"It's finished!" the four of you elatedly proclaimed in synchronization, and Matatagi held up the fully constructed object with a certain pride gleaming in his eyes from his hard work. It was a bit arduous, given the manual seemed to serve as little to no use but he still managed to successfully pull it off anyway. His brother's pools were twinkling, and he thought for a minute if he really needed to use the telescope to see the sky outside because seeing those stars in his brother's eyes surely couldn't resemble that indescribable view of the cluster of stars outside.
"It looks great. Can we test it out?" Yuuta wondered with a slightly pleading voice, raising his eyebrows in hope of a positive reaction. Both Yuuta and Shun hadn't tried out a lot of things similar to this - they could never truly afford anything this fanciful, so of course once presented with the chance and opportunity they'd want to pounce on it as fast as possible.
Naturally you nodded your head with as much vigor as them. "Of course! That's why I brought it; so we could all play with it together!" you announced, reassuring them that there was absolutely no problem with anything. Behind your form sat the eldest brother with wide-eyes, lips pursed together in a dour mannerism that emitted a boundless intensity of impudence.
Matatagi felt his heart tremble.
That burst of ice stoning his heart before waves of electrifying currents surged through his bloodstream, and it made his free hand come up to clench hurriedly at the fabric of his shirt - and he was discreetly glad for a moment that you occupied his brothers because he didn't want anyone to see him like this. It was a feeling he didn't want to experience, and all caused by your words. You didn't mean that, did you? Weren't you just interested at looking at the stars, and it didn't matter who you were with, right?
That dubiety and indecisiveness flickered in his mind until you broke him from that mindless trance by placing a hand on his shoulder and flashed him a cordial smile, a simple one you always seemed to perceive at him, however it was enough to rip him from that black abyss warping from his core. "Are you guys ready? Let's go to the window!" Matatagi insisted, acting as if nothing was the matter when everything inside felt rifted to him; because he didn't understand. He thought he did, yet he was doubting the notion and himself entirely - just who were you? To him, to everyone, to yourself?
"Okay, Nii-chan!" Yuuta tugged at Shun's wrist, and the two of them swiftly made way to the window, clearing away a few stray items that were splayed out on the floor still. "Help me open the window Shun," Yuuta then ordered and the youngest did as he was told and the two of them together managed to unlock the hinges and pry said window open high enough.
"They're really excited; I am too," you softly mumbled to Matatagi who was beside you as you quickly tromped behind Yuuta and Shun. Settling yourself comfortably on the smooth floor, which was surprising to you, but nevertheless were content with it.
He nodded, agreeing with your statement, before he finally said, "It's not everyday we do things like this." A weary smile curled on his lips, and you questioned to yourself sincerely if everything was alright with him but before you knew it, he was beckoning his brothers to move alongside so he could set down the telescope into position.
"Alright, guys. Who wants to view it first?" Matatagi inquired, raising an eyebrow to empathize his question, and he stared at his brothers with an expected look of anticipation. Both of them raised their hands avidly with matching expressions. "Ah, only one of you can! There's not enough room for both of you to see it at the same time," he added, being unable to choose between both of them, and it made it difficult to decide who should use the telescope first and foremost.
Clearly both children wanted to be the first one to examine the sky through that specialized lens. "Why don't we all come to an agreement that...[Last Name] will be the first?" he suddenly proposed, making you shyly glance over at him in shock, and he returned your gesture with an almost cheeky one before adding in, "Since she brought it, it's only fair, right?"
"Yeah, that sounds good," Yuuta grinned in agreement. "Mhm!" Shun chirped gleefully, hands clenching into balls to cope with his exhilaration. Tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, without any choice, you moved yourself directly behind the telescope, and simply peered into the lens. "How is it? Is it pretty?" Shun bombarded you with quick questions.
... "I think it's out of focus. It's all blurry," you explained to them, uncertainty clinging to the edges of your voice as you temporarily shuffled away from the telescope. Matatagi inwardly groaned, didn't you know anything (you even bought the damn thing!), but still switched seats with Yuuta so he could be on the left side of you.
He cranked the dial on that side of the scope, and instructed for you to gaze back in and tell him when it cleared up; a few turns of that blacken dial, and a few frustrated bickers until you finally got it utterly focused to perfection. "Geez, was that so hard?" he mumbled under his breath, a smidgen of anger tinging in that complaint.
"Whoa.. It's so beautiful, you absolutely gotta see!" Judging by your astonished expression as you managed to actually pry yourself away from gazing up, it seemed like a really magnificent sight. The brothers decided that it would go up in age: Shun, then Yuuta, and then finally Matatagi. Although when Shun excitedly stepped up to bat, him and Yuuta practically shared a turn; brief viewing sessions before they promptly transferred places.
"Is that a constellation?" Yuuta questioned to himself, faint enough to be mistaken as a whisper but loud enough for everyone to hear. Matatagi surmised that it probably would've been, unless Yuuta had mistaken a cluster of stars and poorly attempted to mingle them together to form something, but still, he found himself aiding someone again.
Yuuta moved aside to allow Matatagi to handle the situation, and discern what he had believed to be some sort of constellation. It was his first time glancing through the telescope, and it truly amplified the beauteous night that had befallen onto the sky - the moon was out, yet it was hazy due to the minimal amount of condescending clouds. The stars were brightly alight; so many of them were out tonight!
It was easy to get lost in the marvelous sight, but he riveted his patience back at cracking what Yuuta saw. "Oh - you're right! It's Scorpius," he suddenly exclaimed, making Yuuta even more thrilled he found something interesting. The constellation was pinned near the milky way, and held an outstanding number of dark nebulae and star clusters gathered around it.
"What's Scor...pi..us?" Shun enunciated slowly with confusion to ensure he pronounced it correctly, and you patted his back along with an assuring smile to telltale to him he got it correct.
Matatagi brought his body back away from the scope, and imminently found his fingers poking into the stomach of said child. "It's a scorpion. They got venomous stingers, so watch out!" Matatagi jested whilst pretending each finger of his was a jab of a scorpion's stinger - it definitely got a laugh and wail from Shun and Yuuta.
All you could do was stare breathlessly at the family, everyone had a smile on their face, and while you felt that pang of envy beat against in your gut; you couldn't help but allow the overpowering feeling of joy, and simple bliss to overtake you entirely and you tried your best to ignore that wretched feeling lurking in your gut. Matatagi...had a genuine smile on his face, and just from that alone you could tell he really loved his brothers.
Matatagi had turned his gaze to you for a moment, not intentionally or anything, but found himself unable to rotate it away.
Pink - a pink blush managed to worm its way onto his cheeks at that doting adoration smothered over your expression as you directed a smile at him. "What?" he scorned, finally revolving his head away from yours and back onto his arguing brothers - who were actually just playing. What was with that look? You were so stupid.
"Shun, Yuuta, come on! We haven't even started yet, let's continue stargazing!" you beckoned them back over to the spot where you were all before just minutes ago.
a/n; Matatagi is so rick-rockety right now with his feelings towards the reader; but I think he'd go through a lot doubt in himself, and the opposite person if he found himself actually being compelled by some unknown force (it's called 'love', matatagi dear /smacked) to honestly trust and/or like someone and be...friends with them. Not to mention it certainly would take a while for him to actually humor the thought himself in the first place because people can't be trusted.
Oh, yeah; Something exciting will happen next chapter! It was suppose to be in this chapter, but I got a bit carried away! Ah, well~
inazuma eleven go (galaxy) © level-5