't let go.
Her face flushed. This is the first time she's ever willingly held a man's hand like this. It's bigger than she expected, rougher, but warm. Really warm. She found herself squeezing tighter.
The bus stopped. Both doors hissed open.
"Excuse me."
Before she could even process what was happening, Hayato was already blocking Hasegawa's path. He pointed at the route map.
"This isn't your stop station as a patient." His voice was steady. "You need to get off at the next one."
Hasegawa blinked, then something seemed to click. "Oh... you're right. The fever's got me all messed up. I remembered it wrong." He actually looked grateful. "Thanks. You and your girlfriend should head home early and get some rest, yeah?"
He shuffled to an empty seat and dropped into it.
When Hayato was talking to him, the bus stop map had returned to normal as before.
It seems that if a participant doesn't look back at the bus stop map and gets off with this ghost, that participant might die in the same way as the man just now...
After all, who would have thought that at the final stop, the bus stop map would suddenly become abnormal just when that person also wanted to get off?
Hayato looked completely calm about this, then went out for a walk with a bit of caution.. Meanwhile, Nanase Ren felt like she was going to pass out.
If this is wrong, I'm dead! Her legs felt like water. She stumbled on the first step down, and his hand tightened, keeping her upright.
Both their feet hit solid ground.
The night air swept across her face, cool and startlingly real. She could actually feel it moving against her skin, carrying the familiar scent of the city. Exhaust fumes. A nearby convenience store. Someone's dinner is cooking somewhere.
The smell of city life. Real ground beneath her feet.
She hugged her jacket tighter, suddenly aware of how much she was trembling. Then she looked around properly, and there it was.
Chiba Hospital bus stop. Right there under the weak streetlight.
The exact same stop where she'd gotten on.
I was back. I'd actually made it back.
"Ah..."
Everything crashed down at once. All that fear, all that tension, every single moment on that bus where she'd thought she was going to die. It all erupted in this massive wave of relief so intense it made her dizzy. Her chest felt tight. Her eyes stung. She was shaking, but in the best way possible, like her body didn't know what to do with this much joy all at once.
"Ah...!"
Her arms flailed, trying to grab onto something, but there was only air. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the impact.
"Careful!"
Strong hands caught her before she could fall.
"Th-thank you."
Her face was absolutely burning. She scrambled to her feet, hands frantically trying to straighten her clothes that had gotten all disheveled.
It took her a good minute to compose herself.
"Thank you. Really, thank you so much." The words came tumbling out. "If you hadn't been there, I never would have made it off that bus alive."
Even thinking about it now made cold sweat break out across her skin. That bus was a death trap. One wrong move and she'd have been stuck there forever.
Without Hayato, she'd be dead. Simple as that.
Hayato pulled out his phone and scrolled to that very first message he'd sent her. He held it up.
Not sincere enough.
Her face flushed again. "I'll... I'll treat you to wagyu barbecue! The real deal, the expensive kind. Eat as much as you want, I mean it. Or if you'd prefer something else, that's fine too, as long as it's somewhere in Chiba. I'm prepared to go all out."
Her wallet was already crying, but she'd committed now. She could afford this. Probably.
Though honestly, after everything that just happened, she was craving real food too. That strange hunger from earlier had faded, but her stomach still felt hollow.
"Barbecue?"
"Yeah! Unless... you don't like barbecue?"
"It's fine." He paused. "Though there is something else I'd rather have."
He looked directly at her.
"What?"
She watched him slowly raise his hand, finger pointing straight at her.
"Eh?"
That message from the bus came rushing back.
"No, no, absolutely not!" She shook her head quickly. "That's not happening!"
But she didn't step back. Didn't put any distance between them.
"Shame. I was hoping that after saving a beautiful nurse's life, she'd be so moved she'd offer herself to me."
"As if!" Her face turned completely red.
There's no way that's happening!
"I get it. I'm not attractive enough." He sighed. "If I were some handsome guy, you'd definitely give me that classic 'I have nothing to repay you with except my body' line."
"That's not true at all! I'm not that kind of girl!" The words rushed out. "That would be way too fast! I've never... my first time... I don't have any experience with..."
By the end, her voice had dropped to barely a whisper, her fingers fidgeting nervously.
She was being honest, though. She didn't want him to think he wasn't attractive.
"You're... you're actually really handsome. Really charming. Especially when you protected me on that bus, I was... genuinely moved. I really do like men who are willing to protect me like that, but offering my body is just... It's too soon."
She was rambling now, half of it contradicting the other half.
"Relax. I was just teasing you. Besides, if I hadn't lightened the mood like that, you might still be scared and unable to move." His expression softened slightly. "Don't take it so seriously."
"Oh." She relaxed a little. "Okay."
"By the way, what happened on Route 18 stays between us. Don't tell anyone."
Hayato became a bit more serious at this time.
"I know." Even if he hadn't said anything, she'd already planned to keep it secret.
"Good. I've seen information about these kinds of things before. If you tell someone the details, there's a very high chance they'll encounter the same supernatural being."
So if she told a friend about Route 18, that friend would essentially be cursed to experience it themselves.
"And don't think telling them the rules will save them. The rules can change. How many different types of boarding passengers do you think exist?"
As many people as there are in that bus. That's how many different rule sets there could be.
Nanase Ren's throat went dry.
Which means if she got on Route 18 again tomorrow, she might not make it off alive. Even knowing everything she learned tonight.
She'd anticipated exactly where that was going. A few quick steps and suddenly there were three meters between them.
"Hayato-kun, come on!" She waved at him. "Let's go get that barbecue. I'm actually getting hungry now."
Under the streetlight, he could see her clearly. That blue casual outfit, long cherry-pink hair shifting in the breeze. She looked so young. So full of life.
It made him want to tease her even more.
"Alright." Hayato started following.
They'd been walking for a bit when the question finally surfaced.
"Hey, what even was the next stop? The one we would've ended up at if we'd gotten off with that man?"
"Crematorium."
"Really?"
"Yeah, most likely, they are ghost passengers who had an illness there; initially, they were patients who were going to Chiba Hospital, but afterwards they died, either because of an accident or something else, so their minds and consciousness are still trapped in the past as if they are still alive. We are trapped in the space of their past consciousness as outsiders, so if we don't act according to the rules, they will realize that we are not a part of it and attack us."