Summary:
After a long and exhausting day of work, Seito walks through the same streets to get back home. However, on the way, he passes by the same alleyway and sees the same face he'd see the few times he passed by and acknowledged this alleyway.
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Heaving out a sigh, Seito walks through the usual streets that he'd walk through to get home from work. Today was exhausting for him, and he just really wants to get home as soon as possible now.
However, he passed by an alleyway. One that he's all too familiar with now. This alleyway is the alleyway where he and Mantis would encounter each other in random occasions. It has happened twice now, so he's expecting that Mantis would be chilling in there.
Seito turned around to look at the alleyway...
And he was fucking right.
"Mantis!" Seito called out, catching the attention of the lime haired man. Mantis turned his head to look at Seito, before a shit-eating grin spreads across his face. "Why hello there, Silverwing~ We meet again, I see."
"...Yeah. I was actually expecting you to be here, heh." Seito replied, shrugging. Once again, it had happened twice now, so he's not surprised that it would happen a third time. "I'm not surprised you're just...chilling in here."
"And I'm not surprised you happen to pass by either, Silverwing. It seems like you always have been using this exact path to get back home from work, right?" Mantis asked, and Seito nodded in response. Mantis fell silent for a moment, before sighing, looking away to the other side where the rest of the alleyway is.
Seito could tell that Mantis' expression is....melancholic. It's like everyone in the world rejected his great efforts to do anything. Seito only looked down, he can't believe he could just think of the enemy like that, let alone talking casually with him.
Seito looked up to Mantis again, before seeing that Mantis' blinking his eyes to prevent...tears from falling down? "....Mantis?" The Seiten co-leader called out, startling the Fukushu scientist. "H-huh? Oh, uh, yes-?" Mantis responded, and Seito immediately could tell that he's not okay just from that voice crack.
"You good?" Seito asked, and that question surprised Mantis for a bit. "....Pardon?" The lime haired man asked, confused. The light blue haired man sighed. "I said....you good?"
Mantis was silent again, looking down to the ground, before huffing. "Even I don't know anymore. So many things have been plaguing my mind lately. It's like I don't have any room to even think about anything positive. It feels like I'm suffocating just like that."
"I don't get it, why am I feeling like this? I just know that maybe I can try to get these feelings away from me but it's literally no use." He lets out a sigh. "People really don't consider other people's feelings sometimes, huh? All of the hurtful things that my peers have said to me about my work.....it fucking hurts...!"
"And I....I just....." Mantis trailed off and went silent once again, before his eyes slightly widened in realization. He quickly looked at Seito, who had a worried look on his face. "What the fuck- Wait, no, I shouldn't be venting to the enemy!" The scientist blurted out, startling the Seiten co-leader.
"Wh- Hey! It's okay! Sometimes, even if we're meant to hate each other, we can still act like we don't, right?" Seito reassured. Mantis only sighed. "Whatever. This is a waste of time."
Silence follows after that sentence.
".....You know...I just lost someone who I was close with."
"You mean Sel?"
"Yeah."
Mantis stared at Seito for a bit, before looking away to the alleyway. "I'm sorry for your loss. I think Alicia went a bit too overboard with beating the shit out of her ass." Seito nodded. "I knew it was Alicia who did that to her. Beforehand, Sel messaged me about someone telling her to go to Fukushu's base so I assumed it was Alicia. I feel bad for not coming with her. If I did, then she wouldn't be dead by now."
"Hey, don't blame yourself? Maybe whatever cruel god up there did, it's really just a matter of fate." Mantis spoke. "I know, but..." Seito trailed off, looking down to the ground once again. He then felt a gentle touch to his hand. The Seiten co-leader looked back up to see Mantis, before his attention trailed to his hand, who's intertwined with Mantis'. In that very moment, he could feel his cheeks burn up again.
"I said, don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. Clearly, it's Alicia's fault that she's dead as hell now. So just....don't put the blame on you. You had no doing in this." The lime haired man said in a gentle tone, a tone that Seito has never heard from him before. It somehow made him feel....warm inside, Seito doesn't know why, though.
"....Right. Thanks, Mantis. For someone who should be my enemy, you're...not that bad of a person after all." The blue haired man responded, smiling at the scientist. Mantis then let go of Seito's hand, a bit embarrassed himself. "Y-yeah, sure, whatever."
Seito then looked at his watch, his eyes widening a bit after seeing what time is it now. "Holy shit- almost 7 PM?! Yoshi's probably already home and worried for me now..." Seito then quickly looked at Mantis, before giving him a tight hug. "Ack- What the fuck?!" Mantis yelled out in shock.
The hug only lasted for a few seconds, and then Seito let go, smiling at the other man once more. "Thanks again. You're not that bad, heh." He said, before turning around and running off. However, he stopped in his tracks and turned his head to look at Mantis one more time.
"I'll see you here tomorrow?"
"....Yeah. Sure. It's a deal~"
Chuckling, Seito waved at Mantis and ran off. Mantis also waved back, before sighing, smiling to himself.
Maybe Seito isn't that bad, after all.
———
I Know What You Are™
Ok bye for now :)
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