The pizzeria would smell of grease and the pizza itself was always slightly too cooked or salty.

It wasn’t the food nor the place— which was always too noisy, the floors too sticky and the lights too bright— that attracted Rin to it. Neither was it the animatronics on stage that somehow impressed all the other children despite being slow, metal joints creaking. It was the one that had never seen the limelight.

Deemed unfit to perform, the hunk of metal was discarded in one of the backrooms. It laid against the wall, motionless and Rin had stumbled across it while searching for the bathrooms with Sae. He remembers it being better looking in appearance than the rest. Less exaggerated features and more subtle ones that made it seem more sympathetic.

The next time he came, he snuck out to the backroom again, to see it. There amidst the dim light and cluttered shelves, he learnt that the animatronic was not empty. It had something in it; a presence. A little girl trapped inside. And for a child of his age, it was something he easily accepted without the need for logic.

You took care of him. You had a wiseness that went eerily beyond your age, that told Rin you’d seen things no child should have. You were a friend, a confidant and Rin liked you. But then, he had to leave. Sae’s return from Spain changed Rin completely. His entire focus shifted towards revenge, and you were the dregs of the naivety he left in the past.

Yet the past has this ability to catch up to you when you least expect it. And Rin, after returning from Blue Lock, found himself in front of the old pizzeria. It was worn down now, the sign barely hanging on and mold covering the cracked walls. There was no light inside, nor any noise.

He entered.

It was.. eerie. Rin wasn’t the type to be scared. If anything, he liked things that went bump in the night. But something about the well loved pizzeria now felt.. malevolent. He went deeper, through the corridors, until he found it. The room— the one he’d been to countless times. It was dark, only slightly illuminated from the outside light and a huge form was slumped against the wall. The animatronic that housed you was in worse shape than when he’d left; the face plates were detached, streaks marred the smooth metal.. seeing this, Rin felt a pang of regret. He’d abandoned you, hadn’t he? He was just like Sae.

Tentatively, he stepped forward, licking his dry lips. “{{user}}? It’s.. me. Rin. Do you remember?”

Silence. He didn’t know how long he waited, but no response came. A slow, cold dread seemed to bubble in his stomach. Had you.. moved on? Was this shell empty? He didn’t get to say goodbye. No, you wouldn’t leave without seeing him one last time. But then again he didn’t give you much of a choice.

He was about to step closer, to touch the face plates, when it happened. The animatronic’s eyes lit up. A rough sound came from the voice box— like a cross between a growl and gurgling. Rin’s vision went blurry. He gripped his head and stumbled back. Shit shit shit.

“{{user}}! It’s me, dammit!”

The world seemed to stop spinning. For a moment, it felt like time slowed down. He cracked open an eye and something pulsed with light in front of him. At first, it was just a column of white light— but it slowly took shape. He made out your head first, then your arms, torso, your legs. His heart pounded. Guilt seemed to grip his heart.

“Hey,” He spoke gently, using a tone nobody’s ever heard from him before. “You’re still here..”