In short, whenever Uruha opened his mouth, Kai was always forced to think.

✖

From outside the hotel window, a lone, crisp leaf dangled on its branch, threatening to fall at any time as the breeze continued to blow. It had been minutes since Uruha started watching it with a rapt fascination, but until now, the view stayed the same.

It still swung fragilely from side to side, and he decided to momentarily turn his gaze to Kai, who had been busy fixing documents that could’ve been left for until tomorrow, and yet he didn’t. It’s better to do things now than later, the drummer would argue, and in his deeper subconscious he would probably say that there’s no telling what might even happen tomorrow, so it would be better to do things now. Unlike Uruha, Kai didn’t seem to have a sense of rest.

The look lasted for but a split second but once Uruha shifted his eyes back to the window, the leaf had already gone. He immediately leaned forward and pushed against the glass, seeing the faded leaf among its many fallen comrades on the ground. One second it was still there, dangling about on its lanky branch, and the other, it wasn’t anymore.

Kai briefly looked up to see what the sudden movement was all about, but went back to his task almost immediately.

Uruha turned his back to the view outside once more and promptly let his body fall on the bed, making it bounce and creak on impact, but this time Kai didn’t lift his face up. There was a shuffling noise of what could be Uruha setting himself under the warm, fluffy blankets. A few more seconds and Uruha heaved out a sigh.

“So much can happen in a second, don’t you think?” the guitarist questioned.

In all honesty, Kai hated thinking. Once he already admitted that he’s not the brightest crayon in their box of five, that he wasn’t very smart. Which is why he volunteered to be the leader of the band – he didn’t need to think much, he only needed to act. Of course people might beg to differ, but in reality, all he ever does is to arrange schedules, make sure that everything is in perfect order, keep everybody in check. All the thinking is done by their managers and Ruki occasionally.

He’d rather act than think, simply because he hated thinking. For this, work had been his comfort zone, because all he really did was check boxes that listed all the tasks, and it was a list that never seemed to exhaust itself. Sticking to whatever is listed out had proved to be the most efficient way to survive his job.

Of course when work gets tiring, he has yet another comfort zone – Uruha. Uruha always had a calming effect on him – Kai didn’t know whether it was the light pace that he lives his life, or his carefree attitude, or even just the soft tone that he uses when talking. Yet the way that he expresses himself is what unnerves Kai sometimes. It’s so simple and straightforward, but somehow Kai knows there’s something more to those uncomplicated words. He knows because whenever he accidentally mentions the hidden points behind those simple words, Uruha would always smile a certain smile.

In short, whenever Uruha opened his mouth, Kai was always forced to think. And Kai furrowed his brows at that.

“Why do you say that?” Finally Kai stopped fiddling with his papers and Uruha leaned to his side and propped an elbow against the bed, then caught his chin with his palm.

“You saw what happened.”

Kai proceeded to put all the files away to the bedside table and also settled himself on the bed, right beside Uruha. “Not really.”

Uruha pulled the covers over Kai’s form as well, but stayed in his position. “I’ve been staring at that leaf for quite some time now and waiting for it to fall, but only when I turned away did it actually fall.”

Kai snuggled under the warmth of the thick fabric and Uruha’s own then closed his eyes. “It was bound to fall anyway.”

Time always passes by even if nothing happens by then, but no person in the world could ever really know what is supposed to happen until that time passes by – at least, nobody is supposed to. And yet even in just a matter of seconds, many things can possibly happen and people are usually left frozen from where they stand, with nothing to do but to watch things unfold before their eyes. Maybe that’s why people are always so anxious of the future.

Kai anticipated for things that sometimes never happened, and fell short in preparing for things that are unexpected. Sometimes he wondered of what the future entailed for him, but the thought never lingered long enough for him to be truly bothered by it. The unexpected happens, the anticipated don’t. But life goes on as normally as it could for a person of his stature.

“But you wouldn’t have known until it actually fell,” Kai continued, mimicking Uruha’s position.

Perhaps Kai just looked far into the future that he failed to see the fuzzy figures at the end of his visions. Being big in the industry, coming to be the most celebrated drummer in the face of their music, finally getting appreciated for all his hard work – those were the things that his eyes are set to. They still were a long way from now, but Kai was sure that future would eventually be his present. He never showed it often, but he, too, aspired for a lot. Perhaps that overshadowed the things that are actually going his way at that very moment, sometimes missing them, sometimes never knowing until it actually hit already.

“So many can happen in a matter of moments…” Uruha mused again, closing his eyes once Kai opened his. “Sometimes things that you don’t really want to happen.”

Kai nodded inwardly; that’s exactly the point – one really wouldn’t know something until it happens already, whether you expect it or not, whether you want it to happen or not. And maybe that’s why people are so anxious of the future – because they’re afraid of things not going the way they want, of not getting their happily ever after.

Kai looked at Uruha’s drowsy face, eyes drooping more than ever and lips threatening to free an unflattering yawn. “That’s life for you. It’s not flatly written out in some story book, just waiting to happen. It’s not planned or anything.” It’s not like checking list boxes, either; it’s too spontaneous, too unpredictable.

But who cares if life or the future or whatever abstract entity out there is too spontaneous and too unpredictable? Kai acted on his instincts, if his tasks weren’t already listed down on paper. Whatever comes his way comes and he’d always be ready to face it head on, even if he doesn’t expect it, even if it happens all too suddenly. And even if things won’t go his way for now, he’d make sure that someday, it will. That he’ll eventually get his own ‘happily ever after.’

Then again, aside from his worldly aspirations, his idea of a happily ever after is already right here beside him, yawning as if he wouldn’t be able to yawn tomorrow. Kai let out a small laugh at that, pushing Uruha’s forehead with his index finger and making the other fall to the pillow.

“That’s enough critical thinking from us for today. Go to sleep already.” Kai then pulled on the lamp switch and Uruha also did the same from his side, sending the bedroom to only but a gentle darkness, with the street side lights casting its faint glow through the window.

“Sleep well, Yutaka.”

“You too, Kouyou.”

And just before Kai closed his eyes, Uruha smiled that smile.