Peaceful Moon | Chishiya x Reader

Chapter Four

☆ In which you notice how empty the skies are, all of a sudden. ☆

At some point you are shaken awake by careful hands, and your eyes open blearily to Usagi's face.

Twilight seeps in through the glass doors, cold and deep blue. "It's your turn to keep watch," she says in a low voice. You nod and slowly push yourself up, rubbing your eyes. Usagi gets to her feet. It surprises you that there's nothing hostile in her tone; only fatigue. In fact, even the shadow of the empty sky shading her face reveals a slight wince on her features as she retracts her hands.

"Hey, wait," you call after her quietly, careful not to wake the others slumbering peacefully around you. She stops, shooting you an inquisitive glance. You hesitate. The two of you aren't exactly on the best of terms. "What happened to your hand?"

Usagi looks down in surprise. There's a thin line of red on the back of her hand, the kind of cut that's just deep enough to sting. Her expression hardens, the worn out creases beneath her eyes rapidly disappearing from her face. "It's nothing," she murmurs, lifting her other hand to cover the wound. "Just a small cut. I must have brushed against something sharp earlier, back at the convenience store." Her tone turns cold towards the end of her sentence as if to say, but of course you'd know about that, right?

But there's nothing that reads better than an open book like a human. Despite the scathing press to Usagi's words, there's still something so tired in the way her shoulders dip when she breathes out. You recall the tears that had gathered in her eyes earlier, and merely nod in response. "Wait here."

Usagi frowns, but she dutifully waits while you pick your way around the snoozing forms of your companions. In his sleep, Tatta mumbles a string of nonsense that sounds an awful lot like there's a sword in his cap like the Excalibur. A smile tugs at your lips at the thought - you may have to fact check that later.

You return with the pack of bandaids you'd collected at the pharmacy, motioning for her to sit down beside you. She dawdles and for a second you think she might threaten you with Tatta's Excalibur (or at the very least, walk away), but in the end she complies.

"I'm sorry about earlier," you say softly, once the two of you have settled down comfortably. The rough sound of cardboard cuts through the silence as you open the packet of bandaids; the thought crosses your mind that you always seem to be having conversations over someone getting their limbs patched up. Usagi remains silent, but she accepts the bandaid you hand to her. The smallest of smiles flickers across her lips when she sees the cartoon characters printed on it, eyes glazing over as if remembering something from a long time ago. "I shouldn't have been listening. It was none of my business."

Usagi seems to think for a moment, lost in her reverie. Her fingers press over the bandaid reluctantly. Unlike the previous conversations you'd had with Usagi about swimming pools and executives, the words you exchange now are endlessly more somber.

"It's okay," is her eventual conclusion, though the tone of her voice certainly indicates it's a tad less than okay.

Your thoughts must show on your face, because Usagi sighs. "You don't have to apologise. You probably would've heard it eventually, anyway." She shivers a little in the cold, laser-focused on smoothing the bandaid over her hand.

"But even so," you murmur. 

Unable to help yourself, you note how her gaze shifts to where Arisu is lying asleep. Even while he rests, his sleeping form reaches out for someone; his arm is outstretched, as if someone has a place there in it. Beside you, Usagi draws in a breath and tucks her knees up to her chest. You wonder if she's thinking about her conversation with him earlier, in the convenience store.