| keep it clean for the camera • horror renga au |

2

Hewwwooo :3 I am grateful to anyone who reads this <3 Just a heads up, there is no sexual content in this work or in the future. Thanks for reading!

love, Leafy~

....

Reki's body plunged into a sea of darkness; horror washed over him as he struggled to breathe. He waved his arms frantically, the iniquity of the ocean choking any words that attempted to escape his throat. His hand tore through the darkness above, looking for any means of escape. Instead, the internal sea had wrapped its arms around him, drawing him further into the tenebrosity that surrounded him.

A hauntingly inexorable sound whispered in his ear, a tangled, shrewd voice that clawed in his eardrum. The tone was so familiar, as sly as it was before he died.

"This was the only way, right?"

Reki's impending dread felt like static from his head to his toes. The redhead tried to scream; his voice sloshed down with the sea that encompassed him. Bubbles foamed at his lips, his lack of vision intensifying the feeling of helplessness by virtue of the absence of even a sliver of light.

"Langa..."

His last thought before he surrendered to his invisible struggle. His fists loosed their grip as he sank, stagnated to his unforeseeable ending.

...

Reki gasped for air as he rose back to life. Then, like a zombie out of his coffin, he stretched and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

The drool that dripped from his chin to his uncontrollable tangled curls was an afterthought as Reki patted himself down, feeling his own pulse from his neck with two fingers.

Reki's chair squeaked, his sudden enthusiasm breaking the silence of the studious classroom. Three of his classmates turned to him, including a familiar head of blue-stranded curls.

A laugh cut through the tense atmosphere like a knife. Reki's peer snorted as they saw through Reki's tired eyes and a wrinkled mess of the high school student.

The teacher tapped the chalkboard with impatience, his command turning everyone away. Finally, with the spotlight off of Reki's back, he could get back to his recently scheduled mid-afternoon nap.

Yet, instead, Reki's desk shook as his knee bounced up in down, his eyes unblinkingly towards the ceiling.

Langa peeked over at Reki as he heard his desk shake. It screeched the tile floors as it rattled continuously. It had been three days since the murder of Adam, and Reki looked like he was hit by a bus.

His eyes had dark circles, bloodshot sclera. His hair was slovenlier than usual, amidst the dirt lined underneath of his fingernails. His hands were visibly shaken, and Langa was sure he hadn't showered since that night, followed by them burying the corpse. The tumbler that sat on his desk looked as it had been refilled multiple times. A bitter liquid had overspilled the lid, dripping onto his desk. Coffee of all things, Langa could only guess. Reki only drank coffee when he was tired.

Even so, Reki and coffee did not mix.

Reki's somber, amber eyes were fixed upon the ceiling above, unblinking and lost into the empty space. He was unaware of his surroundings, his gaze at its most full attention. Lost in a nightmare that Langa couldn't imagine was in Reki's head.

Langa put a hand on Reki's desk, the bouncing coming to a stop. Langa had popped Reki's bubble, with Reki falling back to reality with a hard thud. Reki jumped in his chair, looking around until his eyes met Langa's.