The man wore white hospital pajamas while having that messy jet-black hair drifting with the wind. It would have looked lame if someone else wore it, but everything looked fantastic with Shade Cromwell. He placed his hand on his waist and stared at Eirin, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm the one being forced to stay in this shit-ass place, so why are you the one looking like dog shit?"
Eirin's clouded vision cleared after seeing those familiar sharp black eyes.
"Y-You," she pointed her trembling finger at the man. "T-They're searching for you."
The young man's forehead creased. "Who are you talking about? Did you hit yourself in the head?"
Eirin scoffed in disbelief. "You're the one who got injured all over your body, stupid."
"Who are you calling stupid? You're the stupid one here."
Eirin rolled her eyes and sighed. "This conversation isn't going anywhere." She kept taking deep breaths. "Why don't you stop causing other people trouble and get back to your room?"
"Why do I have to listen to you? It's all your fault why I ended up in this shitty place. I told you I didn't need your stupid interventions."
Eirin stared at Shade in disbelief as she sat on the bench. The rooftop had a garden, and many benches were scattered around.
"You were literally dying. What are you talking about?"
"You don't know me! I wouldn't die with something like that."
Eirin's mouth went agape. She could not believe how this man could not even thank her but even started blaming her for the help she gave.
"Wow, I can't believe this."
Eirin closed her eyes and leaned on the chair's backrest while taking deep breaths.
"Oi."
The teenage girl took another deep breath, ignoring the young man's voice.
"Oi. Are you ignoring me?"
Eirin pretended not to hear anything, continuing to calm herself while comforted by the gentle breeze. 'Let's ignore him. Don't be affected by his noise.'
"Stop ignoring me."
"Stop talking to me."
Silence followed that. It was as if the situation was flipped in an instant. Shade initiated the conversation while Eirin struggled to keep herself calm.
"I'll jump if you ignore me again."
Eirin sighed and opened her eyes. "What do you— What are you doing!?" Her eyes widened, and she frantically stood up from her seat. "Are you crazy!?"
The teenage girl could not control her voice after seeing the insane actions of the young man. Shade stood on the rooftop's edge and kept leaning towards the fall.
"Hey, this isn't a good joke."
Shade chuckled. It was one of those rare moments where he could show immense interest through his eyes. "Who said I'm joking?" He lifted his left foot and raised it towards the end of the platform. "I could jump right off here."
"Are you crazy!? Get down here."
The young man kept skipping on the rooftop's edge, making Eirin's heart drop every time she saw him moving.
"Please, if you want to die, die when I'm out of here."
Shade laughed like a maniac and almost fell off the edge. "So, you're basically wishing for me to die? That's not very nice."
"I don't think you have the right to judge what's nice or not— my god! Get off from there!"
The young man sighed and sat. "Aren't you here to visit me? Why are you being annoying?" His eyes filled with curiosity; it was as if teasing Eirin was the most fun thing he had ever done in his whole life.
Eirin scoffed and said, "I'm the one being annoying? You were trying to jump off the building right before me."
"Yeah, and you told me that I should die when you're not here to witness it? Is that the right way to treat a patient?"
"You're not even acting like a patient!"
Eirin could not control her emotions, making her lash out at the man and causing her to feel lightheaded as she reached back to the bench. It was never an issue for Eirin to control her emotions; she was good at it. However, when it comes to the man in front of her, she weirdly could not control herself.
"Seriously, what in the world are you thinking? If you have nothing else to do, why don't you return to your room and stop worrying everyone?"
Shade jumped off the edge back to the rooftop. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you keep ordering me around? No one's worried anyway. Why make a fuss?"
Eirin closed her eyes once again and chose to ignore the man. 'He won't be making sense anyway,' she thought while taking deep breaths.
"What's making you so anxious?"
Eirin felt her heart jumping after Shade whispered directly into her ear, making her fall off the bench. Seeing how Shade Cromwell was sitting pretty on the bench as if he did not surprise the living thing out of Eirin makes the teenage girl groan.
"Why do you care?"
"I don't."
"Then why are you asking?"
The young man tilted his head. It was not the usual crude and all-glares Shade Cromwell, but instead, he looked soft and clueless.
'I swear, I think he hit his head too hard. He gained another personality.'
"I don't know. The medicine's kicking in."
Eirin's forehead creased as she could feel the gentle breeze making her hair sway with the wind. The leaves swayed, and their rustling filled Eirin's ears. It was peaceful, and no other people were around to hear their bickering.
'If only this guy isn't around,' Eirin thought and sighed. "Come on, they're probably searching for you." She stood up and reached out her hand.
"You sure you want me to hold your hand?"
Eirin quickly withdrew her hand, remembering what might happen if she touched Shade Cromwell. "Why do you even go crazy when you touch me? Do you like me or something?"
Shade laughed, making Eirin's eyes go wide. It was not his usual mocking chuckle but genuine laughter that showed his gums. The teenage girl was taken aback and started wondering how Shade Cromwell could laugh so innocently like that. Eirin blinked thousands of times, making sure that she was not the one hallucinating. Shade's usual grimace and cold-blooded eyes were replaced with a cheery face and pure smile.
Eirin could not recognize it.
The sound of his laughter and the way the corners of his mouth curved up reminded Eirin of someone, but who was it? That was the question that kept repeating inside the teenage girl's mind. Trying hard to remember who shares the resemblance with the man in front of her was like searching for a dollar in the depths of the ocean floor.
As the young man's laughter continued, Eirin's body calmed down, and she started forgetting why she was even panicking in the first place.
"Do you want to stand on the edge of the rooftop? It's refreshing!" Shade pulled Eirin's pajamas, leading her to the rooftop's edge.
"H-Hey! I don't like this."
Shade didn't listen and pulled Eirin to the edge without touching her bare skin. They stood on the edge, and Eirin trembled in fear of falling from the 12th floor.
"Look."
Eirin trembled as she only looked at Shade Cromwell's face. "How am I supposed to look when I can't even move my body," she said as she tightly held on to Shade's shirt; she had already stretched it out.
"Just look already."
Shade forced Eirin to face the scenery she was trying to avoid, and her eyes widened. The pastel blue sky was painted with pure white clouds that covered the sun. Everything looked small and unimportant, but it was beautiful. As if all the problems that had been haunting Eirin vanished in an instant. The young man sat and stared at the endless sky. When Eirin looked at him, he seemed... lonely.
Eirin trembled as she sat beside Shade. "How did you end up like that anyway? Were you really forced to go on a mission?"
Shade's smile has ended. "Why are you curious?"
"Not really, but it's a normal human response after seeing someone all beaten up and with wounds like that. It's almost unbelievable you survived."
Shade did not answer; he only stared at the sky. The distance between the two was less than usual. Eirin flinched after she heard the door leading to the rooftop opening, leaving her question unanswered.
"There you are, Eirin."
Pierre, covered with sweat while panting, greeted the teenage girl. "I was so surprised when I saw you were no longer in front of Shade's— Oh look! You're with Shade." His tone turned cheery after seeing the two. "It's killing two birds with one stone. I found you both at the same time."
Eirin struggled to get off the rooftop's edge, and Pierre helped her to get down. "I'm sorry for leaving without saying anything. I was a little nauseous, so I went to get some fresh air," she said while holding Pierre's hand.
Pierre smiled and patted Eirin's head. "It's fine, but are you feeling fine now? Do you want some water?"
Before Eirin could answer, the two heard Shade clicking his tongue as he jumped off the edge back to the rooftop. When Eirin looked at him, the softness in his facial expression vanished, and he was back to his usual self.
'The same rude and grumpy guy.'
"Hi, Shade. We came here to visit you. Do you feel fine now?" Pierre instigates a conversation with them while wearing his smile, but Shade ignores him and walks past the two. "Was he not in a good mood?"
Eirin shrugged. "When was he ever in a good mood?" She walked towards the door and followed Shade Cromwell.
Unknowingly annoyed by the situation, Shade kept clicking his tongue as he walked through the hospital's hallway. Both his hands were inside his hospital pajama pockets, and he kept rolling his eyes as the memory of seeing Pierre smile while touching Eirin replayed inside his mind.
The other people in the hallway trembled in fear after witnessing the deadly aura Shade was emitting as he kept getting annoyed by the sound of Pierre and Eirin talking to each other.
He touched his left ear and clicked his tongue again. 'My piercings are gone,' the young man thought. When they arrived in front of Shade's room, he knocked the door open, causing people to scream in fear of the loud sound.
"What is wrong with you?" Eirin pulled Shade's shirt while Pierre continuously apologized to the other patients disturbed by Shade's sudden action. "Why are you so mad?"
Shade could not answer. He could not come up with an answer. Something inside him feels icky. His feelings were clouded with darkness, muddled by something he was unaware of.
"Maybe we should leave him so that he could rest more," Pierre said after Shade sat on his bed. "The mission might have had a severe effect on him," he whispered to Eirin's ear, but the teenage girl was in doubt.
'He was just laughing before Pierre arrived. Does he really have multiple personalities?'
"You're right. We should probably leave Mr. Cromwell now since he's in an awful mood," Eirin said.
"What did you come here for? I didn't ask for this."
They heard Shade muttering, making Eirin's left eye twitch, wondering why Shade Cromwell was acting no less than a child. The two left since there would be nothing to do with Shade's attitude, leaving him in an even more awful mood since he wanted to kick them out, but they left before he told them off.
'What the hell is wrong with me?'
Shade closed his eyes and lay on the bed. He had been used to being sent on dangerous missions, and he had never felt this bad because of it before. The young man knew he would survive even without Eirin's help.
'Because I cannot die.'
When he opened his eyes, he stared at the pure white ceiling. "That girl must be some kind of enchantress," he muttered. Just thinking about the teenage girl already kills his mood. "I need to get away from her."