The Moon's Redamancy In Fall [Tsukishima x Yamaguchi]

twenty-three.

Inspired by the song "I Wanna Be Yours" by The Arctic Monkeys.

❝Secrets I have held in my heart, are harder to hide than I thought, maybe I just wanna be yours. I wanna be yours.❞

Tsukishima

The sky is a rolling blanket of cloud, the color of wet ash, and the ground its dank reflection. Stars light the sky like snow-flakes in the night, yet appear still, like an old photograph.

He beamed at me, "Tsukki, let's visit the park!" Yamaguchi's face glowed beneath the streetlights.

I frowned, "What? But it's already dark," I huffed, trying to let my annoyance to not subside, as I continued to hug my sides to keep myself warm.

Please, I just want to go home as soon as possible.

Yamaguchi giggled, "It'll be quick! Come on!" He frolicked across the streets like a little kid and I couldn't help but feel more annoyed because when I leave him here, my mom will kill me.

"Wait!" I growled, "Yamaguchi, I swear! I will leave you here!"

And of course, he didn't listen. I stomped my way towards the park, near a small store. As the light fades to black, the colours of the grass and leaves remain in my mind almost like a fragrance.

The park becomes even more silvery between the shadows that stretch out as if yawning. Already the warmth of the autumn day is quite gone, only ever present in the sunshine, and the first bite of winter pales my skin.

Yamaguchi smiled, feeling the wind blow his hair into a tousled mane. Were he out there in space, riding the limits of the known universe, they would be a choreographed blizzard.

How the stars would move, the galaxies tumble and dart. But for now, with Yamaguchi's arms around the branch of a windswept tree and his head leaning gently on the bark, the starlight kept its familiar pattern.

The constellations, who'd witnessed centuries and millennia just the same, watched over this tiny moment.

Yamaguchi moves as if only a flowing outline of black, but the light will come, it always does. In that growing light his silhouette becomes full color.

I was star-strucked.

Yamaguchi's face recoils in a perplexed expression, "What's with the long face?" He beamed, trying to surpress a giggle but failed miserably.

"I-It's fucking freezing," I muttered, my voice trembled from the coldness. Fuck.

Yamaguchi once again laughed, a hearty one. He seemed so happy tonight, "Come on, you're such a killjoy," He whined, like a kid.

Automatically, I rolled my eyes, "If we don't leave in five minutes, I'm going home,"  I breathe, as a thick cloud of smoke came out of my mouth from how cold the temperature was.

Yamaguchi's eyes rest, not unblinking but slowed; yet the effect is soft and inviting instead of harsh. Perhaps it is his lips that give away his intention, not quite smiling but tilting as if they mean to.

I sat next to him, a little too far, but I settled down, trying to surpress the impaling coldness.

Yamaguchi gazes at those bright friends of the moon and their pattern that seems so fixed and yet ever-changing, distant lights.

I took off my glasses and straddled beneath the tree, without my glasses the starry night was a brilliant Van Gogh, everything bigger and brighter, blurred in the most fantastic way.

Just gazing at the midnight blue canvas above stole every thought from my mind, the usual carousel of worries simply forgotten.

There was the heavenly stars above and a crescent moon to smile down; what else was there to know about?

Silence crept around us. Nothing but the soft howling of the wind and the mumurs of the leaves shuffling from the trees.

Yamaguchi breathes and lets it out, slowly, "Tsukki . . ." He muttered, under his breath.

I peered down at him and pursed my lips before speaking, "What?" I say in a hushed tone.

For a while, he didn't speak, yet instead he closed his eyes before he could open his mouth, "Have you ever been in love?" Yamaguchi asks, not hesitant but leisurely.

I quirked an eyebrow at him, "No," I chuntered, averting my eyes and fixing my gaze once again at the sky.

Yamaguchi didn't reply. I blinked and decided to take this moment as an opportunity, "Maybe, I have,"

His face lits up and gave me an amused smile, "Really?" He looked so proud.

"I fall in love with events, sceneries, my favorite shows-"

"No, not that!" He lets out an exasperated sigh, "Like a girl! Or with . . . Someone,"

I didn't know why but I suddenly felt nervous, I swallowed, "I think so," I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, aren't you going to tell me who?"

"Isn't that suppose to be a secret?"

Yamaguchi laughed, "Okay, Mr. Mysterious,"

God, what a dork.

Is he even aware?

I blinked, "What about you?" I said, keeping my voice austere to conceal my curiousity.

He kept a skeptical expression, his eyes settles with uncertainty and then his stare softens. My heart was beating against my chest. I was nervous. I couldn't get off that unsettling feeling at the pit of my stomach as I waited for his answer with every bit of anticipation left in me.

I can feel the fear in my chest waiting to take over. Perhaps it only wants to protect me but there really isn't any danger. It sits there like an angry ball propelling me towards an anxiety I just don't need.

At first, he was hesitant, he looked down and started to fiddle with his fingers, "I think so,"

Well, who is it?

My chest tightened.

My stomach churned.

I repeated his line as if those words were the last one I'd be saying before I ran out of breath, "Aren't you going to tell me who?"

Please don't.

"I think . . ." Yamaguchi paused.

"I think I like Yachi-san." He whispered.