Work Text:
There was a balcony on the second floor.
No one ever went there as it was in one of the unused rooms within alters extravagant shared house. While it had its own charm, it's inconvenient for most of the members ("it's too exposed," "sleeping there is just asking enemy to immediately target me so no," "the sun can damage my works...") and thus it had been treated as extra features of the building for gods know how long.
Hikarino, on the other hand, liked that place. At first he rarely went to the second floor as his room was on the ground floor, but he couldn't hold his curiosity wanting to know the view up there on the unused balcony everyone seemed to forget its existence.
Hikarino loved going here whenever he had another sleepless night. Not only he didn't have to explain how he got onto the rooftop to others, no animals and passing by humans would get spooked whenever they saw him in a place he shouldn't be. Less problems, the better.
The view wasn't as amazing compared to the rooftop, but he liked how he didn't have to worry about falling down and could rest his arm on the railing when he got tired. Maybe he could decorate it a little bit; he had seen several pictures about balcony decor.
And tonight, like the other night where he couldn't find peace within slumber, Hikarino found himself once again back to this place. It was a little bit windy and the earthy smell was thick in the air, the remains of heavy rain that happened several hours before, but didn't stop the man from stepping outside and savoring the sight of a sea of stars.
He let out a content sigh and rested his arm on the rail, enjoying the gentle wind playing with his strands of hair and tickling his cheek within the flow. He never got bored with the sight; there was a sense of mysteriousness whenever he looked up at the endless sky as if what he saw right now was just a miniscule with the greatness they hid under their twinkling mirth.
Hikarino stretched his arm, imagining the warmth of the stars within his palm. Was it painfully burning like blazing fire? Or was it comforting like a hot bath in the middle of winter? Or maybe, it was cold like an ice cube fresh from the refrigerator? He certainly didn't know the answer, but the thought itself had brought comfort.
As Hikarino was busy with his own thoughts, it immediately cut off when there was a sudden heavy thing draped on his shoulder. He turned around, silently wondering who was coming to this place, and was met with Kanekuro much to his surprise.
"You'll catch a cold," he said. The man looked down and found it was his trademark thick jacket that had been draped on him. "Also, you're still on recovery, aren't you? Even the wind can knock you down if you're not careful."
"You're exaggerating, Kanekuro."
"I'm just telling you the truth. What are you even doing here anyway at this hour?"
Hikarino couldn't help but smile at his remark. "Did you just get back home?"
"You're not answering my question."
"I'll answer it after you answer mine."
Kanekuro frowned disapprovingly, yet chose to relent. "I am," he answered. "And I don't expect you to hang out in the unused room. Are you planning to move your room here?"
Chuckling, Hikarino shook his head. "I just found peace on this balcony, nothing more. Lookーisn't the starry view from here really pretty? You can rest your arm too at the railing!"
"...You..."
"Yes? What is it?"
"...Nothing," Kanekuro hid his face with his palm. "I just find your words to be intriguing, that is all."
Hikarino hummed, didn't say anything further. He turned his head looking back at the hundred stars spreaded around as far as his vision could gather. He could sense the new presence on his side and didn't show any reaction, knowing it was Kanekuro standing beside him close.
"What are you thinking?" After several minutes of sharing spaces without exchanging any word at all, the mafia boss was the first one to break the silence. "I saw you stretching your arm to the sky as if you're trying to reach something. Was it magic related?"
"Well, no," Hikarino answered. "I just want to know how it feels having a star within arm's length. Are they hot like a fire, or are they warm like the first week of spring?"
"Pftー" Kanekuro couldn't hold his laughter escaping from his throat. He immediately put it to a stop when Hikarino gave him an unamused look. "Sorry, sorry. I forgot you don't know about modern science knowledge."
"So people in this era had found the answer?" The sorcerer raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Human's thirst for knowledge of the world seems to have no bound at all..."
The black-haired man threw a loopy smirk. "Knowledge is power," was his remark. "And power means absolute conquest. Only those who hold the knowledge and wisdom are able to shake the entire universe."
"You sound like a scholar or something," Hikarino replied amusingly. "Are you sure you're a ‘charismatic, siding with justice mafia boss’ and not a sage?"
Kanekuro scoffed. "I'm not foolish like the golden retriever of your counterpart. One needs to be wise to be in control of everything, or else death will come fast before one can enjoy the view from the throne."
Hikarino stared, found himself studied the mafia boss in another light he never expected. He had heard from Rias that both him and the man in front of himself belong to the same dimension; an unforgiving world where only the strongest could see another day. Power alone wouldn't be enough, as human was nothing but fickle being who would sacrifice anything and everything in the face of threat.
"...What is it?"
The man broke from his stupor and shook his head, smiling all the way. "You're amazing, you know that?"
Kanekuro exhorted a snort, folding his arms as he threw his head to another side. "Isn't it expected?"
Hikarino eyed the red hues coloring tips of his ears and hid a chuckle. "If you want to put it that way then sure."
They shared another comfortable silence. Hikarino dragged the oversized jacket hugging his body closer, noting how fluffy it was under his touch. The chilly breeze had became a little bit unbearable, but thanks to Kanekuro's jacket he could endure it without any hitch.
"You can't grab stars."
Hikarino perked up and turned his head to the speaker, blinking at Kanekuro who just threw an information out of blue. "Yes...?"
Without looking, Kanekuro jerked his head toward the night sky. "Stars are millions away from us, the smaller they're, the farthest they're from our Earth. Also they're probably as hot as sun, or even hotter. The Sun is considered a star, too."
"Eh?" Hikarino widened his eyes in surprise. "Sun is a star? Why?"
Kanekuro shrugged. "Perhaps it is because the sun produces energy or something. The brighter they are, the hotter their surface."
Hikarino hummed, awed with the modern knowledge about space and stars. He didn't even know Sun was counted as a star too; but if the scientific concept of star was a space object who could produce its own energy, then it's no wonder. Modern knowledge was very amazing. "That's really cool," he exclaimed. "So it means that stars are untouchable?"
"Pretty much so."
"...Do you like stars?"
Kanekuro faltered from his composure and did a double take toward Hikarino. From the expression alone he could see his dumbfoundedness. "How do you come to that conclusion?"
"Well, umー" Hikarino blushed. He threw that random question purely on whim and didn't expect Kanekuro would react like that. "It's just that... You are so knowledgeable about stars and space, so I thought you like them. Am I wrong?"
"...Huh."
Kanekuro cocked his head, a finger found itself resting on his chin. While he knew Hikarino's question wasn't serious and more or less a thoughtless one, there was an urge inside his heart to answer it properly without hiding anything or causing unneeded misunderstanding.
"I just think they're pretty," he finally answered. "Always twinkling endlessly every night, yet no human aliveーeven in this future worldーhas the record of being able to touch them. They're an unreachable being that's created just for us humans gazed at them like a helpless worm."
The mafia man gave the confused sorcerer a smile. “Do you get it, Hikarino? I like them because they’re unreachable.”
“But I thought you prefer to have everything you want within your reach?”
Kanekuro laughed. It was not in mocking way nor latching in hidden anger, but pure humored laughter. “True, but that doesn't mean I can’t help myself enjoying things in different paths.”
There was an unexplained beauty of things that stayed unreachable even if he had sacrificed all of his power, money, and wits. It could be in the shape of its mysteriousness that tempted him to unveil it with all of his might. It could be in the shape of an impossible demand that drove him to prove he could do the impossible.
It could be in the shape of something, someone so ethereal and out of the world he couldn’t help but wanting to admire from afar. A beauty that didn’t belong to the world he knew, so gentle and pure he didn’t want to accidentally destroy it under his rough touch. A beauty that existed for the sake of being admired; for the sake of tempting the sinners to fall deeper into their own hell.
“Kanekuro?”
Hikarino stared curiously as the man extended his hand to comb his hair lightly, toying the strands on his finger. Just before he was able to open his mouth to call his name once more, Kanekuro lowered his head and kissed his hair on his hand as if it was the finest silk.
He knew Rias would go ballistic if he knew his favorite sorcerer was hanging out with him this night. He couldn’t help but be excited to see the next morning; how would he react if his beloved Hikarino acted flustered around him, clearly remembered his deed and didn’t know what to react afterwards? It would be fun to witness.
What a fortunate day. He was able to spend time with his favorite sorcerer just for two of them and got another material to annoy that damned killer detective. It's like killing two birds with one stone, but this time only one would die while the other one would be forever cherished.
My adorable star, his heart leaped at the sight of blushing Hikarino and shamelessly drank the sight to his heart's content. The light of my mortal enemy. Do entertain more, okay?
“It’s getting late,” Kanekuro threw a teasing smile and a wink. “How about we go back to sleep?”
“...Yes,” Hikarino answered, mind blank. “Let’s go.”