Stars | Ishigami Senku (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter Six

The afternoon held an atmospheric haze.

The sky grew weary with violet and darker undertones, twinkling lights contrasting in the firmament of colors. Other residences of the apartment complex retired to their designated spaces by then, so no other individual was present with you.

You stayed outside your front door, occasionally peering down below the railings to try and spot the familiar car your parents drove with to their work. It was sort of a habit you picked up during the weekends. Your parents (especially your mother) would sometimes work overnight on a Friday, and they always come back on Saturday in the afternoons. Their jobs were clearly stressing them out as they always come home with red eyes and dark circles underneath.

You're always there to greet them from outside, but never waiting for them within your abode. The apartment reeked of loneliness, devoid of any other life except you. You hated how it was silent and that only your footsteps could be heard. Memories about going with the Ishigamis to a café last Friday helped eased the feeling of being alone and a familiar surge of warmth would instantly develop in your chest. It was something you feel around your parents, but you could experience those giddy emotions with the Ishigami family as well.

Those exact memories led you to think about Byakuya, who was nothing but nice to you ever since your family moved in. There was never a dull moment with the older man, who seemed to be always cheery and smiling. He was happy, and that happiness of his was very contagious.

His son, Senku, on the other hand was a complete opposite.

Last week, you had managed to reel him in a conversation, which he started with a question of his own. A few days afterwards, he barely said a word to you. You rarely see him in school and being in different classes made it difficult to find the leek-haired boy. You wouldn't even find him after school when you would almost always walk home together. In the end, you were forced to go home on your own. It was an extreme game of hide-and-seek, and Senku always managed to find the perfect spot where you never thought of to look into.

For the rest of the week, he always won.

The lightbulbs hanging on the ceiling flickered to life, and you instinctively craned your head upwards for lack of a better distraction. A few seconds later, a pair of moths were already drawn to the white light, gently hovering around the illumination. Your brain by then was busy thinking about moth-related thoughts, such as the difference between a butterfly and a moth, or if you could snort the powder on its wings and it would grant you powers akin to a moth.

They were childish thoughts, but to your mind it was the same as philosophical musing. But instead of pondering over your existence and other existentialism blurb, you were pondering over moths. Maybe you should grow up studying moths. Is studying moths even a thing? Why moths in the first place?

"Hey, dimwit."

Your eyes were no longer transfixed on the lightbulb and moths, deciding to look straight into the ruby red eyes of your neighbor, who now stood beside you. He still maintained a good distance which he deemed to be enough that it wouldn't elicit physical contact, accidental or not. Clearly, he was being cautious, and you didn't know why.

You were surprised. He was actually standing beside you, and you didn't know what to say. You were racking your mind to think of any possible conversation that might interest him, choosing to question his arrival later as you were too elated and panicked to be faced with your self-proclaimed friend after a week of not seeing him.

You had to make up something, anything to keep him from leaving.

"Do you like moths?"

Senku's face contorted into one of confusion, and you could see his regret on choosing to socialize with you. His expression eventually relaxes, a small sigh escaping his lips before he averts his eyes to the stars.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" You asked immediately. The boy's eyebrows furrowed, before he scoffed. "The old man wanted me to check up on you. If you think I came here because I was concerned, you're wrong," was his snark reply, followed by one of his infamous irritated look.

You didn't know how much you had missed Senku over the short span of time of being ignored. You suddenly chuckled, unable to contain your mirth.

You continued to laugh as Senku inched away from you. Your sudden fit of laughter was random, and he couldn't find the source of entertainment that made you laugh, so it really creeped him out. "What's so funny?" He grumbled, wondering if avoiding you on purpose was a good idea. If ignoring you would make you act like a chuckling maniac, then he'd never want to avoid you in the future. If anything, he would rather choose to tolerate your presence. The thought of you laughing while running after him was an image he did not want his mind to conjure ever again.

"Can you stop being weird for a minute? Wait, you're born that way so I guess you can't," he sighed in disappointment, but you were pretty much exposed to his remarks every other day that you were numb to his insults at this point.

"I'm sorry," you apologized, a small smile still present on your visage. "I'm just so happy now that you're here!"

"Yeah, sure."

"Really, It's true! I was so lonely without you."

"Why don't you talk to your other friends at school then, or your parents?" He inquired, fixing you with an annoyed look. "I'm sure they would love to listen to you babble about nonsense all day."

"I'm not that close with my classmates, and my parents are always busy with work. They leave me behind and I stay here to protect our house. It's not that fun if you ask me," you added while pouting, gazing down below before puffing in mild irritation. Your parents still weren't home.

"And you're okay with being alone?" Senku shifts in his position, his arms above the railings as he uses his forefinger and thumb to seemingly catch the stars between his fingers, so that it looked like he was holding them.

"Sometimes." You paused, before shaking your head. "But not really. What do you do if Uncle Byakuya doesn't hang out with you?"

"He can do whatever he wants. But if he stops taking me to buy more comics then I'll kick him," says Senku, demonstrating by lightly kicking the railings in front of him. "I'll do that, but harder."

"Eh? That's crazy! I love Mom and Dad too much to do that to them."

"You're such a softie. I bet you'd cry if you accidentally kicked a puppy or something," he muttered, slightly amused at the thought of you wailing at your mistakes. When he sees you nod followed by another monologue on how much you loved puppies, he was starting to realize how much of a weakling you were.

It was obvious you had many weaknesses, and puppies and kittens were one of them. A weakling such as yourself will never be capable of hurting anyone or anything. Let alone manipulate someone with how much brain cells you have left (probably about four or five was his guess). You were weak, dumb and ignorant. A kid like you wasn't worth his time.

Oddly enough, his belittling thoughts had made him feel lighter for some reason. Like he was relieved.

"Hey, you actually listened to me without cutting me off and calling me names!" You spoke excitedly at the end of your speech, bouncing on your feet with hope glimmering in your eyes. "Does this make us best friends?"

Senku was silent, his impassive expression concentrated on the vast sky. "No, it doesn't," he replied, a contemplative look crossing his face briefly. "But you're not that bad. I can say that I can tolerate you, but that still doesn't make us friends, okay?"

You grinned, never sensing a hint of malice in his words. For you, that was enough. It was more than enough. You crossed your arms over the railings and nodded.

"Okay, Senku-kun."