Work Text:
[ morning ]
That was the simple text Hiiro awoke to. Not the usual, energetic 'good morning~' he'd grown used to. Perhaps the sender was still groggy? He came to this conclusion without much afterthought, and promptly replied.
[ Good morning, Mayoi-senpai! ]
The redhead typed the message with his thumbs, and tapped send. It was a text identical to every other morning. He could copy and paste it rather than manually typing. It would make no difference. It was always the exact same thing. Same words, spelling, and punctuation. Not to say that was a bad thing.
While Mayoi typically took a few minutes to get back to him, today was different. There was virtually no delay. Hiiro's phone buzzed again, and he read the new message immediately.
[ have a good day ]
Hiiro blinked twice at his screen. He knew Mayoi had a habit of using emojis excessively. Hearts, happy faces, sparkles, rainbow, all that happy stuff. Yet, he had sent two messages in a row with none of those things. Could he be too tired to bother typing in such a way? Hiiro could understand that. Using the phones for communication was rather difficult. It made sense.
[ Thank you! I will :) ]
[ I have plans to do some idol training with Aira today! ]
Hiiro shared this information, hoping it would be of some interest to Mayoi. He was always so eager to know what he was up to, so maybe telling him would make him a bit more spirited.
[ sounds fun ]
Mayoi gave a dry acknowledgment. Nothing more. No words of encouragement. No asking to tag along. Just... 'sounds fun.'
Hiiro tapped his chin, pondering any hidden meanings behind his lack of emotion. Although he personally felt there was nothing behind a person's texting style, Aira had been lecturing him about such things lately. Apparently, a texting style changing indicated problems. Hiiro did not fully comprehend why, but he had to take his friend's advice. Aira was far more learned in such an area, anyway. With his teachings in mind, Hiiro composed a reply.
[ Are you feeling well today, Mayoi-senpai? ]
The response was instant. As if he had been in their chat, waiting.
[ yes <3 ]
There it was. A heart. So that had to mean he was really fine, right? He wouldn't lie... right?
Hiiro smiled at his phone, completely trusting of his friend's answer.
[ Okay, I'm glad. ]
A sudden switch in behavior, Mayoi did not reply right away. In fact, he left the message on read. He remained online, yet still, did not say anything more.
Hiiro, assuming this meant he was done speaking, put his phone away, thinking nothing of it.
Even after he was long gone, going about his day normally... Mayoi remained in their DM conversation. Just staring at it.
His head was full of unreleased thoughts. Things he wanted to tell someone. A friend. Someone who would listen. Offer advice. Make him feel better. Cure him of his pathetic depression.
He wanted to tell someone about last night. How he neglected to feed himself enough, and suffered hunger pains. How he forgot to drink water, and the splitting headache he experienced. How he cried enough to drench his eye mask. How the sound of rain kept him awake. How the thunder scared him. How he eventually gave up on sleep, and got out of bed at 4 AM. How he sat alone in the dark for a few more hours before eventually passing out, only to wake up feeling 10 times worse than before.
Was there a point to bothering others like that? Sure, he would feel better for a short time. Inevitably, however, darkness would once again cloud his mind. He would once again fall into an endless pit of depression. With no way to help himself escape the negative thoughts. He would have no choice but to bother someone again. An endless cycle. It solved nothing. He was better off dealing with it on his own. Just endure it. Keep it to himself.