After Lights Out
[Scene: Evergreen Mental Health Center – 1:17 AM. Dim hallway lights flicker like old eyes trying to stay awake. The halls are silent, the kind of silence that makes every footstep feel like a crime.]
Aoi sits cross-legged on his bed, reading the same page for the third time. The door creaks open and Kaze slides in like he’s done this a hundred times before.
Kurohiko Kaze
(whispering)
"Yo. Get up. Mission time."
Ankoku Aoi
(blinks)
"Mission?"
Kurohiko Kaze
"Operation: Steal Sad Snacks from Nurse Lina’s stash.
She hides them in the second break room under a “Yoga for Seniors” magazine pile.
Very advanced stuff."
Ankoku Aoi
(stares)
"Isn’t that... stealing?"
Kurohiko Kaze
(mock gasp)
"Aoi.
We’re in a place that locks us up for crying too loud.
Stealing Snickers is the least of our sins."
Aoi hesitates. Everything in him screams stay. But Kaze's already halfway out the door, looking back with that stupid, irresistible grin.
Kurohiko Kaze
"Come on, quiet boy. I promise not to get you killed.
Unless we get caught. Then I’ll totally blame you."
Ankoku Aoi
(sighs, gets up reluctantly)
"I hate you."
Kurohiko Kaze
"Be honest. You hate how much you don’t hate me."
[Scene: Hallway – The two sneak barefoot across cold tile. Kaze walks like it’s a dance. Aoi walks like he’s expecting alarms to go off.]
Ankoku Aoi
"You’re way too comfortable breaking rules."
Kurohiko Kaze
"I don’t break rules.
I just... bend them violently."
Aoi stumbles into someone rounding the corner.
Ankoku Aoi
(startled)
"Oh! I—
I’m sorry, I didn’t see—"
[A tall figure straightens in the dim light. He moves slowly, like fog crawling over water. His eyes are half-lidded. His expression unreadable.]
✦ Satoshi ✦
Appearance: Tall, almost unnaturally still. Pale skin like porcelain left out too long. Dark silver hair falls to his collarbone. His eyes?
Black, but not empty. Heavy. Like looking into something ancient.
He wears the same white uniform, but somehow makes it look like something from a dream. Or a nightmare.
Jun Satoshi
(Voice soft, barely above a whisper)
"You should watch where you’re going."
Aoi’s throat tightens. There’s something wrong about this guy. Not in a loud way — in a still way. Like the air changed around him.
Ankoku Aoi
(small)
"S-sorry..."
[But Kaze steps forward. His eyes light up in a way Aoi’s never seen.]
Kurohiko Kaze
"Satoshi.
Didn’t think you wandered out of your ghost tower this late."
Jun Satoshi
(tilts his head)
"Can’t sleep.
The walls hum too loudly tonight."
Aoi glances at Kaze. He’s smiling. Not his usual smug grin — but something softer. Respectful. Almost... in awe.
Aoi (Narration):
"The air felt wrong.
But Kaze stood there like it was fine. Like this guy — this strange, floating presence — was something beautiful instead of terrifying.
He looked at him the way people look at stars.
And I didn’t know why... but it made something twist in my chest."
Jun Satoshi
(eyeing Aoi slowly)
"You’re new."
Ankoku Aoi
(nods, uneasy)
"Yeah."
Jun Satoshi
(turns his gaze back to Kaze)
"Keep him out of trouble, will you?"
Kurohiko Kaze
(smiling wider)
"No promises.
But I’ll try."
[Satoshi walks past, silent, like a shadow peeling off the wall. As he disappears into the corridor, Aoi exhales.]
Ankoku Aoi
(staring)
"Who... was that?"
Kurohiko Kaze
(sighs, almost dreamily)
"Satoshi."
"He’s like a poem nobody understands, but everyone feels something from."
Ankoku Aoi
(quiet)
"He scared me."
Kurohiko Kaze
"Yeah."
"He scares everyone."
(pause)
"Maybe that’s why I like him."
Aoi doesn’t answer. But in the dim hallway, something changes between them. Not spoken. Not named. Just quietly, slowly shifting.
They continue walking. Somewhere down the hall, a vending machine hums.]
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