—"HOLY FUCKING SHIT, I'm going to be late, I'm going to be late, I'm going to be late, and–where are the fucking car keys?!"

"Calm down, baby, you're going to be just fine–and the car keys are behind the coffee machine."

"Why the fuck are they–? Y'know what, who cares? Thanks, Keiji, I'll see you... whenever the fuck I get off work, I guess."

"Yeah, see you–and remember not to curse in front of the kids!"

"Yeah, yeah, bye!"

The keys to her and her boyfriend Akaashi's shared apartment jangled noisily in hand as Tsukimi Hoshiko rushed down to her car, which she slid in with ease. Without missing a beat, the young adult backed smoothly out of her driveway and sped down the road, probably breaking seventeen different violations as she headed towards her work.

Today was Day Twelve of subbing in for a cousin at the Tokyo Private Elementary School as a first-grade teacher. Day Twelve of a good two months of trying to subdue the fanatic energy of gremli–children whose bathrooms were probably larger than her entire fucking apartment.

At this exasperating thought, Tsukimi honked irritably at a white Honda that was driving particularly slowly in front of her. "Hurry the fuck up, you grandma-lookin' ahh car," she spat angrily as she switched lanes, speeding past said car.

Arriving at the school, Tsukimi stepped out and shut the door of her car, sighing heavily as she locked it and brushed her bangs away from her face. The tips of her short black hair brushed against the back of her neck, and she moved her fingers to briefly adjust her round glasses as she stepped forward and into the school.

One would think that the sons and daughters of some of Japan's biggest figures would be quiet, sophisticated, and mature, but the little demons–children–in her class proved to be quite the opposite.

A shadow of a glare passed Tsukimi's face as she observed the somewhat chaotic scene unraveling before her in her classroom while she entered. It seemed someone had brought in some kind of drone, and everyone was gathered around the owner of the device, oohing and ahhing as they watched on in awe.

It was an endearing sight, but the insomniac astronomer could hardly bite back a sigh.

Koushi owes me a lot for the shit he's putting me through.

Clearing her throat, the young woman made her presence known within the classroom. Upon hearing their teacher, the children scurried to their desks, the sound of chair legs scraping against the wooden floor joining their chorused greeting for their sub: "Good morning, Ms. Tsukimi!"

"Good morning, everyone," she smiled softly. Dark green eyes swept across the classroom then narrowed upon the sight of two empty seats. Glancing briefly down at her attendance sheet, Tsukimi identified her two missing students.

"Does anyone know where Riko and Riku are?" she asked the rest of her students, her dominant hand hovering before the two names, reluctant to mark her two favorite kids absent with the pencil in hand.

When everyone shook their heads no, Tsukimi sighed and turned to the clock. There were three minutes left before the twins would have to be officially marked absent.

"They might be late," a student offered.

"Or maybe they're out at their daddy's game," another chimed in.

In response, Tsukimi merely shrugged. "Let's refocus," she told the rest of her students, albeit she couldn't convince herself she'd be disappointed if the twins didn't show up. They were darlings, after all. Everyone else was a prick.

Well. Not all of them, amended the teacher.

"Alrighty everyone, happy Monday morning! How was everyone's weekend?"

At their sub's friendly query, several students raised their hands excitedly, telling Ms. Tsukimi to pick them. Despite herself, Tsukimi chuckled softly. She had to admit, kids could be cute sometimes.

"Quiet down, you all. Everyone will get a chance to go. Akira, you first–"

"Ahh! We're here! Sorry, we're late!"

The door slammed open, preceding the bubbly and slightly alarmed tone of Suna Riko's voice as she and her twin brother hurried in. The sight of the twins, Tsukimi smiled widely as she glanced up at the clock, was always so heartwarming.

"You're just in time, Riko, Riku," she remarked as the two children hurried over to their respective seats. "But please get to class on time next time," she gently admonished them in addition to her greeting.

"Right! Sorry, Ms. Tsukimi!" The two siblings chorused, unknowingly making their teacher internally swoon.

To compose herself, Hoshiko coughed into her fist. "Right. Where were we? Oh, yes–Akira, tell us about your weekend."

. . .

Recess at noon was perhaps Tsukimi's favorite time of the day. Not only was it her long-awaited lunch break, but she was able to bond with some of her favorite students if they chose to stay in the classroom and hang out with their youthful sub, or if everyone was out playing, she could call Sugawara and ask how the baby was doing–she was here to replace him while he was on paternity leave, after all.

But today was one of the days when some of the children had opted to stay behind and converse with their teacher–more specifically, two siblings that were terribly eager to inform their teacher about their past weekend, spent with many 'uncles'.

"–and then Uncle 'Tsumu pushed Uncle Kou into the pool, and that made a super big splash! But then Uncle Sakusa and I got really mad because that got water all over us!" exclaimed Riko as she raised her arms into the air, trying to represent how large the splash had been.

"You weren't mad at all," retorted her brother as he rolled his eyes, stabbing at his lunch with his little fork. "You jumped in with them," he reminded her pointedly.

Tsukimi watched, amused as the twins bickered with each other. Adorable little shits, she thought affectionately.

"You're just trying to impress Ms. Tsukimi!" accused Riku as he glared at his sister.

"You're one to talk!" huffed Riko in response. For a moment, both siblings paused, then the older twin smiled smugly at her brother. "You don't want me to tell her, do you?"

Red blossomed over Riku's face. "Tell her w-what?" he spluttered angrily. "It's none of your beeswax!"

Tsukimi perked up, watching the twins amusedly. "Tell me what?" she asked, humor coloring her tone. Giggle, Riko turned to her teacher. But before she could utter a word, her brother cut in: "If you tell her, I'll tell Daddy it was you who broke the vase!"

Rolling her eyes, Riko shrugged her small shoulders. "Go ahead and tell him," she sniffed. "I don't care, and Daddy doesn't care either. He hated that vase."

Realizing he had nothing further preventing his sister from spilling his secret, Riku rushed out of the room, his face a bright shade of tomato red.

Laughing at her brother's antics, Riko leaned in to tell her teacher her brother's little secret. But watching Riku's reaction, Tsukimi was unsure if she should proceed or not. "Riko," she started, "Do you really think your brother is fine with you telling me this..?"

"Yes, he's fine," Riko nodded somewhat solemnly. "It's just that he has a crush on you! If he really didn't want me to tell you, he would've pushed me away," she shrugged.

At the revelation that the little ravenette had harbored an innocent crush against her, Tsukimi laughed, bringing her hand to her heart. "Aww, that was all?" she chuckled lightly. "You and your brother are adorable. But hey, in the future, if your brother has a crush on a girl, you can't tell that girl he has a crush on her, alright?" Hoshiko crossed her arms together, verdant eyes narrowed in amusement.

Riko nodded seriously as she took heed of her teacher's advice. "Of course, Ms. Tsukimi. But you are really pretty!" she added, her pale amber eyes sparkling as she looked up at her teacher.

Laughing, Hoshiko mussed her student's silky, black hair. "Thank you for the compliment, Riko," she smiled endearingly. "You're also very pretty."

At this, Riko grinned happily. "Thank you! Uncle 'Tsumu and Kou tell me so all the time."

"They're lying," Riku's deadpan voice piped up from the entrance to the classroom, where the familiar silhouette of his black hair popped into view. Tsukimi smiled knowingly, understanding that he'd probably been standing there the entire time, listening on to their conversation.

"Hey! No, they're not, Uncle 'Tsumu would never lie!" protested Riko angrily as she retaliated to her brother's attacks. In response, Riku shrugged his shoulders as he made his way back to his sister and teacher. "Daddy says Uncle 'Tsumu's a bad role model. You shouldn't listen to him."

"But you take volleyball lessons from him all the time!"

"T-That doesn't have anything to do with that!"

"Yes, it does!"

Tsukimi laughed as she watched on with an affectionate gaze.

Adorable.

. . .

Tsukimi glared as she watched the car in front with a seething gaze.

"I swear I'm going to murder the next fucking car accident victim before they can even fucking crash," she fumed angrily.

Akaashi, right hand casually resting on the steering wheel, laughed at his girlfriend's impatient antics. Traffic had been holding them up for about twenty minutes–Hoshiko's anger was justifiable, albeit only somewhat. "How would you even determine who's going to crash and who isn't?" he challenged, spinning his head around to look at the girl beside him.

Tsukimi flung her hands up into the air. "I don't fucking know! I'll just read the fucking future or something," she offered in exasperation, rolling her eyes as Akaashi laughed.

"You know, you're so different when you're with your kids," he smiled. Again, Tsukimi rolled her velvet green eyes. "Oh, really? How so?" she questioned, humoring the editor.

"Hmm... You seem to be a lot nicer," Akaashi pretended to sink deep into thought. "Oh, okay, I see how it is, Keiji," sniffed Tsukimi, exaggerating her offense.

"I dunno, you cuss a lot less around the kids too," hummed her boyfriend.

"Woah!! No fucking way. Maybe it's because they're fuckin' kids?!"

Akaashi laughed at his lover's pointed sarcasm and reached over, entwining their hands and interlocking their fingers today.

"Wow, okay, I see you. Acting all lovey-dovey and shit now tryin' to apologize, huh?" joked Tsukimi, squeezing Akaashi's hand.

Humming nonchalantly, the editor squeezed her hand right back. "And is there anything wrong with that?"

Again, the substitute teacher laughed. "None at all, Keiji," she answered airily, the sunlight dancing in her viridescent irises. "It's just–"

Her eyes widened when he quickly leaned over and shut her up with a quick kiss. The pair sat in silence for a moment, until Tsukimi interrupted the shocked atmosphere with a laugh. "The fuck, Keiji? What was that?" she giggled, green eyes charmingly narrow as she affectionately watched her boyfriend.

"Just thought you needed to shut up for a moment," answered Akaashi humorously. Tsukimi scoffed. "Excuse you??"

Laughing genially, Akaashi didn't reply for a moment as he swiveled his right palm to make a turn. "So," he started up again, "how's research going?"

Rolling her eyes and sighing heavily, one might've thought it was the wrong topic to bring up to Tsukimi–but knowing his girl, seeing the barely visible glint of fondness as he brought up the topic, Akaashi knew that Tsukimi Hoshiko was an astronomer at heart.

"It's ok, but I fucking hate having to do all the goddamn calculations," groaned the ravenette as she brought her hands up to her eyes. "Like Jesus fucking christ! I didn't major in astronomy so I could be doing math all fucking over again!"

Akaashi laughed at his girlfriend's words. "I take it you're stuck at an obstacle?" he questioned, but Tsukimi shook her head. "Nah, not really. It's just really fucking bashy. And I hate it. What-fucking-ever though, am I right?" she rolled her head to the right and laughed, sighing. "That reminds me. I'm gonna head on over to the lab tonight, and take a look up there and take some measurements. Better make sure those fuckers are right before I get any further into this hell hole."

"Yeah?" With one more turn of the wheel, their apartment building turned into view. The couple got out and returned home, shared a meal together, then cuddled up and watched a movie.

As the credits began to roll, Tsukimi did as well out of bed and began to dress. "Leaving already?" Asked Keiji, watching his lover sadly as she tugged on a pair of long socks.

"Yeah, sorry Kei," answered the astronomer apologetically. "I'll be back before twelve. Can you wait for me?"

The editor for Shounen smiled softly. "Of course," he replied while getting out of bed himself. "I'm gonna work on some panels while you go out."

"Right. Snipe a few shots of the next chapter for me?" Tsukimi grinned, crossing her fingers.

Akaashi rolled his eyes. "You know I can't do that, baby."

His girlfriend shrugged amiably. "Oh well. It's always worth a shot," she stuck her tongue out playfully.

As she stepped out into the night, her lover leaned forward to give her one last quick kiss. "Be careful, alright?" he reminded her. Tsukimi merely rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, of course, I will. I'm not a fuckin' baby, Kei," she snorted.

Akaashi crossed his arms. "I'm not so sure about that one..."

"Six years is not that much of an age gap, Keiji!"

And with this playful exchange the two parted, Tsukimi humming quietly to herself as she drove up to the lab.

Advancing to the highest floor, she released an exhale she hadn't realized she'd been holding within her.

The skies above were clear that night, stars sparkling here and there like hidden gemstones amidst the night.

Walking over to a telescope, Tsukimi adjusted and focused the device so that she could see clearly through the magnified lens, studying the view of the stars she'd been studying.

"Well, here we go..." she mumbled to herself as she pulled out her iPad, making sure her original measurements were correct.

"Right... so there's Albali... Sadalsuud, and... woah." Tsukimi paused, pulling away from her telescope. She blinked rapidly, not quite understanding what her telescope was telling her–what her eyes were telling her. "Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah."

Hesitation claimed her movements for an instant before she dove right back in, focusing on that one spot–that spot that was... different from what it was two days ago.

Another few minutes passed before Tsukimi pulled away from the telescope and sprinted into the lab, where she pulled out her laptop and dragged out tabs of notes. Perhaps an hour passed before she, grabbing her phone and dialing the number of her advisor, sprinted back out to the landing.

Her phone was still ringing as she took one last glance through the telescope directed at the stars, then back at her notes. With an air of finality, she lowered her arms to her sides as the realization of what was occurring finally hit home.

"Holy fucking shit!"

;; note ;; 

—hello!! i should
warn y'all that the
chapters are like.
unnecessarily long LOL
n e ways !! remember
to drink water + hope you
have a nice day love  !! ♡