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014. Rust

Rei breathed out silently in content. Truly, no matter how many times he stopped by to look at the paintings, they were always so beautiful.

Of course, that was to be expected. After all, they were created by the masters of painting. They, who had memorized all the theories and practices of color, lighting, and arrangement, had poured in their lifetime and great efforts into making these masterpieces.

A small smile rose to his lips as he stood in front of an impressive wall of oil paintings.

His eyes wandered over each one carefully, taking in the small details of the brushstrokes and the way they seemed to emit a glow all by themselves. Even though it was only paint, the subject matters—be them still life or people—appeared alive. If Rei took his eyes off for more than a second away from the gilded frames, they would surely come to life.

The feeling of utter contentment and happiness filled his heart as he silently admired the art before him.

"Hello."

A sudden voice broke through his concentration and startled him lightly.

"Oh, sorry about that!" the same voice said.

Rei looked over to his left and tilted his head down a little. He was met with the sight of a golden-haired man in a smart-looking suit. His eyes were bright, and he was smiling happily.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he said.

"No," Rei replied politely, stepping back a bit to regain some of his personal space. The other man was standing a little too close for his comfort. "I was just lost in my thoughts."

The shorter man chuckled. "Yeah, I could tell. You really like these paintings, don't you?" he asked all of a sudden.

Rei didn't know how to respond to that. He glanced at the nametag that was pinned to the man's outer jacket. In neat, block letters, it proclaimed "HAZUKI." Next to it was a small, golden lapel pin in the shape of a penguin.

Quietly, he cleared his throat. "Yes, I greatly enjoy their visual aesthetics."

"Are you a student from the neighboring art university?" Hazuki asked.

"Ah, no, I'm actually not…"

"Then you're probably from the other university, aren't you? The one that specializes in math and science?"

Rei pushed up his glasses. This Hazuki man certainly knew the area well. "Yes."

The blond laughed and grinned. "I thought so! Well, actually, I was pretty sure you were from the art university, since you like these paintings so much. Anyway, sorry about not introducing myself first! I'm—"

"Hazuki-san, right?" he said with a faint, polite smile.

A look of surprise passed by the shorter man's face. Then it cleared up. He patted the nametag on his chest proudly. "Yes! But you can just call me 'Nagisa.'"

Rei cleared his throat.

"Anyway, I'm one of the guides this section of the museum. I kept noticing that you stopped by every Tuesday, so I thought I'd make a conversation or something." Hazuki—Nagisa?—chirped.

"I simply enjoy looking at good art," he muttered, feeling acutely embarrassed. Rei wasn't used to having people approach him randomly and start talking to him. He was more familiar with walking around and minding his own business with no one to bother him.

Nagisa grinned again. "I'm glad! People don't usually have the time to look at this stuff, and when they do, they never have enough time to really look at it, y'know? But you always spend hours just examining one wall. You have so much dedication!"

He didn't know how to respond to that either, so he just pushed up his glasses again.

"Sorry for bothering you! I just wanted to tell you that I thought it's nice that you enjoy these paintings so much." Nagisa smiled at him widely. He bowed politely at Rei before walking off with a wave.

Rei bowed back briefly.

xxx

"Hello! You're back again, huh?"

This time, Rei had spotted Nagisa in the same wide, open area before the blond approached him.

"Yes," he replied briefly, his eyes flickering back to the painting he was looking at earlier.

Nagisa's gaze focused on the same art piece as well.

It was a painting of a basket overflowing with fresh flowers.

"You know, this one was painted over the course of a few years. It's a little hard to tell, but all the flowers in the painting are from different seasons." Nagisa started speaking after a brief second of silence. His hands were laced behind him as he tilted his head to one side. "Since it's not like you could just walk into a flower shop and get a bunch of out-of-season stuff like you can now, the painter had to wait for the right season before painting them all. Pretty impressive, huh?"

Rei nodded. He thought it very impressive that Nagisa knew so much about the painting in the first place, but then again, that was to be expected. After all, he worked here. Still, for some reason, he was surprised.

He turned back to look at the painting, this time with a newfound appreciation for it.

"What's your favorite painting here anyway?" Nagisa asked.

"I…? My favorite painting?"

"Yeah. I mean, you're always here in the permanent exhibition hall, so I figured you'd at least have a favorite."

Nagisa's pink eyes glanced up at him curiously.

"I don't particularly have one," Rei replied.

"Ah. I see."

He felt vaguely bad, as if he had let the blond down.

"Then I guess that just means you like them all!"

Rei was made momentarily speechless as Nagisa beamed up at him. He opened his mouth.

"… Yes, I suppose that is so."

Next to him, the golden-haired man chuckled softly.

xxx

"Have you seen this month's special exhibition?"

This time, they were in front of a painting of two kittens playing around a vase.

"The one next to this room?"

"Yeah."

Rei glanced toward the general direction of the adjacent exhibition space. He recalled it being one centered around paintings with an underwater theme to it.

"Yes, briefly."

"It's nice," Nagisa said off-handedly.

The taller man nodded. "Yes."

"There's one that I really like in there. Did you see it? It's the—"

"One with the penguins in it?"

Nagisa looked up at him with the same, surprised expression he had given Rei when they first met and Rei said his name. Rei smiled lightly and tapped his finger to his collarbone, where he would have placed a lapel pin, had he been wearing a suit like Nagisa.

The golden-haired man laughed. "You're really good at noticing small details!"

"I just like analyzing things."

"Well, you're really good at it," he said with a sense of proud finality. "Anyway, yeah, that one's my favorite."

The two of them stayed in comfortable silence for a while longer, letting the ambient sounds of the museum wash over them quietly.

"They'll be taking that one down at the end of this week, and then we'll put up a new one."

"Ah."

For a second, Rei glanced at the shorter man and noticed that he was trying very hard to repress a wide smile. He looked like he was on the going to burst from excitement.

"I'm in charge of that one, you know."

"Huh?"

"The next display. For next week. Once they take down this one? I'm in charge of the one for next month's display." The golden-haired man looked at him with excited eyes.

"Oh! Oh, I…. Uh, congratulations." Rei couldn't really remember what the next special exhibition would be about. He thought he had seen banners advertising it outside the museum, and it was probably written on the brochure too, but he'd be lying if he said he paid any particular attention to it.

"I've been planning it for a long time. Where to put everything, what the information cards should say—all that stuff. And next week, it's going to be made public for everyone to see!" He ran his hands down the front of his suit and started rocking back and forth on his feet.

"Is this… the first time you'll be in charge of a display?"

"Yes!" He sounded like he was on the verge of exploding. "It was a lucky break, sort of. They don't usually let us do this kind of stuff, but you know. Things."

Rei didn't know, but he smiled politely anyway. "Congratulations," he said again. "I look forward to seeing your display next week."

Nagisa perked up and glowed with pride at the words "your display." "Thanks!" he replied. "I hope you like it."

xxx

Since it was the opening day for the new exhibition—one on butterflies and flowers, Rei realized after his conversation with Nagisa the week before—the area was much more crowded than usual. The special exhibition space was full of people wandering around and looking at the paintings, which had been strategically arranged.

It was mildly difficult to navigate the area, but, thanks to his height, Rei didn't have too much trouble admiring all the paintings.

He spotted Nagisa off in the corner of the room, anxiously watching everyone in the area. He was so distracted that it wasn't until Rei was a few meters away from him that he noticed the taller man. Immediately, he grinned and waved.

"Hello!"

"Hello," Rei greeted. "Congratulations on the opening day. Your display seems to be very popular."

"Yes!" He appeared to want to say more, but was far too excited to articulate himself properly.

Rei pushed up his glasses. "I… enjoy the layout you prepared for these paintings. It leads the audience through the space very well, and the color arrangements are well chosen."

"You think so? I actually had some trouble deciding whether—"

The shorter man stopped speaking when he noticed Rei watching him with a smile.

"It's fine," Rei reassured him. "Everything's fine."

"Really?"

Nagisa looked delighted, and Rei suddenly didn't know what to do with himself.

Standing there amidst the hustle and bustle of people, it was like they were set off in a world all to themselves. The din which swelled and settled down again in rhythmic waves drew them into a lull.

Rei was the first one who looked away, feeling like he was fifteen again. He cleared his throat.

"Um, maybe—after your work finishes, if you have the time…. Perhaps we could meet up for dinner and you can tell me more about this display? Since you're busy now, and I wouldn't want to intrude on your job. Of course, if you don't have the time, that's fine too. I wouldn't want to be rud—"

"No!" Nagisa exclaimed a little too loudly. He winced at his voice and glanced around to make sure he hadn't disturbed too many guests. "No," he said again at a more acceptable level of loudness. "That sounds great. I get out kind of late though, but if you're alright with that—"

"Yes, perfectly! Absolutely! I mean, I'd be fine waiting. That'd be fine." Rei definitely felt fifteen again. He hoped his face wasn't as red as his glasses. They probably were.

Nagisa laughed and tilted his head slightly. "It's a date then!"

Now Rei was positive his face was as red as his frames.

"By the way, um," the golden-haired man ventured to say, "I never really did catch your name."

Rei looked up. "I-I apologize. It's Rei. Ryuugazaki Rei."

"Ryuugazaki Rei…" Nagisa repeated softly. He smiled. "That's a really nice name. Please treat me kindly from now on, Rei-chan!"

The taller man startled, completely taken off-guard by the sudden casualness which fell over them. Then, he laughed.

"Yes, please treat me kindly from now on too, Nagisa-kun."

015. Mercury

His lungs burned as much as his wrist did from being held onto so tightly, and it was all Rei could do to keep up with his friend. They didn't mind the grime or puddles they splashed into, their agenda only focused on getting away.

It was hard to breathe with the amount of soot and ash in the air, but that was normal. The sweat streaks down their faces and dirt smeared around the cracked edges of their mouths—that was normal too.

Their running, flat-out, unreserved, maniacal running—that wasn't out of the ordinary either.

There was a cliff coming up soon, The Chasm, they called it, for the lack of a better term. The fracture ran for as far as the eye could see and went down just as far too, into a darkness that chilled Rei's heart and bones to nothingness.

He hated that place, because it reminded him of cold, decaying things, like the slimy fish put on display in the black market stalls, stinking up the entire area. He hated it because it trapped him, with fear being the sharp teeth which dug into his ankle and tore at his muscles. He hated it because it separated him from Here and There, in which There was always, always going to be better.

This was fear and uncertainty and never being able to stand again, and Rei didn't know why they were heading toward it.

They skid to a stop, tattered shoes barely holding onto their feet with thin soles. A few rocks tumbled over the edge.

"Rei-chan, let's go."

Nagisa's eyes were burning with a wild excitement that was completely void of fear or hesitation. His fingers tightened around Rei's arm and tugged.

He said it again. "Let's go."

Words stuck to his dry throat, and he couldn't cough them out.

Surely, this was the end to the Nagisa he knew.

"Are you mad?" he screamed. He snatched his arm away.

"Mad?" Nagisa asked, voice calm and almost curious. "I'm not angry. Not at all, Rei-chan."

He glanced behind them, where the earth had torn itself apart in despair.

When he turned back to Rei, he had a wide grin on his face.

"But, you know, I always thought a touch of insanity ran in my family."

The blond—he was blond, Rei knew, beneath the filth and corruption which tainted Nagisa's hair to a premature grey—took a step back.

"Nagisa-kun—" he started warningly, a cold sweat breaking out over his back and forehead.

"Do you trust me, Rei-chan?" Nagisa grinned at him gleefully. "Do you trust me?"

He was grasping for words with his stuttering heart, because he did trust Nagisa. He did, but not right now. Not right now, when he had such an unhinged look in his eyes and his cheeks were spread to the point of breaking.

"Let's go."

Nagisa turned around and leapt

into

the air

and

down.

Rei watched his best friend's figure hung in the air for a split second, as if suspended along with his breath, and then plunge straight to the center of the earth. The scream of horror he wanted to let out caught in his throat and ran cold in his veins instead.

"Nagisa-kun!"

He scrambled to the edge of the cliff and gripped the rocks there hard. His yell echoed to him emptily, but there was nothing left to see but black.

Something cold and metal pressed against the back of his neck and clicked.

Rei wished he had jumped in with Nagisa too, but now all he could do was clench his eyes shut and try to remember how to breathe.