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The neon of the streets paints Suzuya's hair in stripes of electric pink and deep violet. Haise watches him, mesmerized by the effortless way he leans against the railing, lollipop stick poking from the corner of his lips. They should be heading back to the Chateau; their is finished.
"A penny for your thoughts, Sasaki?" Suzuya's eyes, dark and glittering, flick over to meet his.
Haise forces a smile. "Just thinking how quiet it is. A rare night."
Suzuya hums, pulling the candy from his mouth with a wet pop. "Mm. The quiet is always the loudest." He turns, fully facing Haise, and the space between them shrinks. Haise can smell the artificial cherry of the lollipop, mingled with something uniquely Suzuya.
A ghost of a memory stirs in the back of Haise's mind- the scent of coffee, the feeling of cold rain. A flash of white hair. But it's gone before he can grasp it, leaving only an ache in its place. Suzuya's expression shifts, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his features. He steps closer, his gaze fixed on Haise's.
"You get this look sometimes," Suzuya murmurs, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "Like you're a million miles away."
He lifts a hand, not to touch, but to hover just over Haise's chest, right above his heart. The warmth radiates through Haise's shirt, a strange, grounding point in the sea of his fragmented existence. For a heartbeat, Haise isn't Sasaki the investigator. He's just a man, lost and found in the same instant, by a boy with stitches and a knowing smile.
He wants to lean into that warmth, to close the distance. Instead, he stands there, breath caught, the phantom ache in his chest dulling under a new, terrifyingly fragile feeling that is completely his own.