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On a Friday past midnight most people were either out partying or asleep. Yamaguchi Tadashi was on his way home from his part-time job. He should be glad to work the early shift at the bar, which meant he didn’t have to stay until 6 in the morning, but even so his feet were killing him and he was dead beat. In addition to that someone had been rummaging around the apartment complex he lived in late at night, making him wake up every time in the process.
The perk of living in an old apartment complex was that it was cheap. One of the disadvantages that came with a cheap rent was the fact that the apartment had no elevator. Tadashi didn’t think much of it at first, walking up to the seventh floor was a good workout and he didn’t like elevators that much anyways. The possibility of getting stuck always made him feel queasy when using one. What he didn’t consider was that he had to use the stairs now. Every. Damn. Time.
He dragged his tired body up to the last floor, untying his now dishevelled ponytail. He should get his hair cut before it would get even hotter outside. The next day he had to go grocery shopping, he was running out of milk. Tadashi went over the list of things he needed to buy the next day, already reaching for the key in his pocket to open the door to his apartment, when he spotted someone outside on the roof deck. He walked up to the door, looking through the glass. Someone was sitting on a chair, a telescope in front of them. Tadashi had never seen someone star gaze, but his curiosity had taken a slight curb since he was almost falling asleep. He was about to walk away when he saw the guy turning his head to the door and, upon spotting Tadashi, waving at him. Tadashi froze. He looked totally creepy, peering outside and watching him like this. Should he wave back? Maybe he should return to his apartment. No, he would go outside and just quickly explain it. He didn’t want to make anyone feel unsafe by being watched by a strange person at night.
Tadashi opened the door, the cool evening wind rippling through his hair. There were no lights on but the moon illuminated the roof deck with its cold shimmer. When he walked over to the stranger he became very aware of just how big the roof deck was. He was full-on staring at Tadashi now, a questioning look on his face.
“I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t disturb you”, he stammered, feeling extremely awkward. He should’ve walked right back to his apartment instead of coming out here, it only made him even more suspicious. “I didn’t know we had a telescope up here, so I was a bit curious. I got back from work right now, that’s when I saw you out here.”
The stranger eyed him up and down, and his lips curled into a playful smile.
“Curious, eh? You can stay and watch if you want to, I don’t mind.” He said it with an easiness that made it sound like there was nothing he’d rather wish for.
Tadashi nodded, his brain not forming any coherent sentences. ‘He is beautiful’, was the only thing that popped into his mind. He on the other hand looked like he hadn’t slept in days, his messy hair sticking up and still in his work clothes. Tadashi didn’t see a second chair to sit on, so he sat down on the floor which seemed better than to awkwardly stand around. The tiles were warm under the touch of his palms, having absorbed the light of the sun over the day.
“I haven’t introduced myself yet, I’m Oikawa Tooru. I just moved in, I’m living on the second floor.” He flashed Tadashi a smile.
“Yamaguchi Tadashi, living right next to the door of the roof deck.”
“Nice to meet you. So do you want to have a look through the telescope or not?” Oikawa looked at him like he didn’t understand why Tadashi was sitting on the floor. He got up and offered his seat to him.
Tadashi was quick to push himself off the floor, almost stumbling over his own feet. “Yes, I’d love to have a quick look.” He sat down, waiting for Oikawa’s instructions. “I’ve never done this before, how does star gazing work?”
“First of all, Mr. Clumsy, this telescope is expensive so maybe don’t topple it over. “ Tadashi felt his face heating up. “Carefully lean closer until you can see things sharply, but don’t press your eye too hard on the eye piece or everything will be blurred.”
Tadashi moved forward, following his directions. It took him a few seconds of shifting around until he managed to get a clear view. He knew how a telescope worked, but he wasn’t prepared for the uncountable number of stars that spread across the sky, sparkling bright against the dark void.
“It’s a bit overwhelming at first, right?” Oikawa’s voice was very close to his ear, eliciting a shiver from Tadashi. He had to be leaning over to get a better view on what he was doing. Tadashi nervously fumbled with his hands at the hem of his shirt.
“Do you think you can spot any constellations?”
Tadashi shook his head. There was no way he could make any sense of the sea of stars in front of him.
“First you have to look for the Big Dipper.” Tadashi followed Oikawa’s finger as he drew the constellation in the air.
It took him a bit of guessing and trying but Tadashi found it with the help of Oikawa. “Now look a bit up, there should be a very bright star. That’s Polaris, the North Star. It is also the handle of the Little Dipper.”
Tadashi didn’t know how much time he spent on the roof deck, watching Oikawa paint constellations in the sky and searching for them. He backed out after a while, letting Oikawa look through the telescope again and listening to him describe what he was seeing.
Tadashi stole glances at him from time to time. He had thick, unruly hair, with strands sticking up but neatly parted, so Tadashi assumed it was done on purpose. He didn’t know what to think of him. Oikawa looked at him the same way he was observing the stars, with a playful demeanour but sharp eyes. It wasn’t only a spark of curiosity that was shimmering in his eyes, but the determination to satisfy that curiosity, to get a better view at what had peaked his interest.
“You smell like alcohol.” Oikawa said, his eyes still on the night sky. “You mentioned that you came home from work, are you a bartender?”
“No, I only take people’s orders and bring them the drinks, so I have to move through the crowd a lot.” Now that Oikawa mentioned it, a shower would probably do him some good. Manoeuvring through a crowd of drunken people meant getting drinks poured over his shirt and pants. A lot. “Thanks for inviting me up here and allowing me to use the telescope but I think I’m gonna head back to my apartment, otherwise I’ll fall asleep on the floor.”
“Of course. Feel free to stop by any time, I’m here almost every night.” Oikawa looked up from the telescope. “I’m glad to have found a place with such a great roof deck for star gazing. The only thing missing to make this place perfect is an elevator, then I wouldn’t have to carry my telescope up here every night.”
Tadashi nodded understandingly, before he realized that Oikawa was the culprit that kept waking him up. “So it’s you that’s making all that noise at night!”
“Oh, sorry about that. I didn’t think anyone would wake up from that.”
“I do. At first when you carry it upstairs and then again when you carry it down. I was already wondering where that noise kept coming from, all of a sudden.”
“I didn’t know it was this loud, I apologize. If I wanted to cause you sleepless nights I’d use another method.” Oikawa grinned.
Tadashi smiled politely, not sure what he was talking about until his sleep-deprived brain got the implication of that statement. His face flushed red and he quickly sprung to his feet. “I think I’m gonna go now. Good night!”
“Good night. Will I see you again tomorrow?”
Tadashi nodded furiously. “Yes! I’ll come again.”
He looked up at the sky one more time, and it seemed like the stars only sparkled for him, a silent whisper to return to them soon.