The Sky Is Blue

Prologue

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~Don't go, you're half of me now, But I'm hardly stood proud, I said it, almost~
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Katsuki couldn't focus on anything.

He was doing his actions automatically; the shift of his feet to walk, the turning of his hand to open the door to his apartment, the breath moving in and out of his lungs, the action of gazing at his surroundings and forming the objects in his vision into images. Because his brain wasn't present, instead it was wandering to moments in the not-so-distant past without his permission whatsoever. Emotions of anger should have been rampaging over him, the very thought of the stranger that shattered his plans for the few days of vacation he had should have sent him spiralling towards anger and hatred. He could even feel his hands clenching into fists, his jaw was set and his vision was blurry as he couldn't seem to see clearly with the resentment that clogged his very being.

But then he remembered it wasn't just a nobody that he left behind, but it was a stranger who left his mark in Katsuki's memory to be remembered as 'Kirishima'. It was only as he recalled the vivid colour of the soft of his dyed hair, and the large amber eyes that he had stared into so many times; eyes that he felt jealous of because his were the same shade as Kirishima's, except one pair showed hostility while the other expressed kindness instead. As he put together the image of the other in his mind like the curl of his lips, the brightness of his smile, the comfort that his voice brought and the softness of a kiss that he realized he wasn't angry. He couldn't hold a semblance of dread towards the red-head.

As he sat down in his lonely apartment his mind refused to come back into the present, and his fingers gently held the flower in bloom that was given to him just a few hours ago. He could still hear the words clearly, as if the other was right next to him. "It's a Forget Me Not," he had explained, as if Katsuki was ever capable of getting rid of the memories he was holding onto so tightly.

Mindlessly he grabbed his phone, the brightness of his screen a stark contrast to the dark of the room, even if there were a few rays of moonlight that managed to delve their way in through the closed curtain. And suddenly nothing around Katsuki mattered; his breath was caught in his throat, the blurry of his eyes was transforming into something else, and after the quick press of a button he put the phone against his ear.

"Hey Katsuki-kun."

The voice was painfully familiar. He recognised every beat, the drawl of his words, the lilt in his tone, and the sense of sincerity that was present in everything he had ever said; all were present in the few words that were spoken. But it was all too much, he couldn't speak even if he wanted to, the very sound of his name on the other's lips was enough to turn the lashes of his eyes damp.

"I just wanted to tell you that I got your text, but can you wait a bit longer before your train leaves?"

It was as the other spoke that Katsuki made sense of the events, putting them all one after the other to form a tapestry of chronological order in his head, but all that was useless by now.

"Please?"

It was the simple plea that caused his voice to betray him, making him want to let out a sob, but his throat was so tight that it wouldn't even allow that to happen, so what came out was a whimper instead.

"I just got you a little something so you can remember me by,"

His eyes slowly gazed down at the small flower in between his two fingers, with petals fragile and blue, and it was something too beautiful to be held by his grasp that couldn't understand the gentleness required to hold such a thing.

"Honestly I don't even know why I'm trying. You probably won't even see this before you get on the train,"

Laughter framed the words, and in it was a bitter twinge that Katsuki wasn't familiar with, and he was still trying to take deeper breathes, to calm his beating heart. But it wasn't too much of a problem, as when Kirishima spoke it drove out the sound of his heartbeat, leaving unwanted emotions in its wake.

"I just really wanted to say goodbye, you know? We didn't get to talk much in the past few days and all. You probably don't even want me to call you right? Cause it's too annoying. That's what you said at least,"

"No." The word came out raw and shaky, a little over a whisper. "It's too painful." He tried to correct the other but his words were incoherent, so out of place in the conversation as Kirishima kept talking as if he couldn't hear him.

"Well since you won't see this before you're far, far away from me, I can say that I miss you. Sure you weren't the ideal travel buddy but... you were something else."

The other's smile was practically audible, but his breath hitched when he heard those words, "I miss you", and despite it being a summer night he had never felt colder in his life.

"Honestly, I don't know why I'm finding the idea of you gone so hard. I feel like we just clicked, you know? I loved every moment- remember when we first missed that train? And when we ended up in a local festival and we danced- I still can't believe you went through with that!"

Despite it all, as Kirishima kept talking, he could feel the corners of his lips twitch into something resembling a smile, and the voice guided him to the memories that contained friendly red eyes, and a soft smile that seemed to be in the centre of everything.

"I appreciate you put up with me. I don't think I ever even said that, huh? But I'm glad you did... Ugh I should really hurry up now if I wanna see you before you go on the train... I'm grateful for meeting you,"

The voice was turning hasty, the words were quick, but they held a sincerity that persisted through, making Katsuki falter.

"See you later, Katsuki-kun."

His teeth were crashing into his lip to prevent the escape of a sob, although it didn't really matter, nothing did from the beginning that he started the call. Because it wasn't a call, just a voicemail from earlier that he never knew the existence of up till now. But even so, he couldn't bring himself to sound weak, and although the message had already ended he stabilised his breathing, he forced his lips into a smile, even as his cheeks were trailed with the damp of his lashes, and the taste of salt lay on his tongue. But the events of the last few weeks were screaming at him in his head, and he could only keep his lips curled as he felt the emotion of bittersweet.

"Yeah," he spoke into the phone, to the voicemail that had already ended, " See you later, Eiji."

His voice was almost as sweet as the lie on his lips.