Title: Gazing

Summary: The sky is clear and the stars are shining bright. Somehow it seems unnatural.

Rating: K

Pairings: Hibiki/Alcor

Notes: I'm not entirely sure when DeSu2 takes place so I'm using April constellations (April to early May) since exams usually start between late April, May, and early June right? (June is mostly a summer month so most of Gemini and Orion aren't seen).If I got anything wrong or if you see any spelling errors please tell me! I'm writing based on the game and using the anime for slight references.

I should be studying for my finals next week but dealing with everything right now is too much so have some here's my stress reliever.

DeSu2 is not mine

When they walk back together there is nothing but tensed silence and pained grunts. They were sore, tired, hungry, and basically dead on their feet.

"It's nice, isn't it?" He tries, and for a moment he wonders if he somehow screwed up because everyone stiffens and Keita looks ready to jump someone.

"What's nice?"Daichi asks.

"The sky, it's so clear I've never seen the stars in the city like this." When he points up, everyone looks up too, including Airi, who's hanging on Jungo's back for dear life. Someone makes a noise and it's Keita who looks away first.

"It looks unnatural," someone muttered and they're right, the stars shouldn't be seen in the city, there should be lights so bright they can barely see the North Star, there should be noise so loud it was deafening. There should be people everywhere, walking without worrying about their deaths and the end of the world and they should all be safe and home.

But they're walking down a dark empty street, passing by totaled cars and broken lamps, and there's no one but them in the eerie silence.

"Tch, I'm heading back." When Keita walks away it signals something because everyone looks away and one by one they leave.

"We should get going," Daichi mentions and tugs his dirty sleeve but Hibiki shakes his head. It's just Io and Daichi now, both of them looking at him with concern faces but he smiles at them. He's sore and dirty and tired but he doesn't want to head back now. Yamato and Ronaldo are fighting and they've dragged everyone into it and now everyone is so tensed it takes a single word to set off anyone.

He doesn't want to deal with it, not now.

Not ever if he can help it.

"I'll head back later," He tries sounding reassuring, tried to make his friends feel better, but they give him an uneasy look instead, "Anyways, you guys should go see Otome, right?"

Io blushes a light red and tries to cover up the bleeding cut on her arm and Daichi looks away; somewhere along the battle they ran out of magic and it's Airi who suffered the most from it but that didn't mean the rest of them left unscathed.

"That makes it more of a reason to stay with you," Io reasoned but Hibiki shook his head. He loves them, he does, but even they're affected by Yamato's and Ronaldo's words. They're doubting and agonizing and it sounds terrible but Hibiki doesn't want to deal with it. He doesn't want to deal with Daichi's rants and rambling and Io's doubts and confusion. So he holds up his phone to show them his healing Byakko and Parvati. Of all them, he's suffered the least damage and it makes him feel guilty.

"I'll be fine, see, my demons are better off than yours and if I am in trouble you'll find out, right?" He hates implying the death clips to them and he can tell it makes them uneasy, but they're injured, tired, and he knows Daichi understands him well enough to know what he wants.

"O-ok, but if you're not back soon we're coming after you. W-with Yamato!" Sure enough it's Daichi who drags Io away, giving him an understanding glance before leaving. They won't go far, even though they should head had to HQ and get their injuries checked.

When their footsteps fade into nothing Hibiki feels a pang of regret because now it's too quiet, too dark, too different but he pushes aside his feelings (it strange how good he's getting to be at that) and climbs up a broken car. It's looked like it crashed into a street light, but the scratches on the side might add something to that story. The car's roof is cold and uncomfortable but he lays down anyways.

The stars are the brightest he's ever seen them, they're clustered together on the night sky and somehow it seems like too much and too little. There are constellations in there, he knows there are, but he's only studied the stories, never the maps.

"Do you enjoy the stars?" Although the voice is soft and calm, it still startles him so much he almost rolls off the car.

"H-Holy-?!" Hibiki manages to strangle the last word of his exclamation and sat up to look at the man below him who stared at him in confusion.

"Holy? Ah, I did not mean to startle you." The white haired man looks away, covering his mouth with his slim fingers looking as if someone had just scolded him. Hibiki suddenly felt hot with embarrassment (What if it wasn't an ally, what if it was demon?)

"It's fine, just give me a warning or something," He tried to reassure the man who nodded and slowly peeled his hand away from his mouth and turned his gaze to the sky.

"Do you enjoy the stars?" He repeated quietly as cool breeze rolled by and Hibiki pulled his knees to his chest, he hesitated before answering.

"I'm not sure. This is the first time I've ever seen them like this, they're beautiful though." He's never gone camping; both he and Daichi preferred the luxuries of modern life, often spending nights playing games rather than camping out in the backyard.

"Indeed they are. For many years humans have had a deep fascination with the heaven, using the stars as guiding lights, fortunate telling, and many other trades. It's a shame many of these trades have disappeared." There's a tone in his voice that sounds like awe and it brings a small smile to Hibiki. When he turns his gaze back to the heavens he attempts to locate some constellations to no avail.

"I can't even tell where the big dipper is. All I know is their stories, like Orion or the Gemini twins."

"I see… Would you like me to show you?" It's a surprising offer, seeing as the mysterious man tended to disappear into thin air in the middle of a conversation; still, the small smile he graced the teen seemed almost eager.

"You wouldn't mind?"

"You seem fascinated by it, I wouldn't mind," The Anguished One smile widen and Hibiki can feel heat rise to his cheeks.

"Th-Thanks!" He's not entirely sure what happened next, but one moment the man was on the ground, staring up and the next he was sitting right next to him with the same smile. Hibiki stiffened at the sudden movement (was it a movement?) before noticing the small space between them and The Anguished One's hand over his.

He was warm, surprisingly warm, and soft.

"Look to the west, from here you can see the last remnants of Orion for the season." The white haired man tugged on his hand and with the other he pointed towards the horizon and slowly moved his hand, connecting one star after another.

"The Hunter," Hibiki muttered, and the white haired man nodded.

"That's right. From here we can go higher until you reach Gemini," He moved his hand slightly upwards before stopping on a fading star. He stops for moment, letting Hibiki memorize the movements before connecting the stars again.

"The Twins." Hibiki leaned sideways in an attempt to see the exact stars. The Anguished One gripped the teen's hand tighter and moved his other hand higher before stopping on a brighter star.

"Castor," he moved his finger a little to the side, "Pollux. A little to the South of Pollux is Cancer."

The man pauses for every star, connecting them slowly until a picture is form and Hibiki tries to put the story for every picture. He's not sure when he starts to nod off, somewhere between Virgo and Hercules, he thinks. It's strangely comfortable, sitting in the middle of an empty street, watching the stars twinkling on the night sky with this strange white hair man.