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Tanabata, festival of stars.
It had been years since Banri had last been to a Tanabata festival. The last time was either in his third year of highschool or shortly after that, which means he must've been seventeen, maybe eighteen years old. Back then–
Well, he was alone now.
Banri had really just wanted to run a few errands in this part of town and had already been on his way back home, but it hadn't been all that late and the sight of the traditional, colorful paper decorations fluttering in the wind drew him in like a moth to the light – nostalgia was to blame, probably. Despite all the things Banri tends to say, he wasn't immune against this feeling tugging on his heart every now and then.
And thus, Banri found himself walking down the bustling street. It was a different town, a different Tanabata, but at every corner he spotted something that brought bits and pieces of the past back to life. Stalls with grilled food, huge, colorful paper streamers above his head, and of course the decorated bamboo branches that were placed everywhere along the street.
People came and went under the soft, red glow of the lanterns, passing Banri by, and Banri was passing them by as well. Thin, green leaves swayed gently in the evening breeze, colorful strips of paper following suit while carrying the visitors’ countless wishes, and between them, Banri thought he could make out a wisp of silver, again and again, but each time it was merely his imagination, a memory slipping through his fingers like a ghost.
It was weirdly quiet, being all on your own amidst all these laughing and talking people. Weirdly melancholic. Banri smiled and wondered if he remembered that night as well.
⋆ ˚｡⋆˚ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ ﾟ･:*✧˚･: ⋆｡˚ ⋆
They had left the festival and its bustle far behind them, but despite the late hour, neither of them wanted to go home just yet. It's not like their parents would notice, with Banri officially living alone and Yuki inofficially living with Banri.
“Do you know the Summer Triangle, Yuki?”
Yuki vaguely remembered something. “Stars, right?”
“Yeah, three of them. Vega, Altair and Deneb,” Banri counted, pointing at all three of them in the night sky. “Together, they form the Summer Triangle. Where we live, they're only visible in summer. Hence the name.”
“I can't see anything triangular,” Yuki returned. “There's so many stars. There's no way I know which ones you're talking about.”
“I'll show you. Let's start with Vega. Do you see that really bright star over there? Right, and now you go up like this, passing that smaller star…”
Yuki had no real interest in astronomy, but Banri was explaining tirelessly, letting his index finger wander over the expanse of the sky, and Yuki's eyes followed his every movement drawing invisible lines between the stars; lines that slowly took shape in Yuki's head – Lyra, Aquila and Cygnus, with the Summer Triangle between them.
But Banri didn't stop there. He kept talking, talking about a tale that Yuki felt he had already heard once, a long time ago; the tale of a weaving princess and a cowherd boy who loved each other so dearly that their craft suffered under it, which is why they were forced apart and separated by a large river that they were allowed to cross only once a year – and that special day was the origin of the Tanabata festival that was celebrated today.
Following Banri's hint, Yuki turned his head a little, and this way, he could actually see the faint silver of the milky way out of the corner of his eye; the river separating Vega and Altair.
“It's called peripheral vision. The outer photoreceptor cells of our eyes can't see colors, but they can differentiate light and dark very well. That's why you can see faint nebulas and stars better this way.”
“Mh…,” Yuki merely hummed, closing his tired eyes. “Ban?”
“Yeah?”
“By tomorrow at the latest,” Yuki dropped his head against Banri's shoulder, “I won't remember anything you just explained to me anymore.”
“I'm aware.” Banri repeatedly poked Yuki's head, gently. “I know there's only room for music in there, and nothing else.”
“And you still went out of your way to explain it to me.”
“Not everything needs to become a future memory. Sometimes the moment is enough, right here, right now.”
“Keep this kind of talk up and you'll become a philosopher one day.”
“Sure, and you'll become a comedian.”
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Yuki didn't become a comedian, and as it turned out, Banri didn't become a philosopher, but Yuki was right regarding something else: After all this time, he really didn't remember any of the things Banri explained to him in that night. His words had slipped from Yuki's memory like shooting stars falling from the sky and disappearing in the black. When Yuki raised his gaze, he couldn't make heads nor tails of the stars above him, let alone recognize a triangle somewhere.
But it was fine.
“You'll explain it to me again, right?”
Strands of pearly silver and navy blue were weaving their very own night sky in the warm summer wind while Yuki was still holding onto his handwritten paper strip. He had planned to hang it on the bamboo branches, but…
“Fine. Let's start with Vega. Do you see that really bright star over there? Right, and now you go up like this, passing that smaller star…”
… he doesn't need to wish for it any longer. His wish had already come true.
Yuki listened, smiling, and this time, he would pay a little more attention. Maybe.
Tanabata, festival of stars; the night where Vega and Altair met again.