His breath hitches in his throat as he watches her. Kashima's eyes sparkle as she looks up at the night sky, pointing out various stars and constellations to Hori. It's a little difficult to pinpoint exactly what she's pointing at since it's a little cloudy, but he can't help but smile at her unbridled enthusiasm.

The clouds begin to vanish, and Hori can hear a soft gasp escape Kashima's lips. She's beaming and enthusiastically pointing at the sky, making dramatic hand gestures and wide, sweeping motions with her arms.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she says, her voice lighter and more airy than he remembers it being.

He redirects his gaze to the sky and thinks, yes, the sky is beautiful. There's something about the way the stars look when you're in the middle of nowhere— it's bright and colorful and beautiful, but when he looks back at Kashima, she's practically glowing. When he glances at the sky once more, it's as if all the stars have lost their shine. The moon, the stars, all of space, the whole universe— all of it could never compare to Kashima.

Maybe the night sky only looks beautiful because she's here, he thinks.

"Yeah, it is."

Kashima lays down beside Hori and turns her head to look up at him. "You're not even looking, senpai."

He shifts his body until he's no longer sitting, slowly lowers himself onto the ground, and rolls onto his side so that his whole body is facing her. "I know."

Kashima giggles in response and affectionately brushes his styled bangs away from his eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that? You know, I brought you here so I could show you the stars! Were you listening to anything I was saying earlier?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"Mmhm."

"Hori-senpai..." Kashima sighs and rolls over so that she's facing him as well and moves until their foreheads are almost touching. "Is there something that's bothering you? I haven't seen you since you left for university, and ever since you came to visit, you've been very... distracted."

He props his head up with his hand and gives her a small smile. "You think so?"

"I know so," she replies in a whisper, and she's so close, he can feel her breath on him. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Her lips are teasingly close to his now, and he contemplates leaning in, but he knows he's treading dangerous ground right now. Instead, he drapes an arm over her and rests his forehead against hers. "I was just thinking, y'know... About the stars and constellations you were telling me about and the moon and the universe and whatever."

"I don't understand, Hori-senpai. What are you trying to say?" Kashima's giggling uncontrollably now, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer to her. "You're being so weird. Is there anything I can do to alleviate a lovely princess's distress this fine evening? A candle-lit dinner under the stars? A romantic escape to the outskirts of town where we can abandon all—"

And he does the very thing he warned himself not to—he kisses her, lips slowly moving against hers, hand moving up and down her back. She responds by pulling him in even closer and desperately running her hands through his hair. He's not quite sure what's happening because his mind is all a blur, and the only thing going through his head is Kashima and how amazing she looks under the stars tonight. She's on top of him now, and Hori is being pushed down into the grass. He knows that these grass stains aren't going to get washed out anytime soon, but he doesn't care because when Kashima lifts her lips off of his so they can breathe, he takes a good look at her flushed face and disheveled hair, and her lips are so swollen and red.

The view from here is beautiful, Hori thinks—Kashima, the stars, and the moon. Kashima was right, he realizes. The stars are beautiful tonight. And her green eyes are almost glowing in the dark, and if he squints and peers into them deeply enough, there are stars in her eyes as well. It's almost sensory overload, looking at Kashima, allowing himself to take all of her in at once.

Hori always knew that Kashima was attractive, and he had always thought that his favorite view of her was whenever he was looking down at her from above, but now he knows that he was wrong. Past Hori was terribly mistaken because the view from here is breathtaking. There's something about the way her bangs cascade over her face and how her hand, intertwined with his, keeps pushing him harder into the ground and how her nails dig into his back, leaving half-moons on his skin through the fabric of his shirt.

"I never knew the Prince was so rough with her princesses."

"And I never knew that a princess could be so demanding. Haven't you had enough already?"

"Well, the view tonight is stunning."

"Ah," she says, almost in a mocking tone. "Now what was it you were saying earlier about the stars and the moon? Aren't they beautiful tonight?"

"Only because you're here," he whispers into her ear. "You're more beautiful than all the stars in the cosmos. That's what I think."

"And I think you're the most beautiful maiden in all the land. The roughest as well. I never knew a princess could kiss like that."

"Is this what you had in mind when you dragged me out into the middle of nowhere to go stargazing?"

She kisses him again on the lips and slowly makes her way to his neck, and it feels as if his skin is on fire but he doesn't care. And when her teeth absentmindedly scrapes against his skin, he lets out a gasp.

"No, but I think the stars have aligned for me, don't you think?"