to meet is the beginning of parting.

“Me? Hyper? Naaah, I’m never like that! I’m just sayin’ that it makes no sense for you to burn this many candles when all you’ve gotta do is flick on a switch for light over there, Astral.” And with a motion to the nearby light switch near the door, out went another candle. Only 37 more to go!

“For a guy who’s constantly tryin’ to tell me the ‘smartest’ way to do things, we’ve seriously gotta teach you a thing or two.” 

          “The light itself isn’t the stimulating part, Yuma,” Astral sighs, as if he’ll even pay attention at all. Yuma was more of a get-up-and-go kind of person; it wasn’t surprising that these little rituals didn’t make any sense to Yuma. While he could see Yuma’s point, his own still stood...

“I knew you’d eventually see things my way~!” Yuma almost sings as he reaches for the candle snuffer, holding the small metal bell in his hand like a prized he’d just won. Astral might’ve knew a thing or two about real world facts, but he had the way of charm! Charm and good convincing arguments apparently!

“The light’s good ‘n all, but we’ve got electricity for that! Just because candles make light doesn’t mean you’ve gotta use ‘em for that. Learn to flip on a switch sometimes, Astral.”

          “Electricity doesn’t make light flicker and sway,” Astral points out, watching Yuma somewhat warily. Was he going to put them all out after all? Honestly, for as worried as he was about it, he probably should’ve put them out himself to guarantee they left the three. Or he’d simply complain if Yuma put them all out.

“Yeah, comforting if you actually like the smell of burnt casserole and old candle wax just hangin’ out in the air. Trust me, Astral. You smell it once and I’m pretty sure it gets stuck in your nose for life.”

Yuma would admit, it reminded him a bit of back home. Though with this many candles burning all in one spot, it was more like someone had shoved his entire house up his nose instead of making a pleasant ‘back home’ scent.

“So, how about it? Three, by the window.”

          “...fine.”

          If only because it was clear that he wasn’t winning with Yuma. Astral clearly wasn’t totally thrilled with the compromise, but it’d probably be easier than continuing the argument. Besides, maybe Yuma would eventually relent?

“Astral! I don’t think you’re getting the point here! Five’s still too many! Though I guess five’s better than thirty nine of those things in here…but still!” 

Yuma definitely wasn’t a candle fanatic, but even he knew that five candles in the small space that was their tiny room would still be too overpowering for anyone to stand. It wasn’t even so much about the flames anymore, but that scent.

“Look, I’m not gonna stand around and sugarcoat any of this ‘cause you’re being ridiculous, okay? They smell weird, Astral. Like something my grandma woulda put out to get rid of Akari’s gross cooking smells.”

          “I thought vanilla and honey was supposed to be a good scent,” Astral says with what’s unmistakably a pout. He likes his candles and thought that the scent would appeal to Yuma’s sweet tooth. At least that’s what the salesperson had said...?

          “But doesn’t that mean that it makes our room smell like your home?” He thinks Yuma’s said something about being homesick once or twice — or that could’ve been Kotori for all he remembered. 

“Yeah, and just tell me what your definition of ‘a few’ is?”

“Because if it’s anymore than like three, then I’m still taking all these candles and shoving ‘em right back in the face of whoever thought any of this was a good idea.”

Or maybe he’d snuff them all out and just throw them out the window instead? Either way, they needed to disappear and soon before someone called them out over the mini wildfire still burning in their room.

          “...can I leave five?” That would leave two by the window and three by his bed — which was very rarely used, in all honestly. He and Yuma were so close that often Astral ended up molded to his side to sleep. Not the most comfortable for small beds, but they both usually seemed to sleep decently. His bed, though, ended up only used for studying or sprawling out with whatever odd thing caught his fascination this week.

“Well if you didn’t want me putting them out, then you shouldn’t have lit them all in the first place!”

If Astral asked nice, then maybe he’d leave one burning in the corner beside the window despite the smell. Cracking the glass open would probably be enough to take care of that musty, old person scent Yuma was convinced was already stuck in his nose by now, but Astral couldn’t expect him to leave these candles burning!

“We can’t leave all these here, Astral. Even you should know that!”

          “I know but...”

          Astral liked his candles, which was a problem. Astral didn’t have a whole lot of hobbies or interests, which meant that he got kind of obsessive once he did find something nice. Of course, that usually was a huge inconvenience to Yuma and while he normally would yield with the biggest puppy-that’s-just-been-kicked look, he didn’t seem to want to budge today.

“Astral, there’s like…an inferno burning in here because of you and your candles! ‘Course I’m gonna put ‘em all out!”

If Yuma was being honest, he didn’t even like the smell of these candles either. Maybe it was where there were so many, but vanilla and lavender just wasn’t his scent. Or was that honey? Either way, it smelled like something his grandma would’ve had.

“We can’t just leave all of these burning in here. Even I know that’s just askin’ for trouble.”

          “No!”

          Astral understood that Yuma didn’t want that many candles lit but that didn’t mean Astral was about to give Yuma the power to blow out all of his candles. He liked them and they weren’t hurting anybody...except perhaps Yuma’s patience with him.

“Just how much stuff did you get at that shop, Astral?”

Better yet, how much of Yuma’s weekly allowance had he spent buying candles at this place off campus, too? Not that Yuma was that concerned; he could always get his sister to send him more money if he really needed it but bargaining extra funds from Akari was like going through an interrogation.

“And I dunno, but there’s still too many. Use that little cup thing to put out some more.”

          “Everything to safely burn thirty nine candles.”

          Considering that was the exact amount he had scattered around their room, he made sure knew how to do so safely. He didn’t want to set Yuma’s bed or desk on fire, after all...though Astral would surely have to pay him back for the money he’d spent. It’s not his fault he didn’t understand ATMs all too well. 

“Not really, but why’d you have to go and get so many? That one that visitor guy gave you should’ve been good enough for awhile, don’t’cha think?”

Common sense should’ve told Astral that lighting this many candles in one place was just asking for disaster anyway. Even Yuma knew he had more smarts than to do something like that and his friends were constantly trying to tell him how much of an airhead he could be most of the time.

“Doesn’t the smell from all those candles burning at the same time bother you? ‘Cause between you and me, they’re kinda strong, too.”

          “I suppose it is a little strong for my tastes.”

          He’d just been so excited for such a unique, pleasing sensation that he’d gone a little overboard. At least, in that regard, he’d had the foresight to buy the candle snuffer the shopkeep had recommended, retrieving the little silver tool from the bag. Carefully, Astral puts out a few of the candles and cocks his head at Yuma.

“Yeah, but Astral…you’ve got enough candles here to light the whole dorm on fire and then some. And something’s tellin’ me this ‘visitor’ didn’t give you all these ‘cause he wanted to get rid of ‘em either.”

“Besides, who brings something like candles with them to school anyway?”

Yuma couldn’t blame this newcomer’s roommate. They candles were kind tacky looking. No wonder he’d been forced to give them away. Too bad it’d been to Astral who knew no self control.

          “Well, he only gave me one, but there was a little candle shop a block from campus, so...”

          The rest didn’t really need to be said. Astral had obviously liked the scent of the candle so much he’d left to buy more — the true question was whether or not he’d at least blown that first candle out before leaving. For as intelligent as Astral was, he was still pretty clueless when it came to things like common sense.

“Yeah, but Astral…!”

As if Yuma’s whine wasn’t enough to tell Astral his roommate wasn’t pleased. He knew it’d been a bad idea to leave the other unattended while he’d gone out to do things for the afternoon. Why would anyone have shown Astral candles anyway!? 

“Candles are nice ‘n all, but are you sure this is even safe? Isn’t there sprinklers or something around here that you’re gonna end up tripping or something with this many?”

          “I made sure the smoke being made by the candles is minimal — I won’t set off the sprinklers.”

          Astral knew by now, with adventures in the kitchen, that it took a lot to set off the sprinklers meant to save their dorm from a fire. Perhaps too much effort was required, but it made Astral confident that his array of candles wasn’t a harm to him nor Yuma.

          “—Yuma!”

          There was rarely a time where Astral wasn’t, in some way, happy for his roommate’s return. This time he was ecstatic, happy to share the warm, comforting scent of vanilla with the other. He’d gotten quite a few, though not all were lit...he’d run out of room.

“Hurt?…” She sounds skeptical, and given her expression it was obvious she didn’t believe him, she herself touching the clothing and finding nothing wrong with them. Maybe it was an allergy thing. Regardless, it wasn’t like she could judge others on running around nude.

“Well obviously you either need to suck it up or get creative. How do you feel about wearing blood? We can draw a line on your throat, dab some there and boom! You’re a ghost of someone who’s throat was slit. You even got the whole glowy, floaty bit down.”

Was it in bad taste in a murder game? Perhaps. But Himiko didn’t care.

          “A ghost?” Astral knew what those were but he wasn’t one — and frankly, the idea of appearing dead didn’t sit well with him. He knows already that he is very different from the other residents of this place. At the very least, most of them appear mostly human whereas he is not. He does not even walk like them.