Stellar Evolution/credits to "orphan_account?" on ao3

part 5

!! WARNING FOR IMPLIED/REFERENCED SELF HARM THIS CHAPTER !!

wow you can probably tell i've been listening to I Deserve To Bl33d a lot
anyway !! this chapter was incredibly boring to write because i didn't really know what to do half the time
the next chapter should make up for it though...i think
anyway if you feel like skipping this chapter bc you're uncomfy with reading about s/h (which is totally fine btw, i'm not offended lmao), here's a quick summary:
tsukasa's mom asks saki to stay home with tsukasa because he's "sick." they play piano together for like a minute and then everything gets awkward due to [triggering content]
yeah that's pretty much it !!
and as always, thank you for reading.

It's morning.

The bright rays of sunlight pierce through Tsukasa's closed curtains, inconveniently shining right into his eyes. He feels the warmth on his face and blinks, waking up. He lifts himself from his blankets and rubs his eyes, standing. Almost immediately, he collapses to his knees. He feels uncomfortably dizzy. Everything still hurts.

Turns out it wasn't a nightmare after all.

Tsukasa grasps one of the handles of his dresser, getting to his feet. If he had to go to school like this, he guessed things would be pretty miserable. But there wasn't much he could do about it.

After getting dressed in his standard school uniform, he reached for the door handle of his bedroom. Opening it revealed Saki, standing right in front of him. He slightly flinched at her sudden appearance.

"Saki? Aren't you usually on your way to school by now?" Tsukasa asks, staring at her.

"Usually, yeah! But not today! Mom asked me to stay home with you," Saki replies, smiling. "She never really told me why though. It's kinda funny, you're the sick one this time! But don't worry, I'll make sure to take extra care of you to make up for it!"

Tsukasa shifted uncomfortably. He didn't really like being labeled as sick. He didn't think there was anything wrong with him, other than the unexplained headache and lightheadedness. But that could've been from anything, really. It shouldn't have to get in his way like this.

"Saki, I can't stay at home! I've got places to—"

"Hey. Remember the last time you tried to do this? The wedding? You were in so much pain, and you still insisted on going! Didn't you feel much better staying home and recovering?" Saki responds, interrupting him.

He couldn't really say she was wrong. He couldn't imagine how miserable that wedding would've been if he had to go. But last time, he was actually sick—there was a reason he couldn't go. This time was different. He was staying home for what, a pathetic excuse of a headache? Feeling dizzy? This...strange, burning sensation in his arm he hadn't noticed until just now?

That was a dumb reason.

But he figured that nothing positive would come of arguing with Saki. So, he sighed defeatedly and gives a half-hearted smile. "Alright, ok. I'll stay home."

Saki nods and extends her hand. "Come on, I wanna show you something."

Tsukasa takes it, hesitantly. Saki leads him downstairs, to their living room, and then towards the piano sitting there.

"Oh—this. Yeah, I remember this quite well." Tsukasa mumbles. "I spent a lot of time here when you were in the hospital."

"Really?" Saki asks. "I know you played some, but I didn't know you spent a lot of time here."

"I did."

Tsukasa hates being here. Even standing near this piano brings back unpleasant memories. Or rather, memories of feelings he'd had here. There was loneliness, and frustration, when he couldn't get something right. It was pretty stupid for him to act like that, wasn't it? Getting frustrated over something like an instrument.