Fandom ( it takes all the stars to align ) ••• starfallen.txt & redrobinwing

[starfallen.txt]

IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES
and i could still breathe and survive ー

Hoshiko sighed and thought about it for a little bit more. She already had food, but... she did need to start eating healthier. Plus, it would be rude to turn down something so generous. "I... Alright. Thanks," the girl finally said, smiling. She gently grabbed the extra bowl of soup, careful not to drop it. She took the extra plastic spoon that came with it, too.

As she started quietly drinking up the soup, she started to think about what songs to play. Lunch was an extremely short period of time compared to the class times, but there was still some space to fit a few songs in after she finished eating. Maybe she could play an uplifting one... or maybe something that won't require any singing. She wasn't that confident in her singing skills yet. What would Hisao enjoy, though? She asked him about what kind of songs he listened to yesterday during the festival, and she... didn't really remember anything he said. Maybe she can just play whatever and he'd still enjoy it, but...

"It's nice up here," she said out of nowhere, probably to lessen the silence between them. Still, it was nice up here. Summer was approaching and it was getting kinda hot, but the light breeze still felt refreshing on her skin. It was nice to see so many students outside, too. Probably because they were all excited for summer. To be honest, she was excited, too, even though she'll probably spend her summers with just Mana and her grandparents again.

 

[Redrobinwing]

Hisao smiled when she took the food. Hoshiko seemed a bit hesitant when he first offered it, but he was glad that she accepted it anyway. As she began eating, he did as well, munching on his own food and enjoying the sunny weather and calm view. He enjoyed these moments that they shared, of just enjoying the scenery and spending time as friends. She was the first person he'd really hung out with since he came to the school, and he was thankful that she'd accepted him so quickly. There was a silence for a few moments, during which he noticed that there were a few other students on the roof as well. A couple of girls were sitting on the other side eating their lunch, one who was missing her legs and another who was missing her arms. It was almost amusing in a way, that they complimented each other like that.

Hoshiko's voice returned his attention to her. "Yeah, it is nice. A little warm though." His thoughts moved to her music, and he thought of a question or two he wanted to ask. He knew she didn't perform in front of people, but maybe she practiced with others. There was a music class and a school band too, so it'd make sense if she played with either of them. "Do you practice with anyone else? Any other guitarists, or a drummer?" Then again, if she played mostly acoustic songs, there was a good chance that the songs she played didn't have any drums or bass.

 

[starfallen.txt]

IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES
and i could still breathe and survive ー

Hoshiko thought about that question for a moment. Sure, she practiced at the music room sometimes, but usually she wasn't really practicing with other people. She had seen the blind koto player and her friend maybe once or twice before, but most of the time she just kinda sat in the corner and played quietly. "Not really. I like going solo, I guess." That was kind of a lie. She always thought it would be fun to play with someone else for once, but she didn't have the courage to ask anyone. It was probably too late, anyways.

She finished up her bowl of soup, placing it on the table next to them. That was the first time she had eaten school lunch in a long while. It wasn't like it was bad or anything; just that she didn't really want to have to go back down from the roof, grab some lunch, and then head right back up. That sounded like it took way too long. Of course, she wouldn't even be having that problem if she didn't skip classes in the first place, but whatever. (Even if she didn't skip classes, though, she still thought waiting in line took too long.)

Hoshiko glanced around a bit, noticing the two other girls on the roof. She hadn't seen those two in a while, to be honest. She always tried to avoid them whenever lunch came around. She doesn't even know their names - though, from what she'd heard, one of them runs and the other paints. Funny how that works.

Oh, yeah, speaking of... She still needed to practice.

The girl sighed silently, taking a small moment to steel her nerves. "So, um... do you wanna listen to me practice, now?"

 

[Redrobinwing]

As his friend ate, Hisao looked down to check his watch. They only had about fifteen minutes before class, which wasn't as much time as he had been hoping for. He'd probably only get to hear a couple of songs before they had to leave, but that was fine. It just meant that he'd have to come up here again to listen to her practice, which was good. It meant he'd get to spend more time with her, which was quickly become one of the more pleasant activities at Yamaku. She seemed to be finishing up her food though, which meant she'd be able to start soon. A small bit of nervousness tugged at the back of Hisao's neck, though he wasn't sure exactly why. He wasn't the one performing, all he was doing was listening to his friend play the guitar. Letting out a quiet sigh, the nervousness began to fade, but his excitement was still there.

He nodded and smiled to Hoshiko when she spoke. "Yes, please!" That was the whole reason he'd come up today, after all. Not that it was the only reason he came up to the roof, he wanted to spend some time with her, but getting to hear her practice had become somewhat of a big deal to him. It was almost like his own private concert, in a way. Perhaps it was a bit childish for him to think of it like that, but it was fun. He waited patiently for her to begin, not wanting to make her nervous by rushing her in any way.

 

[starfallen.txt]

IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES
and i could still breathe and survive ー

"Ah... a-alright, then." She reached down to pick up her guitar, slowly and nervously getting into position. Hoshiko's face was already as red as it can ever be as she strummed, making sure the strings were in tune. "Um, I'm just going to play something that doesn't require singing, okay?" She continued to tune for just a few more seconds, before finally starting to play out the first few notes.

It seemed like a slow song judging by just the first notes. Usually she would play with her eyes closed, maybe even sway back and forth a little to get more into the song, but the fact that someone was actually watching and listening made her absolutely rigid the whole way through. Other than that, though, the song had a nice melody, and it was played pretty well overall. She probably messed up once or twice, though.

She pursed her lips when she finished, a bit too anxious to say anything after that. All she did was look towards him, waiting for Hisao to say something.

//song here lol

 

[Redrobinwing]

"That's fine." Hisao gave her a reassuring thumbs up, though he was admittedly a little disappointed that she wasn't going to sing. He really wanted to hear it, but he didn't want to push her too much either. She was already nervous enough as it was; pushing her to do more would not only make her more stressed, it'd be a bit of a mean thing to do. So, he stayed silent as he watched her perform. It was amazing how good she was; at least to his own untrained ears. She hit each note wonderfully; all of them combined masterfully into a beautiful melody that was calming in a way that he hadn't really expected. He was smiling the whole time she played.

While Hoshiko strummed her guitar, Hisao remembered that they weren't totally alone on the roof. He looked to the two girls who had sitting away from them before, and saw that they were both looking towards them. The shorter of the two, the one without the legs, was smiling and offered a friendly wave to him when he looked to her. The other girl had a sort of peaceful, small smile on her lips as she watched Hoshiko play. He smiled to both of them and nodded before returning his attention to Hoshiko. She hadn't seemed to notice, which was probably for the best. She'd probably stop if she realized she had a bigger audience than just him.

Once she finished playing, he offered a light clap in delight. "That was great Hoshiko! It was a beautiful song, where did you find it?" He had never really thought about how musicians found songs to play. Music books maybe, but stuff like what Hoshiko sounded very unique. Maybe there was a website or something with sheet music; that'd make the most sense.

 

[starfallen.txt]

IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES
and i could still breathe and survive ー

"R-really?" Hoshiko found herself blushing again, proud of herself for managing to impress him. She didn't seem to notice that the other two girls on the roof had watched her yet, which was probably a good thing. If she ever found out, she would never want to practice on the roof ever again. Maybe. That would probably happen. "It's... it's from some game, or something. I don't remember which. I just thought it sounded nice." She shrugged, before placing her guitar back in its case. It wasn't the end of lunch yet, but she kinda wanted more food.

She started picking at her portion of the rice, still smiling. That tiny compliment probably brightened up her whole week.

 

[Redrobinwing]

Hoshiko was obviously excited to see him enjoy her performance, which in turn made Hisao excited as well. She was obviously a little sheepish about his compliment, but it was obvious she was glad to hear he liked it. He blushed a little bit from seeing how happy she was, once again realizing just how cute the girl was. He had never really thought about going out with any of the girls at Yamaku before, at least not seriously, but for just a moment, he felt something for the girl that he hadn't expected. He quickly extinguished that feeling, though. They were just friends, the idea of dating wasn't even worth considering, even if she was really nice. And pretty cute.

He nearly spoke up in protest when she put her guitar back into its case. She picked up her food and started picking at it again, which was fine. She didn't really have a chance to eat before, and he wasn't even sure if she'd had breakfast, so he didn't say anything when she started eating. "That's cool. Do you get all of your songs from the same place?"

 

[starfallen.txt]

IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES
and i could still breathe and survive ー

Hoshiko shrugged again. "Depends. Some of them I learn by ear. This one I just searched up online." She shoveled down another spoonful of rice into her mouth, soon gulping it all down a few moments later. Maybe... maybe she could play another song. She could quickly finish her portion of the rice, and then strum out another quick song. Hisao deserved to hear another one after being so patient, right?

She suddenly hoped lunch was longer than just thirty minutes now. She kinda wanted to spend more time with him. Maybe she could see him again after school, or tomorrow, or... Hoshiko mentally shook her head, clearing her thoughts of everything for a moment. Okay, yes, maybe she was developing kind of a crush on him, and sure, they've only been friends for a week at most, but it was still okay to have slight feelings for someone else right now! Yeah!

"Um, thanks for listening," she suddenly said, blushing. "I haven't had anyone listen to me in a while."

 

[Redrobinwing]

A sudden growl came from Hisao's stomach, reminding him that he hadn't actually eaten too much of his own food. A slight red-tinge came to his cheeks, his stomach once again embarrassing him in front if Hoshiko. Rather than draw any more attention to it, he instead started eating again to quell his hunger. He made a mental note to pay more a little more attention to his stomach from now on, it felt like he was forgetting to eat quite a bit over the past few days.

As he continued eating his food, he gave his friend a thumbs up. "It's no worries," He stopped talking for a second to swallow the food in his mouth. "I'm happy to get to listen. You're really good." A thought came to him, and he smiled when he thought of it. "Maybe we can do this more, if you're okay with it. It's fun to hang out and listen to you practice." There was a decent chance that Hoshiko would be too nervous to be totally on board for the idea, but she seemed to be coming out of her shell bit by bit as they hung out more. He couldn't help but wonder what her friends thought; it seemed like they were cool with him hanging out with her. Their entire group seemed like they were rather protective of each other, which was definitely a good thing.

 

[starfallen.txt]

IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES
and i could still breathe and survive ー

Hoshiko, fortunately for Hisao, didn't seem to notice the growl. Or maybe she did, but she didn't really let him know that she noticed. (It was actually the latter. She was trying so hard to fight back that giggle.) "Yeah, I... I won't mind that, actually." She smiled, tilting her head to the right. God, she hated the thoughts she was having, though. She was acting too much like the lovesick high school girls you'd see in TV shows, or... something like that. She needed to be more casual.

She leaned back against the table behind her, crossing her legs. Still, despite how absolutely cringe-inducing she thought she was acting right now, it really would be nice to practice more while he watched. It felt nice to have someone to talk to. (It also felt nice to show off to someone, admittedly. Oops.)

"Hey, so at the risk of sounding creepy... What class are you in?" she suddenly asked, glancing over at Hisao.

 

[Redrobinwing]

Hisao looked up from his food, his cheeks still partially filled with food, and gave Hoshiko a small smile and a thumbs up. It surprised him a bit that she had actually agreed to the idea; though he was happy that she did. Maybe he could try picking up an instrument too; playing guitar with her would be kinda cool. He could try surprising her with it; and she could give him lessons once he knew how to play little. It meant that they got to spend more time together, which was good, because they were friends. Just friends. Even if she was kind of cute, and funny.

Once he managed to swallow the food in his mouth, he spoke up to answer her question. "I'm in Class 3-3, the one with Mutou." His homeroom wasn't too bad; Mutou was kind of a cool teacher. They'd talked about Hisao's career plans and interests a bit, and the teacher seemed to genuinely care about his future. The students of the class were fine too, but they weren't anything special either. "It's fine, a little boring, but school is always kind of boring." Come to think of it, he didn't actually know what class Hoshiko was in. "What about you?"

 

[starfallen.txt]

IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES
and i could still breathe and survive ー

"Oh, uh, class 3-2. Abarai." Hoshiko didn't say much after that. It was pretty obvious she didn't have anything to say, mostly because she was rarely even in that class. It was a miracle she even had barely passing grades. "It's nice, I guess. People are nice there." She shrugged, picking her guitar back up again and starting to strum quietly, even humming a little tune to go along with it.

"...How much time do we have left?" she asked, glancing over at Hisao. The two girls who were there earlier seemed to have left now, indicating the fact that it was nearing the end of lunch. She kind of regretted not playing more songs for him now. If he liked that first one as much as she thought he did, he would have liked the others too...

 

[Redrobinwing]

Hisao nodded as he continued picking at his food. "That's cool," His mouth still had a bit of food in it, which was clear from his food-stuffed voice. "I haven't been inside that classroom yet, but I'm gonna assume its like all the others." Giving just a glance at her guitar, it seemed like a pretty normal acoustic, but he'd had musician friends before, and they'd always talked about how nice their stuff was. They always had the best equipment, the best parts, but to him, it all just looked kind of average. He probably just didn't have an eye for that sort of thing, though.

He'd nearly forgotten that they even had class until she reminded him. Hisao glanced at his watch, his eyes going slightly wide when he noticed that class had started a few minutes ago. "Crap... we're actually borrowing time now." He let out a small, embarrassed laugh for having lost track of time so badly. After quickly gobbling down the rest of his food, he packed it up to throw away, grabbing his backpack as well and standing up from the bench. "You going to class?"

 

[starfallen.txt]

IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES
and i could still breathe and survive ー

Oh, crap. She pretty much can't skip class now. She really didn't want Hisao to think she was skipping class, even though Mana and Airi pretty much already implied she was doing that in their previous conversation. Hoshiko hesitated for the smallest second, before smiling and nodding. "Yeah. Right behind you." She quickly packed her guitar up, and for a brief second wondered whether she should bring her bag of junk food and just walk into class like that in front of everyone. Maybe she'll just trail behind him and then sneak off when he isn't paying attention, or... No, it just seemed a bit too rude.

Once the instrument was all packed up, the girl grabbed the case and the bag of chips. She stood up and looked up to Hisao, only now realizing she didn't even bring her own backpack. All that effort trying to hide the fact that she skips class (which was, let's face it, little to no effort at all) and she didn't even bring her own backpack. Maybe if she decided not to say anything. Yeah. "Are we gonna walk together, or...?"

 

[Redrobinwing]

Hisao had already turned to head off, simply assuming that she was going to follow. He stopped, though, and glanced back at her. Someone had mentioned that Hoshiko skipped class quite a bit, so it was a bit of a surprise to see her heading off now that he thought about it. This was good, though. She needed to go to class, it was pretty important for her to get decent grades. He wasn't sure how good her grades were, but hopefully they weren't too bad; it'd risk her chances of graduating if they were. A small smile formed on his lips when she asked the question. He had initially just assumed that they'd go together, but it was nice they she confirmed it. "Yeah, I'd like that."

As the two walked down the stairs and walked through the halls, it was painfully obvious that they were late. There wasn't a student or teacher to be seen in the hallways, all of them in class for at least a few minutes by now. It made Hisao feel even more guilty that they had missed the lunch bell; like they were the worst students in the school. He knew that wasn't true, but he'd never really been late to class before, and the times that he had were usually with more than just one friend. Still, it didn't take long for them to reach their classrooms, which were luckily right next to each other. They stopped at Hoshiko's first, and Hisao turned around to give her a smile. "Thanks for letting me hangout, Hoshiko. We should do it some more, if you don't mind. It was really fun."

 

[starfallen.txt]

IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES
and i could still breathe and survive ー

Ah, empty hallways. Hoshiko can't say she isn't really used to this sight. Well, okay, maybe she wasn't, because usually when she saw this it was always dark outside. She should really stop sneaking out to the roof at night. Her mind started to wander a bit; even if she didn't really bring any supplies to class at all, maybe she can still be able to at least catch up on what's being taught. She can do her own research, maybe. Or she can leech off of Mana again. That's also an option.

Once they arrived at her class, she looked towards Hisao and nodded."No problem," Hoshiko replied, grinning. "It's nice spending time with someone for once." She gave him a final wave, and for a second she considered waiting until he was gone and then sneaking back up to the roof again. That was probably rude, though. Maybe he actually cared about her. Imagine that.

Hoshiko did find herself linger for a bit, though. She watched for a few more seconds, before finally entering the classroom.

Ah, fuck. She hated how clingy she was sometimes.

A few days later...

It was a nice, sunny Thursday afternoon again. Maybe a bit too sunny for some students' tastes, but still bearable nonetheless. It would be nice to go to the park and have a picnic or something. That kind of day. Hoshiko wasn't really good at describing days.

She was sitting on the ground, near where the festival mural had been, with Mana sitting next to her. They were talking again, like they always do. Well, they weren't really talking at this exact moment, but they were still at least hanging out. Sometimes silence is nice.

Mana seemed to be fiddling with something - a piece of paper, it looked like. It looked like she was making a little paper flower. "...Did you do the homework from yesterday?" she suddenly piped up, glancing over at Hoshiko.

The girl was caught off-guard. Compared to Mana, she wasn't really doing anything - just staring at some bird perched on a tree. It was a good bird. "Oh, um... well... y-you know."

It would be nice if something happened to interrupt this conversation. Hoshiko was not up to talking about schoolwork at this moment.

 

[Redrobinwing]

For a few short moments after she said goodbye, Hisao stayed in the hallway too, watching his classroom door as if it was trying to sneak up on him. Part of him didn't want to feel the embarrassment of entering class late, but most of it was that he just wanted to hang out with Hoshiko some more. He'd actually had a lot of fun seeing her play, even if it was only one song, and getting to talk to her more was nice too. But, they had to get to class eventually, so he gave her one last smile before walking into the classroom. His entire class seemed to stare at him as he walked to his desk, causing a small blush to appear on his cheeks. He made a mental note to check his watch more next time they hung out.

Hisao let out a small yawn as he walked through campus. It had been a late night of writing essays and reading a book or two, leaving him pretty drained and drowsy. He hadn't fallen asleep in class, which was good, but his notes were lackluster and he hadn't really retained much of any of the day's lessons. The bright, warm sun didn't help very much either, it just made him squint his eyes more and reminded him of how warm the uniforms could get. His backpack was slung loosely over his shoulder as he headed off to get some food from the market in town. Before he could get very far, though, he spotted a pair of girls sitting near where the festival mural had been. Despite his exhausted disposition, he smiled slightly and approached them. "Hey guys." He waved lazily to them in greeting.

 

[starfallen.txt]

IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES
and i could still breathe and survive ー

Hoshiko should really stop taking her luck for granted. "Hey, Hisao," she replied, waving back. "You wanna sit with us? We're just talking."

"About the homework from yesterday. I don't think Hoshi did it this time," Mana piped up. She seemed to realize that Hoshiko was trying to use him as an excuse to get out of the topic. She knew her too well for her to get away using that trick. She gave Hoshiko a friendly push, though she only stuck her tongue out in response. "Excuse you, I did actually do the homework. It's just... in my dorm right now."

"So you didn't actually turn it in?"

"...Was it due today?" Hoshiko felt the blood rush to her cheeks in embarrassment. Now that she was thinking of it, she did remember hearing her teacher say that it was, in fact, due today. And she didn't turn it in. She wasn't even in class today. "...Crap..."

Mana giggled, before turning her attention back to Hisao. "Hey," she finally greeted. "Been a while. How was the festival? I heard from Airi that you were with Hoshi at the time, is that true...?"

 

[Redrobinwing]

Apparently Hoshiko still wasn't very diligent in classes. He understood why, school was boring and she obviously just wanted to play guitar, but grades were grades; they were important if she wanted to graduate. It was good that Mana was around to be on the girl about it too; she was obviously on top of things since she brought up her friend's late homework. Hisao could try to help, but he probably wouldn't have been great at making her do the work. The two started arguing before he could sit down, so he simply set his backpack down and sat on his own. Once they seemed finished, he spoke up. "Yeah, we went to the festival together. It was pretty fun. We ate some good food, played a game or two..." His eyes glanced over to Hoshiko, choosing to leave out the bit about them relaxing on the bench. It may have sounded a bit weird if he mentioned that they had been alone together, in a somewhat secluded place, where no one would really see them. He didn't know her all that well, but Mana seemed like the type to question those things.

Come to think of it, he hadn't spotted Mana at the festival, and Hoshiko hadn't mentioned seeing her around. "Did you go to the festival too, Mana? I didn't see you around." Most of the students went as far as he could tell, though a few had decided to stay indoors like his roommate.

 

[starfallen.txt]

IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES
and i could still breathe and survive ー

Mana nodded, then replied, "Yeah, I went. I didn't see you guys at all, though, which was kinda weird, but oh well. It's probably nice that Hoshi's learning how to talk to people by herself."

Hoshiko had fallen silent while they started to talk to each other. She figured that she probably shouldn't reveal some of the more embarrassing details about the festival. Like the part where they were on that bench together. Either Hisao left that part out on accident, or he was thinking the same thing she was. Either way, she wasn't going to complain.

She wondered if he was going to talk about that one lunch they had together...

She definitely should not bring that up. Just the thought of Mana getting on her case about that was enough to make her cringe.

Hoshiko, still not really sure what to say, started to fiddle with her eyepatch a bit. She kept tugging on it, pulling it back just the tiniest bit and letting the string hit against the side of her head. Her mind started to wander a bit - summer break was coming up. That was a whole month they had to just... do whatever. Usually the students would go to their homes for break and either hang out or study from there. She always spent her summer breaks with Mana, back at the quaint little countryside home Mana's grandparents lived in.

Ah, speaking of, maybe...

"Hellooo. Hoshi? You okay?"

Mana's voice had broken her out of her little trance, and Hoshiko found herself a little bit embarrassed at letting herself get carried away while her friends were talking. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry."

 

[Redrobinwing]

Hisao smiled a little more at Mana's comment. Apparently she agreed with him about getting Hoshiko out of her shell a little more, which meant that she'd probably be willing to help her out too when she could. It made him feel like they were a team of sorts, like they were on the same side of getting the girl to be a little more open and social. Not that he was one to talk of course, he was pretty introverted himself, but not as nervous or... spazzy as she was. "Yeah, it was fun. Too bad we didn't see you, but it was still cool."

He'd noticed that the shorter of the two girls had become noticeably quiet, which wasn't something that was too unusual for her, but she seemed to sort of space out too. Hisao glanced to the girl, still holding a calm smile. "The festival was pretty fun, right Hoshiko?" No response came, which he raised an eyebrow at. Apparently she was really spacing out, which Mana seemed to notice too, because she quickly tried to get the girl's attention herself. This time, the smaller girl noticed and actually responded too. Hisao couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped his lips when she came to. Now that she seemed able to respond. "What did you think of the festival?"

 

[starfallen.txt]

IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES
and i could still breathe and survive ー

"O-oh, oh. Um." Hoshiko took a moment to reply, blinking a few times. She stared at the grass, before shaking her head a little bit and looking towards Hisao and Mana. "Sorry. Um, the festival was fine. Hisao was with me the entire time." And to be honest, she kind of regretted never going to the festival during her previous years. But then again, Hisao wasn't even attending Yamaku during those years, so maybe it would have always been boring. Maybe.

"And you never told me?" Mana replied, grinning a little bit too mischievously for Hoshiko's tastes. Hoshiko knew exactly what Mana was going to start teasing her about now. She was not going to fall for it. She will do anything but fall for it. She was not up for anything involving this kind of talk right now.

She decided to ignore Mana for now, instead turning her attention to Hisao. "Hey, you know what? We should all hang out somewhere sometime. You know, somewhere that isn't in the school. If you guys want." She had a few ideas in mind - though maybe Mana had better ideas, since she probably knew more about the town than she did. "I don't know where we could go, though."