Chapter Text
“Please go to bed soon, K,” Mafuyu had advised in a tone that could be assumed to be that of an underlying feeling of worry. To at lead the mildest extent.
“I will, I promise,” the composer lied through her teeth unintentionally. Kanade didn’t mean to stay up later. Though, it always started with her trying to tweak a vocal. Change a note here. Change a note there. Fix up a few errors from the night prior…
Mafuyu left the room but not without squeezing Kanade’s shoulder lightly and briefly. It caught her off guard. As the door closed with a gentle click, Kanade began to feel this white, nervous feeling that softly squeezed her insides. She also felt…softer. A tiny smile formed on her face.
No time to dwell. Kanade shook her head and continued with where she left off.
…
Four in the morning was when Kanade checked the time. It had started to storm as forecasted earlier that day. Well no, yesterday. Kanade’s eyes felt dryer than a desert. Each blink she took did little to moisten her optics as they slowly and lazily blank-stared at the screen.
She had to do one last thing. She just had to. But she promised Mafuyu she’d go to bed.
“If I can just…” the composer’s mouse moved across the pad. Her eye lids were threatening to close. When you’re awake, your also bound to feel—
Rumble. Her stomach made itself known. She was probably burning what little energy she had. She shouldn’t eat. Especially if she was considering sleeping.
Sitting there for a few moments, Kanade slowly dragged her head to tilt upwards to stare at the ceiling. How many people also stared at the ceiling at the dead of night? Maybe that’d make for a good song.
A song about the dead of night. What if that’s how Mafuyu feels everyday. On top of an empty feeling, maybe it was also just a sense of exhaustion with no desire to sleep.
Turning back to her computer with newfound motivation, Kanade began to compose rather than compose a symphony to go to sleep. Like always.
Despite her determination, the weight on her head was growing to great.
“Maybe I can just…indulge. J-Just a little,” Kanade dared to slowly lean forward, her arms folding on top of each other at a snail’s pace. Just when her forehead was about to touch the sleeves of her hoodie…
“-ade.”
“Mm!” Kanade flinched a little. Sitting upright, she looked to the general direction of the door. No one. Oh, it was one of those nights. The kind of nights where her brain likes the screw with her.
Sighing, Kanade sat a little less shrimp-like in her chair and continued with the song. No time for breaks, that startle was clearly a wake up call. Though, as she stared at the screen, it flickered black for a brief moment. Okay, not too weird.
The drowsy composer made a decision and pushed away from her desk and stood up. Her back was sore from only doing micro movements for the last few hours. Her bare feet felt almost numb, a dull staticy feeling on the heels. Looking back at the door, she nearly jumped out of her skin seeing a black entity in her peripheral line of sight.
Just a solid, jagged black with angry eyes. No colored iris. Just black pupils on top of disturbingly relaxed white. Its figure was barely human too. No other features besides eyes and what could be argued to be scrawny limbs. Her heart was beginning to pound. With a blink however, it was gone.
Her mind really was playing games with her. Getting a bit fed up, she walked out of the room. She kept her footsteps as light as possible as not to risk awakening the lyricist in the other room.
Grabbing the handle of the cabinet door with fatigued effort, Kanade grabbed the glass up she ‘saw’ in the dark kitchen. With the few moments of holding it under the sink rewarded the silver headed girl with water.
The feeling of the liquid barely registered in her brain. She put the now empty cup in the sink and began to turn away. In the corner of her eye, she could’ve sworn she saw a pair of eyes from the dining table. Quickening her walking pace made Kanade nearly trip.
Her stomach growled again. Maybe she should grab just a small snack? She made a side glance at the fridge and froze in sheer terror at the pair of eyes that stared back at her on the fridge. Her blood felt like ice, especially in her feet. She took a few steps back after catching herself from a nervous breakdown.
Kanade made up her mind. She will submit herself to indulge in sleeping. At least for a little.
…
She forgot how loud thunder can be when you’re mildly paranoid. Actually, Kanade pathetically found herself flinching at the sound of it. She never found herself scared of thunder up until this point. Well, was scared the right word—?
CRACKLE.
Yes, yes it was. Pulling the blanket over her head, the composer furrowed her brows unintentionally. Through the small opening of the blanket, Kanade was about to see the floor of her room. She began to stare through it with unfocused eyes.
A hand emerged from under the bed after another loud crackle of thunder accompanied the bright white flash of lightning. Black and severely malnourished. Kanade jerked up right, scrambling off the blanket with surprising haste that shocked even herself. “Get away…!” She whisper-shrieked. Taking a shaky breath, the now terrified composer moved the blanket that had ended up covering her face.
What she saw was that same entity. Face to face with her. A small yelp ripped itself free from her throat. The silver head felt her blood go cold as she huddled under the blanket. Like a child she curled up, her knees against her chest as she covered her head with her hands and closed her eyes.
It’s not real. It’s not real. I’m okay. Despite the self reassurance, Kanade’s breathing was coming in sharp, small heaves. She could hear her own heart beat as each breath was coming in tiny whimpers. She probably sounded closest to a puppy. A sad, pathetic, puppy. One that deserved this. One that deserved the turmoil being pushed upon her now.
She deserved this. She brought this on herself. This was a justifiable punishment for not getting the melody done already.
“Kanade,” a voice called out. Was that not real too? What certainty was real was the feeling of the blanket being removed from her head again. But not by her own hands.
With a startled flinch, Kanade was now in the presence of Mafuyu. Who looked worriedly fed up. The younger girl could’ve sobbed with relief but would still rather not look more pathetic than she already did. “What’s wrong?” Mafuyu asked, her voice clearly indecating she was fresh out of sleep. Probably because of that shriek. “Did you go to sleep?”
“I’m sorry— I’m sorry if I woke you up.” Kanade croaked, sighing as her last breath calmed to a simple panicked huff then back to…some level of mild normalcy. “I was just about to. To deep I mean. B-but I got thirsty but the thunder had startled me and I was starting to see—“
“Breathe. You don’t usually talk this fast. Any more frantic spilling and you’re going to stress yourself into a panic attack, if you weren’t having one already.” Mafuyu cut her short. Surprisingly, the purple haired girl sat on the edge of the bed. “Is there anything I can do?”
“…You don’t have to—“
“You probably won’t go to sleep if I leave you right now. Don’t try to say you will.”
“…” Shyly, Kanade looked to the side, realizing tears had sprung up a little in her eyes. She heard her sleeve to wipe them away. “If…if it’s no issue…Stay?” Her cheeks burned as she whispered the request.
Silently, Mafuyu made herself comfortable on the bed, laying on her back. When Kanade had yet to actually lay down rather than stare at her with shock, the taller girl gently grabbed the composer’s sleeve and pulled her down.
Not fighting it, Kanade let herself sink, letting the anxiety and every other emotion she couldn’t name flow free. She only closed her eyes for a brief moment before snapping them open from the thunder.
“Are you scared of thunder?” Mafuyu hummed dully.
“I-…I’m just jumpy tonight.”
“Here,” the purple haired girl maneuvered her arm to snake around Kanade, pulling the short girl closer. The composer found herself face pressed into the crook of Mafuyu’s arm with her actual arm wrapped around her head. Her hand in her face.
It probably looked inconvenient but for Kanade in the moment, it felt like a shield from the sight of any more potential hallucinations. She felt the fabric of Mafuyu’s sleeve against her ear too. It was…comforting. Mafuyu’s other arm wrapped around the composer’s middle and her chin rested cozily on top of her head as the purple haired girl shifted onto her side.
With timid hesitancy, the composer snaked her own arms around Mafuyu’s middle and sighed. She felt safe. Secure even. Like nothing to get to her. Was this what Mafuyu felt on occasion here? Well, Kanade hoped she did at least.
“Thank you,” the silver haired girl whispered.
For once, she rather sleep than stay awake.