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[STARLESS SKY]
chapter ten
starless sky
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She looked upwards.
Above her the sky was blanketed in black. Lights reflected onto the bay and glowed specks of light, contrasting against the darkness. The sky looked bleak and empty; a replica of how she felt at that current moment. She frowned, knowing that she would never gaze up at the sky from The Lookout ever again.
"Don't you think the city lights wash out the stars?" he asked her.
Sora glanced at the boy who was stationed next to her. She hadn't realised that he had silently crept up from behind her. She wasn't intimidated by his company anymore, not even reacting or shying away from him as she continued to stand there in a fixed position.
"Father says the stars are brighter in Kyoto," she replied, quietly.
"Really? I guess that's true because there are less buildings and lights to interfere with seeing them. I've been told that no matter where we are, the stars in the sky connects us all." The boy muttered, "Even though I find it very unrealistic, my mother told me that."
"She's in Kyoto?"
"No." The boy remarked, "She's in France."
"Where's that?"
He trailed off, "Somewhere far away…"
"Like Kyoto?"
"Further than Kyoto. It's a different country." He paused. "Why do you keep talking about Kyoto?"
"Because I'll be moving there," Sora said. She stretched her hands above her. "At least I know the stars are prettier in Kyoto than in Odaiba."
"Whether there be stars or none," the boy said, "you can always paint your own."
Sora stared at him, bemused. "How?"
"You just need to believe that you can."
She didn't understand him, or what the boy was talking about. However, she didn't respond and allowed his words to disappear into the night. The more she spoke to him, the more confused she became as he spoke fluently in a language she couldn't comprehend. His words were Japanese, but his meanings were foreign.
Head tilting upwards, she glimpsed at the scenery for the final time. She wanted to remember this moment, to engrave it deep in her memory because in a week Odaiba would be nothing but a distant memory.
A lilting melody filled the air.
Sora assumed that the boy had taken her silence as permission to play some music.
The harmonica sounded pleasant as she laid onto the cement ground, taking in the sky that would soon crash over her.
She closed her eyes, dreaming that reality was a hallucination.
Odaiba would always be her home, even if it was a starless and gloomy city.
Swigging the water down her parched throat, Sora let out a satisfied sigh.
She patted her face dry with a towel before placing it around her neck. It had been a good tennis session and she felt better now that she had worked up a sweat. As she was about to gather her belongings, she heard somebody from whistle at her.
Sora turned around and saw a blond headed teenage boy walking towards her. As per usual, there was a smirk on his lips and his eyes were shining in amusement when he caught her glance.
"Takeru?" She said. "What brings you here?"
He shrugged. "Just passing by."
Sora was about to point out that the middle school was - actually - not on the way from where he lived, but kept quiet when he saw him skittishly scratch the back of his head. It was, sometimes, a common thing that Yamato did whenever he felt uneasy.
Takeru wasn't clothed in his typical uniform nor basketball wear which was odd considering it was a school day. Did the middle schoolers have the day off?
"Are you looking for Yamato?" She asked him.
"No, actually," Takeru paused. "I wanted to talk to you."
"Me?" Sora blinked. She draped the bag strap across her body, meeting him outside of the tennis gates. "This sounds important."
She had spoken in a casual, yet sarcastic tone, but she was telling the truth. For Takeru to seek her out meant something. They all hung around the same group of friends, but it wasn't like Takeru to go out of his way to hang see her. Takeru was too preoccupied with basketball, his middle school friends and teasing Hikari.
Nevertheless, there had been more than a few occasions when Takeru had included her. The awkward dinner with Takeru and Yamato's mother, when he had asked Sora to distract Hikari because they were holding a surprise birthday party for her, to even indirectly asking Yamato to invite her to his basketball matches with the rest of the gang.
When Sora thought about it, Takeru and his brother were quite different despite their similar appearances. Takeru was more sociable and friendly as people tended to flock around him, whereas people tended to survey Yamato from afar (despite the occasional fangirl that wouldn't leave him alone).
Takeru let out a carefree laugh. "Not necessarily. Besides, I don't like important things."
As Sora was about to ask him what he had meant by that, he ambled past her towards the vending machine and bought himself a bottle of milk tea. He craned his neck towards Sora. "Want anything?"
"A Calpis would be nice," Sora replied. Somehow she knew that even if she refused him, he would buy her a beverage anyway. Well, that was the notion she got as Hikari spoke about Takeru often.
After coining in the precise amount and pressing a down a button, he squatted down to grab her drink.
"Thanks Takeru."
In response, he simply muttered, "Catch."
She had barely caught it because as soon as Takeru had even breathed out the word, the bottle had been flying in the air.
Takeru smirked. "Nice one."
He sat down on a the park bench and then gestured for Sora to take a seat next to him - which she did, albeit apprehensively. She unscrewed the cap and savoured the sweet liquid that slightly quenched her thirst. Sora knew it wasn't the best option to drink after tennis practice, but Calpis was one of her favourite drinks.
Observing that Takeru wasn't talking and that the bottle of milk tea still unopened in his hands, Sora spoke up again, "No basketball practice today?"
"Ha ha," Takeru sighed, suddenly exhausted. "Guess you could say that. I quit the team yesterday."
"What?" Although Sora didn't know Takeru all that well, she knew that basketball was something he lived for as it was the equivalent to Taichi's commitment to soccer. "Does Yamato know?"
"Of course," Takeru mumbled. "He knows everything. He sees me too much. One would think that we're dating. My brother doesn't know how to stick his head out of his own business."
She said, matter-of-factly, "He's your brother."
"Trust me, I know," Takeru groaned. "Still, thinking about leaving the team doesn't make me feel good."
"Perhaps you're sick?" Sora said, concerned. She lifted a hand to his forehead to discern his temperature in contrast with hers. "Is there a reason why you've resigned from the basketball team?"
Laughingly, Takeru shook his head at her and lightly pushed her hand away. "You're just as nagging as a mother. But I get it now, what Taichi says, you're just as bad as him."
"Who?"
"Yamato," Takeru chuckled. "He's the stabiliser in our group; always trying to make sure we stay intact from doing anything outrageous. You're just like him, only the female version."
She denied. "No way. I don't think we're anything alike."
"Fine," Takeru agreed. "You're more prettier and you're not as snappy and easy to scold me."
Sora laughed.
"Jokes aside, I guess I see why my brother and our friends like you." He said, stretching his legs out. "I guess you're normal."
Sora wasn't sure whether it was a compliment or not, but listened on to Takeru as he continued to speak.
"I mean, when you're surrounded with so many crazy people, I think of you as quite normal in comparison. For someone like you to have patience with dealing with Taichi, Hikari, Koushiro and, well, Yamato...it surely is saying something." He rambled, "And you genuinely care about them too-"
Sora was baffled by Takeru's words. "I don't-"
"You do," Takeru disagreed with her. "It's not a bad thing. I feel more relaxed that somebody else cares about Yamato as well."
"What?"
"He's too busy caring about everybody else, that he always forgets himself."
Sora stammered, "Takeru, I-what do you mean?"
"Nothing," Takeru gave her a knowing smile. He picked up the bottle of milk tea, that still hadn't been opened and got up from the bench. "Look after him, will you?"
Sora looked up at Takeru, absolutely puzzled by his words, as he gave her a polite bow before leaving.
He saluted. "See you."
She didn't know what the purpose of the conversation was, quietly sitting there and trying to make sense of what Takeru was actually telling her.
He's been acting strange lately.
That was the sentence Hikari had uttered to Sora, about Takeru, when they had been brewing coffee two nights ago.
Sora hadn't thought much of it since she was never that close to him. Yet, the sentence kept stirring in her mind and became more prominent since Takeru had approached her yesterday night after tennis practice. The vibe from there odd interaction did sit well in her stomach. Something was going on with Takeru, and she didn't know what.
She needed to tell Yamato about this.
But how could she?
Sora sighed to herself as she glanced over to the empty desk. That Friday when the teacher had done the roll call, Yamato wasn't there. She wondered if it was related to what Takeru said. She knew Yamato was going through a rough patch, but it wasn't like him to be absent from class despite the many extra-curricular activities her participated in.
As soon as her third period ended, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She glanced around before disappearing into an empty classroom. Everybody knew not to call her during classes. She was a student and she was at risk of having her phone confiscated if anybody found out. Even work had the courtesy of texting her, instead of calling.
When she saw the name flash on the screen. Her soon-to-be stepbrother wasn't the type to call her.
She answered, "Yutaka?"
"Hey Sora. I was just wondering if Yamato's at school?"
"Huh?" Sora said, alarmed. "No, he isn't here today. Uh, haven't you tried contacting him on his phone?"
"Really?" Yutaka replied. Sora could swear she could see him from on the receiving end of the line. "He never showed up for band prac last night. Said he'd be visiting his mother's place and would join us mid rehearsal afterwards…"
"No, he's not here," Sora confirmed.
"That's not like him," Yutaka mumbled, voice worried. "He's usually the first one to text back and answer calls. Well, um, if you hear from him could you let me know?"
"Sure…"
Yutaka's worried voice made Sora edgy. She couldn't stop thinking about Yamato and when she asked Koushiro at lunch, he didn't have an idea either where their friend was. They had tried calling Yamato's phone, but like Yukata's case, he wasn't picking up.
Koushiro muttered, thoughtfully, "Maybe Taichi knows?"
"Where is he?" She queried Koushiro.
Sora hadn't seen Taichi since second period as they hadn't shared the same subjects, asides from Mathematics, English and Japanese. Additionally, she hadn't been all that concerned about Yamato whereabouts during the first period, but now that Yutaka had hinted that something was wrong with Yamato (and rethinking how Takeru's spontaneous visit at the tennis court yesterday was peculiar), she needed to find Taichi.
Koushiro suggested, "Soccer meeting room perhaps?"
Taking a bite into her apple, she nodded. Determination sparking, she stalked out of the cafeteria, down the hallway and towards the meeting room.
She hurriedly pushed the doors open and immediately she gaped at what she was witnessing.
Taichi and Mimi were making out.
Not constricted or subtly making out, but really making out.
Taichi had Mimi on the desk, hand crawling up her skirt and teeth biting against Mimi's bottom lip. He then moved lower and began kissing Mimi's neck.
Unable to take it anymore, Sora snapped, "Can you guys stop it already? We're at school. You're lucky it's only me and not one of the teachers. I know that you're together, but it isn't the time for you to be sticking your tongues down each other's throats every opportunity you get!"
"Sora?" Mimi said, recognising her voice. She shoved Taichi away from her, sitting up and buttoning up her top. She stared at Sora in embarrassment. "Sorry."
"Yeah, what is it Sor?" Taichi gave an irritated mumble, trying to rub the red gloss that stained his lips.
Sora rolled her eyes. "Yamato. Where is he?"
"He's absent."
"I know he is!" Sora cried out. "But have you checked why he's away? Apparently nobody knows where he is."
Taichi said promptly, stating the most obvious answer, "At home? Maybe he's sick? I tried calling him, he didn't reply. How about his home phone number?"
"Koushiro's tried already. Nobody's answering. Even his phone. Yutaka hasn't gotten hold of him since last night!"
"He'll be fine," Taichi waved off.
Sora growled, throwing her hands up in the air. "God, you're hopeless, Taichi!"
"It's Yamato. He won't do anything stupid. He's responsible," Mimi piped in.
"And you think I didn't know that?" Sora was getting frustrated with how inconsiderate they were being. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew Yamato was going through, possibly, a hard time and Taichi - his best friend - wasn't doing anything about it.
"Hey!" Mimi glared. "You don't have to snap at me! I'm just telling the truth."
Yamato's presence was always there. Even though he was constantly busy, he managed to be there for everybody. And now that he was missing, why wasn't anybody else as affected as she was by his sudden disappearance?
She glared at Taichi, who was straightened his collar. He cleared his throat and repeated, "I know you're worried, Sor, but Yamato will be fine. Nothing's wrong with him, he just needs space."
"How much space are we meant to give him?" Sora replied. "He's missing."
"He's going through a rough patch, you see," Taichi sighed. "Well, I'm not meant to know this yet...but Hikari happened to tell me-"
"What?" Mimi cutted in.
He admitted, "Takeru's leaving for France tomorrow."
Sora arched an eyebrow. "So? If it's a holiday-"
"No, Sora, it's for good."
"Oh…"
She frowned, unsure what to say to the news that was broken to her. Mimi also was looking at Taichi with a shocked expression. Takeru always had a way of being secretive, but Sora wouldn't have guessed that he'd be leaving Japan. The reason why Takeru had sought her out was to wish her farewell, and because he wanted her to keep an eye on Yamato and - ironically - she had already failed to do so.
"Which is why he probably wants to be by himself right now."
"Then shouldn't that be more than enough reason to search for him, Taichi?" Sora said, quietly.
Mimi responded, "Yeah, Sora's right. We should all go find Yamato."
"Fine," Taichi grumbled, begrudgingly. "Why don't we pop by his apartment after school if that makes you happy?"
"Deal," Sora said, glad that Taichi had finally come to his senses although it had been a bit reluctantly.
"He's not home," Mr. Ishida stated, staring at the four of them curiously.
For an older man, Yamato and Takeru's father was quite attractive for his age. Sora could tell that the siblings had clearly gotten their good genetics from him.
Koushiro replied, "Have you seen him at all today?"
"Not since this morning. He said he'd be sleeping over at yours, Taichi. Something about a group assignment?"
"Oh, yeah, sure." Taichi gave a nervous laugh. "It completely slipped my mind, Mr. Ishida. Forgot all about it. He's got band practice first…"
Sora had to try to stop rolling her eyes at Taichi's horrible lying. Koushiro snorted and Mimi was tugging at Taichi's sleeve for them to leave, before Taichi blew Yamato's cover altogether. Although they still didn't know where Yamato was, they didn't want to get him into trouble with his father or involve any of the adults yet.
Koushiro gave a quick bow. "Thanks Mr. Ishida."
They ambled away from Yamato's apartment, walking aimlessly down the streets.
"Where could he be?" Mimi questioned out loud.
It was the same question that everybody had on their minds.
In her head, Sora ticked off the possibilities. Not with Yutaka. Not at home. Not in any of the classes. Not at school-
Wait…
Although Yamato hadn't attended any of the classes, it hadn't necessarily meant that there was a possibility that he could still be on school grounds. Sora's mind ticked as if she was going through the first day school orientation all over again. He had given her the tour and there was something Yamato had told her about where to go if she ever needed alone time…
And then she remembered.
She had an inkling she would be correct.
"Why would he want to be at school?" Taichi argued. "If he wanted to skip classes, school would be the last place I'd want to be."
Taichi had disagreed with her and believed he would be at Takeru's place. Mimi had decided to tag along with Taichi, while Koushiro said he would go to his home and see if he could track down Yamato's cellphone signal (despite everybody telling him that he was committing a crime).
Ignoring her best friend, she pivoted on her heels and found herself back on the school grounds. Sora wasn't entirely confident that Yamato would be at the place she assumed, but it was worth trying to see if he was there because then, at least, she could cross it off the other probabilities of him being there.
Sora talked up the staircase, then another. Sora could hear a distant melody playing, but she wasn't sure if she was going delirious after climbing up the hundreds of steps.
She was hearing a harmonica now...who was she kidding?
At the peak, her hands were against her knees as she breathed in and out for air. Taking one deep breath, she walked onto the highest rooftop and let out a sigh of relief when she saw the familiar tall, lean frame and blond hair.
Yamato was lying down, back resting against the cement surface.
It was already night time. The sky was painted black and specks of stars glittered in the distance.
Sora used her phone's screen as a light, shining her way towards him. Her movement caused him to roll onto his side and look at her.
He didn't say anything; so she chose not to as as well, soundlessly perching herself next to him.
She saw his eyes were puffy, lips chapped and the closer she got to Yamato, the more she could scent tobacco coming off of him. There were few times she had caught him smoking.
"You knew I was here?" Yamato finally uttered.
"Somehow." She shrugged. Sora wanted to yell at him for disappearing without notifying anybody, but she could read that he wasn't in the mood to be told off.
Yamato was going through enough and she didn't want to contribute by making him feel worse.
"Everybody's been looking for you. If I hadn't really thought hard about what you said during orientation, I wouldn't have found you. Rooftops are your thing, huh?"
"I'm not going to jump off it if that's what you're thinking," he wryly spoke back.
Despite his tone being sardonic, she could hear his teeth chattering. Sora couldn't interpret whether it was because of the cold breeze or his attempt to hide how upset he was.
Nevertheless, that didn't stop Sora from unfurling the red, thick scarf around her neck, spreading it out and placing it on Yamato like a blanket.
He scowled, but accepted it, sitting up and wrapping it around him. Sora couldn't help but smirk at his internal turmoil of rejecting her help and accepting the token of warmth. He looked amusing wearing her scarf around like a shawl.
"So...I heard Takeru's leaving."
There was a glint of irritation in his eyes. "Words travel fast amongst our friends, I see."
"You don't need to be a sore thumb about it," Sora muttered back. After losing her cool about him disappearing all day, she wasn't going to tolerate Yamato acting up. "We were worried."
"Sorry," he grumbled back. He was about to get up, but Sora pulled at uniform blazer, making him sit back down.
"We're friends, Yamato. Tell me what's going on."
He reversed the situation back to her. "So, tell me Sora, how did it feel when your father moved?"
"Sad." Sora admitted, well aware that he was trying to get under her skin and to get her to see from his perspective. However, it didn't stop Sora from speaking back to him, "I've always been close to him. But I knew it would be only a year, even if it meant gritting my teeth and staying with my mother for year."
"At least you knew it wasn't permanent," Yamato commented.
Sora prodded deeper, "But why is he going?"
"It was a last minute decision on his part. I'm his brother. He usually tells me what is happening. Just because our mother decides to unceremoniously leave for France. I told him that he could stay with me and dad, but he's always had a soft spot for mum." Yamato talked out, "And he doesn't even realise the implications of going. His French is better than mine...but, God, he can be so darn brash. He hasn't thought it through well enough!"
"You're right. I don't understand how it is for somebody to leave for good," Sora started. "But you have got to trust him."
"I don't really want to," Yamato sulked. "He's my younger brother..."
And it was then that Sora realised that Yamato reminded her of a child throwing a tantrum. He had done a lot of brooding by himself, but it didn't stop Sora from letting out a giggle and breaking the straining atmosphere.
He glared at her. "What?"
"You're kind of cute," she said before her mind processed what she was thinking. She bit her tongue as he raised an eyebrow. Her cheeks immediately warmed up.
He laughed at her, but luckily didn't reply to what she had said. "Anyway, second time this week, right?"
She stared at him blankly.
"You know...the second time you've listen to me vent about everything," he explained. "I must be a real nuisance."
"Oh, be quiet. You've always been here for me ever since I moved back."
He chuckled, digging out a cigarette. As he was about to search back into his pockets for a lighter, Sora noticed a silver object slip out of it.
As it clattered onto the cement, Yamato picked it up.
Sora gazed at him in awe.
Blond hair, blue eyes...and a harmonica player? How could she have only realised it now?
"You're that boy…"
He was that person she would vaguely think about in her memories during her last weeks in Odaiba. The mysterious entity who knew and empathised with her despite hardly knowing her. The boy who knew what she going through, when nobody else did. The lilting harmonica melodies that he would play that had comforted her when words did not.
It had been Yamato all along.
"Figured me out now?" Yamato assumed as the side of his lips curled, which led Sora to register that Yamato had possibly known that she was the same girl that had been conversing with him at the Lookout when they were younger.
She said, exasperatedly. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Wouldn't have thought it would matter, or that you'd remember anyway."
"Trust me, you did matter." She was still gaping. He had indirectly helped her when she was going through a difficult time. Feebly, she uttered, "You-uh...thanks?"
"No worries. It's the most I could do since it makes up for me growing up into such a wimp as of late."
Sora rolled her eyes. She hated when Yamato was like this. She hated that he'd sarcastically say things about himself, but behind his words he actually believed it. "You need to pull yourself together and stop talking so negatively about yourself. It won't make things any better. Don't put yourself down when you're more capable of more than you really know."
"Huh?"
"Come on, Yamato, the others are waiting for us." She stood up, brushing the dirt from her legs and held a hand out for him to take. "It's bad luck that the city washes out the stars, but at least we can paint our own, right?"
He stared at her and for a split second, she could see him unsettled by what she had said. If he remembered about conversing to her as children, Sora could certainly tell that he had noted the words that he had advised to her once upon a time.
Yamato grinned. His left hand accepted her hand as Sora helped to tug him up.
The attempt failed.
"Arghh!
He lost his balance, falling back first onto the rooftop with Sora straggly sprawled over his body. The red scarf floated over them before the pair could process what had actually happened.
Sora's body was pressed closely against Yamato's that she could feel his ragged breathing. She wasn't sure if it was Yamato's or her hear that was hammering against her chest. However, it was Yamato's beat red face that displayed that he was clearly more embarrassed than she was. And it was then that Sora realised that she had used Yamato to break her fall, cheeks blazing when she saw that her arms were around his lean waist.
"Numb. Legs," Yamato exhaled out. His eyes were looking behind Sora, as if pretending that she was, in fact, lying on top of him. "This is what we get for looking up at stars too often."
"Uh...yes," Sora tried to gather her thoughts. She foolishly retracted her arms from around him in the most inconspicuous fashion she could, scrambling off his body and onto her knees. "Sorry for that...um-"
Her voice got caught in her throat when Yamato sat up and grabbed at her wrist, pulling her next to him. He firmly got her kneeling and then, did something that surprised her. His arms reach around her body and gave her an embrace.
"Yamato?" She whispered, biting onto her bottom lip as she turned upwards to shyly met his gaze.
He looked at her and saw that how she felt reflected on his face.
"Stay."
They weren't sure what they wanted, but they wanted to be there together, even if it was for a moment.
She felt his arms draw her tighter towards his body, allowing his hold to fill her senses. In his arms she felt comforted, and she didn't know whether she was comforting him, or he was comforting her...but it felt right.
However, there was one thing Sora did know.
She didn't want to let go.
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(a/n) 2nd longest chp! Sorry for the long wait. This chapter has influenced me to write a Takari. The first chp is up (It's called Un Pétrin sans Espoir: how delightful, but I'll probably rewrite it), so it's the indirect sequel to this story.
However, I will definitely finish this story prior to the semi-sequel.
I know this is so cheesy (I always feel cheesy writing romantic scenes), but I hope that you overall enjoyed this chp. This scene has been in my head since the first chp, so it's finally nice to get it out, as this is where the name of story 'Starless Sky' originated from...that and because of the pun on Sora's name.
Anyway, thanks for reading so far! [and i know, i will edit this because there are bound to be mistakes. i wrote this on my phone while taking transport]
P.S. Will reply to reviews later tonight. xox