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The grass is humid, the night chilly. The temperature is just so that it’s uncomfortable to be outside, but neither Nanami nor Tae make a move to leave the garden. They’re beyond quiet, so still one could easily mistake them for realistic statues. Even their breathing is shallow, rapid and anxious for Tae and so slow that it’s barely visible for Nanami.
There are many unsaid things filling the night, covering the stars like smog and making everything darker than the inside of a black-hole. Where she’s propped up by her arms, Hanazono’s breathing becomes gradually even more erratic, inhaling and exhaling so fast the oxygen doesn’t even reach her lungs.
“You’re going to give yourself an anxiety attack like this.” Hiromachi’s voice is low, almost as if she’s afraid of breaking the stillness. Tae doesn’t answer, thinking the same thing about how the silence should stay.
A beat passes, then another.
“All the stars are already dead.” It’s Nanami again. “We’re just looking at dead things.”
Tae just keeps hyperventilating.
“Tae.”
In and out at a rapid pace.
“O-Tae.”
Sweat accumulates at Hanazono’s brow.
“Hanazono Tae!”
Air is inhaled so suddenly it makes a noise.
“What?”
“Just breathe slower.”
“Why?”
“It’s not because it’s the end that you need to end yourself too.”
“Maybe it is needed.”
“The world is not ending, just us. There’s more to you than that.”
“I’ll miss you.” Her voice is so shaky and her eyes so watery that Nanami almost feels a pang in her heart. Almost.
“So will I.”
“Then… Let’s stay here forever. Don’t go, don’t leave me.”
“You know I will.”
Tears start streaming down Hanazono’s face. At first it’s slow, just one or two drops, but then it’s like a waterfall opens and Tae is crying so hard she’s hiccuping.
“The stars are all dead, Tae. All dead.”