Niji {Mahiro×Reader}

Chapter 13- Reach

Today. The day of the delayed circus show. It passed in a faster than expected.

That morning, I opened my phone to see a message from Mahiro.

"I hope you're doing fine"

"Take care"

As if that hadn't been infuriating at the time...

"I'm sorry"

I saw the world in colour once more, just for awhile. Not all though. Just flashes of the environment in chaotic tints of blue and red. It hurt my eyes, and it gave me a horrible headache. I gave myself a firm punch to the ribs. Just like a television, that was the switch to turn it off.

I slammed the phone back onto the desk, repeating to myself:

"That wasn't him. "

"That isn't him. "

"That. Isn't. Him. "

At that exact moment, a knock came on the door.

"[Y/N]? Are you awake? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!"

I shouted to the manager outside the door.

Sliding off the bed, I began to wash up, got into a rather comfortable set of clothes, and went to eat some brunch. I was then chased out immediately once my plate had been emptied- I had to prepare for the circus show.

First, I got into my costume. Next was make-up, done skillfully by the makeup artists. Afterward I moved on to the hair. The little boy that the circus had taken in was next door, practicing his darts and dagger throwing. I could hear the impact of the sharp points hitting the practice boards.

Rehearsals went smoothly. Another circus group had come to watch us today. They would be holding a joint performance with us at the next location, and wanted to see how they could mix their usual acts with ours.

There was free time before the main show, so we were sent back to our tents to relax. The fans had been switched on to make sure we wouldn't sweat as badly, make up wouldn't melt, hairspray wouldn't fall. I recalled the text message, and simply couldn't comprehend- why had Mahiro done that?

The show itself went by without a hitch. Oh who am I kidding- I nearly missed the platform on the other end after miscalculating a spin. After the show, I was ushered to a room just to make sure I was fine, I was checked up on by medics since they claimed the way I caught onto the platform was at a dangerous angle, and thank heavens I was perfectly fine.

I changed quickly into more comfortable clothes. I was allowed to go back to the hotel first, since I had been excused from the meet and greet session. Not that I needed to be excused.

The hotel was silent. Oddly so. Perhaps the circus cast had always been making it noisy, and now that most of them were still preparing for the meet and greet sessions, the hotel was empty and quiet.

Every step that I took on the smooth, marble floor left a small echo in the lobby of the hotel. The glass ceiling was a floor to a pond, high above, refracting the sun's dying rays onto the wide floor. The lobby was filled with a burning light. As if on fire. Blazing on, never seeming to die, till... The light began to fade, slowly darkening, nearing it's unreachable destination of complete darkness. The flames had died out.

One by one, the stars seemed to flicker on. Like fairy lights. The nursery rhyme could never do justice to their splendor. They twinkled, they shone, yes. But to compare them to diamonds would be plain rude. They were a class of their own. Like small angels, far far away, singing away harmoniously.

The place simply seemed to bathe in a beautiful, gentle glow.

Interrupted, by none other than the turning on of the lights around the lobby. The stars still held their glimmer, but the heavenly effect they had brought about earlier was... Gone. With the simple flick of a switch.

I realised how long I had simply been standing in the middle of the lobby, admiring the sky. My feet seemed to ache slightly. My neck seemed stiff.

The magic of the twilight had passed. I had no more reason to stay, so I returned to my room, to find a whole stack of messages from a certain person.

[Mahiro's POV]

I hadn't received any replies.

I knew it.

She probably hated me.

I wouldn't be surprised.

I saw it coming.

But I wanted to know how she was, from herself.

So I checked in on my phone constantly, asking once or twice, maybe a few more times, if she was alright, and asking her to leave just one message. Just because I wanted to know how she was.

I knew she had a performance, so I waited till after Kiryu's live that day till I checked again. I even checked during the encore break.

Perhaps messaging her had been a mistake. She didn't deserve this treatment. Maybe she doesn't want to remember me?

I really want to say that I made that decision for the best, and that I don't regret it. But what's the use of telling that lie when I can't follow it?

Late at night, nearing midnight, way past her usual bedtime, she sends me a message.

What does what I'm feeling and doing have to do with you?

Ouch. She was evidently hurt by what I had done.

To be honest- I had really wanted to tell her my apologies, my reasons and excuses, but... I couldn't. Stupid, stubborn me, right?

Perhaps a text wouldn't have been a good means of replying.

But I had no guts to give her a call.

As if she would pick up, or let me reason with her. She's probably hang up on me, wouldn't she?

I suppose her response was fair. It wasn't unexpected. It's all my fault, isn't it?

Then again, I felt that the only sincere way to do this, was to talk to her directly. Since that was impossible at the current moment, the closest thing would be a call.

Well, she was still online...

My thumb slid over to the call icon, then tapping on it.

The soft sound of the ringtone played in the quiet room. I brought the cellphone to my ear, anxiously awaiting a response.

"Hello? What do you want from me?"

"I wanted a short talk, just a few minutes of your time, please. "