Ｈｏｕｓｅ Ｏｆ Ａｌｔｅｒａ || 【ᴀᴏʙᴀ ᴥ ᴄʟᴇᴀʀ】

VIII. Silhouette

In this sorrowing atmosphere, I reached out and cupped his cheeks, he was too weak to push me away. I touched my forehead to his, and his troubled breathing subsided after a few moments. He will die young, but the fact that it has already begun hit me hard. He's wilting away, and there's nothing I can do. He is aware of this, but he cannot fight the disease alone. His breath was warm against my cheeks, and I looked up to see him staring at me dreamily. Embarrassed, I brought my head away from his and averted my gaze, his movements were hazy but he managed to cup my cheeks in return, moving his thumb against my chin.

"May I.. touch your face, Aoba-san?" He asked oddly, but he was aware of the strangeness as he asked. I hesitated, my face burning as I nodded weakly.

"--'s fine."

Reaching out his gloved fingers with new-found delicacy, he sculpted throughout my face, closing his eyes in concentration. When he opened them again, he smiled brightly, almost as if he weren't sick at all. My body heat was radiating vastly, I was in a heated trance. I could hear my heart throbbing hastily in my chest, and I was sure Clear could hear it too.

"Clear.." He looked up to me, breathing in fragments, his face was pale but contained small splotches of color. "Yes, Aoba-san?" he whispered in a sing-song voice, studying my gaze for answers. I leaned inwards, my eyes lidded, bringing my face closer to his.A knock came to the door, I halted, my lips only inches away from his. He pulled back, and sent me an apologetic glance, before sulking back into his hiding spot. Visibly annoyed, I paced over and opened the door with a burning intensity. Until I noticed who was at the door. Noiz was unaffected, and handed me a small bundle. "You missed dinner."

"Ah-h, sorry. Thanks."

He walked off without another word, and I merely stood dumbfounded. Looking out the crater I noticed the moon had already left it's cozy spot in the roof long ago. I hadn't noticed that before. Closing the door with an extended breath, I sat down on the bed and unraveled the contents. One biscuit, stale. At least two spoonfuls of mushroom soup, and a small stem of grapes with at least three present. I understood that food was scarce, but yet it still felt like only a portion of a rationed meal. Huffing a sigh, I turned around.
"Clear. You can come out now." I called for him, stomach urging me to eat what I can. He peeped up from the other side of the bed, I could only see his eyes. He stayed like that for moment, crawling over to me on the bed and plopping a seat. His presence was weak, it sent a painful pang through my heart. Taking the bundle of grapes from my hands, he plucked one from the stem and held it out to me. Confused, I shot him a glance, but he smiled in return. I craned my head, extremely embarrassed, and ate from his frail fingers. I quickly finished my rations, pushing the plate onto the writing desk.
"Aoba-san, will you come to the garden with me?" I heard him say in a quiet yearning tone. Turning to him, he outstretched his hand. Taking his fingers in mine, I wrapped them strongly together. He took that as my answer, and we exited through the tattered window. The grass was marshy, our bare feet squelching against the tarn. Sweetly humming, he suddenly stopped. I looked down to see a small ivy branch coiling around his ankle, he gave a pained expression and bent down, gently removing it with care. It shrunk back to the ground, and wilted. Offended. We continued to walk until we reached a quartz pillar entrance. I had never seen anything like this, and I was fascinated as he pushed open the tall gate. Inside, the glum nature had shifted completely. There were no flowers, but in the center of the garden, a lone beautifully bloomed weeping willow stood. Hand-placed stone pathways and fountains guided our way. The tree was radiating a blue light, the moon seeming to whisper against it's drooped branches. My mouth gaped in wonder, and Clear's grip around my hand tightened.