Astrophile

038

2001

Ever since that day three years ago, Manjirō and Ken were inseparable. Both you and Ken followed Manjirō everywhere since you both knew that despite his fighting skill, Manjirō was an idiot. At some point, you thought about introducing Mitsuya and Ken to each other since they had gotten the same tattoo.

Upon revelation, you found out that Mitsuya and Ken had actually met each other once and Ken had 'claimed' the dragon tattoo or something in exchange for some food.

Ken was pissed but Mitsuya declared that he'd be growing his hair anyways so that calmed the former a bit. He got along with Manjirō quite well, and even introduced you to his newest sister, Mana. She was extremely adorable, but unfortunately she did not enjoy being held by you.

Everytime you picked her up, she would start wailing and wouldn't stop until her brother would pick her up. On the other hand, Luna practically adored you. She spent more time with you than she did with Mitsuya himself. She even began calling you 'big brother'.

As of current, you were sitting on a bench as Luna played in the playground of the park. Apparently, Mitsuya hadn't been taking care of himself for a few weeks so you decided to take care of Luna. Since Mana wouldn't have come with you, so Mitsuya had set her to sleep alongside him.

For the past week, Luna has been wanting to go to the park, you decided to bring her there. Luna immediately went to the playground while you sat down on the nearby benches to keep an eye on her in case of anything.

Suddenly, she came running towards you with her hands hidden behind her back. She had a grin on her face as she stood in front of you, looking proud, "Big brother!! Look what I got you!!" She pulled out a colourful flower crown, a bit roughed up since she was still a child but it was beautiful nonetheless.

You smiled softly and pat her forehead, "Thank you, Luna-chan... It's beautiful..." You softly whispered as you lowered your head slightly, "Do you mind putting it on big brother's head?" She gave you an eager smile before carefully placing it on top of your head.

"How does it look?" You raised your head slightly to show it to her as she clapped hands in glee, "You're so pretty!!" She held you hand with both her hands and jumped up and down, "You're so pretty!! You're so pretty!!" Her words made you chuckle as you looked at her, "Am I actually pretty?"

She grabbed your cheeks and squished them as a frown overtook her lips, "Yes, you're pretty!! And when I grow up, I will marry you!!" You looked at incredulously with a smile.

"Eh?" Upon your confusion, she just nodded her head, "I'm gonna marry you because you're pretty!! And then you'll get me chocolate, right?!" She pleaded and you smiled at her, making her look in awe at how pretty your smile was, "If you want, let's get some chocolate later..." She let out a squeal and clung tightly to your arm.

Chuckling at her adorable actions, you pinched her cheeks as she let out a huge gasp, "I forgot the ring!! How can I marry you without the ring?! You always get married with the ring!!" She yelled and dashed off to make a ring, though not before kissing your cheek.

You sat back down on your bench and admired the flower crown. Every time you and Luna were outside, she would always give you flowers. It didn't matter to her if they were wild flowers or dandelions or just some cherry blossoms she had collected off the ground, she would always gift you flowers.

And you greatly treasured them. You would always dry them up before placing them in a special box. Every flower she had ever given you, was still preserved by you.

You were pulled out of your train of thoughts when you heard Luna's screams. You immediately dropped everything and ran as fast as you could to where she was. When you arrived there, you saw Luna cowering behind a tree as a dog kept on barking at her while wagging it's tail, "Luna!!" You yelled and rushed to her.

You quickly grabbed onto her and pushed her behind you so she could run away, "Luna!! Stay back, okay?" She tearily nodded while clinging onto you.

"There there, doggie... you're a nice doggie..." You softly muttered as you stretched out a hand and slowly walked back with Luna still behind you. However, all of a sudden a voice called out.

"Pochi!!"

A boy about the same age as you with blonde, slicked back hair and dark eyes ran towards you. He had a big figure which allowed him to appear a lot more intimidating. He ran over and grabbed onto the dog's collar, "Pochi!! What did I say about scaring strangers?!" He yelled at the dog and almost as if it were understanding him, it lowered it's head.

He glared at the dog for a good minute as you just stood there, confused as to what was happening, "Sorry man..." The boy called out as he turned to you, "-He just wants more people to play with but he's a bit aggressive about it..." He turned once more to the dog and it kept on staring at its paws.

"I-It's fine... But please be careful with it..." He looked up and grinned at you, "Of course!! Sorry he scared you and your sister.... Wait, is she your sister?!" He took a closer look at your features and realised that you both looked nothing alike.

"Um, no... she's the sister of a good friend..." He nodded with a grin, "Yeah... I don't know why I asked that, man... cause I'm dumb..." You covered your mouth to stop yourself from giggling but it seemed Luna didn't since you heard her laugh behind you.

He smiled at her laughing and turned to you, "You know, Pochi probably wanted to be her friend... so would she like to play with him?" He tried to look at Luna if she wanted to play with him, as she shied away.

You smiled and his kind offer before turning to Luna, "Luna-chan... wanna play with the doggie?" She stared at you for a minute before nodding hesitantly, "If only he doesn't bite me..."

The chubby boy shook his head, "No, no!! He doesn't bite!!" He let her see by giving Pochi his hand only for Pochi to lick it, "I'm Hayashida Haruki..."

You smiled at his introduction before stretching out your hand for a handshake, "[Last Name][Male Name], it's very nice to meet you, Hayashida-san..."

He shot you carefree grin, "Come on man, we look about the same age, just call me Haruki!!" You looked surprised before nodding slightly and guiding Luna to Pochi, "Then you can call me [Male Name], this here is Luna-chan..."

"Sure thing!!"

You smiled softly as Haruki began playing with Pochi and Luna, letting you sit on the bench and just observe them. You suddenly felt tired and felt your eyes closing.

Here you were again...

The same darkness, the same light. However, this time the older you wore a grim expression, "Little me!! Are you here?!" She asked you which made you walk up to her and enter her vision, "Are you okay, older me?"

She let out a sigh of relief and nodded her head, "I'm fine, don't worry about me..."

She suddenly grabbed you by the shoulders and bent down to your level, the light and darkness starting to fade as you realised that you were waking up, "What's going on?!"

She shook her head and stared deeply into your eyes, "[Name], listen to me... I need you remember what I'm about to say, I don't think I'll be able to reach you again after this..." Her words creeped you out but you knew you could trust her since she's literally an older version of you.

"On August 13, 2003... Shinichirō-niisan will die, I need you to save him!!"