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As Tatsumi focused on the wall next to him, Alister looked intently at his eyes, looking slightly concerned. The deeper in thought Tatsumi seemed to be, the more the bottom of his irises faded. Alister jumped up in shock, and gently touched Tatsumi's stray hand that lay on the table, holding it. Tatsumi near-instantly snapped out of his daydream, looking down at his hand, now covered by Alister's.

"W-what are you--" Tatsumi was cut off mid-sentence.

"It looks like you aren't quite so different from me, after all." Alister interjected. As Alister spoke, he used his other hand to sweep away the hair covering his left eye. He stared intently at Tatsumi, making eye contact with him for about half a minute.

As Alister stared down Tatsumi, his eyes seemed to fade as well, with trace amounts of the clover green fading into a ghostly white. While Tatsumi beheld this sight, his eyes faded as well for a brief moment again, before he snapped back once again to reality, recoiling his hand with a genuine fright that Alister was surprised to see on someone so reserved. Alister's irises returned to their usual chromaticity as well.

"Wait! Please, sit back down, I- I need to talk to you." Alister pleaded to the terrified boy in front of him. Tatsumi slowly abided, sitting back down in front of Alister.

"For as long as I can remember, my eyes faded in the exact same way yours do. Friends of mine were always mortified by the sight, and I never understood why. I always wanted-- no, needed to know." After listening to Alister, Tatsumi sighed, looking down and shaking his head.

"If I knew, I'd tell you." Tatsumi said in a melancholic tone.

"It's the same with me, Alister. I've never known why my eyes do this, or more importantly, why I--" Tatsumi abruptly stopped himself as he began to think.

Why would I tell him that? I doubt he even understands. One word repeated in Tatsumi's head over and over as Alister observed Tatsumi, disappointed.

Empty, empty, empty, empty, empty, empty, empty, empty, empty, empty, empty, empty, empty, empty, empty, empty, empty, empty...

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