CHAPTER EIGHT

Constellations to Form

" - and that's the domain and range," Aidou concluded as I stared at his equation and each carefully set out steps blankly.

"Okay."

"Do you understand?"

"Yes."

His light eyes bore into mine for several seconds too long and my obliviousness must have been obvious because he called my bluff and wrote up another example for me to try and I stammered up immediately at the first step. He sighed, and once again, pulled his chair even closer to me so that his breath was almost on my face, his arm behind my chair as the pencil in his hand directed the steps for the third time – but something about it just didn't click in my mind, and I couldn't commit it to memory. They didn't make sense.

"Maybe you should drop a level," he commented dubiously, obviously confused at how I was confused. I was sure that never once in his lifetime he had been stuck.

"I am at the lowest level to be dropped at," I told him, throwing him a glance and he sighed, leaning back in the chair and giving me some breathing space.

After my obvious failed attempts at self-learning, I gave in and graciously accepted his offer to help. And as much as I may try to deny it, he was smart. Aidou Hanabusa was smart. He was not all appearance and charms, but brains too. Although his mood fluctuated from out going to cold in a snap of a finger, I breezed by this developing bipolar because...well, because I was in desperate need of a math tutor. And seeing that every time I even attempted to ask someone else, they would just look at me with those aw she's blind eyes and I would slink off.

He told me to study the steps again and look over his work, and for a second I do. That tiny dedication gave him the chance for his eyes to wander, his chin resting upon an upturned palm as he looked around with a bored expression. My eyes looked up, searching his and hoping to find colour – but they were the same, lighter gray and disappoint dropped in my stomach. I looked back down and he turned to me. "Something wrong?"

"Life."

He gave me one of those looks that I knew meant he was trying to figure out whether or not I was just being exaggerate or nakedly honest and he must have decided upon the first because he made a sound as he sat up and leaned closer. "So, now do you understand?"

"Completely."

"For God's sake, Kaede, if you don't -"

"Misane," I corrected automatically. He gave me an annoyed look.

"I'll call you whatever I want," he said, sounding every bit as spoiled I assumed him to be.

"And if I just go around screaming about Hanabusa?" I countered and to my surprise, a genuinely pleased smile lit his face.

"I would love that."

I frowned. "And the implications that follow -"

"Look at that, you used a long word."

"Oh shut up, Hanabusa," I said, obviously joking but that same smile tugged at the corners of his lips and somehow his eyes seem even lighter, brighter. Not quite gray, but not quite the same as before.

"I like the sound of that, Kaede," he said in a light, care free tone with that same hint of a smile on his face. He turned back down, facing the book but it did not hide the smile at all. And I stared at that smile, unable to match it up with the over-the-top one he had given to all those girls during the transition. It seemed to suit him more, I thought, not too happy and just with the right touch of sincerity. It was not a smile meant to impress others, but because of one self's own contentment.

I supposed that was the first day I started calling him Hanabusa.

xx-x-xx

Hanabusa was smoothly setting up the telescope by the time I arrived with Akira by the collar. I looked at him curiously. For someone who had just started one or two weeks ago, he was surprisingly efficient. He learned quickly, when he knew exactly what he should be learning. Before I could wave, his head snapped up already. "Hey there," he called out breezily, not paying too much attention to me.

In the several days I have begun talking to Hanabusa regularly, I've come to the conclusion that his attention was flitting. He was observant, but it took a lot to really capture it for too long. How we are friends – associates, actually – I am still not sure yet but for four days, he had been tutoring me in the afternoon followed by late night stargazing with the telescope he had bought. I wished it was something of my own, but this would do for now.

I still had to point things out to him, but sometimes – often – I wouldn't even think. I would just talk about nothing significant, about stories of the stars, about why it was named that way or just about the past times I've seen them. Sometimes we would argue. He said it looked like a mess, I said that it looked like its respected shape. Sometimes we didn't talk at all, and he would just fidget with it.

Never once had I thought he was my boyfriend.

Even sitting out in the laid out blanket, leaning back against Akira's furry body and staring at him as he looked through the telescope as opposed to the sky, I didn't feel any romantic interest – and I said this honestly. I saw him stiffen visibly, before turning to me. "What's wrong?"

"Are we friends?" I asked. I didn't know when it had happened, when that conversation barrier broke between us but I found myself talking to him much easier, without thinking about it or preparing myself beforehand. He blinked, the action so starling normal that it made me distracted momentarily.

"I think we are," he said almost haughtily, as if it was such a huge deal on my part. I laughed, knowing that this bravado of his was mostly a facade, as much as the blind girl role was mine. It was a cover that was so easy to fall into that I forgot sometimes that I wasn't really disabled – colour blindness was nothing to real and complete blindness. And his awareness of his wealth was not the same thing as others' obsession and submersion in it. But even considering this, there was something else that I felt Hanabusa had a reason to feel privileged for, like another status I didn't know about yet.

"Huh," I said thoughtfully, looking back up at the skies. There was something relaxing about being underneath this vast, black space – lit up by clutters of bright lights, something about the cool air, something about the way I heard Hanabusa noisily sat down beside me.

"Something wrong?" he asked distractedly again, but I wasn't paying him too much attention.

"Nope." Nothing was wrong...just strange. A moment passed before he said anything else.

"Tell me a story," he said softly and I blinked, rolling my head to look at him before back at the sky. It was nice and overwhelmingly black. Calming.

"There were these seven sisters," I began although I wasn't really listening to the sound of my voice, I wasn't really thinking – I wasn't really there, "they were all beautiful...charming, intelligent. You know. Those type. Their father was a Titan god named Atlas, who held the weight of the world on his shoulders -"

"Seriously?" he interrupted.

"Well no, it's just a myth," I said, a bit irritated that he stopped me but when my eyes flickered to him, he had an apologetic smile on his face and I sighed, starting again. "As I was saying, they were just...fantastic. Crème de la crème sort of thing. They were so great that the hunter, Orion chased them around everywhere."

"Orion? We saw that before, right?"

This time, I smiled at his interruption, glad that he remembered. "Yep."

"This guy seems obsessive."

"So obsessive that Zeus took pity on the sisters, and turned each of them into doves."

"How is that supposed to help?" His voice sounded faraway too, and although we both were talking – neither of us really put too much thought too it.

"I don't know, but it sort of sucked for Atlas because since his daughters were gone, he was punished even more. Forced to carry them too, I guess."

"They're those clutter of stars?" he asked, as he pointed to a random direction.

"We call them hoki boshi here," I said, my eyes following the line of his arm up until the point of his fingers before turning back up at the sky, "the brush stars. But I prefer the Greek story to it."

He stopped.

"Why did you choose to tell me that story?"

"I don't know," I said honestly, "I don't know why I tell you anything. I don't know why we even talk." And I had no idea where that burst of truth came from. I guess somehow, somewhere along the past couple days, I lost that filter with him. But instead of being embarrassed, I just waited for him to say something – for an explanation.

"But we're friends."

I didn't respond.

Suddenly, I heard him groan as his clothing rustled and he leaned towards me. He told me that he had blond hair – which he also noted that light hair was commonly associated with the attractiveness or dumbness, as ridiculous as it sounded – once but his hair looked even lighter now, like a halo around it with the moonlight behind him. His eyes were light too, incredibly light but in a different way then -

Wait.

I couldn't breathe.

There, just there – the shadow of colour. Of a shade not quite grey, but a cooler tone. I couldn't breathe, I could only stare and he was saying something – something intensely, his eyes wide and trying to be serious but his words were like water and I couldn't really hear them. I heard his voice, but I was too busy looking at his eyes.

"They're nice."

He stopped. "What?"

I blinked, snapping out of it. "Nothing," I said quickly and suddenly I realized how close we were. I didn't notice it before – but now it was bothering me. He was too close, his face only inches from mind and he seemed to realize it too, drawing farther away. But I kept on staring at his eyes that were...different. "Were you listening to a thing I was saying?"

"No," I said honestly, eyes searching his and trying to suppress that flutter of excitement. "But, Hanabusa listen -"

"Hanabusa!"

We both shot up – painfully bumping my nose against his chin. Well, more painful on my part but I couldn't help but apologize first. "Sorry!" I said immediately, seeing that he stumbled backwards, holding himself back against his palm as I stood up, staring at me before looking around for where the voice had come from. Two people appeared from out of the shadows, one with a surprised and angry expression, the other weary but curious.

"What are you doing here?" he asked them, irritated but not at all nervous as I was. I looked at their uniforms and recognized them as Night class students, not that their appearance didn't give them away. I've always heard that the Night class had attractive students, but seeing the slim girl with long, wavy light hair and the face of a 18th century socialite and another who looked like a cross between a model and a surfer – an elegant, regal one – I realized how true that statement was.

"So this is what you're ditching first for? To...to lie on the dirty ground?" the girl snapped, her eyes sharp and scolding. Hanabusa didn't seem at all perturbed by her accusation, only annoyed as he brushed his hair back, his eyes set in a glare.

The boy – man, really – didn't say anything. He was just staring unnervingly at me, his eyes roaming my body before settling back to Hanabusa. He sighed and seemed to relax a little. "I should've known," he said and I was surprised at how calm and smooth his tone was, "all those astronomy books you've suddenly taken an interest in..."

I raised my eyebrows and turned to Hanabusa, who now seemed flustered at what the man had said. He wouldn't look at me, his fist clenched. "Shut up, Akatsuki!" he said quickly and something about that childish behaviour softened any edge I had been feeling and I even laughed. So we weren't in trouble, and these weren't the prefects. I could deal with this.

Hanabusa on the other hand, I wasn't sure about. "Why are you guys following me – did Kaname set you up for this?" he demanded and the girl's face changed again, but not anger this time – but there was almost a frightened expression, a vulnerable one as if he approached a sensitive topic. I thought I recognized that name somewhere, but I couldn't quite place it.

"No, and he shouldn't need to. You know better, Hanabusa." I shouldn't be surprised that she referred him by his first name – he obviously didn't care too much about it but something about it caught me off guard nonetheless.

"Maybe I should go," I offered but his eyes snapped to me, and immediately he reached out and held my arm. "Wait -"

"Don't you have a curfew anyway?" the girl asked, but she didn't sound bitter or haughty. She wasn't angry at me, there was nothing personal about the comment – just a statement. I didn't think any teenage girl could pull that off until now.

"Look at that," I said glancing down at a non-existent watch, "I do." Usually at a time like this, I would pack up my telescope and go – but I realized that nothing here belonged to me for once, except Akira. "Come on, let's go," I said as I ruffled his fur collar. Akira was growling, barring his teeth. Strange. I tried to soothe him as I took Akira away, but the dog was insistent. I didn't say bye to Hanabusa, and I didn't need to because he was following right after me. "You don't have to go," he was saying but I was stubbornly getting out of the forest, leading an angry and irritated dog behind me, "they were just -"

"You have class to go to," I said, careful not to sound angry or hurt because I knew it would only make questions arise. And I wasn't angry or hurt, but I also thought it was the smart move to let him handle everything. Did that make me a coward? I'm pretty sure but... "I'll see you later, bye."

"Tomorrow?" he asked, letting distance between us and I was brought back to what felt like months ago – when he first told me his name. Soft voice, carried to the wind and eyes I knew that were intent on me.

"Sure." Why did he sound so unsure? I mean, it was only four days since we kept up this routine...but it was four days in a row.

"See you, Kaede."

I smiled, waving – but I caught a glimpse of the frowning girl behind him, and suddenly I wasn't so sure if I would see him after all.

The happy times are rolling.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! I'm so glad there's people reading this :') Reviews would be lovely.