Silver Hearts | Sakusa Kiyoomi

22 | ephemeral

The lake glistened, mirroring the dazzling assemblage of glittering stars.

The faint wind brushed against the water's surface, the ripples ruffled the stillness of the surface and shattered the reflection of the harbour.

Unaware of her heart beating or the rise and fall of her chest, she drifted into semi-consciousness. Her lips bear the semblance of a smile, just enough to show that she is enjoying her thoughts, whatever they may be.

The silence caressed her skin like a warm summer breeze, smoothing her soul, taking away her jagged edges. It had been one hell of a day.

"Oh, there you are (Y/N)!" (Y/N) turned her head back to see Komori walking through the sliding doors and towards her.

"Komori? What are you doing out here?"

"Heh, well, I'm looking for someone to talk with. Sakusa went to take a bath, and Yoneda and Matsushima are at it again. Iizuna's trying to break them apart." Komori softly snickered.

"Oh..."

The starry night above was better than any software imitation. There were lighter patches, clusters of faint and bold light, the constellations altered according to the time of year.

These were the same stars that greeted the ancients, the same ones that would be there in millions of years. Komori held his hand up to the sky as if to feel his life energy in his fingers.

"If you don't mind me asking..." (Y/N) kept her gaze on the scenery in front of them as she carefully chose the words aroused in her mind. "How did you meet, Kiyo?"

Komori thought for a moment and placed his hand on his chin. He suddenly burst out in a fit of giggles when a sudden thought occurred to him.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" (Y/N) questioned concerningly when she heard his sudden fit of laughter.

"No, no, not at all. It's just that. I'm not sure if Sakusa told you this but, we're cousins."

"Cousins?!" (Y/N) uncrossed her arms and turned to look at Komori with a bewildered expression. "He hasn't told me this at all!"

"We weren't exceptionally close though, I think of him more as a friend than a cousin." Komori nervously laughed and scratched his head.

"I always saw him around by himself. He's a quiet guy, so I would have never guessed you were his childhood friend if you hadn't told me."

"Hm, is that so." (Y/N) fixed her eyes onto a particular star that sparkled brighter than the rest across the ebony sky. "How did you guys become closer?"

"Well, one day, my parents told me to hang out with him, so I invited him to play volleyball. He followed me without a word."

"So, you were the one that got him into volleyball!"

Komori gently smiled at (Y/N). "I guess you could say that. At first, I had the impression that it was less that he wanted to play the sport, and more that he just didn't have anything else he felt like doing."

"Sounds like him." (Y/N) scoffed. "Then how'd you do it? How did you get him to stick with volleyball?"

"You know him. Once he starts something, he will always see it through the end."

The breeze turned chilly, and the wind sounded its mighty roar, making everything that surrounded it shake in fear, even the leaves fled in terror.

Even so, Komori and (Y/N) firmly remained in their spot.

"He had a knack for volleyball. With his flexible wrist, he made the ball incredibly hard to receive. It looked so natural to him."

"I have to admit, when I was little and first saw that, I thought he had broken a bone and cried for him." (Y/N)'s laugh radiated through the chilled air. "That was until he told me it didn't hurt and that his wrist does that."