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A strident sound broke the tranquility of the vast meadow. The rays of the rising sun pierced the brown glass to draw geometric hazel figures on the grass.
“Tch. You bastard…!”
An amber trail of vibrant energy slid from the hill to the growing sunspot.
“Ah, but isn't it too early for an attack? Today I have only insulted you 3 times …”
The sound of a strong sword echoed the hypnotic bells of the lunarians.
“Huh?! I’m trying to save you from kidnapping and that's all you have to say, Dazai? "
A large Lorandite crystal was crawling miserably on the grass, his legs a few feet in front of him.
"I don't remember asking you to save me, Chuuya."
The last of the lunarians was shattered by Champagne Diamond, who was returning gracefully alongside the scattered pieces of his partner. The irritated voice that came out of the gem hid his worried look for a moment.
“You're annoyingly fragile. They needed just one arrow to destroy half of your body?! You're lucky it was just a small spot; I was able to deal with them quickly.”
Dazai was busy picking up his body together.
“You could have let them take me, nothing would make me happier than to surrender to the Lunarians and find peace at last.”
Chuuya began to collect the brown fragments of Dazai. His tone turned with genuine curiosity.
“Why do you want to be taken away so badly, anyway? It’s a dead end, in the moon there’s nothing but emptiness.”
Dazai looked at the sky for an instant, an emotion that Chuuya could not decipher disappeared from his face before making a ridiculous grimace.
“That way I would be free from you, chibi. I still don't understand how Natsume-sensei did it. With so little diamond he could form you, but in return you are the smallest of all of us. It's annoying, why should I be mates with a flea?”
Chuuya groaned as he glared at his partner. He kept picking up pieces.
“Damn you… I'm with you because with your 2.5 fragility you wouldn't get anywhere without protection! If they let you patrol with me it's because your tactics are disturbingly clever.”
And Chuuya did not spoke with sarcasm. His lorandite companion might be frail, irritable and wacky, but thanks to him he had learned better and less risky techniques for fighting. He would never admit it but it was thanks to Dazai that he hadn’t ended in the moon yet. Chuuya’s respect for him was undeniable, and his pride as the strong Champagne Diamond only grew from the opportunity to protect someone like Dazai.
Chuuya was still a new stone among all the others. He did not know where his current partner's cunning came from and knew little about his past. He didn't know why Dazai wanted so to disappear and end up on the moon so hard. He knew it was not because of him, when Chuuya first arrived Dazai already had that kind of mindset so he knew that his previous words were nothing more than hollow excuses to hide the truth. Whether they wanted to or not, they were both companions and seeing Dazai destroyed on the field produced a deep sadness in him. Chuuya picked up his partner and started walking towards the big quartz building.
“You have to stop this kind of behavior. If you continue like this you will not achieve more than to make them take us both to the moon.”
Something stirred inside Dazai.
“Maybe getting you kidnapped was my plan from the beginning. Ah, you discovered me, it would be best if you throw me into the sea! "
Chuuya's anger just kept growing and growing.
"Do you never shut up?! I saved you from the lunarians and I'm taking you to school, don’t you have anything nice to say? "
Dazai let himself drop freely into his companion's arms.
“Even a diamond like you will crack if you continue to bark like that. Now, keep quiet, be a nice companion and take me to the doctor. "
Chuuya dropped Dazai.
“That’s it. You’re going back on your own.”
Dazai broke a little more. There was no way to complain, in the end he had managed to get Chuuya away from him. Hopefully another sunspot would come and he could finally reach the moon.
The sun had been down for hours when Goshenite and Bort found Lorandite.
“Dazai-san?!” spoke Goshenite “We have looked for you everywhere, what happened to you?”
The pieces of Dazai were spread out under the stars.
“Ah, ¡Atsushi-kun! If you're here it means I'm not on the moon yet. Tch.”
“Tch?!” Atsushi surely thought as he picked up Dazai.
“Akutagawa, help me take Dazai to Yosano!”
Bort shuddered over himself
"I ... will take Dazai-san to school with delicacy and care."
Dazai huffed.
“I am not a piece of dry dirt, Akutagawa. Just help me, I have to go bother Chuuya. "
“You were lucky this time, Dazai. Atsushi-kun and Akutagawa-kun were able to find all of your pieces this time, but remember that you could lose your memories if any fragments get lost. You must stop being so careless.”
The Neptunite pasted the remaining piece of Dazai.
"Maybe losing my memories is just what I need, Yosano-sensei."
Yosano knew what Dazai was referring to, after all she was one of the oldest gems of all. That same longevity and the esteem she had for the gem in front of her was what led her to keep quiet in discretion, after all she knew that that was a sensitive topic for Dazai.
"Anyway, just try not to waste all of our time with your attempts to reach the moon."
Dazai raised an eyebrow.
“Our ?”
“Your partner works twice as much as the other teams because of you. It's a shame that Chuuya's ability is only to prevent you from doing something foolish. It may not seem like it, but he really appreciates you. You should show him that you care about him too every now and then.”
"And what exactly makes you think I care about him?"
Yosano showed her back to Dazai as she put her things in its place while preparing to leave, it had been a long day. She paused for a second before continuing, she knew she had to choose her next words carefully.
“I've seen how you look at Chuuya when you argue. You looked at him the same way. "
Dazai froze in place. He snorted derisively before standing up and heading for the exit.
“You shouldn’t work this late, is starting affecting your brain. Good night.”
Yosano watched the slim figure go. The moon illuminated his silhouette.
The tall corridors felt cold as Dazai passed through. He wandered the immense halls of the school. The night seemed a wonderful time. He could pace at his own pleasure while all the other gems were asleep. The stars showed him a thousand futures that once were, the sea sang the stories of another time. Dazai noticed a certain orange glow illuminating a nearby hill. Yosano's words echoed in his being as he approached with a light step.
“I don't need a babysitter right now. I thought you knew lunarians never show up at night, Chuuya.”
Chuuya was sitting on the edge of a cliff, hugging a small bowl with an iridescent jellyfish inside. The restless waves were the only thing that colored the sound of the night.
"I didn't come to patrol, and I'm certainly not here to babysit."
Dazai sat down next to Chuuya. A little light would do him good.
“So what are you doing awake? With your size you can't gather much energy from the sun during the day, you can pass out at any moment. "
But Chuuya did not flinch. He was looking beyond the horizon; summer would soon be over. Dazai, who expected at least an annoyed look from his earlier comment, spoke again.
"Chuuya? Did the snails finally finish eating your brain? "
"Can I ask you a question"
Something inside Dazai flipped. His partner was now looking into his eyes. Chuuya interpreted Dazai's silence as permission to continue. The question had burned his throat a long time ago.
“Why are you trying to push me away?”
Dazai was quick to make a mocking comment.
“Easy! That is because I hate y- “
“But do you really hate me that much, though?”
Chuuya had placed the little jellyfish between them, now he was hugging his legs and his gaze was still fixed on Dazai's, who was surprised by Chuuya's interruption and his strange behavior. It was one of the few times when he couldn't find words to say. Chuuya continued.
“Because I don't hate you. I mean, I definitely hate your attitude and I can't understand why you want to leave so much, but I don't hate you. I think we would be a great team if you just supported me in the same way that I support you. And look, I don't know what happened to your old partner but- "
"It's true, you don't know anything so you should shut up."
Dazai's cutting voice made Chuuya wonder if it was possible for a diamond to break with the simple power of a few words.
“If I don't know it's because you never talk to me. You go around being all selfish waiting for me to save your ass and you don't even have the decency to tell me what's in your head. Do you know how difficult it is for me to be in constant danger from someone who doesn't even value me?”
“Shut up.”
“Do you ever think about how much I'm risking for you? Imagine that you achieve your dream and are taken to the moon, how do you think I would feel about it? Or what is more likely to happen because of your stupidity, how would you feel if instead of you it is me who is being kidnapped?!”
“Shut up!”
Dazai tackled Chuuya. His usually peaceful face was contorted by a helpless grin. One of his arms snapped onto the edge of the cliff, right next to Chuuya's head. The jellyfish wondered if the moon was made of all the promises that could never be kept.
“Dazai?”
"You don't know anything, Chuuya, you don't understand anything."
Dazai was trembling. The moon illuminated his deep eyes and gave them a strange illusion. It was almost as if all the midnight oceans were looking at Chuuya back.
"Then help me understand."
Chuuya placed his hands on the hand that kept him against the ground. He could not bear to see his partner in that state and would give anything to understand even a fraction of his pain.
“I can’t.”
Dazai's mind felt full and empty at the same time. At that moment he couldn't see past his painful memories. He felt himself in a thousand pieces again even if he was almost in one piece at that very moment. He saw that hand reaching for his again, he looked back at himself lying broken on the floor with his arms out of reach. He saw that sunspot getting smaller and smaller. He heard his own scream, even if the silence of the night burned his ear at the moment. I can't, I can't, I can't, he was completely alone again.
Chuuya stretched his hand up to Dazai's cheek.
"It's okay. I'm here now."
Despair crossed Dazai's pale face before it snapped in two. Literally.
“Dazai?!”
Chuuya finished collecting all the small fragments of the grass, fortunately there were not many, but he took care to be especially careful, he did not want Dazai to lose more of himself. Seeing him without an arm and with a quarter face missing was sad enough.
Dazai, meanwhile, was sitting on the edge of the cliff. He did not look at his partner when he sat next to him and began to speak.
“Look, it's okay if you don't want to tell me. I understand that it can be painful for you and that you do not want to talk about it with anyone. I don't want to force you to do something that clearly hurts you. It's just that maybe talking to someone can make you feel a little better and as your, as your partner I would like you to have a little more confidence in me because I- "
“Odasaku.”
Chuuya looked at Dazai. He seemed far away.
“What?”
"Odasaku. That was the name of my former partner. "
Something about that name was familiar to Chuuya. Odasaku… Odasaku… Ah!
"Fire Opal?" I didn't know he was your partner. His stories at school are hard to forget. "
“He was the best gem of us all. He may have not been a diamond, but his abilities surpassed all of us. He was one of the oldest stones that inhabited this earth, his mind was like nothing I’d ever seen before, he was just than just a rock existing and I could spend hours listening to him. His main objective in existence was to take care of us the most fragile stones, for that same reason he paired himself with me to patrol. It was because of that same pathetic fragility of mine that he ended up with them. The lunarians took him because he was protecting me, I couldn't do anything but watch because I'm that useless. Tell me, Chuuya, how would you feel in my place? What would you do besides try to go to the place where the gem that you appreciated more than others is? Would you wish for something else besides ceasing to exist so that the guilt that takes over your being would disappear, even if for a moment? Do you have the remote idea of the hell that I live every day since he was taken away because of me? "
A metallic liquid began to leak out of Dazai's remaining eye. The drops faded the color of his suit and were quickly absorbed by the earth. Chuuya had never seen anything like that. He thought about the nights when the stars were brightest and if you paid enough attention, if you were patient and observant, you could see a comet illuminate the night sky with the most beautiful of blues. He closed the distance and wrapped Dazai in a hug, even if he felt his tears burning his own clothes.
"I really have no idea."
Chuuya fixed his gaze nowhere, his arms cradling Dazai's head against his chest. He closed her eyes before continuing.
“I have no idea what you've been through. I also have no idea about the storm in your head or the pain in your core. I don't know how lonely you must feel and I certainly have no idea how losing your partner must feel. "
Dazai was silent. He had never heard Chuuya speak in such a soft and raw manner at the same time. He felt comfortable.
“I have no idea about any of that, no, but of two things I'm sure. One: I have not experienced those kinds of feelings because since I’m here I have been with you and for that alone I already feel the luckiest stone of all. Dazai, if it weren't for you, they would have taken me a long time ago. I'm not stupid, but I'm definitely reckless and if it weren't for your sometimes-hurtful coldness I wouldn't be here anymore. The gems of the island need you. You are appreciated by everyone around you. And now I understand why you want to push me away, and you can keep trying, I will never leave your side. That is a threat. "
Chuuya slightly separated from Dazai, the following he wanted to say by looking at him face to face.
"Which brings me to the next thing I'm sure of. You are not alone, Dazai. Not anymore.”
Dazai glowed like never before. The pain was still there, but something inside him told him that he had just found the right way to learn to cope. Perhaps one day he would again enjoy the flowers in the meadows without feeling the imposing presence of the menacing satellite in the sky. He would enjoy the sea breeze again without feeling an old presence that was no longer there. He would go back to enjoying orange sunrises without feeling heavy towards the color. He would enjoy the beauty of being alive. Dazai snuggled against the gem beside him, his newfound tears still tearing at his clothes, it didn't matter, he knew they would be the last in a long time.
“Thank you, Chuuya”
A dull sound made the little jellyfish on the bowl to turn around. The two gems had fallen together, their bodies turned to see the universe and their backs talked with the earth. They had collapsed from lack of energy, after all such a little animal could only generate so much light. The jellyfish then found the answer to its infinite question. Seeing both gems shining with the light of a new future built beyond a pair of immortal souls, it knew that the moon was made of a vanished past that may never return but will always be replaced by an eternity of brighter dawns.