( SEMI-OPEN ) Radiance ＊ The Moon's Lament in the Starlit Sky

[adoringpast]

WHO: it's ya model boy sena and you
WHERE: around recolle, specifically the studio, the university, the inkwell - anywhere, really
WHEN: 10/13 onwards
WHAT: sena remembers who he truly was during a photoshoot and copes in the only way he knows how.
WARNINGS: underage drinking in one prompt, will update as needed



a. (10/13) closed to anya; but i was so happy that i couldn't hold back

[ this is it - the most awaited collaboration in the modeling world (or at least in recolle but it's still a pretty big deal if you follow idols or fashion or both). it's been hinted in a last couple magazines that mizuki sena and anastasia vasilieva will be featured in one of the most popular magazines, and now it's all but confirmed. this is too be expected, really, since their silver hair and striking blue eyes made them look too similar with each other and so the higher-ups are like - why not create a persona with an aloof older brother and a sweet little sister for a magazine special? with a popular model and a rising idol doing it, it's going to make more than a lot of money considering how fanbases are. it will be wild as hell.

so everything's been settled, the two of them got contacted and briefed about this one hell of a gig, and here they are at the studio. luckily the magazine they're contracted with this time won't let them do some overdone halloween special since everyone's been doing that this month, so they're just going to wear comfortable yet chic outfits that one would wear on the go or on a date or something.

not that this is a date at all, no. ]

You holding up? [ might as well keep up the older brother image off the set too. sena has just come back from a solo shoot, and he's up for an interview in a few minutes. ] Jeez, they're making all of this such a big deal, huh? Just because we have the same hair and eye color now... So annoying.

b. ota, recolle u; i couldn't stop myself

[ sena's way more distraught than ever, and this time he's serious about not attending classes at all, not even giving his professors a heads up about it. but one of these days, you will hear a voice while passing by one of the empty rooms of the music conservatory of the university, singing... something? it's a familiar song that you might have heard on the radio every now and then, and the voice that's singing it sounds nice enough on your ears, but careful listeners will notice that sena sounds strained, like he's forcing himself to sing this shit even though he already sounds perfect.

but either way, he will spot you if you stick around for too long. and he's throwing you one hell of a stink-eye. ]

What are you doing here? You do know that it's rude to listen in without my permission, don't you?

c. ota, the inkwell; i couldn't do anything

[ on even rarer days, you might even spot him - at the bar? yes, apparently sena is one of those guys who attempts to drink to forget all that shit even though he has already berated some of his peers about consuming alcohol. and yet here he is, head buried onto the counter, slamming down his fifth? sixth? glass of tequila sunrise on it. he's not making any other sounds than that, but he or may not be choking back a sob? christ, what am embarrassing wreck.

it really is a good thing chuuya allowed him in here. he owes the guy one.

so uh. yeah. feel free to bother him since either 1) the bar's about to close and yet he shows no signs of moving, or 2) you're that concerned about a depressed model's disposition. whichever. ]

d. ota; i'm sorry

[ WILDCARD OPTION! yeah, sena will very much be out of it for the remainder of the month and you - yes, you! - will help him get out of that depressed fit. or make it worse. either way:

close cr can try contacting his phone through his inbox, but there's a 50/50 chance that he'll reply, so it's a mixed bag.. you can try visiting his flat if you know where he lives, but even if you can get through the security guard, sena would've changed the lock of his door so older copies of keycards won't work on it anymore - unless there's an off-chance that you'll encounter sena leaving the house.

other than that you can spot him anywhere else in the city now that he's skipping classes and ditching work - either at a nondescript teahouse; the university library where he's doing homework and extra credit because even he can't ignore his academics for too long despite his memory-induced depression; or even at SOYOKAZE after weeks of avoiding it, all by his lonesome in one booth while staring down at his own special serving of Takumaki. incredible.

if you want to thread something else with me, go ahead and PM this journal or PP me at jikochuu! ]

Comments

b;

[originallutece]

[It's unusual for Sena to miss a day, and Rosalind frowns as she takes attendance and marks the absence down. Everyone gets sick, of course, she can't blame him for that, but he's her most dedicated student. She likes having him there to answer questions, but she supposes she can't have everything in life. Though the poor class suffers from it; without Sena around to answer questions, she catches them at not having done their readings.

She thinks of him later on, as the day draws to a close and she packs up. She can't say she's all that impressed he didn't email her. Or even texted; he can't possibly be so sick he can't manage that. But oh, well. It is what it is.

One final errand before she heads home: Rosalind heads for the conservatory. She normally never goes here, but she'd had to drop something off for one of the other professors-- and then her attention is caught by the singing.

It's lovely singing, frankly, and at another time, she could listen to it for ages. But right now, her attention is caught on the fact that she knows that voice. She knows it very well, and she comes to a halt at the doorway, frowning faintly. It isn't until he interrupts himself that she makes a move to speak.]

It's also rather rude to cut classes, and yet here we are.

[adoringpast]

[ sena flinches because welp, he just told off a professor so rudely. and it's ros of all people too, one of the few adults he can count on. he suddenly feels bad about not giving her a heads up that he'll be absent from her class for a while, but he's pretty sure that his flimsy excuse simply won't cut it for her. it may be a gen-ed class, one that he took on a whim, but it's just as important to him as it is for her. ]

Sorry, Professor. Didn't see you there.

[ his normal speaking voice (if you can call it that) sounds too meek for someone like him, as he looks down on the floor as if he's been caught doing something childish. then again, this is all too childish for someone his age, isn't it? skipping classes just because a lot had happened - it's unforgivable. ]

...I'll be going home soon. I just need to practice.

[originallutece]

[She watches him for a few seconds, then lifts her hips off the edge of the doorframe. Closing the door behind her, she comes to stand before him: not too close, but enough to indicate she's not going to let him wiggle out of this conversation so quickly.]

What's the piece?

c

[doublesmall]

[alright, so this definitely isn't a thing he should be doing, but-- when a guy who normally scoffs at the thought of drinking comes in and wants tequila? jesus. something is going on there.

he's been watering down sena's drinks a lot after the first couple, honestly, along with keeping a glass of water refilled for him. after sena finishes that last glass, chuuya removes it, nudging the water closer.]

Alright, that's plenty for you- drink this.

[he pauses long enough to call over to someone else to start getting things cleaned up, there, folding his arms on the counter and frowning over at izumi.]

And tell me what's going on, yeah? You look like shit.

[adoringpast]

[ yeah, sena should notice by now that this tequila sunrise is starting to taste like ordinary orange juice, but he makes no further complaints. it's what he usually drinks here anyway, despite mary's constant ribbing.

he doesn't move at first to the point where chuuya might have thought he's dozed off, but he does raise his head after a while, blinking blearily at the glass of water and at chuuya himself. right, he's at the inkwell. inkwell, where anya had celebrated her birthday last month - ]

Nnnnnnnn.

[ his hand gropes for the water and sits up straight to drink that all down before slamming it onto the counter. ]

None'a yer business, Chuu-san.......

b

[ucchu]

[of course leo recognizes his voice. he hangs around the music rooms often enough, especially when he's skipping his other classes-- that's exactly what he's doing today. he meant to go practice some of his own work, or maybe the songs from that cd he'd gotten in the mail, but...

well. sena hasn't been answering his texts, but here he is. it's a good opportunity to talk, right? and he does like listening to his singing voice, now that he can hear it in person and not just on a recording from a different life entirely.

but of course he's not going to just stick around and wait to be noticed. leo slips right in and sings along, picking up a harmonizing part with sena's instead of just listening.]

[adoringpast]

[ sena's doing so well on his own, too immersed in his own singing that he didn't realize that someone has joined him - leo. what the hell, why is he doing this now of all times? he can only throw the shorter boy an irritated look as he keeps on singing, not letting this disrupt his practice.

they... sound so frustratingly well together. is this why they were in the same idol unit in the past, what with all those weird mechanics for their concerts? it kind of makes sense, in a way. knights must've been really powerful back in the day, and not because of some chess-themed live they had used to crush their enemies.

so he keeps it up with him despite not wanting to, as he's also curious on whether they still have the same vocal chemistry like the songs leo had written and shown him. and as the song goes on, sena utterly hates how beautiful they sound together right now.

it isn't fair. ]

[ucchu]

[sena may hate it, but leo loves it-- of course he does, he always leans toward loving things. this is different, though. it's a sort of confirmation that yes, they really do work well together in this life too. they don't blend quite as well as they could or used to, that's something that comes only with enough familiarity with someone's voice, but for their first time here?

izumi isn't wrong, it is beautiful, and leo's smile is even brighter than usual by the time they reach the end of the song.]

-ah, Sena, I knew you'd have a pretty voice! But why're you practicing by yourself, huh?

C

[thesettingsun]

[If Chuuya says it's fine to serve Sena, then Shuji will mix drinks for him like anyone else, but he's definitely keeping a closer eye on him than anyone else at the bar.

It's near closing time when Shuji finally decides to talk to Sena in a non-'what'll it be' capacity'.]

Sena, we're closing up soon. Are you going to get home okay?

[adoringpast]

Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.

[ that's. all you can get out of him right now, shuji. ]

[thesettingsun]

[Shuji reaches across the bar and pokes him in the shoulder.]

Don't make me have to dump you out on your butt, Sena, you won't like it and neither will I.

b

[lecturehall]

[keito's left a flurry of worried messages over the past few days. each one ends the same way: "call me back". each request is answered with silence.

so when he hears his boyfriend's voice for the first time in days, how can he resist going towards it?

keito eases his way into the room in a way he can only describe as trespassing. even creeping in as silently as he does, he only feels like he's violating a sacred space. breaking some secret pact he wasn't sure had been made between them. but why else would izumi ignore him? why else would he sing with his back to him instead of facing him, smiling, in the comfort of a shared bed? why else would he turn around and ask that question in a tone more painful than his bandaged wounds.

keito adjusts his arm in its sling and winces as it pulls at the stitches on his shoulder. he forces himself to stand straight and still, in case moving should make anything else hurt worse.]

I was worried. [it's not what he meant to open with but it's the heart of what he wants to say. still, he feels he should back it up.] ... That was the first time I've heard your voice. It's beautiful.

[adoringpast]

[ he had to turn off his phone at first because keito's endless fussing was getting to his nerves, to be honest. but when he turned it on one day to find out that keito has been badly injured, izumi was livid. he has yet to figure out how to tell keito but... seems they're already here. the very sight of keito looking utterly broken, both in his expression and his arm, activates izumi's fight or flight response, as he freezes in place for one hot second before -

walking away towards the other door. he's not ready to face keito like this, not now, why?! ]

a

[constellates]

[Meanwhile Anya is delighted by this.

She's been the type of person who would openly welcome others into her family, just as her mother and grandparents did before her. There are many in the city that she'd consider as close to her as blood, and fostering the same kind of relationship with Izumi, for all their rocky moments, is an idea that she's fond of. When he approaches her, she's laughing gently and ready to take the space that he'd left unoccupied for the solo shoot, giving him a smile.]

Is it annoying to you, Mizuki-senpai?

Bесело... Anya is having fun.

[adoringpast]

[ izumi throws a cursory glance at her beaming face and sighs, ruffling her head again. ]

You always look like you're having fun in shoots, even during busier sets like this. Then again you're probably used to it since this is one of the bigger projects I've ever participated in.

[ anya is way more popular than izumi of course, while izumi's still getting there steadily. looks like his hard work over the past few years has finally paid off, and he smiles just thinking about it. ]

Really though, you doing okay so far? As your temporary older brother of today I have to make sure my little sis isn't getting into too much trouble.

[ it... feels kind of weird saying that out loud to someone who he thinks is his blood relative in his past life but he can get used to this, i guess? ]

c!!!

[hollywooding]

[ okay. sena shutting people out is probably not that strange, but sena shutting mary out? that's just unusual.

she's tried not to think about it, at least not too much. maybe he just wants to be alone. maybe he's just--busy. maybe his idol thing is taking too long. whatever it is, by the second day, mary decides that she's going to bust his door in, once she's finished picking up a deal from chuuya.

so, as the bar gets close to closing time, the bell dings over her head, and mary steps inside. she makes eye contact with chuuya, but before she does...that's sena in the corner there, and a cursory glance tells mary that she's definitely going to be able to kill two birds with one stone.

she looks at chuuya for a moment, and then makes her way over, nose up as she drops into the seat beside sena, and lifts her hand, motioning at sena. maybe a water for him, right? ] You look horrible.

[ but, in their own mary-and-sena way, you can read the concern all over it. ]

[adoringpast]

Nnnnnnnnn.

[ just lets out a groggy groan as a greeting. hey mary, your super-duper close friend is literally wasted as hell, how you doin'. though sena ignoring people should be normal enough, but when he changed the lock of his front door of his house so that mary can't get in with the keycard, it should be apparent that he wants to be more than alone right now.

shaking his head, he manages to peek from his arms to blink blearily at mary and at the glass of water - only to hide his face on the table yet again. ]

Go 'way I don't need any -

[ any help. no one can ever help him from this. he's too far gone. ]

d

[twostringsonebow]

[He hasn't seen Sena around for a while.

Which... shouldn't be unusual, really; they have their own shoots and gigs, but it's no secret at their agency these days that they're friendly with one another, so when there's questions posed to Goro in regards to the other's whereabouts it really occurs to him that he hasn't seen Sena, and that... is alarming, honestly.

But he decides not to pry, it isn't like they're at a comfort level with each other to facilitate that, and leaves it in the hands of fate herself. Lady Luck kisses both cheeks and draws him to a teahouse after shopping for some new books, and it's there he spots the familiar fellow. Hesitantly, Goro approaches.]

Is this seat taken?

[adoringpast]

[ no matter how much he denies it, it's pretty apparent that sena and akechi has gotten close with each other for the past few months, which is interesting considering that sena usually keeps to himself during his work apart from watching over anya whenever she comes at the agency.

but just thinking about modeling in general right now makes him sick to his stomach, to be honest. so when he looks up at the sound of akechi's voice, he merely shakes his head without a word. just gesturing his hand towards the empty seat across the table before staring back at his cooling cup of green tea. he's not in the mood to talk at all, but oddly enough he could use some company. avoiding his closest peers for this long is getting tiring. ]

D

[strayknight]

[Ritsu was used to Sena avoiding him in the beginning, hell he even made it a game to see how many times Sena would tell him to not talk to him again. Lately though there had been less and less of that behavior as they seemed to have more normal conversations. Some might even say they were getting closer, even to the degree of playfully teasing. That changes though when Sena seems to go off the grid, so to speak. The less Ritsu sees of him, the more he had to admit he was worried about the other. So when it started to turn into Ritsu having better attendance than Sena in class he can't help but to want some answers.

Visiting his apartment the security was never an issue for Ritsu, but what was a problem was the lack of answering the door or his phone. Ritsu began to use process of elimination and today it seems to have paid off. Arriving at SOYOKAZE, the place Sena suggested to him for a date, Ritsu notice someone really familiar. Without even asking he makes his way over and sits down across from him, setting his bag next to him.]

Secchan...you know how to make someone work, you know?

[Looking him up and down, it was all too clear that he doesn't look good.]

[adoringpast]

[ sena doesn't look up when ritsu appears nonetheless, but he is kind of ticked off right now that someone like him manages to hunt him down like this, even though soyo is one of his favorite places to be. he didn't think he'd be back here after freaking out about takumi being kicked out of the app and yet here he is.

this is getting unbearable. he's not in the mood to talk to anyone right now, most especially ritsu. so he stands up, slides out of his seat, and walks off. and he will most likely leave the restaurant if ritsu doesn't stop him. ]

d. SOYOKAZE

[odapologist]

[ Since the booth is occupied with just one patron and a certain owner of SOYOKAZE nudges him to, a certain foster child sits himself across from the booth with a tray of little maki rolls for himself. The're not Takumaki, but Soyo's general maki are just very cute sushi in their simplicity. Well-made too. ]

Mrs. Minamoto's so happy to see you, your food is on the house. She was worried you and Takumi got into a fight or something, but she understands though if you're busy with your modelling work and school.

[ He keeps his tone surprisingly gentle, picking up his chopsticks. Rather than eat his little sushi right away though, he stacks them into a cheerleader pyramid. ]

Are models normally moody from the stress? The last one I met, he wasn't very nice at all.

[ He was an absolute fucking dick of an ex-model, more like (thank you local tabloid for enlightening him). But this isn't a time for him to complain of a speck of dirt on an otherwise decent record of meeting welcoming people. ]

[adoringpast]

[ sena does blink up at the kid who he recognized from the network. takumi's foster brother in the flesh... hearing that takumi's mother was even worried about his lack of presence here is rather surprising yet unprecedented - she called him "secchan" even before ritsu used it on him and triggering more memories that connected them together.

they're not takumi's mackerel sushi, sure, but sena can tell that yanagi has worked hard on them. normally sena would brush this kid off but takumi would totally murder him if he does anything too mean, so. ]

You could say that. The modeling world is full of airheaded jerks who think nothing but themselves. It's natural.

[ he's totally talking about himself but holy shit, ex-model? does yanagi mean baren because if he does, he'll be sena's most favorite person in this cursed year of 2017 ]

But no, Takumi and I didn't fight. I... reacted way too badly the last time I went here and found out that his hair's all dark again. Did you know he used to have silver hair like me?

[ THEY COULD'VE MATCHED, YOU KNOW ]

wildcard, squad to the rescue :|b

[chessking]

[ it's really not like sena to outright avoid him, actually, so when it's been more than a week and he hasn't even seen sena in passing at all, topped off with practically ignoring his calls, drastic times call for well. drastic measures.

the security guard is easy to bypass bc lelouch has been an on-off visitor every so often that the guard probably doesn't suspect any kind of Ulterior Motive (tm), but by the time it comes to actually getting to sena's apartment--

well, it's not quite mary's level of breaking and entering, considering that lelouch is more. messing with the electronic lock because there has to be a master password to override whatever key card settings sena has newly installed, right? ]

Sena, if you don't open the door within the next ten minutes I'm going to override your lock settings.

[ that's definitely a threat, even if lelouch's voice is pleasant enough to not really. count as one, for the moment. ]

[adoringpast]

[ it's true that lelouch has been to sena house every now and then to goof off and play other board games and whatever, but sena doesn't trust him with a keycard just yet like with mary, figuring that he can just smash the door in somehow anyway.

like right now. because guess what, lelouch? sena isn't actually home right now! he's been avoiding home as well because he hates feeling cooped up inside for too long. he may be depressed as hell but he's not about to turn into a fucking NEET? that's gross.

so imagine his surprise when he arrives at the floor of his flat, only to find out that someone's tinkering with the electronic lock on his front door. he's as silent as a cat when he approaches lelouch, not saying anything for a few hot seconds before: ]

Better yet, if you don't get the fuck out of here in five seconds, I'll call security on you.

[ note that while his face remains impassive as ever, his voice is very, very icy and full of tranquil anger. lelouch lamperouge, what the everloving fuck. ]