꧁ LIFE and DEATH ꧂

STARS

Nene sat down, panting. "Why . . . is this so . . . hard?"

She had been undergoing astronaut training for a few months now, but everytime it ended, she felt impossibly tired and sometimes sick.

"What's wrong?" Nene looked up.

A boy stood in front of her, leaning against the wall. He had choppy black hair and amber eyes. He wore . . . a ripped space suit?

Nene quickly recognized him. "Y-you're Hanako!" She jumped up. "I-i mean, um, Amane Yugi. W-what are you doing here? Y-you're supposed--"

"To be dead?" Amane smiled. "I am. I'm a ghost, see?" Holding up an arm, Nene could see that Amane was see through.

"H-how are you here?" Nene asked, eyes wide.

"Do you know why I was called 'Hanako' after my death?" Amane ignored her question and replaced it with his own. Nene shook her head. "It's because, in my final hour, I granted a wish." Nene tilted her head.

"Whose wish was it?" she asked. Amane laughed humorlessly.

"Neil Armstrong. I almost wish that I hadn't, though." Amane smiled sadly. "Did you know that, in American schools, children are taught that Neil-san was the first person on the moon?" Nene was shocked.

"W-what? But that's a lie! Everyone's heard of Amane Yugi, the young prodigy and first person on the moon."

"That's what they call me now?" Amane sighed."'The young prodigy', huh." Nene nodded.

"Yeah. But what wish did you grant?"

"I imagine any trace of it was erased from the world. I'm not sure what you've heard, but when we were preparing to return to the atmosphere, part of the rocket broke. Someone needed to go outside and fix it." he paused. "But that person would die. A-and over the radio, Neil-san made a wish. He . . . he said, 'I wish to see my family one last time'." Amane smiled sadly. "I didn't have anyone to come back to. My parents and brother were dead, so I went outside and fixed the rocket." Amane blinked, his eyes suddenly wet.

Can ghosts cry? Nene was about to find out.

"You granted his wish. But . . ." she swallowed. "Did you have a wish?" Amane smiled. It was genuine.

"I did. I wanted to come back and teach a new generation of astronauts to go where I went, to do what I did. I wanted that so badly . . . but it'll never happen. I've accepted that." Nene fiddled with her hair.

"Do . . . do you want to help me? Do you want to teach me t-to go where you went, a-and to do what you did?" Amane starred at the girl.

Then he smiled. "Of course."