That Room Is Empty Now...

The empty apartment was in no way unfamiliar to Maura. Even before the last time he had seen Leon, it wasn't uncommon for him to be busy for the whole day. Which often left Maura to take care of himself.

But, this time, the apartment felt much more… Lonely. Perhaps it was because he knew Leon wasn't coming back anymore, but the place felt much more empty than usual.

Marguerite had offered to give him somewhere else to stay, but he had refused. The apartment was nice enough, after all. And he liked the idea of staying somewhere he recognised. So she allowed him to stay without asking too many questions. As long as he didn't destroy the place, of course.

He did his best to keep the place clean, too. However, the place he gave the least attention to was Leon's room. No one ever went there anymore, after all. Cleaning any excess dust once a month should be enough.

Or, at least, that's what he told himself. But deep down he knew that wasn't everything. Every time he went there, he had to try his best to turn off his brain as much as possible. If he didn't, he'd just keep thinking about Leon… Even after so much time had passed, the room somehow still smelled like him. And just that was enough to bring far too many memories to him.

Not just the bad ones… He also remembered so many times where Leon had been nice to him. Despite Leon being so busy all the time, Maura still had fond memories of times they managed to have dinner together. He could clearly remember times Leon specifically requested Maura's favorite foods.

It wasn't unusual for Maura to have nightmares and wake up in the middle of the night. And, on most of those occasions, Leon was there for him. Offering him water, patting his head as he fell back asleep.

He remembered a time when they were outside together at night. And when Maura started holding his arms from feeling cold, Leon had given him the jacket he was wearing.

Those memories always came back to him, sooner or later. It made him struggle to hold back tears, and yet… He also felt a certain warmth in his chest. And he could never tell which feeling was stronger.

It didn't help when he looked at himself in the mirror, looking at his own eyes and remembering the one time Leon had said his eyes were beautiful… Everytime, that memory just made things worse.

He couldn't tell how he felt about Leon anymore. Did he hate him? Did he still like him?

Did he still wish Leon loved him, more than Maura had…?

He shook his head, rejecting the thought like he always did. Even before ever meeting Hiiro, Maura had conflicting feelings for Leon. He was like a father to him, after all. But… A part of Maura's mind wanted more than that. He knew that was wrong. He knew Leon would never accept that…

And even if Maura was older, he couldn't tell if any of Leon's previous kindness was genuine anymore…

He sighed after throwing himself onto his bed. What was the use of even thinking about such things anyway? Leon was gone. Gone forever. It didn't matter what he truly felt towards Maura anymore, because Maura would never find that out.

Just a few days later, it was Maura's birthday.

It had been a great day for him. He hadn't expected much since he always spent his birthdays with just Leon, so he was pleasantly surprised when Hiiro and the others all had thrown a surprise party for him at Hiiro's house (since Kai had thought it'd be too suspicious if they just asked Maura where he lived). And he couldn't hide the fact that he had cried a little.

When he left, his bag was considerably heavier, now stuffed with the gifts he had received. And on his other hand he carried his portion of the leftover cake.

The first thing he did after getting back was set his bag down on the couch, then put the cake in the fridge. He stretched and yawned, a bit tired from how late it was.

He threw himself onto the other end of the couch, ready to fall asleep right then and there. However, right before he could doze off, he noticed there was something on top of the coffee table in front of him.

He immediately sat up and rubbed his eyes. It couldn't be one of the gifts his friends gave him. He didn't recognise the package. And it was also very unlikely he could have dropped anything from the bag and had it land so perfectly on top of the table.

He picked it up slowly as he thought about it. Maybe Marguerite had dropped by while he was away and left it there for him? It wouldn't be all that out of the ordinary for her.

Just to make sure, he brought the box next to his ear. There was no sound coming from it. He sighed in relief. It didn't seem to be anything dangerous like a bomb.

He ripped open the packaging. And when he saw what was inside, his heart almost stopped and his eyes widened.

It was a book. A book Maura had been wanting for quite a while.

However, the only person Maura had ever talked to about it… Was Leon.

He dropped the book from his now trembling hands, eyes wide and face pale. A thought reaching his brain, he rushed towards Leon's room, opening the door with much more force than needed.

But the room was empty…

There wasn't a single thing out of place, not even any trace of evidence that someone could have been in that room before him. He even double checked every drawer. Every wardrobe door. Nobody had been there.

He looked out of the window. He wasn't sure why. Perhaps he had hoped to maybe catch a sight of Leon somewhere, either looking at the apartment or walking away. But all he saw was the same sight as always. The city streets and buildings at night.

Leon wasn't there…

He started crying. He didn't know why, but in just a few seconds he was sobbing. He fell to his knees, the tears rolling down his face and straight onto the floor.

It couldn't have been anyone else that brought that book. But if it really had been Leon, why would he do that in the first place? What was the point of sneaking a gift in, then leaving without even as much as a note? Without any sort of explanation? Did he know he was the only one who could have known Maura wanted that book, or was it a coincidence?

Maura's head hurt. He couldn't come up with any logical explanation.

He could only keep crying.

The room still smelled like Leon…

A few hours later, once Maura was already sleeping, someone walked by the apartment building.

The man, with long blond hair, looked up specifically at Maura's apartment. He had a faint smile on his face, yet his expression was hard to discern. He seemed happy, but there was also a hint of guilt in his eyes.

"Happy birthday, Maura." He whispered.

He walked away from the building, soon disappearing into the dark city.