Chapter 42: Chapter 42 - Late Night Messages

Kuro Kurogane’s phone by was vibrating at 12:43 AM.

Usually that meant Akari sending cursed stickers , school group spam or Mina causing problems online.

Half asleep Kuro took the phone to his hand beside the pillow.

And just blinked.

Mina:u awake

Such a short message.

So simple.

Yet, after visiting her house seeing her name this late at night felt a bit different.

Kuro looked at the screen for several seconds before he answered honestly.

Kuro: unfortunately

Very quickly.

Mina:wow emotionally dead even at midnight

Kuro: sleep

Mina: no

Kuro: understandable

The silence was broken by another message.

Mina: this is the first normal conversation we’ve had

Kuro showed a small surprised reaction.

Because in a strange way,

she was right.

At school Mina was always loud talking. Teasing nonstop. Making every moment a challenge.

But texting was a different thing. Quiet. Somehow more truthful.

Turning over to his side Kuro kept his eyes on the glowing phone in the dark room.

The house was quietly sleeping.

Nearby Akari and Aoi’s rooms also were still.

On the other hand rain was still gently drumming outside from earlier.

Then one more notification turned up.

Mina: thanks again for earlier

Kuro stopped.

Kuro:for surviving dinner?

Mina: exactly you saw rich people emotional horror

Kuro: your brother is strange

Mina: he gets worse

Kuro inadvertently raised the corners of his mouth in a smile.

Then almost at once changed his expression.

Because somehow ,in fact conversation with Mina like this was not difficult.

Far from it.

Mina:what are you doing rn

Kuro: trying to sleep

Mina: liar

Kuro:reading manga

Mina: THERE IT IS

Kuro breathed out through his nose softly.

Kuro:why are you awake

The typing bubble came up right away.

Then disappeared.

Came up again.

Disappeared again.

At the very first time,Mina was undecided.

But at last.

Mina: too quiet in this house to sleep

Kuro looked at the message without a sound.

And the thing was he remembered that empty apartment ,the silent dinner table.

Mina being the one who was smiling louder than anyone else

Then quietly,

Kuro:thunder?

Several seconds passed.

Mina:maybe

Truthful answer again.

Bit.

Yet genuine.

The talk went on as if nothing happened.

Even, unexpectedly.

The conversation went on:bad teachers,favorite comics ,embarrassing times at childhood ,strange snack mixes.

And, for the first time, Kuro understood the point to the situation.

Mina was truly witty.

Not artificially witty.

Not loudly witty.

Really witty.

One time Kuro was jokingly laughing muffled into his pillow after reading.

Mina:if aliens invad... first thing selling akari

Kuro:they would return her immediately

Mina:true even aliens have limits

Kuro tried not to laugh out loud, shaking at 1 in the morning.And another message came.

Mina: WAIT DID YOU...

Kuro: no

Mina: LIAR

Kuro: evidence?

Mina: spiritually I sensed it

Quite a reasonable argument, actually.

Minutes gradually became hours.

There was a gradual change in the mood.

Jokes were reduced. Honesty was increased.

Then there was an unexpected,

Mina: do you ever feel lonely even around people

Kuro was a bit shocked.

The question was a bit heavier than the previous ones.

He was innocently staring at the illuminated screen.

He then decided to be honest.

Kuro: yeah

Mina:same

Short text.

However,it was more touching than whole dialogues at school.

Kuro thought of Mina, who was sitting near the window that was covered with rain drops, at that time.

Not loudly smiling. Not acting.

Only tired.

Then she typed again.

Mina:school mina easier to understand people like fun mina better

Kuro slightly frowned.

Kuro: I think both versions are real

After a long time silence.

Then Mina finally sent: thats unfairly nice

Kuro:

just honest

Mina:dangerous man

At the very moment when Kuro was reading the last message,his heart started going nutty.

2:07 AM.

Really, Kuro should have been sleeping a long time ago.

But instead,he still was exploring the messages and at the same time his smile appeared without him being aware of it.

And, all of a sudden,his room door was slightly opened.

Kuro’s heart jumped to his throat.

Aoi was standing there looking sleepy in her huge pajamas.

"...You’re awake?"

Kuro quickly stashed the phone screen as if caught doing something wrong.

"...I just couldn’t sleep, "

Aoi blinked, her gaze softening as she noticed Kuro’s faint smile.

Then silence.

Dangerous silence.

"...You seem like you are happy, " Aoi softly whispered.

Kuro was a total mess through and through, he didn’t know what to say.

Aoi kept looking at him for some time, after which, she softly said,"...Goodnight, Kuro."

Closing the door, she left Kuro emotionally wounded on the bed.

Because somehow he felt bad.

Not because he was doing something wrong.

But because having Aoi see his face made him realize something very important.

Mina, in turn, was starting to get to him too. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Meanwhile, across the buildings , Mina was laying on her bed upside down in Kuro’s hoodie from earlier, staring at her phone screen.

The only light in her room was the soft glow of city lights outside the windows.

And despite the fact that the huge, empty apartment was around her, for the first time in a while, the silence wasn’t unpleasant tonight.

Suddenly, very quietly, even quieter than that

Mina smiled, hiding her face in the hoodie sleeves.

Warm. Soft. Real

.

And she whispered,

"... I really like talking to him."