summer solstice.

{ 02; twinkle, twinkle, little star. }

{ chapter 2 }

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twinkle, twinkle, little star. how i wonder what you are.

it was time to return to the dormitories when fushiguro soon realised that nao lived next to him. he believed it to be empty before, but evidently not as nao slammed the door of the room. it was rather unexpected, but the boy thought not much of it and moved on.

meanwhile, the black-haired male was too tired to even move. the mission definitely ended earlier than usual, but it still used more energy than he ever had. he hoped that his sleep would go undisturbed this time as his eyelids drooped shut.

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his hair stuck to the back of his neck as he jolted awake into a seating position on his bed. the room seemed humid due to the sweat and the awfully warm temperature. grumbling, nao grabbed the remote controller for the air-conditioning before returning to lie on the bed, hoping for a continuation of his sleep. however, dreamland seemed too far away now, and nao was once again doomed for another night up. his eyes trailed to the window, where everything was pitch black.

"mum, can i sleep with you and dad? i had a nightmare..." a young boy mumbled his words as he held a small plush bear the size of his head in his arms.

"of course you can, nao," her voice was gentle, calming and lovely. "dad wouldn't mind if you joined us either, i'm sure of it."

his brain pounded against his skull as he closed his eyes in an attempt to ease the pain. perhaps, though, he deserved it. perhaps this was his punishment. he groaned as he pushed his fatigued body from the bed, his feet touching the cold wooden floor. it was too late for such thoughts. he leisurely put his hoodie on and grabbed his keys before heading out, the door slowly closing shut behind him.

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the breeze was cold despite it being the beginning of summer and the weather being extremely hot just a few hours before the sun went down. nao stared at the sky, his golden eyes glittering under the stars of the night. his fingers squirmed in his pockets as he reminisced the peaceful times of his past.

"mum, mum, can you see it?" the young boy yelled in excitement as he pointed to the sky. "there was a shooting star!"

his eyes were brighter than the stars that glistened in the night sky, and his mother was certain that there couldn't be anything that was more precious than her beloved son. he was her little star, and she would do anything to ensure it continued to burn. small hands pointed up into the air as the boy spoke with eagerness laced in his tone.

"look, another one!"

his mother smiled as she placed her own, much larger, hands over the boy's. she clasped their hands together as she spoke gently.

"close your eyes, make a wish, and the stars will make it come true."

nao looked up at the sky. his wish didn't come true. perhaps the stars weren't very fond of him and decided not to listen, or maybe his pleads didn't get far enough to reach their ears. he felt sick as he slowly began his journey back to the dormitories, his feet heavy as he walked. the night sky, too, began to retreat as a faint orange hue made its entrance.

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maki knocked an insufferable amount on nao's door. she was very, very close to knocking the door down and waking nao up from his slumber. he never took this long to wake up- in fact, he was never asleep in his room. so why wasn't he answering now?

"oi, nao, i'm going to knock this door down if you don't open it right now, do you hear me?"

funnily enough, nao walked towards maki as he pulled her into a back-hug from behind. he buried his face into her back, the hood of his hoodie falling off at the action.

"maki," he began in a slight whine. "i'm tired."

the green-haired girl clicked her tongue before elbowing the boy lightly as she turned to face him. his face looked miserable, to say the least. did his dark circles get worst? maybe. did he even get any sleep last night? probably not. maki swore that one day, she'd knock nao unconscious for the sake of his health. meanwhile, nao's lips were pursued as he sulked at the fact that his friend had just elbowed him. it didn't hurt, but he liked to be a drama queen to freshen up his life a little (call it a coping mechanism if you will).

from across the two older figures was fushiguro, who had just finished getting ready for the day. nao curiously eyed the boy before waving to greet him.

"fushiguro-kun, you're up early. did we wake you up?" he asked in the most cheerful tone he could muster, though his voice could only do so much with the amount of sleep he was on.

"no, i woke up a while ago..." fushiguro's voice trailed off. "what about you, hakaze-senpai?"

nao visibly flinched at the question, his eyes avoiding any direct contact with either student that stood around him. 'lord have mercy,' he thought as he tried to think of a response.

"erm, i, uh, woke up at like... six! yeah, six," he managed to spit a random number that he deemed reasonable as he rubbed the back of his neck.

fushiguro raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. noticing this, maki gave nao another nudge with her elbow, to which the boy reacted to with a sharp 'ow'.

"okay, fine. i woke up at like, three, okay? it's not even that bad." nao mumbled as he admitted to the truth.

"and you slept at...?"

"like, twelve or so."

the hallway entered a state of complete silence as maki's frustration only grew while fushiguro struggled to process the information. he hoped he had heard wrong because if nao had slept at twelve and woke up at three, he would have had an inhumane amount (three hours) of sleep. how was he still functioning? answer: he's not, really.

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