Constellations The World Will Never See
Yamaguchi pulled the reins, carefully, stopped his chariot slowly. He knew his pegasus, Starlight, could handle a harsh pull, but it would break his heart to be too rude to her.
His chariot of silver and dark blue was nothing to the human eye. No shine. No different than the normal night sky. His pegasus is nothing more than a shooting star.
The God of the Night Sky, nothing more than the galaxy.
He cradled a small star, turning it over in his hands. The star was dull, casting barely any of the light blue light Yamaguchi had grown to love. His lips touched it, a kiss as light as a feather.
The star shone bright, illuminating the nearby sky and the God in question.
Kenma couldn't help but believe this rare sight was beautiful.
Yamaguchi carefully put the star into place, adjusting it until Orion pointed his arrow once again. He smiled slightly, looking over to his shoulder right to the other.
Kenma knew it wouldn't be long until Yamaguchi saw him. The God of the Arts sat there on that hill every night, a sketchbook in hand; however, he couldn't bring himself to look away from him.
The Night God smiled brightly at him before looking back at his own creation. Everyone viewed the stars as beautiful and perfect. Kenma loved the stars but somehow they fell into second place. They bothered him. They didn't feel complete.
Yamaguchi waved his hand towards the stars, disbursing them for the small one in the back. He held it gently in one hand, the other taking the reins. Carefully, his chariot came down at the bottom of the hill. The God walked toward him, his long sheer cape making the steps behind him sparkle with fresh dew.
"Do you need more light?" He sat down at his feet. Once he let the star go, it floated there, exactly where he wanted it to. The stars were nothing but pawns under his fingertips. With a gentle tap, the star was above Kenma, illuminating him and his sketchbook.
"Thank you." Kenma nodded gently, focusing back to his drawing. The God's own robes of red and gold glistening around him in the grass. His presence made the plants near vibrant and healthy, as if freshly painted onto canvas.
Everyday, Yamaguchi asked the same question. "Can I see what you're drawing?"
And everyday, Kenma gave the same answer. "No."
"Kenma," Yamaguchi pouted, reaching down to mess with the trim of his robes. "You sit here and draw everyday but you never let anyone see it."
"You're right, and it will continue this way." Kenma looked over the other carefully. His eyes focused and the two sat in peaceful silence. Yamaguchi was still pouting, but relaxed to enjoy his break. He would have to fix the stars soon.
Rearranging them.
Adjusting them.
Bringing new ones forward and giving older ones a break.
Kissing them…
Stop thinking about that, Kenma screamed in his head. His face had turned a deep red as he buried it in his pages. "Don't you have work to do."
Yamaguchi seemed almost startled by this statement. Did he forget he had work to do, Kenma wished that was true. That he did forget and would take the night off to sit with him under the masterpiece above him. He knew that wouldn't happen. The Night God liked to make things perfect. It was the least he could do, all his friends were more important than him, as he put it. Intelligence, love, war and strategy, the Sun, who wouldn't worship them. He was simply the night sky, the moon, the stars, the darkness. He knew people thought of him as a curse, so he tried to make the one thing people found good about him, as beautiful and perfect as could be.
"You're right." Yamaguchi stood, dusting himself off. They were gods, even the dirt and dust were too afraid to possibly ruin their day. "I will be on my way then. If you could take that star to my palace in the morning, I would deeply appreciate it."
And like that, he was on his chariot, high above the earth. Adorning the sky with his gifts.
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Kenma carried the star in one hand, the other barely managing to hold a large canvas, paints, and even his sketchbook. He should have gotten an assistant to help him, he realized, it would be a pain to pick it up if even one thing fell.
He had to give the star back to Yamaguchi, but… He stopped suddenly, staring at the marble floor underneath him. He couldn't face him today.
Kenma sat down carefully, making sure everything would be easy to pick up again with two hands. With a short whistle, his problem would be solved. A beautiful and pure black jaguar stepped out of the shadows, a gold collar around her neck.
Kenma leaned down to open the locket on it, about to put the weak star inside. She could take it back for him.
"You know," Kuroo stepped out from the shadows, putting his hand on her head. "she's my pet, and only supposed to listen to me."
Kenma rolled his eyes. "You never do anything with her but have her guard the underworld, and Yaku does that well enough." He locked the star into the locket, making sure it wouldn't fall out. "Besides I only want her to take this star to Yamaguchi."
"A star huh?" Kuroo lifted one eyebrow. He was more curious about it then Kenma thought he would be.
"Yeah when I went to the hill to draw, he gave me a star to use for light."
Kuroo hummed in thought before a wide smirk spread his face. "My darling Hex can bring it to him, only if I can see what you've drawn."
Kenma was hesitant. He hasn't shown everyone this sketchbook. Sure he's shown Kuroo his last sketchbook, but this was different. This sketchbook felt like a secret, something the world should never see.
He shouldn't show him it, but he couldn't bear to see Yamaguchi today.
"Fine." His agreement came out bitterly. In the blink of an eye, Hex disappeared back into the shadow. Kenma reached for the simple book carefully, almost wishing he could set it on fire at that moment. He handed it to Kuroo, glaring as the God of the Underworld took it and flipped to the first page.
He watched Kuroo's face shift feelings as he flipped through page after page, drawing and drawing the stars. Many pages filled with mapping of constellations, almost all with doodles of Yamaguchi in the corners.
Finally the page from yesterday. A large, beautiful, detailed drawing of Yamaguchi kissing a star cradled in his hand. The stars around him and in his hands casting a silvery, light blue light over the god.
Kuroo looked at Kenma, his face filled with shock and realization. "You're pining after the God of the Night?"
Kenma blushed, looking away. "No really." He was once again happy he wasn't Lev, the God of Truth. To be honest, no one does. No one has even seen the God of Protection as mad as Lev made him.
The other didn't believe him at all, but he didn't either.
"You know, you almost got Yamaguchi in trouble." The way Kenma shot his head up to look at Kuroo was almost scary to him. He was chuckling ."Recently the humans seem to care for the stars more than ever before. The council was worried he had done something to make the humans like him."
Kemna felt his emotions conflict for dominance. One part of him was sad, Yamaguchi knew the only reason the humans didn't hate him entirely was because of the stars, and that was because of him. Another part of him was almost happy. That meant when Yamaguchi made the stars perfect, he was doing them for him without knowing it.
"I had no idea." is all Kenma had to muster. He had almost forgotten his powers. As God of the Arts, whatever he drew in his sketch inspired the humans. What he drew and created inspired the others. He was the reason the humans loved the stars because he loved them, loved him.
Kuroo smiled at him, understanding his situation from his own lovers in the past. "Don't worry. I'll explain it at the meeting and he won't need to come in. But…" Kenma began to pick up his art, like the other wasn't there. "There's maps of constellations I've never seen before. Where are they?"
Kenma's face flushed, his hands became sweaty. He almost forgot about those.
He held everything carefully, making sure nothing could fall before he reached the balcony he always painted at. One bothered to go to that one, knowing he hates being interrupted. He couldn't look away from the ground. He couldn't face Kuroo.
"Freckles…" He was as quiet as he could, maybe Kuroo would think he never would have answered.
"What" Shit.
"It's maps of his freckles I've seen some of them when he's sat down." Kenma spoke only a little bit louder, allowing Kuroo to hear without leaning in too close. The silence in the hallway spread for what felt like forever. Kuroo wasn't fully satisfied with that answer. "He… He never makes the stars look like his freckles. Hell, I think he even makes sure they never match his. They're filled with constellations the world will never see."