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"No, for the last time, that's not Ursa Minor," you said, not exactly irritated but tired by the persistence of, currently laying next to you, Lower One. The rooftop of the station was still warm from the sun, though the night air had already begun to cool.
"How? Look closely, everything matches" he protested, following the shape of the constellation with his hand in the air.
You sighed. "That's Ursa Major." He tried interrupting you but failed miserably as you started explaining the topic once again. "See there's no Polaris?" You pointed at the sky.
"Maybe it's not shining as intensly as usually," he muttered, not fully sure about his thought.
"Or maybe because it's in a different constellation." Quick Thank skies above for the patience ran through your head as you closed your eyes.
Enmu's sigh of defeat could be heard.
"Look above it." After a deep breath, you took his hand into yours and guided it above the, obviously not, Ursa Minor. "See?" You asked, pointing at the bright star at the end of the other constellation.
"Ohhh, you're right," he finally got it. His teal eyes reflected the view above. "Right, now I see it." A sweet smile appeared on his face, followed by head leaning on your shoulder. "Sorry, I don't know much about astronomy, I just stare at stars mindlessly, in my own world." He said, snuggling into your arm and closing his eyes. You both lied on the rooftop, the slanted tiles beneath you steady, just uneven enough to remind you where you were.
Below, the world slept. The last train had long passed. Lanterns flickered on the platform like ghosts of passengers that never arrived. The scent of pine and old steel hung in the air, touched faintly by the sweetness of blooming mountain flowers - or maybe that was just Enmu. Above: a sea of stars.
You took his hand into yours, then could feel his gaze shift. Not toward the night sky. This time - toward you.
Slowly, quietly, he turned his head just enough to look at your profile, and when you glanced down, you saw it. That smile. That smug, sugary smile.
"What?" you asked, squinting at him. "Already bored? Weren’t you the one who planned to fall asleep just now?"
"I don’t need to fall asleep," he said, eyes half-lidded.
"My dream is right here."
You blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Your entire soul shriveled.
"I-" you started, face betraying every single neuron shutting down inside your skull.
Enmu snorted, clearly pleased with himself.
"That was so cheesy, I know," he laughed. "I couldn’t help myself." he let out another audible giggle, while your mind recovered, and nuzzled closer like he’d just won a prize.
Enmu fell quiet for a moment, cheek still resting on your shoulder. His fingers twitched slightly in your grasp, but he didn’t pull away.
Below, the station lay in silence, save for the occasional creak of metal, a soft rustle of surrounding forest, as the wind whispered.
A dim lantern near the platform flickered once, casting long, stretched shadows that didn’t quite behave the way shadows should.
The air was cool and still. It smelled faintly of pine, dust, and old iron. Far above, the stars blinked like tired eyes.
"You seem lost," you said, voice calm, not cruel. He flinched. Barely, but you felt it.
"Me?" he asked surprised, or maybe faking a surprise, trying to avoid the real response.
Yes, you," you replied, steady as the sky above you. "Not the kind of lost that gets you off track. The kind that forgets what warmth is supposed to feel like."
"Me?" he repeated, chuckling softly. "Now where did that come from?" he sat up just a little, adjusting his posture like someone rearranging a mask. "I'm not lost when I'm with you." It was meant to sound flirtatious - sweet, even. But his voice cracked halfway through. And you didn’t let it go.
"That doesn’t answer the question." you said calmly.
Enmu blinked, and for a moment, his smile faltered -just at the corners. He looked back up at the stars, but now they felt further away.
He let out a soft, breathy laugh and gave you a smile - the one with only risorius muscle involved, the one that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
But your silence lingered.
He tried to keep smiling. His fingers shifted in yours, tightening just a little, like holding on could anchor him.
“Why are you saying all this?” he asked, too casually. “I’m fine. Really.” There it was. The lie. Polished, well-worn, cracked at the edges. You turned your head slowly to look at him.
“You’re not,” you said.
His expression didn’t change, not at first.
But he blinked once, long and slow, like it took effort. And for a heartbeat, he looked every bit like something that used to be human. You watched him breathe. Slow, deliberate, too controlled to be natural.
“Somebody hurt you.” you said, barely above a whisper. “I can see that.”
He didn’t move. Not even his fingers.
Only his eyes - flicking down for the briefest moment, avoiding yours. Avoiding the two spheres of void drilling into his soul like some kind of parasite.
“It doesn’t take much to break someone like you, does it?” That wasn’t meant cruelly. You almost hoped he’d argue. Laugh it off. Say something ridiculous again.
But he didn’t.
“They didn’t even need to break you,” you added quietly. He looked away first.
Neither of you spoke for a moment, but your hands remained loosely linked. A connection, not entirely physical but still one.
At some point, without either of you saying anything, he sat up fully. You followed. The air felt cooler now, the silence heavier, like even the stars had lowered their voices.
“You say that like you know everything about me,” he said at last. His voice was light again, but it cracked at the edge - brittle porcelain under silk. “What are you, a mind reader now?” he tried to joke.
You didn’t answer. Just tilted your head a little, studying him like something you’d seen before. A memory you couldn’t place, but knew was important. That made him visibly uncomfortable.
“You’re making things up,” he continued, softer now. "Why would you think that?.”
“Because I remember how you looked at me when we first met.” you said, turning your gaze toward him again. No judgement, just… certainty. He blinked.
“You didn’t know what to do with it. The fact that I didn’t call you an useless trash. That I didn’t flinch, didn’t treat you like something dirty." you whispered. "I did choke you a little, but that was a reflex " you added after few seconds, half serious. “I gave you just a tiny bit of attention and affection and you immediately said you’d fallen in love.”
He opened his mouth like he was about to argue, but the words never came.
“It wasn’t love, Enmu,” you added softly. “It was the ghost of something you forgot how to feel. You clung to it because it was the first warmth you’d known in who knows how long.”
He looked away again. His shoulders tensed. That subtle way people do when they're trying to disappear without moving.
“Your whole persona,” you continued, “the way you mock humans, talk about their fragile souls, fragile like glasswork… That’s not superiority. That’s projection.” You squeezed his hand. “You don’t hate them. You hate the part of you that used to be like them.”
His is jaw twitched.
"Somewhere inside you, there’s a version of you that remembers being small. Being powerless. And you’d do anything not to be that person again.”
His lips parted slightly - a sharp inhale, like he wanted to deny it. But only silence came. Silence stretched thin between your truths and his trembling pride.
“That’s why you fixated on dreams, isn’t it?” you didn't stop. “Because in dreams, everything bends the way you want. People don’t fight back. Pain can be silenced. Time means nothing.”
He still wouldn’t look at you. Tears slowly starting to form in the corners of his light colored eyes.
“In dreams, you’re untouchable. But in the real world… you were vulnerable once. And that terrifies you more than anything.” you didn’t say it with brutality, but with understanding. “That’s why you talk the way you do. Why you act like you’re above them. It’s not because you are - it’s because you remember, somewhere deep down, what it felt like to be underneath.”
Another breeze passed through the station, stirring dust and dry leaves across the rooftop. The world below was still sleeping.
His fingers curled in his lap, nails faintly pressing into the fabric of his trousers. Still silent. You could see it. The tension in his shoulders, the tightening of his jaw, the way his breathing grew a little too deliberate. Then, finally...
“Stop talking.”
Not loud.
Not angry.
Just… hollow. Fragile.
He still didn’t look at you.
“Please,” he added, after a second. Barely above the sound of wind.
You didn’t say anything. Just sat beside him, still. No pressure. No more questions. Just presence. He stared in the distance. A single tear slipped down his cheek. He didn’t move to wipe it away. Then another. Not sobbing. Not shaking. Just… letting go.
“You’re right,” he whispered, barely audible over the wind and the distant hum of a lantern. “About all of it.” he added. His voice was steady, but softer than ever. Transparent, almost.
And then, he turned his head - not all the way, just enough for you to catch his eyes, glistening from tears.
“But you’re wrong about one thing,” he added, with a small, sad smile. “I really did fall in love with you.”
You didn’t reply right away. Instead, you reached out and gently brushed the tear from his cheek with your thumb. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t pull away. Just closed his eyes for a moment and exhaled. Then, without a word, you leaned back again and patted the space beside you. He hesitated only for a second before following, resting his head back against your shoulder. The wind softened. Somewhere in the distance, a lone insect chirped - late for the season, stubborn against the coming chill. Likely a cicada.
“Same sky,” he murmured, eyes on the stars again. “Different meaning now.”
You didn’t speak again for a while. There was no need to. In that moment, with his hand finding yours again, he didn’t feel lost anymore.
And neither did you.