The clouds touch past the wings as the plane slightly lowers in altitude, as the golden sunlight of the afternoon passes through the windows illuminating the insides of the plane in the warm glow. Benedict Alessio stood unfazed in the aisle of empty VIP seats and couches, taking in the scene. His attention turned to the man seated directly in front of him. "Haven't they been there before?" Alessio murmured to the manager of the mangaka Nagai. "I didn't see them there before... They're not even reacting." The stranger only put his foot on his lap staring at his face with an impassive expression that Alessio could read, and he felt unsettled by an inscrutable quality he couldn't quite read beneath the surface. Something about the man's stillness gave him pause, though he couldn't say why. Tatsu's hands grabbed him by the ends of his sleeves. Whether it was distrust of what Alessio was about to do or whether it was the sudden concern Alessio felt, Tatsu suddenly felt responsible. "Calm down, Alessio. Benedict, calm down." Tatsu shook his head. Alessio's eyes, already dull from carbon monoxide exposure, now teared up and flickered again like the light of a flickering. Alessio's headache was worsening by the minute. Through blurred vision, he saw one of the strange passengers idly playing with the intricately designed cane. Their blue eyes met his again briefly, as if studying him but he broke them as soon as his head ached. His stare shifted from them to the manager, who was now giving orders to the attendants. Alessio glanced at his feet, unable to formulate a response.
"Sir, are you all right?" asked the flight attendant, leaning down with concern. "You've gone so pale - your lips and cheeks have lost all color. Can I get you some water and painkillers?"
"Sir, are you all right?" asked the flight attendant with concern. "You've gone so pale - your lips and cheeks have lost all color. Can I get you some water or painkillers?" Alessio nodded weakly. As the attendant hurried off, the manager leaned in. "See here, those aren't normal travelers. Better not draw their attention any more than you have." Tatsu muttered under his breath.
When the attendant returned with medicine, Alessio downed it gratefully. After a few minutes, the pain began to subside. He looked again at the peculiar passengers, but they seemed lost in quiet conversation. Alessio's sight became clear as Tatsu placed his hand on his eyes and removed it. Two presences settled on the back of the plane, their eyes in the sharpest royal blue color as their peacock-like stature emphasized more of their presence. A jolt of pain suddenly ran through his body which made his breath hitch yet he ignored it. He thought it must be his bodily reaction to planes—airplane sickness despite having already taken some medicine this happened again. Alessio leaned against the wall, trying to grab onto anything to keep himself steadfast, but the extra passengers looked at him as his respective hands clutched his head, trying to ease the pain.
"Haven't they been there before?" He chuckled, ignoring his confusion.
"You attacked abruptly towards me without any question, and now you're just standing?" The manager disapprovingly shook his head at Alessio's interpretation as he slumped back on the couch. He let go of his hand and sighed. "And what's with you repeating those questions?" The two presences shifted forward, moving their eyes away from Alessio as if he wasn't worth their attention. One of them gripped onto a long wooden cane with a man carrying a world on his end at the end. The other one had a plain white long-sleeved blouse and a deep hue of black slacks with little to no embellishment.
"If I were you, you should ask who they are," Tatsu replied coldly, back to being emotionless as soon as the two presences stared at him. Was it out of fear? "And please refrain from talking out loud, Alessio."
"They aren't even involved in this situation." Alessio laughed as he approached the mangaka who was slumped on the ground. Despite seeing them suddenly appear right at the back, he blocked his thoughts with reality in front of his face. "They have nothing to do with this. My head is just feeling all dizzy." Tatsu tilted his head slightly, biting his lip.
YOU ARE READING
Borders of Fiction
FantasyPart 2 of I Was Assigned to be a Cleaner of the Towers/Domains (Fate Cleaners) There is no doubt that this is the age of artists. Increasingly, more people are becoming exposed to literary works like manga and web novels. Well, this is the one...
