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1.
“Kou?”
“Hmm?” He glanced over at Mitsuba in surprise. No one called him that. He was always Teru’s little brother, barely acknowledged at all in his golden brother’s shadow.
“Are you okay?” Mitsuba asked in his soft, quiet voice as he watched him with the intensity he reserved only for looking through his camera lens. “You spaced out. What’s wrong? Is something troubling you?”
Kou barely caught the words in time before the I love you fell from his parted lips. He blinked and the glow that always seemed to envelop Mitsuba when he looked at him, like sunlight and azaleas, brightened fractionally. He looked away, hoping Mitsuba didn’t catch his blush. “I have to head home. I’ll be back tomorrow though.” He hesitated before adding, “I promise.”
Mitsuba stared after him in the unnerving way that always made Kou feel like he could see right through him into his soul. Then he smiled, warm and bright and so alive that Kou had to remind himself once again that he wasn’t. “Until tomorrow then,” he said and lifted his camera to capture another photo of Kou.
Kou scowled as he always did. He rolled his eyes as he always did. And he lied, like he always did. “I hate when you do that.”
Mitsuba shrugged with an expression that reminded Kou of a mischievous kitten, and with that, he was gone.
2.
Kou wasn’t usually one to sneak back onto school grounds after hours, but the moonlight had an enchanting effect on Mitsuba and he found himself more than once admiring how the dim light filtering through the large windows tangled and twirled through Mitsuba’s hair almost as if it could caress his ghostly body if it tried hard enough.
Not for the first time, a familiar yet still strange feeling settled against his ribcage, squeezing his heart and setting his stomach into a spiral of somersaults and flips. The three words he couldn’t say punched persistently against his throat, trying desperately to climb his tongue and tumble out of his mouth.
He knew his family’s opinions and beliefs, but he felt this pull towards Mitsuba that was almost tangible, almost physical, and so he knew beyond anything he’d ever been certain of before that he could do it. He could save Mitsuba, bring him back. He could give life to that smile and only then would he allow himself even a moment to consider the weight of his feelings, to face the reality of those words.
There was truth and strength and power in faith. His faith didn’t lie in the Heavens though, it stretched past that to the core of his being, to where Mitsuba’s presence lingered like a tether to his own essence.
He didn’t care if that made sense, didn’t care what Mitsuba might say to the absurdity of that statement. Mitsuba completed him in ways he hadn’t known he was incomplete and he was determined to make Mitsuba whole again.
Mitsuba smiled at him and his sweater slid off his shoulder as he lifted his camera again. “I want to remember you like this always.”
“Like what?”
“Relaxed.” He took the photo and sat on the floor, patting it for Kou to join him. “Happy. You never look this way when it’s not just the two of us.”
3.
A whole year passed before Kou allowed himself to be alone with Mitsuba again. Seeing him was dangerous. He was so close to forgetting the rules he’d set for himself and telling Mitsuba far too soon the words that should never be said aloud to someone you can’t reach.
“I’ve missed you,” Mitsuba said and Kou’s willpower wavered.
“Sorry,” Kou mumbled. Soon, he vowed silently. He just had to wait for the full moon to perform the ritual he’d uncovered to call Mitsuba’s spirit back into his body.
Mitsuba laughed and Kou’s shoulders relaxed.
I love his laugh, Kou sighed internally and hated himself again for falling for a ghost.
4.
It didn’t take long for Mitsuba to notice his attention drifting more often lately. “You’re avoiding me,” he said plainly and Kou jumped.
“I’m not,” Kou denied, earning himself a huff from Mitsuba. “There’s a lot on my mind,” he said carefully, fiddling with his earring.
Mitsuba looked thoughtful, playing with one of the sleeves of his sweater. “Tell me what you’re thinking about right now.”
“You.” The word burst from Kou’s mouth before he could swallow it.
Mitsuba raised his eyebrows. “What about me?”
“Later,” Kou said hurriedly and got to his feet. “I’ll explain everything tomorrow, okay?”
Mitsuba watched him silently and Kou ducked out the door, face the color of Mitsuba’s hair.
5.
The moon provided little to see by, despite the fullness of it blanketing the schoolyard.
Mitsuba’s eyes followed him curiously. “Kou—”
“Almost,” Kou whispered and they lapsed back into silence. I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you exploded like a mantra of fireworks in his head as he met Mitsuba’s gaze.
A clock somewhere chimed the hour and Mitsuba gasped. It was happening. It was time. Kou had gotten it right!
He opened his mouth, but forced it shut again. He wanted to touch Mitsuba, to hold him, to feel him alive in his arms first.
6.
Mitsuba’s skin was unexpectedly warm and Kou’s fingertips grazed him with the gentlest touch like he was afraid of breaking him. Or that he’d blink and Mitsuba would disappear.
“Kou?”
“Hmm?”
“Why did you bring me back?”
Kou blinked at his confused face, a small anxious smile pulling at the edges of his mouth. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Mitsuba frowned.
“I was sure you’d have figured it out by now.”
“What—”
Kou linked his fingers through Mitsuba’s to reassure himself that this was real. “Can I kiss you?”
Mitsuba’s eyes widened.
Kou could hear two heartbeats thudding erratically in the darkness and he stepped closer. “Please,” he begged in hushed tones. “I—” When it came time, it was harder to get the words out than Kou would have imagined. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Mitsuba, I… Iloveyou.”
It came out in a rush, but Mitsuba stood on his tip-toes and closed the small distance between them, smiling into the kiss, his breath warm and real as he whispered against Kou’s lips, “Took you long enough, idiot.”