If you be my star,
I’ll be your s k y
Nishinoya Yuu was amazing. Rough around the edges, loud and honest, but still amazing in the eyes of Azumane Asahi.
You can hide u n d e r n e a t h me
and
come out at NIGHT
Sometimes he wondered when he started thinking this way, trying to pinpoint a time, a moment, but no matter how far back he tried to it was already there, quiet and small, but still in his brain, still an waiting to be recognized. And he did, and it bloomed, becoming less of an association and more of a f a c t on level with the sky being blue and the grass being green.
Maybe it has been last week, when Nishinoya had been so close to sticking the landing to a new trick he had tried to imitate on only the first try. Asahi had been been trying to study, having been dragged along to the skate park that had become all too familiar after classes, when the familiar “Asahi-san watch this!” tore into his concentration. He had looked up in acknowledgement, meeting those excited eyes, watching in mild a m a z e m e n t as the trick was performed. And then he was up, book out of his lap and bag in his possession as he attended to the red and just scraped enough to bleed skin, Nishinoyas laughter ringing in his ears.
Or maybe it was four weeks ago, when instead of heading to the skate park the two remained on campus, decorated skateboard resting against the wall nearest their table. A textbook was open and a notebook beside it, lines pages littered with yellow highlighter and pen doodles. Nishinoya hadn’t been failing his class, but if he wanted to stay under his parents radar he needed to raise it, and out of everyone he went to Asahi. And he helped, explained the topic and watched with such a p r o u d gaze as it was understood. Asahi had been thanked with a double scoop cone, the flavor forgotten, his mind having been focused giving answers to quickly tossed at him questions.
Or even seven weeks ago, when everything was crashing down around him and he needed a distraction and Nishinoya had responded to his vague text message with a phone call, an unnaturally worried edge to his usually peppy voice. He had been so shocked when his phone started ringing, alerting him of a call, the device had to ring twice before it was answered, an almost too soft to be heard ‘hello’ leaving his mouth.
To say he remembered the conversation was a lie, but he remembered e n o u g h. Asahi had spoke his mind, voicing aloud for the first time his problems, and Nishinoya had been so amazingly understanding it left the college aged student baffled. He remembered the laughter, the pretense of jokes to ease him down, had remember the sound of Nishinoya singing off tune but not the song, had remembered when he finally noticed how tired the others voice had become and took the moment took see the time. He remembered how Nishinoya had refused to hang up, threatening to call again and again, so they continued the phone call. And he remembered waking up to his lock screen, a text notification, and the lingering memory of hearing his own name through the devices speaker.
When I turn j e t b l a c k
and you
show off your l i g h t
I l i v e to let you s h i n e
With this fact burned deep into his mind, Asahi also realized just what it meant to be amazing.
The future wasn’t something the two spoke of often, wasn’t something either asked about. For Asahi, the now was good, the now was great. But it lingered in the back of his mind, buried far under l a y e r s of research and memories and knowledge, only being found when Nishinoya spoke about it first. Of wanting to become p r o, an athlete, and Asahi knew he could do it. Nishinoya Yuu was amazing.
In these times he listened, mostly idly with nods of affirmation, questions of what he would do with his fame and fortune, but he never allowed himself to linger on it. For Asahi was selfish, and in his selfishness he knew that Nishinoya achieving his goal meant he would be left behind. The life of an athlete was busy, was glamorous b r i g h t, and there would be no room time for still studying college grade friend.
But Azumane Asahi ignored this thought, pushed it down so far that it was almost nonexistent, and he let himself believe that there was a possibility for this to continue into the unforeseeable future.
But you can s k y r o c k e t away from me
and never come b a c k if you find another galaxy
f a r from h e r e
with more room to
f l y
Six months. It took six months of knowing the skateboarder that was Nishinoya, for Azumane Asahi to consider he was in love.
Another two months of meeting after school and on weekends, another two months of bandaging minor scrapes and cuts, another two months of helping the third year study, and Azumane Asahi was confirming that he was in love.
Another two weeks and he found himself saying it out loud for the first time, in front of his mirror, staring at his own reflection.
It was a full year before he had convinced himself to say anything, to take the study session they had planed for the day, when Nishinoya was be f o c u s e d and not moving around, and use it to his advantage. He had practiced for hours really. in front of his mirror until the words were engraved into his mind, the simple sentence branded onto his tongue, but as he walked through the exit doors and found the male waiting for him he felt his nerves drowning him.
But he had to do this, had to ignore everything telling him to run and trudge forward, and Nishinoya much had heard his footsteps because he turned, all bright eyes and wide smile. And he lifted a letter, a neatly printed letter, waving it while yelling his name, and his stomach dropped.
Being forced to face reality wasn’t something he found himself a fan of, and as he listened to the mile a minute speech around him, the story from how Nishinoya had recorded doing some tricks, how he had sent the video in and w o n, how they had wanted to sign him.
It was easy for Asahi, as selfish as he was, to hide his own hurt. His honest pride in his friend, in his skill, showing through every negative emotion he could have felt. And they rejoiced, Asahi treating him lunch after they studied, only mildly acknowledging the fact that Nishinoya was practically vibrating in his seat.
He ended it earlier then usual, Asahi faking an engagement with his family and they packed up, walked the normal distance together, stopping at their usual place of departure. He wanted to follow him more, to speak even a few more seconds with the excited male, but pushing would only make it worse, and he couldn’t bring himself to do just that.
Nishinoya was mostly talking, of his possible future, of his excitement, or anything and everything and Asahi hadn’t aware of just how much he was going to miss this.
Their departing was slower this time, maybe Nishinoya finally realized what was going to change, but as the student peered into the soon to be athletes eyes, he couldn’t exactly read the emotion. And they stayed like that, in silence, both waiting on the other to speak. Finally a smile broke on Nishinoyas face, small and so unlike his signature grin it unsettled the taller, but he chose not to focus on that. Instead to listened to words, the ‘Bye Asahi-san’ replacing the casual ‘see you tomorrow’ because it wouldn’t have been true.
And Asahi smiled, nodding and waiting until he was facing the back of the third year before he felt the pricks at the corner of his eyes, his lids closing and large palm covering his face.
Just leave me your s t a r d u s t to remember you