Work Text:
Stars are really amazing, aren’t they, Aoba-san? I used to be a little afraid of them, thinking how they’d fall down one day. But every night, they stayed pinned up in the sky, and they shine so bright from their own light, despite the fact that they’re surrounded by darkness. I think such a trait is really admirable.
That’s why I thought you were just like one of those stars, Aoba-san. As soon as I heard your electric-blue voice and saw the fall of your azure hair, I knew that you were the one that Grandpa told me I’d meet one day. I remembered the story he’d tell me of the Blue Fairy that descended from the stars to make Pinocchio a real boy. So when I met you, I thought maybe you’d come to grant my wish to be human.
I had wished on everything, you know -- I put them in the bottles I collected, blew them between my lips when I put out the candles on the birthday cakes Grandpa made me, to the horizon of where ocean and sky kissed… Yet it never once occurred to me to wish on those same stars I was convinced shone in your eyes and sparkled in your hair.
My celestial Blue Fairy, Aoba-san… You made me the most human I’ve ever been .
At some point, Clear decided he wanted to help Aoba make the tiny stars he was filling a jar with. For the past few days he’d watched in fascination as Aoba lounged in his room after dinner and idly folded the long, skinny strips of paper until he magically transformed them into stars. The paper came in all manner of colors, producing stars that were pastel pink and pale green and spring yellow. It was an incredible work in Clear’s opinion. And now, with the jar just about three-fourths full, his curiosity hit its peak.
“What are they, Aoba-san?” Clear plucked a finished star from the growing pile, taking extra care not to accidentally crush it.
“They’re lucky stars. My mom and Granny used to make them together when I was little.”
Clear made an awed sound, turning the star over and over in his palm. How wondrous, that he’d get to hold a star like this! It was truly genius. “Do they bring you luck, since they’re called that?”
Aoba smiled, starting to fold another piece of paper. “Luck, happiness, well wishes -- whatever good intention you want to pour into them really.”
Putting the star back, Clear lifted his head. “May I help, Aoba-san?”
At first, Aoba looked surprised, but then he put his paper down and handed Clear a fresh strip. “It’s a bit hard to get used to making them,” he admitted with a self-conscious laugh. “But I guess it’s the thought that counts, right? Here, I’ll show you.”
The better part of the next hour was taken up with Aoba teaching Clear how to fold the paper correctly and pinching it at the right places for the star to truly take shape. Clear couldn’t stop musing how incredible the process was -- simple paper could be made into a whole shower of stars! It took a few tries until he stopped ripping the paper or folding incorrectly, but Aoba was patient and encouraging, just giving Clear another strip.
“Uwah! I think this one is the best I’ve made!” He held it out for inspection.
Aoba chuckled at the enthusiasm. “Yeah, that one’s a lot more starlike than the others.”
“Then this one I’ll put in the jar! Do your best,” Clear told the star, as if it were a messenger on a mission. He hoped he helped, even a little, in giving the stars their magical touch.
Between both Aoba and Clear’s efforts, the pile grew at a steady rate. Clear was pleased that their intentions could take up such wonderful abundance in physical form. He would definitely have to make some for Tae now, and Ren. And of course, Aoba. He wouldn’t rest until the house was positively bursting with the tiny stars!
“This really is amazing, Aoba-san,” Clear mused happily, folding the paper expertly now. “I didn’t know stars could have this kind of power. I was always so worried they’d fall on our heads one day. But if they could carry wishes like this, then I’d gladly let one fall on me.”
“Hmm, well now that you mention it, people really do wish on stars. There are some that just shoot across the sky really quickly. If you see one, you’re supposed to make a wish.”
Clear halted in his production, staring at Aoba wide-eyed. “They can do such a thing as shoot across the sky!?”
Aoba frowned at him. “Hey now, you believe they’ll rain down, but not that they can at least do that?”
“It’s the first I’ve heard of it!”
“Then where the hell did you hear about stars falling down here ?”
Well, if Clear had to answer, it was less about where he’d heard it and more that if stars were up in the sky, then surely they’d have to come down one day, like leaves and flowers and fruit that fell from trees. Or himself that fell from rooftops. Water fell from the sky, so why not stars? And Aoba had just given him confirmation that stars indeed could move.
“Aoba-san, we should watch for shooting stars from now on!” Clear declared, rising to his knees on the bed.
“Hey, I asked a question, you…” Aoba let out a breath through his nose, shaking his head. He grabbed Clear’s shirt and yanked him back down. “You can hardly ever see anything with how the buildings are cramped together. Besides, you have to be lucky to catch a sight like that in the first place.”
Clear’s enthusiasm quelled. “Is that so?” He slumped his shoulders. If he couldn’t see a shooting star, then how could he ever catch one? More importantly, how could he ever give it his wish? He hoped if he did that, and gave it a nice home inside one of his many bottles, it’d glow nicely and then Aoba wouldn’t have to worry about the difficulty of seeing stars again. That was what Clear had envisioned anyway.
Something light hit his nose. “Wah!” Fumbled down on his lap was one of the lucky stars.
Aoba still had his hand beside him, fingers out from flicking the star out. A knowing smile was on his lips. “You caught it, huh.”
“Eh?” Clear picked the small thing up, nestled perfectly in his palm.
“The star. You caught it shooting.” Aoba looked mildly embarrassed, and busied himself collecting the pile on the bed.
Clear had caught the shooting star…? He gently closed his hand around it, unable to control his burst of happiness.
“A-ah, C-Clear! Whoa, hey wait, the–!” Aoba fumbled as his boyfriend tossed his arms around him, squeezing him in an embrace. The stars in his hands jumped all over the place, littering the crevices of their clothes and the bed, fallen all around them. And Aoba was in the middle of it, Clear pressing his face affectionately to Aoba’s chest.
“You…” Aoba sighed, pressing a hand to Clear’s head. “You’ve done it now. We gotta clean this, you know.”
Clear nodded, but couldn’t stop smiling for the life of him. His jar was now one star fuller, with quite possibly the brightest one of all.
“Thank you, Aoba-san! I promise I’ll treasure it and take care of it! Ah!” Clear sat up straight, finally releasing Aoba, albeit only barely as he held one of his shoulders. “That’s right. I should bring back one of my bottles from Grandpa’s, and put this inside.”
“What for?”
“Because Aoba-san gave this to me. He made me really lucky to have seen a falling star, and not meet it with fear. I should’ve never been afraid in the first place.” Clear let out a self-conscious laugh. “Besides, wonderful things come from stars. Like you, Aoba-san!”
Totally caught off-guard, Aoba frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
“Oh. I just decided a long time ago, that you were my Blue Fairy.”
“Blue Fairy… Ah, like in that story with the marionette?” The realization seemed to come to Aoba all at once, and in the end, his surprise gave way to a gentle smile. Aoba reached up to ruffle Clear’s hair. “So you think we’re like that, huh?”
Glad that Aoba wasn’t thinking his confession weird, Clear nodded, his smile wide again. “Yes! Grandpa always said things like I’d find someone I’d show my face to, and who would make me human. Between Grandpa and Aoba-san’s love, I was able to receive my heart. That’s something I know to be true. And with that heart,” Clear took Aoba’s hand to lovingly press it to his chest, “I became human. That was always my wish. Of course, now I only wish to be with Aoba-san forever.” Clear drew their faces closer, until his forehead rested against Aoba’s. “Can I ask another wish like that to be granted, Blue Fairy-san?”
Embarrassed or full of affection, Aoba let out a breath over Clear’s cheeks. He pressed back to Clear’s forehead, both his hands at Clear’s chest now as he shifted just slightly to kiss the moles under Clear’s lips -- once, then twice. Slow and soft.
“Silly,” Aoba said. “You have enough stars now to make whatever wish you want.”
“And Aoba-san’s wish?”
After a brief moment of consideration, Aoba shook his head, grinning as he laced his arms around Clear’s neck. “It already came true too. So now, I guess you could say we have the same wish, right?”
The same wish. That was right, he and Aoba walked the same path together now, hand in hand. Filled to the brim with love exploding like stardust, Clear embraced Aoba again.
“ Yes !”
It’s my turn now. I promise, I promise… I’ll keep making all your wishes come true , and make sure your glass bottles overflow with stars .