Melanphoria

8

The drive didn't take long, maybe because my mind is wandering somewhere else or maybe it's because Osamu drives really fast but it doesn't matter anyway. What matters to me is the place that he took me to.

"Are you serious? This is your favorite place?" I asked which he just answered with a nod after handing me a plastic full of sparklers and dragging me to the entrance of the building.

"Miya-kun! I thought you were not coming! I've been waiting since earlier." Greeted the old man who's probably on duty tonight.

Samu gave him another plastic bag and in exchange, the old man gave him a key and let us in.

"Hey, what are we doing here in Inarizaki?" I asked in curiosity but he just dragged me inside the building and went to the roof top where he used the key he got from the guard.

I didn't ask for more when I saw why this has become his favorite place. The view from the roof top is mesmerizing. It's not the lights coming from the houses and buildings but the stars.

It's rare to see lots of stars in Tokyo, that's why I learned to appreciate the life here in Hyogo. But I didn't know that this place here is the best for stargazing.

"You like it?" Osamu asked after he laid a big blanket on the ground that I didn't know he had. I nodded my head vigorously with a wide smile on my lips so he pulled me beside him, making me sit right next to him.

"Every time I'm down, I go back here and stay here until morning." Samu said with a smile on his face as if reminiscing about the past.

He lay down with his hands as pillow and stared at the starry sky. I did the same and it feels nice. As if the stars took all my troubles away even just for a while.

"Care to tell me what happened to your talk?" Samu asked for the first time that made me look at him when I felt his eyes on me.

"It's okay if you don't want to."

I gaze back at the star and sigh. "I told him that I'm ending this love of mine."

"I'm proud of you that you didn't get swayed. You're not fragile anymore." He chuckled when I slapped his shoulder lightly.

"He didn't stop you?"

I smiled wryly. "Why would he? He doesn't love me."

Samu remained silent.

"I'm a hypocrite if I don't say that I hoped for him to stop me from leaving, like I always do. And it hurts when he doesn't. He just kept his head down after I told him that I'm going to stop loving him. He didn't even look at me when I left." I said and started to tear up again.

Samu wiped the tear that fell in my eyes with his thumb and gave me a reassuring smile.

"You did a good job leaving." He said with a proud smile on his face.

I sighed and gazed back at the starry sky with a sad smile plastered on my lips.

"But I should admit, I don't know how to start over. I still feel like I'm lost in a pitch-black place after losing the brightest star that's giving my world a light."

Samu sighed.

"I don't know what to say but somehow I understand what you've been going through since Tsumu always pester me before because of Hinata." He said while scowling as if he had a really hard time because of it.

"Love is already complicated in heterosexual relationships but it is more complicated in your case. But I don't blame you. If there's someone who we should blame for your misery, it's that child of Aphrodite who shoots his arrow without aiming properly." He sounded irritated and that made me laugh.

Samu looked at me with a wondering look on his face. "Are you okay? You're being weird Akaashi. What's funny?"

"I just remembered how Tsuki used to call that son of Aphrodite." I said in between laughs.

"What? He's Cupid, right?" Samu asked with his crooked brows.

"Normally we call him that, but not Tsuki. He used to call him, Diapered-asshole." I said that made him laugh.

"Well, he deserves to be called like that." He agreed. That's how the mood lightens between us. We talked about random things that made me forget a little about my broken heart.

Forget Bokuto-san a little.

"You still love him, right?" Samu asked out of the blue while we were lighting the sparklers that we almost forgot that we have.

"Of course. It's not easy to forget that easily. I still do love him." I answered while staring at the little light given by the sparkler.

"What if he's the one who will run after you this time? Will you take him back?" He asked and light another sparkler and give it to me.

"Honestly, I don't know. I might. But it's not going to be easy." I said and looked at Samu.

"It's hard to give your trust and heart to the same person who broke and trampled it right? I'm traumatized. When I saw him earlier, memories of my suffering when we're still together flashed in my mind and I thought, I don't want to experience that thing anymore." I said that made him silent.

"I still do love him but, I want to value myself more this time. And I want to forget those memories of us that's giving me nightmares every night. So, it's not going to be easy and it'll take a long time." I answered firmly.

"Well, if ever he does run after you, I hope it isn't too late for him. And he has to get passed through me first. I'll hang you, upside down if you let you take him back without my consent." Samu said that made me giggle.

We changed our topic again and totally stopped talking about my failed relationship for the rest of the night. And I don't know if it's because of too much crying or the alcohol I drank that I end up falling asleep to his stories. And I just woke up from Samu's gentle voice calling my name while tapping my shoulders.

"Akaashi...Wake up, it's almost time." He whispered.

I slowly opened my eyes and sat facing the railings of the rooftop wondering what he was talking about. My sleepiness disappeared when I saw the view of the rising sun. And I feel relieved for some reason. As if the weight has been lifted.

"You like it?" Samu asked that made me look at him with a light-heart.

"I love it."

He smiled and put his arm on my shoulder.

"You lost your star that gives you light, let me give you a new one right there." Samu said and as if on cue, the sun slowly goes up giving light to the whole place, making the darkness disappear.

"Thanks, Samu." I whispered and looked at him with a sincere smile on my face with tears in my eyes.

Tears of relief.

"Let's make this day the start of Keiji Akaashi's new life. You're now reborn. But this time... Value this more." Samu said while pointing at my left chest.

"You only have one heart, Akaashi. Give it to someone who will cherish it this time." he said with a gentle smile plastered on his lips.

And for some reason...

That made my heart skip a beat.