“The university.” Rabbit had told him he’d stay there to practice. Hopefully, he was still there.
Hopefully, the death of his father was simply making Baikal unusually paranoid and when he got there he’d find an annoyed little bunny, wondering what the hell he’d brought all his friends around for.
Chapter 32:
The auditorium looked pretty different when all the lights were on and he was the only one left in it.
Rabbit was sitting on the edge of the stage, lying down and staring sightlessly up at the high rafters. He’d practiced for a few hours but hadn’t been able to concentrate for some reason, and needing a change of scenery, had decided to walk here. The building wasn’t far from the main music one anyway, so the walk itself had been less than ten minutes, not nearly long enough to really help clear his mind as he’d hoped.
Most of the other students who were still on campus were in the library or the cafeteria. Those who had night classes or were in one of the various studios would be holed up there for hours, the same way Rabbit typically was. That meant he was able to enjoy the quiet, something that usually elicited a strong sense of loneliness within him.
It wasn’t like that tonight, however. Rabbit didn’t feel lonely. He didn’t exactly feel free yet either, but there was a sense of steadiness like he finally had his feet on the ground. A feeling that he’d been lacking for a long time.
For once in his life, he was trying to find his place. Before, that path had always been set for him. His mother was probably spending her trip concocting schemes to get him back under her heel, completely unaware that he’d already planned ahead to stop her. She wouldn’t expect that from him. It was hard to see a betrayal coming from someone you’d never truly seen before, and to her, Rabbit had always been a controllable piece on her chess board and nothing more.
Baikal had already taken care of delivering the video to the news station, and he’d discussed when they were allowed to publish the story. They’d wanted to interview Rabbit as well, and after some thought, he’d decided he was going to do it. He would have told Void his decision, but he’d yet to hear from him since he’d left earlier for the hospital.
Rabbit had seen the news about his father about twenty minutes ago when he’d first come in here and fiddled with his multi-slate a bit. He’d called Baikal after much debate, but when he hadn’t answered, he didn’t bother with a message.
Would he even want Rabbit around?
Maybe he wouldn’t even come home tonight.
Maybe Rabbit’s place wouldn’t be his home anymore and he’d return to Void estate where he belonged.
Rabbit had to figure out what he wanted to do with the house too. It was technically under his name since the house had belonged to his father and he’d left it to Rabbit in his will. Since he’d only been a baby then, obviously his mother had taken over all the responsibility, but on Vitality it was the name on the deed that mattered most. He could choose to sell it if he didn’t want to continue living there.
Did he?
He should at least finish up his senior year at the university, right? He’d already come this far, it would be stupid of him to throw all of that away, even if at the end of the year he decided he no longer wanted a music career.
Who knew being in control of his own life would come with so many questions. He was already exhausted thinking up the ones he had and knew there were at least a dozen more he’d yet to think of. He wanted to run all of this by Baikal, not because he didn’t trust his own judgment, but because having someone to talk to about things had been…nice.
Should he call Sila? He owned an apartment just off of campus that he shared with Rin when his brother wasn’t staying at the Academy. It was close. Maybe he’d be up for grabbing a late dinner with Rabbit.
Could the two of them do that? They’d never met off campus before, and this whole time Rabbit had assumed that was because his fear of his mom had been holding him back but…now that he thought about it, Sila had never even invited him anywhere other than to lunch either. What if the younger guy didn’t want to hang out with him at all and Rabbit had completely misread things?
He groaned and ran a hand through his hair, frustrated with himself. He wouldn’t know until he tried. He should just call the guy.
Something appeared a few inches over his face, hovering in the air and Rabbit frowned at it as his vision adjusted. It was a single Rose Ephemeral, the bloom full and crimson with a dusting of gold. He took it between two fingers and sat up, spinning the thin stem before turning, figuring it was Void and his jealous streak had gotten the best of him. It would be so like him, to stop and buy one of these on his way here just so he could tell Rabbit not to bother accepting them from anyone else.
Only, when he finally glanced over, it wasn’t Baikal who was standing there to greet him.
A tall man a few years older than him was beaming down at him, his honey-toned blond hair partially falling into his light blue eyes. There was a mole above his upper lip, and three piercings in his right ear, all with tiny ruby studs in them. He’d dressed as a senior student for some reason, in black pants and a black button-up. He’d even gotten his hands on the school crest, which he’d pinned to the front of his leather belt.
He looked both the same and entirely different from the last time Rabbit had seen him.
When he’d been a dead body lying on the ground, bleeding out into the packed earth of his greenhouse.
“Oli?” Rabbit was so shocked he couldn’t move, even when the ghost took a step closer and crouched before him, blinking those oval-shaped eyes of his in the same lazy fashion he used to.
Or, maybe not. There was something different about that too, something…off, that Rabbit couldn’t quite place his finger on, possibly due to the surprise he was undergoing.
“Hey, Rabbit,” Oli said, voice light but with an edge that hadn’t been there before. Not just when he’d spoken with Rabbit either. Oli had always been overly friendly and chipper. If there was a silver lining in any given situation, he’d be the first person who found it.
Having someone like that around had uplifted Rabbit’s spirits. It’d helped him feel not so trapped by his circumstances whenever his mother went off on one of her rages.
“I’d ask how you’ve been in my absence,” Oli continued when Rabbit didn’t speak, “but I already know all about that. You’ve been up to some very bad things, with some very bad people, haven’t you?” He bopped Rabbit’s nose.
