Dusk (MikaYuu)

Chapter 1: Dusk

   The raven hops down from the last stair step onto the flat ground, humming softly while skipping towards the dining table where Guren and Shinya silently sit at. Yuuichiro walks past them, not even batting an eye when they stare while he makes his way towards the front door.

   "Yuu? I thought you said you have a headache." Shinya comments, Yuuichiro's steps stop abruptly. He stands motionlessly for a good five seconds before looking back at both Shinya and Guren, flashing them a bright smile.

   Guren narrows his eyes at the raven, but Yuuichiro pays no mind to it. "I am fine now! School is just being, you know, school." He states mindlessly and shrugs. The other two males stay silent at his statement, and so he excuses them and proceeds to walk to the front door, putting on his shoes.

   "I'm off to work, bye!" Yuuichiro shouts and just like that, he leaves. Guren and Shinya glance at each other, silently conversing about the raven's behavior without actually saying anything. 

    The raven who is out of the house casually walks to the place he is supposed to be working at, and before he can stop himself, he glances up to the sky. It is clear, and there are not many clouds floating around.

   A nauseous feeling pools inside his stomach, and he clenches his fist. His head actually never stops throbbing, but he doesn't care. He runs all the way to his part time job place. He never stops even for a little bit to catch his breath, and so when he arrives, he is panting like he is dying, and his head feels light. He is not used to running yet, after all.

   Yuuichiro regains his composure, and walks into the coffee shop. After announcing his presence to his boss, he immediately gets to work, wiping the tables clean before the customers come in. 

   "Yuuichiro, you don't have to wipe the table. I did that already." His co-worker claims, and he flashes the guy a half-hearted smile. "It's alright. I want to do it." The raven says. His co-worker eyes him weirdly, but leaves him alone without further questioning. 

   Yuuichiro exhales softly, but he doesn't let himself sigh. His hand moves again, continuing to wipe the obviously already clean table. After finishing with the one he wiped, he goes to another table and repeats the same motion.

   There aren't things to do yet, and the shop is not going to open in around another 15 minutes so he is actually free to sit back for a bit. But he doesn't allow himself to do that. He can't. He is not going to let his mind travel to somewhere, the place where his mind is the most fragile.

   'I have to stay strong.' He tells himself sternly. He is not going to think about it. Yuuichiro is going to be fine, even when he is looking at the blue sky, which reminds him of a certain someone's eyes.

   He had always been strong. He sees his younger self waking up in the dark, sleepy and groggy. But he sat up nonetheless, as he heard small sobs coming from the companion beside him. 

    "Mika." He called out gently despite his raspy sounding voice. The blonde boy seemed to finally realize his awakening, and pressed his lips into a thin line to contain his cries. But failed anyway, his soft cries turning into quiet whimpering. The raven sighed, pulling Mikaela close and capturing the blonde into a comforting embrace.

   "Nightmares again?" Yuuichiro questioned in a hushed tone. The lack of answer from the child Mikaela just confirmed his assumption. The raven's hand trailed up to gently caress Mikaela's blonde hair, stroking the strands softly. 

   "Strong people don't cry." Yuuichiro told him. The blonde's sobs slowly died down, though his tears didn't stop. The raven held Mikaela's face, staring into the watery blue eyes he adored so much through his droopy eyelids. He didn't mind staying up all night, if it meant that Mikaela would feel better. He wiped the blonde's tears away silently.