By chance, he glanced out the window. By chance, he caught sight of the pair as they left. With his eyes arrested, he stilled. Time slowed, and he found himself unable to look away as color drained out of the world around him. Then came the voice of his former student, and he returned to himself with a short intake of breath.
"They're still doing that, huh?" he idly commented as he inhaled the grays and continued walking forward.
"You didn't know? Those two have…"
And the grays rushed back out with a—
snap
—and suddenly his hand was grasping at her wrist, and before she could pull away, he spoke. Just an amplitude above a whisper, just a magnitude above trembling. Her eyes were wide and unnerved, his eyes were searchingly blank. His face was too slack while his grip was too firm.
"… Sensei?"
His hand loosened and he blinked, jerking away with a start. She ignored his hasty apology, observing his retreating back. With his shoulders a fraction more hunched, his face a degree closer to the ground, perhaps…
The air regained the weight of reality, but this time, the grays he inhaled were a shade closer to black.
A scene from 'Daytime Shooting Star', chapter 62.