Work Text:
Shubert: Luca
Could you come out and see me right now?
Luca: Why though
It’s almost midnight
Shubert: It’s really important <plead emoji>
Count this as a favour
Please
After hitting send, Shu pocketed his phone and looked up. The flock of crows on the building across the road stare back at him, several dozen pairs of yellow eyes meeting his gaze, unblinking.
“I know, I’ll leave soon… it’s just…”
He doesn’t finish his sentence out loud.
He’s not from this world. And now that he’s accomplished what he’s here to do, it was time to go back to the darkness where he came from. He’s bound to the other side, after all. It’s written in his name: Shu Yamino . Shu of the darkness.
It’s just… there’s someone that he wants to say goodbye to.
Luca had never been out so late. He was walking along the side of the road, a few blocks away from his home, and there was not a single person in sight. Despite looking like a delinquent, he keeps to the curfew that his mom sets for him.
Not on this occasion, though. They have been friends for a year and then some, but this was the first time that Shu had asked anything of him. It seemed urgent, too. He would feel bad if he didn’t come out to see him.
Luca: Where are you?
Shubert: Cross the road and you’ll see me
The road… Luca stopped at the traffic crossing and squinted, trying to see if he could see Shu, but it’s too dark. Their neighbourhood doesn’t have nearly enough streetlamps, to the point where as a kid, he’d always tripped over his own feet at night.
Come to think of it, Shu hadn’t been talking to him as much recently. Probably because he was too busy with club activities. If Luca remembered correctly, judo had a competition coming up. He made a mental note to ask Shu about the competition date. He would like to go and cheer him on during the competition. That is, if the timing doesn't clash with his own track-and-field events.
The red light turns green, and the beeping that follows interrupts him from his thoughts. Although no longer a little kid, he still feels intimidated by how dark it is.
Halfway across the road, and there Shu was, in a black turtleneck and a cardigan, his dark clothing almost blending into the night. His back was turned. Luca raised his hand, ready to call out to him, when all of a sudden, a flurry of black flew by in front of him.
It was a huge flock of crows, eerily silent.
Luca blinked and stopped in his tracks. It was more than strange—crows, flying around so late at night, and so close to the ground. The strangest part was that they weren’t making any sound, save for the sounds of their wings beating against the air. Barely visible through the mess of feathers and wings, Shu was slowly turning toward him.
“Shu?” Luca whispered, his voice stuck in his throat.
There was something terribly wrong, and there was an awful, churning sensation in his gut. He was still in the middle of the road, but it didn’t matter. He could see Shu’s face now, and his smile didn’t reach his eyes. Luca was suddenly very, very afraid.
Time seemed to stop. The wings of the birds slowed, and Shu raised his phone, covering half of his face.
And then, a bright flash.
Luca flinched and squeezed his eyes shut, turning his head away to shield his eyes from the blinding light. It lasted only a moment. The light subsided, and the beating of wings resumed.
Opening his eyes, Luca looked around, disorientated. Did Shu take a photo of him? Was that what this was, an elaborate set-up for a photo? No, that wasn’t right. What’s up with the crows?
“Bye bye, Luca,” said Shu’s voice, sounding further away than it should be. It sounded like it came from another world, although he was just standing across the street. It sounded like it came from somewhere far, far away.
“Remember me.”
Shu grinned at him, face still partially obscured by the phone.
Luca blinked, and the next moment, Shu was gone. All that was left were the last of the crows, passing him, and leaving him all alone, in the middle of the road.