This, Nozaki thought, was definitely his favorite time of day.
The lamplight cast a warm, yellow glow throughout the room, shedding just enough light for drawing. The only sounds in his apartment were the steady hum of the dishwasher and the scratching of pens upon paper. Sakura sat directly across from him at the table, working dutifully on the beta for his next issue, her red hair falling across her face like a curtain. Watching her, a feeling of contentment swelled within him; truly, he could stay here in this room forever and be perfectly happy. A slight smile crept onto his face as he turned his attention back to his manga.
He didn't know exactly when the pen-scratching stopped: he was so absorbed in his drawings that the silence took a minute to reach him. He looked up, and saw that Sakura had indeed put down her pen and was staring vacantly off into space. It seemed like her mind was thousands of miles away, and for some reason, Nozaki felt an urge to bring her back down to earth. He had to call her name three times before getting any response: "…Sakura!"
She started, almost upsetting the open inkbottle next to her elbow. "Oh—Nozaki-kun! I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention…" She laughed nervously, a faint blush spreading steadily across her face.
"It's fine. I…" Damn. Why had he called her name in the first place? "Uh, I wanted to know if you had finished the beta on those." He pointed to the stack of pages next to her.
"Oh, of course! Yes, I did finish." She straightened the pile and handed the pages to him. Their fingers brushed, and she pulled her hands back quickly, her blush deepening.
"Thanks." He placed the papers next to him, then turned his gaze back to Sakura. She sat there with her head down, hands by her sides, unusually quiet. Is something wrong? he wondered. "Are you okay? You seem a little…"
Her head snapped up. "Of course, I'm fine, I'm fine! Just a little tired, I guess!" She smiled, then reached for her bag. "I think I'm going to head home a little early, though. I have a math test tomorrow that I need to study for."
Nozaki got up and walked her to the door. "I'll see you at school, then. You can, uh… come over again tomorrow if you want."(Why did I say that? he berated himself internally. The invitation usually went without saying: she had been coming over after school almost every day for months now.)
Fortunately, she either didn't notice or chose not to comment on it. "Okay! Bye, Nozaki-kun!" She waved, then turned as the door swung slowly shut.
As Nozaki watched her retreating figure through the dark window, he felt an odd sense of emptiness. Silence swelled within the apartment, but somehow it was more silent than it had been before. He turned and walked back into the living room, trying and failing not to dwell on the lonely feeling welling up inside of him. Why? he asked himself. Why do I feel this way? This night was no different than the countless other nights he spent alone with his drawings. Although lately, he mused, Sakura had been around more often than not. At first, it had been all about the manga: Nozaki needed an assistant, and Sakura was a talented artist and efficient worker. But things had changed, and Nozaki found that he genuinely enjoyed her company. She could be talkative, but never overly so, and she was funny, but not at the expense of others. She didn't demand constant attention, unlike some people (Kashima came to Nozaki's mind) but always let him know what she was thinking, and, in Nozaki's experience, her thoughts were usually worth listening to. He'd lost track of how many times she had given him advice on new scenarios for Mamiko and Yuzuki.
I guess I've gotten so used to having her around that I've started to take her for granted, Nozaki thought as he pulled on a comfortable t-shirt and pair of sweats. Yes, that must be the cause of his feelings! Sakura's presence in his life had become a constant that he relied on. Nozaki was a creature of habit: he drew comfort from steady routine, and change unsettled him. It was no surprise that her early departure affected him this way. He took the pages Sakura had been working on and sat down in his desk chair, flipping through them absentmindedly. I can't expect her to be here all the time, he told himself. She has other things to do. And yet, somehow, the thought of Sakura busy with other things (and other people) troubled him.
Nozaki sighed, then turned his attention to the blank storyboard on his desk. New scenarios jostled around in his head, practically begging to be put on paper. He grabbed a pen and started drawing, losing himself in the world of Mamiko and Suzuki.
