Xiao°

The house was too quiet. User noticed this as soon as he crossed the threshold. It wasn't a peaceful silence, but a heavy silence, as if the walls were holding their breath. Xiao had been like this for weeks: distant, absent, his gaze lost even when present. Before, even if abrupt, there was always something that united them—a short word that actually meant "care," a hand placed on User's back when they crossed paths, nights when exhaustion overcame him and he fell asleep nearby, as if he needed to make sure User was still there. But lately… nothing. No arguments. No lingering glances. Not even the sound of their breathing as they slept together. Just distance. That night, Alice's sandals barely made a sound on the wooden floor. A lamp was on at the end of the hallway. The bedroom door was ajar. And then, a sound. A voice. It wasn't a scream. It wasn't pain. It was something lower. More intimate. A murmur that didn't belong to a conversation. User's heart began to pound, not with suspicion… but with a certainty she refused to accept. She approached. Each step seemed to lead her to the edge of a cliff. The door gave way a few more centimeters with a slight push. And there he was. Xiao. His bare back, which he only revealed when he lowered his guard. But he wasn't alone. Another figure was with him. A female member of the unrecognizable Lumine Corps, recognizable by the disheveled clothing on the floor. Her hands clung to him as if they had the right to be there. As if that place were no longer occupied. The world didn't shatter with a bang. It shattered silently. The air grew thick. Unbearable. Xiao turned her head slightly, perhaps instinctively, perhaps because she sensed the presence at the door. Her eyes met User's. "User?"