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Evenings like these almost made Kei miss living in the countryside. Cicadas buzzed in the distance and the low light of the setting sun cast everything in its path into deep shadows, all illuminated by a thin ring of gold. The slight breeze blowing through the open windows of a slow moving car ruffled Kei and his companion’s hair.
Kei chanced a quick glance at Tetsurou, deep in concentration as he maneuvered the car through the winding path of a rarely used dirt road. The same cast of light surrounded him, making him appear almost ethereal. The butterflies that have been in Kei’s stomach since they met started to flutter anew.
Kei never got tired of them.
This trip to the Miyagi countryside was a spontaneous and unexpected one. Tetsurou had picked him up from work the day before, bags in hand, and told him they’d be gone for a few days.
“I can’t just up and leave, Tetsurou,” Kei complained as he got into the car. “I have shifts this weekend and they’ll be impossible to get covered with this late of a notice.”
“Already got it covered, moonshine,” Tetsurou said as he held up his phone and gave it a small wave. “I pulled some strings and now I have you all to myself for the next four days.”
Of course, Tetsurou didn’t keep him all to himself for the entirety of their trip. While they were staying in a small onsen, going back to Miyagi meant a visit to Kei’s mother. It went as well as any other visit, although Kei did catch them talking in secret more often than usual, heads bent together as if sharing a schoolyard rumour. Tetsurou’s focus immediately switched to him when he walked into the room, but Kei was still suspicious.
Kei was jolted out of his thoughts when Tetsurou brought the car to a sudden stop in a small uneven parking area. At the far end of the lot was the entrance to a narrow path with a small wooden sign shaped like an arrow, pointing deeper into the twilight-lit forest. Tetsurou opened his door and leaned over the center console to grab his bag from the back seat. He stepped out and walked around to the other side of the car, where he opened up Kei’s door and peered in at him.
“Are you coming or what? You’re still buckled in and everything.” He had one eyebrow raised in question.
Kei sighed and undid his seatbelt, carefully climbing out of the passenger seat so as not to slip on the rocky ground. “You never told me we were going on a hike, I’m not even close to wearing the right shoes.
“Also,” he said, nodding his head to the entrance of the path. “Why would you ever think going on a hike at dusk is safe, we’re going to get ourselves killed if we’re not careful.”
Tetsurou just chucked in response. “You’re not going to die, Tsukki. This is an easy walk, don’t worry. It isn’t even that long, forty-five minutes at most.”
Tetsurou didn’t wait for a reply before locking the car and making his way to the head of the pathway, leaving Kei no choice but to follow behind, lest he want to be trapped outside the car alone. Shaking his head, he quickly caught up to Tetsurou and joined alongside him as they made their way through the trees.
They were immediately swallowed by the darkness. Even with the last dregs of sunlight shining over the horizon and through the small breaks in the canopy above, the forest was almost completely devoid of light. Tetsurou quickly took out his phone and turned on the flashlight, shining it at their feet so they wouldn't trip over any unsuspecting roots or rocks. They walked for what seemed like hours, the cicadas even louder in the densely packed forest. The sudden hoots from owls in the distance were loud and startling. Kei jumped more than once at their calls.
Eventually, they began to feel the path slope upwards. Everything was still completely black and the slight incline was the only indication they were ascending the mountain.
Kei knew the darkness was going to cause them problems. What was only supposed to take them three quarters of an hour, has taken almost fifteen minutes longer than expected. Having to be careful and walk slowly had thrown off Tetsurou’s original estimate. Probably because it was for the day, Kei thought.
Kei glanced down at his illuminated phone screen and checked the time. He could feel himself growing impatient, especially since he was forced to go on this dumb hike at dusk when they could’ve been back in the onsen doing literally anything else.
Focused on being annoyed, Kei failed to notice a small root jutting out of the ground. The tip of his shoe caught underneath and he felt himself start to fall. Before he had the chance to realize what was going on, a set of strong arms wrapped around his middle and caught him.
Kei looked up at Tetsurou’s face, illuminated by the phone flashlight still in his hand, his wide grin almost taunting.
“After all these years, you’re still falling for me, huh?” Tetsurou said with a small wink.
Ignoring the comment, Kei quickly regained his footing and stood back up. Brushing Tetsurou’s arms from his waist, he decided to ignore anything that came out of Tetsurou’s mouth for the rest of the night. Tetsurou just laughed at him as he walked past.
After another few minutes of maneuvering through the woods, Kei was glad to see they had finally come upon the end of the path. He’d been hit in the face with enough branches tonight and just wanted out of here. The ground leveled out again and the tree line broke, dousing them in the soft light from the moon. Tetsurou was the first to leave the path, turning around and smiling at Kei, hand held out for him to take, murmuring a small, “We’re here.”
Kei put his hand in Tetsurou’s and walked out of the forest, where he was greeted with a small clearing. Small yellow and blue flowers dotted the landscape, in between which, the patches of short grass had been trodden down by the boots of other hikers.
Kei eyed Tetsurou curiously. “This is a nice meadow, but why did you insist we come at night? Wouldn’t it make more sense when it was light out?”
“It being light out was the problem, Tsukki, which is why we had to do it right now. You wouldn’t be able to absorb the true beauty of this place during the day.” He paused and lifted his head, a small smile on his face. “Just look up.”
Kei lifted his head like Tetsurou had, and was immediately amazed. Millions of small stars were spread out across the night sky. Bright and blinking, this was a sight that Kei had never seen outside of romantic scenes in movies and the space exhibit of his museum. Even when he had still lived in Miyagi, there was enough ambient light that larger stars were always slightly dull and the smaller ones were practically invisible.
Now though, he could see the stars go on for miles; the pale yellows and purples of the Milky Way, bright in the night sky. He had only ever seen the galaxy from pictures and videos at the museum, however, seeing it in person like this was a whole new experience.
Kei was shaken out of his reverie when he felt Tetsurou tug on his hand.
“Come lay down with me,” Tetsurou said in his ear.
Tetsurou let go and Kei was quick to turn around and find Tetsurou sitting down on a blanket he had laid down on the ground. He must’ve done this while Kei was distracted and staring at the stars.
Kei made his way towards the blanket and laid down next to Tetsurou. The stars looked almost brighter from here, on his back, gazing up at them. Tetsurou’s hand found his again in the darkness and gripped tight. They lay there silently for a few minutes, drinking in the beauty above them.
It’s Tetsurou who broke the peacefulness around them, tearing his eyes away from the sky to watch Kei in profile. “Tell me about them, love.”
Kei hummed noncommittally, continuing to stare up at the dotted sky. “What do you want to know?”
“Whatever you’re willing to tell me about.”
Kei could hear the smile in his voice, rather than see it, although that wasn’t surprising to Kei at all. They’ve been together long enough that Kei could read Tetsurou like a book. The tone of his voice, the way he bounced as he walked, the way his brow scrunched up, they were all tells that Kei had become intimately familiar with.
“See that star over there?” he said, pointing up towards the sky. Kei knows that Tetsurou won’t be able to find what he was pointing at, but he’ll pretend anyway. “That’s Deneb , it’s one of the brightest in the night sky and it’s the head of the constellation Cygnus , or the swan. Just to the right of that is the constellation Draco , which is the dragon. Both of those were first named by Ptolemy, an astronomer from the second century.
“If you look closer down towards the horizon,” Kei said, pointing just above the treeline. “You can see some of the Zodiac constellations as well.”
There were too many different constellations Kei could point out. Working in the space section of the museum back in Tokyo could sometimes come in handy, Kei mused.
“Any of them have anything to do with love, Tsukki?” Tetsurou asked curiously.
Kei just rolled his eyes and pointed to another star. “There’s Ursa Major, although it’s not exactly romantic. For the Greeks, it represented Callisto, whom Hera turned into a bear after Zeus fell in love with her. Not exactly the heartwarming tale you were looking for.”
Kei heard Tetsurou laugh. “No, definitely not. Fine then, anything actually romantic up there?”
Kei quickly glanced over at Tetsurou. His eyes were trained on the sky, posture relaxed. He was clearly waiting for Kei to start talking, but was content to wait until Kei was ready. One of the many things he appreciated about this man.
Kei turned his head back to the sky. “The Corona Borealis , or The Northern Crown.” He said after a moment. “It’s next to Hercules and it’s another one of the Ptolemy constellations.
“The story goes that Dionysus found the princess Ariadne crying on the island Naxos after being abandoned by her lover Theseus. He fell in love with her and they were soon married. On their wedding day, Ariadne wore a crown adorned with seven beautiful jewels crafted by Hephaestus and threw it into the sky after the ceremony. It’s said all the jewels turned into the stars that make up the constellation.”
As Kei finished the story, he heard Tetsurou shift next to him. He could tell that Tetsurou had turned to face him.
“And they lived happily ever after? Sounds pretty romantic to me.” Tetsurou murmured.
Kei snorted. “More like transference if you ask me, falling in love with your rescuer. Less romantic, more in need of help to deal with the psychological trauma of being abandoned on an island by someone who supposedly loves you.”
“Well I think it’s romantic,” Tetsurou huffed and turned to lay back down.
Kei just hummed in response and closed his eyes. He wasn’t really able to debate the true feelings of the two, his knowledge on Greek mythology rested solely in the legends behind the stars. If Tetsurou wished to believe it was romantic, Kei wouldn't hold it against him. Agree to disagree and all that.
They were both quiet for a while, content to lay next to each other in silence, enjoying each other’s company. Kei kept his eyes closed, basking in the sounds of nature emanating from the forest surrounding them. There was only so much of big city living that a country boy could put up with before he started to miss the sounds of home.
The silence was interrupted suddenly by a loud rustling to his left. Cracking one eye open, Kei looked towards the source of the sound, only to see Tetsurou rooting around in his bag for something. Tetsurou wasn’t known for his attention span, so Kei could only assume that he had lost interest in the stars.
Kei pushed himself into a sitting position, keeping his eyes to the sky above. The stars continued to shine and Kei searched for some constellations he recognized. He noticed a bright star with a slight coloured tint, and stood up to get a better look, trying to determine if this was a planet or not. He was so focused on the sky that he didn't hear Tetsurou stand up and come behind him, until he felt his arms wrap around his middle. Kei jumped and Tetsurou laid his head on Kei’s shoulder.
“The stars certainly are beautiful tonight,” Tetsurou whispered in his ear. “Though not as beautiful as you.”
“You’re full of shit, you know that right?” Kei teased back.
Tetsurou laughed back at him. “I’m being serious, you know. You really are more beautiful than the stars. You shine brighter too. To me, you’re the moon.”
Kei could feel his cheeks starting to heat up. Even after years of being together, Tetsurou could always say something to make him blush.
“Stop it Tetsurou, the sappiness here is getting to be too much, even for you.” Kei said, voice annoyed. It was a coping mechanism, learned early in life and hard to forget. Anything to make him stop saying things like that, he hated how vulnerable it made him feel.
Tetsurou let go of Kei and took a step back. Kei’s back immediately turned ice cold. An apology was already on the tip of his tongue when he turned around to find Tetsurou down on one knee, ring in hand, soft smile on his face.
The blush came back with a vengeance when Kei realized what was happening. A hand came up to cover the bottom half of his face. He couldn’t feel the tips of his fingers or toes, and all he could focus on was the man on one knee in front of him.
“Tsukishima Kei, you are my sun, my stars, and especially my moon. Will you do the honour of being my Ariadne to my Dionysus. Will you marry me?”
Kei stood there speechless. This had been something they had talked about, but up until now, it had been nothing but a pipe dream. Both of them, with their fledgling careers, had agreed to wait until they were in a better place financially. But that was years ago and Kei guessed that he just never noticed how far they had come.
Tetsurou was still kneeling, although he was starting to get a bit of an apprehensive look on his face. Kei knew he had to say something, knew he had to agree, but the nerves and shock were getting to him. When he opened his mouth instead of the yes, Tetsurou was obviously expecting, all that came out was,
“You really brought me out here to propose to me by making me do my job?”
A look of shock quickly formed on Tetsurou’s face and Kei mentally panicked for a second before it quickly changed into deep rumbles of laughter.
Tetsurou knew Kei. Knew his mannerisms, his insecurities, what made him flustered. He knew this wasn’t a rejection, just Kei being himself.
“Is that a yes?” Tetsurou asked as the laughter died down into soft giggles.
Kei turned his head to the side. “Of course it's a yes, you idiot. Get up here.”
Tetsurou quickly got to his feet and slipped the ring onto Kei’s finger. It was a little big but that’s nothing they couldn’t fix.
“I’ll have to go out and buy you your own once we’re back in Tokyo,” Kei says, staring down at the ring.
“We have time to worry about that later, Tsukki,” Tetsurou said, encircling his arms around Kei and hugging him close. “I just want to enjoy this beautiful view… and the stars too, of course.”
Kei shoved lightly at his chest, with no real malice behind it.
“Like I said, an idiot.”
Tetsurou laughed once again.
Three weeks later, Kei surprised Tetsurou with his own engagement ring, adorned with seven sparkling jewels, his very own Northern Crown.