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The moon shines brightly, as the light filters through the sheer curtains draped over the large, mansion-like window. A figure rises from underneath dark covers, illuminated by pale moonlight. The dull sound of an old clock ticks within the room. Red eyes reflect moonlight as they look off into the darkness of the bedroom to see the clock that similarly reflects the light.
It’s much too early to be awake. It’s some time after 2AM, as the golden hand within the clock’s frames had shown.
The shuffling sound of fabric fills the room, before being followed by the creak of the floorboards.
Ritsu Sakuma was awake.
It had been a while since he had woken in the middle of the night like this. Recently, he’d been diligent in keeping up his sleep schedule to mimic that of a normal human’s, being awake during the day while going to bed at night. But moments like these… awakening to the stillness of the night, as a bright full moon backed by a sea of stars lights up his room, he hadn’t felt like this in a while. Restless. Vulnerable.
A pale hand runs its way through black hair, ruffling it and soon leaving it, leaving Ritsu feeling a little calmer. Standing at the edge of his bed, the raven haired boy walked towards the large windows, staring up at the night sky.
It’s lonely.
Ritsu’s eyes drift from the sky to the house next door, from beyond the stone wall that surrounded the Sakuma household. The windows were dark. Of course they were.
Mao’s staying at the dormitories provided by Ensemble Square, after all. Of course he wouldn’t be home. Of course the lights would be out. It doesn’t stop Ritsu from pushing open the windows as a light breeze swept past him. It doesn’t stop him from whispering a ‘Maa-kun’ into the winds, in hope that the lights would turn on, and a sleepy redhead would emerge from the light.
But that would be impossible. Because Mao was at the dormitories.
Of course, Ritsu has a place at the dormitories as well. His roommate was Mika, who had also once been housing elsewhere. He heard that Shu ended Mika’s apartment contract, leading him to begin living at the dorms at once. The dormitories had everything. The dormitories had everyone. The dormitories had places for everyone. Even him.
And yet, here he was, at home. In his own bedroom. By himself.
Why did he come home?
He wanted to be alone. Surrounded by familiarity. It was natural to feel homesick, wasn’t it?
He didn’t want to be alone. Surrounded by uncertainty. It was natural to want someone beside him, right?
Ritsu sighed, before backing away from the open window. It seems like it was one of those days… A hand found its way into Ritsu’s hair again, ruffling it in frustration.
Light footsteps crept across wooden floors as Ritsu made his way back towards his bed, grabbing hold of the fluffy blanket at the edge of his bed. A soft, familiar blue fabric covered Ritsu’s shoulders as he wrapped it around himself, soon making his way outside of his quiet bedroom.
The lights in the house are off as well, save for a few fragrant candles strewn about on hallway shelves and tables.
It smells of nostalgia, a faint scent of comforting lavender wafts through the air as the distant sound of a piano echoes throughout the house. It’s accompanied by a gentle violin melody, paired with childish laughter as a second, more disruptive tone rings from a far-off memory.
Ritsu’s staring at a closed door when he pulls himself out of the lavender-scented reverie. A bitter smile finds its way onto his lips as he turns away from the closed-off memory. Maybe he’ll come back to it later. He hasn’t played the piano in a while. He hasn’t played the violin in forever. Ritsu wonders if he even remembers how to play the violin anymore.
The raven haired boy continued walking through the hallways, making his way down onto the first floor of the house as the staircase creaked underneath his feet. It’s strange for the house to be so quiet in the dead of night, especially with how he knows how his family is... Perhaps it’s fate that his parents had decided to sleep early tonight. Perhaps he was just glad he didn’t have to encounter either of his parents on the way to the kitchen, where he found himself next.
He’s not hungry, it’s the first thought that runs through Ritsu’s head when he walks into the kitchen. Red eyes stare through the darkness to glance at the refrigerator in the corner, contemplating getting a snack anyways, but deciding against it. Ritsu grabbed at the blanket around his shoulders, readjusting it as he walked around the kitchen island. On the counters are a variety of spices and assorted appliances for cooking and baking, most of which are now left unused, as the kitchen at the Starmony dormitories is chock full of everything he could ever need when it came to baking. Truly, the living situation of the dorms were quite fantastic.
Ritsu’s eyes catch the dim glint of a metallic tin across the counter, compelling him to reach over and look at it more closely.
It’s a dull purple, accented with black and gold. Ritsu’s slender fingers run across the label, before tracing the lip of the lid and popping it open. The bittersweet smell of black tea overwhelms him, pulling him away somewhere else, where the sunlight filters in through a garden tree’s leaves and the wind blows the nearby flower bushes to send their petals fluttering into a set of two tea cups, filled with the same bittersweet smell. Looking up from the reddish liquid in his cup, he sees a familiar head of blonde hair across him. Ritsu can’t hear him when he speaks, but that’s okay. They were always just satisfied to sit in each other’s company anyways. There was no need for words between them, just a connection between the blue of the sky and the red of the tea that both held a longing, a need for companionship.
Ritsu looked down at his tea cup again. Except now it reflects the moonlight from a nearby window in the kitchen, pulling the raven haired boy out of his memories. The bittersweet scent remains. He inhales it, picking up the just-made cup of tea to his lips, taking a sip of it, before wincing. Still too hot.
The porcelain cup is laid back onto the kitchen counter, left to the side as Ritsu slumps over the granite countertop in exhaustion. He’s tired. Physically. Emotionally. He simply feels both empty and full inside, as his hands grip at the warm blanket around his shoulders to remind himself that he’s still here.
He lifts his head up from the glossy countertop, moving to put away the kettle and the tea canister back where he had found them. He figured he’ll just take the tea back into his room. By then, it’ll be cool enough to drink from, at least. Ritsu drags his feet when he leaves the kitchen, careful not to spill the tea, his hands warmed by Eichi’s personal gift to him.
The smell of darjeeling tea and lavender candles mix together in the night, as Ritsu returns to his bedroom. The piano room makes him pause once more, as red eyes stared at the dull gold doorknob attached to the door. He reached out with one hand, but hesitates, instead adjusting the blanket around his shoulders and continuing onwards. Ritsu wasn’t ready to open that door just yet. Maybe next time, he tells himself. Maybe if Rei were home.
The sound of the second hand clicks in the silence of the night, the window still open to the darkness outside.
Ritsu sits back on his bed, the blue blanket around his shoulders falling to the bed around him as he looked down into his tea cup, staring at his reflection on the surface. Not hot, but warm. He takes a long sip, listening to the ambient sounds of the night. The gentle breeze rustles his curtains, as the rare distant sound of a car driving by at nearly 3AM echoes in the sleepy neighborhood. The raven haired boy sighs with a puff of hot air from the tea, placing the half-empty cup on his nightstand, before standing up again.
Walking towards the open window, Ritsu holds onto the frame of the large window, red eyes staring beyond the stone walls once again. He longed for the light. It had been once something he detested as a ‘vampire’, the overbearing light of day, but the longer he stayed in it, the more he wanted to stay in it. He longed for the light. No longer was that light overbearing. Instead, it was warm, comforting. It still hurt to stay out in the sun for too long, but he wanted to continue moving forward with the lights of his life. His unitmates, his classmates, his friends . He longed for the light. Ritsu moved to close the window, shutting himself out of the black night.
The raven haired boy climbed back into his inviting bed, not before taking another sip of his tea, emptying his cup before returning to sleep.
Fixing his covers, Ritsu buried himself back underneath the dark comforter, closing his eyes to return to his dreams and memories.
It’s much too early to be awake, after all.