For the next two days Nagato did not get out of bed, resigned to having now fallen from the summit he had conquered with so much effort. He enjoyed the cuddles of Itachi who was convinced that his partner was still in the throes of the terrible hangover he had gotten on New Year's Eve.
No, he remained transparent as always happened when Sasuke was there too. Invisible, like his pain.
"I have a show tomorrow, do you want to come see me live?"
Itachi, on the third day that Nagato didn't get up, sat on the edge of the bed asking him this question while he stroked his hair hoping that he would recover. It was now clear that New Year's exaggerations had nothing to do with it, he had never even touched food since that evening.
Nagato didn't respond when Itachi said goodbye to him on his way to work, he didn't even look at him. However, later on he couldn't help but turn on the television to watch it from the screen.
Itachi was a trapeze artist. An acrobat so good that he was called the television, but he had never spoken to anyone, to protect his privacy and that of Sasuke he had never revealed his name, everyone believed him to be a fantastic creature.
Itachi hovered with his usual grace and lightness, without making any noise. Nagato's purple-tinged eyes, ringed with deep dark circles, followed him on the screen. Itachi seemed to be made of wind and light. The audience didn't say a word, every time Nagato was sure that they all stopped breathing. Nobody knows that angel's name, he never wanted to say it. The children were convinced that he was not human, but a creature that disappeared once it finished flying. No one has a face and hair like that on Earth, it is not possible for a person to reach such a level of suppleness. Yet even angels apparently suffer.
"Why does he have such sad eyes?" a little girl had asked, shaking her mother's hand.
"But what's on his face?" another baby to the dad.
"His eyes are a little sunken, son, he's probably tired, even if this job doesn't seem like it requires effort."
"But why, on his planet do they sleep like us?"
A hand slipped from the one that should have grabbed it, Itachi had only managed to raise a finger towards his aide. Only Nagato, from home, had noticed.
This time the audience was forced to catch their breath to scream as they realized that the angel had fainted in the hands of his helper. The man had done everything to catch him but the unreal creature had ended up on the safety net like a broken doll.
"Now I understand, he's a puppet, they must have broken his strings" stated the little girl before her, looking towards the shocked face of her mother who was covering her mouth with one hand as if to stop herself from screaming.
Nagato blinked as the television broadcast was abruptly cut off.
Two people who knew pain well, instead of understanding each other, ended up destroying each other. The depressed person becomes selfish, his pain is already too much and he cannot take on the pain of others.
Itachi has a heart disease, his pain is understood by everyone.
Nagato is sick in his soul, his pain remains transparent.
Maybe Itachi is dead, but Nagato envies him.