The Remainder of the Equinox

Chapter Four

From that point on, Genji would visit Zenyatta whenever he could. Between classes, on weekends, sometimes even early in the morning. They would meet anywhere, like at the shop, Zenyatta's apartment, Genji's house, or even at a little bakeries and coffee places. They would talk about anything they could think of. Anything. Every time they met they learned more and more about each other. Their meetings could have lasted from thirty minutes to hours on end.

Genji loved every second of them.

It was nice to escape the pressures of school and family. Sure, he could have easily talked to his other friends about this stuff, but there was something about Zenyatta that made him feel like he was able to speak what was actually on his mind. It felt liberating. The best part was that Zenyatta would listen to everything he had to say. He wouldn't interrupt him or tell him he was silly or childish. He even gave him advice that actually worked. Genji always left feeling elated.

Sometimes he would catch himself staring at Zenyatta and notice little things. Like how he would gesture with his hands if he didn't know how to word something, or how he would keep a calm exterior but always give off a welcoming vibe. Whenever he smiled or laughed, Genji would feel a pang in his chest.

* * *

One night, Genji was torn from his sleep by a high-pitched tone from his phone. He groaned into his pillow and sluggishly patted around his nightstand, only identifying objects by if they were vibrating or not. When he got ahold of the device, he pressed it up to his ear and mumbled into his pillow, "Yeah, hello? Who is it?"

"Genji?"

"Oh, fuck, Zen? What's up?" A loud pulsing and yelling could be heard in the background. He could barely hear the other end. "Okay, wha... What? I can't hear you," he said, wiping the drool away from his mouth. He looked at the little saliva pool he made on his pillow in disgust.

"Sorry, hold on." After a few seconds, the noise died out a little bit. "Can you hear me now?"

"Yeah. What was that?"

"These of people upstairs are having some sort of party. I normally would just stay in the shop, but there was this infestation of these weird little bugs. Could I stay over for tonight?" He sounded calm and collected about the whole situation, even though anyone else would be a downright mess.

"Uh, yeah, of course," Genji said, "I'll be over in a few minutes. No problem."

"Thank you so much. This is probably an inconvenience to you."

"It's okay, dude. Don't sweat it." He hung up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He flicked on his lamp and went on a search for his coat.

After making sure the coast was clear, he tiptoed out of his room. Genji didn't know why he was sneaking out. He could have just walked right through the door. He was an adult. But he wasn't in the mood for Hanzo's lectures about going out late at night to who-knows-where. No chances taken.

On his way down the stairs, one of the floorboards creaked so loudly it was almost painful. He froze. Surely that would have woken up someone. He didn't breathe the entire time he waited for footsteps. When nothing came, Genji gently exhaled and continued his descent.

It was so dark in the house he almost stepped on one of his brother's cats. It jumped out from in front of him and hissed loudly.