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[indent]Blaring horns and muffled yells, the soft purr of the engine, and the quiet rumble of the wheels on the pavement as the car finally moved. Voices. People talking. [i]His father[/i] talking. Talking with her father. She was silent, just like his mother. Both of them sitting quietly, smiling all the while through the conversation being held between the two men. This was not how Kousuke wanted to start his day.

A dark brown gaze remained fixed on the traffic and passing city outside the winter windows of the luxury car as Kousuke took on an appearance of not caring what the people around him were saying, his body language telling others that he was all but completely lost to the world, not paying a single mind to anything but his own thoughts. He often took up this charade when placed into these scenarios. The less he seemed to care, the less he was made the center of attention, and the less he was made the center of attention, the less people seemed to judge him for simply slouching in his seat too much, or whatever other complaint anyone could think of.

The thing was, Kousuke was completely present in the conversation. He listened to every word the men exchanged. Talking of the weather, and of traffic, speaking of the news--including the rise in suicides... What Kousuke focused the most on, however, was the talk of the engagement. They discussed terms and conditions of, who would gain what and what the [i]'merger'[/i] would bring about. In the end, it was just more business.

[indent]"We'll have the wedding next spring," her father spoke precisely.

"Isn't that a bit out of the way?" his father questioned.

"It's to give us time for proper planning," the other man explained, "My wife and daughter would prefer if this were more than a contractual arrangement. We expect to be hosting at least a noteworthy event. Nothing extravagant, surely, but something to look nice for the media, if anything."

"Fair enough," Kousuke's father replied, "We can work with that."[/indent]

And so the conversation continued, the two fathers determining the best location for the wedding and other various details they both seemed to find important. Kousuke began to lose interest, as he usually did when talk about the wedding came about. He drew his focus away from the conversation, instead letting his mind wander back to his dream, the one which he had woken from that morning. He thought about the contract, his name being signed on the line. It was all very reminiscent of what he was going through now. He had no doubt the whole, fantastical event was related, in someway, to these stressors of his waking life.

As the car passed through a tunnel, Kousuke was met with his reflection in the darkness of the window. He took note of his gauntness and the bags under his eyes and couldn't help but frown at himself.

[indent][color=f7976a][i]I look...dead...[/i][/color] he thought with a small cringe.[/indent]

A white car passing by in the other direction took his reflection for a moment, and when it returned, Kousuke jumped a bit as the figure before him, the image that should have been himself, was suddenly something entirely different.

[indent][color=f7976a][i]A rabbit...?[/i][/color][/indent]

He reached up to take off his shades, rubbing at his eyes a moment before looking back at his reflection with unblocked eyes.

[indent][color=f7976a][i]It's gone...[/i][/color][/indent]

He searched the other reflections in the window, as though he would find that it had moved to sit between the men, or maybe even be riding in the seat beside the chauffeur, but it was nowhere to be found. Shaking his head, he returned his glasses to their place and let out a soft sigh as the car left the tunnel behind.

[indent][color=f7976a][i]I need more sleep.[/i][/color][/indent][/indent]