celestial. ✎ renster [nijisanji]

part one.

"aster arcadiaa!" a cheerful voice called down the school halls. aster started to turn around to face the voice, but suddenly yelled and laughed when the sweet maria jumped on him, hugging him tightly. maria was aster's first proper friend in the institute, mainly because he was so focused on his studies that he didn't bother to make friends in his first year, but a year later, maria spotted him alone-some on break and therefor adopted him as her own. "good morning, aster!"

"good morning, mari." aster laughed, quickly hugging the younger before letting her go. "how was your night?"

"it was good! i got to look more into soulmates and how they meet!" maria smiled, hooking her arm with aster's and beginning to walk down the school halls. "did you know that when soulmates meet, they feel a zap when their hands first collide?"

"who fed you that?" aster smiled, shaking his head. as a celestial, he knew everything about soulmates, and he definitely hadn't heard of a zap before.

"the internet! there's so many cool things on there, astie. im so glad im alive to see it."

maria was new to the world. before she came to the institute, she was actually a lifeless doll, sitting on a dollmakers shelf until she mysteriously brought to life one day. she was learning everything that came with life. she already 'came' with the basics of language, common sense and knowledge to live, and bodily functions, but so many things were new to her. and the one that fascinated her the most was soulmates. and technology.

"i can't wait to get my soulmate."

"i know, mari. but you just have to wait until you're 18 to see.." he paused. "if you're going to get one."

maria shook her head. "i know there's a possibility i wont get one, but, i can feel it in my blood. im alive now, arent i? and all living beings get soulmates!"

aster didn't say anything else, he knew it'd only upset maria, and himself if she continued the 'everyone has a soulmate' talk. she didn't know about celestials yet, and she definitely didn't know aster was one. instead, aster just tugged her closer with his arm as they walked. it was still too early for class, so instead they made there way to the back of the school, opening the door to a small classroom. it was still in use, but there weren't any morning classes so aster and his friends always managed to get into it, and sometimes at lunch as well. as the two entered the classroom, they saw aia already sitting on top of the table, waving to them.

"morning, aia." aster called, walking in with maria but unhooking their arms so maria could go attack aia in a tight hug. the two embraced while aster made his way over to aia, sitting beside her on the table as maria held onto aia's waist and flopping her head onto the other's shoulder.

"did you hear about her research from last night?" aia asked aster, smiling as if she were to laugh. "about the zaps and how she stayed up until 3am reading obscure posts on the interenet?"

"hey! it was proper research." maria defended.

"obscure posts? really mari, you trust them?" aster questioned with a genuine smile.

"well, yeah, the internets full of people sharing valuable infomation! and the more stories, the more reliable it is!" 

"mari.. we already told you about strangers on the internet." aia shook her head yet still smiled. they both had such a big soft spot maria and her innocent views. it was especially refreshing for aster who already knew so much.

aster smiled as well, bringing his legs up and crossing them on the table. "well, there are a lot of stories so it must be reliable, aia. alright?" he asked, earning a small chuckle from aia and a sleepy side glare from maria who still had her head on aia's shoulder. "im not gonna lie, that looks pretty comfy, mari." aster said in a hushed tone, careful not to bother maria, smiling as aia softly stroked maria's hair.