Chapter Text
Sometimes, he would find himself thinking a bit too much about that boy. It tended to be in the little things. Window shopping and thinking ‘Maybe he would like that,’ or ‘His birthday is soon, I should get him something.’ This wasn’t out of the ordinary, of course. It was natural to think of the people you care about throughout your day.
But sometimes, his thoughts would wander a bit too far. Too far into an unknown place where thoughts of mere companions or family members could never reach. He would dream of dragging him round by the hand, at night time preferably, showing him all the sights he thought pretty, or, for a better word, magical. He wanted to share those moments, to share that feeling with the boy. And afterwards, they could sit together hand in hand, looking up at the sky. And it could be like nothing else existed. Nothing else but the two of them and the stars. Those two always had an affinity for stars, they did. Those glittering lights in the dark which could link us together no matter how far apart. They loved those stars.
And he loved that boy.
There was a morning, much like most others. And on that morning Natsume Sakasaki woke up with an itch in his throat. An insignificant thing, really. It was still flu season.
Natsume never went to class that day, as was often the case. He would miss out on seeing that boy, but at this point he wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or a curse. But as he knew, curses were sometimes unavoidable.
“Natsume~! Ah, you were here after all!” A bright and cheerful laugh followed behind. Natsume let out a small noise in surprise and his heart beat a little faster. Just his luck that Subaru Akehoshi would find him here today. Though it’s not like he was hiding.
Subaru Akehoshi was that boy, after all, and it wasn’t as if Natsume didn’t enjoy seeing him.
“Baru-kun… What did you come here fOR?” He was a bit caught off guard by the boy’s sudden appearance. It was unusual of Subaru to show up during class time, and to the secret room no less.
“What’s with that noise? Don’t be rude!” The boy made a little pout. “You never show your face around class, so I came to look for you!”
“Why bothER…” Natsume quickly regained his composure. He didn’t much like showing weakness around anyone, though he was certain Subaru wouldn’t catch on.
The two chatted for a bit, rambling on about oases and individual study times. It could’ve been about almost anything. Natsume didn’t really care, he just enjoyed the time he could spend talking with him. Subaru was like the sun in his daytime sky.
“Oh~! I have to get back to class now, see you later, Natsume!” The boy had gotten too caught up in their conversation to even remember his reason for coming there in the first place.
That idiot.
As he left it was like the day was changing into night.
Natsume began to cough. Perhaps talking so much had irritated his already sore throat. This was the logical conclusion, obviously. But all logic and common sense seemed irrelevant when he had coughed up the petal of a flower, as golden as his very eyes.
It was strange, Natsume normally liked the nighttime.