Archive of Our Own ^beta

____ didn't know where he was going, honest to God. He just wanted to go away for a moment, away from the festivities. There he was, at the edge of the river. It was quiet. No presence of any life. Just lingering feelings of sorrow and sadness. He stood there for who knows how long, his blood becoming less warm.

He laid there, the rough rocks serving as his bed, the cold winds outweigh the uncomfortability of it.

"___, ___!" That was Munakata's voice. His fellow professor. He was looking for him.
"What are you doing here? There's barely any stars to see here." He asked. ___ shrugged, he didn't know what to answer, really.

Munakata sighed, he laid there besides him. His hat he put down in the ground. "Anything you wanna say?" His voice was comforting. Therapeutic even. ___ gripped one of the rocks laying there, stood up and threw it. Cascading through the river it went.

"I'm not getting any younger. All of this bottled up emotions. It's just, I can't seem to grasp any of it. Feeling lost at this age." ___ threw another rock, his feet in the reverberating water. Munakata stayed quiet, grabbing a rock as he threw one, though it only fell down.

"But you, Munakata. It seems like you got everything under control. I'm jealous of you, really. I honestly don't feel like an adult." The cold winds went quiet, the laughter and bustling of the neighboring towns can be heard.

Footsteps. A hug.

"Its a normal thing to not feel like an adult, really. Even me. But we still live. We shouldn't worry about things we can't control." Fireworks were shot. Another rock was thrown.

"Yeah. I guess we shouldn't." Both of them looked towards the shining display. The fireworks were kaleidoscopic. Silence. The cold winds returned. Both of them stood there, hand in hand, in each other's embrace.

"I'm sorry."

"You shouldn't be."