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One of Shuichi Saihara’s favourite memories went like this:
“Catch me if you can, sidekick!” a purple-haired boy shouted cheerily, running across freshly cut grass. Kaito Momota was tall, energetic, lively, and Shuichi’s best friend. Right now, they were in Kaito’s backyard, making the most of a hot summer day running around and having fun as usual. They’d hung out together ever since they were toddlers, when their moms would take them both to the local children’s playground. Kaito had spotted Shuichi sitting alone under the slide, and had tugged on the latter’s arm relentlessly until he’d agreed to step out of the shade and run around with him.
He hadn’t grown out of that habit, it seemed―every now and then Shuichi would be sitting on his porch reading a book, and Kaito would come along and drag him off for a game of tag. ‘Training’, he called it. Often, Shuichi would complain, saying that he needed to finish reading or that he wanted to take a break from exercise, but secretly he was glad to spend time with Kaito, and enjoyed every second of it.
That day, he found himself in Kaito’s backyard again, trying to chase the taller boy as he dashed past the shrubs and made a beeline for the swingset. Shuichi was small, almost scrawny, and he wasn’t fast at all, so the process was almost always endless. He followed Kaito past the swingset and round the back of the house, at one point coming close enough to brush his fingers against Kaito’s T-shirt, only for Kaito to channel a burst of energy and speed away again.
As Kaito doubled back across the lawn, Shuichi couldn’t help but notice how the breeze ruffled his unruly grape-coloured hair, how he ran as swiftly as the wind. He observed the way Kaito’s sweat glistened in the afternoon heat, the way his eyes lit up when he smiled, and the way he laughed like he hadn’t a care in the world. It reminded Shuichi of little bells, the sound ringing in his ears like music. It would go on to remind him of cloudless blue skies and happy memories, even when storm clouds hung over the horizon and life troubled him with endless woes.
Whenever he looked at his best friend, Shuichi got a little fluttery feeling inside his chest, and he thought about how, whenever his parents were arguing over who should take custody of him, Kaito’s smile would always manage to lift his worries, even for a moment; and how, every time he started to cry, Kaito would always be there to give him a pat on the back and cheer him up, never once judging him for tearing up so easily. To Shuichi, Kaito was as radiant as the sun, shining brighter than anyone or anything in the entire universe.
All of a sudden, a flash of lilac whizzed past him, and he realized he had been lost in thought. “Hey, what’re you doing, spacing out like that? Giving up so easily?” Kaito shouted as he disappeared behind a tree.
“No way!” Shuichi replied, picking up his pace, and continued chasing Kaito towards the patio awning. With a yelp, Kaito leapt over a deck chair, but was intercepted by Shuichi on the other side, and he fled to the depths of the garage in a desperate attempt to escape.
A good thirty seconds passed before Kaito noticed that nobody was coming after him. “Shuichi?” he asked, slightly confused. “Hey, sidekick, where ya at?” Puzzled, he slowly peeked around the garage door, and…
“Gotcha!” Shuichi pounced out from the shadows and grabbed Kaito’s shoulders, and the taller boy let Shuichi tackle him to the ground as they rolled over on the grass. They both settled down on their backs face-up towards the sky and, despite their exhaustion, laughed gaily.
“Man, you outsmarted me! You’re sharp, sidekick,” Kaito remarked, making Shuichi beam. He looked over at his best friend, thinking how great of an afternoon it’d been, and right then, it seemed like every afternoon would be like this till the end of time. He’d be with Kaito, and he’d be happy.
“Hey, Shuichi?” Kaito asked out of the blue after a while.
“Hm?”
“You ever hear of binary stars?”
Shuichi shook his head curiously. His best friend liked space a lot, and it was always interesting hearing him talk about stars and planets and constellations. Well, it was interesting hearing Kaito talk about anything, really. The smaller boy tilted his head, waiting for an explanation.
“They’re like, two stars that are so close to each other, their combined gravitational center makes them orbit one another.” He grinned. “Kinda like you and me.”
Shuichi’s eyes widened at this, his spirits soaring, and he was sure that Kaito had no idea just how much this meant to him. Sure, Kaito was practically his whole world, but he’d always imagined himself as more of a smaller dwarf planet orbiting a massive sun. He’d never even considered that Kaito could view him the same way, that he would be as important to Kaito as Kaito was to him. He scooted closer to his best friend, and they both watched the sun set over the rolling hills in the distance as evening began to paint the sky dark.
Almost twelve years later, Shuichi sat and watched the stars through the window of his apartment as they twinkled in the night sky. He couldn’t believe so much time had passed since then, when they were still children frolicking about. Binary stars, he thought, smiling to himself as he leaned over to kiss his boyfriend, who was sleeping soundly under the covers.
Kaito didn’t know how right he’d been.