Thirst

[Kirito]

It was one of those nights when Kirito would escape everthing to come here. Alone and with an empty mind. He often came here to relax and loosen his tensed body. Around the place, strangers chatted with their companions. Kirito was out of place, but he didn't care.

Placing down another empty glass, the bar tender already moved to pour some more of the alcohol that he had been drinking for the past hour. His black eyes staring soulessly at the clear liquid in the glass. He didn't want to think he had enough yet.

[Mana]

After a day of work, Mana usually would go home. He loved his dark dungeon where no one could disturb him nor find him. However, tonight, he felt like staying in the open for a while.

And above all, he wanted a drink.

Dressed in his black robes, he faded into the dark night. With the dull air and the chatters of strangers, Mana didn't notice anything else, not even the stares he received.

Slipping into the stool, he hissed out to the bar tender for a cocktail.

[Kirito]

On the brink of his consciousness, Kirito smelt an unfamiliar scent... a scent that leaked out mysteriousness yet....

His eyes shifted from the half empty glass and found himself next to a dark figure. The saturated make-up, Gothic and dangerous. The other's face was so perfectly drawn out, like a doll with no emotions.

This was Mana-sama.

Kirito had not been wishing and hoping to meet this famous musician face to face. But when it really happened now, he did feel a little honoured...

[Mana]

He bowed in thanks as the bar tender placed down his fluorescent blue cocktail. Sitting back a bit in his stool, Mana's blue-contacted eyes shifted to the side....sensing a long look from a stranger.

It was not that he disliked people staring. He was used to be the odd one of the society anyway.

Through his dark-coloured fringe, he registered a pale face of a male. The other's face was pointy, unhealthy-looking and almost dazed. In the back of his mind, Mana could guess how many glasses of alcohol the stranger would have consumed.

He would normally go back to his own business, nursing his drink in solitude. But a mysterious power of something that he couldn't yet name drew his eyes further up and rested firmly on the other man's.

[Kirito]

They stared.

Kirito' eyes remained unblinking. Although he was surprised, he didn't let it show on his face. He might ahve thought that the alcohol was playing tricks on him. But his endurance was better than haveing 5 drinks of vodka. He knew he wasn't drunk yet.

The air between the two musicians were awkward...silent as none of them spoke. Finally, his lips parted,

"Nice to meet you, Mana-sama."

He didn't know what to say next. Above all, he wasn't sure if this could be called a meeting where the two of them would sit together for a while. Or that it would be just a one-minute thing.

[Mana]

The other's voice came out as a hiss. Mana bowed his head politely, turning himself to face him. He knew who this person is. But still, he was a "stranger" to Mana. Everyone could be counted as a stranger to him except for Kozi, whom he had known and befriended for years...

There were so many faces that he had seen, but they were strangers to him. People that came and left and were never seen again in his life.

"It's my pleasure to meet you too, Kirito-san."

This dark-haired male in fron of him was no one else but the leader and vocalist of legend Pierrot, now disbanded. Maybe afterall, they did have something in common...?

[Kirito]

He was half surprised that Mana knew his name. Subconsciously, he reminded himself that he had been in the scene for more than 10 years now. Anyhow, Kirito couldn't help but return a small bow of the head to this legend of Gothic Rock.

He knew Mana liked to keep his things secret, so he didn't even think of asking why the other was here in the bar.

It took him a while to think of a good start, "It has been a busy week for you, Mana-sama?"

His gaze rested on the pale face, constrasting to the blackness of the other's attire.

[Mana]

When Kirito bowed his head, Mana managed to keep his face straight and emotionless. Hearing the other's question, he parted his painted lips and replied, "It has been but not extremely busy."

He liked to keep his answers short. It was his barrier and guard against people. He didn't want to reveal too much about himself and his life.

Maybe, this was the fatal weakness...

[Kirito]

Maybe it was the alcohol, Kirito leaned slightly against the counter of the bar and shifted a little towards Mana. The other's voice was a whisper and it strained his ears for him to hear.

Nodding, but absent-mindedly, Kirito let a moment of silence fall between them as Mana continued to sip on his cocktail.

He watched the younger man, taking in how ......amazing the real person looked. From photoshoots, Mana was flawless. In real, Mana was even more flawless and above all, the sense of dark attractivenss felt so strong...

[Mana]

He sensed how intesively Kirito was looking at him. Mana knew somehow that his outlooked would have attracted such attention. But there was something behind that gaze, not only just observance...

Placing down the glass onto the bar counter, Mana sat back and crossed his legs. His black robes swayed a bit at the movement.

"Kirito-san, what is on your mind...?" His tone remained masked. His concern and his curiosity didn't leak out.

[Kirito]

"Kirito-san, what is on your mind...?"

Mana's question surprised him. Although the other's voice sounded distance and emotionless, but the fact that he hadn't heard anyone asked him this question for ages somehow warmed him now...

No one asked how he felt after all these years. Partly because it was obvious, wasn't it? He hadn't let it go. He had drew back himself, just kept going with the music because he knew there was nothing else he could do. Where was the lost passion...?

Closing his eyes a bit, he turned himself as he faced the counter. Shaking his head, he sighed out in a barely audible voice, "Sometimes, I just feel as though I am living without a soul..."

[Mana]

"Sometimes, I just feel as though I am living without a soul..."

It was almost good that Kirito wasn't looking at him. Those words coming from the other's mouth managed to have a slight impact on him. Mana's eyes changed... saddened...

Those were the very words that he was ignoring all along. He, too, felt like that he wasn't living for anything else except for music. Music became his everything- his life and his voice. But it was all about himself...

And ironically, it was like his heart was just beating. He was still the glass doll without a soul.

Indeed, they really had something in common...

[Kirito]

Mana didn't make a reply and Kirito had wondered... but he let the air lingered. Closing his eyes almost tiredly, he rested his head in his arms on the counter. The world somehow was spinning, like he didn't really belong to it.

The dull chatters of strangers continued. The two musicians fell into a long silence. Although he didn't know Mana, he could guess that the other was used to the silence...

Finally, he re-opened his eyes and looked at the half-empty glass of vodka in front of him.

[Mana]

The truth never really got to him, not after all these years when Gackt left...not even after all the years when Malice Mizer ended and left him all alone...

But suddenly, everything seemed to be coming back to haunt him now. The handsome face of the brown-haired vocalist, now a pop idol worshipped by so many women in the world...

Mana shut his eyes and unconsciously, his fingers gripped onto the black fabric of his robes. He wouldn't allow himself to break after all these years of solitude. Not now, not in a public place where he should be the cold and icy Mana-sama everyone thought to be deprived of feelings.

The silence continued...

[Kirito]

But the silence felt strange.

Kirito slowly but hesitantly turned his gaze to Mana. He saw the other one closed his eyes and those delicate eyebrows slightly creased. And at that moment, Kirito thought he felt something....

Mana was still human afterall. And from the news, he had learned of the other's difficult past. In those interviews, Mana had put on a facade and pretended as if everything was fine. But obviously, that hurt a musician's heart.