The day that Denki dreaded so dearly had definitively dropped its anchor in the pale kaleidoscope of the darkening sky.  Clouds covered certain sections of dimly lit stars, swirling out and around, conjoined to other masses of off-white cotton before shooting off in their own direction, a patchwork quilt flying slowly above as though a magic carpet come to take the good souls away to a place they deserved, a place they desired.  The crooked sliver of a smile that the silver moon embodied drifted into and out of view as though taunting the world beneath.  It was free, and safe, and warm - it had no one to listen to, no one to care about, nothing to worry about or occupy its mind, for it was simply an inanimate object destined to follow a set direction until reaching its destination perched above the earth.  It was never lonely, for arrays of stars would always follow, a luminous parade of proud lanterns illuminating the lonely lands beneath, and it never had to make decisions, for it lacked a mind, it lacked emotion, it lacked morals and love and humanity.

Denki did not.

The tall grass beneath his sock-sheathed feet was unruly but soft, clinging to the remains of daylight that had come and gone so fast.  It tickled the soles of his feet, a gentle reminder of a chore Denki had been assigned, but never completed - the lawn was an unruly mess, he hadn't mowed it in who knew how long, even with his parents constantly on his case, something within him just couldn't bring himself to cut it all down.  That, and the complete lack of motivation. 

What was the point of mowing the grass anyway?  It would just keep growing.  Nobody even went in the backyard anymore, except for him, and he really didn't care whether the grass was a less than a centimeter or greater than a meter or alive or dead.  No point in trying to stop something that was going to happen regardless - nature was out of his control.

So were you.

Even as Denki sat there, perched atop the second-to-last step of the stairs leading from his back porch down to the yard, eyes fixed tightly on the sky, straining to count the stars as they emerged through the clouds and light of the abstract painting that was sunset, even as he desperately tried to redirect his thoughts to something else, anything else, he always found himself back in the same position, thinking about the same thing, the same person.  The changing sky was her growth over the years, from a fun and curious child to a charming and beautiful young woman.  The moon was your face, a constant smile, light and airy and filled with joy and playfulness, sometimes even naivety, but always genuine, always honest, incapable of lying.  The stars were everything he loved about you - too many things to count.  Your cheerfulness, your humor, your wishes, your hopes, your dreams, your determination, your bravery, your intelligence, your interests, your witty comebacks, your grin, your eyes, your nose, your body, your being - everything.  

The clouds casting shadow upon the earth were your alienation.

Your love for Tetsutetsu.

Your slow, agonizing parting with Denki.

The shooting stars streaking down towards the earth, falling fast and frantic, shining bright before burning out entirely, putting on a brilliant show of bright radiance before fading out of existence, out of sight and out of mind, out of head and out of heart.  

Fading from your existence.  Out of your sight and out of your mind.  Out of your head.

Out of your heart.

School started tomorrow.  He'd received his acceptance letter to U.A., much to his surprise and happiness, but of course it was all meaningless in comparison to losing you.  The only contact you two had shared in what seemed like forever were four texts.

💖Princess Peach: denki!! did you get your letter?!! :000000

Shookshock ⚡Energy: yep, i got in. u too? :DDDD

💖Princess Peach: yes!! congrats denki!! tetsu made it too!! <3

Shookshock⚡Energy: thanks, u too. seeya at UA (≧▽≦)

He hung his head in his hands.  The night continued onward, sometimes crawling at a snail's pace, stretching time out into an endless road in which a million years constituted a single second, otherwise spinning out of control with relentless speed, every single second constituting a million years.  It came too fast and too slow all at once.  He should've told you.  He should've found the time, should've made the effort, should've taken action so that way he wasn't outside, alone and afraid, in the slight chill of nightfall with a breeze of regret tousling his hair and seeping into his mind.  

With a nervous sigh he stood and brushed himself off.  It was getting late.  He'd waited too long to prepare, and now he had to deliver, had to go through with his promise, both for his sake and yours, and he was afraid.  Oh, god, how he feared.  He knew it wouldn't go well.  These things never did, never could, especially not when you were already in love with someone else, when you had already found the one for you.  But there was a broad spectrum of possible poor outcomes, some particularly less pleasant than the others.  Would you even be his friend?  Could you be his friend, with what you would now know, with that information constantly at the back of your mind?  What if you refused to speak with him again?  How would he survive without you?  Could he survive without you?

No.

He knew he couldn't.

But still he trekked on, dragging out his steps and attempting to calm his aggravated nerves and churning stomach, racing mind and pounding heart, just a block away from you.  The lines he'd practiced rattled around in the back of his head but they were all jumbled together, indecipherable now, all that practice and thought gone to waste. 

Or maybe not.

Maybe, by some means, this would be okay.

This was the only thought he could repeat to comfort himself as he turned into the steps leading up your front porch.  His heartbeat was loud in his ears, drowning out all eyes, and it took all the attention he could give to keep himself from shaking.  He paused momentarily before mounting the steps up the porch.

Seconds away from knocking he heard something.

A shuffle.

Sobs.

Belonging to someone he knew all too well.

Denki whipped around, only to find an amorphous blanketed figure huddling back against the hardwood railing of the protective gate.  Slowly, cautiously, he made his way toward you.  His heart was in his throat.  "Y/n...?" he began softly, kneeling beside you, "...what's going o-?"

"-Denki," she cried, lunging forwards with her arms out, scattering the blanket from her figure as her head collided with his chest, tears wetting his shirt, shaking form sending tremors throughout him.  Her face was red and her eyes swollen, mouth contorted in a pained whimper.  Frantic hands found their way across his lower back, hugging him close, tightly, tightly, sealing the embrace as though if she let go she would lose him forever.  

The boy forgot about everything.  Everything.

There was only him and you, holding each other, his arms finding their way around her, pulling her to his body in a tight squeeze.  He didn't know what to say.  He'd never seen you this way before.  A gust of wind blew coldly by and absent-mindedly he threw the blanket around the both of you, making sure your small and crumpled form received most of the comforting warmth.  His hand found its way to your head, and he was stroking your soft hair, gently rocking you, resting his head atop yours and murmuring that everything was going to be okay, just like when you were kids and a storm had come round.  

Through your tears, you managed to choke out a pitiful, "I-I'm sorry.  This was a, a mistake.  I thought..." a pause, a sharp inhale, a mourning wail of an exhale, chest heaving, "...I don't know what I thought."

"It's okay," he whispered back, one hand rubbing circles across your back, gently tracing its way from your shoulderblades to the small of your spine, the other gently cupping your face, testing the water.  You didn't pull back - only brought him closer.  He took the chance and gently thumbed away your tears, gentle pressure against the hot skin of your cheek, slow and careful and caring and tender.  No questions were asked, not yet.  Simply silence, save for your weeping.

More moments passed by and you eventually drew in a deep inhale before somehow managing to patch the leak in the dam, even if only for a few seconds.  But that was a beginning, at least, for an explanation.  "I really wanted it to work out.  I-I wanted you to be happier, and I wanted to be happier, but I was so stupid!  I thought it would work," another sob, "I-I really thought it would.  It was supposed to be fun.  I was supposed to be helping, but god, that's not what it did."  You pulled yourself away for a short while and rested your hand on the side of his chin.  "I hurt you.  I was - wrong.  Dumb.  ...Idiotic."  You shook your head, wiping the remnants of tears from your face.  "God, I fucked up."

He pulled you back in.  "I'm alright," he breathed, "I really am, I promise.  I just - I missed you."

A bawl.  "I missed you too, Denki, oh my god, I missed you."

"I'm here now."

"I'm sorry.  I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I screwed it all up.  I thought - I wasn't thinking at all.  I was caught up and lost and I didn't know what to do and I picked the worst possible choice and oh crap it was bad, I hurt Tetsu, I hurt you."  A pause.  "I'm so sorry."

Brushing a few stray strands of hair out of your face, he replied slowly, calmly, truthfully, "It's okay, [y/n].  It is.  I promise.  Everything will be okay.  I'm here."

"Thank you," you whispered, voice cracking, barely audible in the soft breeze.  "I don't deserve you.  Not anymore.  Maybe I never did.  But I needed you."  Your head returned to his chest, your body slumping softly against his.  Into the fabric of his shirt you murmured, "God, I needed you."

And as he sat there with you in his arms, feeling every ragged breath escape your chest, holding your frame against his own, your familiar warmth encasing him and your sadness flooding into him and threatening to spill over, he pulled you even closer, and quietly exhaled.  "I need you, too."