@killersmash | cont’d from here.
Not that the prisoner was going to pry much anyways. What Saihara did in his free time wasn’t any business to Hoshi. Although if the detective was going to involve someone anyways, it may as well be someone like him. Beats waking up some poor sap from their bed for any reason. He should wash his hands again.
Clearly Saihara wasn’t backing away though, even when faced with an obvious answer to an almost useless question. Whatever. “Take a seat if you want to.” Or not. A bit rough to consider anybody would want to sit next to him in the first place unless out of necessity. His hands hurt, stop rubbing them.
Dumbfounded by the lack of any common sense he held to say something like that, Hoshi took a swig from the water bottle by his hip. He really was tired, or stupid; most likely both the more he thought about it. Saihara seemed like the type that wouldn’t appreciate sharing a bottle, shame he had left his cigs in his jacket. Not that his hands would fit into those small pockets anyways, they were still swelling even now. He should probably stop rubbing them.
“Figured you’d be working on papers at this hour, instead of aimlessly walkin’ around listening to lowlifes.”
the tennis player’s brusque answer stings a bit, but the look on his face suggests that he’s not trying to patronize you. it’s not like hoshi to look down on others for asking obvious questions. in any case, the ‘ me neither, ’ floating in your throat is just as evident. of course you can’t sleep –– no normal person wouldn’t walk around the school grounds at two in the morning without good reason. it’s only during long, work-filled nights that the loamy scent of the plaza beckons you from your room.
you nod & carefully lower yourself onto the bench next to him, hand gripping onto the armrest to stop you from collapsing from exhaustion. though hoshi’s face is dimly lit by the flickering streetlight above you, you can’t bring yourself to look into his eyes. even with your glasses on, your eyes are far too tired from staring at papers to focus on one thing in particular. in any case, he’ll notice when you try to summon energy that has already been extinguished. can’t light a candle when the matches are gone, after all.
for a moment, you just sit there in silence –– broken only by the soft burbling of the fountain in the center of the plaza & the rustling of your pants as you cross your legs. there’s a scuff on the suede of your loafers, but you can take care of that tomorrow. or later today. well, now’s not the time to be technical.
hoshi breaks the silence, & you almost jump out of your suit. thank god he’s soft-spoken –– or you would’ve fallen off the bench entirely. you straighten yourself, adjusting the glasses that had slipped down your nose. hopefully he didn’t see that.
❝ i was, but... ’ you say, ❝ it was getting stuffy in my room, so i thought i’d get some fresh air. ‘
