sunstruck
by LusciniaeCantus
Disclaimer: I don't own Tenipuri or Tithe: A Modern Faerytale by Holly Black.
A/N: Prompted by Holly Black's Tithe: A Modern Faerytale. The first lines where Fuji muses about the sun and the moon are quoted almost directly from the book. The imagery struck me immediately and I just had to jot it down, but damn, it's hard to follow up on.
"You know what the sun looks like?"
Tezuka glanced over at Fuji's silhouette leaning against the railings of the walkway. It was an early spring evening, and the two of them were heading to Tezuka's house to study. Cars rushed below them in the typical bustle of Tokyo's streets.
"What, Fuji?"
His companion stirred and sighed. "Like he slit his wrists in a bathtub and the blood is all over the water."
There was a beat of silence. Tezuka hoisted his tennis bag up and stepped over to look at the sun behind Fuji's shoulder. It painted an angry red slash across the horizon.
"And the moon is just watching," Fuji continued in a soft murmur. "She's just watching him die. She must have driven him to it."
Tezuka's gaze shifted down to the smaller boy, a flicker of some emotion glimmering in his eyes. "Fuji…"
There was another pause and the sun was bleeding now – a brilliant scarlet that slowly diluted into a fiery orange hue.
Fuji's gaze, however, lifted to fixate upon a pale, round globe that hung silently, unobtrusively off to the side of the dying sun. A low, mirthless chuckle broke from his lips.
"The moon really is stupid."
Tezuka made a soft sound, needing, without knowing why, to break Fuji's gaze away from the sky. His hand brushed the other boy's and felt Fuji start slightly, as though he was coming back to himself. Slim, powerful fingers reached out to grip Tezuka's larger ones tightly, as though anchoring itself lest their owner should fall away.
The prodigy turned finally to look at Tezuka, his blue eyes open and distant. Then, they descended and the tennis prodigy was back. His fingers let go, and he smiled with sardonic amusement.
"Isn't the moon really silly? And cruel too, to kill the sun like that."
There were words unspoken in his seemingly offhand statement, important words, and Tezuka knew it.
I'm sorry. I will smother you; bleed you dry. You should beware.
A deprecating smile played upon Fuji's lips. The world seemed to fall into a hush, as though awaiting Tezuka's reply.
So be it.
"But without the sun, there would be no moon."
It is a sacrifice I am willing to make, if only you will shine for me.
This time it was he who reached out, grasping Fuji's cold, slender hands firmly.
"And so the sun will always rise again for the moon."
As I will always return to you.
(end)
A/N 2: I wrote this quite a while ago actually, and only had the chance to edit and post now. In any case, I hope you enjoyed it and please take some time to tell me what you think:)