Chapter 1

Every Thursday night, around the same hour… he would see him there.

A lonely man, his hair shimmering in the dim moon light like the most expensive sapphire threaded, his eyes were even more alluring, one crimson jewel hiding the deepest secrets of mankind, the other a similar shade as his hair: mist blue sapphire.
What was he doing on the roof of the hospital? Why was he there? Why did he always look so bored?

Byakuran could remember when he himself ended up in here at the hospital.

He started having these black-outs when he turned sixteen. One day he could be walking to school and then the next thing he could remember was standing in the rain, in the middle of the night with blood dripping from his hands. It happened so often that it drove his parents mad. They could no longer live with or tolerate their son and send him to the hospital for medical care. He got used to it, he didn't care anymore. Every day was a game to him.

He would have bets with the nurses about what the doctor would do if he found a coin under the soda machine, he would lure the other patients in his building into mindless things such as running into a wall after he used a pen to draw a door there.

Most of the time he felt like a sane person, a perfectly healthy person… those were also the times when he started to wonder why he was here in the first place. Those black outs appeared less often the longer he stayed here. He found out a way to suppress it; if he stayed in a good mood all the time and stopped himself from getting upset or angry, he would no longer feel those black outs.

It helped a lot to know he could look forward to seeing that mysterious man every Thursday. He was in a particularly good mood those days, it surprised the nurses whom was used to his mischief and his God complex. He had taken his medicine like a good boy and promised not to leave the building. Every night he would find a way to sneak out, to run towards the building opposite theirs, hoping he could catch a glimpse of that man.

He only appeared on Thursdays. Sometimes he would look tired and exhausted; sometimes he seemed to be better but only to show up worse the next. Byakuran wasn't stupid; he knew that this person must be sick seeing as he was in the hospital… a part of him was hoping that he would remain sick for a long time, as long as he needed to get out of here and be able to watch him from another place outside these white walls.

Guilt was nagging at him like maggots eating at human flesh whenever he had these thoughts. His obsession with this person stretched so far that he would want to bring harm upon him just so that he could continue to look at him from a safe distance.

He often questioned himself why he wouldn't approach that person and talk to him.

Perhaps he was afraid of rejection; perhaps he didn't want to break the bond they had right now… changes don't always to lead to good things. He learned that the hard way.

Tonight was rather chilly, he noticed as he climbed up the fire escape to the rooftop. To his surprise the bluenette weren't sat by the edge, he was right by the fire escape, looking down at him with those gorgeous mismatching eyes. Byakuran almost fell off; to be watched by the eyes of the man he had been watching for so long… was overwhelming.

"You're late." The beautiful male said, his hair flowing along with the wind, his delicate chin resting against his palm… the soft wrinkle at his forehead while he studied him was endearing and for a moment Byakuran forgot how to breathe.

His eyes widened somewhat as he turned the surprised look into a playful grin spiced with some mischief, he couldn't lose his confidence… not yet.

Quickly, he climbed up on the rooftop and stood next to the other. Observing him from a close distance now that he had the chance… He had long lashes; they were shimmering blue in a darker shade than his hair. His lips were full, moist with almost an almost purple shade. It suited him.

"Byakuran." The mysterious man whispered and made his heart skip a beat. How did he know his name? Then it struck him, all the patients in that special building had their name tag on their chest. No wonder he knew his name. Still, the way it rolled on his tongue was… erotic in a non-sexual way. Quite a contradicting thought.

"What's your name? " Byakuran pulled out a small package of marshmallows from his chest pocket, stuffing one into his mouth after wringing it between two fingers. The soft purple in his eyes were narrowed into thin lines and he was staring, staring at his prey like a greedy fox.

"Mukuro. It means corpse. Rather fitting, don't you think?" Kufufu.

What an odd laughter, Byakuran thought but didn't think too much of it. He knew his name! He finally knew his name. Mukuro… Mukuro…

"It's pretty… just like you." He laughed cheerfully, resisting the urge to wrap his arms around the slender form and bury his face into his neck. The physical closure never appealed to him, but this person was irresistible in all ways. There was something about him that made Byakuran addicted like a cat to catnip.

To his surprise, Mukuro seemed to have liked the compliment. At least he didn't object or stare at him like the nurses would do after he refuses to let them bathe him. He was a grown man, and he considered himself sane, healthy. Well, that was off topic.

"Why are you here?"

Mukuro broke the silence, causing Byakuran to look up at him in shock. Such a direct question, it would be impossible to avoid answering.

"Well-... … I was diagnosed with schizophrenia among a pile of other things." He laughed and scratched the back of his head, leaning in close to Mukuro with his eyes glimmering in the darkness. "… People say I'm crazy, but I'm not the only one."

He pulled back again, enjoying the confusion written in those mismatching eyes and closed his own, stretching out his arms to fill his lunges with fresh air.

"I saw them do this in a movie called Titanic, on a boat." A small tilt of his head, the smile returns and Mukuro glanced back at him in silence, amused by his ideas. "What's your favorite movie, Mukuro-kun?"

They chatted all night, all the way until dawn. Byakuran noticed how cold Mukuro's fingers had been when he reached out to touch it, having fought hard to resist all evening and finally couldn't take it anymore. It all happened so quickly, from the first words they exchanged with each other… to talk about dreams, books, movies, food… He almost felt like they belonged together. As if they were twins and split apart at birth.

"You must be freezing! Take my jacket."

Byakuran held out his knitted wool cardigan, wrapping the cream colored sweater around the smaller male's shoulders and climbed down the fire escape. He had to return before the nurses woke. All this while he had been dying to ask when they would meet again, although deep inside he knew the answer: always Thursday.

"I'll see you next week." Mukuro murmured with a distant look in his eyes, and Byakuran was falling into the illusion that perhaps he didn't want to say goodbye. He ached to tell him that he would be missing him all week, but he knew better than to push things too quickly. He once attempted that with one of the other patients and unfortunately it drove her over the edge and she never returned. He wouldn't want that kind of misfortune on Mukuro… no, he was far too precious.

With a small nod, he climbed down and waved to him as he reached the ground, already looking forward to their next meeting.

:-:

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