the district sleeps alone tonight
(luke.chihaya)
harvest moon : tree of tranquility
The air is as thick as the cutthroat tension. Two solemn entities; both confused, but rotten. The dim apartment is solely furnished with hand me downs, each layering with collecting dust. Clothes splattered on the dreary carpet, the only difference between the boys a couple of boxers and a teal shirt. The boys themselves were nothing special: both had a grave look on their faces, deeply moved by the other. A peach-haired young man is slumped over a wooden desk, frantically making any sense of the type on the notebook paper. His hands, smeared black ink, his face, moist.
"Your palms are sweaty," the other boy with the denim jacket says again and the peach-haired man snarls.
"And I'm barely listening to last demands," he snaps, standing up finally and swerving to eye on the blue-haired boy. His face suddenly gives, and he frowns, because more tears start to run down his cheek. "Luke, what's buried underneath where I am?"
Luke twists his own face, he doesn't get it. He then reverts to his previous mood, anger, and steps toward the man. "Chihaya! I'll wear my badge; a vinyl sticker with big block letters adherent to my chest, that tells your new friends, 'I am a visitor here, I am not permanent'—"
Chihaya shakes his head. "The only thing keeping me dry is where I am."
Luke cracks, jolting his head to view the pitiful surroundings: the broken walls, the broken lights, this broken man. "You seem so out of context in this gaudy apartment complex! I feel like a stranger with a door key, explaining that I am just visiting… And I am finally seeing why I was the one worth leaving."
Chihaya gazes in his direction, watching as the emotion and utter sarcasm flew out of him. He wants to hold him, he does, so very much, but all he can do is stand at an angle and hope to be missed. "…sleeps alone tonight…" he mutters under his breath, a sole liner that only makes sense to him.
Luke jumps a bit, and he stirs toward Chihaya for a moment. For a brief second, it seems like he is going to jump in his arms and give up, but he doesn't. Chihaya frowns. It disturbs him.
"The district sleeps alone tonight, again, huh?" Luke manages, and he even manages a slight laugh. He holds his chest, and doubles over. "This stranger with the door key is finally listening…" he says, and he reaches in his pocket. Fumbling in it seems to take an eternity, until his hand finally emerges with a silver object entwined in his fingers. He lets it drop, falling with a small thud on the plush carpet.
"I'm just visiting."
His last reply, so swift and eager, and he turns to the door, awkwardly twisting the doorknob and leaving the barren room.
Chihaya slumps onto the ground, weakly reaching for the key and pounding hard on the floor. All hope, lost, his first love with it as well. He tries to remember the last ten minutes as well as his blurry eyes can let him.
"—please Chihaya, please come with me!"
Chihaya laughs and he looks back down on his notebook paper. "Ahh, no way, Luke, you're not leaving. This is another joke."
Luke doesn't laugh, for he stares into Chihaya's purple eyes with growing mist. "Chiyo… I… I'm leaving for London tomorrow morning. Please, come with me!" he says, and he gets down on his knees, desperate.
Chiyo removes his reading glasses and drops to Luke's side, holding him tightly with both arms. Chihaya lifts his head up to meet with his, and he whispers something inaudible for even the breaking silence empowering the room.
"…I can't…"
"Chihaya—!"
"I can't leave this place… I'm so sorry…"
The mist hazes far too quickly, and Chihaya can't help but snapping out of it. He doesn't want to remember the present, and yet he can't erase it from his mind. Filmstrips of the scene plays back in his head, and his grips the key a little more tighter.
"And I'm finally seeing… why I was the one worth leaving…" he repeats, and the complete silence is too much to bear anymore.
(the district sleeps alone tonight (c) the postal serice)