PROLOGUE

How many people has ever looked to the sky and appreciated the sun? That red hot orb is one thing that we take for granted, not a word of gratitude. But like parenthood, only when we lost it that our regret became unmornable. And it happens everyday.

But to Tatsuya Shiba, does this scene carry any meaning? The answer would be a solid "No". Zenith or Nadir, Dawn or Sunset, they are all designated positions of sun, a celestial body that its temperature ranges from 5778 to 1.57 x 10^6 K.

And still, for now, he can senses something stirs inside him. Is this tenderness brought forth by his companion, Mayumi Saegusa? Clads in a simple summer dress and has her elated eyes hides under the straw hat, Mayumi's porcelain skin tops even the finest marble statue – It isn't the elegant but frost hardy white, but it's a hue pink, the color of life…

Maybe, but it's certain that this twilight has a distinguish effect on each and everyone's mood.

"What do you think of this? Much better that sitting between dusty scrolls all day, right?"

In celebrate of her senior year, the Saegusa has given everyone a holiday on a distance island of her property, locates on the furthest corner of Japan border. Tatsuya might had has stayed home if not because of Miyuki's persistence. Especially after all of the "accidents" that had happened recently. Until now, the young man has managed to keep a distance to everyone – A fortuitous has came to him: The local library has some interesting scriptures on Old Magic. He has intended to spent the last moments here like he has done for the last few days: read and read. However, the empress of First High suddenly barged into his reading quarter and proclaimed:

"You're coming with me!"

And here he is, observing the sunset with her. His honed instinct's continuously screaming in alarm of the Saegusa: She is powerful on her own, yes, but more importantly, she Knows. Information is power, Tatsuya understands it very well, and he's a anxious of what people could do if they know the truth about him.

But it's not a bad thing, though. Nothing to hide anymore – He can treat her like someone equal, and vice versa. Their steps go parallel on the sand, appear and disappear simultaneously under the waves.

"Shall we take a rest?" Mayumi leads him toward a lone abandoned fishing boat lays upside down. The hull of it has gone rotten and as fraying as a beggar's shirt – Breezes move through holes and makes notes of various pitches. It's an anharmonic harmony.

"You haven't answered my answer. What do you think of the sunset?" Mayumi's finger moving in synch with the abridged song of the boat.

"I don't know."

"I need something more explicit than 'I don't know'. Do you love it or hate it?"

"All the same to me."

Miyuki thinks, with a hint of exasperation: "Why it's so difficult to open yourself, Tatsuya-kun?"

Silence continues between the two. Incapable of facing her companion, Saegusa diverts her look toward the dying sun. Darkness, as she notes, rises from the ground in this place, just like the tides. It's the opposite of Tokyo or any other metropolitan that she has ever sat foot on: There, the night falls from the sky, similar to snow or rain. It makes an idea pops out of her brain, a premise of the story that she has been waiting to tell Tatsuya.

"You know, black and white aren't all that different from each other."

"Why so?" Curiousness flashes behind the boy's gaze.

"They are both encompass every other colors. The first reflects every, the other absorbs all. And…"

"You can't recognize neither of them without the present of different. I could see your point."

"Then, do you think that human is also the same?"

After a long time of thinking – long enough for Polaris to rise to its place – Tatsuya finally gave his answer:

"I suppose that none of us are completely good or evil, making all right or wrong choices. Maybe that is why men have to live together, to complement for each other."

"Good! But I want you to think in another direction: What defines a human?"

"Past... Personality… Social positions… Responsibilities… So many thing for me to enumerate."

"But isn't all of them are shaped from external forces? And each person's effort is almost minimum by comparison?"

This idea strikes Tatsuya hard. For the first time, he has to shuffle his life since the first memory. War, Peace, War,... Family, Allies, Enemies, Miyuki,... One by one, images pass through like a set of playing cards: Some stand out from the rest, but only when the hand is full that they show their deep impact on him.

And all is the game of devils.

"I… don't know."

"The correct answer is 'No'. Must always have faith in yourself, it's the thing that push us forward. It's yourself that you must take the job, no one else."

On the sky above them, countless stars are shining, the gentle light is reflected on Mayumi's irises. Tatsuya suddenly feels a fresh breeze passes himself when he looks into these orbs, a wind that comes from neither land or ocean.

"But, like you said before, we need to stick with each others. Giving everyone in needs a shoulders to lean on."

And there, the moon, serene than everything of this mortal world, rises from the exact same spot that the sun retreated from their eyes. White between Black…

"So is this little story the reason you lead me here?"

"No. I simply want you to answer this question: Will you let me be your friend? And I won't take no for an answer!"

"… Maybe…" Mayumi pounds repeatedly on his back, pouting like a kid that has been refused its favorite toy.

"Ok. Ok, you're my friend."

"Then you better tell me everything I want to know!"

"... Could I refuse?"

"No!"

This is the start of many thing for him, Tatsuya concludes. Good or Bad, he does not know, but at least he will stay to the point when the sun has finally set.

Ok, so this is my silly little romance story. I don't know when will I be able to post the second chapter, but I'll try my best.

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