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The sun hung over the ocean, its golden rays fell upon the waves, casting a gentle radiance against it. The sounds of waves crashing against the sandy beach shores. The blonde girl’s hand was holding onto her partner’s. The warmth of the summer could’ve been mistaken for that of their happiness. The couple’s shoes kicked against the sand, causing tiny golden grains to get stuck to their feet. Yet, this didn’t seem to matter to either of them. Instead, they were more focused on the scenery. To them, the scenery was not that of the sunset, but rather each other.
“Haruka-chan, look at this!” Saki exclaimed, her hand slipping out of Haruka’s. Saki scrambled across the sandy beach, crouching down to view something. Haruka couldn’t help but smile seeing this. How lively her partner was, the warmth of joy seemed like enough to light up an entire room. “What is it, T— Saki?” Haruka said, strolling over to see what Saki was observing ever so closely. “A perfect half of a shell!” Saki exclaimed, almost in awe of it. Gingerly, Saki used her fingertips to brush off the sand on the shell before sifting it through the seawater for a moment. “Man, these sure are hard to find! A really, really long time ago, when I was a kid, I used to come here with Tsukasa a lot and we’d search the entire beach for shells like these. Most of the time, the ones we find are either broken up into little pieces or full shells,” Saki explained, placing the shell in Haruka’s hands. “Here, for you!”
Haruka looked down at the shell that lay within her palms. The shell shined beneath the the gentle sunlight that fell upon it, the drops of seawater seemingly changing colours at every glance. “For me?” Haruka asked, unable to accept such a present. She raised her eyes to face Saki, wearing her forever-smiling-no-matter-what face. “Didn’t you say these were rare?” Saki nodded, starting to stride across the seashore. Waves hit the sand, the sounds crashing into both of their ears. “That’s precisely why I want you to have it,” Saki smiled. “It’s one of a kind, just like you, Haruka!” Haruka’s cheeks burned, sliding the shell into her pocket. Quickly, she recollected her thoughts and smiled back. “Thank you, Saki. I’ll treasure it dearly.”
“Shall we find the other half?” Saki proposed.
“Wouldn’t that take a while?” Haruka asked, placing her fist to her chin.
“Not with you by my side!”
And like that, the couple began their search for the other half of the seashell. Haruka doubted being able to such a tiny thing in such vast lands of sand. Yet, having Saki by her side gave her a strange type of hope she’d never imagined. They’d spent about half an hour searching the sands for the second half, but to no avail. Undeterred by this, the two continued. Somehow, knowing they’d be counting on one another blossomed some determination within the two.
“Saki! Come over here!” Haruka called out, dusting sand off the surface of a seashell, almost identical to that of the one Saki had found. “No way, you found it?!” Saki asked, scrambling over to take a look. Haruka had almost stepped on it, but thank goodness she hadn’t. It was, miraculously, perfectly fine. Haruka walked over the the sea side and dipped the seashell in, rinsing the ridiculously large seashell in the seawater. “It really is the same one… You’re amazing, Haruka!” Saki chirped excitedly, almost jumping around. Haruka smiled, “Not as brilliant as you, though. You managed to spot that other shell from meters away. Here.” Haruka placed the shell in Saki’s hands, that same warm smile plastered across her face. “Haruka…” Saki said, almost touched. “Thank you,” Saki grinned, cupping the seashell between her hands before placing it into her pocket. “Now we’re matching!”
Sundown truly was that time of day. The time between day and night. Day, being Saki. Night, being Haruka. It was truly beautiful, wasn’t it? Someone as radiant and bright as the sun, paired with someone as calm and gentle as the moon that now peered over at the two of them. The stars smiled approvingly at the pair, having their light cascade down from the dark night sky to fall onto the duo. It wasn’t just night and day that could symbolise them, but so did the sea and the sunset. There were just a million ways to describe the two of them; they really were perfect for each other. Haruka had suggested heading home since it had gotten late, but Saki insisted that they stayed there. She wanted to count the stars together with Haruka. Seeing the look on her partner’s face, Haruka had no choice but to agree.
“Haruka, do you see that star?” Saki asked, raising her hand to point at the sky. She pointed at a large bright star, one that illuminated the entire blanket of the night.
“I see it.”
“That’s the North Star.”
Ah, yes. She was right. It was the brightest star after all, wasn’t it?
“Oh, I see.”
“The North Star, haha,” Saki began. “It… reminds me a lot of you, you know?” Saki turned to face Haruka, a smile plastered across her face. Despite the night having fallen, Saki’s smile never wavered, bright as ever against the darkness of the night sky. “Eh?” was the only thing Haruka could muster. Saki continued, “It’s bright, it lights up the whole sky. While you’re not the most energetic, to me, you’re…” Saki’s gaze fell upon the waves that crashed against her feet. “You’re the bright light in my times of darkness.”
And that, really made Haruka’s heart jump. Thank goodness it was dark at the time, otherwise Saki would’ve seen how red Haruka’s face had turned. Haruka felt saki place her head against her shoulder, their fingers weaving into each other. “I love you, Haruka,” Saki said, and though Haruka couldn’t see well in the darkness, she could tell Saki was smiling. Haruka whispered into the blonde girl’s hair, “I love you too, Saki.”
“Oh! Oh! Do you see that star over there?” Saki rose to her feet as she jumped up and pointed at another star in the far left of Haruka’s vision.
“Yeah?”
“That star is known as the…”
As the two remained there in the midst of the night chatting away, the darkness embracing them with comfort, Haruka couldn’t stop thinking about Saki’s words. As Saki counted and named each star in the sky, Haruka thought to herself that the brightest star wasn’t in the sky. Rather, it was right by her side, counting those in the sky along with her.