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The night was warm. A gentle wind ruffled her hair, brought her back to the present. She had to admit that, lately, she had developed a bad habit of rambling while stargazing. Habit acquired, obviously. The idiot used to get lost among galaxies and constellations, vaguely describing the Belt of Orion or the vastness of Andromeda - of which she knew very little, of which he knew too much.
The starry sky was clear at this time of the year. The pollution from the city could not reach the place where she and Kaito had decided to build her home. Life in the countryside sounded like a suitable decision for both of them: away from the hustle, from the problems, from the memories that the noisy metropolis brought them. Even so, some too quiet nights managed to return them to the nightmare from which they had long awakened.
But they were together. Like they thought they could never be, like they thought they would never be able to be. They had built a house, a family, away from everything that could torment them. Maki used to think it had been a selfish decision (to force him to give up on the dream that had been invented for him by taking him away from civilization), but seeing him tremble beneath sweaty sheets, in the grip of a night terror that he would probably forget when he woke up, had made her realize that they were in this together - as if it hadn't been made clear countless times, even before exiting the game.
The breeze crashed against her soft cheeks, made her shiver, brought her to life. The past created for her, the resilient struggle she had led since she could remember, were nothing more than inventions too convenient, too convincing. That did not stop the nightmares from attacking her, however. Even though Kaito's arms wrapped around her perhaps too tightly at night, she could not remove the demons of her past, nor the fear of them haunting her in her future.
But they were together. Maybe not like in the silly movies he insisted they had to watch every day after lunch, maybe not like in the stories she had read in the books she had accumulated in their room. Their bond was special; it was more than just that. It was empirical proof that she deserved more than what her nightmares made her believe. Maki loved, deeply, naively, the fake boy of the stars.
She loved the worst boy of the world, while she gazed at the stars on a warm february night.
She did not love him more than she loved herself, though. That was what she had learned, what her experience had given her. Maki deserved so much more than that, than a senseless, agonizing feeling like being blindly in love. Maki loved him impossibly, unconditionally, but just because he had shown her how important it was that she loved herself first. She had to overcome her monsters, even if they chased her, even if they chased him.
They lived only for themselves, not for the fabricated idea that had once been imposed on them. Maki had learned to bake, Kaito had made a small garden in the backyard of their house. They both cooked, solved puzzles, drank wine, had sex. The years passed and they were together, truly together.
She breathed in the smell of the countryside. She was rambling while looking at silly stars whose names she didn't know nor understand. She ignored the sound of tree branches creaking beneath her, only until she felt a callused hand on her shoulder, forcing her out of her trance. On her skin she felt the texture of her husband's ring. She turned, just a little, fully receiving the starry gaze of the star boy.
“Shuichi called. He said happy birthday”.
She smiled. He smiled back, as he carefully sat beside her. The tree was tall, its branches thick enough to support the weight of the two of them on it. From there the stars shone better than anywhere else. Several wishes had been requested in the highest branch of it, many others had been fulfilled in its very bottom.
She rested her head on his shoulder. Her birthday had never meant anything to her, but Kaito had convinced her that February 2nd was the most important date for him (it was not even necessary to clarify why). She felt a soft kiss on the top of her head; the ghost of his lips stayed there for way too long.
"Happy birthday, Maki Roll."
Maki thought that she was infinitely happy. Because she was alive, because she loved. Because she knew that Kaito Momota's stupid wisdom would haunt her forever. That was what she had desired that time, what she would want to wish forever under the starry sky.