ODE TO THE MURDERED, bonten

30

PART THIRTY !
beyond the rigid lines.

YOU MEET SANZU HARUCHIYO when you first enter the premises of Mikey's apartment. the sun is barely sunny egg-yolk and golden, melting into the floor-to-ceiling windows. he's standing in the kitchen: his hair tied into a low ponytail and he's wearing an apron. his eyes only briefly looking at you before he had settled it back on the tray, the brew of coffee flutters your nose and you'd shift awkwardly in your heel, biting your bottom lip.

    "uhm good morning." you start slowly.

    "Mikey gets groggy when he doesn't get his morning coffee. once i've entered his room and got him to toothbrush and changed into a more presentable attire, i want you to give this cup to him and you may announce today's schedule, though i've already briefed through it before you did and he doesn't have much to do today." Sanzu answers instead, untying the apron around his lean form and hooking it back.

    well, damn. you almost drop the papers in your hands, feeling like your role as assistant would be rendered useless so long as Sanzu was around to be Mikey's, well, everything.

    you try your best not to grab the pillow from the couch and chuck it in his direction, shooting him a glare when he brushes past you, you crane your head to check which door the pink enters and you sigh, sinking into the plush sofa almost feeling embarrassed. when you feel like five minutes have passed, you slowly make your way to the door with the brooding cup of coffee.

    when your fingers grazed the knob you can hear inaudible shuffling from the other side of the door. you paused, hesitating, knocking on the door softly.

    "come in."

    you slipped inside the room, and the first thing that you noticed was the soothing smell of a scented candle—generic vanilla with a mix of white lotus and something sweet—sitting somewhere around the slightly dim room, your eyes flutter around to see Mikey sitting at the edge of his queen-sized mattress, platinum silver hair a nest of wild tousles sticking in all directions.

you can't help but turn your gaze to the wall. somehow it feels sensitive, it's sensitive because in front of you wasn't the usual Sano Manjiro who was all low tone, hard edges and burning onyx hues. today, he's nothing but a vulnerable boy in a white bathrobe who looked slightly disoriented at the foot of his expensive canopy, letting the first rays of sunlight seep and melt onto his milky skin and he'd yawn an exhausted breath.

    he turns to you and you find the urge not to look away, gripping the cup a little tighter. it feels utterly taboo to see him like this.

    "good morning." he pronounces his greeting first, voice a little hoarse and unrefined from sleep, and he didn't seem to care that he wasn't in his usual intimidating, unsmiling demeanor in front of your presence. it takes a long while for you to return his greeting, when Sanzu steps in the room from the connected bathroom you snap out of your daze,

    "morning, boss." you give the cup to him, he murmurs out a thank you and you swallow, flipping through the papers in your hand to kill the seconds on the clock.

    "i'd gather the necessary information from Koko-san. nothing too tedious to handle. you have a short meeting with Takeomi at twelve sharp, then your scheds all clear for the rest of the day." Sanzu had his patronizing gaze on you until the last words leave your lips, he'd turn away before you can catch his glance.