Hoshi wo Taguru Pt. 2

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The reason why Subaru chose the high school he attended was because it was the closest one he could commute to that had an active astronomy club. His parents made their disapproval very apparent. The school was far away, and they thought that Subaru could have chosen a higher-ranking school.

The astronomy club at the high school was exceptional, having many magnificent astronomical telescopes. It was such professional equipment, more than enough the average high schooler to handle. The club met monthly, and during the summer and winter they even had accommodations to stay at. The club also had its own homepage, which Subaru looked at ever since he was in middle school. The members always looked like they were having so much fun that Subaru was always jealous of them.

He wholeheartedly wanted to join no matter what. The commuting fee was quite expensive, so he decided that he wouldn’t ask for an allowance from his parents for all his three years in high school. If that wasn’t enough to make up for the expense, then he would get a job and pay them back.

Subaru had never selfishly asked for anything before, so his parents were rather bewildered by it. He was the kind of child who always listened to his parents, and he always met their expectations. But this time, Subaru was so stubborn and had his mind absolutely set on choosing this high school, that finally, his parents gave in.

Subaru was forgiven for scoring the highest on the entrance exam and being accepted into the school.

“New student representative, Tsukishima Subaru.”

“Yes.”

Subaru stood up from the steel chair when the chairman called his name.

He stepped onto the platform while holding his speech. He looked at the tightly packed gymnasium.

There were eight classes of about forty students in all three grades. Including the teachers, there were more than a thousand people. It made him feel good to look out into the crowd.

After adjusting the position of the mic, he bowed and lifted his head back up. There was one person that stood out in his line of sight. Out of the mass of black hair was a single head of weak tea colored hair. Not only that, this person stood half a head taller than everyone else. Taking a closer look, Subaru realized in an instant that it was a boy’s face. He stood more towards the front row, so it meant that he was a new student too.

As he began his speech, Subaru thought to himself how pretty that boy was.

He knew for a while now that he was the new student representative. Despite that, he still wrote his speech last night. He actually didn’t have anything too important written down, so he just looked away from his paper and out into the gymnasium as he spoke.

He wasn’t really nervous, but there were times when his gaze would occasionally wander towards the pretty boy, and in those moments, his heart thumped.

After the entrance ceremony, Subaru waited to join his classmates in the gymnasium, and they started to move towards the classrooms.

Everyone headed back to their classrooms in a massive crowd. Subaru followed from the very back. When he finally made it to the classroom, Subaru saw the boy again, and this time, the boy was sitting at the desk behind his.

Subaru couldn’t see the boy’s eyes since he was looking down, but Subaru knew immediately he was the boy from the gymnasium.

His back was curled into an uncomfortable looking shrug. Earlier in the gymnasium, Subaru fell under the impression that this boy was pretty tall, but the way he was curled up like a cat right now made him look smaller than he actually was. Subaru looked closely at his hair. It was easy to tell that his light hair wasn’t dyed but a natural color. It seemed like such silky threads that Subaru wanted to try untangling the slightly long curls in the boy’s hair.

A newly formed clique of girls had already started to gossip about everyone. Subaru heard the name “Tokizawa-kun” among their voices. He realized that it was the name of the pretty boy.

Subaru looked at the class registry nearby and read the name next to his.

The name Tokizawa Asahi was written after his, Tsukishima Subaru. Subaru felt that this boy’s name was also very pretty.

Tokizawa Asahi. While saying it in his head, somehow the name came right out of Subaru’s mouth.

“Tokizawa.”

In response to being called from the seat behind him, Tokizawa’s shoulders shook in surprise. He timidly lifted his head.

“Eh, ah…. Yes, what is it?”

“Ah, I’m sorry for surprising you. Umm, let’s get along from now on.”

“….Yeah same here.”

That was it? Really? Subaru thought to himself,thinking that Tokizawa would give a more enthusiastic response. But once he saw Tokizawa’s troubled eyes moving left to right, he stopped.

Tokizawa had only been called out to and greeted, but the shape of his shoulders hinted he seemed uneasy. Despite being pretty, he was unexpectedly timid.

“It looks like we’ll be sitting together for a while,” Subaru added.

“Ah… yeah.”

Subaru thought he would try to talk to him whenever their eyes met again, but Tokizawa kept his gaze averted. Then for a moment, Subaru’s gaze met Tokizawa’s. That was when Subaru noticed that Tokizawa’s eyes were a mysterious color. It wasn’t common in Japanese people.

”I’m sorry if this is rude, but Tokizawa, are you not fully Japanese?”

”Yeah. My grandmother is half Japanese, half British…”

“I thought so. Your eyes are really pretty. Just like stars.”

“Stars?”

“Yeah, they sparkle and look like a mix of so many colors.”

Subaru nodded as he stared at Tokizawa’s eyes. This time, Tokizawa didn’t avert them. Subaru ended up watching them for a long time. The whites of Tokizawa’s eyes were sort of like a bluish milky color, clear like a baby’s. Subaru had never met someone whose eyes were both green and blue before.

Tokizawa’s eyes sparkled so much like stars that Subaru felt like he could stare at them forever.

”It’s nice.”

Subaru assured him that it he didn’t speak out of jealousy but out of admiration. Tokizawa suddenly relaxed.

“Thank you,” he replied with a smile.

“Umm… You’re Subaru, right? During your speech, I kept thinking the whole time how amazing you were.”

Subaru felt surprised for a second from being called by his first name. He bashfully tilted his head. In middle school, his friends stopped calling each other by their first names and naturally started using last names instead. It had been such a long time since someone called Subaru by his first name. But Tokizawa automatically, as if without thinking, called him Subaru. Even though Subaru was surprised, he decided to thank Tokizawa anyway.

“Thanks.”

“Were you nervous up on stage?”

“Not at all. Actually, I felt pretty good about it. I thought to myself something like wow, this is what a crowd of over a thousand people looks like.”

It was only when Subaru saw Tokizawa’s face that he got nervous, but he wasn’t going to mention that.

“Really? That’s amazing. I could never do something like that. If I had to go up like that and speak in front of people, I would pass out before going up.”

Tokizawa’s voice was low and quiet, and even though it felt like it could be completely drowned out by the noise of the classroom, the sound still reached Subaru’s ears clearly. Maybe it was because Tokizawa was so close to him.

“Is it really that scary to you?”

“Yeah. Very.”

Subaru thought that Tokizawa was probably used to having attention on him, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Then Subaru came to a realization.

It was actually the opposite.

Because so many people look at him, the attention became something he dislikes.

But still. Jewel-like eyes that sparkled like stardust, a thin nose bridge, and thinly shaped lips. His delicately textured skin that was just like a girl’s. It was like God took all those things and mixed them together to make him, carefully choosing such elegant looks that were to be envied and admired by all.

This whole time, Subaru had been watching so much that Tokizawa felt flustered, and his gaze finally wavered. Subaru made a note that Tokizawa didn’t like being stared at.

Tokizawa put up his guard once again, making the air awkward between him and Subaru. Subaru felt like he had done something bad but missed his chance to apologize.

“Take your seats.”

As if on cue, their homeroom teacher entered the classroom. Tokizawa changed his expression and posture to fit the impression of not wanting to be bothered any further. Subaru followed his lead and also faced front. The awkward air dispelled around them.

And this was how Subaru and the alien, Tokizawa Asahi, first met.